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^ PRINCETON, N. J.
Purchased by the Hammill Missionary Fund.
BV 3625 .N82 M33 1864
Goodwin, Harvey, 1818-1891
Memoir of Bishop Mackenzie*
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MEMOIR
OP
BISHOP MACKENZIE,
HAEVEY '^GOODWIN, D.D.
DEAN OF ELY.
" I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, avd ivho
will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me!" — Isaiah vi. 8.
CAMBEIDGE:
DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO.
LONDON: BELL AND DALDY.
1864.
The profits of the sale of this V/orh are given to ike Funds of
the Universities' Mission to Central Africa.
TO THE EIGHT EEYEEEND
SAMUEL, LOED BISHOP OF OXFOKD,
LOED HIGH ALMONEE TO HEE MAJESTY,
ASD
CHANCELLOE OF THE MOST NOBLE OEDEE OF THE
GAETEE.
My Lord,
"When the request was made to me by
the family of the late Bishop Mackenzie, that I
would imdertake to write a Memoir of his Life,
the request was accompanied by the expres-
sion of two wishes.
The first was, that the profits of the sale of
the book should be devoted to the furtherance
of that cause, in the attempt to advance which
the Bishop died. Concerning this 1 could have
no hesitation.
The second was, that the book should be
dedicated to yourself To this also I gladly
acceded; and it was highly gratifying to me,
a
vi DEDICATION.
that, in reply to my letter asking permission to
dedicate the book as the family desired, you not
only gave your consent, but assured me that
you should deem it an honour to have your
name associated with that of Bishop Mackenzie.
I now present to your Lordship the Memoir,
upon which during the past year I have been
eno'aged. The Bishop's family, and some of
his friends, have freely placed in my hands his
more private letters, and other materials from
which the story of his life could be gathered,
leaving the use of the documents entirely to
my discretion. The plan which I have adojDted
has been to make the Bishop, as far as possible,
his own biographer. I have printed nearly one
hundred of his letters wholly or in part, and I
trust that they will help to convey to the minds
of those who read this book an impression of
the exceeding gentleness, cheerfulness, and sim-
phcity, coupled with manliness, strength of
purpose, and unwavering faith, which belonged
to our departed friend and brother.
My Lord, I once took occasion, as we walked
together into Ely Cathedral, to say to you, that
although I had known Mackenzie intimately for
a long time, and had been with him under a
DEDICATION, Vii
variety of circumstances, I had never seen a
cloud on his brow, and had never heard him say
anything which I could suppose he would wish
to recall. I did not exaggerate when I so
spoke, nor, indeed, could I easily give what
would seem to me to be an exaggerated view of
the excellence and sweetness of his character :
but in this memoir I have refrained as much as
possible from dwelling on my own opinion of his
goodness : I have endeavoured rather to ex-
hibit a simple picture of his hfe, and then have
wished the reader to form an opinion for him-
self.
It has been a melancholy pleasure to be per-
mitted to pay this tribute to the memory of our
deceased friend. The pleasure will be enhanced,
if I can venture to think that through this me-
moir Bishop Mackenzie can yet speak, and in-
fuse into some of us that spirit of faith and love,
which in so conspicuous a degree animated him.
No one would have shrunk more than himself
from the notion of a book being published,
which should be to him a mere laudatory epi-
taph ; but if the memoir of his life should tend,
by God's grace, to incite Christians to dare and
to do for Christ's sake, then the publication of
viii DEDICATION.
it is a tribute which he would have at least
excused, because it would have been regarded
by him as the means of carrying out after his
decease the dearest wish of his heart.
I am, my Lord,
Your Lordship's obedient Servant,
H. GOODWIN.
The Deanery, Ely,
Christmas, 1863.
ADVERTISEMENT.
In this Volume the name of the African tribe
with which Bishop Mackenzie was chiefly asso-
ciated has been printed Mang-anja, in order
to guard against the pronunciation Man-ganja ;
the name is pronounced as if the word hang
were followed by the word and.
The river Shire, which in some works is
printed with an accent upon the final e, is to be
pronounced as if it were written Shirry, or
nearly so.
The views of Mount Zomba, the Missionary
settlement at Magomero, and Lake Shirwa,
are taken fi'om sketches made by Dr Meller.
DIRECTIONS TO BINDER.
Portrait to face the Title-page.
Map of Part of Diocese of Natal, opposite jiage 109.
Mount Zomba, opposite page 317.
Map of Shire, opposite page 318.
Magomero, opposite page 331.
Lake Sliirwa, opposite page 355.
Map of Eastern Coast of Africa at the end of the Volume.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER L
PAGE
Boyhood Am> School-Days 1
CHAPTER II.
College Life — Undergraduate .11
CHAPTER III.
College Life — Holy Orders 30
CHAPTER lY.
First Thoughts of Mission-Work 62
CHAPTER Y.
Leaves Cambridge for Natal 82
CHAPTER YI.
Residence in Natal. Durban 109
xii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER yil.
PAGE
Residence m Natal. Umhlali 154
CHAPTER YIII.
Mission to Central Africa 204
CHAPTER IX.
Consecration at Cape Town ...... 253
CHAPTER X.
From Cape Town to the Shire 281
CHAPTER XL
Settlement at Magomero 318
CHAPTER XII.
Last Days and Death 368
CHAPTER XIII.
Conclusion 431
MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
CHAPTER I.
BOYHOOD AND SCHOOL-DAYS.
Charles Frederick Mackenzie was bom at Harcus
Cottage, Portmore, Peebleshire, on the 10th day of
April, 1825, and was baptized by the Right Reverend
Daniel Sandford, Bishop of Edinburgh. He was the
youngest of a large family, of whom six brothers and
five sisters survived at the time of his birth \
As a child he exhibited great natural power with
regard to figures, and thus gave indication of future
mathematical ability. He appears to have possessed nc
other mark of great mental superiority. As a child
also he is said to have exhibited a gentleness of dispo-
^ The eldest was the late WiUiam Forbes Mackenzie, Esq. of Port-
more, who was secretary to the Treasury in the Ministry of Lord Derby
in the year 1852. His name is popularly connected with the law for
regulating the sale of spirits in Scotland, commonly known as the
" Forbes Mackenzie Act."
1
2 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
sition, which was entirely in keeping with that wonder-
ful sweetness and nobility of character, to which I can
testify as a friend of his manhood.
I find it recorded of him, that, when a very little
boy, he was accustomed to amuse his elder brothers
with the exhibition of his arithmetical powers. Charlie
was placed upon a table, and examined by these same
elder brothers ; hard questions were put to him, which
he puzzled out in his head by some method of his own,
and answered correctly, though without being able to
say how he reached his results. His examiners had
slate and pencil to help them, but he generally got to
the end of the sum first, without any such help. Strange
however to say, when he went to school, and was
compelled to write his sums upon the prosaic slate, his
great superiority for a time disappeared, and it was only
when he reached the higher level of algebra that his
real mathematical ability made itself manifest.
He lost his father when only five years old, and the
education of himself and of several of the younger chil-
dren devolved to a considerable extent upon the eldest
sister. As this sister is gone to her rest, and as to her
wise superintendence much of the subsequent excel-
lence of Bishop Mackenzie's character appears, under
God, to have been due, it may be right in this place to
allow him to express his own feelings. Writing from
Livei-pool, on the eve of his first departure for Africa,
he says to this sister : " I cannot go, as we are to do to-
morrow, without sending you a line to say that my
regard and affection for you are deepened, instead of
being lessened, by this separation. I feel so strongly
BOYHOOD AND SCHOOL-DAYS. 3
that my aptitude for what is good, has been, under
God, so entirely due to your judicious training of me,
that I cannot say how much I am indebted to you.
Dear ■ ," he proceeds, " let us hold on in the right
way. Let us press toward the mark of our high calling
in Christ Jesus. In due season we shall reap if we faint
not. That God may bless you and yours is my earnest
hope, and I would fain have it my constant prayer."
On the death of the father in 1830 the family re-
moved to Edinburgh, and here the education of the
boy Charles was carried on regularly till 1840 ; first in
a private school, and then at the Academy. His talents
at this period, as before intimated, do not appear to
have been in an extraordinary degree conspicuous; that
which chiefly distinguished him was a singular guile-
lessness, great simplicity of character, and most scrupu-
lous conscientiousness. Some persons might have said
that he was not manly enough, too girl-like, too soft, too
ready to allow his tears to flow on a slight provocation;
but there was nevertheless the real manliness, which is
ever considerate of the feelings of others, and which
shrinks from everything mean and unworthy. On one
occasion Charles and his companions were competing
for a prize ; the prize composition was an essay on some
school-subject, and it was a question whether books of
reference might or might not be used; the other boys
used them freely, but Charles doubted, and abstained ;
he lost the prize, but the gentleman who gave it, and
who heard the circumstances under which Charlie's
essay had been produced, marked his approbation by
an extra prize.
1—2
4 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
I think I shall be pardoned if I introduce here two
or three short extracts from a journal kept by the sister
of whom mention has been already made, as they will
not only throw a light upon the Bishop's boyish days,
but also shew that even then this keensighted sister
saw the shadow of her brother's future superiority.
" G (a brother older than Charles by six years)
came with me to do some arithmetic, and seems sin-
cerely anxious to improve, but was obliged to defer a
satisfactory solution of his difficulties till Charlie should
come home. G.'s affectionate respect for Charlie's ta-
lents and character is really beautiful, and often strikes
me. When I first proposed a few days ago to call in
Charlie's assistance at the arithmetic, and gently ex-
pressed a hope that G would not have any un-
comfortable feehng about it, he exclaimed. Oh dear, I
would not scorn to learn anything of Charlie."
Again : " Charlie is much occupied about learning
Hebrew. I consulted Bishop Walker on his behalf:
he has taken a desire to learn it systematically, and
has been for nine months devoting a portion of his
playhours to it ; he is anxious to have a grammar, and
to do the thing methodically. His reasons were very
sensible : ' At present grammars are no drudgery to
me, on the contrary I should feel it rather an amuse-
ment, and could easily give half an hour in the even-
ing to it. If I were to wait until I am obliged to
learn it, the taste for grammars may perhaps have
worn off.'"
I apprehend that in this boyish desire to learn
Hebrew Ave may trace, not the mere love of language,
BOYHOOD AND SCHOOL-DAYS. S
which did not at all belong to his mind, but the consci-
entious wish to fit himself for the Ministry, to which he
looked forward as his calling from a very early period.
Again : " His selection of books to take to the
Highlands is what one would not expect a boy to
choose for the holydays : Euclid : his prize (a book on
science) : Mental Improvement : Bible : Prayer-book :
an elementary book of science which he has studied
long ago and wishes to revise He is most keen
about Euchd, and it is a characteristic trait of him,
that after returning from the Exhibition (receiving his
prize and aiding in applauding others who received
theirs), he quietly told his news, and then sat down to
study EucHd."
Here is a peep at another side of his mind.
"He is rather defective in imagination. In sce-
nery he requires to be urged and reminded to admire
the beauties of nature, and from want of habit lets
them pass unobserved, f His turn of opinion is calcu-
lating, and naturally his observation is directed only
to subjects giving food for such reflections. Fine moun-
tain views he admires when pointed out, but they do
not of themselves strike him. He himself told me in
the most simple naive manner, 'Only think of my
stupidity ; when I went to the top of one of the high
hills near Inverie, I quite forgot to look at the view
which I went on purpose to see ; but I just sat dowTi
a little and ate my cake, and came down again.'"
Speaking of his rapid improvement at school, the
sister says :
"Certainly his mind is wonderfully acute, and he
6 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
has the happy faculty of conveying information with
the same clearness as it has to his own mind.... His
remarkable modesty of disposition deceives those who
do not know him intimately.... His ever active mind
never seems to tire, but even when his body is weary,
he is still equally keen to work. When S 1 is not
disposed to work longer, he goes to A , who is
anxious to improve in arithmetic ; if she fail him he
goes to work problems on the globes with ; yet
there is a total absence of pretension and a perfect
equilibrium."
One more extract from this journal.
" Charlie's eyes so bad ; confined to bed. S sat
with him in the forenoon, working problems in algebra,
&c. Charlie's mind fully occupied in assisting in their
solution, and not a murmur because his blind condition
prevented his having the power of writing them or
drawing the figures. At present these problems are
the greatest source of interest that he has."
These notices of the Bishop's boyhood, it will be
observed, are not ex post facto : they are memoranda
made at the time, and they agree admirably well with
the character developed in later years, as known to
myself and others : the same gentleness, the same sim-
plicity, and the same activity of mind, shewing its real
superiority, in boyhood as in manhood, chiefly in the
direction of abstract mathematical reasoning.
In 1840 Charles was sent to the Grange School near
Sunderland, then under Dr Cowan. Here his mathe-
* A sailor brother, seven years older than himself, lost at sea
in 1842.
BOYHOOD AND SCHOOL-DAYS. 7
matlcal tastes and powers appear to have been still
further developed, and it became more evident that
Greek and Latin were not the subjects in which he was
most capable of obtaining University distinction. It
was finally determined that he should proceed to Cam-
bridsre. I have before me several letters written home
during this school period, but they contain nothing
sufficiently striking or characteristic to persuade me to
pause upon them. Neither have I been able to re-
cover many stories of his school-days ; but I have met
with one which appears to me sufficiently characteristic
to be worthy of a place in this memoir : of its general
truth I have no doubt, though I have endeavoured in
vain to obtain a version, for the accuracy of which
in all particulars I can vouch. The story is as fol-
lows : — A smaller boy having on one occasion offended
Mackenzie, and committed some act of aggression for
which according to the usual code of schoolboy law he
deserved " a licking," Mackenzie quietly took the boy
aside and remonstrated with him, pointed out to him
how much in the wrong he had been, and by his gentle
behaviour at length moved the offender to tears.
Dr Dawson Turner, now head-master of the Royal
Institution School at Liverpool, but a master at the
Grange School in Bishop Mackenzie's school-days has
favoured me with a letter, from which I will give an
extract. After remarking that Mackenzie's talent was
almost wholly mathematical, and that he never could
have been made a very good scholar, Dr Turner adds,
" In divinity, with me, Mackenzie always did very well,
and gave promise of future ability. I remember him
8 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
most as a very pleasant, good tempered, jolly sort of
boy, very fond of athletic exercises, and one of the best
oars in the two four-oars I got up and taught the
fellows to row in, during my mastership at the Grange.
He was a very good foot-ball player too. As I did not
myself reside in the school-house, I saw but little of
him except in school-hours and in the play-ground ; but
this much I well remember, that he was one of the
very few, out of the very many with whom I have
worked my hardest and best, that ever shewed any
gratitude for the pains taken with them, and took the
trouble of keeping up a kindly acquaintance in after
years with their former schoolmaster. Some time after
I had left the Grange School, Mackenzie, with one or
two other old pupils of mine at Cambridge, sent me a
present of books, and I have still a large and handsome
knife that he gave me on getting his scholarship."
I conclude this chapter with a reminiscence which
has been kindly furnished by the Rev. J. Erskine
Clarke, vicar of St Michael's, Derby, and a contempo-
rary of Bishop Mackenzie at the Grange School. It
will be observed that there is a little discrepancy be-
tween the recollections of Dr Turner and Mr Clarke
on the subject of athletic exercises ; but I give them as
they have come into my hands, observing that the
discrepancy is apparent rather than real.
" I remember well Charles Mackenzie at the Grange
School, Bishopwearmouth. He was not however a hero
among school-boys, though he afterwards proved himself
so true a hero among men. He lacked that dash and
self-assertion which are requisite to give a boy a leading
BOYHOOD AND SCHOOL-DAYS. 9
place amongst his fellows. Moreover, Mackenzie was no
cricketer ; nor indeed much given to athletic exercise at
all.
. " My own most vivid remembrance of him is that of
seeing him walking up and down by a hedgeside in a
remote part of the playground with his arm over the
shoulder of his cousin John Forbes, and often with some
younger lad walking on the other side of him listening
to their talk.
"At the same time when he did join in any games,
he did so with a right goodwill. I can recall him to
my mind making vigorous rushes at foot-ball, or work-
ing hard in the Fives Court, and he was always one of
every party of bathers.
"At lessons he was always studious and attentive,
though his diffidence and shyness prevented his doing
himself full justice in the class. He was one of the
editors of a school-magazine, but the two volumes of it
contain only a few lines by himself, and they are of a
mathematical character.
"The example that he set during his stay at the
Grange was thoroughly good. I never remember hear-
ing him found fault with, and (what could not be said of
many of his contemporaries) I cannot remember his
doing anything which if known would have deserved
rebuke. I have no doubt that Mackenzie's society in-
fluenced to their highest good those boys who were
much with him, and I believe that even the most
graceless lads, who would have spoken of him as rather
soft and very slow, would have acknowledged and in
their hearts have honoured his gentle goodness and his
lo MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
unfailing kindliness of temper, always ready with a'
smile to make his own pleasure give way to that of
others; — the germ of that self-sacrificing love which
afterwards deprived the Church Militant of one of the
most faithful of her soldiers, and gave to Africa another
Martyr's grave."
CHAPTER II.
COLLEGE LIFE— UNDERGRADUATE.
In the year 1844 Mackenzie removed from the Grange
School, and came into residence as a Pensioner of
S. John's College, Cambridge, in October. S. John's
has, as all Cambridge men know, a high reputation for
mathematical vigour, and was selected on this account
as Mackenzie's College. He found however, when he
came into actual residence and was made acquainted
with the rules of his College, that as a Scotchman
he would labour under great disadvantages, and would
in fact be ineligible to a fellowship^ ; he consequently
made up his mind to " migrate " to Caius College, which
he did in the Easter term of 1845.
I was myself a fellow of Caius College, and hold-
ins: office as Mathematical Lecturer, at the time of
Mackenzie's migration. Pumour told us that a very
clever Johnian had come amongst us, and there was I
think a little jealousy excited by the news : the College
^ This restriction is now removed. The Cambridge Calendar in-
forms us that "the Fellowships and Scholarships are open to all British
subjects without any restriction or appropriation."
13 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
was itself stocked with very promising freshmen, as was
demonstrated by the final result of the Senate House
Examination in 1848, and there was a natural tendency
to look with dissatisfaction upon the arrival of a man
from another College, whose accession was understood
to be due to the fact that Scotch blood excluded him
from the emoluments of S. John's. This circumstance
would hardly be worth recording, except for the sake
of appending this remark, that if any jealousy of the
new comer did exist it rapidly vanished under the
influence of his genial presence. Mackenzie soon be-
came a favourite in the CoUege, as he well deserved
to be.
In speaking of my own personal knowledge of
Mackenzie I may here state by the way, that going
out of residence in the summer of 1845 I had little
opportunity of becoming intimately acquainted with
him as a member of the College. I examined him
at the end of his first year, and remember well the
decided superiority which he evinced in his treatment
of a problem paper, which it fell to my lot to set ; but
owing to circumstances, which it is not necessary here
to explain, I saw little or nothing of him again until
the period of his B. A. degree.
The story of Mackenzie's undergraduate life cannot
therefore be given from personal recollection ; but in
truth the most important portion of it will be told
by himself; he was in the habit of writing with great
openness to his sisters, especially to the eldest sister,
spoken of in the preceding chapter, and from some of
his own letters the reader will be able to gather more
COLLEGE LIFE- UNDERGRADUATE. 1 3
surely than from any other source an account of his
inner life and feelings. The reader will also see how
early and how earnestly he looked forward to the sacred
ofl&ce to which he had devoted himself, and how anxious
he was to lose no time in preparing himself for it.
LETTER I.
{To his Eldest Sister.)
My dearest ,
Many thanks for your kind and most acceptable
letter. After I bad sent my letter to tbe post, I began to
wonder what you would tliink of it, and half to wish to
have it back again. Soon after I left borne to go to Grange
I began to think that I must learn to rest on One higher,
and more constantly pi-esent, than any one on this earth
could be, for sympathy and assistance in the struggle of
life : and this led me to what I now think an error, try-
ing to avoid to a certain extent any communication, espe-
cially correspondence, on religious subjects. For I don't
know whether I am of a more sympathetic nature than
other people, but I do think that as long as I am in the
body I must be influenced very much for good or ill by
intercourse with others ; and why should I shut all the
avenues of the former only to give the full advantage of the
influence to the other 1
As to books, I have taken to Leighton again, in con-
sequence of the high praise which a friend gave him the
other day, and I like him quite as well as ever. Also I
have asked the loan of Manning's sermons.
* -X- * * *
My mathematical studies are getting on pretty fairly
now, though not quite perfectly. The fact is, I sometimes
think I have lost that engrossing interest in the subject
which I once felt. But then, again, I am not sure that it
may not be as well that this should be so : for other things
14 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
of greater importance will soon become my daily business,
and it might have distracted me.
And now to come to the next subject of your letter.
* * * * *
[His sister had recommended him to make application
to a clergyman to allow him to assist in pastoral work : and
he accordingly made application to a Fellow of the College,
the Rev. W. B. Hopkins, now Vicar of Wisbech, who then
held a curacy in Cambridge.]
*****
He at once said, " Oh you wish to go among the poor,
do youl then I think I can give you a little work to do;"
and he went on to describe a set of little houses in the
suburbs \ where a number of old women live, who are sup-
ported by a benefit society, and who are a long way from
their parish-church; and when I afterwards said that my
idea was to go with some Clergyman, he oflfered to let me
go with him some day. So I thankfully accepted his offer,
though it had never occurred to me to ask him.
This morning he told me to come to him at eleven, and
we went to see a woman who had a very bad cough, and
had been in bed for a year. When we came out again, I
had quite made up my mind that it was not a mere accident
that I had asked his advice on the point. He was so kind
and shewed me a book giving practical directions on the
subject of pastoral \'isitation, and promised to give me a
copy. Altogether I must bless God, and thank you for the
suggestion of what will I am sure by His aid be a most use-
ful and instructive and corrective exercise; and by Hopkins'
account of the jwor old women (about whom, however, he is
to make more particular enquiry), if I go once or twice in
a week and read to them, it will be giving them what they
have no means of getting at present.
* * * * *
* The Victoria Asylum. The description of the Asylum, given in
the letter, is not quite accurate.
COLLEGE LIFE— UNDERGRADUATE. 15
This plan for the visitation of the aged inmates of
the Victoria Asylum was carried out with the consent
of the clergyman of the parish, and was a source of great
comfort to the old people and great satisfaction to Mac-
kenzie himself The following is his own modest account
of his early labours.
LETTER 11.
{To the same.)
My dearest ,
What I wanted particularly to speak to you about
is, the reading at the Asylum to the old people. I fancy
what you thought of was, my going on a week-day into a
house, and being quiet and simple ; but somehow Hopkins
seemed to think that going up on a Sunday afternoon and
getting them all together, (there are twelve sets of rooms, and
very often a husband and wife, at any rate more than one
in a set of rooms, so that the number is about twenty,)
would be a good plan, and at the time I left it quite in his
hands, and agreed to whatever he thought best. The con-
sequence was, that, after having been up once without and
once with my Bible in my pocket, 1 went up last Sunday at
two. But it was so new a position, and I could not feel,
(what I imagine must be a great support in the pulpit,) that
I was God's appointed servant, only doing my duty in being
His ambassador. On the contrary, it seemed as if I had
undertaken it of myself, and I could not fancy that anything
I could say would be of any use. I had spent some hours
in preparation before going there, on the two previous days,
and on the Sunday morning itself; but when I got there,
though the number was small, in consequence of all that
could get out to church having gone there for the Sacra-
ment, yet I got quite red in the face, and after reading the
l6 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
chapter (S. John xiv.), I went over it again, throwing in a
few remarks where 1 could. Then we knelt down, and read
some of the collects and prayers from the Prayer-book.
On the whole, I should have felt perfectly miserable, if I
had not remembered, that lame and wretched as my endea-
vour had been, it was better than nothing; for I had read
the words of the Bible and used the prayers of holy men,
and that if I had not gone, no one else would; so that I
was not stepping in any one's way. Biit the woi-st of it all
is, that this week having determined to go on Wednesday
to see one or two of the old people quietly, when the time
came I felt disinclined, and went out for a walk instead,
though my conscience told me that I was robbing God of
what I had devoted to Him. * * * It was curious
that I perceived, or fancied T perceived, a change come over
me soon after, and that night and the next morning I was
quite out of sorts and disinclined for duty of any kind.
* * * To-day I cannot have been altogether alone in fix-
ing my resolution to go up. And when I got there, I went
to a very nice family, an old man and woman, and two
young women their daughters : we went through the 32nd
Psalm; and I came away, not much happier, but thankful
that I had been spared the pain, which I am sure I should
have felt, if I had quenched the resolution to good which
was just formed within me. My dear , pray for me,
that my faith may be strengthened and my love warmed,
for that is, I think, mv great want.
I will ask the reader to note an expression in the
foregoing letter, which may possibly have escaped him,
but which he will find to contain the motive principle
of Mackenzie's conduct in the higher path of duty to
which he was afterwards called : if I had not gone, no
one else would : there is not the hint of a feeling that
COLLEGE LIFE— UNDERGRADUATE. ij
in ministering to the poor folks at the Asylum he was
doing anything extraordinary, or doing his work better
than others could have done it : on the other hand, he
is very humble indeed as to the work and the way in
which it was done, and only takes comfort from the
thought that if he had not done it, no one else would.
It will be found hereafter that this same thought, the
thought that there was work to be done for God and
apparently no one ready to do it, impelled him to leave
all and follow Clirist into foreign lands.
It will be judged, from the anxiety which Mackenzie
felt to be doing something in the way of humble minis-
tration, that he kept his eye steadily upon that work
of the ministry for which he considered himself to be
in a state of preparation, and towards which he desired
all his reading and study to converge. At the same
time he did not forget that University work was his
principal work while in statu pupillari, and he was
wise enough to perceive that it is a short-sighted policy
to neglect the full training of the mental powers
under the tempting notion of doing God service. I
suspect however that, like many other earnest young
men, Mackenzie sometimes felt himself pressed by his
feelings in this direction : in one of his undergraduate
letters he writes thus :
Mr R.'s letter arrived * * * It was quite general,
rccommeuding strict and full attention to the University
course. I answered it as well as I coidd, trying to throw in
a spirit of acquiescence in his principle, that a young man's
chief object up here should be his degree. This I presume
is because it is supposed to be the best preparation for his
profession; for I cannot see how it is else. However, prac-
2
l8 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
tically I am convinced it is : that is, my theoretical doubts,
if they exist, do not^ I think, interfere with any wish and
intention to work hard, as in my case at least it is plainly
a duty, even if it is not the chief one.
Accordingly lie worked hard ; and when I have
said this, and have tempered the view of a man given
chiefly to mathematics by the qualifying thought of
those old people at the Asylum with their kind reader
and ministering friend, I have said almost all that is
necessary of Mackenzie's undergraduate career. I will,
however, throw in a few extracts from his letters, which
will, as I believe, be not without interest. "J^he letters
are all addressed to sisters, and are written in the tone
of confidential intercourse. The portions which are
here preserved may be regarded as straws, shewing
the direction of the stream of Mackenzie's thoughts at
this period.
% -X- * * *
Your letter has given me great pleasure on a second
perusal, and indeed, dear A , if we could only see the
things which are behind this temporal universe, and which
will be made manifest to us when it is dissolved, how trifling
should we account those things which now occupy so much
of our attention; and how vexy different those tilings look,
when we try to look through them, and when we allow the
light and glory of those things which are naturally unseen
to beam through them! And if the glory of the unseen
world is such as to illuminate earthly beauties with such a
heavenly radiance, how sui-passingly glorious will be the
vision, which shall assuredly burst upon our eyes, when
death shall have dissolved the thick film which now pre-
vents our seeing clearly.
COLLEGE LIFE— UNDERGRADUATE. 19
There is little doing here different from what I have
already described. I have picked up the beginning of an
acqiiaintance with one of my fellow-pupUs, C — , and expect
to find in him a friend. We agreed one evening in lament-
ing the fact that a man is constantly hoping that he has
found pei'fection in an acquaintance, in whom on after and
further knowledge he finds just faults enough to spoil the
delightful delusion : and I have been endeavouring to mode-
rate my hopes of his own perfection by this very maxim.
There is the chapel-bell going ; so I shall not attempt
to finish this. I missed going to chapel this morniag for
the first time since I came up. The fact is I had a very
slight attack of cold. There is the chapel- bell stopping.
This is to-morrow evening, and we have just come out
of hall; so I'll go on. I truly sympathise with you, my
dear E , in your regrets on the shortlived effects of God's
dispensations to us, whether of warning and pleading as in
sickness, or of mercy and love in I'evealing His mercy to
us. We might almost be tempted to think it would be
better if we were not such frail fallible eiring creatures as
we are. But all things are in His hands, and all these
things are working together for our ultimate good. And
what, I tliink, we should do, is neither to sit still and fancy
He will do all for us, (for though it be true that except the
Lord keep the city their labour is but vain that guard it,
yet He will not guard those who are careless themselves,)
nor must we be utterly discouraged, though Satan will often
whisper that God has forsaken us. But let ixs look to Him
as a loving Father, who occasionally allows us to withdraw
our hand from His, that we may know and feel how weak
our tottering steps are, and how helpless we are without
Him.
And now do not fancy that I am preaching to you in a
Pharisaical spirit. But mv idea is that siuce we are so
2— ;i
20 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
often reading things which draw away our minds from God,
and as our intercourse with society generally has this tend-
ency, it is well occasionally to try and lielp each other on
our heavenward course, instead of throwing entanglements
in each other's way ; and (unlike the literal case) this assist-
ing each other will give ourselves a "fillip" instead of de-
taining us.
*****
You know the prayer for the Church Militant in the
Communion Service. We have it every Sunday in the Col-
lege Chapel, and on my more attentive days I do enjoy it
.so much. I know none which give such a delightful view
of the communion, in feeling at least, between the Church
Militant and the Chiu'ch Triumphant.
*****
Since my return I have not been killing myself with
work. I have been reading a little in the morninor takinaj
good exercise in the afternoon, when I could, and playing
chess all the evening. The latter we have been playing
under a curious modification : a four game : two and two
l)artners, playing round in turns, each with his own set of
men on an enlarged board. If one man is checkmated, he
does not play any more, and his pieces stand on the board
and cannot be taken, till his partner takes the piece which
checks him, or forces its owner to withdraw it, when the
dead man is restored and plays on again all right. The
games are very long and sometimes tedious, especially if
you are mated. We had not time to finish a second the
other night between six and twelve ! It is rather a waste
of time perhaps, but then this is the vacation.
*****
I am going to set to work for the evening in a few mi-
nutes, but I think a word or two to you first would be plea-
sant. This has been the fii-st week of work this term, and
at the beginning I set myself a sort of scheme of what I was
COLLEGE LIFE— UNDERGRADUATE. 2 1
to do all the term ; and in looking back I find I have lost
about three or four hours of mathematics, no chapels, no
exercise, and no sleep : so you see that is pretty well. I am
not at all inclined to work to-night, but I suppose there is
no help for it,
*****
I need not say how fully I feel for and with you in your
account of your own distress, and I think one consolation
which you evidently had in your mind is, that this world
is appointed as a scene of warfare and struggle. Though
Keble's lines apply directly to acting clergy alone, yet the
argument is the same to all :
But chiefly ye should lift your gaze
Above the world's uncertain haze,
And look with calm unwavering eye
On the bright fields beyond the sky,
Ye, who your Lord's commission bear.
His way of mercy to prepare :
Angels He calls ye : be your strife
To lead on earth an Angel's life.
Think not of rest ; though dreams be sweet,
Start up, and ply your heavenward feet I
Is not God's oath upon your head,
Ne'er to sink back on slothful bed,
Never again your loins untie.
Nor let your torches waste and die.
Till, when the shadows thickest fall,
Ye h ar your Master's midnight call?
And then think of the short, the very short, time it can
last. How we shall wish one day that we had some farther
opportunity of working in this life for our Master's glory !
I do not know what the commentators say, but it struck me
the other day that this might be the meaning when it is
said in the Psalms, " No man praiseth Thee in the grave,
and shall the dust give thanks, or shall it declare Thy
truth?" For we shall give thanks to Him in the gi-ave,
2 2 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
but not declare His truth to man. However, this may be
straining the text.
I look forward now a good deal to being at work in a
parish. I have seen a very little of the sort of thing, and
this my present wox'k [at the Asylum] is as good a prepa-
ration as anything I could do in the meantime. But it will
be much greater and much grander than anything we can
conceive.
In January 1848 Mackenzie graduated with Mathe-
matical honors ; in Cambridge language he was second
Wrangler, the Senior Wrangler being Mr Todhunter
of S. John's College. With this amount of success he
was abundantly satisfied, and it only remained that he
should obtain one of the two prizes, called Dr Smith's
prizes, which are given to two of the most distinguished
mathematicians of the year, in order to complete his
honours. This prize, however, he was not fortunate
enough to obtain. As it happened that I was my-
self one of the examiners, acting as deputy for the
then Lucasian Professor, Dr King, President of Queens'
College, I may perhaps be permitted in a few words to
explain the manner of Mackenzie's failure. Three
papers were set, one by Dr Whewell, Master of Trinity
College, another by Professor Challis, and the third by
myself. No one of the examiners had any doubt as to
the propriety of assigning the first prize to Mr Tod-
hunter ; but with regard to the second the results of
the papers were not unanimous ; in one Mackenzie was
admitted to be first, in another Mr Barry, fourth
COLLEGE LIFE— UNDERGRADUATE. 23
Wrangler, was allowed to have surpassed him, and in
the third the examiner was unable to say which of the
two was the superior ; under these circumstances, the
examiners, having had two meetings and taken time
to re-examine the papers, considered that the case was
one in which they were bound to act upon a provision
in Dr Smith's will, by which in case of equality he
desires that men of Trinity College shall have a prefer-
ence for his prizes. The second prize was accordingly
adjudged to MrBany. Immediately on knowing the
result Mackenzie wrote a most friendly letter to his
successful rival, and remarked to one of his sisters
that " he felt it was much better for him that it should
be so : one was so apt to be elated and hurt by too
much success."
The following is his letter to Mr Barry.
LETTER III.
Haecos, Tuesday,
My dear Batiry,
Your kind note wliicli reached me this mominir
was the first intimation I had of the resiilt, and I must con-
fess that at the moment a shade came over my face. But
when I came to consider the matter, I came to the conclu-
sion that it was very much better as it is. For myself I
am convinced that what I had already gained is enough for
my weak head to stand, though some people might fancy it
was not much turned by it ; and this now sets you in your
proper place, and shews openly what all in Cambridge would
believe without it.
Do not fancy that I think myself a disappointed man in
the smallest degree : the prize itself is of course nothing ;
34 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
the being bracketed second is as good in reality as being
second with a gap below one; and I think my considera-
tion for others, though it is not always so great as it should
be, may well lead me to rejoice in sympathy with you.
I am really very much obliged to you for writing. It
reproves myself; for I left many letters unanswered when
I left Cambridge, on the plea of being busy with examina-
tions. And now, my dear fellow, let me encourage you for
the next examination '. If you don't think of the happiness
we are having, who have done with this kind of work, you
will long for it less, though certainly I am transgressing my
own rule in thus reminding you ; and finally let me excuse
myself for the length of this epistle, on the score of a natural
clumsiness of expression,
And believe me to be
Your sincere friend,
C. F. M.
An amusing anecdote maybe recorded in connection
■with this Smith's Prize examination. Mackenzie had
gone from Cambridge before the result of the examina-
tion was known, leaving word with his friends to tele-
graph the result to York, where he would inquire for the
message, while himself en route to Edinburgh. Arriving
at York he went to the Telegi'aph Office and asked
anxiously for the message ; he was informed that a mes-
sao;e had arrived, but was of so stranoje a character that
the clerk had telegraphed for a repetition of it, thinking
that there must be some error. " Let me see it," said
Mackenzie. Whereupon the clerk handed him the follow-
ing charming piece of English. " The Muffs have post-
poned the decision till to-morrow — Keep your tail up."
^ The examination for the Classical Tripos, in which Mr Barry scon
after gained first Class honours.
COLLEGE LLFE— UNDERGRADUATE. 25
I am not sure that tlie second word of the message
was not spelt in a somewhat unusual and eccentric
manner, namely, Mough. Anyhow the telegraphic offi-
cial was puzzled ; but Mackenzie relieved his mind by
assuring him that he understood what was meant, and
canied away the facetious but unsatisfactory message.
Another anecdote connected with this period of
Mackenzie's life will here find a fitting place ; and
I the rather record it, because it is highly illustrative
of his character and the principles of his conduct. It so
happened that the year of Mackenzie's Bachelor of Arts'
degree coincided Math the 500th Anniversary of the
foundation of the College : it was a fortunate coinci-
dence, for Caius College had done itself in that year
very great credit : it numbered no less than nine
wranglers, the 2nd, 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 18th, 25th,
S4th and 38th out of a list of thirty-eight, an achieve-
ment I believe unexampled in the history of any of the
smaller colleges. The 500th Anniversary of the foun-
dation of the College was the cause of a grand dinner,
at which many pleasant toasts were proposed, as befitted
the occasion. Amongst them the then Bishop of Nor-
wich (Dr Stanley) proposed, in a very warm-hearted
speech, the health of Mackenzie and the other wranglers
who had just brought so much glory to their College.
Whereupon Mackenzie was compelled unexpectedly to
make a speech; and the speech he made was very short
and very blunt, but so thoroughly to the purpose, and
delivered with such simplicity and such beaming good-
nature, that it elicited thunders of applause. He said
that " the Bishop of Norwich had spoken of his fellows
26 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
and himself in terms far too flattering : that they did
not deserve the praise he had been kind enough to
award them : for they had only done ivhat was natural
under the circumstances," — the i-emainder of the speech,
if remainder there was, was lost in a ton"ent of jovial
cheering and approbation, and Mackenzie found to his
surprise, that instead of blundering in his part, as I
doubt not he had expected to do, he had made one of
the most successful hits of the evening. He spoke
however in jest what was true, so far as he himself was
concerned, in sober earnest : it was always his way to
do what was natural under any circumstances in which
he found himself placed : he never strove to seem any-
thing that he was not, or to do anything which it
seemed beside his duty to do : he was always easy,
always natural, and herein lay the secret of that great
charm of his character to which I am confident that all
those who knew him well would bear the most abun-
dant testimony.
Mr Barry has kindly furnished the following per-
sonal recollections of this period of Bishop Mackenzie's
life.
" I first became acquainted with Bishop Mackenzie
in October 1845, when we were undergraduates to-
gether at Cambridge. I do not think that I enjoyed
in his case that special intimacy, which is given only to
one or two friends, and which, at that time of life
especially, makes those friends the sharers of almost
every thought or feeling in a man's mind. But, from
October 1845 till January 1848 we met constantly in
Mr Hopkins' mathematical class. In that class (which
COLLEGE LIFE— UNDERGRADUATE. IJ
in our year included the first four Wranglers) we had
daily opportunities of judging of each other, not only
as to intellectual powers, but also, to some extent, as
to temper and chai'acter ; and the two Long Vacations
which we spent together at Cambridge naturally threw
us more upon one another for companionship. All this
gave opportunity of mutual knowledge ; and Mackenzie's
character was one which made such knowledge in his
case both easy and attractive.
" I should perhaps leave Mr Hopkins to speak of his
mathematical powers ; but there may be some peculiar
interest in the opinion formed of a man by his contem-
poraries, and of that I can certainly bear my testimony.
What we were struck with was the union in him of
great quickness of conception with an unusual compre-
hensiveness and solidity of understanding. I never re-
member to have heard from him a single answer which
betrayed ignorance or misconception of a piinciple. He
had the true mathematical faculty, the results of which
are often simulated in examinations by great powers of
memory and judgment; but which, unlike its counter-
feit, has real capacity for origination and discovery. In
fact, that very quickness and originality seemed to us
occasionally to turn him out of the beaten track which
leads to the Senate-House. It was not in his way to
despise regular system ; but he seemed to forget or to
ignore it, and would obtain results without that regular
evolution of intermediate steps, on which Cambridge
Examinations naturally and rightly insist.
"Except in relation to mathematics, I do not remem-
ber to have been impressed by his ability. He was no
28 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
great talker on general subjects; I do not think that
he ever spoke at the Union, or took part in the discus-
sion of the great religious questions which excited most
of us so strongly. In the ways, therefore, which most
bring out a man's ability independently of the course
of University study, he did not shew much of what was
in him. It was a subject of some surprise to us that
such was the case. I hardly know now to what cause
to refer it. In general intercourse we were most struck
with the remarkable simplicity, sincerity, and kindliness
of his character, the utter absence in him of anything
like conceit or presumption, or that straining after
effect which every University-man knows as the com-
mon temptation of the leading men of a year. But I
do not remember to have noticed in him any decided
line of opinion or thought; or to have been strongly
impressed by evidence of any mai-ked and predominant
influence of religion upon his life. Such influence ma}'-
have existed, and been kept in reserve; certainly we
always thought of him as a religious man, and the
groundwork of a true Christian character was to be
seen in his almost childlike simplicity, honesty, and
kindliness of heart. But it did not, so far as I know,
shine out clear above all other influences, as it did
in after life. I heard of his devotion to the mission-
ary work with some surprise, surprise (that is) that
the impulse to it had been received, but not sm^prise
that he should count cheap his own gifts and labours in
any cause which he had once taken up. I heard after-
wards that the impulse had been given through the
sermons of one not unlike himself in simplicity and
COLLEGE LIFE— UNDERGRADUATE. 29
practical earnestness. But by whatever means received,
it, and the train of thought which led to it, seemed to
make a wonderful change in his whole character."
The reader who has perused the portions of letters
printed in this chapter may perhaps regard with some
astonishment the statements made in the preceding
paragraph. But I have thought it well to give the two
testimonies side by side: his own letters shew what was
going on within, and prove that a strong impulse of re-
ligious activity, which had in it the germ of missionary
enterprise, had already touched Mackenzie's heart : the
reminiscences of his fellow-student shew how modest
and unobtrusive his religious feeling was. Some per-
sons may say that it would have been well that his
light should have been made to shine more distinctly :
possibly this may be true ; but the point is not worth
arguing, since my purpose must be to represent
Mackenzie, not as he might have been, but as he
was : yet this ought to be said, that the retiring mo-
desty and unobtrusiveness of his religious character
was probably that which, more than anything else,
gave him an influence for good : there was nothing to
repel : all was brightness, and gentleness, and sunshine :
and it was scarcely possible to be in his society with-
out coming to the conclusion, that he had found out
the secret of life, and that it would be well to be like
him.
CHAPTER III.
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS.
I HAVE not said anything hitherto of Bishop Mackenzie's
personal appearance. As we have now arrived at a
period of his Hfe, when his outward man had become
very much what it continued to be during his brief
sojourn upon earth, it may be well in this place to
devote a few lines to the description of his person, for
the benefit of those amongst my readers, who will know
him only through the imperfect medium of this me-
moir.
He was tall, nearly six feet high, and very well
made. He had great muscular strength, and remark-
able power of endurance. The portrait given in this
volume gives a fair representation of his face : it was
not in any critical sense handsome, but it was such a
face as one loves to look upon. There was in it an
exceeding gentleness of expression ; indeed it appeared
to be a face which could not frown : it was withal very
thoughtful, and had a certain quiet air of deliberation,
which his friends will well remember. His eyes were
not large, or rather they were too small, but they were
COLLEGE LLFE—IIOLY ORDERS. 31
very bright, and had a pleasing expression quite pecu-
liar to themselves. A great deal of courage and de-
termination was expressed by his mouth. His voice
was very musical and pleasant, with a little of the
Scottish accent, especially when he was animated. His
forehead was fine and well developed, but perhaps
somewhat exaggerated by his early baldness. On the
whole his ovitward appearance suited very well with
his inward character; strong, manly, active, enduring,
yet gentle and preeminently free from guile. He was
rapid in his movements, a very fast walker, fond of
violent exercise, especially of boating; calculated by
his good health, powerful frame, and excellent spirits,
to enjoy life physically as completely as it can be en-
joyed. He sometimes overtasked his strength, and
appeared for a while oppressed and weary; but he soon
rallied, and never lost his calm placidity of temper.
During his residence in Cambridge I believe his good
health never varied, and his bodily strength (as will
appear in the sequel) underwent little or no dimi-
nution during life. In his last sojourn in Africa he
allowed his beard to grow ; a very necessary precaution
in the prospect of the life which he was to lead.
After taking his Bachelor of Arts' degree, Mackenzie
followed the course into which a number of young men
are tempted year by year in Cambridge; that is to
say, he soon became a fellow of his College, worked as
lecturer or assistant tutor, and employed a certain por-
tion of his time with private pupils. Meanwhile he
never allowed himself to look upon this kind of life as
anything but a temporary and preparatory arrange-
32 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
ment; he ever kept his eye fixed upon the Christian
]\Iinistry as his work and calhng, and endeavoured to fit
himself for his future character, both by study and by
practical assistance in such spiritual works as he found
lying in his way. Thus he undertook the manage-
ment of a Sunday school, he took an active part in the
working of a Mendicity Society, served as secretary to
the Cambridge Board of Education, and helped to cany
on the Cambridge Industrial School. In fact, any one
who had a work of Christian love and practical useful-
ness in hand knew always where to look for help :
Mackenzie was always ready to take a part, and though
in some respects his habits were not those of a man of
business, being deficient in orderly arrangement and
economy of time, still there was a heartiness and sim-
plicity of purpose, and an unfailing supply of good
humour, which made him a delightful comrade in any
work, whether secular or religious.
When I speak of his habits as being in some re-
spects not those of a man of business, I only say that
to which he himself frequently bears testimony in his
letters. In one of them he alludes humorously to a
saying current amongst his friends, to the effect that
he had a marvellous facility for getting into "gigantic
messes," and an equal facility for getting out of them.
The fact is that he was always ready to consent to
undertake any kind of useful or benevolent work
which was pressed upon him ; and not unfrequently
the engagements which he contracted were incompa-
tible, or so nearly approaching to incompatibility, that
it would seem impossible that they could be all ful-
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS. 33
filled. Yet somehow he contrived to do what he pre-
mised, and to perform works which men technically
more business-like would perhaps have failed to ac-
complish.
Correspondence was not his strong point ; at least,
his correspondence was not regular and not systema-
tical ; and as a minor defect I may mention that the
greater number of his college letters are not dated as
to time, so that they cannot be quite certainly arranged.
A considerable number of letters, written to his sisters,
have however been placed in my hands, and I shall
endeavour, as far as may be, to make them tell the
main tale of this portion of his life. The tale will be
very simple and uneventful, and will be chiefly inter-
esting as exhibiting the quiet and modest manner, in
which the great purpose of leaving aU and following
Christ gradually ripened in his soul.
The following letter addressed to his eldest sister
will shew something of the inner workings of his mind
soon after the period of his B.A. degTee. Bearing in
mind the peculiarly close relation of love and confi-
dence in which Mackenzie stood to this sister, as already
mentioned, the reader will believe that he has in this
letter a genuine peep into the writer's heart, and will
probably be struck with the honesty of purpose and
the humility whicli it reveals. The letter, though un-
dated, may be assigned from internal evidence to April
1848. On May 4 of that year Mackenzie was apjDointed
one of the secretaries to the Cambridge Board of Edu-
cation, in the place of the E.ev. J. J. Smith ; he held
the office until 1855, when he was compelled to resign
3
34 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
by his departure for Africa. This is the appointment
to which allusion is made in the letter.
LETTER lY.
Caius College. Friday.
My dear
I have been very remiss in my correspondence
with every one this term, and perhaps with yoii it may
partly have unconsciously arisen from my not having got
quite into the sort of reading we thovight of. This has
arisen partly from my wishing to get on with my Hebrew,
there being a class which I joined and found myself of
coiirse quite behind the rest ; and I felt it due to them to
work as hard as I could, to get up to them as soon as pos-
sible. But, besides this, I have not given nearly so long to
divinity as we spoke of; for at first it was some little time
before I got into the way of my work, and then when I had
got started fairly boating soon began, and that occupied not
only the middle of the day when we actually rowed, but the
morning also, for we breakfasted together; and so I lost not
only my hour of divinity or Leighton in the morning, but
I am sorry to say sometimes even my time for reading and
prayer; and that very soon cast a gloom and deadness on
my whole life.
Still all this time I was obliged to give my energies
during four hours of the day to my pupils.
It was strange that my work at the Asylum never be-
came a drudgery or a trouble to me. Indeed, one day I put
myself and the whole crew to considerable inconvenience on
purpose that I might go up. But I think I was partly led
to this by a lurking feeling of pride that I must not be
remiss in a piece of business which I had voluntarily under-
taken, and of which a good many people knew.
And now one consequence of all this has been, that I
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS. ^^
have got the vaguest ideas of what is a man's duty and what
is not. One thing I clearly see, that it is a duty to study
the Bible; but I am losing interest in it. Then as to
prayer, I often don't know what to pray for; and I feel
sometimes as if I had no object in life. Now this looks,
I think, very much like the state of a man who has not
done his duty, and as if I ought to look at the text, " If any
man will do His will," A:c. But then the question comes
back, — what is His will 1 I am not breaking any external
law : I am going regularly to Chapel : aad probably no one
would find any fault with me who looked at me from with-
out,— unless they charged me with a little indolence. But
it is in the heart that the mischief lies, and I don't know
what to do. I have not been thoroughly happy for some
time, and have felt lowspirited for a day or two.
Sometimes I think that the preaching I hear here is too
much about the feelings — talking about love and faith and
hope — without speaking of duty.
* -» * * -A
Sometimes I feel almost inclined to repine at my lot
because it is so prosperous, and to wish that I had some of
those afflictions which are so often spoken of as necessary
for men : but then I doubt whether it may not be that I
should be unable to endure, and that God is sparing me till
my strength is greater.
I do not think that the respect which is joaid to " a good
degree" is good for me. The other day, Smith, our late
tutor, ojETered me an office which he had held, namely, one of
the Secretaryships to the Cambridge Board of Education.
At first I declined it, as mixing me up with men so much
my seniors, and as pushing myself forward. But he over-
ruled this objection by saying, that my position in the
University was quite sufficient to justify it, and so by
Hopkins' advice I accepted, I mention this to shew what
I consider the idolatry of Mathematical and Classical talent
which exists here.
S— 2
3^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
If my poor head could stand it, it would be all very
well as increasing one's influence over others.
I mentioned ■ the fact of the vagueness of my ideas of
duty and of the object of a man's life to and , two
of my companions. The one said he believed it was com-
mon at our time of life to have doubts and difficulties, and
they would wear off. The other became metaphysical, and
got into the subject of the purposes of temptation, which
he said was a mystery too deep for us to fathom.
On the whole I am inclined to think that I have taken
my religion too much on trust ; and I have trembled to
think how little foundation I have laid to confront any
doubts of the inspiration of the Bible, if such should arise
in my mind. I have often laughed at the idea of doubting
it, as if I could ever be such a fool; and I am half in-
clined to go into the question now.
Of the year 1848 I have hardly any other record
beside the preceding, but I find in a letter to a sister
the following pretty passage :
Do you remember the story of , on seeing the moon
after his long journey, saying. Eh! hoo far she's corned/
That has sometimes suggested to me the very consoling
thought, that not only the sun and the moon, but a far
greater than they, is as much in one jjlace as in another;
and that in the silent chamber, when the eyes are shut, one
may make a home of every place : and surely that is the
time when one more apparently and certainly breathes a
true and real life. If the spirit of such moments were
spread over our whole day, we should make a home whei'e-
ever we went, or at least get glimpses of a home that is as
near one place as another.
COLLEGE LIIE—HOLY ORDERS 37
The following year is a still more complete blank
as regards correspondence; at least, nothing has come
into my hands serving to illustrate the general fact which
I know from other sources, namely, that Mackenzie was
leading a quiet, amiable, and useful life in College,
lecturing most conscientiously, working vigorously with
private pupils, taking his share in the work of the
college-boat, and setting an admirable example to the
young men above whom he was just one step removed
in University standing. It is difl&cult to exaggerate
the usefulness of such a life in Cambridge, while at
the same time there is very little to be said about it.
And there was this special excellence in the life and
example of Mackenzie, that they could not fail to make
piety popular ; it was, I believe, impossible not to like
him, and it was eqiially impossible not to respect him ;
and it may be said, without fear of contradiction from
those who know the habits and atmosphere of Cam-
bridge, that a young man of acknowledged intellectual
ability, who is able to join together, without effort or
ostentation, the reading of the Scriptures to aged people
in an Asylum, or the teaching of a Sunday school, with
the exercises of the river or the cricket-field, is beyond
all others likely to influence for good the young mem-
bers of the University.
The next letter belongs apparently to the summer
of 1850 ; it refers to the "late interest in the Exami-
nations," which must mean the College Examinations
in the month of May, at the conclusion of the work of
the Easter Term ; and this consideration would seem
to place the letter somewhere in the Long Vacation of
SS MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
that year. But Mackenzie's unfortunate carelessness in
dating his letters makes it uncertain even to what year
it belongs ; the point is however of no great moment ; it
may suffice to say that he seems not to have accepted
the offer made to him, the records of the school shew-
ing that he never was actually superintendent. Pray
observe, readers, the modesty with which he expresses
a doubt, whether, if Mr Titcomb had known all, he
would have offered him the situation. The letter is
to his eldest sister.
My dear
LETTER V.
Caius College. Monday.
The immediate object of my writing is to tell you
of a proposal which was made to me the other day.
One of the suburbs of Cambridge, called Barnwell, is
veiy thicldy inhabited, and by poor people. There are two
schools attached to the pai-ish, and in one of these I taught
for three or four Sundays this summer, when most of the
teachers were gone away, for in it almost all the teachers
are University men. This made my name known to the
clergyman, Mr Titcomb, and about a fortnight ago he
offered me the superintendentship of the Girls' school. He
made the proposal to me verbally through Hopkins, who
got me my post at the Asylum. Hopkins seemed inclined
to dissuade me from accepting, because I should then have
to leave the other — I mean the Asylum. But Mr Titcomb
wrote me a very strong letter, requesting me to think of it.
He asked me to breakfast yesterday morning, and then we
went to the school. The duties are to be there twice on
Sunday, to oversee the whole, and I suppose to take a class
occasionally, and to conclude with a short address. Then
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS. 39
during tlie week there would always be some cliildren to see
after, aud some houses therefore to go to, and tliis would
give a taste of parish visiting.
Now I want your advice. * * '"" * I will just give
you my own ideas, and if you could manage to write soon,
I should really like to hear what you think. I should
not move from my present position, which I am getting
to like better, without some positive i-eason. As far as I
am concerned myself, the Sunday work would be longer.
* * * * -Q^^^ ^j-jgj^ there would be the additional ad-
vantage of an insight into the working of a Sunday school.
As to the week-day work, it would be about the same in
time, perhaps a little more, but different in this respect,
that there would be more going among people whom I did
not know, and who did not know me, and would so far
be more like my final parish-work. At first I thought this
an advantage, but now I almost think it better to practise
with people whom I have got to know a little, and not
to dive at once into the full difficulties of visiting. Then
as to whether I should be fitted for the position : Mr
Titcomb thought at first that I had taught for a good while
in another school, and perhaps if he had known, as he now
does, that it was only for three or four days, he might not
have made the offer.
So far it seems to me the question is pretty nearly ba-
lanced ; and when I come to consider the two claims upon
me as duties, it seems still pretty nearly equal. For I
am engaged with the one at present. Yet Mr Titcomb is
very pressing. He wishes to have a Bachelor of Arts, and
not an Undergraduate; and it is not very easy to find
a resident B.A. who would be willing to undertake the
work. He says, if I decline, he has no other satisfactory
course to fall back upon : the present superintendent has
just been ordained, and has got a curacy. On the whole
I am in great doubt. I had declined, you see, and now
it is brought before me again. If an Undergraduate can
40 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
be found to take my place at the Asylum, I almost think
I shall go : and yet I am getting very fond of the old
people, and I really think most of them like me ; they
might be shy with another, at any rate at first.
T am sorry to say that the late interest in the Exami-
nations has too much directed my thoughts from other things.
I never perceived at the time very distinctly that I had
almost entirely discontinued reading Leighton, or anything
of that sort. And then too they stopped morning Chapels,
and that made my attendance then both less regular and
less profitable : for it is a very different thing going to
Chapel straight from your bed-room before breakfast, and
coming away from a merry meeting of friends after dinner
for the same j^urpose : and, as I always find, everything else
went wrong at the same tima I did not regi'et that I
could not see my old people during the Examination week :
but now that the stress of that is over, I hope to be a
little more regular ; though I sometimes think, what is the
use of a religion which yields in time of difficulty, and
cannot keep straight except in time of ease and peace 1
In the autumn of 1850 he made a tour in Swit-
zerland, his first and only tour in that glorious country.
Notwithstanding the natural deficiency of taste for
scenery, of which he seems to have been accused in his
younger days, he manifestly enjoyed this trip exceed-
ingly. Several letters are before me, written with all
that enthusiasm which a first acquaintance with the
grander features of nature is almost sure to beget : there
is in them, however, nothing so characteristic as to make
me think it desirable to transfer their contents to these
pages : Mackenzie performed no gigantic and unprece-
dented feat of mountaineering, but enjoyed himself in
COLLEGE LIFE- HOLY ORDERS. 4^
the well- worn path, which so many travellers tread year
by year ; visited Interlaken and the valley of Lauter-
brunnen, passed over the Wengern Alp, and enjoyed
Grind el wald, intended to go over the Strahleck and did
not do it, slept on the summit of the Faulhorn, &c. &c.
I may observe, however, that the letters give the im-
pression, which I have had confirmed by actual testi-
mony, that Mackenzie was a first-rate travelling com-
panion : few things are more trying to the temper than
partnership in travel : very good friends fall out under
the influence of the small annoyances and unavoidable
differences of opinion incident to this kind of partner-
ship ; and I have heard of two persons, who during a
succession of summers started together for a pleasure
trip, but never returned in company. Perhaps, there-
fore, this may be a not unfitting place for bearing
testimony to Mackenzie's perfect serenity of temper
in small things. I have seen him in many different
circumstances, sometimes very annoying and trying,
but I never upon one occasion saw his temper ruffled,
or observed the slightest cloud of annoyance to settle
upon his countenance. I may add, that in his Swiss
letters one of the most prominent points is his anxiety
about his travelling companions : no pleasure which he
experienced himself seems to have made so much im-
pression upon him as his regret at being compelled
to be behind his time in an appointment to meet a
friend in Lucerne, and his sorrow that the same friend
should have been compelled through him to descend
the Faulhorn in the dusk.
The year 1851 was the important year of ordination.
42 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
I have observed that from early j^outh Mackenzie had
looked forward to holy orders as his final destination ;
he ever kept his eye steadily upon this goal ; and he
regarded his general education as valuable chiefly in
the light of a jDreparation for the high office of the
ministry. Consequently I find in his letters no doubts
concerning the choice of a profession ; his only question
was how he could best prepare himself for an office
for which he believed that he was chosen, but for the
duties of which he felt himself inadequate and un-
worthy. He was ordained deacon on Trinity Sunday,
by the Bishop of Ely.
The following is an extract from a letter to one of
his sisters, shortly before his ordination.
LETTER VI.
As to myself, I am afraid, dear , there is much
between what I am and what I was. And it arises I sup-
pose from forgetting that "■ the violent take the kingdom by
force;" for in a busy life like mine one must insist with
oneself on having time for thought, and in this I have fallen
into my natural defect of acting on impulse, and not on
method and plan. I know you have warned me of this
often, and I am writing now to make myself fancy you are
speaking to me. It is not that my time goes away utterly
wasted, for it never does that here, at least seldom, but that
active employment for the mind has a greater charm for me
than quietness and meditation ; but I will try by God's aid
to mend this.
I am in full swing at the school, and as I have not been
out of Cambridge on Sunday since I came up in January,
I have had little interruption.
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS. 43
It was about this time that my own intimacy with
Mackenzie ripened ; we were thrown much together as
fellow-workers in the Cambridge Industrial School ;
this school was established for the purpose of rescuing
poor boys from the dangers of idleness, and has proved,
by God's blessing, a more efficient instrument of re-
formation and improvement than its first promoters had
even ventured to hope. Mackenzie entered into the
scheme with all his heart, and won the afi"ections of
master and boys by his genial kindness. A boy from
this school accompanied him on his first voyage to
Africa ; the boy had had only slight opportunities of
making his acquaintance, but when asked by the master
whether he would be willing to go, he replied at once,
" O, I would go anywhere with Mr Mackenzie." But
I must not anticipate, and I will recall nayself to the
year 1851, by inserting an extract from the last letter
which I can find written to his eldest sister before his
ordination.
LETTER YII.
I am now looking forward to an end of my labours for
this term. The College Examination begins on Monday
and will be over on Friday the 6th, and then I shall have a
few days to think of the Examination that is coming. I
have to thank you, dear, for your sympathy with me now.
It is indeed a time of important change, like an outdoor
servant taken to live in the house, and give the whole atten-
tion instead of only a part to the Master's service. Not
that I contemplate leaving College yet. I am convinced
that much good may be done here, if one can only consider
it as one's parish, and as this is not a very common light to
regard an ordained fellow in, I am the more inclined to
remain, as seeing some work to do.
44 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
I have been laying myself out this last half year to get
intimate with the boys, and have pretty well succeede^l;
principally I suppose because the occupation accorded with
my wishes and gave me pleasure; and this is, I think, a
very great source of influence. However, I am rather
speculating too much, and after all I am daily more and
more convinced of the permanent duty of taking care of
oneself : I mean, avoiding the delusion of thinking of others,
while oneself is going down hill ; and to this I find myself
prone.
The reader will observe that in the above extract
Mackenzie speaks of " getting intimate with the boys,"
by which name he designates the Undergraduates. I
believe that few men have been more successful in this
work. He was amongst them precisely as an elder
brother, influencing them for good without obtruding
advice, and impressing by his presence a high and
pure tone. The remark was made to one of them, who
loved him well, on the occasion of the news of his
decease reaching England, "You must feel as if you
had lost a brother." " Ah," was the reply, " no brother
was ever to me what Mackenzie was."
We now enter upon Mackenzie's clerical life. The
change was not in his case, as indeed it ought never
to be, a sudden and violent one. He continued his old
works of usefulness, and he seems, in the first instance,
to have looked forward to a lengthened stay in College
as a clerical fellow. Here is a part of a letter, which,
for a wonder, is dated, and which expresses his views
at this time.
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS. 45
LETTER VIII.
Caius College. July 9, 1851.
I am unwilling to leave College. I can hardly
conceive a more useful and important place to be in ; and
though there are influences for bad here, in the shape of
clergymen who do not think it necessary to act as parish
working clergy would, (I am putting it in the extenuating
language they would use,) yet there are very many who are
not so, and I don't think the " atmosphere " so unwholesome
as that of , for instance. I am writing coldly I know,
but I do not think I am letting selfish considerations overbear
higher ones. I should like to live here as a clergyman, with
such of the Undergraduates as I could influence as my
parish, and to throw up private teaching altogether.
I have begun my clerical duties by reading prayers, but
have not preached yet. I intended to have done so ou
Sunday next, but find my assistance will not be wanted.
* * * * *
He very soon however felt a craving for more di-
rectly ministerial work than any which he could find
in College ; an offer was made to him of a curacy in
Shropshire, which would have taken him altogether
from Cambridge, but this he declined ; and almost im-
mediately afterwards an opening occurred which seemed
exactly to meet his views, namely, a curacy in the
neio^hbourhood of Cambridge, which would enable him
to have reg-ular parish-work, and yet not remove him
from a sphere in which, with all his modesty, he must
have felt that he was making himself very useful. The
offer of this curacy is communicated to a sister in the
following letter, in which he also alludes to the curacy
in Shropshire and to his having declined it.
4^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
LETTER IX.
Deae
Caius College.
Friday, July 26, 1851.
Thank you for writing, and tliank yon mucli for
writing what you did. I have no hesitation myself what-
ever ; though differing from ' is a strong step ; and I
don't think I should have felt so easy about it, but that I.
am sure she does not know the position of things here, and
therefore that I can judge better than she can. I had a
most kind letter from , offering, in a neat way, if I took
this and wished her to come to me there, to come at once :
but I had made up my mind. I must write and thank her,
however. Luckily for me the thing was put out of the
question at once by my having agreed to be one of the
Examiners in the University Examination next January ;
and that I could not well put off. Besides, I should not like
to leave my place in College in a hurry, as they would need
to appoint a successor : but your notion of the work I might
do here is quite my own, and I believe for a time that will
be best.
I have been offered a sub-curacy (if I may coin the
word) about five miles from Cambridge. The curate is
virtually rector, and I should be his curate. The popula-
tion is about 900, I believe, and in winter I should have the
principal weight of it on my shoulders ; but on the Sunday
I could always get help.
* ;:- * * *
The next letter, written to his eldest sister from a
place in which he was taking temporary duty, again
refers to the curacy near Cambridge, the duties of
which he had now arranged to take after the Long
Vacation.
^ His eldest sister.
COLLEGE LIFE—IIOLY ORDERS. 47
LETTER X.
Little Waltham, Essex.
August 7, 1851.
Dearest ,
I dare say you do not know what I am doing. You
know I have taken the duty once or twice for a friend in a
stray way already, but I like better being resident as I am
now. A friend, a man of my own year at Cambridge, is the
curate here ; and finding his thi'oat inflamed, he asked me
to relieve him for a week or two. So I came here on Mon-
day, and shall do his duty in Church and a little visiting for
a fortnight. It is next best to having a parish of my own ;
and that I have arranged to have in the neighbourhood of
Cambridge, as soon as I go back in October to College, as
you have probably heard from Harcus. * * * The
Rev. W. Clark is to be my Rector, though he is only Curate
himself. * *■ ■' As far as working the parish is
concerned, I am clear it will not be so satisfactory as if I
had nothing else to do ; but as Mr Clark knows my position
exactly, and can get no one better for his purpose, part of
the disagreeableness is removed, and I do really wish to
remain in College for a time.
I find it difficult to write sermons, not so much for want
of something to say, as from the temptation to ramble. I
am afraid too that those I have written are hardly under-
stood by the poor people. However, I suppose if one tries
always to get simple, it will come in time. My object
ought to be, I suppose, to catch attention, and then preach
the simple doctrine of Christ crucified : at least, if that is
not the principal topic of the second half of my sermon,
ought it not to come in somewhere 1 At any rate, when I
have but two Sundays to preach to this congregation, I
think I ought to be very distinct in this : perhaps in my
own curacy it may require a little variety ; and there are
other things of importance doubtless besides this one, but it
is never difficult to turn the subject to this.
48 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
I liave been taking a good deal of interest in Cambridge
in a Mendicity Society there ; but I think I must have told
you of it.
*♦•»*♦
In the Mendicity Society, mentioned in tlie fore-
going letter, Mackenzie was most active, taking (as
usual with him) the most laborious share of the work.
The purpose of the Society was, and still is, to prevent
the encouragement of systematic mendicancy, which in
a place like Cambridge is liable to grow into a fearful
evil. It has been said, and I believe with truth, that
beggars have been in the habit of coming to Cambridge
in term-time, and seeking other pastures during the
vacations, as regularly as the members of the Uni-
versity. In order to stop the bestowal of alms upon
such unworthy recipients, and at the same time relieve
the truly unfortunate, a house was opened in Barnwell
into which poor travellers could be admitted by tickets
signed by subscribers. The house was put under the
charge of a constable, whose wife acted as matron; all
cases were examined; and the genuine poor travellers
were supplied with a clean lodging for the night, with
supper, and with breakfast before starting next morn-
ing. The working of this machinery has been found
exceedingly satisfactory in Cambridge, and I believe in
other places also; but in order to give the right tone to
the establishment, and to turn (if it might be) the short
sojourn of the poor travellers to some spiritual profit, it
was necessary that some one interested in the work
should go up to the mendicity house in the evening,
speak a few kind words to the inmates, and conduct
evening prayers. Mackenzie was one of the volunteers
COLLEGE LIFE—HOL Y ORDERS. 49
for this work. On one occasion I accompanied him,
and was much struck with the manner in which he ac-
comphshed his task. I was sure that he would succeed
in making his presence agreeable to the poor travellers,
but I was not prepared to find him so successful as he
proved himself to be in conducting the family worship.
He read a chapter from the Scriptures, and then made
a short comment upon it with a simplicity and earnest-
ness and readiness, which made the lesson as well
adapted for its purpose, in my judgment, as it could
be. The prayers were from the Book of Common
Prayer, which seemed to him to be for all purposes a
sufficient manual of devotion*.
In the summer of 1851 he conducted a mathematical
examination at Eton. Some of his impressions are con-
tained in a letter to a sister.
• I subjoin a characteristic circular, printed by Mackenzie, and given
to Members of the University: —
"It is better to give One Shilling to the Mendicity Society, than
Tvpo Sixpences or Twelve Pence in indiscriminate charity ; for by this
Society relief is given in a shape in v?hich it cannot be abused, and in
which it does not suit the tastes of professional beggars; and there is
an additional advantage attending this form of charity, viz. that one
night of perfect order and peace is secured to the recipient.
"In order to divert into this more useful channel the money which
is constantly given to beggars, and which in most cases does harm
instead of good, I shall be very happy to receive at any time, any sum,
however small, and shall keep a special purse in my pocket for the
purpose : the amount so obtained will be entered in the Subsci'iption
List of the Society as small donations from Caius College.
" If any one wishes to see the working of the Society, and will call
on me a little before Seven any Evening before the end of this month, I
shall be most happy to take him with me when I go to admit the
applicants.
"C. F. MACKENZIE.
Caius College, Nov. 15, 1851."
4
50 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
LETTER XL
* * * This is by way of explanation of my silence.
So you are to put yourself back a week, aud tben read on.
You have seen my declining of the curacy, and I hope no
one is distressed at it. I have no doubt myself I am doing
what is best on the whole ; but I want to thank you for the
kind way you proposed to accompany me. It would, I fully
believe, have been very pleasant, and the people seemed nice
people ft-om the little we knew of them.
*****
My visit to Eton was pleasant enough. I think a Public
School is the finest thing I ever saw : at least my ideal of it
is. I think they are tiying at Eton to work out the system^
and make the most of it : I mean, to keep up a good spirffc,^; (•
of gentlemanly feeling among the boys, and I dare s^l^
C'hristian feeling too ; though I was there hardly l<rng
enough to see this attempt so distinctly as the othei\ What
a field of occupation ! 600 picked boys out of England ! I
went to chapel twice, on Sunday and on Tuesday. They
wei-e very well-behaved. What an opportunity for any of
the masters, by their manner, to give solemnity to the place,
and keep i;p the home-reverence, which is a little apt to
be lost, if chapel is made frequent. I think, — at least I
thought while on the spot, — that no life could be so charming
as that of a master there ; I said so, and they agreed, but
said there were dark pages novv and then too. I think you
will enter into my feelings on this point better than any
one else.
In the October term (1851) he commenced his work
at Haslingfield, which he continued until the time of
his first departure for Africa. It was very laborious,
and few men could have borne the effort; but with him
it was a labour perpetually lighted up by sunshiDO, and
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS. 5 1
the effort was not apparent. As a general rule he com-
bined his parochial duties at Haslingfield with college-
work, but in the vacations he several times left his
college-rooms, took lodgings at the house of the village
schoolmaster, and gave himself up unreservedly to the
work of his parish. On several occasions I have spent
a day with him in his village-home : very pleasant and
bright those days were: but days always were pleasant
and bright in Mackenzie's company.
The date of the following letter is December 1851,
when he had had a few months' experience of parish-
work.
LETTER XII.
{To a Sister-r)
I find college and parisli-work very heavy together, but
hope before the time of my present engagement is out,
namely, next October, to have discovered how to combine
them without overworking myself. I meant to have given
you a journal of my work to shew you that my neglect
has not been intentional, but perhaps you will beUeve me
v/ithout.
I have never been able to get out to my parish, Hasling-
field as it is called, more than onc3 during the week, and as
YOU might conceive, have not been further than the visiting of
the sick. This vacation I shall be a good deal occupied with
preparing for the Examinations next month : but that is a
kind of work which is in my own hands more than lectures :
I can work double one day, and nojie the next : so I shall
get out at least twice a week, I hope.
I have been reading Evans' Bishojyric of Souls. He has
given me a great longing for a country parish and nothing
tige to do : but I believe I am more iiseful as I am.
* * * ' * *
4—2
52 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
My ordinary practice lias been to walk out to my curacy
in time for the scliool, which is at half-past nine. I take a
class of a dozen ; but the remaining thirty are all in the
room, and I have some difficulty in hearing or being heard.
However, I have the advantage of letting the master get
away for a quarter of an hour, to practise the hymns with the
girls, who sing in church. Then at half-past ten service
begins, and Mr Clark or I do the whole. This lasts till
about a quarter to one. We dine at the vicarage, which is
Mr Clark's house, and go into church again at half-past
two. About a quarter of an hour after we have come out I
set off and walk home. It is five and a half miles, and I
generally take an hour and ten minutes, or an hour and a
quarter. So you see the grass does not grow under my feet.
When I get home, which is before six, I have tea or cold
meat ; and at a quarter jjast seven I go out to one of the
churches, 's, and hear the sermon only ; the fact
being, that neither Mr Clark's sermons nor my own are
quite to my taste, and I like to hear one good sermon in the
day. Then I come back and have tea with , where I
usuallj' meet three or four or five friends, and go to bed
tired.
In tlie January of 1852 Mackenzie was for the first
time Examiner for Mathematical Honours. I was my-
self Senior Moderator on the same occasion, and the
preparatory work for the Examination was therefore,
according to custom, chiefly done at my house. Thus
I was brought into a new relation with Mackenzie; I
found him as agreeable a companion in an examination
as he had proved under other circumstances; modest,
cheerful, amiable. He expressed much good-humoured
surprise at the trouble which the preparation of ques-
tions for the Examination cost him. The practice in
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS. S^
Cambridge, and it is a very wholesome one, is for each
Examiner to submit to the whole Board each question
which he intends to propose to the Candidates for Ma-
thematical Honours: and each member of the Board,
when a question has been read, makes it his business
to criticise it with the utmost severity. No ordeal can
very well be more searching ; and before it is finally
approved, every question is thoroughly sifted both as to
its principle, its difficulty, and the mode of its expres-
sion. Mackenzie had not prepared his questions with
the prospect of so severe a test ; and I remember well
the good-humoured regret with which, after much dis-
cussion and hearing a variety of objections, he finally
abandoned several of his questions, with the remark,
" Well, the fact of the matter seems to be, that it won't
do any way."
The examination interfered with Haslingfield mi-
nistrations for a time, but when it was over he returned
to them with renewed satisfaction. The following letter
seems to have been written in the beginning of March
1852.
LETTER XIII.
(To a Sister.)
Caius College. Tuesday.
Dear ,
Your letter threw a shade over the day I got it.
Not because you had scolded me, but I thought I could
see you look cold at me through the pen and ink : at least
part of your letter gave me that " feel : " others were like
your own good kind hearty self.
-X- -K- * * *
It is indeed as you supposed. I have not had much
54 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
work wliich reqiiu'ed to be done at a given time, and so
have been always in arrear : making frantic efforts to get
up at five, and so get a start in the day, which has probably
ended in my being sleepy for an evening or two afterwards.
I fancy sometimes I feel the evil of not taking exei'cise
regularly, as I did when an undergraduate. There are some
of my duties now which must be done between two and four
in the afternoon, which is the universal time for exercise
here, and then on those days I perhaps get none, while on
another day I have a great deal. On Siinday I have always
my eleven miles walk, besides the duty, which is fatiguing.
To-day I shall be at a meeting of the Mendicity Society's
Committee at two, and as chaplain at the Hospital at three :
so I shall certainly have no walk.
*****
I am greatly disappointed with our boat this year.
They are pulliug so badly, and are losing places day after
day. Poor Caius is not the place for " pluck," (do you
know the word V) and yet by the bye we have some good
cricketers now.
*****
You understand I hope that I am penitent about not
writing to you and every one else, and that I have written
this not under compulsion, but only because I did not dare
delay longer.
C. F. M.
Amongst other duties Mackenzie, as intimated in
the preceding letter, took his turn as chaplain of Ad-
denbrooke's Hospital. It was characteristic of him not
to be content with the ordinary duties of the office, but
to be ready to promote in every way the comfort of
the patients. The arrangements for the out-door pa-
tients were at that time very incomplete; these patients
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS. S5
saw the physicians, received their prescriptions, and
then were obhged to wait until they could make their
way to the little window of the dispensary and receive
their medicines ; not always a very easy task, the wait-
ing hall being quite full. The effect was that the
weakest were attended to last, and those who could
with least inconvenience remain were first served.
Moreover, the confusion and discomfort were very con-
siderable. Mackenzie took the matter in hand, and by
means of a system of tickets, the working of which he
personally superintended for some weeks, he speedily
introduced order, and banished much of the inconveni-
ence which had been previously felt. This may seem
a trifling feat, and hardly worthy of being chronicled ;
but, in truth, it was this spirit of active kindness, this
readiness to help in little things when the comfort of
others was concerned, which caused much of that warmth
of affection with which Mackenzie was regarded by his
friends.
The next letter belongs to the beginning of the
Long Vacation, and looks forward to the stir created
for a few days in the quiet dulness of the University
by the Master of Arts' Commencement. The descrip-
tion is put out of date by recent changes in the
University; and the dulness of the Long Vacation now
knows no break. The old arrangement, doubtless, had
inconveniences ; but the meeting of men, who had known
each other as undergraduates, after several years of
actual contact with the world and its work and its
cares, was very pleasant, and frequently not without
profit.
56 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
LETTER XIV.
(To a Sister.)
Caius College. Thursday.
Dear ,
Your letter on Sunday morning was a gi-eat de-
light to me. I feel such a disinclination to write after a
long silence, that if you take courage to break it, it is a
great relief to me.
It is very true what you say of difficulties, apparently
insurmountable, giving way to the influence of time and
circumstances. I always connect such cases with that of
the women at the sepulchre — who shall roll us away the
stone ?
* * * -ss- *
You have had gi-eat doings with your twenty-five-per-
sons luncheon party. D was in my rooms when I was
reading your letter, and when I told him, he said, " What a
happy family you seem to be, always so glad to see each
other, and to be together:" and so I think we are ; at least
I am coming to think that no one is so well treated by his
own people as I am.
You are quite right, dear , in praying that I may
be kept humble in this place of literary excitement. I don't
know what would become of me, if I had not the parish
to draw my mind to better things : I am never happier
than when out there. Just now I am pressed by making
papers for the Examination of a school in London. I make
the papers here and send them up, and they send me down
again the answers of the boys. And besides this, men are
continually coming up to college just for a day, and they
consider a settled man like me as their lawful prey, and I too
am glad to see them, but it takes up time ; and more than
that, distracts one, (like the elephant that does more damage
to the forest by pushing through, than by all he eats, ten
times over).
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS. SI
R was liere on Monday and Tuesday ; he was one
of my two or three gi-eatest friends before we took our
degrees ; and now we don't meet more than once or twice
in a year. Then on Tuesday evening E came here and
went next morning ; he has been abroad for fourteen
months, and of course had plenty to say. Then this morn-
ing D came in just when my breakfast was done,
having arrived by train : so I gave him breakfast, and this
afternoon an aunt of his is coming up for three or four
hours, and I must have a lunch-dinner with them. This
evening I have promised to go to J 's rooms. H
too is coming up to-night, and will be in my rooms every
morning, no doubt. Then on Saturday M and a heap
of others will come up and stay till Tuesday, taking the
degree of M.A., and I shall give them a breakfast party or
two, and take walks with them separately, and so on ; and
then I look forward to a fortnight or three weeks of peace,
in which, no doubt, if I write to you, you will find me
grumbling at the dulness.
I think I never described such a thing to you before.
Observe, it is an extreme case ; partly because in term-time
half of one's duties are inflexible, such as lectures, and so
a little amusement for the rest of the day is pleasant
enough.
*****
In the course of the Long Vacation he got away
from college, settled himself down in his quiet lodgings
at Haslingfield, and from thence wrote to one of his
sisters as follows :
LETTER XY.
Haslingfield, Cambkidgeshibe.
Dear
Here you see I am arrived. I have taken a couple
of rooms in the schoolmaster's house.
50 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
* * * * -iS-
I got here at ten o'clock on Monday night, I had sent
my portmanteau by a carrier, and intending to walk I was
easily induced to remain by little things that had to be done
in Cambridge. H • walked half-way with me, and then
I came on alone over the fields. It was a strange feeling on
two accounts. Partly, I was coming to live in a strange
place as a home, a thing I have not done since I came to
college, and since I went to school, — which has on the two
former occasions brought desolation, but not on this. The
other reason of strangeness was that now I was beginning
what will take place when I am a placed minister, a thing
which I think will be very delightful.
I have the schoolmistress as my waiter, assisted by her
daughter, a child of eleven or twelve, who is very shy, having
never waited on a gentleman before. The next morning,
after coming in with the eggs, and asking if I wanted any-
thing more, (which she had evidently been told to do, but
as evidently had not been told to listen to my answer,) she
stood (on one foot, I suppose, or some other uncomfortable
position,) for an instant, and then darted off through the
door.
*****
I have already spoken of Mackenzie's residence at
Haslingfield : I will only add here that he set himself
vigorously to work to make personal acquaintance with
his parishioners, and, as I have heard incidentally, with
great success. The memory of him is still cherished in
the parish. It was quite to be expected, however,
that he should feel disappointed with his own efforts:
every honest and earnest man is doomed to this feeling
of disapjDointment : it is only when the aim of a Chris-
tian minister is contracted and his standard of excel-
lence low, that he can feel satisfied with what he has
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS. 59
been able to do. Hence I am not surprised at the
tone of the following letter, which I find from the post-
mark to have been written in the beginning of August.
LETTER XVI.
{To a Sister.)
Haslingfield. Thursday.
Dear ,
*****
I propose being ordained priest on the 19 th of Septem-
ber by the Bishop of Ely, and think of coming north at once
after that.
*****
I find this living in the country not so profitable as I
expected — I mean that I don't get so well to work as I
hoped. I find great difficulty in writing a sermon here ;
partly I think from the want of books, partly from the
novelty of the place. And I have not been so active in
visiting. There was something very definite in walking
from Cambridge to see those who needed to be called upon ;
but now that I am among them, I can do it at any time.
Then I never forget that I have problems to make for
January, and I cannot do much of that wnrk out here.
However, I have seen more of the school a great deal
than before. And even of the people I have seen more than
I shoidd have done had I been in Cambridge.
The "Problems for January," spoken of in the above
letter, were Senate-house problems, Mhich it devolved
upon Mackenzie to supply as Moderator. He was Se-
nior Moderator in January 1853, and again in 1854.
Those who did not know Mackenzie personally might
be surprised, that having so ardent a love of the work
6o MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
of a country parish-priest, he could allow himself to
undertake so many other occupations and duties. But
the fact is he delighted in work, and his good nature
and desire to be useful were so strong that he found it
impossible to refuse, when requested to undertake to
do anything of real importance which required to be
done.
He was ordained priest at the time proposed, but
I find no special reference to the event in any of his
letters.
Mackenzie was not by natural gift an orator. He
had no great flow of words, and no fervour of imagi-
nation, such as enable a man to throw an interest into
a subject in itself dry and uninteresting. When it be-
came necessary for him afterwards frequently to address
public meetings, and when he had an important theme
upon which to speak, his earnestness and simplicity
made all that he said very impressive ; and his active
self-devotion gave more emphasis to his words than
any mere eloquence could have supplied. Here is an
extract from a letter, in which he speaks with charac-
teristic modesty of his first attempt to make a speech.
The letter belongs to the latter part of the year; the
school spoken of is the Cambridge Industrial School.
LETTER XVII.
{To a Sister.)
Caius College. Tuesday.
Dear
I am very happy in having lots to do, which is become
necessary to me now. I enclose you a copy of some speeches
COLLEGE LIFE— HOLY ORDERS. 6 1
made in the Town Hall last week, one of them by me. It
is my first real attempt at the thing, and is not a first-rate
one, but I have got over the nervousness of getting on my
legs pretty well. I thought little of it before, and knew not
a great deal about the school, though I am one of the Com-
mittee ; it takes a while to get a good knowledge of a plan
of the kind. Next time I hope I shall know more about
what I am saying, and make a better show.
And this will be a proper point at which to finish
this chapter, for the next year will open to us a new
view of Mackenzie's life. Hitherto, it will be observed,
college-work and parish-work have entirely filled his
mind ; in the next chapter we shall see how it pleased
God to open his mind to a severer view of his duty,
and to commence his education as a Missionary.
CHAPTER IV.
FIRST THOUGHTS OF MISSION-WORK.
The year 1853 began, as we have seen, with a Senate-
house Examination. While engaged in this laborious
and responsible work, Mackenzie very wisely obtained
regular help for his parish : in fact, his friend the Rev.
W. W. Hutt, then a fellow of Caius College, undertook
the whole of the duty, as he did previously in 1852,
when Mackenzie was Examiner, and again in 1854, when
he was Senior Moderator. When Mackenzie left Eng-
land, he had the satisfaction of leaving his flock in the
hands of this faithful friend.
This will explain Mackenzie's long absence from his
parish, as mentioned in the next letter. That letter is
the only one which I find in the beginning of this year,
previous to the very important communication which
follows it, and upon which I shall have a few words to
say presently. It will be seen that at the end of Febru-
ary his heart was still full of Cambridge; no thought
of foreign service had apparently then crossed his mind ;
he was evidentl}^ quite happy in his work ; indeed they
who remember his joyous countenance and unmingled
FIRST THO UGHTS OF MISSION- WORK. S^i,
cheerfulness and readiness for work in those days can-
not doubt of his happiness. Hence the letter which fol-
lows will, I think, appear all the more remarkable ; and
different as the first letter is from the second, (the letter
of Feb. 24 from that of April 23,) I do not know that a
more striking introduction to the second could be sup-
plied than that which is contained in the first.
LETTER XYIII.
{To a Sister).
Dearest
Caius College,
Feb. 24, 1853.
We shall really be ruined if we go on writing to
each other the moment we get a letter; and if by any acci-
dent an additional letter were written there would imme-
diately be a double fire. This is all d propos of my having
just read your letter.
Thanks for all your news, and above all for your few
woi'ds about . Is'nt it strange how people get drawn
together when they are all drawn toward Christ % You
know it is their common attraction to the sun that keeps
the planets within sight of each other.
I was at Haslingfield last Sunday for the first time since
November. Do you know I had a dislike of going there
again, and thought of giving it up ; but, as indeed I knew
it would be, when I had been there I was quite happy.
And now I must bring before the reader the turning
point of Mackenzie's spiritual life. The immediate
cause of his attention being called to Missionary-work
was, as will be seen, the establishment of a Mission at
Delhi, by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
64 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
in Foreign Parts. It would be out of place to say much
concerning that Mission, but I may observe that the
Rev. J. S. Jackson, who was the first missionary, was of
the same College as Mackenzie, and three years junior
to him in standing. The opening of this Mission was
very promising ; but very soon came the Indian mutiny,
and the mission was for a while swept away under most
tragical circumstances. Mr Jackson's companion in la-
bour was murdered ; he himself was absent from Delhi
at the time of the outbreak, and was thus preserved.
In the "Colonial Church Chronicle" for June 1854, I
find the following notice : " The Rev. J. S. Jackson and
the Rev. A. Hubbard arrived in Delhi on February 11,
after making a short stay at the Colleges at Calcutta
and Benares. They found the nucleus of a mission con-
sisting of a score of native Christians, who are assem-
bled every Sunday in the Station Church by a teacher
in the Government College." In the number of the
same periodical for August 1857, there is a letter from
Dr Kay of Bishop's College, Calcutta, which contains
the following : " The Delhi Mission has been completely
swept away. Rumours to this effect were current from
the beginning of the outbreak, but we kept on hoping
that some of the members of the Mission might have
escaped. Two native Christians succeeded in escaping
to Agra. One of them says that he saw Mr Hubbard
fall..,. And Mr Jackson has been spared...."
This, in few words, was the history of the mission
which first inspired Mackenzie's mind with missionary
thoughts ; the Mr Hubbard spoken of as having lost his
life in the outbreak, was the man whose place he
was desirous to have filled. The manner in which
FIRST THO UGHTS OF MISSION- WORK. 6$
the Delhi Mission was brought prominently before
him, so as to lead him to wish to give himself to the
work, will be best told in his own words. He com-
municated his views fully and honestly to his eldest
sister in a letter, which I am now about to lay before
the reader. This letter is the pivot, so to speak, of
Mackenzie's spiritual history. I do not know how it may
strike the reader's mind, and I do not pretend to be a
quite impartial judge. I confess to a degree of reve-
rence and admiration for the writer, which may have
led me to over-estimate its character ; but I do not hesi-
tate to speak of it as being, in my opinion, one of the
noblest and most touching compositions that I have
ever seen.
LETTER XIX.
Catus College,
Saturday, April 23.
Deaeest ,
We have spoken before now about the advan-
tages of my remaining in College, and whether it would
not be better for me to find some more directly clerical
work elsewhere. I have been thinking about a change
lately, and should like before definitely making up my mind
to have your opinion on the matter. This will probably be
a longish letter, and as I don't know at what hour you may
get it, or what you may be doing, I wish you would lay
it aside till you have half an hour quiet.
I don't think you ever quite liked my staying here ; at
least, if you did, I think it was more in deference to my
opinion than from your own conviction. What I have said
has been that it is a mistake to say this is a place in which
5
66 . MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
nothing clerical can be done, and I still think that a really
good man, if he were liked here, might do much good :
indeed I can hardly think of a moi'e important jjlace in
England, except perhaps the head-mastership of a school,
and even that falls short of this place in one respect, that
without doubt a considerable number of the Fellows do not
consider their responsibilities but may be induced to do so
by a few good examples ; and so a little leaven leavening
the whole lump, there would be a great inci'ease of good
influence brought to bear upon the flower of England's
upper classes, at an impressible age, and one at which
character is set for life.
I say all this to shew that I still think I have been
right in my theory that this is a place particularly adapted
for a good man to do good : and if nothing now presented
itself except a curacy in some part of England I should not,
I think, hesitate to remain here. But there is another field
open, for which it is very difficult to find labourers. A great
friend of mine, called Jackson, my junior by three years, has
been induced to undertake the position of chief of a new
mission at Delhi, and has been for some time anxious to find
a companion to go with him. At first a friend of his, of his
own standing, agreed to go ; but he has since declined, I
don't know why. Jackson applied to me among others to
try and find some one to go with him ; and I spoke to
one young man, an undergraduate of this college, who had
once said something of having an uncle in India, who was
very anxious he should go out to India as a missionary.
However when I came to speak of Jackson's going out, I
found he had no settled intentions himself, and so the
matter di'opped.
I remember when used to speak to us about going
out as Missionaries, he used sometimes to say, he had been
asked why he did not go himself, and though he said he was
too old, and that he had duties in England, I used to think
his defence not very strong. I i-emember too, when some
FIRST THO UGHTS OF MISSION- WORK. 67
years ago the subject of medical missions excited interest
saying to me, " Why shoixld not you go ? they want
men very much," and my answer was, "I am not goin«y :"
I would not admit the idea into sei-ious contemplation.
And when Jackson came to Cambridge a month or two
ago, to try and find a colleague, I thought once or twice,
why should not / go, but said nothing to him, as I thought
that would be unfair before I was more definite myself
I spoke of my feelings to one or two Cambridge friends, in
a general way, saying that I could not see any reason why
one of us should not go, and I was afraid it was because we
could not make up our minds to the self-denial, and that
there was no good reason, but ended by saying, " Don't
be alarmed, I'm not going;" and so it passed ofi*.
But on Thursday Jackson came again and we chatted
quietly about his prospects, and the opening there was, and
how he wished he could find some one ; and after he left
me I read a bit of Henry Martyn's life before lie left
England ; and I determined for the first time, and prayed
God to help me, to think what was best to be done, and
to do it. I thought chiefly of the command, " Go and
baptize all nations," and how some one ought to go : and
I thought how in another world one would look back and
rejoice at having seized this opportunity of taking the good
news of the Gospel to those who had never heard it, but
for whom as well as for us Christ died. I thought of the
Saviour sitting in Heaven and looking down upon this
world, and seeing lis who have heard the news, selfishly
keejjing it to ourselves, and only one or two, or eight or
ten, going out in the year to preach to His other sheep, who
must be brought, that there may be " one fold and one
shepherd:" and I thought if other men would go abroad,
then I might stay at home ; but as no one, or so few, would
go out, then it was the duty of every one that could go to
go. You see I thought of the pleasure and the duty, and
I think they were both cogent reasons. So I determined
5—2
68 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
to sleep ujion it ; and in the morning, wlien I thought about
it, the more I thought the more clear I got. I thought of
my duties here, and how I had been in the habit of con-
sidering them superior in importance to anything else ; but
then that was in comparison with posts for which there
was no lack of persons to be found ; whereas this was a
thing which it seemed no one could be found to do. I
thought too of what I have considered the qualifications
for usefulness in Cambridge, namely, my good degree, and
the way people don't dislike me, and my pretty large ac-
quaintance : but then I thought, these things will not be
lost, for though it would be no argument if there were no
other ai-guments, yet it removes the objection to my leaving
Cambridge to say that the better I am known the more in-
terest will be raised in the missionary cause. Then I
thought too of Jackson, and how disheartening it was for
him, his first friend leaving him, and every one else saying,
"I wish I could find some one to go with you," but no one
thinking of going ; and I thought, what right have I to say
to young men here, "you had better go out to India," when
I am hugging myself in my comfortable place at home.
So I determined to tell Jackson what I was thinking of,
and found he would like me to go with him, and his only
diflB.culty was that he thought I was useful here. Now the
consideration of this was one thing which further induced
me to go. For though I may say I have tried sometimes to
be useful, yet it has been far too much with me a matter of
intention and hope ; and the day when I was to do good has
always seemed to retire befox*e me. I am now twenty-eight,
and it is high time I was doing something. I have given
this place a good trial, and am thoroughly dissatisfied. I
can't go into details on this point.
I took a long walk that day, and thought it well over,
and made up my mind that God would approve of the
change, that Christ would approve, and that the Holy Spirit
would help me in it. I thought ray dear mother would
FIRST THOUGHTS OF MISSION-WORK. 69
have smiled tlirougli her tears at the plan if she had still
lived, and that she would now rejoice without grief. I
thought you would give me your solid and sober judgment
upon it, and I thought that your opinion would be in favour.
I was not so sure of , but I thought she would be
willing that her own heart's comfort should be made known
to those who now have no means of hearing. I thought
would at one time have thought of coming with me,
but I feared she was not strong enough ; but I was sure she
would be glad. I could not so well tell what the rest would
think. I thought would be surprised, and would soon
forget it. I thought too of my work here as Lecturer, and
arranged in my mind who there was that would take my
place. If there had been no one, there is a kind of College
spirit that would have ui'ged me to stay here.
I thought of my futuz-e prospects, and saw that by
keeping my Fellowship I should have nearly £200 a year
besides the salary of the Society, which would be I suppose
between £100 and £200 ; this would be more than enough
for me there ; and I should either stay there for the rest of
my life, or, if compelled to return, should have my offer of a
College living to fall back upon.
All this I have put down to shew that though I have
not had much time, yet I have not omitted the necessary
considerations. Indeed, the general question of the advan-
tage the duty and the pleasure of going out I had considered
before, first in advising Jackson to close with the offer that
was made to him, and again in looking for some one else to
be his colleague. And all that I have had to think of these
last few days has been, whether there was anything peculiar
in my own case that should prevent me fi'om going.
And I fi-eely confess I can see nothing except my own
unfitness. I am rather afraid of my own instability and
want of method and perseverance, habits which have been
increasing with me of late. I am rather afraid of their in-
juring the cause I am going to undertake. But at the same
70 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
time I hope that the having one main object in life may-
assist in steadying me : at present I have scores of interests
all claiming attention. And I do trust that if I go forth
boldly trusting in God, He will not fail to help me.
I have not much time to write more, yet I must tell you
something about the work I am going to. At Delhi there
are of course a great number of young men of good talents,
and likely to have gi-eat influence as they grow up. There
is a Government school, to which they come in great num-
bers, but at which they receive no religious instruction : yet
the general knowledge they get shakes their confidence in
their own system, and they are in danger of becoming infi-
dels. That is the general state of the case, and is I fancy
common enough in India, There is a considerable spirit of
inquiry among them ; and the Chaplain on the spot has en-
couraged this, and has already gained the confidence of some
of them, who have listened to his message and have been
baptized. These are from among the higher classes of
society. There is no mission at the place at present, and the
Propagation Society have determined to establish one, and
to send out two young men from this country for the pur-
pose. Jackson and I, I hope, will be the two. He has
settled with the Society some time ago, and was directed to
find a companion if he could. So I have no doubt of being
appointed, if I make application. He is to sail in September.
Now dear , I have always looked to you as my
mother and early teacher. To you I owe more than I can
ever repay, more than I can well tell. I do hope you will
pray for me, and then give meyour advice. I am still free,
and will listen carefully to what you say.
My own main argument is this, — we may, it is true, serve
God, and shew our love to Christ, in one place as well as in
another, (and 1 am trying to avoid the notion that by going
out I shall be free from weakness and sin,) but no one else
will go, so I will. There are plenty in England : there is
grievous need there. Jackson is a first-rate fellow : I never
FIRST THO UGHTS OF MISSION- WORK. 7 1
knew so firm, so conscientious a man, that I liked so well.
* * * I confess the feeling of my heart that most dis-
tresses me is, that I cannot look forward with composure to
the risk of his dying, and leaving me behind. But though
in this I am " otherwise minded, God will I'eveal even this
to me."
Since if the whole plan were to fall through, and I were
to remain in this country, it would be unpleasant that the
idea should have got abroad, you will exercise your judgment
and tell what I have said to whom you please. I shall write
to no one else till I hear from you.
Ever your affectionate brother,
C. F. M.
Notice, reader, the honesty of this letter, how deter-
mined the writer is to practise what he preaches, and
not to ask any one to do what he is not prepared to do
himself: notice his humility in being ready to go as
second in command to a man three years his junior :
notice his modesty in seeing no objection but his own
unfitness: and above all notice the argument, which
was the ground of all his subsequent course of action,
" no one else will go, so I will."
Here is another letter written to the same sister
two days afterwards.
LETTER XX.
Caius College,
Monday, April 25, 185a.
Deakest ,
I wrote hurriedly on Saturday night, and had not
time to read over what I had written. I think there must
have been many things which I ought to have said ; so now
I take my chance of remembering them.
73 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
First, T am anxious to hear from you, if you are well
enough and strong enough to write, for I am defei'ring my
absolute determination till I hear from you.
I am very anxious to impress upon myself that this is
not so great a sacrifice, as it once was, to go out as a Mis-
sionary. There are many Europeans at Delhi ; and above
all other wox'ldly comforts, I go out with a friend whom I
highly esteem and value, and greatly love.
My chief feeling about it all is that Christ needs ser-
vants in various places : some in this country, and some
elsewhere : and that the greatest want is abroad. It seems
to me that England is bound to do all she can for her
subjects abroad; and as othei's will not go, I will. The
only thing, I think, which has prevented my doing so once
and again, has been a tacit resolution not to put the case
to myself as possible : for as soon as I did that, the case
seemed clear.
As to my qualifications for it: I must learn Persian
and Hindustani, I suppose, but I have hardly found out
yet what is to be done; but these things would have to bo
learned by any one going there : so I am as good for the
purpose as they. And as to the character of the Mahome-
dans and Hindus one will have to deal with, eveiy one
would have to learn that by experience. The only thing
that seems deficient is my own religion, which I know is
very weak : in that I seriously think I am far infei'ior to
many others who might go out. But all I can say is, if no
one else will go, I shall be better than nothing, and I do
trust that as my day is so shall my strength be.
Dear , you will think of me when I am gone;
and we shall meet, I know we shall, in the kingdom above.
What matter where we spend the remainder of our life 1
The time is short : "it remaineth that they that have wives
be as though they had none, &c."
I heard a sermon last night on the text, " If any man
will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up hia
FIRST THOUGHTS OF MISSION-WORK. 73
cross daily and follow Me." And I think this is my path.
I never could swallow the notion of voluntary self-denial,
as a discipline : but I think self-denial in the service of God
and for an object is what we ought to practise.
But I am gi'owing prosy, and it is getting late.
Now don't think I have taken a mania on the subject :
though these two letters have been mainly on this matter,
yet I was out at dinner this evening, and took as much
interest in a discussion about derivations of words as any
one else. They said "wig" came from "periwig," and that
from " perruque," and that from a Gothic Latin word " pel-
lucus," and that from " pilus," Latin, a hair.
Your very affectionate brother,
C. F. M
The following, to the same sister, was written about
a week later.
LETTER XXL
Caius College. Thursday night.
Dearest ,
It is late, but I write a line to thank you for your
very kind and excellent letter.
I shall write, I dare say, to-morrow : but I may say that
on consulting two of my best friends here, I find they are
opposed to my going. Goodwin decidedly so: Hopkins,
rather so.
However it is for myself to decide.
Your very affectionate brother,
C. F. iM.
I have allowed my own name to appear in the pre-
ceding letter, and have not supplied the place with a
blank, as I might have done, because the position which
Mackenzie has here assigned to me as one of his ad-
74 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
visers seems to give me a right to say a few words upon
the question of the propriety of his leaving Cambridge
as a Missionary. Mackenzie has stated that I was deci-
dedly opposed to his going, and this is quite true. My
opposition was in fact too decided, for it gave him the
impression that I had not sufficiently considered the
subject ; and I think when I told him that he must
not go, I detected upon his countenance the nearest
approach I ever saw to dissatisfaction. But my oppo-
sition was based upon two grounds. In the first place
I did not think that the Delhi mission was the best
for him, even if he determined to go out as a Mission-
ary ; his power of languages was not great, and the
peculiar openness and simplicity of his character seemed
to me not suitable for dealing with the accomplished
civilized infidehty of well-educated natives. But this
view did not carry to my mind so much weight as the
argument derived from the positive advantage of his
presence in Cambridge : this he was sure to under-
estimate, but as a looker-on I thought it could hardly
be over-estimated : it was not the removal of an ordi-
nary man whose place could be easily filled ; but the
loss of one who combined in himself a number of
qualities, which made him to be of singular value and
very hard to replace. Hence I still think that I did
right in opposing his departure. By doing so I gained,
as will be seen afterwards, greater influence in deciding
his departure for South Africa. On that occasion I
assented to his wish to go ; but it was only because
I then found that the missionary spirit had laid hold
upon him in an unmistakeable way, and that the ques-
FIRST THOUGHTS OF MISSION-WORK. 75
tion really was, not whether he should go at all, but
whether he should go to that particular mission.
The result of the representations made by his fa-
mily and those of his intimate friends whom he con-
sulted, was that he declined to offer himself as a Mis-
sionary for Delhi ; but it will be seen from the next
letter that, although declining at this time, he distinctly
reserved to himself the right of going abroad on a
future occasion.
LETTER XXII.
{To a sister.)
Dear ,
Saturday Evening.
You took my plan much as I expected. I have
now to tell you that I have resolved not to go to Delhi.
Whethei" 'twas right to distress you in Scotland, and at such
a distance, before consulting College friends, I almost doubt ;
but I half feared to make up my own mind and then have
to bear the brunt of arguments against the plan, coming
from home. I am afraid I have dishonourably thrown the
pain on you, but I know you will not be inclined to blame
me at present.
The hopes expressed in your letter, that the work to be
done at home is more important than the other, and that it is
more adapted for me, were stated as facts by men on whom
I could rely for judgment and honesty. And now the matter
stands thus. A more suitable post abroad may spring up at
a time when my ties of duty at home are less : in which case
I shall consider myself at liberty to go.
I cannot write more. Shew this to , next time you
meet, though I have just written to her.
Yours truly,
C. F. M.
76 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
After this letter Mackenzie dropped once more
quietly into his round of duties. In a letter written
probably in the May or June of this year, he says,
" I don't wish that my projected plan should be
thought of any more. I want you all to forget that
it was proposed." And then he goes on to speak of his
work at Haslingfield, and of a prize which he is busy
in adjudging for proficiency in knowledge of the Church
Catechism.
In the summer of this year he took up his abode,
as in the previous one, at the schoolmaster's house in
Haslingfield. Here is a letter which gives some ac-
count of his proceedings. The reference to the College
examinations shews that it belongs to June.
LETTER XXIII.
{To a sister.)
Haslingfield, Monday, the i^th.
My dear ,
It's sorry I am to have been so long in writing.
I am debating whether an apology or a confession will be
best. I have been far from idle lately. Our College Exa-
mination ended on Thursday week; the next day I came
out here: and though under no actual pressure of engage-
ments, yet there is always much to be done.
One thing has taken up a good deal of my attention
lately: a class of nearly thirty candidates for confirmation.
The confirmation was held at the adjoining village on
Friday last : and I confess I have been much interested in
the young people. It is a very important age of course, but
besides that I half feel that the respect for the rites of the
Church in the Parish depends a good deal upon me. I
think Mr Clark looks at his parishioners as individuals,
FIB ST THOUGHTS OF MISSION- WORK. 77
eacli of wJiom he earnestly desires to be saved : I rather
look upon this as part of the universal Church, and wish
not only to benefit this generation, but to keep up the
customs of the Church and to gain for her the love of her
children. As it has happened this time, Mr Clark has
been very unwell for three or four months, and thus the
responsibility of improving well the minds of these young
people has fallen on me.
I have been trying very hard to induce them to come to
the Holy Communion. You would be surprised if you knew
how few do attend here, and none I think of the younger
j)eople. If I could only break the ice this time with one or
two, I should be abundantly satisfied : of course the more
out of the twenty-eight the better, but I hardly hope for
more than two or three. But that w^ould be a beginning.
*****
I have been delighted beyond measure by your last two
letters : and would, I think, write twice a-day rather than
lose your correspondence. So now you know how to get a
letter out of me. Seriously, I regret much being so irre-
gular in my duties of affection : and as I am in a course of
general amendment, I shall hope to include this.
*****
I have arranged my days very methodically: three days
a- week on one scheme, and three on another. My occu-
pations are —
Sermons,
Bible and concomitant studies, such as the
study of the question of inspiration,
Hebrew,
School,
Visiting,
Exercise.
All this falls between breakfast at eight, and dinner at six.
After dinner I am on varieties. Logic, Shakspeare, History,
&c., and I suppose letter- writing must come in then, for
78 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
there is no other time, — which may partly account for my
not "writing since coming here.
One whole day last week was spent in hearing the
Church Catechism for a prize, said with the strictest accu-
racy. I was so tired at night.
Your very loving brother,
C. F. M.
The following is to the same sister.
LETTER XXIV.
Cai0S College, July ii, 1853.
Deaeest ,
I torment myself from week to week, because I
don't write to you. So as I have just finished a very
kind sisterly letter from you, I think it kindest to myself,
in the most selfish point of view, to sit down at once, and
write to you.
* * * * *
We are indeed a fi-ail family, and here am I as strong
as a horse, hardly sympathising with the rest of you. Cer-
tainly sight goes a long way towards convincing one of the
realities of things : I mean that when I come home and see
you all, and see how far from well some of you are, I
always feel more for you all, than when I am here, with
work and amusements that have no association with home.
I believe I feel more sympathy for a slight aihnent, a fit
of ague, that will be gone in a week or a month, than I do
for the continued sickness of a loved sister like ; I
hope you will not think me a brute for all this; I believe
it is natural, but that I have it in excess.
I am at present an amphibious animal; partly resident
at Haslingfield, and a little in College. The Long Vacation
work has begun ; that is to say, the Students have begun to
come into residence to work, and the Chapel service must
be kept up. The tutor has a Church of his own to attend
FIRST THO UGHTS OF MISSION- WORK. 79
to, and is wisely afraid of over excitement on Sundays : so
he takes the service in Chapel through the week, and I
on Sundays. This brings me into Cambridge on Saturday
evening. I go out to Haslingfield for the services, and
return to College again. Yesterday I found no more serious
consequence than an inclination for bed at about 10 o'clock,
and I expect to be able to go on with this as long as is
required.
*****
Also I must make a stay of two days at Canterbury,
to see the last of Jackson before his going to India. I
told you, I think, of his having found a companion to go
to India with him : Hubbard by name.
The October term came, and Mackenzie resumed
his College work : the only letter that has come into
my hands is one bearing a post- mark of December 6 :
from this 1 give one short extract.
LETTER XXV.
{To a sister.)
* * * * *
I cannot tell you how much I feel the good of having
sisters to be writing to me and thinking of me and
pi-aying fen- me in this busy place. It is a slippery road
we are upon, and we might almost despair, were it not
for God's gracious encouragements : it is our Father's good
pleasure to give us the kingdom, and I do confidently hope
that we shall indeed reach that happy place where all evil
is excluded.
In January 1854 Mackenzie was Moderator, as I
have already mentioned ; and the hard work brought
upon him by this office, in addition to his ordinary
8o MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
routine of business, will probably account for a total
dearth of letters to his family. Nothing has come into
my hands belonging to the early months of this year ;
but the following letter will shew that as soon as the
Easter vacation allowed him to absent himself from
Cambridge, he again betook himself to his Haslingfield
lodgings, and endeavoured to realize for himself the
character of the parochial Clergyman. The letter is
to his eldest sister.
LETTER XXVI.
Haslingfield, A^ml 12, 1854.
*****
Other things are going on tolerably smoothly. I am
growing more methodical in my habits, and I am try-
ing hard to be determined and fixed in character : for I
think I am easily led. At least I very easily form my
opinions according to the company I am in : or if I do
not form my opinions afresh, I am very apt to seem to agree
with the person I am with. (A friend of mine sometimes
says of another, who has this weakness to a considerable
degree, that he smells of the person lie has been last with.)
I have been trying to overcome this, and fi.nd it beginning
to grow easier.
Term ended about a week ago, and I have been rusti-
cating here, enjoying the quiet of the place very much.
Though I spoil it by often having to go into Cambridge,
where the associations of the place make me feel as if it
were term-time again.
*****
I have heard from Jackson from Delhi. He had just
arrived, and looked round him with very great interest at
the scene of his future labours. He says the two natives
FIRST THOUGHTS OF MISSION-WORK. 8 1
of most note among those wlio have been baptized are very
intelligent, and lie wishes to gain a few other native con-
verts that they may not stand alone. He says how much
he would like or myself to be with him, but speaks
of his companion Hubbard as a great comfort.
I have seen lately a journal of Archdeacon Merriman,
the Archdeacon at the Cape of Good Hope ; very interest-
ing reading I thought. If you can lay your hands on it,
I think that you will like it.
It will be easily believed that so earnest a feeling
concerning the duty of missionary work as that which
was called forth by his thoughts on the Delhi mission
would not be likely altogether to slumber in a heart so
honest and single as was that of Mackenzie. The prin-
ciple involved in those emphatic words of his, " No one
else will go, so I will," coupled with his very modest
view of his own usefulness in Cambridge, could hardly
fail sooner or later to come to the surface, and impel
him to missionary enterprise. How he was led, in God's
wise providence, to take the great step, will be seen in
the following chapter.
CHAPTER V.
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL.
On November 30th, S. Andrew's Day, 1853, were con-
secrated at Lambeth Parish Church, the first Bishops
of the newly formed dioceses of Graham's Town and
Natal, in South Africa. These two dioceses had pre-
viously formed a portion of the diocese of Cape Town.
The zealous Bishop of this enormous diocese, having
made a very remarkable journey through its whole
extent, and taken a measure of its spiritual necessities,
returned to Ensfland in 1852, and succeeded in makincf
arrangements for the subdivision of the diocese, and
for the maintenance of two new Bishops. Dr Colenso,
who was chosen to be Bishop of Natal, left England
soon after his consecration, in company with the Bishop
of Cape Town ; he made a rapid inspection of his dio-
cese, which he embodied in his interesting narrative,
entitled "Ten Weeks in Natal," and then returned
home, arriving in England, May 27, 1854, for the pur-
pose of pleading the cause of his diocese, with the
advantage of some personal knowledge of its wants,
and obtaining assistants in his work.
Just about the same time, arrived another colonial
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. 83
Bishop in England. On tlie same page in the " Co-
lonial Church Chronicle" which announces the arrival
of the Bishop of Natal, I find also the following notice.
"The Bishop of New Zealand has reached England
after an absence of twelve years from his native land.
This brief period, marked by hitherto unexampled
labours to spread the Gospel, and to found the Church
among heathen races, must at some future time be-
come an epoch in the history of the Church of England.
And the record will not be inglorious, at least if wis-
dom, prudence, untiring courage, rare self-devotion, —
all directed with a single eye to the honour and glory
of our blessed Kedeemer, — are worthy of a remem-
brance in the annals of mankind." The feelinof excited
in the minds of Enghsh people by the news of Bishop
Selwyn's return was very striking and also very cheer-
ing to every Christian heart. The missionary was ex-
pected with something like the feeling which belongs
to the return of a great general from a successful
campaign; and the mind of England was probably
more generally turned to missionary thoughts, and more
open to impression concerning the great work of evan-
gelizing the world, than it ever had been at any pre-
vious period. Of course Bishop Selwyn was seized upon
to speak and preach upon all possible occasions, and
few who heard him will ever forget the simple and
modest manliness of his eloquence. In no place was
he more heartily welcomed or more thoroughly appre-
ciated than in his own University, and in November
1854 he preached a course of four sermons in the Uni-
versity pulpit as select preacher.
6—2
84 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
These four sermons were published at the request
of the Vice-Chancel lor, under the title, The Worh of
Christ in the World. I shall venture to extract from
them the concluding passage : it is striking to read, —
how much more striking to hear !
"And if," said the Bishop, "it please God to call
you to a more peaceful lot, to the work of the ministry
in England, — in the colonies, — or in the mission-field,
you will learn to think all things light, which you can
do or suffer for the cause of Christ, when you see what
the service is which the world exacts. And yet our
work also has no narrow compass. I go from hence,
if it be the will of God, to the most distant of all
countries — to the place, where God, in answer to the
prayers of his Son, has given Him the heathen for His
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for
His possession. There God has planted the standard
of the cross, as a signal to His Church to fill up the
intervening spaces, till there is neither a spot of earth
which has not been trodden by the messengers of sal-
vation, nor a single man to whom the Gospel has not
been preached. Fill up the void. Let it be no longer
a reproach to the Universities that they have sent so
few missionaries to the heathen. The Spirit of God is
ready to be poured upon all flesh ; and some of you are
His chosen vessels. Again, I say. Offer yourselves to
the Primate of our Church. The voice of the Lord is
asking, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go with us?'
May every one of you who intends, by God's grace, to
dedicate himself to the ministry, answer at once : * Here
am I, send me.'"
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. 85
I now return to Mackenzie. In the autumn of
1854, I think in the beginning of October, the Bishop
of Natal proposed to him that he should go out to
Natal as archdeacon. So far as I can remember he
had not made known to his friends that any decided
change had taken place in his views with regard to
home work, but I suppose that his previous conduct
with regard to Delhi pointed him out as a man wlio
might not improbably accept a foreign appointment if
offered to him ; indeed from one intimate friend he
had extracted a promise, on relinquishing the Delhi
scheme, that any fitting opening which might after-
wards occur should be mentioned to him. In the latter
part of the summer of this year he spent a few days
with my family and myself at Felixstow in Suffolk, but
I do not remember that he conversed with me upon
the probability of his going out as a missionary. How-
ever, the proposal came from the Bishop of Natal, and
the following letter shews the manner in which he re-
ceived it. The letter is to his eldest sister ; it is un-
dated, but internal evidence refers it to the month of
October. He speaks in it of having been "named for
the Caj)ut." The Caput, or more fully, the Caput Se-
natus, was a body consisting of five persons, upon whom
devolved the duty of approving of Graces before they
were submitted to the Senate ; it was abolished in 1856.
I find by reference to the records of the University that
Mackenzie was not only nominated a member of the
Caput on October 12, but was actually elected at a Con-
gregation holden on October 18. I cannot tell when he
resigned ; Mr Romilly, the late Registrary of the Uni-
86 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
versity, informs me that " tlie jji-actice of the Univer-
sity never was to make a second election in the year
after the resignation of a man duly elected : so there is
no record of Mackenzie's resignation." It will be seen,
however, that the date of the letter must be certainly
subsequent to October 12. We are thus brought very
near to the month of November, in which the Bishop
of New Zealand preached ; of which more presently,
LETTER XXVII.
Caids College, Monday.
Dear ,
Read tlie enclosed at some quiet time when you
can command it.
C. F. M.
A year and a half ago I was asked to go to Delhi,
and on the advice of most of my friends, I declined.
Now I have another offer. The Bishop of Natal (one
of tlie two new Bishopricks at the Cape) wants me to go
with him as Archdeacon, paid to be second to him in the
Diocese.
The Bishoj-) was with "W. B. Hopkins on Friday, and
Hopkins told him he might ask me, at any rate, to go.
So I conclude that Hopkins is ftivourable. I shall write,
however, and ascertain this point.
I have consulted Goodwin, and he says that much as
he would regret my going, he must advise me to go.
My own feelings are very strong in favour. For the
last two or three months I have quite had my mind made
up, to go somewhere abroad, as soon as home claims left me
free. When I left this place in August, I fully intended to
have spoken to you on the subject : but other plans, you
knov^, j^re vented me ; for I did not wish to complicate the
matter, and I should have thought the scheme we spoke
of, a tie to this country of considerable strength.
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. 87
But now I look xxpou that as laid aside for the present ;
so tliat I think other ideas should return with full force.
To neglect one way of being useful, because another way
may become feasible, would be absurd.
My ijositive reasons are simply that there is difficulty
in getting men to go out; and I have no reason to give
against going ; therefore I ought to go. Like labovirers in
a field, each should go where he is most wanted.
I look upon Goodwin's approval as most important.
He was so strong against the other, that his sincerity and
disinterestedness are proved. He does not deny that the
College will miss me, but he says he could more easily find
a man to fill my place here than one willing and able to
do the work there.
% * * * *
I have only a few minutes now before the post goes.
I have so far made up my mind to go, that I shall
at once disengage myself from some duties which would
interfere with my going. I was named for the Caput a
day or two ago, but by declining at once, I shall give
less trouble than if I were to wait for a week or two : I
shall therefore do so. Also I shall at once find some one to
take the office of Examiner in the Senate-House next Janu-
ary \ I should have told you that the Bishop will sail in
January or February, and would like me to go with him.
* * * * -»
I said I had almost made up my mind: I have not a
shadow of doubt of your approving : indeed, I feel sure that
this opening and my accepting are but the fulfilment of
your hopes since I wrote about Delhi. I am more anxious
to hear what says : but I have just read over his letter
to me about Delhi, and though the remai-ks apply nearly as
well to this as to that, yet I cannot say they change my
views. Still, if he has anything to say, I shall be glad to
^ His place was taken by Mr Ferrers of Caius College.
88 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
liear from liim, most thankful indeed for anything that will
help me to come to a right final conclusion. I shall write
this evening more full particulars of what I know already of
the work.
It will be observed that the above letter throws
a considerable responsibility upon the editor of this
memoir. In explanation of the advice which I thought
it right to give to my dear friend, I have only to say
this. It seemed to me quite clear, and I think the
tone of his letters will prove, that Mackenzie's mind
was fixed upon missionary work. The Delhi scheme
had been abandoned in deference to the opinion of his
friends, and here was the same desire breaking out
again. Might not his friends, if they still insisted upon
keeping him, be fighting against God ? I confess that
when he mentioned the subject to me a second time,
I thought that I had no right to oppose upon the
general principle, but only upon the conviction that
the particular sphere of missionary work to which he
was looking was unsuited for him. Now it seemed to
me, that if go he must, the Natal opening was a very-
suitable one. I thought that his fine temper and ir-
resistible loveableness would tend to smooth the diffi-
culties, to which an infant Church in a colony must
inevitably be subject ; and so far as Heathen work was
concerned, I knew that he could condescend to the
simplest of his fellow-creatures, and I thought that he
would be happier in planning missions amongst the
untaught Kafirs, than in dealing with the objections
of acute Hindus. It will have been seen that in the
first instance, rightly or wrongly, I did my best to
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. 89
keep him for what seemed to me to be peculiarly his
sphere of work; I did not dare to act in the same
manner a second time. How much it cost me to think
of losing him I will not say.
For the present, however, the offer of the Bishop
of Natal was declined, apj)arently in deference to the
wishes of his family. The immediate cause of the
ultimate determination to go to Natal is to be found
in the sermons of the Bishop of New Zealand al-
ready referred to. At these sermons, it was noticed
by Mackenzie's friends, that, contrary to his practice,
he was regularly present. He usually, as we have
seen, spent the whole Sunday at Haslingfield, walking
home in the evening : but during the month of No-
vember he was to be seen each Sunday afternoon in
Great S. Mary's Church, and his intimate friends, who
knew all that had passed, concluded that his attend-
ance was significant. Certainly to a mind that was at
all leaning towards missionary enterprise, nothing could
be more likely to give the final movement than the
sermons of Bishop Selwyn : eloquent and forcible in
themselves, they were a hundred times more eloquent
and forcible Vv^hen regarded as the testimony of a man,
who had himself done so much, and done it so nobly.
The next letter will shew their effect upon Mackenzie's
mind. Like the last, it is to his eldest sister.
LETTER XXVIIL
Caius College,
Monday, Dec. il.
My dear ,
I hope, thongli you may be surprised, yet that you
will not be seriously sorry, when I say that I have recon-
90 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
siderecl my decision about Natal. I have offered to go with
the Bishop iu the capacity he proposed before, and I have
been accepted. So now the whole thing is fixed, and I shall
sail with him in February.
Soon after coming to the determination of staying here,
I began to doubt the rightness of that conclusion, and then
Bishop Selwyn, of New Zealand, preached in the University
pulpit in November, and he revived in my mind the con-
viction, that a man's going from home is like a branch being
cut from a tree to be planted somewhere else, and that the
other branches will spread, and very soon no gap will be
seen. At this time the Bishop of Natal wrote to me about
another man, a friend of mine here, and asked if I thought
he would be a good person to go. I wrote to say, I thought
he would be a good person, if he were free to go ; • and it
ended in this man and myself discussing his case, and our
deliberations ended, rightly I believe, in his declining. Then
I wrote to the Bishop, that if he was still free to offer it to me,
I would accept; and he writes me that he most heartily
welcomes me as his brother and fellow-labourer in the work.
In all this I have acted on my own responsibility, hav-
ing changed my mind without the advice of any earthly
friend: but I do humbly trust, that what I have done is
according to the will of my heavenly Master.
So far I have spoken of myself, though I have been of
course speaking to you. Now comes — — 's case. She
writes me that — • — • recommends a warmer climate. Natal
is a beautiful climate, and I fancy would not wish for
a better escort than mine. So I am writing by this same
post to propose to her to come with me in February.
I hardly know what more to say. On the point of going
or staying, I consulted no one; but on the point of Natal
or elsewhere I again consulted Goodwin, and he is most
clear on that head. So I willingly agreed.
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. 91
Dear , good bye for the present. Commend me to
• 's kind tlionglits. Commend me to God's care.
Your very affectionate brother,
C. F. M.
Of course tliei'e need be no secret about my going : it is
fixed.
The next letter is to another sister : it gives no ad-
ditional information, but is too characteristic to be
omitted.
LETTEE XXIX.
Caius College,
Dec. II, 1S54.
Dearest ,
It is long since I have written to you, and though
I began a letter a few days ago, on receiving one from ,
which spoke of your being again in Edinbui-gh, yet I did
not get it finished, being interrupted; and the attempt found
its way into the fire.
And now dear I have something to tell you, which
I fear will vex you. I suppose it may as well come out at
once : I have made up my mind to go abroad. I am going
to the colony of Natal, with the Bishop of Natal, to be his
second in command; to help him to put in order what needs
arranging there, and to commence schemes which may, I
trust by the blessing of God, lead to the conversion to civi-
lization, to Christianity, to happiness here, and to the hope
of glory, many of the simple natives of the place.
I shall have to go in February; but on that very account
I must see you all for a while before that time. So I pro-
pose coming to Edinburgh on the 23rd.
I hope you will be enabled to look at this move of mine
in the right view, as a short separation that we may be
united for ever; as a noble work with which my Master has
entrusted me, for the due performance of which you must
help me with sympathy and prayer. My dear , I
92 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
used to form my judgment a good deal by yours : those days
are gone by : but it will be unspeakably comforting to me,
if we can heartily join in giving up our own will to God's,
and rejoice in that which may best tend to set foi'th His
glory and to hasten His kingdom.
It is late, and I have other letters to write.
Good bye, dearest,
Believe me to be, now as ever,
Your affectionate brother,
C. F. M.
The next is also to a sister, and inserted for the
same reason as the last.
LETTER XXX.
Caius College,
Dec. II, 1854.
My dear ,
I have been very remiss in not acknowledging
your letter. I can speak to you however on the subject to
which it refers when we meet, as I hope we shall before
long, for I am looking forward to being in Scotland at
Christmas this year.
The fact is, I have given up my Examinership this year,
because I have been asked to go out to the colony of Natal
with the Bishop, as his second in command, to help him to
make arrangements in his diocese, at its first starting; and
I have accepted the offer. It is only proposed that I should
go out for five years, b\it though of course I may come
home before that time, or after it, yet I have at present no
intention of coming back, except perhaps for a short visit.
This will, I believe, surprise you as much as any one;
yet I feel confident it will not distress you. The Lord hath
need of him, is a sufiicient answer to all questionings, Why
should I go? My reason is very simple. There is in the
colonies a lack of men; there is none at home. Therefore
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. 93
let all that are free go cheerfully to that other part of the
field, where their labour is m6re wanted than here.
This is a very simple view of the case ; one which I be-
lieve will at once commend itself to you, even though the
fulfilling of the duty it brings were to yon like the cutting
off a right hand or the plucking out a right eye.
Please tell what is in this letter, and say that as
I hope to be down so soon I may perhaps not wi-ite to him,
as I should certainly have done, had not you been in his
house. I hope he will not think me utterly mad; I hardly
hope he will approve of the step I have taken : a step, con-
cerning which I have no hesitation myself, having delibe-
rately arrived at my present conclusion after more or less
deliberation during two years.
* * * * *
My acquaintances in Cambridge, of whom I have a
goodly store, are a good deal taken by surprise by my re-
solution : my best friends congratulate me. .
Now dear it is late, and to-morrow evening I shall
spend with my Bishop in London : so I must not be sleejjy,
or perhaps he will say I may stay at home.
In short, good night.
Believe me to be, now as ever,
Your affectionate brother,
C. F. M.
The following short letter speaks for itself.
LETTER XXXL
(To a Sister.)
Caids College,
Dec. 19, 1854.
My own dear ,
I cannot tell you how your letter affected me. It
was one of my fix'st thoughts when 1 wrote to in
94 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
October, How would you feel it ? and now I see that, bitter
as the parting may be, yet yoxi are supported by Him who
is a siu'e Refuge in time of trouble.
Let us remember that the time is short. It remaineth
that we must be separated from every earthly tie, in order
that such bonds as are holy may be renewed.
I shall not say more just now. I shall hope to see you
on Saturday.
Your affectionate brother,
C. F. M.
The result then was, that it was finally determined
that Mackenzie should go out with the Bishop of Natal,
in the character of Archdeacon. His own family did
not offer any strong opposition, indeed opposition was
manifestly useless ; many of his Cambridge friends
acquiesced in the scheme, seeing how clearly his own
mind was made up; but some expressed their opinion
very strongly that his proper sphere of action was
Cambridge, and that he ought not to move. In one
point all agreed, namely, that his departure from Cam-
bridge was as simple and genuine a sacrifice of self
as it was possible for a man to offer upon the altar
of God. Others will not go, so I tvill, — this principle,
and no love of roaming, no weariness of home quiet,
no enthusiastic belief in his own power of working
missionary miracles, took him away from England and
gave him to South Africa. Of the scene of his future
labours, more will be said hereafter.
The Christmas of 1854 was spent in Edinburgh,
with his family, and it was soon arranged that the
invalid sister, referred to in page 90, should go as his
companion to South Africa. He mentioned it to me,
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. 95
if I remember aright, as a singular support to liim, and
a sign of the correctness of his choice, that after having
made up his mind to go to Natal, the next post brought
him a letter informing him that a warmer climate had
been prescribed for this invalid sister.
On his return from Scotland, there was plenty of
work to be done in the Vv^ay of preparation for an
early departure. I have only one letter which belongs
to this period. Here it is.
LETTER XXXI L
{To a Sister.)
Caius College,
Jan. ic), 55.
My dear ,
Your present \ reachiug me a few minutes before
I left , went at once into my jiocket. So when morn-
ing dawned, before we got to London, and I could
read, each to himself, for there were others in the carriage,
our morning psalms.
I cannot help blaming myself for the weakness of our
parting. For surely it is a glorious prospect, that is be-
fore me, doing the work of my Master, (faithfully, I hope,)
here, and waiting for His return. The idea has sometimes
crossed my mind, if in heaven we have work to do for Him,
(as doubtless we shall have,) still shall we not look back on
the work we might have done for Him here, and which we
have neglected ? For this time will never come again. We
may serve Him then faithfully for the future, but the past
— this world which will then be past will never come
again; and as our love will be so much warmer, so our
sorrow for neglected opportunities of serving Him will be
^ A small Prayer-Book to carry in a waistcoat pocket.
96 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
the keener, if indeed sorrow can be tliere. I felt something
like this on leaving school to come to College : though a
new sphere of usefulness was opened before me, it never could
make up for the one that I left; and now I feel something
of the same kind : great as are the means of serving Him
to which he has now called me, I have had great means
here, and these opportunities I have too often neglected.
The future has its own responsibilities which will corre-
spond with its opportunities, the past is gone. These
thoughts, at such a change of life as the present, seem to
me to be presages of the thoughts that will vex one on a
deathbed, or perhaps beyond the grave.
I must stop for the present. When I write again, it will
be, I dare say, in a more hopeful strain.
I have made out the accounts of the Board of Education,
have preached my last sermons at Haslingfield, and am ad-
vertised to preach next Sunday in one church, while the
Bishop is preaching in another.
It -was eventually determined that the Bishop of
Natal and his mission party should sail from Liverpool
in the beginning of March in the barque, Jane
Morice, which was prepared specially for their accom-
modation, and made as convenient as so small a vessel
could be made for so large a party. A brother-in-law
of the editor of this memoir, residing at Oxton, near
Birkenhead, invited Archdeacon Mackenzie and his
sister to take up their abode at his house while the
preparations for the voyage were in progress ; this they
gladly consented to do, and I offered to accompany
them. Owing to this arrangement, I had the pleasure
and privilege of seeing the very last of my dear and
honoured friend.
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. 97
He was perfectly cheerful, as lie always was ; and
several times he said to me, as we were busily engaged
in Liverpool, making arrangements for the voyage,
" I cannot help thinking how different all this would
have seemed, if you had not come with me." A few
days before the sailing of the Jane Morice, there was
a farewell service in Trinity Church, Birkenhead ; and
on March 7 the missionary party embarked.
The parting scene is strongly impressed upon my
mind. We waited upon the pier at Liverpool for a
steam-tug which was to convey the party to the vessel,
lying in the river. The party was all assembled ; the
Bishop with his family, the Archdeacon and his sister,
two clergymen, a German professor of languages, several
missionary ladies, two catechists, a farmer and his wife,
a few labourers and mechanics, and several boys, in
all about 30 or 40 persons. It was a solemn quiet
scene. There was plenty of time for last words, and
the moments seemed very precious to us. At length
the steam-tug came alongside ; the party was soon
on board, and the last thing which caught my eye was
the happy countenance of the boy from the Cambridge
Industrial School, who was eating an orange with all
the appearance of entire absence of care.
I may refer the reader to page 2, for a short letter
written by Mackenzie at this period to his eldest sister,
in which he acknowledges gratefully all the care and
kindness he had received at her hands ; I here add
•another, written on the day before the sailing of the
JaTie Morice to another sister equally dear to him.
98 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
LETTER XXXIIT.
{To a Sister.)
OxTON Hill, Birkenhead,
March 6, 1855.
Deaeest and sweetest ,
We sail to-morrow; so I write to-day to say Good
bye, and to bid you clieer your lieart. as I know you are
doing. We are, at least I can speak for myself, and I be-
lieve will say the same, in the most cheerful and happy
frame of mind. We have a good deal to do, which seems to
occupy our minds, and the extreme kindness we have re-
ceived from our friends here beggars all desci'iption.
* * * * *
So you are getting better, dear . If the accounts of
your health are good, it will be the hest news, I speak
advisedly, that I can hear from home : I mean the news
that will give me most selfish pleasure : of course one
ought to feel that the hest news is, the success of the Master's
kingdom.
Ever dear ,
Your affectionate brother,
C. F. M.
The voyage of the Jane Morice was most pro-
sperous, and as little unpleasant to the mission party
as so long a voyage in so small a vessel could be.
The Archdeacon shall tell his own tale of his life on
board ship in a letter written to the editor of this
Memoir.
LETTER XXXIV.
The Jane Morice,
March 15, 1855.
Lat. 37". Long. 13". W.
Dear Harvey,
My first letter after parting is, I think, due to you.
Thanks many for your continued kindnesses in Cheshire
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. 99
not that your late tiudnesses Lave obliterated former ones
from my mind^ but our intercourse lately has been more
tender and brotherly, I think, than before.
But you will probably care more for some account of
what has been going on, than for any long accounts of my
feelings.
This is the eighth day of our voyage, and it has seemed
both long and short. I was frequently sick during the first
two days, and hardly touched a thing : but I am thankful to
say that I had no headache, and was able to run about as
much as ever : this was lucky : for with the assistance of a
lady, Miss , (or rather she with my help,) waited on the
steerage passengers, neai'ly all of whom were ill, and all
very downhearted. It was hard work, but has ended in
making a very friendly feeling between the two parts of the
ship. You would have laughed if you had seen me, in a
little cabin with four berths, quite dai-k ; I making the bed
for some person, man or woman, who sits upon a box talking
Suffolk : or standing outside the ship-kitchen begging the
black cook for some " fresh water boil " to make arrow-root,
(I can make it famously now) : or going from one part
of the ship to another, helping Miss to walk on the
slippery decks, each carrying two cups of arrow-root, I with
a pocket filled with a brandy-flask, a tumbler, a bottle of
raspberry- vinegar, and two eggs. Then we had great con-
fusion about the luggage. And besides, I have been down
in the hold seeing the stores weighed out to the steerage
passengers; and in the morning I am either running for the
breakfast for the children, or holding one while the nurse
dresses another; and we are together keeping the other two
quiet.
I write these particulars, that you may see how fortu-
nate it is that I had not mounted my official coat before
leaving England. On the whole I have selfishly enjoyed
the voyage very much. There has been plenty to do, and
I have had strength to do it.
7—2
lOO MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
We have had short morning and evening prayers in the
cabin, and in the steerage, every day. On Sunday morning
we had a short service.
*****
This is the first day on which I have begun any work for
Natal, namely, the grammar for an hour this morning. I have
told the lads that they, and any others that like, may read with
me for an hour in the morning : we are to begin to-morrow.
I go to bed always at ten, and lately have not got up till
seven; the fact is, one's nights wei'e broken at first, and
even now I think the motion of the vessel injures one's rest.
We have had a capital run so far. The wind was against
us on the second day as we came down the Channel, but on
the Thursday night a fine breeze sprang up, which lasted
till about yesterday, and has brought us well on our way.
One night I got up at about three, and walked on the deck
till four, enjoying the magnificence of the scene : fine waves
foaming beside us, and the ship breasting them famously.
It is difficult to give you any idea of our jiarty without
being personal.
*****
Our day now is as follows. I get up between six and
seven, and at seven I have the four lads to read the Bible;
at eight the steerage passengers breakfast, and the cabin
passengers begin to emerge from their cabins at the smell of
cocoa, which comes hot and excellent from the kitchen. Till
breakfast, which is nominally at nine, but is ofter nearer
ten, we sit and read or wait on deck. Breakfast consists of
cofiee, bread baked that morning, toasted captain's biscuits,
cold saltish beef, and perhaps a fowl or a duck or a tongue.
Immediately after breakfast we have prayers on deck, not
the full morning service, but parts of it: I read, and the
Bishop gives a ten minutes' lecture on some part of the second
lesson. Then we have our Zulu class, in which we have
read the fifth chapter of S. Matthew, besides a good deal of
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. lOl
grammar. Then, we play for a time : (I often go up the
shrouds, or arrauge some of the things which the Bishop has
entrusted to me, or heal up an incipient quarrel amongst
the steerage, or take a turn at the wheel, or run up to the
maiu-top yard) : or else woi'k at the Zulu till dinner-time,
three o'clock, often four. Dinner consists of soup, pair of fowls
or ducks, or some mutton, pork, or corned beef, and a pudding.
After dinner we are on deck again till tea, about eight;
then prayers in the cabin and steerage separately, with a
hymn ; and then reading, or writing, (as now,) in the cabin,
in nearly perfect silence, or sitting on deck, admiring the
stars: I never do this latter. Then at ten talking is for-
bidden, and before eleven we are all in our berths. I find
I lie most steadily on my back; I learnt this from a tin
case of arrow-root, which used always to tumble over until
laid on its larger face. It is close upon eleven : so I must
stop. We ai'e now just passing S. Antonio, one of the Cape
Verd Islands.
March 28. You see how seldom I take up my pen, and
for how short a time. We are now in lat. 11": yet the
day has been very cool, except in the direct rays of the sun.
We have an awning, stretching forward from the hurricane
cabin, so as to j)rotect us from the sun. We are getting on
famously: we ran 200 miles between noon on the 26th
and noon on the 27th, and about as much in the next
twenty-four hours.
The Zulu gets much easier. We are in the 7th chapter
of S. Matthew now. The grammar is very good.
We are longing to be at Natal ; not so much, I believe
honestly, on account of the annoyances of shipboard, as that
we may get to work. I suspect the affairs of the mission
are rather at a stand-still for want of us.
April 16. Lat. 20", S. Long. 29" or 30", W. We have a
vessel in sight a-head, and hope to send letters by it. We
are still progressing in the most favourable manner, and
hope to make the voyage in about ten weeks.
102 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
* * * * *
During this liot weather we, the gentlemen, have been
enjoying a new mode of bath. There is a fire-engine on
board, which is used every morning for floodiog the decks
in the opei'ation of washing them : there is no nozzle, but
an oi)en tube an inch and a half in diameter : this is turned
ujDon us, and the result may be conceived better than de-
scribed. Another more refined enjoyment we have had in
these tropical regions. The sunsets have been most gor-
geous, and the sunrisings even better. Yesterday and to-
day many of us were up at a little after five feasting our
eyes for an hour or more. I forgot, strange to say, to m.en-
tion, that I am writing with Mrs Goodwin's pen, which is
excellent. My best and kindest remembrances to her.
-» * * * *
As for myself, I have not a shadow of regret at the
change of occupation : on the contrary, I am full of thanks
to Him who gave me the good will, as I cannot help regard-
ing it, and gave me strength to carry out the j)urpose, and
has so fully recompensed me for any sacrifice. I cotdd not
help thinking last night, if there were nothing else than the
increased pleasure of singing the hymns in our service,
thinking of the words all the time, (a habit which I began
in your church, I think,) I should have richly gained. This
last paragraph I have written, as jom will believe, to en-
courage others who may be thinking of coming out.
* * * * *
I give the conclusion of the voyage from Miss
Mackenzie's journal.
May 20th. Yesterday morning we were roused very
early by being told the land of Natal was in sight. For
many days previously we had been nearly becalmed, an
unusual occurrence on this coast so near the Cape; but a
strong and favourable breeze had now sprung up and we
had made more than 200 miles during the last twenty-four
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOB NATAL. 103
hours. The coast was a very pleasant sight, rising in hills,
and increasing in beauty as the siin rose, and the lights
became varied. There were dark woods running along the
shore, and green patches of underwood on the rising ground.
There was a general feeling of joyous thankfulness among
all, for our voyage throughout has been a most prosperous
and peaceful and happy one ; no storms to alarm, no sickness
among the party, and all has been harmony; the few neces-
sary discomforts of so long a stay on shipboard being nearly
all forgotten amidst the many blessings of the present,
and hopes of the future, when our duties and occupations
are begun. I myself felt a little regret at the even tenour
of our life being ended, and the pleasant intercoui'se and
constant accessibility to any one whom I wished to speak
to, being changed to the usual restraints of life, and the
busy world ; but in this feeling my brother was the only one
who sympathised with me.
We made very slow progress this day, but were so close
to land that we did not feel the monotony as we had done
in the midst of the ocean ; but to the Bishop the delay was
very trying, as he hoped to cross the bar (which is passable
only at high tide) in the evening, and got ready to go to
Durban and officiate this forenoon. In the evening a rocket
was sent up to announce oiu' arrival and give wai-uing to
the pilot: but it was not seen, and he did not arrive till
eleven a.m. I wish I could write in the glowing strain
I could have done at that time of day; the land looked so
beautiful, the rising hills so refreshing to our eyes, the sun
was so bright and warm, and the sea so smooth, the air so
balmy, while the whole service for the day was so suitable
to our excited feelings; and I believe all joined with heart
and voice in the 103rd Psalm, ascribing praise and blessing
to God for all His mercies, which the Bishop took for the
subject-matter of an excellent short sermon he gave us.
About four P.M. we crossed the bar, where the waves
roared and broke with white foam; but within Durban bay
104 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
it was like a lake, tlie water quite green and placid, and the
banks most beautiful and covered with evergreens and flow-
ering shrubs.
The Bishop went on shore and is to return to-morrow,
when he has made arrangements for the accommodation of
his large party ; and we shall then take a final leave of
the good Jane Morice, the Captain and all the crew. The
recollection of the time passed on board her, and of this my
first voyage, will ever be one of the bright points in my life.
The quiet to-night, while we are lying at anchor, seems
very sti-ange, and the ship looks unlike herself with all her
sails furled; and I doubt not the sailors are enjoying the
unwonted luxury of undisturbed sound sleep, which indeed
will be equally welcomed by most of the party. I feel
confident all will unite in private, as they have done in
public prayer, in thanking God for all the blessings He has
vouchsafed us, and for His i:)rotecting care of us during the
voyage.
On reaching Natal the Archdeacon committed to
paper some miscellaneous reflections upon the voyage.
I subjoin a few extracts.
May 20, 1855. Sunday. After a most prosperous voyage
of seventy-four days from Liverpool, we are now lying in
the harbour at Durban. Before writing what I have to say
about the voyage, I wish to record my strong feeling of the
very great mercies we have received during this time from
the hand of our most gracious Father, both in outward pro-
tection and comfort, and in the pleasures of kind and Chris-
tian society.
There are not many facts to be recorded of the voyage,
that bear upon the interests of the Mission. Most of the
members of the Mission-party have devoted a good deal of
attention to the stixdy of the Zulu language: the eflPect of
which has been a certain amount of acquaintance with the
regular forms of the grammar, (very little progress has been
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. 105
made in tlie knowledge of the idioms,) and a translation of
S. Matthew, made by tlie American missionaries, has been
read through, and m^ost of the constructions thoroughly un-
derstood. In this work the missionaries have been instructed
by the Bishoj), who has given up a good deal of time for the
purpose : and the Bishop has been assisted, and in many
instances himself instructed, by Dr Bleek, a German linguist,
who has been engaged to assist in methodising the language,
and in further translations, I have said that little progress
has been made in the less usual idioms of the language : for
the Bishop and Dr Bleek were not sufficiently deep in
their knowledge to enable them to take us much beyond the
simple and mox-e common forms of expression : and besides,
the book which we were translating being itself a trans-
lation, and one made probably by persons who had only an
imperfect knowledge of the language, we could not expect to
find in it anything but simple forms of language, frequently
repeated. However, some ground has been gained, and we
are certainly in a position to pick up the language from
actual communication with the natives.
Another good result of the long voyage has been the
acquaintance we have thus had an opportunity of making
with each other. For instance, I have had many opportu-
nities of conversation with the Bishop, from which I have
derived much advantage, and which has, I think, shewn us
that we are so nearly alike in opinion and feeling, that we
may confidently hope to work harmoniously together. Then
again, others of the party have had opportunities of making
friendship together, quite as well if not better than on land.
This I think worth mentioning, because it seemed at fii'st as
if the ten weeks of the voyage would be thro^vn away. I
looked upon this as a necessary and unavoidable loss arising
from the scene of our future labour being in a distant land :
I now look upon it as having been highly useful to our
work. One other good purpose the voyage ought to have
hadj but I must confess that I did not turn the time to
io6 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
profit in tliis respect; I mean that one ought to have used
the time for reading and prayer and meditation, so as to
gi'ow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. If this should fall into the hands of any
person vi^ho is about to follow across the waters to this or
any other mission, I would suggest the necessity of distinctly
striving to make this use of the voyage. No doubt there
are difl&culties in the matter : one being the obstacles which
exist on board ship to solitude.
In the earlier part of the voyage we had a good deal of
sickness on board; not more, I dare say, than usual in such
cases. This, which might have apj)eared an unmixed evil,
did, on the other hand, afford to those who were well an op-
portunity of sympathising, and in many cases of alleviating
the distress of their neighbours. This cannot have failed to
have drawn to each other by the cords of love those who
were afterwards to woi-k together. Another aspect of the
voyage I must mention. "We have not been, as some may
have ex^iected, and as some may even think we ought to
have been, a gloomy, sombre party. We have been as cheer-
ful as possible. To be sure, we have had a good deal of
young blood among us, more than many missionary parties :
but I think even the elder ones among us have felt that
religion and cheerfulness, far from being incompatible, ai-e
productive the former of the latter: the good gifts of our
heavenly Father being intended to be accepted as from Him,
and that thankfully.
As to events during our passage, which have not affected
the interests of the mission. Our cou.rse was more to the
Westward than I expected. We ran as far as 30° of W.
Longitude. The reason of running to the West is that the
N.E. trades are thereby made available to the fullest extent,
while after running across the S.E. trades, keeping as much
to the South as possible, the longitude which has been lost
may be gained again in the temperate zone, where the pre-
vailins: winds are from the West. But I believe the main
LEAVES CAMBRIDGE FOR NATAL. to;
reason is, that on tlie Western side of tlae Atlantic tlie belt
near the Equatoi's (between the N.E. and the S.E. trades),
in which the winds are variable and calms frequent, is nar-
rower than on the eastern side; and it is considered to be
worth while to incur a certain addition to the length of
course to be run, rather than risk an indefinite detention iu
this region of variable winds. In our case the Captain in-
tended to cross the line about longitude 19° West, but was
driven as far West as 25".
We saw several kinds of birds. One of them was caught,
an albatross, with a baited hook. He was allowed to walk
on the deck for some time. I was struck by the want of
muscular strength in the wing. He was a heavy bird, con-
siderably heavier than a swan ; yet the wing yielded to one's
hands without much resistance, when we bent one of the
joints of it. This may be, because the bird, though very
much on the wing, does not require to give violent blows
with the wing, and needs muscles capable of exertion for
long periods, rather than capable of exciting a powerful
force for a short time.
The heat on crossing the line was considerable, but not
so excessive as I expected. Some of us indeed were put out
of sorts for a few days, but I found it only slightly enervat-
ing : and it made it necessary for us to remain a good deal
under the awning. (We made jokes at the time about the
connection between awning and yawning, which may shew
the weak state of mind and body to which we were reduced.)
This day we crossed the bar, and are now lying at anchor
in the bay. Yesterday morning at daybreak we saw the
mainland of Afi-ica for the first time.
*****
The party being now safely arrived at their desti-
nation, this Chapter may suitably close with the follow-
ing testimonial, taken from a letter written by Miss
Mackenzie on the voyage.
io8 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
I am very happy and all the passengers are agreeable,
owing (the Bishop told me) to my excellent brother, whose
peace-making qualities we know of old ; he is also the life of
the party, the sunshine of the steerage, and the director of
everything, from the boxes in the hold to the preaching and
teaching of all on board.
CHAPTER VI.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL. DURBAN.
An interesting historical sketch of the colony, which
is now. for several years to be the home of Archdeacon
Mackenzie, will be found prefixed to Bishop Colenso's
Ten WeeJcs in Ratal. The colony has been so much
before the eyes of English Christians, as an interesting
and hopeful scene of missionary work, during the last
seven or eight years, that it might perhaps be taken
for granted that the readers of this memoir would be
already sufficiently acquainted with the position of
Natal, both geographical and religious. I shall think
it right, however, to suppose that there are some to
whom a few words of explanation will be acceptable,
and for them the following paragraphs are intended.
" Natal lies upon the South-East coast of Africa,
in latitude 29 to 31 degrees. It derives its name,
Ter7^a Katalis, from the fact of its having been dis-
covered by the Portuguese navigator, Vasco di Gama,
on Christmas-day, A.D. 1497- Its extent of surface is
about 18,000 square miles, or just one-third of England
and Wales. The country may be described, generally,
as rising rapidly from the coast of the Indian Ocean,
no MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
in four distinct steps or terraces, each about twenty
miles in average width, and each having its own pe-
cuHarity^of soil and climate. Along the coast the heat
is greatest, and though scarcely, in the height of sum-
mer, to be called 'tropical,' it is yet sufficient to allow
of the gi'owth of cotton, sugar, coffee, pine-apples, and
other productions of the tropics. There is a good deal
of woodland and park-like scenery in this region ; but
further inland, as the country rises in elevation, the
temperature is diminished, and the air is clear and
refreshing, except when the hot wind blows from the
North-West, from the sun-scorched centre of Africa.
The second range of land is almost bare of trees, but
excellently well adapted for grazing purposes, besides
furnishing abundant crops of hay, oats, mealies, or
Indian-corn, and barley. The port-town of Durban,
with its population of 1100, lies in the former district,
and Maritzburg, the city and seat of government,
with a population of about 1800, including the mili-
tary, in the latter. Beyond this, the hills again rise,
and we come to a region in which is found plenty of
forest-timber of considerable size, and of very superior
quality. And still more inland, immediately under the
foot of the Kahlamba, or Draakenberg mountains, the
soil is well adapted for growing wheat and other Euro-
pean products V
Natal was recognised as a British colony in 1845,
and became a separate diocese in 1853. Ecclesiastically
speaking, it is of the nature of an island, being sepa-
rated from the diocese of Graham's Town by Indepen-
^ Ten Weelcs in Natal.
RESIDENCE IN NA TAE-D URBAN 1 1 1
dent Kaffraria, while to the North-East it is bounded
by the heathen country of the Zulus. Some years
before it became a British colony, an attempt had been
made to evangelize the natives under the auspices of
the Church Missionary Society. In August 1837, the
Rev. T. Owen, with his wife and sister, landed at Port
Natal, and shortly after commenced missionary opera-
tions. In the beginning of the following year, however,
a terrible massacre of Dutch boers, who had settled in
the country, and who were murdered in cold blood
by order of Dingaan, the native king, and the manifest
probability that Mr Owen and his family would sooner
or later share the same fate, made the missionaries
determine to accept the offer of escape, which the king
made them, and to leave the country.
This massacre was amongst the dark recollections
of the colony, when it was put under the care of a
Christian bishop. Bright days seemed to have dawned :
the steadiness and equity of British rule had caused
a considerable immigration of Zulus, glad to escape the
tyranny of their native chiefs, and the Bishop reckoned
the native population at the time of his first visit as
being from 100,000 to 120,000.
The Zulu Kaffirs are spoken of as a noble race of
people, very superior to the Hottentots, — some one has
described them as "magnificent savages"; they are
honest and independent, capable of thinking and judg-
ing for themselves, and they speak a language of con-
siderable refinement, and almost of Italian delicacy of
pronunciation. Their chief fault seems to be that which
belongs to all unchristianised races, a want of ap-
112 'MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
preciation of the dignity of women ; polygamy is the
law of the country : and each new wife being purchased
with a certain number of cows, the multiplicity of a
man's wives unfortunately becomes, to a certain extent,
a measure of his wealth and his social importance.
To this short notice of Natal, which will be en-
larged incidentally as we proceed, I shall only add, that
the reader will find at the beginning of this chapter
a map of a portion of the colony ; it includes all those
places which are more immediately connected with
Archdeacon Mackenzie's work and journey ings, and is
copied from one which was made under his own direc-
tion, for the information of his friends at home.
For the account of Archdeacon Mackenzie's life in
Natal, I shall depend to some extent upon his own
letters, written from time to time, but in no great
abundance ; in addition to these, I have carefully read
through a very large number of letters, written to
friends at home by the sister who accompanied him,
and by another sister, who (as we shall see) joined him
afterwards. The extracts which I shall think it right
to make from those letters will give only a faint notion
of the life of earnest Christian work which they reveal,
a life darkened sometimes by troubles, and those trou-
bles not slight, but lighted up with the quiet light of
practical godliness and charity. Admiration for their
brother's character is not the least conspicuous feature
of this very interesting collection^.
^ I have sometimes wished that a series of letters, taken from the
collection here referred to, could be published. I think they would
make some Cliristians at home in love with a Missionary hfe.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 113
I now give two letters written by the ArcJideacon
some months after arriving in the colony, the first to
myself, the second to his eldest sister.
LETTER XXXV.
L)URBz\.N, July ■2'jiJt, 1855.
Dear GooDWi:>f,
•X- * * -X- *
For tlie first week after landiug we all remained
here, that is, at the town of Durban, about two miles from
the mouth of the bay where we landed. I was chiefly em-
ployed in seeing that the goods came on shore, and were
safely stowed in the warehouse; partly in seeing that the
rest of the party were comfortable. About a week after
landing the order was given for the mission party to pro-
ceed to Maritzburg, which is (as you know) fifty-two miles
from this. We went in ten waggons, each of wliich was
drawn by twelve or fourteen oxen. The particulars of the
journey I shall not euter into, except one point. On the
last night of the journey, shortly before we went to bed,
we heard a considerable noise in a Kafir cabin close to us.
Several of us went to see what was the matter, and found
some four or five Kafirs sitting round the fire, which burned
in the middle of the hut, on the ground of course, singing.
I fancy it was a war-song. Every now and then, at the
crisis in the song, one of them struck the tent-pole, which
was about as thick as the calf of one's leg, heavy blows witli
liis knob-kerry, with a ferocious or rather malicious expres-
sion efface. Then at other times they all joined in a curious
noise made by panting with all their might, and at each
expiration making a groaning noise, at the same time shak-
ing the whole body. This amusement they continued till
they were quite tired. We often hear a noise in the town
of Durban, which betokens that the Kafir servants of so;re
two or three families have got together, and are having a
8
114 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
night oi it in this sort of way. It is very horrible to see,
but I sometimes doubt whether it is much more barbarous
than the noises I have sometimes enjoyed making at a boat-
ing tea. or than the fantastic dancing performed by the best
society. I assure you I think they are all very much on a
par, and must all of them be accounted for as the ebullition
of exAubei'ant spirits (I wonder where that word got its h
from; I know I ought not to have put it in). At Maritz-
burg I remained three weeks, preaching on Sundays and
learning Kafir on the week-days.
About five weeks ago the Bishop determined to employ
Mr {the Colonial Chaplain, who has been taking the
duty at this place for the last four or five years,) in forming
and taking care of scattered congregations on the coast. I
see now how it is that dissent seems naturally to take the
lead in a new place ; the ease with which some one with the
gift of language starts up in a little settlement where there
are six or seven families, and conducts service on Sunday, is
not comparable with the difficulty of getting a man in Epi-
scopal orders to be minister in such a \Aa,cQ, or even in two
or three tolerably near each other. As to the amount of
good done, that is a diflferent thing; but dissent steps in
very often among a set of people heartily attached to the
Church, and by degrees steals their hearts. I suppose the
remedy must be the ordaining men deacons, and letting
them study for a few years longer, while in charge of such
places, before admitting them to priest's orders.
Well ; the result of this appropriation of Mr , for
which his acqiiaintance with so many people in the colony
admirably fitted him, left the town of Durban without a
pastor. Accordingly I have been placed here, and think it
possible I may remain here for a year, or perhaps two or
three. It is not exactly the work I came out to do. At
the same time the 2)'>'i'}"tciple on which I came out is in no
way broken ; namely, I came out because so few were will-
ing and able to leave home. And after all, I am perhaps
RESIDENCE IN NA^AL— DURBAN. 115
exercising as great an influence for tlie good of the natives,
if I be allowed to exert a good influence on the whites here,
who will again act on the natives. Nothing can so interfere
with missionary operations as the presence of a white popu-
lation uninfluenced in heart by Christianity. Then, too, if
I can get on with the language, there are as many coloured
people as whites in the town, acting as house-servants. They
do not stay for very long periods at a time; two or three
months to eight or nine; never a year, w^ithout spending a
month or more at home, after which they very often do not
return. However, if I knew (or rather, when I know,) the
language, I can work among them to my heart's content.
The chiu'ch here is complete as far as the fabric goes, walls
and roof, but is not free from debt.
The people here are, I am thankful to say, well disposed
towards me so far. Some little opposition exists to the
custom (not an innovation, as you say,) of having baptisms
in the service. I have to-day filled a sheet of paper in an-
swer to a letter containing arguments in favour of letting
the custom remain as it was under my predecessor.
I have just begun having service on Saints' days : prayers
in the morning, prayers and sermon in the evening, I have
about twenty in the morning, and fifty in the evening. The
music in the church is very good.
As I was coming down from P. M. B. (Pieter Maritz-
burg) a fortnight ago, when I had got about half way, I
thought I would take a short cut by a Kafir path. I had
heard of the short cut, and had observed where I expected
the cut to come into the road again. So I went ofl" the road,
and trudged away, my path being by the side of a little
stream, with hardly a trickle of water in it : but the bed
was in many places twelve feet deep and twenty wide, and
there were evident signs of ovei'flowinfr the banks in the wet
8—2
11(5 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
season. I had left the public-house about six, with a cup of
coffee for breakfast; as I went on the path I began to think
it was longer than I expected, and at last I could not find
any track at all ; so I concluded that I had lost my way.
I climbed to the highest ground near, and I thought I re-
cognized a hill ; but on going some miles towards it I found
I was wrong. By this time I had lost any notion of direc-
tion I might have had. Unfortunately your compass was
still packed up in a zinc box at Maritzburg, (I have it now,)
and the sun was not visible, — the first and only day I have
missed him, I think, since landing. I was at fault about
the points of the compass, when I saw an atom of a rain-
bow (not more in length than its own breadth) on the
liorizon. I stopped, marked its position, and noted which side
was red and which violet; and taking it for granted it was
the primary bow, I estimated the position of the sun, and
looking at my watch I made out the North. Aha ! said I
to myself, I wonder how long it would have been before his
knowledge of Homer and Cicero would have helped
out of a jilace like this. Now, said I, Durban to wliich I
am going lies S. W. of P. M. B.; so if I walk towards the
S. E. I shall get back to the road in the least possible time.
Oflf I set in high spirits, and went on for half an hour, when
I suddenly remembered that Durban is S.E. of P. M. B., and
that I was walking parallel to the road instead of at right
angles to it. By this time it was about eleven, and I was
getting very hungry and tired, when I saw a Kafir kraal ;
so up I went, and asked one of them, "Shew me the way to
Pine Town." The man understood and nodded; when he
was ready, I said, " Give me to eat :" so he made me go
with him into his hut. You have to crawl in on hands and
knees; the hut is about fifteen feet in diameter, quite cir-
cular, and about six feet high in the middle. They are all
roof, as one of our party described them, with a strong post
in the middle to support the centre. They are made of
reeds wattled. Well, in I crawled, (as I had done a dozen
RESIDENCE IN NA TA L—D URBA N. 11/
times before, but never having been the only Englishman,)
and two of them with me. One called out loudly to his
wife, who brought in a vessel of sour milk, amaci, thick
stuff, but not too thick to drink; so I put it to my lips with
considerable satisfaction; and then gave my guide a shilling,
which he perfectly understood. The other fellow then gave
him his purse containing some five or six shillings in silver,
in order, as I supposed, to make some purchases, and finally
took off his shirt, and gave it to my guide, who had only an
old coat on ; this was taken off, the shirt struggled into, the
coat put on above; with the exception of these articles of
dress, my guide had only a Kafir full dress, which consists
of something like the Highlander's purse, (without the kilt,\
and sometimes a strip of cow's hide with the hair on round
each ankle. Then we started, after my guide had taken
several whiffs of hemp, which they smoke instead of tobacco,
tobacco being used solely for snuff. The pipe was curious.
It consisted of a cow's horn, with a hole on one side, into
which the bowl was inserted. The bowl is of wood, I think.
The man puts his mouth into the large end of the horn,
which he manages to till up, and then draws in his breath,
receiving thereby the smoke from the bowl.
"Well, we set off at last. After walking two or three
miles, we came to a hut : my friend threw down his stick
and assegai, and crawled in. I threw down my stick and
followed. The hut contained a man, and four wives, some
with two or three children, some apparently without. I went
out again when we were ready, back foremost ; partly I
believe from a courteous dislike of tui*ning my back upon
them: they were very much amused. We reached Pine
Town, on the way to Durban, about 2 o'clock, instead of 10,
as I had promised. So I determined not to try a short cut
again, till I knew better how to prevent it becoming a long
one.
Il8 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
LETTER XXXYT.
Durban", JaJij 30, 1S55.
Dear ,
I cannot remember for certain, and my memory
(that is A ) is not here to remind me, whether I wrote
to yovx on landing, I think I did; and sent the letter by
the Mauritius, in which case you must have got it some
two months before you get this : however, I will call this
No. 1.
-»• ■::- "r -x- *
"We came to anchor, Sunday, May 20; landed next day;
started for Maritzburg (written P. M. B.) Monday, May 28 ;
ai-rived on Thursday, May 31. * * ''•' I started for Dur-
ban on Thursday, June 21. The Bishop had been at
P. M. B. for a fortnight or so, but had returned to his fa-
mily; they left Durban for P. M. B. on Tuesday, June 26.
As to the time of the journey, an old colonist, or a good
rider, will go through in a day, twelve or thirteen hours :
one like myself will go through in two days : a waggon
takes three, that is, sleeps three nights on the road, arriving
about the same time of day as they started : they are not
able to make the journey by sleeping two nights, because
they cannot by any contrivance, or under pressure, start
early in the morning.
I do not know whether —
travelling. The body of the waggon is not unlike an Eng-
lish one, only narrower, and 1 think longer. From the
sides thei-e springs a roof, supported by semicircular arches
of wood, and consisting of canvas. The sides and roof are
very strong, as indeed they had need be. There is a pole,
and six or seven pairs of oxen, constituting a ^' span," draw
it by means of yokes. The yoke is a piece of a pole, about
RESIDENCE IN NA TAL- D URBAN. 1 1 9
four inclies ia diameter, and long enougli to reacli across
tlie necks of two oxen; then there are two jiieces of wood
stuck into it at each end, which pass down on each side of
the neck of each bullock, so as to keep the top-piece in its
place. These pieces are about as broad and thick as your
hand. They pass in front of the shoulder; and I thought
at first the beast pushed against them in drawing, just as a
horse pushes against the collar with his shoulder; but I
soon found that their only use is to keep the top-piece
from slipping oflf the neck, and the draught arises from the
pressure of a hump above the shoulder against the said top-
piece or pole. The Cape oxen have all of them this hump,
without which they could not be used for drawing, at any
rate not half so well. Well : you have perhaps seven such
yokes, with a pair of oxen luider each, (we hear of oxen
putting the neck under the yoke, you would not so speak of
a collar), and a strong chain, or a rope made of thongs of
skin, passes forward from the end of the pole and is fastened
by a short rope to the middle of eacli yoke : so when the
driver says Trekk, (or Trek, it should be, I believe) — for the
waggon-terms are most of them Dutch — the oxen go on,
and the waggon follows. He is provided with a long whip,
which gives very severe cuts sometimes. They make no
difficulty about going over stones very much larger than
one's head, so that the jolting which ensues may be con-
ceived to be considerable. They are generally provided
with large clumsy shoe drags, and I am told that sometimes
thi'ee wheels are dragged in going down a steep hill : they
would drag all four, only they say that the waggon would
I20 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
be unmanageable, and might twist round so as to stand
across the road, in which case it would upset. The oxen
have no means of holding back in going down hill, so the
only thing to be done is to run to the bottom as soon as
possible, and try to keep on the road. We had one in-
stance on. our way to P. M . B, when both R and 1
thought we should have been upset : he said quite coolly,
" I think we shall have an upset; but it will not be a bad
one !" But they say the road from Durban to P. M. B. is a
prodigy for goodness : I have not yet seen any other.
The main advantage in using oxen here is, I imagine,
because their feeding costs nothing. The country as you
go along is quite open, and generally covered with grass ;
and the oxen are simply turned loose to graze in the morn-
.ing before starting, and at the halts which they make once
or twice in the course of the day. The land belongs to
some person, but there is very little cultivation indeed ;
you see an acre or two with forage growing, and then you
■ go on for two miles without seeing a house, or a sign of
life, except a Kafir kraal or two on the side of the opposite
hill. But you will say you have heard enough of waggons
and oxen.
My present work is the parish of Dui-ban, or rather the
town, for at present the parish extends, I suppose, twenty-
five miles in one direction and fifty in others. The town is
said, if I remember right, to contain about 1000 white
people, and I suppose there may be as many Kafirs acting as
servants. The church, the only one in the colony that has
a roof on, is not yet completed; but owing to arrangements
that have been made since the Bishop came out, it is now
progressing. It will hold about 250 persons : it is built of
brick; the roof is open, and the beams are shcAvn. There
is no east window: I mean the east end is built up, without
a window in it : they say it would have been too hot in
summer, if the morning sun had once got in. The floor is
of wood, and the seats are at present plain white deal
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. I2I
benches with backs and ends. There is a very nice instiai-
ment (a serajthime I tliink it is) and a voluntary choir, who
sing very fairly, almost too well for the congregation : one
of them has proposed to train a set of boys, which offer I
have thankfully accepted. We have Jackson's Te Dewnx
every Sunday, and the music for the responses at the Com-
munion is prettier I think than any I ever heard. When
I said to the organist that I had never heard it before, and
that I liked it, she said, " Very likely not. Sir ; it is my
own composing." The church is tolerably full in the morn-
ing, at eleven, and nearly as full in the evening, at half-
past six. These hours suit the people here, who commonly
(universally, I think) dine in the middle of the day. Be-
sides the English church, there is a Wesleyan chapel, and
a Congregationalist. The former has been built some time;
of the latter the foundation was laid the other day ; there
has been a congregation however for some time.
When I left England, it was, as you know, with the ex-
pectation of being stationed on the mission ground : but
we have found things less advanced than we expected, and
it seems it would be premature to be building a house on
the ground yet. Besides, the Bishop was anxious for seve-
ral reasons to put a new clergyman here at Durban. One
of them was the fitness of the man who was here, the
colonial chaplain, for forming and making up new congre-
gations of colonists in the outljdng and thinly-peopled dis-
tricts of the colony; and he had no one that suited his
purpose so well to be placed here as myself; so he said to
me that he thought of placing me here for a time, and I
said at once that I would do anything he liked. It has
occurred to me once or twice that this was not what I
came out for: but then I have remembered, and it has
perfectly satisfied my mind, so that I do not think the ob-
jection will return, — I came out here, simply because there
was a scarcity of people that could and would come : I did
not come because I thought the work more important than
122 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
what I was leaving : tliougli 1 did and do feel tlie import-
ance of the work here very strongly; but I came because
so few would. I left plenty in England; and my coming
abroad has left the place open for others. So I am quite
satisfied, and am couAinced that I am doing best by being
at the bidding of the Bishop. You may be sui'prised at
my sapng all this; but I know you are interested in my
being satisfied, and I like to tell you honestly what I think.
To return to the question of an abode. It is very dif-
ficult to get a house to suit. There are plenty of houses
with three rooms, a sitting-room and two bed-rooms, and
one or two little outside rooms, built in the verandah ; but
these are hardly big enough.
w -^ '^ -S" ^
Do you know I found myself, the other day, persuading
a mother to send her eldest son, a gentle boy of 11 years
old, to school : she said he was very closely bound to her :
nobody's advice or opinion was so good as mamma's. I
told her I had a sister, to whom I sometimes felt disposed
to write for advice still, because I used to feel very much
towards her, as this boy did to hei' : and I said the wrench
at leaving home at the age of 15 was so great, that I never
failed to urge mammas to send away their boys earlier
than that, unless they thought they could keep them with
them altogether. My own sister, it is very comforting to
look forward to meeting again : it may be in this world,
or it may be in another ; but it will be some time.
One of the i^eculiarities of this place is the utter absence
of old people. The church-clerk, who is also sexton, is a
man of about 55 perhaps, and I suppose there are one or
two others like him; but the great number of people are
young, and the number of children is wonderful. Another
peculiarity is the smallness of the incomes : not above two
people in the colony have above £400 or £500 a-year :
not above fifty, I dare say, more than £200. It is not easy
to get money from people who have not much.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 123
Two of our number, Dr Bleek aud Baugh, are at a
Kafir kraal, liviug among the natives to learn the lan-
guage. That is the jjroper way : I wish I were with
them.
It will be seen from the preceding letters, that soon
after arriving in the colony Archdeacon Mackenzie was
settled down as the parish priest of Durban ; it will be
seen also that his own judgment somewhat questioned
the arrangement, but that he acquiesced on the general
principle of submission to superior authority, and satis-
fied himself that all was right by reflecting upon the
reasons which had induced him to leave home and
devote himself to foreign work. Without venturing to
ex^jress a positive opinion in a matter in which local
circumstances require to be thoroughly well known in
order to enable any person to form a valuable judg-
ment, I may perhaps say that it was a considerable
disappointment to his friends at home to hear that
Mackenzie was ajDpointed to the parochial charge of
Durban; they had rather looked forward to the in-
fluence which his fine character and Christian spirit
should exercise upon the whole diocese, and had re-
garded him as the companion and friend of the Bishop,
rather than as the clergyman of a small white po23ula-
tion. Hence, when troubles arose in Durban, in no
way connected with missionary labours, but of a kind
which might have happened in any parish in England,
there was certainly amongst his friends at home a dis-
position to grudge him to such work, and to question
more than ever the wisdom of his choice in determin-
124 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
incr to go abroad. These Durban troubles I would
gladly pass over altogether, the more so as I believe
that many who were much opposed to the Archdeacon
at the time learned to see his worth, and did not fail
to testify their altered feeling towards him when he
visited the colony a second time : but it would be im-
possible to speak of this portion of his life, and to de-
scribe his ministry at Durban, without alluding to the
disturbances which arose from the differences between
his parishioners and himself. The fact is, that at the
time of the Ai'chdeacon's appointment to Durban the
minds of many persons were in a state of irritation
concerning Church matters: preaching in a surplice
appeared to some to be only Popery in disguise, the
Offertory an innovation to be sturdily resisted, the
public administration of Baptism a dangerous novelty,
and true Protestantism was regarded as bound up with
all the careless fashions introduced in careless times.
This kind of feeling, for which allowance ought on
many and very good grounds to be made, was not con-
fined to England, but extended to the colonies, and
Durban was influenced by it.
It may be stated perhaps that with regard to in-
ternal management, the infant Churches of the colo-
nies are in one respect more favourably situated than
the Church at home, and in another less so. On the
one hand, the congregations in the colonies are newly
gathered, and have no bad habits of long standing to
break through; on the other, there is a feeling of inde-
pendence in the colonies, which is likely to extend to
the Church, and to make it more difficult for the minis-
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 125
ter to lead his flock, in matters not distinctly ruled by
law or custom, than in England. It may be added, that
there is a corresponding temptation in the colonies to
get rid of bad habits which have crept into many of
our English congregations, and a corresponding danger
of such efforts leading to misunderstandings between
minister and people. In the case of Durban matters
stood thus. The congregation in that place was the
oldest in the colony, and differed in some of its habits
from those more recently established: especially there
was no Offertory, as a regular part of the Church ser-
vice, although the jiractice was universal elsewhere
throughout tlie diocese. The attempt to introduce
uniformity, an attempt to which he was first led by his
confidence in his people and belief that they had con-
fidence in him, and in which his feeling of submission
to his Bishop led him to persevere when his own judg-
ment prompted him to desist, was the origin of troubles
which constituted the most painful chapter of his life.
I remember well the intense sorrow with which his
friends at home regarded the vexations which he had
to endure, and the admiration with which they noted
the saintly manner in which he bore them ; for myself,
the subject was so exceedingly painful that I could not
bear to open the packets of local newspapers which
were sent to me from the colony, and which contained
the history of vexations and annoyances which I could
not alleviate. Beyond doubt this was part of the disci-
pline and education by which God was fitting His ser-
vant for a more difficult and trying post.
Having made these remarks upon the Durban
ia5 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
troubles, I shall introduce a portion of a letter in which
he unburdened his mind to the editor of this Memoir.
It is the only sorrowful letter I ever received from him ;
the only one that I have read in which his noble heart
seemed to be at all bowed down by the weight put
upon it. The letter, as will be seen, was strictly pri-
vate, and in one paragraph he gave strict injunction
that nothing taken from it should be published: the
reasons assigned however were of a temporary character,
and do not apply now ; I trust that I shall not have
violated the spirit of the injunction by printing a por-
tion in this volume. I have omitted everything which
in my opinion Mackenzie would have desired to withhold.
LETTER XXXVII.
Loose slip : to be read first.
You will soon find that this must be a very private
letter. I must have some one to uubosom myself to, and
though I do so to a certain extent to some here, yet
there is no friend to whom I can so fully speak as to you.
Durban, Fch. 8, 1856.
Dear Goodwin,
I have received your very acceptable letters. My
sister has written home in some letter to somebody, that
the delight of reading a home letter is quite as great as
it has been described, though she was sceptical on the
point before she came out. I quite agree with her, and
I think it only right to ovir friends at home, that they
should know the thrill of pleasure with which we hear
that there is a vessel outside, (that is, not yet entered the
harbour,) then that she has an English mail on board ;
then that she has seven or eight bags of letters which
have been landed, and that letters will be delivered at three
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN 127
o'clock in the afternoon ; finally, the discoveiy that the half-
crown sent by the Kafir has come back reduced to three
threepenny pieces, indicating that we have seven letters,
of which jierhaps three are for the Robertsons, to whom
we immediately send them, while we (unless it be Satur-
day afternoon) sit down to the full enjoyment of our own.
I have dated this letter " Durban, " as usual, though
I am at present out on one of my clerical tours. I left
home on Thursday (yesterday) morning, at half-past seven
A.M., having intended to be off at least an hour earlier, but
having lost that time in seeing that the horse was fed,
that the fire was lighted and the coffee made, and in putting
up the shirts and papers I should take with me. I was
on my sister's "horse, having sent my own the day before,
by my own Kafir groom, to the house of a friend, fifteen
miles on the road. I have a little capering about, and
am nearly on the neck of my horse, as soon as he discovers,
by the direction of his head, and the saddle-bag at his side,
that he is ofi" on a journey. I come, after four miles riding
along a flat road, to the river Umgeni. There is no bridge,
but a great floating stage, known as "the punt at the
middle drift;" but as the depth of the water is not suflticient
in all parts to float me and the horse as well, though in
general it carries loaded waggons across, I take ofi" the
saddle and lead my horse behind me, he having to swim
in the deepest part. I pay 9c7. and lose a quarter of
an hour in this operation. I proceed along a sandy road
through the bush, sometimes along glades covered with
long grass, sometimes along a road cut through the bush,
(which stands here for jungle, and consists of trees thirty
feet high, and bushes matted together in the most beautiful
"way with masses of convolvulus and other creepers,) till
I come to the river TJmhlanga, on the other side of which
is the house of my friend Adams. In one place the road,
which is a waggon-track, is so overgrown with grass from
side to side, that it reaches as high as my head while I
128 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
sit on horseback. This part of the road has not been
travelled bv waggons for a few months.
It is now a quarter past ten. I stop at Adams', and
have breakfast. The bread is made of mealies, and tastes
to me much as oatcake does, I suppose, to an Englishman,
who has not the good sense to appreciate it. I find here
my horse, and send back my sister's by the Kafir who
brought mine. About 12 we start. The sun about 10°
from the zenith. We follow narrow paths, not waggon-
tracks, across the river Umhloti; we call upon the little
merchant of the neighbourhood, and tell him that I have
every hope of being able to keep my appointment by hold-
ing service in the house of one of his neighbours at half-
past three next Sunday, and beg him to . let his friends
know. This knot of people is called Mount Moreland.
There are some ten or twelve families, dotted about on
grassy knolls, in a space of about six miles by three, the
majority of whom are members of the Church of England,
to whom a Wesleyan preacher comes from the adjoining
neighbourhood of Yerulam every Sunday morning. This
Wesleyan service is attended by most of the Mount More-
land people. All that we are at present able to do is to
offer them a service once in three weeks, and it is on this
duty partly that I have come up.
We arrive at seven o'clock at the house of Mr ,
the resident magistrate of this district, which is called the
TJmhlali, from a river which runs through it, at a distance
of about forty-five miles from Durban. I carry with me a
.surplice, which I shall leave in this neighbourhood, and
three copies of the last S. P. G. E.ej)ort, which I shall also
leave in various places.
So far I have written in a common way of what might
interest any common friend. But I must in this letter try to
give you an idea of the position of things here, of which you
may have heard something. We have had great trouble and
annoyance from the opposition of the people here, some few
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 129
violent persons especially, to the Offertory. I knew on
coming to Durban that it was the Bishop's wish to intro-
duce the Offertory, and I proposed to him, on our way to
church the first time I preached here as incumbent, that I
shovdd begin at once with my surplice, as the people had
been very anxious to have me here, and I thought they
would take me quietly with all my faults, of which they
would consider this to be one. He advised me not, but to
wait till I had gained the confidence of my parishioners.
Unfortunately I fancied I had done this in about three
months, and then proposed to the Bishop to introduce
surplice and Offertory. He said, "Well, do so, if you think
you can : only do not consider that I order it : I only sanc-
tion it." When I mentioned here to one of the church-
wardens what I was going to do, he said, " You don 't
know what a storm you will raise — I, for my part, cannot
collect the Offertory, in defiance of the feelings of the peoi^le."
I said, " O, that will all die away again in a week or two ; if
you will only do your duty and make the collection, it will
be all right." Unfoi'tunately I gave ten days' notice of
my intention: they called a vestry meeting, and unani-
mously requested me, in the chair, to waive my intention ;
their avowed reason being that the surpKce and Offertory
were connected with a party in England with which they
could not agree, and they were afraid if this were allowed to
pass, something more would follow. I refused to waive my
intention. The meeting broke up in great disorder. On
the Friday the chm-chwarden told me that they intended to
organize an opposition, to leave the church, and get a cler-
gyman fi"om England, who would ofiiciate in the way to
which they were accustomed. (They objected to my bap-
tizing during the service, as well.)
The reader will here see the elements of a quarrel
and disturbance of much bitterness. I shall omit the
greater part of the letter, which describes all the par-
9
130 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
ticulars of the storm, because it might give pain to
some under whose eyes these pages may come ; it must
suffice to say that the breach between minister and
people became wider and wider, until at length it
amounted to an actual separation and to open war. I
ought however to add, in justice to the Archdeacon,
that he did in the first instance waive his intention,
and that it was only upon finding that concession did
not produce confidence and harmony that he was in-
duced to carry out his original scheme, I now resume
the letter.
All this is very unpleasant. I used to say, I did not
know why God had given me so sunshiny a life. One or two
jDeople used to say, that I did not need tribulation : but this
I never believed. Others, such as you I think, used to say
it was because my nature was good-tempered, and I did not
think things to be painful which others did : but even so,
this was the gift of God. I now think that He has an-
swered my prayer which used to be for pain and annoyance,
when He thought it wise : and I thank Him, and only hope
He will " fit me for perfect rest above :" perhaps that i-est
may be made more sweet by annoyance now.
* * -X- -X- %
My present position has driven me to feel the necessity
of prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church Militant.
In this respect I am still very deficient, but I trust to be
improved.
My hope is, that God may work a cure out of the very
violence of the disease ; that true chiirchmen, being true
Christians, will rally round the Church ; and that the oppo-
sers of the Bishop being now, as they are beginning to be,
joined by those who would claim for all a vote in vestry,
and by those who would level the Church on the plea of
religious liberty, may become encumbered by their friends.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 13 1
Thus our enemies may be drowned iu the act of pursuing us
into the sea. I have much comfort in reading of the old
days, when the Church was in worse difficulties than this,
yet out of them all the Lord delivered her.
I have not a great deal of time for reading, but as much
I believe as I had in Cambridge. I am preaching four times
a-week : three times in my own church, and once at a
week-day service for some people four miles off. This makes
me feel the necessity of reading more than I used to do
when Haslingfield was my field.
* * * -^ AJ
It is now May 3. I really hope I may never keep a
letter on the stocks for three months again. All I can do now
is to close this and send it by the mail which goes to-day.
Times are troublous here still. I am holding service
in a large building hired and licensed for the purpose, while
one of the churchwardens encourages a service, read, by
his directions, by a layman in S. Paul's church. The Bishop
is prepared veiy soon, I think, to go to law to prevent
the building from being used, when closed by him. I do
not seriously blame myself for any part I have taken in
the whole matter, though I think I might have acted with
more judgment once or twice.
Yours very truly,
C. F. M.
The next letter is to his eldest sister, and belongs
to nearly the same date as the conclusion of that which
precedes.
LETTER XXXVIIL
Durban, May 22, 1856,
Dear
It is now more than a year since we landed here.
The time has passed very quickly : so quickly that if it keep
9—2
133 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
up its present rate, ■we shall very soon arrive at the end of
this changeful wox'ld of separation, of care, of conflict, and
be joined together in peace and happiness ; and this quick
passing of time will, I think, continue, so long as health and
strength give leave for constant employment. I have some-
times thought of the peculiarity of God's dealings with me,
that for so long a period (since I went to Grange at least in
1840, and how much earlier you will remember better than
I do — since I had the scarlet fever, I suppose) I have had
no illness of any kind. I do not attempt to account for this,
but wish to leave the matter in His hands who knows best
You speak, I see, in your letter of Nov. 12, which
A has just given me, of the possibility of my coming
back, and finding my place at Cambridge open. No : that's
a mistake ; Cambridge, above all places that I know, soonest
fills up the place of one that goes ; and those who go so
soon lose connection with so fluctuating a society, that it
never, I think, works well for a man to return. But besides
this, the principle which made me leave College (and it
required a clear principle to make me break a resolution
which I often used to express, that I would not leave my
then woi'k for any position I could conceive,) still exists,
and is likely to continue as long as I live, namely, the small
number of persons able and willing to come out as clergy
to the colonists, or missionaries to the Heathen. I say all
this, not to give you pain, but because I think it is better
not to encourage, even by silence, a hope which I feel sure
can be realised only by my utterly losing health, and
becoming unfit for work, (which, by the way, I have not
the smallest intention of doing at present). I think my
friends would have been pleased, if they had seen me on
Tuesday, at our Sunday-School treat, playing and enjoying
the games as much I believe as any of the children.
As to the work here, it is, as you know, in some respects
less satisfactory than it was. My congregation is, I suppose.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 133
from eighty to a hundred, instead of two hundred, as I dare
say it was : still I feel that these are braving the danger of
persecution, which was at first so real that I thought it
quite as likely as not that one or two of those who attended
my oh arch would be ruined, by the majority of the people
withdrawing their custom. This must I think do good :
to suiTer in a good cause is very strengthening : it is a thing
which seldom happens at home ; and as I really hope that
things are slowly mending, I am far from dissatisfied with
my present work. I am resolutely refusing to give up the
Kafir evening school, ill-attended as it is, for two reasons :
one, that if once let down, it will be so difficult to get it up
again. Besides, we do not know when God will put it into
the hearts of these heathen boys to come in great numbers.
There axe, they say, about 1000 in the town as servants.
But besides this, I am anxious to keep up my slight know-
ledge of Kafir, and to improve. Now each night I read
them half a page from a book compiled from the Bible, and
then talk to them about it, constantly saying, " Is it correct
to say so?" and this will, I hope, be a less frequent inter-
ruption as I go on. The Kafir prayers I know pretty well
now, and can read them quite intelligibly and intelligently
too. So, as I said to A last night, when she was
arguing that it was lost labour, I decline to abandon the
school. The UmFundisi (as we call Mr Robertson, that is,
teacher,) comes in every Sunday to preach to them ; and I
hope the week- work may help his congregations. I do so look
forward to the time when I shall be able to talk fluently.
The thing I regret more than anything else at present is
my bad judgment in the choice of instruments : and this
is a very serious defect in my position. I think I am not
bad at urging others to work and finding work for them,
but I sometimes get taken in, and appoint a man unfit for
the work. I say sometimes, but in fact I am thinking of a
particular example.
134 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
Archdeacon Mackenzie's ministry in Durban con-
tinued for nearly a year and a half ; during the greater
part of that time his life was much embittered by the
dissensions already referred to and the troubles con-
nected with them ; nevertheless he worked on quietly
and faithfully, believing himself to be in the path of
duty, and trusting that light would break in upon him
at last. Nothing interfered meanwhile with the per-
fect peace and happiness of his home : the various
little annoyances of colonial life, I need hardly say, did
not trouble him, and even the great and real vexations
which he endured have scarcely left a trace upon the
pleasant picture which his sister's letters contain. From
these letters I shall now make a few extracts, for the
purpose of conveying to my readers, in the best
manner possible, a peep at Archdeacon Mackenzie's
life in Durban.
1855. Sept. 3. You would rejoice to see Charles here,
so much liked and respected. He often looks pale and woni,
but assures me that he has a brighter look since I
joined him, and have made him a comfortable home, looking
after his meals, and seeing that his coat is brushed. I have
improved his horse also, by being head-groom, and seeing
that his and my own are properly fed and cleaned. I am
perfectly happy in being here with Charles, but Avas sorry
he was appointed here. When I asked him which he liked,
he said he never asked himself the question.
Sept. 4. We are in a confusion and bustle, moving out
of a borrowed house we have occupied during the fortnight
I have been here. We have no view of the sea, which is a
drawback, and our verandah touches the street; no little
garden in front; and people take pleasure in telling us how
bad the situation is; but we could not get another to suit us.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 135
and we are not disposed to make or find difficulties in what
is irremediable, and I think my perhaps over-punctilious
fastidious nature is done good to, and does good to Charles's
perfect indifference to comfort or appearances. He looks
paler than at home, but is very active both in mind and
body.
Oct. 15. You would all be pleased above measure to
see Charles, how much he is looked up to and respected,
and how veiy sensible and firm he is, and such an excellent
preacher. He is adored by all the sick and young of his
flock. I am convinced he is doing far more good than if
directly employed in converting the heathen, for he is influ-
encing and teaching the white people, who by being the
masters are the practical teachers of the Kafirs, and he
speaks very plainly to them of their duties to the native
population.
We had not taken possession of our new house when I
wrote last. It is a very comfortable one, except that the
white ants dispute the possession of it, and raise mounds on
the floor, and eat up our mats, and would eat into our
boxes if we let them alone. We poison them with arsenic,
but nothing efiectually removes them except digging till
you come to the white-ant queen, a most disgusting animal ;
but our colony is so large that her palace is at too great a
distance to make it possible.
Mr Robertson, the Kafir missionary here, works very
hard, reading Greek and divinity with Charles part of the
day, and besides taking every opportunity in the course of
his walks and rides of proclaiming the Gospel. He has a Kafir
class and service every evening, which is tolerably well at-
tended ; and though we see as yet little fruit of his labours,
it would be wrong to be discouraged or to doubt God's
power of bringing many to the knowledge of Himself
There are a great many nominal Kafir Christians, but they
have not a good character, and I am afraid deservedly so,
being much less honest than their heathen bretln-en, and
136 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
acquiring Christian vices along with the outward civiliza-
tion of European dress.
Mr Robertson has only baptized two converts as yet,
and, as far as we can judge, they are sincere. One of them
is our servant, and we always treat him as a Christian; and
as he is not more free from faults than all other people, and
was unwilling the other day to do as I desired him at the
moment, I reminded him of the dxities of servants in the
Bible, and it was touching to see the humble reverential
way in which he bowed his head as I did so.
Oct, 17. Panda, a Kafir chief, and brother of the
monsters Dingaan and Chaaka, of whom you will read in
Gardiner's account of Natal, is so cruel ; his subjects in
great numbers leave him and come to us for protection, and
he demands that we give them and their cattle up to him to
be put to death or enslaved ; and some think we should
agree, for fear of irritating Panda. A bargain has been
made that the cattle be given to him, and this has been
done ; but there is still a ferment whether the poor people
should receive protection or not ; so Charles, in one of the
best sermons I have heard him preach, took for his text,
" Except the Lord build the house, &c.," and while disclaim-
ing to give any j^rivate opinion, he urged the duty of trust-
ing in the Lord, and not doing what was wi'ong to secure
present safety; and ended by begging help for the Kafir
school lately established, in money, and by making arrange-
ments so that the Kafir servants should be able to attend.
Many, I know, were struck with his remarks.
Nov. 1. Charles is remarkably well, but overpower-
ingly busy. On Sunday he breakfasted a little after 7;
read the burial-service at the cemetery, which is at the
far end of the town ; then he read the full service to the
troops for Mr , who is ill ; then the usual service at 11 ;
the Sunday-school for an hour and a half at 3, and evening
service at G.30.
Nov. 8. Charles has just returned from Maritzburg.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 137
The Bishop sent for him and Mr Robertson to meet the Go-
vernor, Sir George Grey, who seems to have taken all hearts
by storm. They rode the 52 miles from hence to Maritz-
burg on Monday, and 30 miles on Tuesday with the Bishop
and the Governor and a large party to visit ISTgoza's kraal ;
a mission-station is to be founded there. They rode back
the 52 miles to-day with the Governor.
The missionary work thrives apace. The Kafir school is
increasing weekly. Charles and I are paying all the ex-
penses of it at present, the first outlay of repairing and
thatching the building, buying forms oil and lamps. Mr R.
talks to every Kafir he meets, and invites them to come to
school : so one morning a small chief with two attendants
came to beg him to visit his kraal, and preach, and teach
his people. The chief was dressed in a red blanket, but
took his hat oflT, and gave it to one of the Kafii's to hold.
He was very ceremonious all the time of the interview, but
the moment Mr R. left them, the chief and his attendants
jumped like schoolboys over the fence, and were gone like a
shot. Mr R. would like to have a mission-station there.
Charles is very well and strong; the exercise he takes and
the fatigue bodily and mentally he goes through are wonderful,
and yet he cannot overtake half of what he has to do. When-
ever he goes from home I occvipy myself in tidying his room,
arranging his books, and killing spiders and fish-moths, very
destructive creatures to muslins, paper,, everything.
Nov. 9. I have just had the honour of a visit from the
Governor, Sir George Grey. He paid us a very long one,
more than half an hour; and this is his only day in Durban.
"We had a good deal of talk about missionary work. He is
very zealous and enthusiastic, and is sui-e he could do any-
thing with the Zulus here ; they are so superior in disposition
and circumstances to the frontier Kafirs.
1856. January 14. Mr Robertson's work in the town
we call the Scotch mission. In Christmas- week we resolved
to give them a feast: so an ox was purchased for lOs., killed
138 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
about eight hours before it was to be devoured, cut up and
boiled in a large caldron, while part was cut into thin sli})s
and roasted in the fire. We had another large caldron, in
which coffee and a great deal of sugar was boiled ; and we
had a large basket full of loaves. You would have laughed
at the helpings, as 5 lbs. per head was the average eaten.
When the repast was finished the Archdeacon exhibited
his magnificent magic lantern, with dissolving views, many
of them astronomical, which greatly pleased them, especially
eveiy one which shewed the moon; she being the regulator
of their term of work. They seldom engage themselves for
a longer time than a moon, and talk of the moon being dead
when the time of payment comes; but many will remain in
this way for fourteen or twenty moons without a break.
We limited our feast to those Kafirs who had attended the
night-school and the Sunday services. They are very fond
of learning, and sounds of a, b, c are constantly heard, and
I am constantly caught by strange Kafirs, as well as our
own, to read or explain a sentence they cannot make out.
Feb. 9. This morning we had early service at seven a.m.,
which Charles means to continue through Lent, but the
clerk is ill, and the friend who is doing his duties forgot to
send the keys of the church, and Mr Robertson mounted my
pony to get them. He failed : so there was nothing for it,
but for him to bi"eak in at the window and let us in, and
then he had no surplice; so he read prayers without one.
The windows on one side are only of calico. They are putting
glass and pretty carved stonework up, but the work gets on
very slowly. I have a letter from Charles this morning, and
expect him back to-morrow. He says he is getting more
confidence in speaking to the natives, and that one consider-
able chief whom he had seen begged that a Missionary
might be sent to teach his people "to walk gently." He
writes that he has been trying to get refugees to work on
Mr Robertson's mission-station, which he is founding ten
miles from Durban.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 139
Feb. 25. Charles is veiy well indeed, and as active in
mind and body as he used to be at home, and his influence
is very decided for good on a wide circle round and below
him; his good judgment temper and patience never fail
him. I am very sorry that he cannot have the work he
came out for, missionary work, I mean, among the Kafirs ;
his whole heart and afi'ections are with them, and his pro-
gress in the language, considering his opportunities, is won-
derful. If more clergymen would only come out, he might
be relieved of Durban, and have plenty to do as Ai'chdeacon
and Missionary, It is astonishing what he gets through,
and kind friends are always warning me that he will not be
able to stand it long ; but he is not the man to be persuaded
by a sister that he is overworking himself, and I can enter
into his feelings, that a pleasure ride woidd be no relaxation
to him, while he feels that there are many of his congrega-
tion he ought to visit, whom he has not time to call upon.
The position of Mr E.obertson's mission-station
will be seen by reference to the map. This mission
specially interested Archdeacon Mackenzie ; he had
great confidence in Mr Robertson's powers and quali-
fications as a missionary, and he spent many happy
days at the Umlazi, assisting in the mission work, and
at the same time studying under Mr Robertson the
Zulu language, and the art of dealing with and in-
fluencing the natives. The accommodation which Mr
and Mrs Robertson could offer in their mission quarters
was doubtless of a rough and simple description, but
their hearty hospitality and their manifest zeal in their
work made the visits paid by the Archdeacon and his
sister specially delightful, and the Umlazi a pleasant
place of retreat from Durban. In order to give some
140 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
notion of life at this mission-station, I shall introduce
an extract from a letter written by Miss Mackenzie.
Ekufundisweni. June 8tli. This is tlie name of the
mission-station, established about three months ago, about
ten miles from Durban, of which Mr Robertson is the mis-
sionaiy, and the Archdeacon the superintendent. The name
signifies " a place of teaching," and Mr R. as well as all
other clergymen is called UmFundisi. The situation is a
very good one, both as regards beauty, fertility of soil, and
numerous Kafir kraals in the immediate vicinity. As I sit
in the verandah of the temporary hut in which the family
dwell, I look out on the winding river Umlazi, an extensive
plain (on which we hoj)e one day to see sugar, arrow-root,
and cotton growing), and very pretty low hills covered with
natural wood at the foot, and above grass dotted with pictu-
resque clumps of trees; in the distance is seen Durban bay,
the bluff or promontory which forms it, and the white surg-
ing waves of the Bar make a constant music. Further to
the South we see the river Umlazi fall into the sea, and we
hope to make an excui'sion one day to the shore there, and
to pick up shells, which are much more perfect than what
we fiind on the beach at Durban. The huts built for present
use here are of the simplest and roughest construction, but
Mrs R. has a magical wand by Avhich she gives a ladylike
look of refinement to all she puts her hand upon. The
largest or family hut is twenty feet by fourteen, divided by
screens into three rooms, bed-room, study or dining-room,
and sitting-room. The mode of building is to stick thickish
poles into the ground at a short distance from each other,
and to do the same for the verandahs by putting poles in
front of the others all round. In this land of heavy rains
verandahs are almost indispensable to keep the walls tole-
rably dry. Sloping beams to the roof are added, and a few
horizontal ones to strengthen them. The thatch composed
of grass is now put on, and the intervals between the poles
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 141
are filled up with reeds, to complete the walls. It is pitched
outside with clay, which soon dries. The doors and windows
were brought from Durban, and the whole expense was
under £5. A kitchen is built separate, but it has neither
fire-place, chimney, nor grate. There are two round huts,
built for the Kafir boys and women-servants, and a very
nice one for friends, which I inhabit; also a large one for
the Archdeacon, which he and the Bishop shared when they
were here. In honest truth, these huts are not to be com-
pared to houses at home for poultry or pigs, far less those
for cows and horses.
I must give an outline of how our days pass here. The
sun rises at seven, but an hour before all are roused by the
ringing of a large bell, hung on a tree. This is heard by
families on the plain at a great distance. At about eight
Mr R. has Kafir prayers for his own servants. Then we
breakfast, and our prayers follow. Before they are ended
many Kafir children have arrived to be taught. We have
now eight who come regularly. We teach them the alphabet,
as in Infant Schools, making them sing and clap their hands,
march, count, &c. The children like coming so much, that
in some of the kraals, where the parents keep their children
to work, to nurse the infants, or watch the cows, they make
them hide when they see us coming to invite them.
From the data now before him, the reader must
picture to himself the Archdeacon's life to the end of
the year 1856. The head-quarters Durban ; some time
spent at the Umlazi mission-station ; occasional jour-
neys to Maritzburg, and the more distant parts of the
colony ; with a great deal of work in outlying stations
where no minister was resident. It was doubtless a
very laborious and anxious life, but would have been
a very happy one, and would have completely satis-
fied Mackenzie's mind, if his peace had not been
142 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
broken by the troubles at Durban. These oppressed
him grievously, as we have already seen ; his own per-
fect integrity made it extremely painful to him to be
regarded as one desirous of introducing unauthorized
innovations into the service of the Church, and his
kindly disposition made discord and strife most un-
congenial ; there were also other circumstances of a
deeply painful kind which added much to his trouble,
but of which I deem it unnecessary to preserve any
record. Suffice it to say, that his residence in Durban
was by far the most trying portion of his life, and
that he could hardly fail to rejoice when the time of
his departure came. The change took place at the
end of the year 1856. On being relieved of his charge,
the Archdeacon went to Maritzburg to take the duty
of a brother clergyman, and in the following year, as
we shall see, he entered upon a new and very inter-
esting field. Thither I shall be glad to follow him ;
but before doing so, I will insert a few letters written
during the period of his ministry at Durban. It will
be observed that the first has been written at intervals,
and does in fact cany us into the beginning of the
following year.
LETTER XXXIX.
DuKBAN, August 1 8, 1856.
Dear Goodwin,
I made a tour on the coast Nortli-east of this ten
days ago, of which I think a short notice may be interesting
to you. It was to the same places to which I remember
describing a former journey, six or eight months ago ; but
what gave especial interest to this recent visit was the fact
that the Holy Communion which I went to administer had
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 143
not been, so ilir as I know, celebrated before by a minister
of the Church of England in these parts.
On Friday, August 8, I left Durban at about three
o'clock P.M., intending to cross the Umgeni, to call at the
house of a friend, a good churchman, and a Scotchman,
Adams, about fifteen miles from this, to hear some details
of the plan he has been preparing for a church at Mount
Moreland, and to proceed thence by a hill-path to Verulam.
On reaching the Umgeni, about four miles from Durban,
I was overtaken by a lad named Galloway, who was looking
for three oxen that had strayed^ and for want of which his
father was delayed in starting with a loaded waggon to
trade in the Zulu country. They had been seen North of
the Umgeni, and he had ridden out to look for them.
The Umgeni is about a quarter of a mile broad ; a
strong flowing stream ; in some places deep enough to reach
the saddle-flaps, in most places not higher than the horse's
knees. There were still very distinct traces of the flood,
which did so much damage in all the great river-valleys last
March ; withered flags and floating rubbish of all kinds,
that had been caught by the branches of trees, shewed that
the stream had been some thirty feet higher, and twice
as broad as at present. It was impassable for horses for
about a month, and for some time after this very dangerous
from the soft shifting sand at the bottom.
About ten miles from the river my road to Adams'
house turns to the right. Just at the fork of the roads
stood a house which was in course of building at the time
of the former journey which I described to you. Since then
it has been burnt down, and the walls of wattle and daub
are black and mouldering, the floor being strewed with the
ashes of the fallen roof. I happened to pass it on the morn-
ing after the accident, on my way to Durban, after riding
up the coast with the Bishop last June. I found three
little children, from five to ten years old, whom their father
and mother had saved from the fire, with nothing but the
144 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
slight night-dress in which they had been sleeping. I pro-
mised them a supply of flannel from Durban, and unbridled
from my saddle the -warm jacket which I used to use at
home for railway travelling ; this I lent them for protection
on the following night, as far as it would go. I knelt down
with the little family, and used a few of the prayers in
the little book of Common Prayer which I constantly carry
in my waistcoat pocket, judging that whatever might be
their ordinary custom, the unusual character of that morn-
ing might very probably have deprived them of the blessing
of family prayer. All this was last June. I was now
riding past the blackened ruins at about five o'clock, a short
hour before sunset.
April 6, 1857. It is really quite disgraceful that this
letter should have remained so long untouched. I shall
not now attempt to go on with the account I was giving
you, though 1 was coming to the important fact, that
having dismounted that evening, and driving my horse
before me, because he was (I thought) too tired to carry
me, and too lazy (as I found) to follow without dragging
in a tiresome way at his bridle, he walked away, trotting
when I quickened my pace, and led me many miles out
of my way, till it was quite dark, when I caught him at
a house. I should not have liked to have lost him alto-
gether, for he is a very useful horse ; nor even for a
time, for he had on him the saddle which the Master and
Fellows of Caius so kindly made a part of their very liberal
present to me. I determined not again to drive my
horse before me, even if it were troublesome to make him
follow.
*****
I want to interest you particularly in the XJmlazi mis-
sion ; but first I ought to say, that your wish that I should
be freed from Dui-ban is accomplished ; and the other,
that I should be employed in Mission- work, will (I hope)
be accomplished soon. * * * j cannot help hoping that
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 145
some good may liave been done to individuals dm-ing my
seventeen months' ministry. There were some fifteen persons
confirmed last June, and I hope some good seed may have
been sown in this and similar ways.
* * * * *
But to come now at last to the TJmlazi mission. Robert-
son is a most satisfactory missionary : his heart is so
thoroughly in his work. His Sunday services are attended
on an average by 200 persons. Many of them sit on the
logs of wood which serve as seats, with the chin resting
on the hand in earnest attention. None of these has yet
professed a wish to be baptized ; and this, I think, is well.
I should dislike above all things going too fast : but I hope
that when one has done so, many may follow. The grand
stumblingblock is polygamy, which is woven in with all their
customs and habits ; so much is this the case, that I can easily
believe they think it impossible for a black man to live with-
out having, or hoping to have, several wives. Well : it is in
the hands of God, but in part it depends on the Govern-
ment, who may (I think) do something to restrain polygamy
for the future. Our school thrives : there are now about
fifty children every fine day, and that is at least five in
every six. The first class has lately improved much under
the regular teaching of my younger sister, who is devotiug
herself to Kafir work most assiduously. They can read
in Kafir, when divided into syllables, and can write very
fairly. There are three or four other classes ; one taken
by Mrs Robertson, another by my other sister, and one by
" Boy," as he is used to be called, but now known as
"Abraham;" a trustworthy Kafir, who with his wife and
children has been baptized, and is regularly employed as
a teacher at the TJmlazi. They also sing : the Bishop has
at the end of the prayer-book which he has prepared
printed some Kafir hymns, and has written music to suit
them. But their most satisfactory lesson is the Old Tes-
tament history, which Robertson has been teaching them.
10
14^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
They know and remember the history from the Creation
to the Captivity of Joseph, and express their approbation
or the contrary of the several acts of which they read.
The school lasts in this way from about ten till one.
The afternoon at the Umlazi is commonly spent in visiting
the kraals. Robertson especially visits any who are sick.
Perhaps you may have heard of a man, who, a little before
Christmas, being very ill and sending specially for Kobert-
son one morning, asked earnestly if he might come to live
with him and to die at the station. Of course no diffi-
culties were thrown in the way, and he remained in one
of the huts on our hill, (which the Christian Kafir ser-
vants gave up for his use), for two or three weeks ; and
then, seeming to have profited by R.'s teaching, he was bap-
tized, and soon after died. He was buried in the ground
set apart for our future churchyard, by the side of the
grave of a woman, a Kafir, who had also been baptized
by E,., the wife of a white man who was employed on the
station.
And this mention of a prospect of a consecrated church-
yard leads me to speak of our wish to have a church at the
TJmlazi. Hitherto the Kafir teaching and preaching has
been held either in a clearing in the bush near the house,
or in a broad verandah in front of it. * * * I want to
have a special collection for this object in Cambridge, for
which purpose I will send you, as soon as they are ready,
the plans of the whole, together with an estimate of ex-
pense. We are making a similar efibrt amongst our friends
in Scotland. I fancy we shall want about £400 or £500.
If we can build it for anything like that sum it will be far
cheaper than any building of its size in the colony.
Deakest
RESIDENCE IN NATAL-DURBAN. 147
LETTER XL.
{To a Sister.)
Ladismith, Oct. 20, 1856.
I don't know how long it is since I wrote to you,
or any one at home. I think a duty neglected presses less
heavily, instead of more heavily, as it ought to do, each day
it is neglected. Certain it is that I constantly say to my-
self, I ought to write home, and that I have considerable
pangs of conscience on the subject. A often reminds
me of it, but I am afraid that advice only hardens me.
Well, here I have begun : I will write this letter, and try
not to let it be so long again.
One secret of my writing to-day is that it is raining, so
that I am not able to prosecute the journey on which I
started seven days ago. What! you will say, afraid of the
rain? No: but afraid of crossing the rivers, which have
been swelled by heavy rains during last night.
On Tuesday last, the 14th, I left Maritzburg with Mr
Green to visit this northern portion of the diocese. I had
never been north of P. M. B. before. So when the Bishop
found that he could not come up this way, as he had in-
tended, I very gladly agreed to go with Green, and try to
fill his place as well as I could. This is not very easy, as
one thing which makes a Bishop's visit acceptable in this
part of the world is the hope that he will do something in
the way of church-building, or placing a minister; and we
were not empowered to act in this way. Still we were
sure the people would be glad to see us, as there is no cler-
gyman above P. M. B, and we should therefore be able to
administer the sacraments after a vacancy of fully three
months.
We started about noon, having been detained by busi-
ness : the thermometer at 92" in the shade, and I have heard
since that it rose to 101" that day. This is much higher
10—2
148 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
than I have known it to be before. "We spent an hour and
a quarter in climbing the steep ascent out of the town;
very severe work for the horses. We tried to mend a
broken-down tree-cart in the charge of two Kafirs, but
failed for want of a linch-pin, or any substitute for it.
Came on to the Umgeni waterfall, said to be 300 feet high.
Slept at the house of a farmer : arranged to hold a week-
day service in that neighbourhood! on our return, we fixing
the day, consulting about the hour, and leaving our hosts
to arrange about the place of meeting and to give notice.
On Thursday (to omit Wednesday, on which nothing oc-
curred, except our riding along the road, and discussing
many points, ecclesiastical and private), after seeing two farm-
ers, one a well-to-do man, who is "entering pretty largely
into sheep," the other a man with three or four strong sons,
who has some thirty-nine or forty acres under the plough,
and just now covered with fine looking bearded wheat; he
has also a grove of orange-trees, not large, but certainly more
numerous than any I have seen in the colony; I dare say
there are sixty or seventy trees, of eight or nine years old,
covered with sweet-smelling blossoms : — after all this we
got to Doornkop, the farm of George Moodie, Green's bro-
ther-in-law, where a large family live. They gave us two
or three strawberries, the only ones I have seen in the
colony. Next day, after some delay in consequence of the
Kafir with our small luggage not having arrived, we started
about noon. We passed the house of an old boer, about
ninety, who asked us our names all round (we were ac-
companied by one of the Moodies), and then began again,
having forgotten the first when he got to the last. About
3 o'clock we parted, Green going on with our guide to
cross the Drakenberg, and be at Harrismith on Sunday;
I canter Jng quietly to this place, w^hich I reached in about
two hours.
*****
I spent Saturday in calling upon most of the people,
RESIDENCE IN NATAI^D URBAN. 149
and had satisfactory clergyman's convei'sations with one or
two of them. I think it is easier here to get at people's
inner thoughts : either we are drawn together by being so
far from home; or the infrequeucy of a clergyman's visit
makes confidence obviously necessary ; or else perhaps the
fault in England was my own, arising from the mixture of
my occupations. However, I have very much liked what I
have seen of this place : it is about a hundred miles from
P. M. B., and about fifty hence to the Berg, that is, the Dra-
kenberg, or Dragon Mountain, which is the boundary be-
tween this and the sovereignty. There are perhaps sixty
houses, many of them well built of stone ; four or five shops,
or stores, as they are called ; a magistrate, two or three
persons connected with Govei'nment, such as clerks, clerk
of the peace, postmaster, gaoler, a physician, five coopers
(there is a large manufacture of butter in this grazing
country : a man said to me to-day, " We have not much
money, as our business is done a good deal by barter and
on credit, but if a church could be built of butter, or for
butter, thei'e would be no difiiculty,") a smith, a builder,
two carpenters, and one missionary. We had a good attend-
ance at service on Sunday morning, about sixty, though
only eleven communicants, and a collection of £2. 10a\ id.,
which is very good; but of course v/e cannot exj)ect so
much every time. The magistrate is gi\ang us all the help
he can ; it is vexy satisfactory to have for the Church the
support of the influential people in the colony.
On the whole there is much to cheer in our work, as
well as much to make us despond ; but I encourage the former
feeling and repress the latter. I think our Mission-work is
really good on the whole : of course, connected as I am with
the Umlazi, I cannot say less than that it is the best : but
seriously, I think there is religious Christian teaching going
on there. One young Kafir will I hope soon be baptized ;
and the cliildren that come to the daily school must, I
i50 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
tliink, be receiving impressions frona what they see of the
life of a Christian family, if from nothing else, which will
never be effaced : and even if we are only preparing the
soil for future missionaries, it is very good to be allowed
to do anything for Him : He knows best when the fruit
should appear. At the Bishop's station, Ekukanyeni, the
thirty Kafir boys have certainly made great progress in
reading, &c. When I was there ten days ago I heard the
first class, consisting of seven, read the Psalms for the day
in Kafir, each taking a verse, more fluently than would be
done in most village-schools in England. It is true that
the language having only recently been made a written
language is perfectly phonetic, and therefore it is easier to
learn reading Kafir than English : but it is a grand thing to
have thirty boys sitting as orderly as in an English school,
learning reading and arithmetic. There were no men or
women at the Ekukanyeni mission ; nor are there likely
to be any : but these boys, if any of them become true
Christians, will be very useful.
LETTER XLI.
{Accompanying the preceding.)
Ladismith, Oct. 20, 1856.
Dear
I inclose this in a more public letter, because I
hardly know to which of all my friends to write first.
I do often tliink of you all, often est I think at morning
and evening time, and very often of you in particular when
I am riding : for on a long journey, when I am alone,
I very often take your little Prayer-Book from my waist-
coat pocket, and learn one of the Psalms for the day. I
have found great good from this. Some people think that
thirty- one is too old to be learning by rote ; but I like it,
because I always find new beauties in what I learn in this
RESIDENCE IN NATAL-DURBAN. 15 1
"waj. I like too to look at the pencil-marks at the side of
particular verses which have struck you.
I very nearly lost that little book one day. It was
Sunday, and I was riding from one place to another to
hold afternoon service. We got a little off the path at
one place, and met some Kafirs, I was riding with S ,
the colonial secretary : a few miles further on he stopped at
a house to rest his horse, and make a call, saying he would
join me in the evening. At night he asked me what I
had lost : I said at once, " a little book, which I value
as much as any in my library :" so he gave it to me, say-
ing that it had been picked up by those Kafirs and brought
to the house where he had stopped.
Dear , there are many things to dishearten here,
but there is much to cheer, and most perhaps this, — that
all the work is for our Master, who knows all things, who
suffers with us, yet is always victorious, who rules all
things after the counsel of His own will, and who will
shortly come to I'eceive us to Himself : and then there
will be no partings! God bless you, my dear sister, and
give you joy and peace, ever increasing, in believing.
LETTER XLIl.
Ekukanieni, Nov. 12, 1856.
A has just put a pen in my hand, and told me to
wiite down the account I gave her last night of the unto-
ward commencement of my last journey to Durban about
ten days ago.
I left the mission-station on a Friday, in the middle of
the day, to spend an hour or two in P. M. B. and then start
for Durban. I was very anxious to be in Durban early on
the Saturday, as I had matters to arrange before Sunday. I
intended originally to ride halfway on the Friday, but as
time went on compounded with myself, and said I would
lj2 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
get to Camperdown, about 15 miles, before dark. Dr S ■
said to me, "Do not be later in starting than 4 o'clock: it
will be a very dark night." Well : I was in Mr Green's
house : it was looking dreary and drizzling : I had to step
across the street to see , and I had to close my port-
manteau, and then to talk over matters with Green. So I
let time pass, till it got to be about 6 o'clock. Then at last
I left his house, and went for the horse I had in my eye to
hire. (My own horse has a sore back, and I have not been
able to ride him for weeks.) But the horsedealer said his
foot was chafed, and I could not have him : so I had to send
elsewhere for one. Time was lost in this way, so that it
was eight o'clock before I was riding on the top of my horse,
(as the Kafirs say,) and fairly leaving the town. The ani-
mal was evidently not accustomed to gentlemen who had a
fancy to wearing very long plaids, and started a little as I
unfolded the huge one • gave me ; but he got used to it
by degrees. In a quarter of an hour he came to a dead
stop, and I coidd just see before his nose the wall that had
been put to stop people from going on the broken bridge
(which fell last April); so we turned and crossed safely the
temporary bridge a few yards off. Now, thought I, the
river is crossed, it's all right. From this place there is a
tedious hill to climb, with three or four sluits, that is, small
streams, to cross. My horse pretended to have conscien-
tious scruples about cantering in the dark, making one or
two stumbles by way of demonstration. So it ended in our
agreeing that if he would keep on walking, I should reserve
a quicker pace for next day. After we had been out, as I
thought, about an hour, I saw a light ahead in the distance.
I first satisfied myself that it was not a firefly, of which I
had seen several; and when a second appeared, it flashed
upon me that it was Maritzburg, to which my horse was
slowly returning ! I said at once aloixd. Come, this is too
bad! and turned him right round, falsely concluding that
the opposite of wrong must be right. I could remember,
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— DURBAN. 153
for about two miles, that I had just passed over this part of
the road. Well, on I went : it was veiy dreary, and I
could see that there was mist before me into which I was
entering: when at last I came to a house, apparently new
built. I addressed the inhabitants both in English and in
Kafir, and dismounting found there was no one there : but
thus much I learned, that I was certainly on a wrong road,
for I knew there was no such house on the right one. I
crossed a little stream with some difficulty, and got at last
to a Kafir kraal. There was a salute of dogs barking to
welcome me, and on the owner shewing himself, I asked
where the waggon-road was, and who would go to shew it to
me. They said it was a long way ofi", over there (pointing).
It was too far for any of the boj^s to go, but they would
lead me to a Dutchman's house — what would I give ? If it
had not been for my horse, I would as soon have stayed
with them till morning : but he, poor fellow, could not have
crept into a hut as I could. So I ofiered sixpence for a
guide to the Dutchman's. I had ofiered sixpence, and then
a shilling, for a guide to the road, but the man seemed afraid
to trust his boys so far in the dark. Two little boys accord-
ingly ran befoi-e me, each in a blanket, and we knocked up
the Dutchman. He said the canteen (public-house) was not
far off, and one of his Kafirs led me thither. I found it was
one o'clock, and I was nine miles from P. M. B. I turned
into bed, being very wet, desiring to be called the first thing
in the morning: not, however, without wishing many happy
and good returns of the birthday of my very dear sister, of
whose birthday one hour had elapsed.
CHAPTER VII.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALI.
In January, 1857, Arclideacon Mackenzie with his
sister returned to Durban. This was for a short time
their home, although the Archdeacon had ceased to
be the minister of the place ; his work was now of an
unsettled kind, partly along the coast, partly at Pine
Town ; it was still to be determined where they should
permanently fix themselves, and devote themselves, as
they desired, to Mission- work.
The wandering life of her brother, and his constant
absence from home, made a residence in Durban, which
would otherwise have been quite delightful, somewhat
desolate to Miss Mackenzie ; and towards the end of
January she again went on a visit to the interesting
Umlazi mission-station, while her brother was obliged
to go to Maritzburg.
I mention this visit to the Umlazi, because it was
during the visit that the Archdeacon's party was in-
creased by the arrival of a second sister, who proved
a most valuable addition from a missionary point of
view, and also added much to the happiness of the
family circle. Of this lady it would manifestly be im-
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALI. 155
proper to say much in this memoir ; I will simply
remark that she appears to have given herself at once
to missionary work with wonderful zeal and consider-
able success. Mackenzie was wont to distinguish her
as his hlack sister, in consequence of her enthusiastic
love for the native race.
It was at the end of February that Miss Alice
Mackenzie arrived. The Archdeacon was at the Um-
lazi, and was prepared, on hearing of the ship, to go
down at once with Miss Mackenzie to welcome the
new comer, and bring her up to the Umlazi. Un-
fortunately, just before the arrival of the vessel, Miss
Mackenzie was taken ill, and was unable to perform
the journey, but the Archdeacon, not being able, as
his sister remarks in relating the incident, to see diffi-
culties, started for Durban as soon as the news of the
Admiral's amval was made known, and brought his
sister up immediately, in the dark, to join the party at
the Umlazi. It is amusing to find her in a letter to
friends at home describing this nocturnal journey with
great enthusiasm : at one time her horse lagged be-
hind in the middle of a river to drink : " it was
wonderfully pleasant," she writes, " to be sitting alone
in the dark in the middle of an African river ; the
reeds higher than myself on either side of the water ;
the sweet soft air blowing gently round, full of the
chirping of strange frogs, and the fire-flies glancing
round in all directions." Speaking of her brother in
the same letter she says : " He is very much what
he was in face : looks rather older, but strong and
well, and his bright look, his ready merry laugh, and
15^ ME2I0IB OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
his winning ways are much as of old. His kindness to
both children and natives is also pleasant to witness.
His tenderness both to A and me indescribable."
An amusing incident was connected with the land-
ing of Miss Alice Mackenzie. The Archdeacon requested
that a telegraphic signal should be made to the ship,
to the effect that his sister should come on shore at once.
A difficulty however suggested itself, namely, how to
distinguish the lady by any telegraphic signal : fortu-
nately there was a signal corresponding to the name
of a ship, the Sir Alexander Mackenzie; and the
message was duly sent, that Sir Alexander Mackenzie
was to come on shore in the first boat. The message
was understood, and under the imposing title of Sir
Alexander, Miss Alice Mackenzie landed in the country
of her adoption.
Here is a passage from a letter in which Miss
Mackenzie speaks of her sister's arrival, and which I
introduce chiefly for the sake of the mention of the
Kafir woman's kindly feeling : " I cannot express the
grief it was to me to be ill and unable to go and
meet her, and being very weak I could not help crying ;
for besides the uncertainty when we should meet, (I
never imagined she could ride ten miles, the last part
in the dark, and a large river at the end of the
journey,) I was disappointed that her first impressions
should not be in our own home ; but it has all ended
well. In the morning, when the tears were running
down my face, Pangela, my dear Kafir woman, came
into the room, and kneeling at a chair, she began
kissing my hands, and in her own language saying.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMIILALI. I57
(it was so like poetry,) " Husli ! dear Inkosazan : hush !
your sister has arrived : hush ! hush ! dear Inkosazan,
hush : she has passed the dangers of the sea : she is
now on the land : hush, dear Inkosazan : it is good to
pass from the sea to the land : hush, hush, Inkosazan,
hush !"
It would be deviating from the chief purpose of
this memoir, to go into details concerning the TJm-
lazi mission, which, though specially dear to Mackenzie,
was not his own principal work : but I think I shall
be justified in giving the following picture of the work
going on there, and in which both the Archdeacon and
his sisters took their shares.
" I have just returned," writes Miss Alice Mackenzie,
" from my first Kafir Sunday service, and my heart is
full. The service took place in a clearing in the bush.
Trunks of felled trees served the people for seats : the
men, about sixty or seventy, on one side ; the women,
thirty or forty, on the other : the school-children ranged
in two rows in front. The two clergymen in their
surplices stood on a rude framework of rough wood.
I had a place close by. The rest of the company were
higher up the bank, behind the congregation. The
prayers began with the sentences and confession : the
twenty-third Psalm was sung : also a sweet thing be-
ginning Jahulani, 'Rejoice ye,' and very rejoicing and
sweet it did sound. Another hymn was sung to my
dear old friend Martyrdom: and the effect was curi-
ously beautiful, the more so, as I had just before said
to Mrs Robertson that the scene and the gathering
might have represented a meeting of Covenanters in
158 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
the days of old. A lesson from the Bible was read.
It was on the Resurrection : but I am sorry to say
I missed the thread of it, and could not make out what
it was at the time. The sermon was much easier,
for each sentence was repeated again and again, either
in the same words, or with but a slight difference, so that
I could understand a good deal of it. He said he was
going to speak to them of the love of God, and repeated
again and again how men love their own children, bad
as well as good ; that God in Heaven is the Father of
us all, and loves us all so much that He sent His
only Son to die for us all. He repeated to them again
and again the last two verses of S. Matthew xxviii.,
(the Bible lesson he had read before,) and then spoke
to them of the privileges of those who are baptized,
becoming members of Christ, &c., and then went on,
' and we are sent to tell you of these things ; to bap-
tize you, that you may not perish, but have everlasting
life.' The whole was interspersed with earnest ex-
hortations : ' Listen, my children : the words I speak
are not mine, but they are the words of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. He who believeth and is
baptized, shall be saved.' His earnest look to heaven
when he said this was most touching. Then he shewed
how everything on earth and of earth must pass away
and perish and retarn to dust ; but the heart within
us that thinks and remembers and loves will not pass
away : the things of heaven will never perish. And then
again, to the little school-children : ' Listen, listen, my
children:' urging all to love God, to love one another,
to believe and be baptized. It was very beautiful, and
RESIDENCE IN NATAL-UMHLALL 159
all sat so quiet : only now and then a little restlessness
among some of the small children, stilled in a moment
by his gentle admonition. The Archdeacon read part
of the prayers, and chiefly led the music. After a few
more prayers the elders were for the most part dis-
missed : the children, the Christian men and women,
gathered round the pulpit to be catechized. They were
asked and answered at once, Who made them? Who
saved them ? Who sanctifies them ? and they were
taught to repeat the first verse of the 100th Psalm,
then to sing it ; then a few more Collects, winding up
with ' Lighten our darkness, &c.' and the Lord's Prayer ;
and then the blessing, 'The Lord bless us and keep
us, &c.;' and I did feel that God's blessing must and
would rest upon such loving earnest labours."
This life at the Umlazi was sufficiently pleasant,
but still was uncertain and unsettled. In the beginning
of March I find Miss Mackenzie writing, " I shall be
very glad when we have a home of our own again ;
and this state of uncertainty is very trying. We do
not in the least know whether we are to have a mis-
sion-station, or to go back to Durban, or what ; and the
worst of it is, it all depends so much on circumstances,
that we are not likely to be wiser for a long time."
However a plan was arranged at last: the Archdeacon
went to Maritzburg to assist at an ordination, and on
April 1 he returned to the Umlazi with the news
that the Bishop had consented that he should take a
post now vacant at the Umhlali, about forty miles
north of Durban. It was uncertain in the first instance
whether this would be a permanent an-angement; such
l6o MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
however it proved to be, and the Umhlali continued
to be the Archdeacon's spiritual cure until he left the
colony of Natal.
With characteristic energy Mackenzie undertook
without delay to reconnoitre his intended abode : he
arrived at the Umlazi one night unexpectedly from
Maritzburg "wet, weary, and cold," and after a day's
rest started again to pioneer the way to the new
settlement. The reader will understand its position
by reference to the map. The station combined several
opportunities for usefulness. In the first place, the
district, which was to be the parish, comprised a con-
siderable number of scattered English congregations,
which could only receive an adequate supply of spiri-
tual ministrations from a man of Mackenzie's strength
and energy. In the second place, the station was in
the immediate neighbourhood of the camp, and the
soldiers would fall under his charge. And in the third
place, he would have abundant opportunities of carry-
ing on the work of evangelization amongst the natives.
In fact, there would be abundance of occupation for
himself and for his sisters, both hlack and ivhite.
The Archdeacon found that it was necessary to
build huts at the Umhlali for himself and his party.
This necessity occasioned some further delay before the
migi'ation could take place, for though hut-building
is not a very serious process, still it requires some time.
Accordingly May arrived before all things were ready.
All this while the Archdeacon had been tenant of his
old house in Durban ; and here his goods and chattels
had been stowed away, very much, it is to be feared,
I
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMIILALI. i6i
to the benefit of the white-ants and fish-moths. A
fortnight before coming to the UmhlaH the sisters
made an attack upon the old house, and had a grand
turn-out, packing, arranging, and cataloguing, pre-
paratory to the migration. Meanwhile poor Mackenzie
had literally no home, but wandered about, doing his
work as best he might, and living as best he could.
Here is a passage from a letter which will bring the
whole state of things before us. ^ — .,
"Dear Charles is leading a very wearing out and
rather unsatisfactory life at present, both to himself
and his horse (which is however in much the worse
condition of the two), but I hope it will soon come
to an end. We are preparing to join him at the
Umhlali, which is forty miles from Durban, and fifty
from the Umlazi. He has five services on Sunday,
and one of them is eighteen miles from another ; these
eighteen miles he has to ride hurriedly in the mid-day
sun, and for the last several weeks he has ridden to the
Umhlali on Saturday, and returned here on Monday :
this he does not like, as it interferes with his parish-
work of visiting, but at present it is absolutely neces-
sary. I hope at the Umhlali he will have more time
for writing, for I have a letter which he began to
Mr , last August, and he will not be able to
finish it for this mail. I must make you a plan of
our house when we are settled there ; we are each to
sleep in a round bee-hive Kafir hut, but Charles is in-
dulging me with a small window of four little panes.
I told him I had never heard of a kitchen, or any
place except the sitting-room, where our dinner could
11
i62 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
be cooked : so he said, "Ola cook -house can be put
up in half a day : there is no difficulty in that." When-
ever we discuss whether it will be feasible to stow ,
away things, such as boxes, books, &c., Charles always \
says, ' 0 ! we can sling a shelf from the roof for them/
which has grown into slinging the articles themselves;
and to-day, when we were admiring my beautiful gilt j
vase, Charles suggested that it should be made a sub-^'
stitute for a chandelier."
The first of June found the party at last more or
less settled at the Umhlali station, some of the mem-
bers of the family "hutted" for sleeping purposes, and
all occupying in common a small house, which also
served the purpose of a church. The life was rough
enough, and besides the usual inconveniences of white-
ants and fish-moths, and the depredations of rats, I
find frequent notices in the home-letters of such addi-
tional discomforts as the following : tiger-cats constantly
stealing the poultry, puff-adders and such like venom-
ous beasts finding their way into the huts, toads in the
washing basins, and huts flooded by violent rains \
^ Here are a few little passing notices by way of illustration. ' ' I saw,"
says Miss Alice Mackenzie in one of her letters, "a small scorpion for
the first time on Sunday. I could not help laughing when my sister,
who was looking at it, said to the Archdeacon, ' It is not so large as
that which I found upon your whiskers ! ' " " It is a curious specimen
of our manner of life here that the frequent breaking of glasses and cups
is apt to leave us short. Yesterday Mrs. A said to me after dinner,
'I have only two wine-glasses: all the rest are broken.' To which I an-
swered, ' We have only one ; our last but one was broken yesterday.' "
" A tiger-cat has visited us two nights and carried off a hen, the last of
the three we took such care of in London, and another great pet, a
cock of the Spanish kind."
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALI. 163
Moreover the site of the house and church was not
well chosen, and the station had not the advantage of
a picturesque view; this however was subsequently
remedied, though in a very unpleasant and expensive
manner, as will be seen. "But home is home though
never so homely, and no home could be more peace-
able, happy, and even joyous, than the Archdeacon's
home at the Umhlali. In one of his sister's letters
there is an account of an especially disagreeable person,
and the remark is added, " I think Charles as nearly
dislikes her, as it is possible for him to dislike any
one." With such a disposition, Avith his time fully
employed upon a gi'eat work, and with a conscious-
ness of doing all for Christ, how could Mackenzie be
otherwise than happy?
"Here we are," writes Miss Mackenzie, "settled for
the present at our new quarters, and very funny ones
they are, Mr Adams, who has been our only visitor,
and who was helping me to shut a drawer, was in de-
spair at my room, and said it was only fit for lumber.
Alice is in a Kafir hut, an oval shaped one, with a
grey Kafir blanket hung up at the doorway, and an
open space for a window, which when she is cold she
fills up with a plaid. Both door and window are
ordered ; but nothing in this colony is done in a hurry.
The ground of her hut is the earth, covered with mats.
The Ai'chdeacon's hut has only the framework made,
and I don't know why the Kafirs are not thatching it.
He sleeps for the present on the sofa in the sitting-
room (an iron bed, with a chintz covering over it).
It is not a large room ; about twelve feet square. * * *
11—2
164 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
The rest of our house is a long room about twenty-eight
feet by twelve. This is the church of the district, till
another is built, and Charles uses the sitting-room as
a vestry, and enters the church by a door opening from
it. The congregation have a door for themselves.
There are two verandah rooms Mine is about five
feet by ten, and Jessie's, which is also the pantry, about
five feet by twenty. They are very rough indeed, and
what is worse, the roof slopes less than the church; so
they do not keep out the rain : but we have still two
months of dry weather to reckon upon ; and I am so
thankful to have mine, for it has an opening at the
top of the wall to the church, for the sake of ventila-
tion; but when I am ill and in bed I can join in the
service in the church."
In the same letter there is the following notice of
the Archdeacon's work.
" At present I fear there will be no change. His
Sunday labours are very intense. He has short early
Kafir prayers, then breakfast at half-past seven. Full
service, at the camp, for the soldiers at nine. It is
about two miles off. As soon as he comes back the
congregation is assembling here, and his horse is sad-
dled for him to mount as soon as the service is over.
He has another service at Mount Moreland, about six-
teen miles off, at three p.m. In coming here he shewed
us the spot where his horse always knows he may
walk instead of trotting, to allow him to eat his dinner
of sandwiches. This ride in the hot sun is very knock-
ing up, both for him and his horse. He told us he
was in similar circumstances to Elijah, as the brook he
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALI. 165
used to drink from was now dried up. His horse is
again ready for him when this service is over, and he
rides to Verulam, either four or six miles, I forget
which, where he has service at six P.M. in Mr 's
house. He goes to sup with a kind Dutch lady, and
spends the night with Mr . This is Monday, and
it is getting dark, and he has not returned, and he
tells us perhaps he may not always return home till
Tuesday, but do parish visiting work at that end of his
parish while he is there." '-'
The work in which Mackenzie was now engaged
was undoubtedly very arduous, and seems to have told
somewhat on his strength. Some months later I find
his sister writing thus :
" I am beginning and trying not to think so much
either of likes or dislikes, but how we may make the
best use of all our talents under present circumstances ;
but still nature says, without my asking it, that this
is the least pleasant part of Natal that I have been in.
By and bye if we are allowed to see more of the fruits
of the Archdeacon's work, I shall be thankful; but
whether we see it or not, God cannot fail to bless his
earnest and singleminded labours; here however as
everywhere the harvest is so great, and it is not much
that he can do with either the black or the white
people. All last week he was at P. M. B. He went up
to the consecration of the cathedral, but business of
other kinds detained him till Friday at five P.M. He
rode all night to Durban, fifty miles, where he had
more business, which detained him till the afternoon,
and he did not reach this place till Sunday at two A.M.
1 66 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
We had supper on the table all ready for him, and the
sofa arranged as his bed. He was very tired, but was
up again for Kafir prayers before seven. We had a
short talk with him during breakfast, and he left us
again as usual after church, but promised not to be
late in coming home to-day."
The complaint concerning the situation of the
house at the Umhlali, which occurs incidentally above,
is repeated not unfrequently in the home -letters.
" Certainly," writes Miss Mackenzie, " our house is
placed where no Kafir would have planted his kraal;
far from wood, bush, water, and hills, in a bleak bare
plain, and a cold visible mist rises from what is called
a fley, or wet valley, near, which we sometimes see
coming towards us, and a cold damp shiver comes
over me, and a pain in my bones and eyes; and this
succeeds probably a broiling sun, which nearly drove
me distracted with headache a few days ago." How-
ever, the situation had the advantage of being very
healthy, and the medical man attached to the camp
assured the Mackenzie party that the daily average of
sick soldiers was only -^j of a man.
Amongst the white population the soldiers were
some of the Archdeacon's most interesting parishioners.
His manner and bearing were peculiarly suited for
winning the hearts of soldiers, and there is reason to
believe that they thoroughly appreciated his efforts on
their behalf His great desire was to fill up their
leisure time and tempt them away from the canteen.
For this purpose he opened a room for them in the
evening, which he supplied with such amusing books
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMIILALI. 167
and papers as he could, and the evenings were some-
times enlivened by popular lectures.
It Avill be understood that the work of influencincr
the natives by going amongst their kraals, and per-
suading them to send their children to be taught, was
constantly carried on ; but in addition to this, the Arch-
deacon and his sisters opened a school for the white
children, of whom a considerable number were within
reach. And thus the time of all three was thoroughly
occupied, and notwithstanding the rough and laborious
character of the life which they led, time passed plea-
santly enough. " Is not this a happy life ?" writes one
of the sisters enthusiastically, after describing in a
letter the details of one day's employment.
Towards the end of July in this year a sad calamity
happened to the Umhlali Missionary party. The house
which they occupied was thatched, and the thatch was
exposed inside the house as well as outside ; a careless
person placed a candle upon a shelf with the flame
under the thatch ; the result was immediate, and in a
few minutes the house was on fire. The materials,
being very dry, burnt with great rapidity ; and it re-
quired mach effort to save any considerable portion
of the effects. The kindness of the Archdeacon to the
soldiers now served him in good stead ; some of them
were coming to the reading-room when the fire broke out ;
the alarm was given, and soon fifty soldiers were on the
ground, working with all their might. Much was saved,
some property was lost ; but all was borne cheerfully.
One of the Kafirs came to the Archdeacon to know
where they were to sleep, as they feared lest the sparks
i68 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
should set fire to their hut ; " There is my house," said
the Archdeacon, pointing to the ruin, " you may take
possession of it if you like." "O Inkos," replied the
Kafir, " I do not know how to laugh to-night." The
fire began about five P.M., and within three hours they
were all assembled in a hut which had survived, en-
joying their tea and a cake which had been saved from
the fire : then they joined in their evening service, and
returned thanks for all God's mercies to them.
The fire was however for a long time a source of
considerable annoyance. In one respect it was a bene-
fit : having to build a new house it was as convenient
to build it upon a good site as upon a bad one, and
the disadvantages of the old situation, which have been
already alluded to, were remedied by the purchase of
a plot of ground in a much prettier neighbourhood,
nearer the sea, in the midst of the native kraals, and
in the centre of the Bush. But after having obtained
the ground, it was not so easy to get the house built.
The plan was soon made, and was sufficiently simple ;
but some of the materials had to be brought from a
distance, and it is very difficult in such circumstances
as those in which the Mackenzies were placed to get
work regularly performed, and to keep contractors to
their bargains. And so it came to pass, that the house
progressed very slowly, and it was not until the be-
ginning of the following year, 1858, that the party
entered upon their new house, which was even then
in a most unfinished state. Meanwhile, they lived as
well as they could in huts and tents : the soldiers
were permitted by the commanding officer to work
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALI. 169
for them, and the huts and tents were made as com-
fortable as circumstances would j)ermit. Neverthe-
less, that hut-life possesses some minor inconvenience
may be judged from such passing notices as the fol-
lowing : " Dec. 9. Our candle is being constantly
put out by large moths ; I have an enormous locust
wrapped up in my handkerchief; and the table is
covered with beetles ; but mercifully we have very few
mosquitoes."
The accident of the fire did not prevent the Arch-
deacon from exercising hospitality. When the party
was reduced to residence in huts, the female portion
considered that all visits of friends were out of the
question, were altogether beyond argument. Not so
the Archdeacon, who never saw difficulties in matters
of this kind, or in much gi-eater ones. A young friend
had been engaged to come and see them ; and by
shifting beds, mealie bags, and barrels, accommodation
was provided, Mackenzie erecting an extemporaneous
bed for the stranger in his own tent. Having got thus
far, it was considered possible to lodge their friend
Mr Adams. Next came the Dean of Maritzburg. And
so by a course of gentle progress, Mackenzie prepared
the minds of his sisters for a visit from the Bishop,
which accordingly took place in August, after having
been voted impossible and absurd.
Meanwhile the economic arrangements of the party
were somewhat peculiar. They were paying rent for
two houses, one at Durban still on their hands, and
that which was burnt, while they were themselves in-
habiting two huts and two tents, and rejoicing in the
lyo MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
proprietorship of four or five acres of land, upon which
they found it impossible to expedite the erection of
the more permanent and comfortable dwelling for which
the contract was taken. They bought the land more-
over, and contracted for building, with the feeling that
in all probability before the house was inhabited they
might be under the necessity of moving elsewhere.
However, all was sunshine with the Archdeacon at the
head of affairs : it was, as I can testify from experience,
impossible to be down-hearted in his gentle and joyous
company; and accordingl}'-, all the inconveniences and
vexations were laughed at, and the real work of the
Gospel went on unhindered.
I cannot refrain from inserting here a description
of his character as it appeared to one of his sisters
during the residence at the Umhlali. "Your letters
came yesterday, after Charles was gone ; and he is
not to be back this week, as he is going on a round
of services in desert places, and will be back on
Monday night, this day week. He sometimes says
he wonders he is never ill ; but I think his heavenly
spirit does not need the discipline. It seems to me,
we are all like those creatures that play upon or live in
the water. Some never need go down into it, but skim
over the top, their wings always free, and they always
breathing the upper air. These are they whose lives
of retirement, in a sick room or otherwise, save them
from mixing with the temptations and trials of active
life. Others, again, are by circumstances hustled a good
deal, and have to come up every now and then to the
top of the water to breathe. But he is like those
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALL 171
creatures, which live in the water, but carry their own
stock of air down with them, (water-spiders I think
they are, which carry down the air and live as if in
a divingbell). He mixes with the world because he
must, and he leads such an active life as would be
distracting to most people ; and yet he carries his own
heavenly atmosphere around him, and breathes the
air of Heaven as freely and purely as though he never
went down into the water at all. And his influence
is telling here. One man, a careless person enough
himself, said the other day, 'If the Ai'chdeacon does
not succeed in carrying any of the Umhlali people with
him to heaven, at least he is sure of going there
himself I liked to hear it, as a symptom of the im-
pression his character makes. But the attendance at
church is so improved, and it is encouraging to see the
increase in the number of communicants ; and then I
always remember that influence in a place like this
is like training a little twig, which will one day grow
into a strong great tree."
Mackenzie was never (as has been remarked before)
a good correspondent; but this portion of his life is
more than usually bare of letters. No doubt the con-
stant moving from place to place in his large parish
interfered excessively with opportunities of writing.
The letters written home from the Umhlali by his
sisters contain a gi'eat amount of matter most inte-
resting with respect to the general work and daily
life at the station ; but so far as Mackenzie himself is
concerned, they are too frequently filled with lamenta-
tions concerning his absence, and the intensity of the
172 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
work which he thought it right to undertake. I have,
however, some letters before me, which belong to this
date, and from them I will here introduce two or three
which will be rendered intelligible by the narrative
which I have already given.
Here is a scrap of a letter written from the Umhlali
to one of his sisters at the Umlazi.
April 11, 1857.
His love, if we could enter fiillj into it, is indeed enough
to satisfy us. His work enough to occupy us. His care
enough to assure us of safety and give us peace. Would
that we were always resting on Him, and not letting list-
lessness or sin of any kind, or any earthly love or allure-
ment, come between us and our love ! Happy indeed we
may and ought all of us, far and near, to be in Him. And
if we are seeking this peace, He will, whether we attain to
it rapidly or not, be making us at least to grow. I am
thinking of myself when I say this.
LETTER XLIII.
{To a Sister.)
Durban, Aug. 10, 1857.
My own dear ,
I hope you have got safely my letter, written at
Ladismith, and I would now give something to be able to
insert a letter in each of the mails between this and you. I
must try, however, not to get again so neglectful as I have
been. It has really not been want of time, (though, to be
sure, the exact time in which it would be best to write a
homedetter never seemed to come,) so much as that objects
close at hand seemed always to claim attention.
I spent three hours this morning with our excellent
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALL 173
friend Adams, (whose name you are siu'e to know,) arrang-
ing the details of our new house. It is to have five rooms :
each twelve feet wide, the middle one sixteen feet long, the
others ten and nine, and a verandah all round. The walls
are to be nine feet high, of green, that is, sun-dried bricks.
I stipulated this morning for a piece of timber to be built
into the wall, all round each room, at a convenient height
for nails; else we should have knocked down our walls by
driving nails into them. The whole is to cost when plas-
tered, (but not floored, by the bye; I have forgotten about
that,) certainly within £90, — the rent for one year, I sup-
pose, of many a house in Edinburgh. And if you say that
a house in Edinburgh is so high from its situation, I will
back our situation against any in the town, for a view, and
for the advantageous \'isiting of our parishioners, black and
white. We have the sea before us, with swelling, undulat-
ing hills for two miles between ixs and it, clothed with
natural wood, and studded with kraals, while our white
population is all behind us, on the cleared but less beautiful
ground on which we have ourselves been living for the last
few months.
But neither the house nor the view are worthy of the
inhabitants, (of course the present company, — I am alone, —
is excepted,) I mean that the view inside, when I sit with
my two sisters, far surpasses the view outside.
■X- *•;:-* *
I expected the Bishop from P. M. -B., but he has altered
his plans, and is not to be down till Wednesday. We bad a
laugh on Saturday night about the spare bed in my tent. At
174 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
first after the fire, A was impressing on me the impossi-
bility of having visitors. I was in one tent, with many boxes
and some stores. Another tent was occupied by stores ; and
the two huts by the females of our establishment, then five
in number. So I said little : but when Frank Galloway
was to come up for his sister Polly, though I knew A
expected him to come and go the same day, I arranged for
him to sleep, as we had originally (before the fire) intended.
I borrowed a cartel to support a mattrass for him, and so
his bed was made in the tent. Then Mr Adams was coming
to see us : where could he sleep 1 O, what did for Frank
would do for him. So it was. Then we expected the Dean.
A proposed to take up her abode in the tent, and give up
the drawing-room with its two sofas to him and me : but I
would not hear of it, a.nd when the Dean and I arrived on a
Saturday about midnight, we stowed ourselves away very
liappily in the tent ; having first partaken of a slight supper,
each sitting on his own bed, and the loaf, beef, bottle, &c.
being on the box that served as a basin-stand. And now
we expect the Bishop on his visitation tour : and I have
had no difficulty in persuading them that he can surely sleep
where the Dean did. ■ They used to speak in Durban of the
thin end of the wedge. I think Frank Galloway certainly
was that.
I am so glad to get the bill for £37. 6s. That will go
well on towards finishing the chancel of the Umlazi church.
The Dean and I spent an evening in arranging the dimen-
sions and materials of a church for the Umhlali. It is to
])e 57 feet from end to end, and to cost (say) .£140, and
hold over 100 people. The civil population is now aboiit
fifty, and nearly fifty of the troops attend regularly. Be-
sides these buildings, the bricks are on the ground to build
a little church at Mount Moreland, to cost about £50 or
£60. I think you must admit that the churches under my
eye have not been extravagant. Pine Town, bviiltj all
finished, except the plaster inside; cost about £210. Clare-
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALL 175
mont, a wooden-building, witli seats for about forty, cost
about ^35 : this has been in use for more than a yeai*. The
Isipingo, in use, cost £b5 : not quite finished. The Umlazi
church is to cost about £90. This will be larger than any
of the others. We want it to contain 400 persons.
I hope you will not think this too business-like an
epistle. It is almost too near the time of the closing of the
mail to let one write freely ; besides, T have still about me
the feeling that I have not hitherto written so often as I
ought. Still you will believe me when I say that it is a
pleasure, a great pleasure, to write : and I need not tell you
what a pleasure it is to hear from you.
Your ever loving brother,
C. F. M.
LETTER XLIV.
{To the same.)
Umhlali, Nov. 5, 1S57.
Dear ,
Many happy returns of your birthday to you, my
own dear sister. We drank your health on the first, and
I rejoiced more than ever before at its coming on All Saints'
Day. It is very happy while we are Avishing you all good
gifts in His good providence, to be thanking Him too for
His saints that have gone before : the great multitude which
no man can number, of all peojjle nations and languages,
praising God! Dear , may we all be joined to that
blessed company, and may we now be learning the language
and the manners of the heavenly Jerusalem.
I don't think I have written to you since I sent from
Durban the stick which gives to , along (it is now
!Nov. 9) with a common stick of my own, which is for you.
I have often trudged with it through the sands of Durban,
and was using it that very morning, on which I despatched
the rhinoceros stick for . So I thought it would
serve the double purpose of helping to save and strengthen
17^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
the precious stick, and also of conveying to you a good shake
of the hand. I think it would probably have some sand on
it when it arrived ; at least I know there was a good deal
on it when I packed it up; I rolled it up just as it was,
with the same feelings as actuated those who buried Sir
John Moore.
I have been carried on so far by the paragraph which
I began four days ago. I write now specially to catch this
mail, as being an opportunity I think I never had before, of
writing to you when you had not written to me. Your
letters are such a treat to us all, and you are so constant
and regular, that you will understand my joke of catching
so special an occasion to write to you.
Yovi speak of our being at the ITmhlali as a thing in
which you can acquiesce, in the conviction that we shall
soon be moved from it. But really I think we are useful
here, and I am sure we ought to be happy. You know that
we came here at my especial request to the Bishop, and with
the full approval of the Dean, who quite confirmed my own
notion that it was the proper place for me. You have heard
by this time that we have got into Kafir woi'k here; though
perhaps the latest letters may have given you the impres-
sion, (and if so, I must confess it would be a true impres-
sion,) that the Kafir work is rather going back at present.
But we are looking forward to increased opportunities
when we get to our new house on the hill. The white
work, however, in this district is really important. My
only regret is, that I cannot make more of my Sunday than
I do. I wish I could say like Joshua, " Sun, stand thou
still ! " There have been four sudden deaths in the last few
weeks : one up the country, and three on the coast. One at
the Umlazi; Fea, the white man who built our buildings
there, and who was making bricks for the church : one in
Durban : and one in my own district or parish, a Mr ,
who met with an accident while riding on a Sunday, and
died on the Tuesday. He had not had an opportunity of
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALL 177
goiug to church nearer than ten miles, since he went to his
farm, more than a year ago ; and, I fancy, had neither been
at church, nor received the Holy Communion (though a com-
municant), during that time. I am veiy anxious to establish
a monthly service, if nothing better, in his neighbourhood.
He, poor man, (as we say,) is gone; but there are others.
It will be, however, at the exj^jense of a service somewhere
else; I almost fear, at the expense of the Umhlali.
I was stopping for a few moments just now, having been
wi-iting like a steam-engine, when Guafu, who was laying
the cloth for dinner, enquired politely, " Do I stand in your
light?" I said, " No." He is a fine fellow. I wish you could
be present at our morning or evening prayers sometimes, to
observe how well (compared with the others at least) he
remembers what we have been reading about lately. We
are at Acts xii. just now. When we came to the death of
James, I told them the names of Simon and Andrew, John
and James, as the four chief AjDOstles. He and Bafuti can
remember the other three, but always forget the name of
S. Andrew. I think they are struck with the endurance
even unto death of the early teachers.
Good bye. God bless you now and evermore.
Your affectionate brother,
and fiiend and fellow Christian,
C. F. M.
LETTER XLY.
{To his Eldest Sister.)
Umhlali, Jan. 6, 1858.
Dear ,
* % •» * *
Your letters are not only very pleasant, but very good
for us. They sometimes keep up spirits that have been
flagging (not mine), and they bind us very closely together.
I often think of you in my long rides : last night, for in-
stance, I got home about half-past eleven, having had Orion
12
178 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
and Jupiter as my companions, as well as our glorious Cross
and Centaur : and I was thinking which of them would be
visible at the same moment in England. I came to the con-
clusion, that what was right over your heads, your zenith,
is always on our horizon, and similarly our zenith, (the star
which is just over our heads,) will at the same moment be
on your horizon in a direction a little East of South, pro-
bably between S.S.E. and S.E. by S. ; also that at every
moment either you or we might say. Half of what I now see
of the sky they see also, (unless the sun is above the hori-
zon). If you at any time want to know what we can see,
think of a line stretching from about E.N.E. right over
head to W.S.W. ; all the stars that are S.E. of this line are
at the same moment visible to us. In short, if you had a
M^all with an exposure to the S.E., or between that and
South, then sitting at the foot of it looking forward and
upward, you would see half of the whole sky : that half we see
also. "We see, besides, another half below your horizon, but
we do not see what is behind the wall. If you want to see
these stars in the sayne position as we do, you miist lie on
your back, with your feet to the wall, which must be so
high as to seem right over your head. The top of the
wall is our horizon; and by looking up through your eye-
brows you will see what is over our heads ; what is on your
right hand is on our right hand also, what is on your left is on
our left : in short, you are just in the position in which we
are when we stand looking about IST.lSr.E. There's the re-
sult of my conversation with. Orion and Jupiter last night.
* -i;- * vc- -X-
As to your plan of my staying at home one Sunday
every fortnight, I'll think about it ; but prejudices are
against it. Even with my present attempts there are one
or two places very much neglected. I am just arranging to
give a Sunday service to a place between Yerulam and the
Umgeni. This would entail my absence from home the
whole of that Sunday. I propose to do this about once in
RESIDENCE IN NATAL—UMHLALL 179
two months. I have for the last three weeks had a Monday
evening service at the Tongaat, and this will want a Sunday
now and then to keep it alive, and for the more solemn ad-
ministration of the Holy Communion. Fancy white people,
who used to live in London, communicants, firmly attached
to the Church of England, who have never received the Com-
munion since they came out, five or six years ago. I know
such a case. Again : a man had a fall from his horse, and
died in three or four days: he also was a communicant, but
had not received the Communion for a year and a half. I
heard of his accident, and was on my way to his house, on
my return from a summons to Durban, but he had been
buried. These are strong cases; and I feel strongly that
we shall do no good to the blacks by neglecting the whites.
And till I have a curate, (which God grant soon !) I don't
think I can j)ossibly give up any white service on Sunday.
I am really well ; and though both Sunday and Monday are
hard days, I was out of bed by six this morning, (Tuesday,)
and am as hearty as possible.
And now my own dear sister, (dearer though less written
to than even in Cambridge days,) good bye. And may the
God of all peace and grace give us every blessing, more than
we deserve or desire, through Christ our Lord.
Your ever loving brother,
C. F. M.
The next letter refers to a Church Conference, con-
cerning which I shall have more to say presently. I
introduce the letter in order to shew the spirit in which
he engaged in the work, and his own humility con-
cerning his fitness for it. His opinion of his own in-
capacity for this kind of business was however founded
in truth : he was not the man for a consultative body,
was too easily led, and as regards a Church synod too
little read in ecclesiastical history and ecclesiastical
12—2
l8o MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
literature generally, to be capable of exercising a great
amount of influence.
LETTER XLVI.
Umhlali, Natal, March 17, 1858.
Dear Goodwin,
* * * * 46-
We are to have a Cliiircli Conference here next month
as a preliminary to a regular synod. It is to advise the
Bishop whether to call a synod; how to constitute it, and
whether to apply to the legislature for an act confirming it.
Yesterday was the day for electing lay representatives : and
I don't think any parochial disti'ict, (we have no actual
parishes,) will turn out a better man than my people did.
* * * For my own part, I have a very strong feeling of
my incapacity for such business. My comfort is, that I did
not come out here with any idea that I was peculiarly
qualified for the work, but simply because there were few
labourers here in comparison with home, that others would
till ray place at home, and I should be taking up the place
of none out here : and so, if one does bvit do one's best, He
for whom we are working will excuse the performance. But
it is a matter of considerable responsibility, to be one of the
leading members of the first Diocesan Synod (for so it is
virtually). God grant us wisdom. I wonder now some-
times that I was bold enough to come out. I don't think
I should now. Or if I did, not as Archdeacon.
*****
Your affectionate friend,
C. F. M.
The Church Conference took place at Pietermaritz-
burg, on the twentieth of April, and following days. As
I am writing a history, not of the Church in Natal, but
of the life of Archdeacon Mackenzie, I shall not think
it necessary to give a full account of the proceedings.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMIIL ALL iSi
It must suffice to say that on certain important points
the Archdeacon found himself in a minority, and that
upon ascertaining that the views, which himself and
those who voted with him considered essential, were
negatived by the majority, he retired with the Dean of
Pietermaritzburg and some other clergymen from the
Conference. The matter under discussion was the future
constitution of a Church Synod, and the point upon
which a strong difference of opinion was manifested was
the status which should be gi'anted to native congrega-
tions. Should such congregations be put on a footing of
equality with regard to representation with the white
congregations ? did the equality in Christ of members of
His Church imply equal rights in all matters of church-
membership ? There was also the additional question
of the proper method of dealing with the soldiers ; some
holding that a camp congregation should send a dele-
gate to the synod, others holding the contrary opinion :
but I apprehend that the real point in the discussion
was the position of the black congregations, and that
the high view of the privileges conferred upon all men,
whether white or black, by vital union with the Re-
deemer, which the Archdeacon held, made him regard
his own presence at the Conference as useless, and in-
deed impossible, when that view appeared to be nega-
tived by the opinion of the majority. I should not be
honest if I did not state my own opinion that Mackenzie
was in error. Doubtless the question of dealing with a
Church composed of two different races in different
conditions of civilization must involve many difficulties ;
and it seems an easy mode of disposing of those difficult
iSa MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
ties to say that all are one in Christ ; but Christian
equality does not involve equal fitness to deliberate and
make rules for the government of the Church, any
more than the equality of Englishmen in the eye of the
law involves universal suffrage ; and it seems to me
that in the infancy of such mixed Churches, the more
advanced and more civilized portion must assume to
some extent the guardianship of the weaker and less
intelligent, looking forward to a time when such
guardianship shall be no longer necessary, and can be
safely abandoned. In fact, the question appears to me
to be one of expediency and not one of j)rinciple, and I
cannot but regret that my dear friend was induced to
take a course, which, without leading to any important
result, deprived the Conference of the advantage of his
presence.
Yet even here, if he was in error, as I think he
was, the error was a noble one. It was the love of the
weaker race, the strong feeling of the dignity of the
lowest of mankind when elevated by the knowledge of
Christ, the fear of the native being trampled upon by
the colonist, that made him protest in the most em-
phatic manner that seemed possible to him, against
that which he deemed to be unsound in principle.
Whatever may be the true view concerning Mac-
kenzie's conduct, there can be no doubt that this was a
very trying time to him, and that he returned with
great delight to his pastoral labours at the Umhlali.
He felt himself out of his element in the conflicts of
opinion stirred up in a deliberative assembly, and I
have reason to believe, — the feeling is in fact expressed.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL—UMllLALL 183
in one of his letters, — that he was conscious on such
occasions of the need of a more definite theological
training than he had received, and of the evil of the
practice of passing so rapidly as many Cambridge men
do from mathematics to holy orders ; he was most in
his element when he was ministering to the wants of
others, and exhibiting the real depth and value of his
Christian principles by going about like his Master,
and doing good.
The Conference was opened, as we have seen, on
April 20 ; on April 22 the Archdeacon retired, and on
April 23rd, Friday, he seems to have left Pietermaritz-
burg. The following extract from a letter of Miss
Mackenzie's will bring him home, and give a picture
of liis life at the Umhlali at this period.
He did not leave P. M. B. till one P. m. on Friday. He
meant to Lave started early, but was obliged to call ou tlie
Bishop first : then he remembered he ought to call on Dr
and Mrs . While he was with them the cathedral bells
rang, and he could not go before service, and so it was one
o'clock, and the roads dreadfully slippery with the rain, be-
fore he got fairly away. I knew his ways too well to expect
he would do anything else, and tried to keep in patient trust
that all was well with him, but I could not help thinking of
poor Mr , who was thrown from his horse on his way
to P. M. B. and very severely hurt ; but in spite of dark-
ness, bad and slippery roads, a tired horse, and swollen
rivers to cross, he was preserved in all dangers. He slept
at the half-way house, breakfasted next morning at Pine
Town, did some business in Durban, reached Yerulam at
eleven p.m. and went to bed; but was up veiy early, and
was here a httle after eight A. M. on Sunday morning. He
let his horse, Spring, wander away by accident at P. M. B.,
184 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
and, trtisting to Lis usual good luck, did not take so mucli
pains to recover him as ke would otherwise have done, and
rode the ninety miles on his new horse, which is still called
Bob. The Archdeacon had less than an hour to dress and
breakfast before he was at the camp, for service at nine.
He has a church-meeting at Mount Moreland and elsewhere
to-morrow; so he does not return till the afternoon. I am
thankful to say the hour for his Monday service at the
Tongaat is changed from seven p.m. to four; so he will be at
home in future in much better time. He is wonderfully
strong. It is vain to ask him to do less. Did I tell you of
my once writing to him from the Umlazi to beg he would
release Mr R. from a service at the Bluff] His answer at
first overjoyed me, quite agreeing that it was a total break-
up of Mr R.'s Sunday; but I stamped my foot when I read
on, and found that he meant to add it to his own duties. So
the thinking what he coiild leave out of his duties here aftei*
reading your letter, made him add a quarterly service at the
Umhlanga, when he is away from the Umhlali all day, and
the Saturday also. I was quite thankful to him yesterday
for giving us less music than usual ; it is a great fatigue
to his voice. It is pouring and blowing hurricanes. We
have still no windows in. Part of a partition wall fell down
to-day from the badness of the bricks it was built with,
and I don't know when our house will be finished.
In the next letter, one of the last written by him to
his eldest sister, who died in the latter part of the year,
he appears again to allude to the approaching Con-
ference.
LETTER XLVII.
Umhlali, April 3, 1858.
Dearest
"We are having divisions and searchings of heart here
in church-matters. You know how unfitted I am for such
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALL 185
tilings. Pray for me, that I may be guided right, and
may not injure my own soul, that I may be honest and
true, yet loving and gentle. There are such men : the
Bishop of Cape Town is one, I believe. My comfort, when
I feel that I am in water too deep for me, is that I did
not come out because I thought myself peculiarly fitted
for the work here, but simply because so few would come.
And I think we may feel the comfort that a party would,
chosen by lot from a regiment, that they were of God's
selecting, that a man's skill and pride had not chosen them,
that they went forth like Gideon's three hundred in the
name of the Loi'd.
About this time Ai-chdeacon Mackenzie was ap-
pointed chaplain to the soldiers, who were encamped
in the neighbourhood. He had indeed been virtually
chaplain for some time; but he was now regularly
appointed with a salary, which though not large was
important as enabling him to obtain assistance in his
widely extended parish. For some time he had felt the
need of a fellowlabourer. He was very anxious that a
young Cambridge friend, to whom he was much attached,
should come out and work with him, and he sent a very
pressing invitation; on due consideration the invita-
tion was declined, and as I beheve on good and soKd
grounds. I here give the letter which Mackenzie wrote
on the occasion, and I would especially call the reader s
attention to the temper with which the disappointment
was received, and the manner in which he endeavours to
direct his friend's mind to an important field of work
nearer home.
l86 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
My Dear
LETTER XLVIII.
Umhlali, June 3, li
Your letter gave me great pleasure, coming from
your affectionate heart, and telling me so truly what you
thought about coming here, and not coming here. I am
quite satisfied that you have done what is right in following
your own judgment in the matter, and not coming out
simply because I wished or advised you to do so : and I
have no reason (certainly I have no right, if I had reason)
to blame you for deciding as you have. The way I look
at it is this. There is a great deal to be done at home,
(and perhaps no work is so important, though few so diffi-
cult, as that of a clergyman among and over the Undei"-
graduates) ; there is a great deal to be done abroad, and
fewer in proportion to do it. I take this last for granted,
without any accurate calculation, and I may be wrong ; but
I think so. Well : every one must decide for himself where
he can best work /or tlie Master's cause, after clearly making
up his mind that that must come first, before private incli-
nation, and even before other ties, (except so far as they
involve duties, and so are part of the Master's cause). If
you think that you honestly did and do determine to do
what you impartially and conscientiously think right, then
of course you may feel quite at ease. I should not doubt
this, but for one or two expressions in your letter; on the
whole I believe you did so determine, and therefore I am
satisfied.
But if you in your own heart are not sure that you
would give up all for Him, and think you did not decide
this particular question (of coming out) on that principle,
I wovxld say, take this instance as a test sent by God to
shew yourself to you ; try to purify your intentions by
thinking more of His Infinite Love, and our relation to
Him as His children ; and pray that you may come nearer
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALI. 187
to tlie blessed state of the saints above, who have no will
opposed to His. And, my dear fellow, when you do so
jiray, pray for me too. It is very sad, how changeable
we are ; how easily we forget the high office to which we
have been called, and the purity and singleness of heart
required to enable us in any degree to fulfil our mission.
* -::- -X- * -X-
I am very anxious about the college-servants. Just
before I left, I had some talk with about them ; I
mean their being cared for, as persons capable of religion,
by us their masters, being clergymen. told me of the
appointment at Oxford, (in Magdalene, I think), of one of
the fellows to the office of chaplain to the college-servants.
I dare say your arrangements at may be better than
ours ; but ask when you see him, whether anything
has been done in Caius about bringing good influences to
bear upon the servants. I was reminded of it the other
day when defending the practice of daily service ; I quoted
the excellence of the habit I, with so many others, had in
college of going regularly in the morning : my opponent
said, "Yes, and the bed-makers, what did they do?" I
admitted that I had enjoyed the privilege myself, without
their joining in it. I forgot by the way to say, that I
did try hard to get my gyp to come to my rooms at 6 a.m.
for prayers, promising not to keep him above five minutes :
but he always said, they were so bustled, they could not
come. So you see, I tried something ; but without success.
I tliink if in each college those who are anxious to do good
would talk the matter over, they might do something.
When men leave college they feel a responsibility to their
servants ; and why should not the same feeling exist in a
house established for religious as well as intellectual edu-
cation %
* X- -X- * *
I think if I were back in College again, I should try to
impi'ess upon those of the Undergraduates who now neglect
1 88 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
it, the need of studying the Bible, and other first books of
divinity, if they are thinking of being ordained. Part of
Sunday might well be given to this.
I have mentioned in every letter I am writing this mail,
that I have got a curate. I am as pleased as a father at the
birth of his first child. Nay, but seriously, I am very glad.
I shall now give a Sunday afternoon once a mouth to a
Kafir service, and we shall bring two more congregations of
white people, one at the little TJmhlanga, the other at the
Tongaat, into regular Sunday services. I shall not myself
pass many Sundays in the year without celebrating the Holy
Communion : I have been administering it more than once
a fortnight for several months. I believe this to be itself a
privilege. At the Conference at P. M. B. in April, we had
the Holy Commi^nion every morning, and I don't think I
could have got through the trials and difiiculties of the week
without it. By the way, that was another thing I wanted
to know from you and , whether you have Communion
oftener than once a term. Why not on the first Sunday of
every month 1 or, if you like to regulate it more academi-
cally, say three times in the term? Now don't say, (you
and ), " What has he to do with us, giving us orders in
this way ? has he not enough to do in his own Archdea-
conry'?" No — I know you will not.
And now, my dear fellow, good bye. Whether we shall
meet on earth is in God's hands, and will be as He wills:
but we may trust to a meeting above in His time ; how soon
we know not; only let us ever stand with our lamps burn-
ing in our hands. God bless you !
Your affectionate friend,
c. r. M.
The new curate alluded to in the foregoing letter
was a great satisfaction to the Archdeacon's mind, not
(as will be easily believed) because he would be able
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALI 189
to relax his own efforts, but because the aid of a
brother clergyman opened new fields of activity. The
stipend was partly supplied by the Bishop, partly by
local resources, and it gave the Archdeacon great delight
to find that his people responded heartily to the appeal
which he made to them, and that there would be no
difficulty in supplying the guaranteed amount of salary.
He instituted a monthly collection in his five churches,
namely, Umhlali, Tongaat, Verulam, Mount Moreland,
and the little Umhlanga, and found it answer so well
that he determined to adopt the same system of col-
lection for the support of education in his district. I
here introduce a scrap of a letter, in which he expresses
his satisfaction with the new arrangement.
LETTER XLIX.
[To a Sister)
Umhlalt, June 30, 1858.
* -» * -X- *
The new curate works well. Every one is 2)leased with
bim, and whereas I told the Bishop I thought we could
raise .£40 a-year in the district towards his support, this
month has just about produced its share. We shall each have
service three times every Sunday on an average, and there
will not be many Sundays in the year on which I shall not
celebrate the Holy Communion. I do feel very grateful for
being allowed thus to feed His sheep in the wilderness ; and
I trust that the outward forms of His service may be the
means of grace to the souls of His people, and that His
glory may be shewn forth.
* * % % *
There is a great dearth of letters in the latter half
190 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE,
of this year, 1858. The reader, however, will be able
to fancy to himself the Archdeacon's regular course
of laborious duty, and his happy home now rendered
almost comfortable ; in fact, I find Miss Mackenzie
writing towards Michaelmas in this fashion : " We were
burnt out of house and home about a year ago ; but
there are advantages in every trial ; and whereas we
were living in a very uncomfortable ill-built house,
situated in a bare desolate-looking field, with no pretty
view from it, now we have built a mansion for our-
selves, with eight small rooms in it ; and we have such
a glorious view of the sea, separated from us by beauti-
fully wooded hills and valleys ; and our ground being
our own, for we have bought between twenty and thirty
acres, it is both pleasure and profit to plant fruit-trees,
pine-apples, bananas, &c. ; and the rapidity with which
everything grows is astonishing."
I shall be pardoned if I take advantage of this
absence of anything of especial interest connected with
the Archdeacon personally, to introduce two or three
notices of collateral matters, which will nevertheless
tend to illustrate the story of his life in Natal.
In page 177 there is a specimen of Kafir politeness;
here is a specimen of Kafir passion. ''I was in the
sitting room," writes Miss Mackenzie, "when I heard
screams, and then saw Jessie (the maid) running. I
joined her, and saw Uskendi crouching under a tree
where he had fallen, while Bafuti was close by with
a long stick in his hand, and Umzanga was trying to
hold him in. As soon as I joined them, Uskendi made
his escape, and I took hold of Bafuti's arm, but he
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMIIL ALL 191
shook me off, and said in English, almost foaming with
passion, ' You like that boy bite me ? you like that
boy beat me ?' I said, No, it was very bad, but he
must not beat him when in a passion. He roared out
in Kafir, 'Leave me, don't touch me.' So I said very
quietly, ' Bafuti, is that the way in which you speak to
the Inkosazan?' Then I told him Uskendi should
certainly be punished, but that it was not good for
himself to beat him while he was so angry, and I re-
minded him of UmFundisi's teaching. * * * Umzanra
now came and tried to take the stick by force from him,
but this was beginning to make him furious again ;
so we told him to desist, and I said that I would not
take it from him, that I knew he would not use it now,
and that, if he promised, we would trust him en-
tirely. * * * Poor Bafuti ! his whole body shook,
and I could see his heart beating, while the tears rolled
down from his eyes; but with an effort he threw away
the stick of his own accord, and walked away; but he
was very angry, and he seated himself at the corner
of the house, as if to watch for his prey. * * * He
was very grave all the afternoon, but when I asked
him if he would like me to speak to him, he said, ' I
wish it.' Then I reminded him of the evil spirit taking
possession of a man, and about Cain and Abel. At
night at prayers, when the Archdeacon asked them all
what were the sins we were tempted to commit, Bafuti
answered, ' Being very angiy ;' and he seemed quite
humbled at the remembrance of his passion."
I hope the reader will see in the story which I
have just given, evidence not only of the strength of
192 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
Kafir passion, but of the influence of Christian teach-
ing and example. I hope he will also feel that such
conduct as has be^n described, if it betrays something
of the savage, does at the same time indicate a nature
capable of being trained to higher things ; the fact is,
that few races appear more hopeful than the Kafirs
of South Africa; the great obstacle to their improve-
ment is (as I have already had occasion to remark)
polygamy, and the custom associated with it, accord-
ing to which a man has the absolute power over his
daughters, and can sell them for their price in cows
under any circumstances ; hence I find the Mackenzie
missionaries occasionally complaining that any young
girl taken by them, educated, even baptized, is liable
to be sold for a few cows, as third or fourth wife to
some heathen Jiusband. The English government has
thought fit not to interfere with the native law in this
respect ; and possibly it may have been politic to take
this course ; but certainly to the missionary, and to
every wellwisher to the native race, the consequences
are very deplorable.
This bargain concerning women even affects their
children sometimes, as will be seen from the following :
" Our domestic troubles," says Miss Alice Mackenzie in
one of her letters, " are curiously different from those
at home. The boy Umabokwe was visited the other
day by his father, who was in a great excitement, and
spoke to us so fast and with such a torrent of words,
that we could not follow him. Umabokwe was sum-
moned to tell us what it was all about; and he ex-
plained, (in Kafir, only he spoke gently, so that we
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHL ALL 193
could understand him). 'A man is coming to take me
away.' It seemed that his mother, when she married
his father, had not been paid for: at least not the
whole price of cows. She is dead since, but the man
who owned her before her marriage now claims her son.
The Archdeacon is gone to the magistrate about it."
Then there is superstition standing as an obstacle to
the faith and to the improvement of the people, and the
stories told of the "witch-doctors" are very strange.
Mr Shepstone, whose name is well-known to all ac-
quainted with Natal, always spoke of the knowledge of
these men as something which he could not explain ;
and that which was a mystery to him may well be a
source of tremendous influence upon the minds of the
natives. The magistrate at the Umhlali spoke of the
witch-doctors in the same way. He told the Mackenzies
the following story. He was leaving home, and only
two boys were left in his house. He shewed one of
them, whose name was Usfile, a revolver pistol which
was in its case, and desired him not to touch it. When
he came home it was broken. Both the boys denied
any knowledge of the accident, and Usfile said he did
not like to be suspected, and wished a witch-doctor to
be consulted. There was one, come quite lately from
the Zulu country, who knew nothing of European ways,
or houses. This man being applied to first chewed some
medicine, and then went raging about to get himself into
the proper state of phrensy ; then he threw himself on
the ground, saying there was a snake inside him, and
groaned horribly. By a kind of "magical music" he
discovered what was wanted from him : they never told
13
194 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
him what they wanted to consult him about. He said,
" You do not v/ant to know about cows." The people
assented. Then he said, "No: it is not cows: it is
something in the house." The people assented again,
more loudly than before. This went on for three hours,
the witch-doctor always coming nearer to the truth, till
he ended by describing the case with the pistol in it, the
table under which it lay, how the boy had tried to un-
screw it, and that there was another boy with him, and
then he pointed to Usfile as the culprit, who confessed.
Stories, similar to the preceding, and of great in-
terest in themselves, might easily be multiplied ; but I
must leave them, in order to return to that which more
definitely concerns the life of Archdeacon Mackenzie.
Throughout the year 1858 I find constant sorrow-
ings on the part of Miss Mackenzie concerning her
brother's severe work, long rides, sometimes in a hot
sun, sometimes in drenching rain. She has chronicled
also some minor inconveniences: as when upon one oc-
casion his horse was troubled with a sore back, and
being unable to ride upon it with a saddle the Arch-
deacon called at the house of a parishioner to ask if the
good woman of the house could in any way assist him:
she very benevolently lent him her ironing flannel to
serve as a temporary saddle, the Archdeacon promising
to return it before the next ironing-day.
Under date December 21, of this year, I find a
notice which I think the reader will pardon me for
introducing as it stands. It illustrates at once the
effect of Mackenzie's character upon those about him,
and the roughness of the Ufe which he was accus-
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALL 195
tomed to lead. "I do feel," says Miss Mackenzie,
" the responsibility so great of being allowed to live
with Charles. It is not only that his temper is so un-
varyingly even, amidst provocations both great and
small: it seems as if he could not fail there: but he
grows in holiness, and in devotedness, and such utter
self-forgetfulness ! It is a great comfort to me that he
takes care of his health without neglecting what he
thinks his duty. I never can be reconciled to his long
Sunday rides in the hot wet season; but he thinks
it is right, and that he is planting the Church. On
Sunday, after service, it was desperately hot, quite
enervating, even to me, and he started off on a twenty-
five miles ride. He had the misfortune to lose his flask
of wine by the way ; so he had only the hot water of the
river to drink. In the evening the heaviest of our Natal
rains came on, and next morning the country was in a
flood. He w^as much wished to stay, but he said he
would try to return. The river Ninoti was very high ;
and it has a slippery stony bed. A Kafir was told to go
in and see what state it was in, but he could not keep
his footing. A white man told him that a little higher
up he might swim through himself, but not his horse;
so he left him in the charge of Mr , as well as his
waterproofs, which would only encumber him in the
water. He had to swim another river which is only a
brook in ordinary times. The Umvoti was not higher
than his knee, but it was very wide, and he said he
compassionated horses more than he had ever known
was necessary; it was so fatiguing to walk through the
water. He arrived dripping at Dr A — 's, for it had
13—2
Jg6 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
been raining all day. He found them at dinner, and
they gave him dry clothes and lent him a horse ; but he
arrived here about half-past nine pretty wet, as the
Umhlali was high : so he did not stay to give us any
news, but went straight to bed, and he is quite well this
morning."
The year 1859 opened with a very heavy trouble,
the loss of his eldest sister, who has been already de-
scribed in this Memoir as intimately connected with
Mackenzie's early education, and the' formation of his
character. The next three letters, which are nearly all
that have come to my hands of this year's correspond-
ence, refer to this event. The first is to the sister her-
self, the second to another sister, his chief correspondent
in England, and the third to his brother-in-law. They
are dated from Seaforth, the name given to the new
house at the Umhlali.
Dear
LETTER L.
Seafoeth, Januanj, 1859.
I have just finished copying for A , and for
very shame must write you a few lines myself. My dear
one, it is indeed, as A says, the first real home anxiety
we have had, except . Dear one, I trust you trustfully
in His hands, who watches over Israel, and slumbers not
nor sleeps.
* * * * *
The more I try to obey the rules of the Church, the
more of beauty and truth and reality I see in them. I
never used the Visitation service in England, and I do not
use it here quite as it is directed, but I have looked more
to its prayers than before; and they are very beautiful.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALL 197
Then the having the Communion at a marriage is so good,
when both are real Christians, — a solemn binding of them
together, and with all true members of the Lord, present
and absent. I feel a far more geaeral meaning in the Com-
munion than I used to do, not only the strengthening and
refreshing of our souls, but the union with the Church, His
body, the blessed company of all faithful people, — however
men may differ as to who are to be included in that phrase.
He knows His own, and keepeth them every instant.
Dear , yovi may be now among the members of the
Church in Heaven, who have washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb. If so, we shall never
meet again on earth. But what a meeting in heaven ! Any
two of us to meet so would be more than we can conceive, —
we made perfect, and never more to part : and then to think
of the many ! Dear mother, with so many of us, I trust,
and with her own brothers and sisters ; and each to see in
the others the reflexion of their own joy, and to feel the joy
of others to be their own !
God grant us grace to arrive at that blessed ending, for
Christ's sake. Amen,
Your affectionate brother,
C. P. M.
LETTER LL
Seafoeth, January 29, 1859.
Dear ,
* * * * *
We are looking anxiously for the mail to hear of our
dear . Well, wherever she is, her Father is with her.
Those who do not know Him think that a cold thing to say,
and imagine that faith makes people indifferent to the suf-
ferings and misfortiines of others. God knows it is not so
but that rather we are bound together the closer by His
great Fatherly overshadowing wings.
Feb. 2. Dear , the news came yesterday. I heard
it on my road home, through Miss 's kindness, she hav-
198 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
ing heard it here. Well, dearest one, when I heard it, I
said at once, "I'm very glad." I could not help thinking first,
she is over the fever : she is through the grave and gate of
death. Then I thought of poor . I do feel for him.
They say none can know a widower's or a widow's grief :
perhaps not : but one can tell what her loss to him would
be. I remember how her telling me she was to be married
shot through me such a pang as I have seldom felt, — never,
I think, — far worse than this present one : for now is she
not there, whither we are all hastening? God grant we may
all arrive safe in His time.
Dear
LETTER LII.
Seafobth, Umhlali, Feb. 1, 1859.
It was very kind of you to write to us yourself, at
a time when your heart was so full. God has, I trust, sup-
ported you with His everlasting arm, and that you can now
look forward past the bounds of time and death to the king-
dom where there shall be no partings. May He of His
infinite mercy bring us thither, where we shall be safe for
ever.
We have indeed all of us owed much to God through
her. And it must be grateful to you, though adding to the
sense of your loss, to feel how much she was looked up to
and respected and loved by all. I at least, for one, know of
no one who did not so. And surely we oiight not to think
it strange if the brightest gems are sometimes removed from
the workshop to the immediate presence of the Great King.
What a comfort it is to feel sui-e that He is able of His in-
finite wisdom to think for all and to provide for all, to
whom the influence of a sinjrle event extends. No doubt
each one of your children had just as much of her direct
influence as was on the whole best. There comes a time
when the sapling that has been supported, trained, and
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALL 199
perhaps shielded from the storm, should stand alone and
gain strength by being buffeted by the winds, learning to
cling more firmly to the solid ground, from which ultimately
all support must come. Then too, she being dead, yet
speaketh; they will often remember her words, which will
sound more solemnly than ever.
I believe there has been a strong influence for good on
me from my father's character, described to me by varioiis
people, by none, I think, more vividly or effectively, than
by you my dear brother, — thank you for doing so. And
will not the example, which they have had before their eyes,
live in their memories, and draw them after her ?
But, in the mean time, it is sad — most sad — to us, who
are left behind. Though we are so far from home, we live
always in the prospect of perhaps being allowed, were it but
for a time, to see you all again. And now one bright and
beautiful face will be wanting ; one Christian spirit that
would have welcomed us back, and bid us God speed out
again, has fled. But O how blessed the teaching of the
Spirit, to say, " His will be done : He doeth all things well."
There was a needs be ! She is part of our treasiu'e laid up
in heaven, making it the more natural and easy for our
hearts to be where our treasure is.
I have been led lately to think, how His excellence and
loveliness and beauty are shewn forth to us — weakly indeed,
but so only could it be to us — by the excellences of His
creatures. And if a mortal being, a creature, confessedly
with imperfection, can so engross our affections, what will
be the bliss of the open vision of the King in His beauty !
My dear , I never, I think, spoke or wrote in this
way to you before. But I feel her presence, above us all,
such a bond of union, that I have not been afraid to speak in
this way to you who are so much older, and so much more
fit to tell me these things than I you.
God bless you all.
Your affectionate brother,
C. F. M.
200 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
I have only one more letter written from the Um-
hlali, which I insert here, not so much on account of
any special interest connected with it, as because it is
the last.
LETTER LIII.
{To a Sister.)
Seafoeth, March 6, 1859.
Dear
You called your letter (of December and January),
just received, a short one. It was shortish for you, but not
for me : I mean, if I had written such a one, I should not
have called it so very short.
I am so very glad at all you say about the Church Ser-
vice. It is a bond of great power to knit our hearts all
together, by knitting them to Him. I remember in my
first term at Cambridge, when I first had the opportunity of
attending daily service, not making full use of it : either
going as seldom as I could, or not attending much while
there, — I forget exactly. I remember talking to dear
about it, and her advising me to try and get good; and I
went on liking it more and more from that time. In my
third year I was ofiered the chapel-clerkship, which required
my attendance twice a day, and that made me like it more,
for I got into the way when that year was over of attending
always when I could. And I believe it was the General
Thanksgiving, in Caius College chapel, which influenced me
for good more than any other earthly means. I like to re-
member this, because it is another case (of the many) in
which I may trace mercies received from Him through her
who is gone to His presence.
*****
To-morrow is the first day of Lent. I feel somehow not
ready for it; but, in fact, that tells me I am the more ready
for it as a time of self-examination, humiliation, and prayer.
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALL 20i
I have come to think of it out here more as a time for in-
ward private work than I used, and not only as the esta-
blished season for additional services in Church. God grant
that it may be blessed to me and to us all, though it will be
passed before you get this.
* * * * *
In the February of this year, Mackenzie was ill for
the first and last time, so far as I know, during his
residence in. Natal. On the first of February he was
out on one of his long expeditions, and the day was
extremely hot; he drank some cold water, which quite
deranged him, and when he reached a friend's house,
he found himself really ill. Cold cloths upon his head
and rest however soon restored him, and the next day
he was able to come home. At first it was feared that
he had received a sun-stroke ; this happily proved to
be a mistake ; but for some time after he was more or
less of an invalid, and forbidden by his medical adviser
to do all that he had been in the habit of doing before.
In the beginning of March he was well again, and
resumed his long Sunday journeys.
In March, after much negotiation concerning ex-
change of duty, an arrangement was made, which en-
abled the Mackenzie party to visit Maritzburg. Change
was becoming necessary, and on March 28, they started
in an ox-waggon upon their journey; the Dean of
Maritzburg relieving the Archdeacon from his work at
the Umhlali. In the beginning of April they were
comfortably settled at Maritzburg, where the Archdeacon,
in addition to other clerical work, undertook the ca-
thedral school. The following is the only letter which
has come to my hands at this period.
ijoa MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
LETTER JAY.
{To a Sister.)
P. M. B, April 9, 1859.
Dear ,
*****
I am looking forward rather to the next few weeks. My
sphere of duty is more confined. I could walk in half an
hour from this house to any part of my parish, and that is a
new idea to me. At the same time I find the school some-
what fatiguing and harassing: there are seven classes, all
to be kept at work at once. As to parish- work, I shall
have to set myself to it more steadily next week than I
have done hitherto.
The cathedral daily service is a great help, and we have
Communion every Sunday. Certainly, while we live in the
flesh, outward things are a great help to the spirit.
*****.
During this stay at Maritzburg, it was arranged
that the Archdeacon and his elder sister should visit
England. I think I cannot introduce this new turn in
their history more appropriately than in Miss Mackenzie's
own words. On May 9 she writes : " There is a plan
for Charles and me to sail for England by the next
steamer. My heart is full at the very thought of it.
* * * I cannot tell you how I feel. I am in a
flurry of joy."
The cause of this arrangement I will endeavour to
explain. For some time there had been a scheme for
sending a missionary Bishop with some clergy into the
Zulu country. Who was to be the missionary Bishop ?
Mackenzie's name was very naturally suggested, and
RESIDENCE IN NATAL— UMHLALI 203
I believe it was all but determined that he should be
the leader. It was with reference to his consecration
as a missionary Bishop to the Zulu country, that his
trip to England was first planned. The Bishop of Natal,
however, thought that it would be well that he him-
self should undertake this new missionary work, and,
in order to undertake it, he was prepared to resign his
own See and go to the wilder and more difficult field.
Eventually it was proposed that both the Bishop and
the Archdeacon should go as far as the Cape, and
there take counsel as to what was best to be done.
At the last moment, the Bishop's engagements would
not allow him to leave Natal, and consequently it
seemed almost useless that either himself or the Arch-
deacon should go, it not being clear that Mackenzie
had any definite business to transact when he arrived
in England. However, the arrangements had been
made ; and therefore, somewhat against his own judg-
ment, Mackenzie was persuaded to come home. Ac-
cordingly, with his elder sister, he left Natal in June,
and arrived in England at the end of July, 1859. The
reader will see hereafter why I lay stress upon the
circumstances under which Mackenzie returned to this
country.
CHAPTER VIII.
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA.
On the 12th of December, 1856, Dr Livingstone arrived
in England to tell his countrymen of his discoveries
in Africa, and to stir up a feeling of interest on be-
half of the natives of that country. In the course of
1857 he published his volume of Missioiiary Travels
in South Africa, which excited much attention, and
may undoubtedly be regarded as amongst the most
remarkable records of personal enterprise. Looking
upon Dr Livingstone's adventures, with reference to the
addition which they have made to our geographical
knowledge, and to science in general, or with reference
to the prospect which they have opened of increased
commerce with Africa, it is impossible not to assign
them a very high value : but it is clear that Dr Living-
stone himself regarded his own labours in a higher
than either a scientific or a commercial light : he called
his travels in South Africa emphatically Missionary
travels, and he considered all other views of his work
as subordinate to that of improving the spiritual con-
dition of those illused and depressed races amongst
whom he had spent a considerable portion of his life.
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 205
Accordingly, he was not content with publishing his
book of travels, or with the ordinary modes of making
known to his countrymen his views concerning Eng-
land's duty to Africa. He determined to make an
attempt to stir the hearts of the two ancient Univer-
sities. The attempt was very characteristic: it was
frank, open, and free from all narrow jealousies. Living-
stone, himself a Scotchman, and a Presbyterian, and
employed as a missionary by the London Missionary
Society, having persuaded himself that there was an
immense amount of power and zeal in the Church of
England, which might be called forth for the benefit
of Africa, asked leave to tell his tale in each of the
great centres of Church of England education.
It will be sufficient in this place to speak of Cam-
bridge. On December 4, 1857, Dr Livingstone appeared
in the Senate-house, for the purpose of giving a lecture
on his African travels. The Bishop of Worcester, Dr
Philpott, then Master of S. Catharine's College, and
Vice-Chancellor, was in the chair, and introduced the
missionary traveller : his reception was enthusiastic :
the undergraduates cheered as only undergraduates can
cheer; and after a lecture of great interest \ adapted
with great tact to the audience. Professor Sedgwick, at
the Vice-Chancellor's request, in a warmhearted speech,
expressed the satisfaction which every one present felt.
The conclusion of the lecture was very emphatic, and
1 The Lecttire has been published, together with one delivered on
the same day at the Town -hall, with the title, " Dr Livingstone's Cam-
bridge Lectures," by the Kev. William Monk. Deighton, Bell, and Co.
Cambridge.
2o6 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
could hardly be forgotten by any who heard it : "I go
back," said Dr Livingstone, " to Africa, to try to make
an open path for commerce and Christianity. Do you
carry out the work which I have begun. I leave IT
WITH YOU." As he uttered these words, he looked
up to the galleries, crowded with undergraduates, and
seemed to imply that this moral of his tale was intended
especially for them.
In 1858 the Bishop of Cape Town visited England.
He came to Cambridge, and there explained the plans
which he had formed for the further spread of the Gos-
pel in Africa. He proposed to send missions, consisting
of clergy, with a Bishop at the head, into some of those
countries which bordered upon the South African Dio-
ceses, and so to make the country already occupied by
Christian Bishops a basis for further operations in the
adjoining heathen lands. It may, I think, be fairly
argued that this scheme, as propounded by the Bishop
of Cape Town, is the true method of spreading the
kingdom of Christ ; and if so, it might also be argued,
that it is unwise to desert an established and safe base-
line, and to commence other detached missions in dis-
tant parts. But the Bishop of Cape Town found that
a scheme for an African Mission, different from his own,
and more immediately connected with the scene of
Livingstone's travels and discoveries, had already been
talked over in Cambridge, and had assumed something
like a definite form. Livingstone's last words had taken
effect, and it was thought that an effort to plant a
mission in Central Africa, which should attempt at once
to introduce civilization and Christianity, and check
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 207
the abomination of slave-trade by facilitating lawful
commerce, would commend itself to the feelings of the
University, and would be taken up with enthusiasm.
The Bishop of Cape Town accordingly forbore to press
his own schemes upon Cambridge, and announced with
frankness, that in the event of the Central African
scheme being carried out, he would give to it all his
own influence and support.
I think I cannot chronicle the early history of the
mission, with which Mackenzie's name was afterwards
so closely associated, in any better way than by intro-
ducing here the Report which was presented to the great
meeting held in the Senate-house, on November 1, 1859,
of which I shall have something more to say presently.
It will be observed that the Mission was planned with-
out any reference to Mackenzie, that for some time
after the scheme had been set on foot, and after the
question had been asked, Who shall head the Mission ?
his name had not been mentioned, and that even in
the Report itself no allusion is made to him as the
probable leader in the work.
REPORT.
In presenting a Report of their proceedings np to the
present time, the Cambridge Committee of the Oxford and
Cambridge Mission to Central Africa wish first to recall
the special circumstances which have led members of this
and the sister University to undertake the work of establish-
ing a mission to those regions — a work well befitting the
two great centres of Christian education in this country.
The Mission owes its origin, imder God, to the im-
pression produced by the visit of Dr Livingstone to this
2o8 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
University, revived and strengthened by the subsequent
visit of the Bishop of Cape Town.
The feelings awakened by these visits resulted in the
formation of a Committee, pledged to take steps towards
establishing a Mission to Central Africa.
The first step taken by this Committee was to invite the
co-operation of the University of Oxford. This was promptly
and heartily accorded.
A highly influential Committee was immediately formed
in that University, and large subscriptions were promised.
A public meeting was also held in the Sheldonian Theatre
on May 17th, at which the Bishop of Oxford presided, and
which was attended by a deputation from the Cambridge
Committee.
These proceedings were followed by a meeting held on
May 26th, at No. 79, Pall-mall, at which a London Com-
mittee was formed, consisting of members of both Univer-
sities. Thenceforth all measures taken for effecting the
objects in view have resulted from the correspondence and
concurrence of the three committees.
In adopting the name of " The Oxford and Cambridge
Mission to Ceutral Africa," the committees are far from
intending to imply that they do not seek the co-operation
of those who are not members of either University — on the
contrary, they earnestly trust that their design will call
forth active sympathy and aid from all classes throughout
the coimtry, and that the clergy generally will give their
cordial assistance to the secretaries in making arrangements
for sermons and meetings in behalf of the Mission.
They also wish it to be distinctly understood that they
disclaim any intention of founding a new Missionary Society,
or of interfering with the operations of those already ex-
isting. It is their hope that in a short time they will be
able to hand over to the Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel in Foreign Parts the management of the Mis-
sion : but it is necessary that its establishment and main-
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 209
tenance, for the first few years, should be provided for by
means of a special organisation.
The Committees hope to be able at an early period to
send out not fewer than six Missionaries under the direc-
tion, if possible, of a Bishop.
With reference to the field of labour in which they shall
be employed, the Committees have agreed that it shall be
selected so as not to interfere with existing Missionary
operations. The Bishop of Capetown has engaged to open
communications on this subject with Dr Livingstone, "who
on his part has kindly promised to aid the undertaking.
From a comparison of statements furnished by the So-
ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,
the Church Missionary Society, and the London Missionary
Society, of the expense of sending out Missionaries to South
Africa, and of maintaining them there, it lias been estimated
that a sum of not less than £1,000 will be requisite for
the outfit of a Bishop and six other Missionaries, and that
the annual expense of maintaining the Mission cannot be
less than £2000. The amount actually promised up to the
present time in donations is £1,610. 7s. 4f/., and in annual
subscriptions for a term of years £176. 3s. Qtd.
It will thus be seen that great efibrts are necessary to
raise the requisite funds.
It will be understood that the great object of the Mis-
sion is to make known the Gospel of Christ; but as the
Committees are well aware that, iu Dr Livingstone's own
words, "civilisation and Christianity must go on together,"
they think it advisable to state that it will be their aim to
encourage the advancement of science and the useful arts,
and to direct especial attention to all questions connected
with the slave-trade as carried on in the interior of Africa.
In conclusion, the Committees beg earnestly to commend
this great woi'k ot evangelizing the heathen in Central
Africa to the earnest sympathy of all. They venture once
more to repea^t the appeal of Dr Livingstone, that now
14
2IO MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
tlie way is open — but that it may be shut again — and they
pray that it may please God to bless and prosper their un-
dertaking, and to raise up men to go out as labourers into
the fields which " are white already to harvest."
Having now sufficiently for the purposes of this
Memoir explained the origin of the Mission to Central
Africa, we will return to Mackenzie, whom we left on
the point of leaving Natal for a visit to England, having,
as it seemed, no very definite purpose. Here is a letter,
written between Natal and Cape Town, to his sister,
whom he had left behind in Natal.
Dear
LETTER LV.
Waldensian, June 17, 1859,
We have got on very well so far. This is Friday,
and we are lying at anchor during a high head-wind, which
we hope will moderate soon. We got over the bar last
Saturday about 2 p.m., just ploughing the top of it for about
our own length, and thanked our captain for his pluck in
trying it. It was a little unpleasant, almost all a little
sick. On Sunday we had service on deck, I being afraid
of tying myself up in the cabin for so long a time. We
have had service every day since, except Tuesday. On
that day we came to an anchor in Algoa Bay early. We
went ashore just in time for service, (Whitsun-Tuesday).
* * * Saw the Grey Institute, also S. Paul's Church,
a pretty, nice building. We dined, and returned to the
vessel at three. * * * "We were in hope of being at
Capetown during this night, and landing to-morrow morn-
ing : but about midnight the wind got up ahead, and we
have been making so little way that we have stopped in
a bay just east of Cape Agulhas. So here we are.
Things are going well. I have been so glad in having
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 21 1
service, and I have had opportunity of being kind to some
who had need of help. I have not had so much reading
as I should have liked : it will probably be the same for
the first week on board the English steamer : after that
I shall be more settled. We are still in good hopes of
catching the Athens : her day is Monday : but she is more
likely to sail on Tuesday or Wednesday.
-X- -A % % *
June 20. This is our last evening on land. We got
here, Capetown, on Trinity Sunday in time for church.
* * * We sail to-morrow, and hope to reach England
about the 27 th of next month. The Bishop of Capetown
will not leave till August ; so we shall see him for a week
or so.
God bless you in all your work, and water you also
yourself, Avhile you ai'e watering others.
Your affectionate brother,
C. F. M.
The steamer Waldensian, on board wliicli the pre-
ceding letter was written, was terribly crowded, and the
discomfort of the passengers was increased by the rough-
ness of the weather. An American missionary, with
his wife and six children, who were amongst the pas-
sengers, were all ill ; Mackenzie waited upon them, and
dressed the little ones. The troubles of another family,
whom he treated in like manner, were further inten-
sified by the confinement of the mother : when the poor
woman felt that her hour was come, she said no one
could be of any comfort to her except the Archdeacon :
he was with her directly, prayed by her side, and then
went to superintend the getting of her boxes out of the
hold. A few days afterwards he baptized the infant at
the parents' request, giving it the name Charles Frederick
14—2
312 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
Mackenzie, himself and his sister standing as sponsors.
These are some of the " opportunities of being kind,"
to which a passing allusion is made above.
I find just one short letter, written between the
Cape and England, to his sister in Edinburgh, which
I will insert as a record of that voyage, and as indi-
cating the uncertainty of his future plans, to which I
have already alluded.
LETTER LVI.
Ship Athens, July 20, 1S59.
About 43" N. 26° W. 1364 miles from Lizard Point.
Dearest ,
*****
We sailed from Capetown on Tuesday June 21st,
and had a good run as fer as about 10° N. Shice that we
have been delayed by northerly winds. We are now look-
ing forward to landing about Friday week, the 29 th. I am
very anxious to see the Bishop of Capetown as soon as
possible. He will probably be leaving England by the
steamer in Augvist. I shall have a good deal to say to
him. It is not to be generally spoken of yet, but the
Bishop of Natal has written by this mail to the Bishop of
Capetown, to say that as soon as he sees his way clear
he will go himself to the Zulu country, giving up the
Bishoprick of Natal. I think it most likely that it will
be a consequence of this that I shall not go to Zulu land
at all. But this last is in the doubtful things yet. Pray
for me, dear one, and for all of us, that we may judge
rightly.
Wednesday, July 27th. We are getting on well, and
hope- to be at Plymouth, where this will be posted, by
noon to-morrow, and to land at Southampton on Friday,
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 213
and be in London on that night. It ^v^ll be most pleasant
to see you all again.
The return of Mackenzie to England brought joy
to many hearts, to none more so than his friends in
Cambridge. The visit took us very much by surprise :
in fact, I beheve that the first intimation which we
received, was the announcement that he was actually
on English soil. He was very little changed: in man-
ner and bearing I think not at all, and there was no
visible diminution of physical strength caused by the
laborious life which he had been leading: he was the
same simple-hearted loving friend that he had ever
been, as modest as ever, and even his joyousness of
spirit seemed in no degree diminished.
Soon after his arrival in England I had the pleasure
of seeing him on his way to Scotland. I said to him,
" Well, what has brought you to England ?" to which
he replied with a laugh, " Upon my word, I am unable
to tell you." He then explained to me the doubtful
character of his future plans, whether he should be re-
quired as the head of a Mission into the Zulu country^
or whether he should continue to work in Natal. On
the whole, he seemed to think it probable that his visit
would turn out to be merely a short one, in which he
would be able to see his family and friends, and that
then he would go back to his parish at the Umhlali.
I lay stress upon this indefiniteness of purpose in
his visit, because his subsequent connection with the
Mission to Central Africa could not fail to appear to
his friends and to himself all the more clearly to be
214 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
directed by the finger of God. The state of the case
was just this. The Mission had been planned without
reference to any particular person as head: an efficient
head was manifestly essential to success : just at the
moment when it was necessary to make a choice,
Mackenzie seemed to be thrown in the way, his -con-
nection with Natal partially broken, his previous life
and training, and his own personal character, suggesting
him at once to the Committee of the Mission as the
man of whom they were in search.
I here insert two scraps of letters which will illus-
trate what I have now said, and will exhibit the state
of Mackenzie's own mind, previous to the proposal that
he should undertake the Central African Mission. The
first is written to his sister in Natal, the second, to his
sister in Edinburgh.
LETTER LVII.
August 4, 1859.
*****
It is August 4. We have been on shore close upon a
week, which has flown like a bird. You will hear from the
Bishop about S. F. G. They say if all other difficulties are
removed there will be money forthcoming to support a Mis-
sionary Bishop in Zulu land. It is pretty clear — quite, in
fact — that I shall not be at the head of either. So I don't
see what I have to do in this country, and I tlimk two
months, or three at the outside, will be the extent of our
stay. All goes well. We are happy, and I trust God is
guiding us.
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 215
LETTER LVIII.
29, King Street,
Aurjmt 5, 1859.
The Bish,opi'icks are virtually settled, and I am very
thankful to say that I get neither, and shall return to my
old place in Natal. This is quite right.
Mackenzie had not, as has been formerly mentioned,
any special gift of public speaking; and the danger of
unreality in religious meetings, a danger which every
one must have felt, would make the work of a deputa-
tion for a Missionary Society distasteful to his practical
mind. Nevertheless, he had not been long at home
before he placed himself at the disposal of the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel, and for some months
laboured vigorously at the task which he had under-
taken. His family urged him to take rest; but he
replied, " Work, not rest, is the thing that I want."
And so matters went on until the time of the great
meeting in Cambridge, to which reference has been
already made. It was held in the Senate-house, and
was called at the time, the " Great Zambesi Meeting."
Amongst the speakers were the Bishop of Oxford, Mr
Gladstone, Mr Walpole, and Sir George Grey. Mackenzie
was asked to preach at Great S. Mary's on the day of
the meeting, but at the meeting itself he was only a
listener and spectator.
The meeting was certainly a very remarkable one ;
remarkable on account of the place in which it was
held, remarkable on account of its purpose, and re-
2l5 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
markable for the zeal and heartiness with which it was
conducted: perhaps also it was not a little remarkable
that such a stirring of the heart of the University
should have been the fruit of the unambitious lecture,
which Dr Livingstone had delivered in the same place
not quite two years before^: the Vice-Chancellor, Dr
Bateson, Master of S. John's College, in opening the
proceedings, very properly referred to Dr Livingstone
as the origin of the meeting : he quoted Dr Living-
stone's parting words, given in page 206, and added,
" Such was the text, and this grand meeting is the
commentary." In ordinary language, the meeting was
a great success : the oratory of the Bishop of Oxford
and Mr Gladstone, the calm wisdom of Sir George Grey,
the heartiness of all left nothing to be desired.
Mackenzie, as has been already said, did not take
part in this meeting: he was however present, and
•during the enthusiasm of the proceedings he made a
remark which was sufficiently characteristic to be worthy
of being recorded. He was in the gallery of the Senate-
house in company with some friends : presently he said
gently to one of them, " I am afraid of this : most
great works of this kind have been carried on by one
^ It is only right to say that the introduction of Dr Livingstone to
the University, and the subsequent missionary movement, were due very
much to the efforts of the Eev. W. Monk, then Assistant Curate of
Christ's Church, Cambridge. Professor Sedgwick said at the Meeting-,
"The map now before you was constructed by Mr Monk, a gentleman
with whom rests the honour of having first introduced Dr Livingstone to
to this University — a gentleman, too, who has toiled as no other man
has toiled, in the promotion of the objects of this meeting. Mr Monk's
task may, in some respects, have been a humble one ; but humble tasks
must be performed, and without the performance of such tasks even the
most powerful might fail."
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 217
or two men in a quieter wa}^, and have liaJ a more
humble beginning ^"
He was not however to be permitted to remain as
a spectator much longer. There was a feeling in the
minds of almost all those who took an interest in the
proposed mission, that Mackenzie was beyond all others
the right man to undertake the work. Those who are
willing to see the hand of God in small things as well
as great, might well see in the circumstance of his
unexpected return from Africa, the entire evanescence
of the purposes which had brought him home, the
breaking up of the ties which bound him to ISTatal,
and above all, the fact that he was here on the spot
to answer for himself, an indication that he was the
man whom God would send upon this honourable but
perilous mission. It was impossible also not to feel that
he had, independently of his African experience and
his previous missionary training, great and special quali-
fications for this particular work : going as it was pro-
posed that the missionaries should, into a nevv^ and
barbarous country, with everything to learn, even as
to the mode of getting the necessary supplies of food,
it was essential that the head of the party should be
a man possessed at once of great personal vigour, and
of those gentle qualities of heart which gain confidence
and submission under circumstances of trial and danger.
Mackenzie had precisely the qualities required : every
one felt it.
Accordingly, at a Conference of Delegates of the
^ It was not a little striking that Bishop Tozer, in his visit to Cam-
bridge, thought it right to warn Cambridge men against resting too
much upon the recollection of this one great demonstration.
ai8 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
Oxford and London Committees with the Cambridge
Committee, held on the 2nd of November, the day-
succeeding the Meeting in the Senate-house, at which
the Bishop of Oxford presided, and Sir George Grey-
was present, the following resolutions were adopted : —
1. That the plan of this Association be the establish-
ment of one or more stations in Southern Central Africa,
which may serve as centres of Christianity and civilisation,
for the promotion of the spread of tme religion, agriculture,
and lawful commerce, and the ultimate extirpation of the
slave-trade.
2. That to carry out this plan successfully, the Associa-
tion desire to send out a body of men, including the fol-
lowing:—
Six clergymen with a Bishop at their head, to be con-
secrated either in this country, or by the three Bishops of
Southern Africa; a physician, surgeon, or medical practi-
tioner, and a number of artificers, English and native, capable
of conducting the various works of building, husbandry, and
especially of the cultivation of the cotton plant.
3. The Association contemplate that the cost of esta-
blishing such a Mission cannot be estimated at less than
.£20,000, with £2000 a year, promised as annual subscrip-
tions to support the Mission for five years to come.
4. That the Secretaries be desired to open communica-
tions at once with the other Universities, with the clergy
and friends of missions at large, and with the great centres
of manufacture and commerce, to invite them to aid by their
funds, counsel, and co-operation, in carrying out this great
work for the mutual benefit of Africa and of England.
5. That the Ven. Charles Frederick Mackenzie, M.A,,
Eellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, Arch-
deacon of Pietermaritzburgh (Natal), who is now in England,
be invited to head the intended Mission.
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 219
6. That the Bishop of Oxford be requested to convey
this invitation to Archdeacon Mackenzie.
The invitation was given, and speedily accepted.
He seems to have considered it unnecessary to consult
his friends with regard to his conduct : concerning the
sacrifice of himself he never entertained a doubt : the
only point which required consideration, was the con-
dition in which his departure to Central Africa would
leave his sisters, whom he had been the means of
taking out to Natal : he felt himself bound to them ;
but if they could go, he had no ground of hesitation.
The deliberate purpose with which he undertook
the work may be judged from the following anecdote.
He was staying at the time, with his sister, in the house
of his friend Dr Paget in Cambridge. It seemed to
Dr Paget right that they should both estimate at its
true value the personal risk of the undertaking : ac-
cordingly he said to Miss Mackenzie, " Consider what
would be the view taken by a Life Assurance Company.
If your brother shoiild wish to insure his life before
going on this enterjarise and were to apply to any
Insurance Company, I feel sure they would not esti-
mate his chance of life at more than two years." Miss
Mackenzie was much shocked at first by this plain
statement; but just then Mackenzie himself came into
the room, and when his sister told him what Dr Paget
had said, he took it as a matter of course, not treating
it lightly, but as a subject which he had already well
considered, and on which he had come to the same
conclusion.
220 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
The following letter was written to Ms sister in
Edinburgh, the day after receiving the invitation to
lead the Mission.
LETTER LIX.
Caius College, Cambridge,
Nov. 3, 1S59.
Dear ,
The past is swallowed up in the present. I hope
you got my letter from London, bub now I must speak of
the present. They want me to go at the head of the Zam-
besi Mission. (The question of the head being consecrated
or not is not settled, and need not affect my decision.) I am
ready if can go : if not, I must think what to do. But
I think and believe she can, and ■ of course can, and I
fully believe will. So we shall have no difficulty in seeing
our way. I have not given an answer yet, as we felt we
did not like to decide on such a step for without you
all advising. If you agree, I would at once accept. If not,
we would come down to Scotland and talk it all over. I am
much interested in this mission. Sir George Grey is most
hearty in his promises of help. God bless us all in this and
every thing.
Good bye.
Your affectionate brother,
C. E. M.
The next letter, to his sister in Natal, was com-
menced several days before the great Cambridge meet-
ing; but it will be seen that the latter part of it was
written three days after that meeting, and that he
then regarded in his ov/n mind the whole matter as
fixed.
Dear
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 221
LETTER LX.
London, Oct. 31, 1859.
We have determined to postpone our return for a month.
I thought as my hand was in, in the way of begging for
S. P. G., and as my personal experience of colonial work
gave me an advantage over a better speaker, I would offer
to the Society to stay another month and work for them.
This they have accepted, and have already spoken of my
going into the diocese of Bath and Wells, from the 10th to
the 22nd of December.
Nov. 4. Dear . A has told you something
about the proposal to go to the Zambesi. The fact of the
offer having been made to me need be no seci-et; only I
should like it to be understood correctly that it is the Head-
ship of the Mission which has been offered me : the question
of BishoiiricJcs among the heathen, or rather outside Her
Majesty's dominions, being in abeyance till the Committee
of Convocation has expressed its opinion. But now as to
the real thing : it will be a great work, and if you and
can come with me, I do not hesitate to go. ■ seems clear
herself, but as we have not heard from Scotland since the
offer arose, we do not consider it settled. '^ * ■"' '"' I
hope to be able myself to take a real charge and oversight,
more firmly now that my sphere is extended, not forgetting
to consult the actual workers, from whom good suggestions
often come, but still keeping the reins in my own hands.
Dear one, I need not say that I trust to your praying for
me in this new and most responsible office. (I have under-
taken to give an answer as soon as I can : but in my mind
I am thinking of it as settled.) We shall now, I sup];)ose,
have to stay in England for something less than another
year, trying to raise the necessary funds. I expect to le
22% MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
able to come up, and spend (I hope) a montli at Natal, and
shall be so glad to see you all again.
The Mission, which began by being the Oxford and
Cambridge Mission, soon became the Oxford, Cambridge,
Dublin and Durham Mission to Central Africa. It will
be observed that in the fourth of the resolutions, given
on page 218, the Secretaries were desired to open com-
munications with the other Universities ; this was done,
and the response was very cordial. The arrangement
was that each university should have its own local com-
mittee, that there should be in addition a central
London committee, and that the acts of these several
committees should stand to each other in certain definite
relations, which need not be here explained or dwelt
upon : though perhaps it may be permissible to express
a doubt in passing, whether any such system of co-ordi-
nate committees can be regarded as more than a tem-
porary arrangement, which must yield eventually to
something more simple and compact.
The great work which at once pressed upon the
friends of the Mission was the raising of the necessary
funds. A capital sum of £20,000, and a guaranteed in-
come of £2000 for five years, could not possibly be
secured without a very considerable effort. Much of the
effort, it was clear, must come from Mackenzie himself;
and he was willing to give himself up to this prelimi-
nary labour on behalf of his Mission, as soon as he
should have completed his existing engagements to the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. His time
was, in fact, chiefly devoted to travelling through the
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 223
country, for the purpose of making known the Mission
and raising funds, until his final de^^arture in the
autumn of the next year. He was assisted in this
work by several friends, amongst them the Bishop of
Oxford, of whose kindness Mackenzie was wont to
speak in warm terms of gratitude and affection.
The following letter was written to a sister before
he had commenced work on account of his own mis-
sion.
LETTER LXL
BuKT St Edmund's,
Nov. 7, 1859.
Dear ,
I came here to the railway, and find I am half-an-
hour too soon; so I have made friends with the cloak-room
clerk for room to sit, and for ink.
* -X- * * *
It is a great undertaking, this of the Zambesi, and
rather unknown country that one is going to; but still I am
prepared to undertake it with and .
*****
Where we should settle is of course a thing to be de-
cided; we are at present the "Central South African Mis-
sion." I suppose it would be whei-e Livingstone first struck
the river at Linyanti, but it might not. I feucy our first
object would be to find Livingstone, and get his advice.
But before even that, there will be the work of raising
funds. With its present intentions the Committee is behind-
hand in funds. But, dear , think what a grand work
may grow out of this, if God prosper it ! I am loth, it is
true, to leave my own parish unprovided for : but as before,
in leaving Cambridge, I think my present work can be more
easily provided for, than the proposed. I must find some
224 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
one to take my place, and for immediate wants I think
will go to the Umlilali, to be busy there till we are ready to
sail for the Cape; and by that time I think we may find
some one to relieve him by taking up that work pei-ma-
nently.
My dear , good bye.
Your affectionate brother,
C. F. M.
The next two letters are written to the same sister
in pencil.
LETTER LXII.
Geeat Western Eailway,
Nov. 11, 1859.
Dear ,
It is not so hard to write in a railway.
It does my heart and soul good to get a letter from you
like the one I got to-day. It is indeed a glorious work, and
my trust is that He who has called me to it will give me
grace to carry it out.
Aye, dear , who can tell which of us may be gone
before another year is over ? How comforting it is to think
of being so comforted and guided in her last days.
LETTER LXIIL
Dear
L. AND B. E.
Nov. 16, 1859.
I am on my way from Oxford to Leeds.
*****
I went to Clerkenwell prison, and talked for 20 minutes
to a Zulu, who has been spoken of in the newspapers. He
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 225
was wild in the Bush near London, and was taken up for
stealing a sheep. He will be leniently dealt with, I believe.
I wish some one would engage him in service. I have
written to Mrs about him, hoping that with her know-
ledge of Zulus she might be willing to try him. Poor fellow,
he has such a lively remembrance of the horrors of sea-sick-
ness that he will not agree to go back to Natal.
Thank you, dear ■ , for the freedom of your letter.
I don't think freedom to myself ever distresses me : freedom
of expression about other people does sometimes, when I
think things are said or thought which had better not be
either said or thought.
* -x- * * *
God bless us all, and lead us into all truth.
The interest taken by Mackenzie in tlie Zulu re-
ferred to in the preceding letter was very characteristic
of him. A mutual friend writing to me says : " Do you
remember any particulars about Ned, the Kafir, who
was prosecuted for sheep-stealing at a police-court in
London? Mackenzie took a deep interest in his case,
and maintained that he had mistaken a tame sheep for
a wild 'bok:' on Ned's release, he intended to take
him for his servant, and so preserve him from further
difficulties with the policemen and magistrates. He
was staying with us at the time, and arranged for the
poor Kafir to come to him at ; and on the night
on which he was to arrive we all sat up late expecting
him by the last train, but some other friend had adopted
the Kafir and given him a lodging, and so my house
was denied the honour. Poor fellow! he was shortly
afterwards kiUed by the buffer of an engine, on the rail •
15
226 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
way near Rugby. You may imagine witli how much
interest our whole party, including Miss Mackenzie, sat
up, expecting Ned's arrival. Our house is not a large
one, and Mackenzie with his sister and another visitor
occupied all our spare rooms : the question therefore
was. Where was Ned to sleep ? for domestic difficulties,
like all other difficulties which opposed themselves to
what he considered his plain duty, never once entered
his mind until they were encountered and overcome.
The only place which we could arrange for our expected
guest was the floor of the day-nursery, which created
a strange combination of curiosity and alarm in the
minds of our children, who were nevertheless more dis-
appointed than relieved when it was discovered in the
morning that Ned had not arrived."
With one more letter, written to his sister in Na-
tal, I bring to a close the, to him, eventful year 1859.
LETTER LXIV.
Leeds, Dec. i, 1859.
Dear ,
You will have been for the last montli gradually
becoming more sure that our work is to be in Central
Africa; and so it is. We found that the people at home
did not wish to throw any obstacles in the way, and Sir
George Grey's opinion was so distinct, that though it would
not do well for (what did for her did for you, so you
were not named,) to go up with the first expedition, yet that
she might certainly, so far as he could see, join the mission
after it had settled itself, that I determined on the 8th of
November to accept the post of head of the mission.
I ti'y not to let my head be turned : but it is a little
dizzy to be on what I believe is one of the highest Church
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 227
pinnacles at this moment in England. Livingstone's name
adds interest to the scene. The two Universities having
joined to start the mission gives great weight to the under-
taking, and the warm interest taken in it by the Bishop of
Oxford excites people's enthusiasm. I feel a little like what
you felt when you went to Ekukanyeni, expecting the time
when people will find me out. But then the calming, sobei*-
ing thought is : Be more and more conscious that the work is
for One who has nothing to find out, from whom no secrets
are hid, and who has called me to this work, knowing that
I am frail and foolish, and who expects, indeed, that we
shall do all and give up all for Him, but does not expect
more.
I have been working for S. P. G. these last two months,
and shall go on till Christmas. Next year I shall be work-
ing for my own mission : now I am fulfilling pi'omises made
before Nov. 2. I do not so much dislike this pleading as I
was sure I should. It is a sort of preaching, and I think
quite as much of the good of the i^eople I speak to as of the
good I expect to get from them for those abroad.
*****
Dear , how wonderfully He has made our way plain
before our face. Not even the Bishop could foresee what
would be the end of my coming home.
The year 1860 was pre-eminently one of bustling
and exciting labour. He now fairly began to work on
account of his own mission, and was almost constantly
travelling, preaching, and speaking, until his depai'ture
in the autumn for his distant field of work. Letters,
therefore, except of a purely business character, were
of necessity rare: at all events very few have come
into my hands.
15—2
228 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
One question of great and very general interest was
raised by the scheme for a mission in Central Africa,
namely, the propriety of sending out such missions
under the direction of a bishop. The question was not
a yery simple one, and different opinions were enter-
tained concerning its solution. In the first place the
expediency and propriety of sending a bishop under
such circumstances might be regarded as open to dis-
cussion ; and supposing this point resolved in the affirm-
ative, it would be open to doubt what the status of
such a missionary bishop should be with regard to his
Episcopal brethren, and with regard to his canonical
obedience to a metropolitan; while the peculiar rela-
tion of the Church to the State in England threw in
the additional question as to the power of the bishops
of the Church of England to consecrate without license
of the Crown. It was agreed to refer the whole matter
to the judgment of the Convocation of the Province of
Canterbury.
At the session of January 25, 1860, the committee
of the Lower House of Convocation presented a report,
which, having been adopted, was sent up as a repre-
sentation from the Lower to the Upper House. I think
I shall put this important proceeding in the clearest
light by recording what took place subsequently in the
Upper House of Convocation, namely, at their session of
June 8. The Bishop of Oxford presented on that occa-
sion the following report of the committee of the Upper
House, moving at the same time that the report be
printed and communicated to the Lower House.
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 229
Report.
The committee of the Upper House of Convocation of
the Province of Canterbury, appointed to consider the re-
port of the Lower House on missionary Bishops, have met
and considered the same, and resolved to repoi-t —
1. That we highly approve of the course pursued by
the committee of the Lower House in endeavoiiring to ascer-
tain the practice of the primitive Church, as it may be in-
ferred from Holy Scripture and from early ecclesiastical
records.
2. That we do not feel it needful to make any special
remarks on paragraphs 2 to 8.
3. That in giving a modified assent to paragraphs 8
and 12, we must observe that in many cases the adjacent
Church, however anxious to evangelise the native heathen,
will be unable, in its own infant condition, to supply men
or funds for the work, but must throw the burden on the
mother Church at home, whatever aid may be rendered to it
by the Bishops of the contiguous dioceses or province.
4. That we deem it undesirable to divert from a yet
unestablished and feeble diocese the energy and attention
which are absolutely needful for its own development, by
leading the Bishop of such a diocese to undertake arduous
duties and indefinite responsibilities beyond its proper
limits.
5. That as in such cases it may often be most conve-
nient that the missionary Bishop should be sent ovit by the
Church at home, it is expedient to ascertain whether any
impediment exists to the power of the Archbishops and
Bishops at home to consecrate Bishops for missionary service
in heathen countries external to her Majesty's diminions.
6. That the consecration of missionary Bishops, the
sphere of whose labour is virtually the extension of a pre-
viously established province, should be regulated in accord-
330 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
ance with ancient rule ; and that such missionary Bishops
should owe canonical obedience to the local Metropolitan,
if any, the local Metropolitan owing canonical obedience to
the Archbishop of Canterbuiy.
7. That in addition to the guarantees named in pa-
ragraph 16, every missionary Bishop should engage to main-
tain the doctrine and discipline of our Reformed Apostolical
Church, as contained in her Articles and Liturgy, and that,
so far as may be, the authorised vei'sion of the Holy Scrip-
tures should be adopted as the basis of translations of the
same,
8. That, looking first to the fact that where dioceses
have been or may be constituted in foreign parts not subject
to the statute law of the United Kingdom, the Bishops,
though they may be held to be bound by the decrees of the
mother Church which were in force at the time of their con-
secration, and by the Canons of 1603, so far as those canons
apply to the circumstances of their dioceses, are yet in no
way subject to new decrees and canons to which they have
not assented ; and secondly, looking to the great and con-
tinually advancing development of the Colonial Church, to
the several peculiarities under which it is beginning in many
districts to assume a fixed shape, to its want of endowments,
and to the time which must elapse before its clergy or laity
can enjoy the advantages of the Church at home as to fixity
of institutions or familiarity with ecclesiastical law ; there
seems to us to be special need of combined counsels to main-
tain in unity the Chxu'ch as it extends. That by a regular
gradation of duly constituted Synods all questions afiecting
iinity might be duly settled ; Diocesan Synods determining
all matters not ordered by the Synod of the province ; Pro-
vincial Synods determining all matters not ox'dered by a
National Synod ; a National Synod ordering all matters not
determined by a General Council. Unity with necessary
variety might thus be secured to our spreading branch of
the Holy Catholic Church.
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 231
"WTierenpon. the President stated that he had received
the following representation of the Lower House on the
same subject : —
Representation of the Lower House of Convocation on the
Subject of Missionary Bishops.
1. We have first considered what were the principles
by which the j)rimitive Church was guided with respect to
planting missions, so far as they may be inferred fi-om Holy
Scripture and from early ecclesiastical records, and we have
then endeavoured to apply these principles to the present
condition and circumstances of the Church of England.
2. We gather from the New Testament that the Apo-
stles were missionary Bishops in the fullest sense of the
term ; that they went about from place to place preaching
the Gospel, planting Churches, and giving directions for
their government.
3. As the Church increased, the Apostles conferred
Episcopal authority on others, whom, under Divine guidance,
they invested with the government of certain Churches — as
Timothy at Ephesus and Titus in Crete.
4. Passing from the New Testament to the uninspired
records of the early Church, it appears that the practice of
primitive Christian antiquity with regard to the organization
of missions is involved in considerable obscurity.
5. The Church grew and was extended continually by
the power of the indwelling Spirit ; but the manner of her
extension does not appear to have been uniform or inva-
riable. Ecclesiastical history fails to supply us with any
certain or precise information upon this point. We find
that Bishops frequently preached the Gospel to the heathen,
and that the other orders of the ministry and even laymen
were instrumental in sowing the first seeds of the Gospel in
countries where it had before been unknown. There is
abundant evidence, however, to shew that when Christian
congi-egations had been gathered out of heathendom, and by
232 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
whatever instrumentality, they were placed as soon as pos-
sible under the care of a Bishop.
6. We proceed to apply these general principles to the
present circumstances of our Church.
7. In considering the mode of the extension of Christian
missions amongst the heathen external to her Majesty's
dominions, a distinction should be drawn between the case
of heathen tribes lying contiguous to a Christian people and
that of heathen isolated and removed from any Christian
Church, to whom an opening may be made along the path-
way of science or of commerce, or by any other leading of
God's providence.
8. We trust that our Church will be always zealous to
act upon the ancient practice that the Bishops should en-
deavour to convert the heathen adjacent to their dioceses,
and where these efforts are blessed with success and new
congregations are gathered, or where the blessing of the
Gospel is sought from our hands in any considerable num-
bers by the heathen lying beyond our borders, or by rulers
desirous of evangelizing their subjects, we further ti-ust that
the uniform practice of Christian antiquity will be followed
in the providing of additional chief pastors of the Church to
minister among them.
9. There are cases in which it may be expedient to
send out presbyters in the first instance as evangelists, as for
example, where the Church has to originate missions to the
heathen lying in close contiguity to the existing diocese.
10. But we think also that thei'e are cases in which it
may b® desirable to send forth a Bishop at once as the head
of a mission ; as for example —
I. Where a large staff of missionaries is necessary ; or
II. Where a large and imposing organisation has to
be confronted, especially in regions lying remote
from any diocese of our Church.
11. The expediency or inexpediency of sending out a
missionary Bishop in the fir-st instance can, howevei', only be
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 233
determined by the particular circumstances of the case as it
may arise.
12. "With regard to the heathen bordering upon a
Christian people, we think that the converts should, in the
first instance, be provisionally under the care of the Bishop
of an adjacent diocese ; and that all further arrangements
respecting the government of such missions should be deter-
mined by a Synod of the adjacent province.
13. With regard to the more remote missions, we con-
sider that the proper authority for determining when it is
expedient to send out a Bishop would be that of an Arch-
bishop, or other Metropolitan, with his Suffragans ; and
that during the missionary condition of such Episcopate, the
Bishop sent out should owe canonical obedience to the con-
secrating Metropolitan.
14. Our instructions not requiring us to enter upon the
legal question whether the Church of England has the power
to send forth Bishops into heathen terj-itories beyond the
limits of the British dominions, we have framed our report
upon the supposition that she has this power.
15. In the entire uncertainty which necessarily exists
as to the relations in which any new Churches formed in
foreign countries may stand to the civil and temporal rulers
of those countries, we feel it impossible to lay down any
rules for the permanent relations of the mother Church.
16. The guarantees for the future orthodoxy and good
discipline of Churches not yet existing must be found chiefly,
under the Divine blessing, in the prudence and enlightened
wisdom of the Bishop and presbyters who may form any
particular mission. We conceive that, with regard to the
admission of converts, they would guide themselves by the
analogy of such precautions as the Church has taken in her
forms for the baptism of infants and adults, and that, with
regard to the transmission of spiritual authority, they would,
in like manner, adopt the analogy of similar precautions to
be found in the Ordinal of the Book of Common Prayer.
334 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
17. In conclusion, we earnestly pray that abundant
supplies of wisdom, as well as zeal, may be vouchsafed to all
those who are endeavouring to extend the kingdom of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ throughout the world.
The following resolution was then put and agreed
to, on the motion of the Bishop of Oxford : —
That this house has read the representation made to it
by the Lower House : that in reply thereto they inform the
Lower House that a committee of the Upper House have
considered upon a report on the same subject made to the
Lower House, and by it communicated to this house ; that
the rejioi't so made to this house has this day been received
and adopted ; that this house having taken into considera-
tion the representation of the Lower House, considers it can
best reply thereto by communicating to the Lower House its
own report, since that report deals with the subject contain-
ed in the representation.
The Bishop of Oxford then moved further : —
That this house having heard, with thankfulness to God,
of the prospect of a mission being led by the Venerable
Archdeacon Mackenzie into Southern Central Africa, desire
to express their deep interest therein, and their hope that
the Bishop of Capetown and his Comprovincials may be able
to see fit to admit the head of this mission into the Episcopal
order before he be sent forth to the heathen.
This resolution gave rise to a discussion, but was
eventually put and carried.
I have thought it well to give in detail the history
of this question in connection with Convocation, because
it undoubtedly marks an important epoch in the history
of the Church of England, and because the hope ex-
pressed by the Bishops at home concerning the conduct
3IISSI0N TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 235
which the Bishops in South Africa might see fit to
adopt, was subsequently realized, and was the means,
under God, of giving to the Church of England her
first Missionary Bishop.
The next three letters contain not much important
matter, but I cannot refrain from giving them a place
in this memoir, as being almost the only record by
Mackenzie's own hand of this very laborious portion
of his life.
LETTER LXV.
{To a Sister.)
The Irish Chaxnel,
Jan. 28, i860.
Dear ,
Here I go across the water to Dubhn. I left Lon-
don yesterday morning, and got to Kidderminster, where I
was kindly received by the clergyman, Mr Claughton. He
had arranged to have four services with sermons on Missions
on the four Fridays of the Epiphany season, and offered me
any one I liked, saying that I should have a collection at
mine, and that there should be none at the others. * * *
"We got £38, which is almost the best weekday collection I
have had.
*****
Pear , I am sometimes low, and not without rea-
son, I think, when I find myself doing my work, especially
preaching, badly for want of preparation, and still more for
want of earnestness and faith at the moment. Last Wednes-
day I was very angry with myself on that score, and was
more disturbed at the Communion which we had than I
think I ever was since my first; but yesterday encouraged
me again.
Here is Dublin. I have a difficult work to do. I hardly
expect to bring it to a successful issue. I came to preach
three sermons on Sunday for S. P. G., but I went also to
236 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
arrange with the authorities of the University about their
co-operation with us. We want to get their warm and
hearty suppox't; we would have a separate list for the con-
tributions of Dublin University, and they would, I suppose,
canvass for us in Ireland.
LETTER LXVI.
{To a Sister.)
Newark,
Feb. 4, 1S60.
* * * -» *
It is a grand scheme. I often quail to think I am at
the head of it, but I oftener thank God that this work,
which He determined to be done, He has entrusted to me.
. And I look to Him to give me grace to carry ib out. It is
a sore blow to be removed from all those friends whom we
have made in ISTatal. But then the scope is so enormous,
and I think the hopes of success very bright. We have
Livingstone to help and advise us. We have a very strong
interest in our favour throughout the country, stronger I
believe than ever a mission had before : and I seldom end
my address to the meetings I attend without solemnly ask-
ing them for their pi-ayei's, and saying that success is as
much dependent on their endeavours in this way as on ours
upon the spot.
Good bye.
Your affectionate bx'other,
C. F. M.
LETTER LXYIL
{To a Sister.)
Mancheste'',
May 23, iS6o.
Dear ,
The meeting here has been, so far as we have yet
seen, a great success ; and I am most thankful. The huge
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 237
room perfectly crowded : ladies standing the whole time :
about 4,000 people must have been there. For myself, I
felt not flurried, but able to say what I wanted, though in
these large assemblages I seldom feel able to speak to peo-
ple's religious sentiments as I can in a smaller body. I
mean to make that a special object to-morrow. * * *
Then came Lord Brougham, for 35 minutes or so, full of
energy. It was a lesson in speaking which was not thrown
away upon me, I hope.
The meeting referred to in the preceding letter was
one of three, namely, at Manchester, Liverpool, and
Leeds, which were attended by Lord Brougham. It
was certainly not the least striking feature of the
movement connected with the Central African Mission,
that it should induce Lord Brougham to appear as a
speaker upon a missionary platform. But, in truth,
his conduct was thoroughly intelligible and consistent :
he saw in it only the continuation of the war which
he had waged strenuously for many years against the
slave-trade : it was one of the professed features of the
mission, that it was to appear in Africa as the an-
tagonist to and witness against the accursed traffic,
which has so long pressed and still presses as a heavy
weight upon that afflicted country : and therefore it
was no eccentricity, but a natural sequel to much of his
earlier conduct, that Lord Brougham should commend
to the support of all those who felt with him on the
subject of the slave-trade, an honest and brave effort
in the direction of African emancipation. The three
meetings, at Manchester, Liverpool, and Leeds, were the
largest and most strikino: of those in which Mackenzie
238 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE
took a part, and I think I shall do them no more than
justice if I introduce here a report taken from a news-
paper, {The Guardian) of the period.
OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO
CENTRAL AFRICA.
Last week will ever be a memorable one in the annals of
this mission, and we believe of Church Missions in general.
A deputation, consisting of the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop
of Oxford, the Right Hon. Loixl Brougham, and the Yen.
Archdeacon Mackenzie, visited our three greatest centres of
commerce and manufacture on three successive daN's, the
23rd, 24th, and 25th of the present month. Their reception
in each place was as cordial and hearty as can well be con-
ceived. Manchester was first visited, and there the deputa-
tion, during its stay, was most hospitably entertained by
Mr Robert Barnes, one of the wealthiest merchants of that
city.
The meeting was held in the aftex'noon, and never do we
remember to have seen a goodlier sight. The enormous Free
Trade Hall was literally crammed, and it is estimated thab
at least 5,000 persons were present. Lord Brougham com-
menced his speech by saying that it was " by very much the
largest meeting he had ever yet seen assembled within doors ;"
and we believe it was the largest meeting that was ever
gathered together in Manchester in the daytime.
This multitude listened with the liveliest attention and
apparent interest to the plain, straightforward, earnest state-
ment of the head of the mission, the powerful and energetic
speech of the veteran ex-Chancellor, and the thrilling elo-
quence of the Bishop of Oxford.
The Hon. Algernon Egerton, M.P. for South Lancashire,
presided, and the Rev. Richard G-resswell, of Worcester
College, Oxford, T. Bazley, Esq., M.P., the Rev. Canon
Clifton, and Robert Barnes, Esq., likewise addressed the
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 239
meeting. About ,£150 was collected in the room, and four
donations of £100 each were received. These, we hope, are
a mere instalment of the large sum which may reasonably be
expected from the wealthy and liberal men of Manchester.
On Thursday the members of the deputation went to
Liverpool, and became the guests of Mr William Brown ', so
well known for his munificent gifts for the benefit of the
woi'king classes of the town.
The meeting was held in the evening in the Philharmo-
nic Hall, and about 3,000 persons were present. The chair
was taken by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Chester.
Here the Bishop of Oxford almost surpassed himself, and
was peculiarly happy in some of his remarks, especially in
the opening part of his speech. The following is the con-
clusion of his lordshii^'s speech :
*'I walked to-day with my kind host, your honoured townsman,
Mr Brown — I walked with him to-day upon your noble quays. I heard
from him something of the tale of wonder of this your wonderful com-
munity. He told me of the fifty years which had elapsed since he had
first known the town, and of the growth of its population from 90,000
people to half a million. He told me of the yearly addition now to its
numbers of some 10,000 more. He told me how these quays had grown,
as commerce from every part of the earth had flowed into them with
such increasing abundance, so that now it would take a man a walk
of fourteen miles to go along the whole of these quays of yours, upon
which are now disembarked all the wealth of every wealthy part of the
globe. I looked around upon your town, and saw its buildings rising
in magnificence — saw how God had put it into the heart of this man to
give that noble library upon that noble site— aye, and I felt, and I
know you will feel, that great as is that material gift, the gift of the
heart that planned it was a greater gift to Livei-pool than the gift of
the library it furnished. I looked and I saw your churches rising upon
eveiy side, and testifying everywhere that you were caring for the souls
of men, and ministering to them the unsearchable riches of Christ. I
saw, even in the poor parts of the town, what, when I came to in-
quire about them, I was told were the buildings furnished, in order
that the most abject of your people might be delivered from their cel-
lar life, and might Uve in health and comfort above the earth. I saw
^ Now Sir William Brown, Bart.
34° MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
this, and I thanked God that He had given to the people of Liverpool
not only great wealth and great opportunity, but a wise and under-
standing heart to appreciate and to use its gifts. I saw it, and as I
stood upon the quay that good man said to me, ' Look at that arm of
the sea flowing in round yonder point ; see all this massing of wealth,
these forests of masts filling the mighty docks ; and there are no ships
of war guarding it ; an enemy might come in, and what should we do
to resist him V What a tale was it, after all, of God's gift of peace
and security, and of righteous confidence in themselves, because they
believed that their God would be with them. Well, I went on, and the
thought rose within me, Are we using these gifts for the Giver; are
we returning to Him according to His gift to us ? Now, that is the
question I would ask you to put to yourselves. Ah ! my friends, it is
not the first time, nor is it the hundredth time that these blessings of
God have been showered upon a people, and because that people
upon whom they were showered used them selfishly for themselves,
the very gifts became their ruin, turned into poison under them, both
as to their bodies and as to their souls. You remember how it is
written in His Word, that the sins of Sodom grew from fulness of
bread, and abundance of idleness. And yet what can that 'idle-
ness' mean? There could not have been this 'fulness of bread' if
there had not been a good deal of activity in raising the fruits of the
earth and storing them. Therefore, in God's Word idleness cannot
mean sitting with the hands folded and doing nothing. There is an-
other and a higher meaning in it; it is the not using for the Giver
the Giver's gifts : that is the ' idleness ' meant in God's Word. And
so, I ask you, if God has given us the faith in its purity, His Word
in our owm tongue, aye, and in the raciest accents of our own beloved
fathers; if He has given us formularies with which to worship Him,
venerable for their antiquity, and beloved by us for their devotion ; if
He has given to us His ministry in the completeness of its organiza-
tion, and His Church in the perfect sense of its beauty, I ask you
has He given us all this that we may rejoice before Him in spiritual
selfishness and fold our hands in spiritual idleness? No, but He
has given it to us for Him, to bless others in its use. There is an
oath on high, that he who doeth not the will of his God shall be put
down from the post to which he was lifted up that he might perform
it. Ah, and this very country of Africa may give one fearful lesson
to us this night. Cast your eyes one single moment, in thought, over
the whole of the northern coast of Africa. What is it now ? The
Mussulman possesses it. Its goodly fields are laid waste, and the
French wrangle with and slay the Arab in cruel fight again to possess
it : and the name of Christ is hardly heard upon it. And what was it ?
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 241
A Church in which once 500 Bishops met together in their solemn
Synod: a land which fed the neighbouring Italy with the abundance of
its harvests, and which, looked down upon by a favouring heaven, ren-
dered back again to it every fruit that maketh man's heart glad and
man's labour productive. And why has this change come upon it ?
My friends, it came from this— that they had, without imparting any-
thing, clutched in spiritual selfishness what God meant them to distri-
bute. They allowed the neighbouring people of Northern Africa to live
on in their ignorance, without making any attempt to evangelize them,
and so when the flood of Mohammedan invasion swept upon them, what
were they? A handful upon the sea-border, instead of being the evan-
gelizers of the people reaching on into the centre of Africa, who might
have swept that invading wave across the sands into the sea, if only
they had used their opportunity and united that people to Christ. There
is a lesson, then, for us, and God forbid that we should not learn it.
And I thought, after all, if that great arm of the sea upon which I
looked in its beauty to-day, sparkling like a brilliant under the sun-
beam, as the western wind chafed it into a little mimicry of motion —
if the whole of that space was crowded with ships of war, if it was com-
manded from every part by your Armstrong guns, is it not written on
high that ' it is in vain to keep the city except the Lord keepeth it' ?
and if He looked in anger upon it, what would become of your best
fortifications and most watchful defences? 0, there are still, depend
upon it, for the eye of faith, angel squadrons encamping round about
God's people, and prayers, in mighty phalanxes, defending His Church.
Let England be true to England's mission ; let her understand that it
is hers to keep the faith in its purity, and to spread the faith in its
truth ; that it is hers to teach her people to love Christ, not to wrangle
about Him, and then leave the Cross of Christ in the face of the world,
longing in its dumb agony for the enfranchisement which that alone
can give to it. Let England in this way rise indeed to the mighti-
ness of her opportunity ; and the God of wisdom and the God of battles
will preserve her virgin soil from being tainted with the foot of an
enemy, and enable us to hand on to our children's children what we
have received from our venerated fathers — the lower gifts of prosperity
and power, and the higher gifts of the purity of the faith and the
abundance of worship."
Leeds came last iu order, and here also the meeting took
place in the evening, and was held in that magnificent Town
Hall of which the people of Leeds ai'e £0 justly proud. The
large room was filled to overflowing, and the reception given.
IG
242 MEMOIR GF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
to their former representative, Henry Brougham, and to
their brother Yorkshireman, the son of Wilberforce, must
have gladdened the hearts of those illustrious men.
"We believe that about £11,000 in donations, and £1000
in annual subscriptions, have been already gathered. Surely
these three wealthy cities will speedily set at rest all doubt
about the remaining portion required.
There is little more to be said concerning Bishop
]\Iackenzie's life and work till lie left England : it was
a very busy and anxious time, but it must, I think, on
the whole, have been a happy time, proving to him
as it must have done, how much the work to which
he had devoted himself was esteemed, and how much
love he had gained, both for his own and for his work's
sake. He had, as will be readily believed, abundant
practice, both in preaching and speaking, and at this
period his preaching vsras usually without book : he
acquired thus a readiness of speech, and his addresses
were very telling from their extreme simplicity and
manifest sincerity.
One of Mackenzie's companions in his journeys on
account of the mission was the Rev. George Williams,
Fellow of King's College, Cambridge ; he has been kind
enough to write the following.
" You have asked me to give some account of him,
as we travelled together for the object to which he
had deliberately devoted his life. No one will under-
stand better than yourself, who knew him so well, that
I can recall nothing specially worth recording. The
same lovely simplicity of character, the same utter
forgetfulness of self, the same simplicity of devotion,
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 243
of which he was himself so wholly unconscious, at-
tended him everywhere, and drew all hearts to him.
" It was impossible to travel so far with such an
object, without encountering some contretemps and dis-
appointments, more or less vexatious, particularly in
thin meetings and unsympathetic audiences. But I never
saw his equanimity disturbed for one moment, never
heard one impatient expression pass his lips, but ever
found in him a bright and beautiful example of that
charity which ' seeketh not her own, is not easily pro-
voked, thinketh no evil, . . . beareth all things, believeth
all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.'
" The memory of those days passed in his society
will ever be among the brightest of my life."
For some time before he left England it became
quite an understood thing, that Mackenzie was to be
consecrated Bishop after his arrival at the Cape of Good
Hope.' The proceedings of the Convocation of the
Province of Canterbury had cleared away, as was be-
lieved, every difficulty, and it was held to be beyond
a doubt, that the Bishops of South Africa would follow
the manifest wish of their brethren in England, and
consecrate the Missionary Bishop. All arrangements were
therefore made upon the supposition that Mackenzie
was Bishop-designate. It was thought convenient that
he should sail with a first party of missionaries to the
Cape of Good Hope, towards the end of the year.
The last meeting which he attended in Enoiand,
was at Brighton. The Bishop of Oxford was with him
upon this occasion, and urged the cause of the mission
with his usual earnestness : they travelled from Brighton
16—2
244 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
together, to attend the farewell service in Canterbury-
cathedral, of which I shall have more to say presently.
With regard to the Brighton meeting, I have nothing
to record save that it was his last.
From Brighton also Mackenzie wrote the last letter
in England that has con^e to my hands. It is addressed
to a young man in deacon's orders, who had thought
of joining the Central African Mission; the gentleness
of its tone, and the period at which it was written,
seem to entitle it to a place in these pages.
LETTER LXVIII.
Brighton,
Sept. 29, i860.
My dear ,
We thought of you much during last week and on
Sunday, and I now write a single line to say, God bless you
in yoxir work.
I think the Collect for the first Sunday after the Epi-
phany expresses what I would pray for you and myself, that
we may be taught what He would have us to do, and that
we may be made Avilling in the day of His Power.
Be not discouraged if you do not quite fulfil your own
hopes. They would be too low if you could. Neither ba
elated if you seem to succeed : it is He that worketh in us :
but ever strive to work in His strength. Good bye.
Yours affectionately,
C. F. M.
We go on board at Southampton on the 4th, and sail
from Plymouth on the 6 th, God willing.
On Tuesday, October 2, there was a farewell service
at Canterbury. A large number of friends of the Mis-
sion and personal friends of Mackenzie were gathered
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 245
together for the pui-pose of joining with him in solemn
worship, and wishing God-speed to him and his work.
The service commenced at half-past ten: the spacious
choir of the cathedral was crowded: the Holy Com-
munion was administered to several hundreds : the
offertory amounted to £400. TJie sermon was preached
by the Bishop of Oxford, from Jeremiah xxxix. lo — 17,
" Now the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, while
he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying. Go
and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus
saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I
will bring My words upon this city for evil, and not for
good ; and they shall be accomplished in that day before
thee. But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the
Lord: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the
men of whom thou art afraid." I will produce here the
concluding passage, not merely for its own sake, but be-
cause Mackenzie referred to it afterwards in conver-
sation, as having really cheered his heart, and as having
been the means of giving him a support which he felt
at the time that he much required. I had the privilege
of being placed next to him in the cathedral, and could
not but notice his calm resigned expression of counte-
nance during the whole service. Here is the passage :
And for Thee, true yoke-fellow and brother well be-
loved, who leadest forth this following ; to Thee in this our
parting hour — whilst yet the grasped hand tarries in the
embrace of love — to Thee what shall we say 1 Surely what,
before he gave over to younger hands his rod and staff, God's
great prophet said of old to his successor, — " Be strong and
of a good courage : for thou must go with this people unto
the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to
246 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
give them; and Thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And
the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee ; He will be with
thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee : fear not,
neither be dismayed'."
What can man's voice add to that solace ? He at whose
dear call thou goest forth, He shall be with thee ; thou shalt
know the secret of His presence ; thou shalt see, as men see
not here in their peaceful homes, the nail-pierced hands, and
the thorn-crowned brow. Thou shalt find, as His great
saints have found before thee, when He has lured them into
the desert wilderness, that He alone is better than all beside
Himself. "When thy heart is weakest, He shall make it
strong; when all others leave thee, He shall be closest to
thee; and the revelation of His love shall turn danger into
jDeace, labour into rest, suffering into ease, anguish into joy,
and martyrdom, if so He order it, into the prophet's fiery
chariot, bearing thee by the straightest course to thy most
desired home.
In the afternoon there was a luncheon in the crypt
of S. Augustine's College, speeches were made by the
Warden of S. Augustine's, the Bishop of Oxford, the
Dean of Canterbury, and others. In the course of his
address, the Dean of Canterbury said : " The service of
this day must, I am sure, have gone to all hearts, and
called forth, I had almost said, tears from every eye.
There is a Httle circumstance connected with this day's
gathering, which, though trifling in itself, may be not
inappropriately mentioned here. A tree has recently
been brought to this country of a size surpassing all
former growths ; and Archdeacon Mackenzie has done
me to-day the honour of planting in my garden, a
specimen of the Wellingtonea Gigantea. May our Mis-
' Deut. xxxi. 7, 8.
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 247
sion resemble it in its growth and in its greatness, ful-
filling the emblem of Him who said of the least of all
seeds, that when it is grown it is the greatest among
herbs, and becometh a tree, and covereth all the nations
of the earth with its branches. May this be typical of
our Mission !" The Bishop of Oxford made a happy allu-
sion to the African blood of the man who was " chosen
by the providence of God to bear up the hill of shame
the Cross of Salvation, under which the Saviour fainted.
They laid hold of one Simon, of Cyrene; him they
compelled to bear His Cross." Mackenzie expressed
himself somewhat as follows.
I would very gladly on this day Lave kept my seat,
and been content with, listening to what others had to say
for our encouragement, warning, and instruction. But I
cannot do so, because I represent not merely myself, but my
fellow-workers, who have given up themselves to go forth
with me to carry on the work of the Lord. For their sake
I feel that I must not keep silence, and I return you the
best thanks in my power for all that you have done for
ns, for the welcome you have given us personally, and for
your efforts in favour of the cause in which we are embarked.
I thank the Warden of this venerable place, whose walls
have received us, only a young branch of the Church, and
inspired us with greater strength for the work that awaits
us in Africa. To the other friends, whether now present
or not, we give our sincerest thanks for the trouble they
have all taken to secure our comfort, and the kind wel-
come that has everywhere greeted us. This opportunity
of publicly acknowledging our obligations is the more wel-
come, by reason of its being the last one that we shall have
before our leaving England. Let all, then, of those hearty
friends in Canterbury, or in the other parts of England
which we have visited, take this assurance, on my word —
248 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
that often and often tlie tliought of their kindness will rise
up to our memory in days to come, refreshing lis by our
knowledge of their interest in our well-being, and conscious
that we have their prayers for our success. Yes, and many,
too, whose names I could not now mention, will be restored
to our memory in those distant parts, and we shall often
think with gratitude of the kind farewell they gave us in
England. Before sitting down, let me make one more re-
mai'k. It is well on this, as on all other occasions like the
present, to have some definite and fixed object, by which we
may settle in our minds the remembrance of this day's
gathering. It seems to me that the most practical way of
doing this will be by imitating an example which was set in
another part of England some years ago, and which met with
a very satisfactory success. They formed an association of
the friends of the cause, and named one day in the year for
a general meeting, when an account of what had been done
during the past twelve months was produced. Besides this,
they subscribed to a special fund for some particular object
having to do with the cause; and, in the case which I am
mentioning, they raised as much as £50 a-year, and some-
times £70. It may be objected that this is not a large
amount. But the money is not the prime object of the asso-
ciation. It is rather to keep alive the interest in the cause,
and to maintain the list of friends to it. Now I think that
if an association of such a kind, or similar to it, were esta-
blished here, it would have a very good eflTect. The parti-
culars I presume not to arrange. The day of meeting, the
object for which a special fund should be raised, and other
details, could be easily settled in committee. I simply throw
out the hint ; and leave it to you to take it \ip, or not, as
you think proper. Once more, I thank you heartily for all
you have done for our cause, which may God prosper !
In the evening the students of S. Augustine's Col-
lesfe were assembled in the hall to hear addresses from
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. C49
Archdeacon Mackenzie and from the Bishops of Chi-
chester and Oxford. It was the last public occasion
upon which Mackenzie spoke in England; I have no
report of his speech ; but I remember that it was very
practical and earnest, and seemed to me to carry great
weight with it in consequence of the entire self-forget-
fulness which characterized it. In the Colonial Church
Chronicle I find it stated, that "Ai'chdeacon Mackenzie
impressed on his hearers the absolute necessity of
possessing a strong and living faith, upon which, he
said, the whole of a man's usefulness depended. They
must look entirely to God-given strength, if they would
bear up against the obstacles that pressed upon them in
their upward and onward course."
From the hall the whole company adjouiTied to the
chapel, where the proceedings of the day were brought
to a close by Evening Prayer. It was a day which no
one can forget ; it was memorable for its own sake, as
exhibiting a great outburst of Christian life from the
very heart of the Church of England; it would have
been among the most pleasing of the reminiscences of
Mackenzie's friends, had he been permitted to revisit
this country and to talk over jDast times; as it is, we
may still venture to put it amongst our pleasing though
sad recollections, and to rejoice that we were permitted
to take such a parting leave of one whom in this world
we were not to see again.
The day after the Canterbury farewell service I had
the pleasure of travelling with Mackenzie to London.
Several other intimate friends were of the party. He
was happy and merry as ever ; he was more than calm
250 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
and collected; lie gave lookers-on the impression that
the sacrifice was nothing, and that there was nothing
in the work to oppress his spirits. It would have been
easy to make the party gi-ave and serious, but in his
sunshiny presence it seemed impossible to be otherwise
than joyous.
In London we attended a meeting of the Committee
at the house of the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel, and in the evening he started with his sister
and a party of considerable magnitude, consisting chiefly
of members of the mission, for Southampton. It was
impossible not to feel that in all probability we had
seen him for the last time on earth ; happily, it may be
thought, the bustle and hurry of parting, and the neces-
sity for attending to small matters of business, prevent
the mind on such occasions from dwelling upon melan-
choly forebodings. But what if we did not meet again?
he had counted the cost : who could desire to hold him
back ?
Mr Hutt, his faithful friend and secretary, accom-
panied him to Southampton. He has been kind enough
to furnish me with the following notice of Mackenzie's
last hours in England.
" I will try and sketch as nearly as I can the pro-
ceedings of the 3rd and 4th of October, 1860. It was
on the 3rd that we all dined together in London. You
saw me start with two cabs heavily laden with luggage.
I was commissioned to take tickets for all the party,
in order to have as little extra luggage as possible to
pay for. Mackenzie came as the train was starting,
and we only just scrambled into the carriages in time.
MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA. 251
Bacon's Railway Hotel was the place at which we
lodged at Southampton. Mackenzie and I, at his parti-
cular request, had a double-bedded room, as he thought
I might help him. We sat up till three in the morn-
ing: during most of the time after midnight he was
letter-writing, or giving me directions for the settle-
ment of various little matters which he had not had
time to attend to. Three or four times he ceased for a
few minutes from his work, and wondered when he
should be in England again ; then, checking himself, he
would say, " Well, I wish to place myself altogether in
God's hands : He knows what is best for me, and I trust
that what we call the worst will be but a summons to
our lasting home." (I would say that Mackenzie seemed
to have a kind of presentiment that he should never
return to England. I remember that at Brighton, on
October 1st, he came to my bedside at about seven
in the morning, and asked me to go down to the beach,
and bathe with him. I did not care to do so : when he
said very earnestly. Do come : I shall jDrobably never
ask you again, and you may feel sorry to have refused
me my last request. He was so sad and earnest that I
could not refrain from doing as he wished.) We were
up by seven in the morning, and went to the docks to
see the vessel and inquire about two puppies that had
been sent from Scotland. Though he was very much
pressed for time, he took pains to see that his dumb
friends were made as comfortable as possible. Fanc}ang
that they were hungry, he hunied back to the inn, pro-
cured a large basin of bread and milk, and carried it in
his owTi hands through the streets of Southampton,
253 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
because a messenger was not at once obtainable. The
whole party breakfasted together. From that time till
going on board he was comforting the friends of those
who were going with him. He asked me not to remain
with him till the last, as he would like to have ' quiet
thoughts with his own heart' when he was actually
starting. I was so busily engaged in looking after lug-
gage and paying fares and dock-charges, that I had not
very much time for talking with dear Mackenzie, but
there seemed to be an undercurrent of sadness, which
at times almost carried him away from what he was
endeavouring to do with his whole heart."
The mission party which sailed with Bishop Mac-
kenzie consisted of the following persons : the Rev.
L. J. Procter ; the Rev. H. C. Scudamore ; IVIi- Horace
Waller, the lay superintendent ; S. A. Gamble, a car-
penter ; and Alfred Adams, an agricultural labourer.
The sister, who accompanied him in his first voyage to
Africa, was again his companion in this second and (as
it proved) final voyage.
CHAPTER IX.
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN.
The Cambrian steamer, which carried the mission party,
left Plymouth for the Cape of Good Hope, on the 6th
of October, and arrived after an uneventful voyage, on
November 12.
There is little to be said concerning the voyage.
Public worship was celebrated on board every morning;
and, in the evening, the mission party had family
prayers ; on Sunday, two services with sermon ; and on
one Sunday the Holy Communion was administered.
The Missionaries employed themselves in studying the
Sechuana language, not because they had much hope
that this dialect would be intelligible in the valley c f
the Shire, but because it appears to be more generally
known than any other, and therefore almost certain to
prove of utility in Southern Africa, either directly or
indirectly. It has been called the French of South
Africa. They did not however make much progress :
their time was short, and their appliances imperfect, no
dictionary, and no complete grammar ; still, with a Bible,
and Concordance, they managed to learn something.
254 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
Mackenzie also prepared himself for his future life by
accustoming himself to take astronomical observations.
It is unnecessary to say that the party was cordially
received by the Bishop of Cape Town. The Bishop
had most kindly arranged for receiving all, some at his
own residence of Bishopscourt, and some at the Kafir
College. Thus the Missionaries found one more quiet
and peaceful resting-place, before their more active
labours should commence. It was necessary to make a
sojourn of some length ; arrangements were to be made
for the consecration of Mackenzie as Bishop, and these
arrangements involved the arrival at the Cape of at
least two out of the Bishops of Graham's Town, Natal,
and S. Helena ; and in fact, as will be seen, Mackenzie
was not able to proceed on his voyage till the com-
mencement of the following year.
This delay was of course a source of grief to the
missionary party ; they had, however, the great satis-
faction of finding on their arrival at Cape Town that
news had been received from Dr Livingstone, who had
heard of the mission, and had undertaken to meet the
Bishop and his party at the Kongone mouth of the
Zambesi, and conduct them himself to the scene of
their future labours. Moreover, the time spent at the
Cape was not lost : they were able to consult more
definitely than hitherto as to the details of their plans,
and to take advice from the Bishop of Cape Town, and
the Governor, Sir George Grey. One question, which
the Missionaries discussed earnestly at this time, must
be recorded, on account of its bearing upon some events
which will be subsequently related. The question was
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOIVN. 255
asked, what should the Missionaries do, if they should
find that the people amongst whom they should settle
should after a time prove unfriendly ? Should they hold
their position by force ? Should they defend themselves
against attack? It was ajn'eed that it would not be
their duty to hold forcible possession, that they were
preachers of the Gospel of peace, and that if they found
their position untenable, except by violence, it would
be their duty to abandon it, and seek another. The
reader is particularly requested to observe that a col-
lision with the natives was contemplated from the first
as a possible contingency, and that in case of such a
misfortune a pacific retreat was agreed upon as the
right course of conduct to be pursued.
During the delay at the Cape, Mackenzie wrote a
few letters, some of which I will here produce. The
first is to his sister in Natal.
LETTER LXIX.
BiSHOPSCOuiiT, Cape Town,
Nov. 17, 1S60.
Dear ,
I am very thankful for the very prosperous voyage
with which our good Father has blessed us, pleasant and
(I trust) not unprofitable. "We have been studying Sechuana,
without previous knowledge, without dictionary, and almost
without grammar. The sketch which Livingstone left be-
hind him, and of which Murray the publisher sent me a
copy as a present, thovigh it was not a published book, was
not a gi'ammar. Our mainstay was Moffat's Bible and a
Concordance. So that our knowledge is as imperfect as
, and not nearly so full. Still we got through eight or
ten verses of II Chronicles and forty-five of Psalm Ixxviii.,
256 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
leaving not many points unclarified, — unbotanized, — really
it is very like botanizing tlie language. We must keep thi.-,
up, though the value of it will be only like that of knowing
French in Italy. I believe Sechuana is more generally
understood by an individual here and there than any other
dialect. Livingstone speaks of the " Kafir or Zulu family
extending right up to the Zambesi. They are known there
as Landeens or Landuns." He means up to the river along
the coast. I do not expect however that they speak pure
Zulu. Livingstone's letters are most hearty. He says for
want of a better steamer he was compelled to go up the
Shire. " Cautious reverence is required in ascribing human
movements to the influences of Divine Providence : but hav-
ing been prevented ascending to the Makololo country, and
led very much against our will into a region we never con-
templated exploring, and there found a field exactly suited
for your mission, I really think that the prayerful move-
ment of so many pious hearts at the Universities has had
something to do with the direction of our steps." That is
good : is it not ?
The next letter is a long one, but I think of suffi-
cient interest to claim a place here. It contains an
account of a visit made by some of the mission party
to a Moravian mission station. The account is in-
teresting in itself, and may also be interesting to the
reader, (doubtless it was regarded in this light by
Mackenzie,) as an example of successful work, carried
out upon the principle of combining the higher truths
of Christian faith and worship with a systematic edu-
cation of the African mind in the arts of civilized life.
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 257
LETTER LXX.
Gnadendal, Cape of Good Hope,
December 5, Wednesday.
I write a few lines in anticipation of the mail. This is
a Moravian mission station, probably the most flourishing
which they have in any part of the world.
We left Cape Town on Monday morning and got here
(eighty miles) yesterday afternoon. Our party was the Dean
of Cape Town, Procter, Scudamore, Waller, myself, and Bell,
the last a lad of 16, our fellow-passenger in the Canibrmn.
For thirty-five miles we went over a flat sandy tract, leaving
the wonderful view of Table Mountain behind us, and as we
went about East we passed False Bay on our right. About
thirty miles from Cape Town is Somerset, a village chiefly
Dutch, where we dined. We were all, (seven, including the
driver,) in a covered light cart, with three seats, one behind
another, and all on two wheels, with four horses, which have
come all the way, and are to take us back. We outspanned
halfway to Somerset, and then stai*ted again about four p.m.,
first over a pass 900 or 1000 feet high, and then on rising
and falling ground, till about nine at night. You may
fancy how we tried the springs, and how often we came
down bump upon the axletree, having compressed the springs
as far as they could go. We started in first-rate spirits, and
ended cheerful, but subdued. After supper and prayers we
retired, two to a bed-room, four to shake-downs in the par-
lour, but not all to rest. I slept well myself; but in the
morning there was a joke against those who had been half-
devoured, that they would require only half a breakfast.
We started at 7.30 : earlier this time than the day before,
when four of us had to come from Bishop's Court, six miles,
before starting. We ofi'-saddled half way, and got here about
three or four p. M.
As you approach you pass some hundreds of acres of
oats, &c., the produce of the labour of the people. Then the
17
258
MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
valley lies before you ; the hills become higher ; till at length
the valley becomes a hloof, that is, quite a narrow space
between high rocks. From this kloof, aided by two little
valleys one on each side, flows the stream to which the
place owes the goodness of its situation. The fresh gi-een
foliage of countless trees and gi-een crops, which quite cover
the ground, was most refreshing after the two days' drive
through the dry burnt-up country we had passed. As we
drove up the right-hand side of the valley we continued for
more than a mile passing on our left the cultivated gardens
of the people, which occupy the centre, and on our right
houses, which improved in appearance as we approached the
head of the valley, where are the church and school and the
dwellings of the brethren. The doors in the first cottages
we saw were made of reeds, kept together by three hori-
zontal spars in front and as many behind, fastened at their
ends to the hinge-posts; these were replaced half a mile
further on by neatly made doors in cottages having well-
finished windows and a framework stretching some five feet
from the eaves, with festoons of vines, the clusters giving
promise of good grapes in two or three months. When we
got to the head place, we found before us a lofty building,
large enough for 1000 persons, the church.
10
_ -6
'\1
VI
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 259
The sketcli gives the different buildings ; the arrow-
shewing where we alighted, and how we were facing
1. The church.
2. The dining-room.
3. Room behind it.
4. The kitchen.
5. A set of dwellings for the brethren : each family has
two or three rooms.
6. The boys' and girls' school.
7. The carpenter's shop.
8. Wheel wi'ight.
9. Blacksmith.
10. Mill.
1 1 . Training-school.
12. Guest-house.
This last consists of a large common-room, twenty-two
feet square, with four bed-rooms. We were at once welcomed
by the Warden, had coffee, and saw the workshops. In the
carpenter's shop were three lads of 18, under the instruction
of a paid coloured artizan, the whole being under the direc-
tion of one of the brethren, of whom there are nine. In the
blacksmith's shop, a tall man with two assistants was weld-
ing the tire of a wheel. Thence we went to the garden,
about an acre of ground, in beautifully clean order. They
commonly grow three crops of potatoes in a year on the
same ground, sometimes four. In the middle was a pear-
tree, under which we heard some of the early history of the
mission.
It was founded by George Schmidt in 1737. For seven
years he worked, and then returned home to stir up greater
interest in the mission. The Dutch Government refused him
permission to return, having a jealousy of missions in
general. It was not till 1792 that missionaries were
allowed to come. Schmidt was then dead, but the three
brethren who came found an old woman, now blind, who
nevertheless treasured the Dutch New Testament, which
17—2
26o MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
Schmidt had given her, and which she had read till her
sight failed her. I saw to-day that New Testament, kept in
a wooden box, made of the wood of the old pear-tree which
Schmidt planted, and which lived till 1836, (100 years,)
when it was replaced by another, under which we stood.
Thence we went to their burial ground, — graves marked
No. 2367, and such numbers. They have now a population
of 3000 coloured people, chiefly Hottentots : during two
months lately they had sixty burials, chiefly children, owing
to measles. There was an open gi-ave, and we learned that
two childi-en were to be buried at sundown, and obtained
permission to be present. Thence to the training school :
nineteen lads, some from other mission stations. The school
was not at woi-k : but we saw the printing press and some
of its later productions : this has been here for a year only :
we saw also the room in which the lads sleep, their dining-
room, sitting-room, &c. I have omitted the mill and the
tannery. The former is used not only for the brethren, and
for the people of the valley, who bring sacks of wheat and
receive a tally, the duplicate of which is put on the sack,
paying so much for the grinding ; but also some of the
farmers are glad to send several miles to have their wheat
ground. In the tannery is used the bark not only of oak, —
the quality is not so good as in England, — but also of mi-
mosa and of a small plant called protea. They tan chiefly
sheep-skins.
About sunset several of us went to the funeral. We
entered the lofty church : in the middle of one long side,
between the windows, is a kind of dais, with a principal
seat in the middle : here sits the brother, who is to conduct
the service, a table in front of him, and the brethren on each
side. In the body of the building seats for the people,
occupying the whole space, except the bases of two large
pUlars, which help to support the roof A gallery runs
round three sides : an organ was played by a Kafir boy.
First they sang a hymn, all sitting : it was in Dutch, so
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 261
I could not undei'stand it : but the sight of sixty or seventy-
natives, joining in the singing, — the thought that here in
the time of their deep distress they were being brought to
the source of all comfort, and that we (please God) were
going soon to preach the same glad tidings to the poor
natives of the Shire valleys, — brought tears to my eyes.
The addi-ess was on the 21st or 22nd chapter of Revelation :
the name of the Lamb coming often in the reading of it,
and the name of Jesus oftener in the exposition. It was
the Warden who officiated, — a simple, earnest man. Then
a hymn : then they all rose, formed a semicircle in the couit,
with the minister at the apex, the men and women at the
two sides, the two little coffins, each on its own bier, at the
centre, touching the wall. Again they sang: this time only
four lines : and then proceeded to the grave-yard. We went
another way. They laid the coffins on the ground beside
tlie graves, the minister standing on the western side of the
graveyard, the people standing upon the path which sur-
rounded it, the whole space within being thickly covered
with mounds. Again a service, with responses from the
congregation, and during the latter of two verses of a hymn
the coffins were lowered, one after the other, by the lads
from the training-school, who had been the bearers. After
the service the mothers came near : one, taking a spade,
threw three or four spadefulls which fell heavily on the
coffin ; then the other did the same. We came away, and
I had hardly firmness to speak to Scudamore, as we passed
through the old churchyard, of the joy of leading men and
women in life and death to Him ! We soon had supper, and
were glad immediately after to go to bed.
It is their custom to meet in their common-room about
5.30, for short family prayers and a cup of coffi^e before
church at 5.45. This morning, my watch being a quarter
slower than their time, and having slept soundly till I was
awakened, I was too late for their family prayers ; but we
joined them at church. None of the sisters were present,
263 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
and not all the brethren : about sixty or seventy people.
It is harvest time, and many are out at work for the far-
mers.
We returned to the guest-house till eight, when we were
to be summoned to breakfast : I fell asleep again. This
principle of the guest-house pleased me much. We are here
not wasting their time when they are busy. They can
devote as much time as they please to entertaining us, and
they have not allowed us to feel solitary.
After breakfast we saw the retail Shop, which sells about
X800 worth of goods per annum, the Dispensary, and the
working of the Training School. This is supported by a
separate foundation, some German Prince having about
twenty-five years ago given money for the purpose, with the
condition that they should always take at least five boys
from other stations besides their own. The whole costs the
Moravian funds nothing. Excellent and wonderful answers
in Scripture and Geography were given. Some of them
played on the piano well : on the violin, not so well. They
sang some songs — such as " Rule Britannia," which they un-
derstood.
After this we climbed a shoulder of the hill to look at
the village from above. There are about 400 acres culti-
vated as gardens, irrigated on a regular system, each man
having the water for a certain time during the week. The
general view of the village was very pretty : below us the
long row of houses, each with its garden beyond it, with
neatly arranged beds of mealies, beans, wheat, oats, or po-
tatoes : the hedgerows of quince, or roses, and a great num-
ber of fruit-trees, which only needed to be in bloom to com-
plete the picture of rich abundance. Descending the hill,
we went into one or two of the houses : in one was a tailor,
busy with a waistcoat for one of his neighbours : of course
he was paid for his work, and the brother who was with us
pointed to his own waistcoat and lower garments as speci-
mens of this man's skill. In another house we found three
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 263
women, one baking in the huge Dutch oven"; the produce to
be divided between herself and the owner of the house. In
another was a girl of ten on a sofa, having an attack of fever.
The floors were all of clay. The ceilings were of strong
reeds laid above the beams ; over these a layer of clay, two or
three inches thick, which formed the floor of a granary and
store-room in the roof. Each bouse had two or three rooms :
the sitting-room about ten feet square, and the walls about
nine feet high.
The dinner, at 12, was a substantial meal: soup, small
joints and roulettes of minced meat, with potatoes and beans,
stewed preserved apples and peaches, a roly-poly pudding,
good brownish bread, with water or a glass or two of local
wine. It was a long table, for we were ourselves an addi-
tion of six pei-sons, besides Mr , the botanical professor
in Cape Town, to their regular party of fourteen. They
usually arrange themselves so that husband and wife shall
sit together; while we were there, the chief brethren sat
with us at the upper end, leaving the other almost exclu-
sively for the ladies. The wives take it in turns to superin-
tend the kitchen department.
But the most striking part of the arrangement was the
grace. As at the Umlazi, where I so liked to join in the
chanted Kafir grace, so here, at dinner and supper they
began and ended by singing a grace. The Warden, who
took the top of the table, and on whose left hand I always
found myself, started the air, which was immediately taken
up by the women, but almost overpowered by the deep bass
notes of all the men. I am sorry I forgot to ask for the
words and meaning of these acts of thanksgiving. I should
have liked to have joined with them, and to have remem-
bered them afterwards. After dinner most of us returned
to the guest-house, and I began this letter to you. It re-
ceived some additions this morning (Friday, December 7) at
Somerset, on our way home, and is now being finished at
Bishop's Coui't.
Z64 MEMOIR OF BISHOP' MACKENZIE.
After tea, to wMch we were summoned at 4 by the
bell, we again strolled out to see tbe irrigation of some of
the gardens, and the condition of one or two of the best of
them. I do not know whether the gi'ound was originally
chosen with a view to the irrigation, but cei*tainly the water
may be said to be the life of the place. I made further
acquaintance with it by bathing in a shaded pool, much to
my comfort and refreshment, before Church, for which the
bell rang about sundown. There were about the same
number as before of the coloured people, with one or two of
the brethren, and our whole party, but none of the sisters.
I was disappointed in not seeing them more anxious to join
in worship. The service consists chiefly of singing and read-
ing. This evening the 22nd chapter of Genesis was the
subject, and a longish discourse was founded upon it, lasting
15 or 20 minutes. The music was touching: there was a
short prayer before the dismissal.
I had thought once or twice, during our short stay at
this Mission, whether it would be worth while for us to get
one or two of their trained lads to join our mission to the
Shire. I spoke to the Warden, asking whether if I wished
it, it would be likely to be possible. He did not encourage
the idea, saying he did not know whether the boys would
like it : some of them were being educated for other Chris-
tian bodies, and in fact of those who were now being taught
trades none were eligible.
By this time it was time for supper, 8 o'clock : after this
we parted for the night. I received, besides two specimens
of their printing, a copy of the rules of the institution, a
lithogi-aph of the view of the valley from the hill, and a
photogi-aph of the 19 boys in the training school: besides
which I bought a knife and fork, the handles of which were
made from the wood of the old pear-tree. We were to start
next moi-ning by 6, and were ready by 6.30. By this time
the brethren had come from Church, and their earnest part-
ing words of " God bless you, give you a good joui-ney," will
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 26^
live with us, I trust. I believe they were in earnest, when
they said that our visit had been a pleasure to them.
On the whole this has been a most eujoyable visit, and
we have seen and heard many things which will be useful.
I found myself two or three times thinking of Gnadendal
as a realization of the Happy Yalley : not that I forgot that
there was still much of contact with the outer world, and
also much sin and unhappiness in the midst of them : but
when one compared their present state with their state in
heathenism and barbarism, one could not help blessing God,
and praying that we might be allowed to reclaim some of
the wandering sheep fiu'ther north, and give them the
blessings of order and holiness. Certainly much is done at
wonderfully Kttle expense. The brethren are sent out from
Europe, but receive nothing from home for their mainten-
ance. Gnadendal is not only self-supporting, but contri-
butes to the support of the younger and less flourishing
missions of South Africa : so that as a body they are self-
supporting. This is brought about by the profits on the
workshops and the retail shop. In the former, pupils and
hired men of colour work under the superintendence of the
white men, thus learning the trade and at the same time
bringing revenue to the Institution. Then work is done
for the inhabitants of the valley, and for the Dutch farmers
in the neighbourhood ; and their work is so good that I
am told pruning-knives have been made in Birmingham,
with the Gnadendal stamp to secure them a better sale
among the farmers. In the retail shop there is of course a
profit, which may come to something on sales to the amount
of £800 a-year. Then there is the doctor, who on suitable
occasions charges for his drugs, and the fees which the far-
mers pay for his visits go to the general fund. This is ex-
actly the scheme I had in my mind for our work : every
workman a soui'ce of revenue. Again, the economy is con-
siderable. The expense of supplying the table is at £iO
a-year for each couple, (putting with each a proportion of
266 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
the children;) so that, including everything, even the £1
a-year which each couple receives in cash, the cost is about
£90, and this in a country in which a clergyman and his
wife find it hard to get on with less than £250. The differ-
ence is perhaps partly due to the simplicity of their man-
ners, but partly to their living in common, as well as to the
excellent domestic economy of the sisters. I hope we fchall
find an estimate of £100 a-year for each European to be
over the mark. The main secret of the success of these men,
I think, is that they are well chosen for their work, and that
their heart is in it. They have no visions of returning home,
no dreams of rising to something higher. I believe it may
be truly said that their aim is to promote the glory of God,
and to advance the happiness and good of their fellowmen.
May we go and do likewise !
I give one more letter wiitten at this period. It
is to a very dear friend in Cambridge. It is a good
specimen of the warmth of Mackenzie's feelings, and
at the same time shews with how much pleasure to
himself he could have resumed a life, which he had
thought right to abandon for the sake of Christ and
His Gospel.
LETTER LXXI.
Bishop's Coubt, Cape Town,
Dec. 12, i85o.
My dear ,
Though we are so far pax-ted, and are likely to be
so long, this seems to me only to bring you the closer to me
in my heart, and in my longing desire for yoiir happiness
and highest good. And first, I may pray for you, as I do,
that God our Father would keep you in His safe protection
and guide you. But I am also anxious you should get into
some really useful and directly ministerial work : the more
I think of it, the more I think College is not the place for you,
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 267
and though the College and University have a claim on their
sons, yet not to the injury or real loss of the persons themselves.
* * * It is one of the hardest places to be a clergyman
in. Elsewhere people expect you to be a clergyman ; the
influence of the atmosphere around you helps to brace you
up. In Cambridge there are many clergy who don't care to
live as such, and this has lowered the standard of public
opinion. would say, they ought not to be obliged to
take orders. Well, that is not the question now : you will ask
gently, "but Mackenzie, is that a reasonfor my running away 1 "
I think in yotxr case it is. I do really and honestly think you
want covintry work, parish work, the work of feeding yourself
and the flock which the Great Shepherd through the agency
of His Church shall commit to you, with the food you will
draw practically from the Bible. I know what it is to pa^s
from Cambridge to actual ministerial duty, engaging undi-
vided attention. I like mathematics; I liked teaching; and
yet I felt the change like a breathing of fresh aii-, like work-
ing at a thing my heart was engaged upon ; I am still fond
of mathematics, (I came across Childer's Caustics of Reflexion
and Ray Surfaces, and worked out some of the propositions
yesterday, for ten minutes before dinner,) but my real best
self is wrapped up in the hope of rescuing some of God's
•wandering sheep, with souls to rejoice in Him and glorify
Him, from the darkness and the sin in which they now are.
And I want you to be actively and simply and humbly
working in the same sort of way, not only because it is so
blessed, but because I do really think it would be good for
you, and wovild be the way to make you see clearly and
rejoice in the light of God's countenance. Please think
carefully of this, and God guide you aright.
Did you ever think of this easy problem ? " Compare
the spaces described by two jDoints on the rims of the fore
and hind wheels of a carriage, running on a road such a
2(58 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
distance that tlie points start together from the ground, and
arrive together on the ground." The spaces are evidently
equal.
"What is the locus of the foci of reflected pencils of
light, the incident pencils being small parallel pencils, and
falling in any direction on a reflecting curve?" (I mean all
in one plane). Answer: A cii'cle touching the reflecting
curve, and passing through its principal focus. (How wretch-
edly confused I am in expressing these things !)
Again : " The shaft by which rotatory motion is carried
from an engine of given horse-power to the work to be
done, must be made stronger, in inverse proportion to its
rate of revolution." Prove this. Answer: The strain on
such a shaft depends on the couple (of forces) exerted upon
it at one eild, and which it exerts upon the machinery
driven at its other end. That is to say, supposing it moved
by a wheel of given radius, the strain is proportional to the
force exerted tangentially on such wheel. But horse-power
is proportional to such force multiplied by speed of such cir-
cumference : therefore the strain is inversely proportional to
the number of revolutions per minute. The result is, that if
rotatory motion is to be conveyed from one place to another,
the final wheels revolving more rapidly than the engine crank,
it ^dll require a stronger shaft to convey it, if the speed be
obtained by multiplying wheels after the shaft, than if it be
multiplied first and the transmitted motion be of great ra-
pidity.
You will say, how do your own affairs prosper? You
must ask , If he does not hear from me by this mail,
don't tell him that you have — but he will hear from others.
Good bye, my dear fellow,
Yours afiectionately,
C. F. M.
One circumstance of a singularly interesting kind,
and of great importance in its bearings on the sub-
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 269
sequent action of the missionaries, occurred during
Mackenzie's residence at the Cape. A coloured con-
gregation existed in Cape Town, under the charge of
an EngUsh clergyman, Mr Lightfoot : the congregation
consisted of liberated slaves, persons who had been
captured by British cruisers from slave vessels, on the
Eastern coast of Africa, and set free at Cape Town.
Many of these liberated slaves had been resident in the
Cape colony for a long period, and had acquired the
English langTiage, while at the same time intercourse
with each other had prevented them from losing their
own. Mackenzie was very desirous of obtaining the
aid of some native converts as guides and interpreters
to the mission, and this coloured congregation at the
Cape appeared to afford him the means of doing so.
Accordingly, he was invited to preach one Sunday
evening to these black people : he did so, and after
explaining his plans, he asked how many of those
present were willing to volunteer to accompany him
and help him in the work which he was undertaking
for their countrymen. Not less than twelve stood up ;
and it was encouraging to find that out of those twelve,
six had been already mentioned by Mr Lightfoot to
the Bishop of Cape Town as amongst the most suitable
men in his opinion to join and assist the mission.
Several of these volunteers did in fact give themselves
to the work, and we shall find in the sequel, that
they were of incalculable service. " I do think," said
Mackenzie, in a speech which he made at a large meet-
ing held at Cape Town, "that it is most encouraging
to see men, natives of the far interior of the continent,
270 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
liberated slaves, coming forward as they have done,
ready to devote their energy and their peculiar qualifi-
cations, to the work we have in hand."
The meeting, which has just been mentioned, de-
mands a little further notice. Nothing could exceed
the interest taken in the Central African Mission by the
inhabitants of Cape Town. It was in truth a most
interesting occasion; Cape Town was about to be the
scene of the first consecration of a strictly missionary
Bishop of the Church of England ; the people of the
Cape perceived that they had a special and honourable
share in the work ; and as occup3dng the chief home of
Christianity in South Africa, and being therefore the
chief witnesses for Christ in that dark continent, they
could not but feel that the missionaries might receive
God speed upon their work with great propriety from
themselves.
Accordingly, a large meeting was held, at which
the Governor, Sir George Grey, took the chair, and the
Bishop of Cape Town was present ; the room was
crowded to overflowing. The proceedings were of a
most hearty kind, and only saddened by the news
which had just arrived of the death of the missionaries
of the London Missionary Society^. Mackenzie's speech
^ Mr R. Moffat, the South African Missionary, wrote to Sir George
Grey, under date Kuruman, Nov. 12: "Three hunters, sons of an old
man named Aaron, of this place, have arrived with the melancholy
news that the members of the Makololo mission have nearly all perished.
The Aarons arrived at the Great Waterfall on the i8th of July, and
crossed to the opposite bank. Here they ascertained that Mr Helmore,
his devoted ■^•ife, their two children, and the infant of the Rev. Roger
Price, had successively fallen victims to the fever ; also three native
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 271
was a plain and simple statement of the history of the
mission, and of the plans of himself and his brother
missionaries. A few sentences will shew what his views
at that time were. He said, " I suppose that we shall
in about two months have arrived at the mouth of the
Zambesi, and that we shall there meet Dr Livingstone,
who, according to accounts dated Aug. 8, was at the
Victoria Falls, but who promises to be at the mouth of
the Zambesi by the end of the year, to meet the
steamer Pioneer, the use of which has been given him
by the Government. This vessel, as he himself .has
told us, is entirely at our service. I hope we shall not
trespass too much on his kindness, but I am very
thankful for the offer, as it will convey us through the
malarious district at the mouth of the river, for sixty
or seventy miles, to the valley of the Shire, whither
we at present believe our work will lead us. I use this
vague phrase at present believe, because we are unable
to fix with exactness the spot where we shall com-
mence ; we intend to leave it to Dr Livingstone's advice.
When we get there our first object will be to establish
ourselves in a proper manner in the eyes of the natives,
and for that purpose we have determined carefully
to carry out our undertaking in such a manner as
every Christian would desire to see it carried out, and
so as not to lead the natives to suppose that we are
mere adventurers or mere commercial men, far less
slave-dealers, but a body of Christian men, professing
a religion which we come not only to teach them, but
servants ; and that in the preceding moon Sekeletu had insisted on Mr
and Mrs Price leaving, or they too would go."
27a MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
to practise ourselves. With this view, we have provided
ourselves with a large church-tent, well furnished and
appointed, through the kindness of friends in England.
In this tent we hope, morning and evening, to join in
prayer with the churches of other lands, with your
own cathedral service here, and thi'oughout the world.
In the next place, we shall engage in such occupations
as may strike the natives as useful, and may be likely
to draw them to join us. I am not speaking now of
the rehgious teaching of the natives, because we may
be told, that these natives have a language which we
cannot speak, and that we can do hardly anything
in the way of teaching them the Christian religion.
We shall however teach a gi'eat deal that is preparatory ;
and therefore, in our garden-work, in our building, in
our carpentering, in all our industrial occupations, we
shall endeavour to instruct some natives to work under
us, not only to swell our own number of hands, but in
order that they may learn how such things are done ;
we shall accustom them to the use of tools, and so
endeavour to acquire an influence over them, leading
them to see how a civilized nation like England pro-
duces those marvellous works, which the natives look
upon with so much surprise."
With regard to the loss of the London Society's
missionaries, he spoke with his usual simplicity, but
in language which must have made a deep impression
upon those who heard it, as coming from one who was
not only making a speech, but also about to put his
words of courage to the test of practice. " I would
next refer," said he, " to something which has been
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 2^^
already alluded to-day : I mean the sad destruction
of life and the loss of Christian energy and zeal in the
persons of those, who have been lately cut off in the
interior of the country. It has been said, that we
who are going are not to be daunted by that. No :
rather should it be the opposite. Rather should we
go up now with a more firm determination and in-
tention, God helping us, of carrying on the work. We
did think that we w^ere going to the valley of the
Zambesi, to carry on our own work in our own place,
and that others would work higher up the stream, and
that thus, at different points, Christ's name would be
preached. We hear now that that mission has been
destroyed, for the present at least. Must we not there-
fore work the more earnestly ? Ought we not to go
up more determinedly, humbly but faithfully trusting
in God's strength to help us, that we may be enabled
to work in His Vineyard, to carry His Name boldly
and faithfully before the people of that land, and to
bring in some at least, who, in the event of our de-
struction, our earlier or later death, may be ready to
take our places, and carry forward the sound of the
Gospel into the regions round about ? * * "- Thus
it may be, that in the course of years we may become,
what I have sometimes thought we were like, the
original and early sprouts that rise from the seed in
the ground, and which serve but to give life and vigour
and energy to the shoots which rise above the ground
afterwards. * * * That is the prospect we have
before us ; a prospect which does not depend upon
our life or death, which does not depend upon our
18
374 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
successes during our lifetime, but depends entirely upon
the grace of God; a prospect which will undoubtedly
be realised in God's good time, for we know that ' the
knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the
waters cover the sea ;' and therefore it is a prospect to
which we may confidently look forward, trusting and
believing that God's work will prosper, and that His
Name and saving grace will be known among all na-
tions."
The spirit, which expressed itself in such words as
those just quoted, made Mackenzie impatient of the
delay caused by the necessity of waiting at the Cape
for consecration. His impatience was increased by the
arrival of the Pioneer, which called at the Cape on its
way to the Zambesi and Dr Livingstone. It seemed
impossible to allow the opportunity to be lost, and yet
it was impossible for Mackenzie himself to take a pas-
sage in the Pioneer. His doubts as to the best course
of action are thus expressed in a letter to his sister at
Natal.
LETTER LXXIL
BiSHOPSCOURT,
Dec. 12, i860.
Deak ,
* * * « •
The Pioneer, Livingstone's river steamer, has come out,
casting anchor last week. She will probably leave again
this day week or so. I don't know what I would not give to
go in her, or rather in the steamer that will accompany her;
but I do not see a chance of this. I am just hesitating
whether to send my tail or a part of it, before I go myself;
but it feels so awkward to back into a country, stern fore-
most, as it were; and I am not clear that I could (ia my
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 275
ignorance of so much that is there) give them any instruc-
tions that wouhl be satisfactory. I shall probably have
settled tliis point before the Waldensian leaves again.
The doubt was at length resolved in favour of send-
ing a portion of the missionary party in advance by
the Pioneer, or rather by H.M.S. Sidon, which accom-
panied it. Accordingly, Mr Scudamore and Mr Waller
were thus sent in advance, the consecration being still
delayed by the necessity of awaiting the arrival of the
Bishops, who were to take part with the Metropolitan
in the service. At length, on January 1, 18G1, the
Feast of the Circumcision, all was ready for the con-
secration. The Bishops of Natal and S. Helena had
arrived; the Bishop of Graham's Town unfortunately
lost his passage by the steamer, and so was unable to
be present.
As the consecration of the first Missionary Bishop
of the Church of England in modern times is an event
of great historical value, beyond the interest attaching
to it as having taken place in the person of Bishop
Mackenzie, I shall give the account of the ceremony at
some length, quoting from a report furnished by an
eye-witness ^
Although the first two or three days of the new year
are exclusively devoted to holiday-making, all business being
suspended, and the panting inhabitants of Table Valley
being only too glad to escape from the boiling heat and dust
to breathe the pure fresh air of the country, still the great
interest taken in the forthcoming ceremony attracted a large
1 The account is taken from a letter of the correspondent of the
Guardian newspaper.
18—2
275 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
congregation to the cathedral. At half-past ten the bells of
the Cathedral chimed out merrily, S. George's being the only
church in the colony possessing a peal, which, though imperfect,
are sufficient to remind one of home. The regular attendants
at the cathedral were admitted by the south door, and at a
quarter to eleven the great dooi-s were thrown open at the
western porch, and the church was soon filled. The order
of ceremony observed followed as closely as possible that of
the use of Westminster Abbey. The Dean, Canons, and
Clergy met the Metropolitan and his assistants in the vestry
at the right of the vestibule at the western entrance; the
choristers and gentlemen of the choir in the baptistery on
the opposite side. The procession formed in the following
order, and proceeded up the church to the chancel : — ■
A Verger.
The Choristers in surplices.
Gentlemen of the Choir.
Eighteen Parochial Clergy of Cape Town and neighbourhood. .
Canons and Cathedral Clergy.
A Verger.
The Very Rev. the Dean of Cape Town.
The Registrar of the Diocese.
The Venerable C. F. Mackenzie, Bishop-elect, and Chaplain.
Bishop of Natal. Bishop of S. Helena.
The Metropolitan's Verger, bearing mitre-staff.
Rev. Albert Wood, bearing the crozier.
The Right Rev. the Metropolitan Bishop.
His Lordship's Chaplain, the Rev. E. Glover, bearing the pastoral staff.
Arrived at the chancel the procession opened right and
left. The Metropolitan proceeded to his throne on the north
side ; the Bishops of S. Helena and Natal to seats on the other
side. The Dean, Canons, Precentor, and Bishop's chaplain
also passed into their respective seats, and the other cathe-
dral clergy to their stalls ; the parochial clergy to the daily
service chapel on the southside of the altar behind the par-
close, the Bishop-elect, vested in surplice, kneeling at a fald-
stool at the entrance of the chancel.
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 277
The voluntary being finished, a hymn was given out,
during the singing of which the Metropolitan moved to his
place at the altar, and the Bishops of Natal and S. Helena
to their places, north and south, as Epistoler and Gospeller.
The Nicene Creed ended, the Dean was conducted to the
pulpit, and preached from Ephesians ii. 19 — 22.
After the sermon the Dean returned to his place ; and
whilst the hymn, " Christ is made the sure Foundation,"
was being sung, the Bishop-designate retired to the vestry,
where he put on his rochet. Returning down the central
passage, he was met at the chancel-steps by the assistant
Bishops ; who, taking him by the hand, led him towards
the Metropolitan. The following words were then spoken by
the Bishop of Natal : —
Right Reverend Father in G-od, we present unto you this godly and
well-learned man to be ordained and consecrated Bishop.
The rubric demanding the Queen's mandate, was, of
course, not observed. The word charge was substituted for
diocese. The oath of supremacy was administered by the
Begistrai', and then the oath following by the Metropoli-
tan : —
The Oath of Ohedknce to the Metropolitan Bishop.
In the name of God, Amen. I, Charles Frederick Mackenzie, chosen
Bishop of the Mission to the tribes dwelling in the neighbourhood of
the Lake Nyassa and River Shire, do profess and promise all due re-
verence and obedience to the Metropolitan Bishop and Metropolitical
Church of Cape Town, and to their successors. So help me God, through
Jesus Christ.
After the in^dtation to prayer, the Metropolitan knelt
down at his seat, ^vith the Precentor on his right hand,
Chaplain on his left, the Bishop-elect and Bishops-assistant
a few seats lower. The Litany was then sung ; after which,
the interrogations having being put, the Bishop-elect was con-
ducted as before to the vestry, where he assumed the custo-
maiy Episcopal vestments. During his absence, the anthem,
"O, jjray for the peace of Jerusalem," was sung; and on
^7^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
his return, -whilst he knelt at the feet of the Metropolitan,
Palestrina's Yeni Creator Spiritus. The imposition of hands
followed, in which the three Bishops joined. A lai-ge and
beautifully-bound copy of the Holy Scriptures was then pre-
sented by the Metropolitan, which the new Bishop delivered
to the care of his chaplain ; he was then conducted to his
Beat next that of the junior Suffragan.
The Offertory was then collected. The clergy from the
stalls and from the south chapel came forward and made
their offerings, and remained at the altar-rails till they
had communicated. The Dean received the alms, and
brought the elements of bread and wine to the Metropolitan.
The four Bishops administered the Communion. About 100
of the laity remained and communicated. The service con-
cluded, the Dean, preceded by the vergers, conducted the
Meti'opolitan, and the rest, to the vestry, the procession
following, in reverse order to that in which it entered the
church.
Thus concluded one of the most memorable services ever
celebrated in South Afric.i. Thus ended the consecration of
the first Missionary Bishop of England's Church since the
Keformation. Let us hope it will be but the beginning of
great and glorious things, that this little one may become a
thousand, till, in the words of the Bishop of Natal, a " chain
of Bishops, missionary and colonial, may extend from Cape
Point to the Abyssinian Church in Northern Africa."
On the day after his consecration Bishop Mackenzie
wrote as follows to a brother at home :
LETTER LXXIIL
January i, Wednesday.
My dear Brother ,
1 think I am right in saying that on taking my
degree, or on getting my fellowship, or on both occasions,
I wrote first to you. Anyhow, I will write to you first this
CONSECRATION AT CAPE TOWN. 279
time, to tell yovi from myself tliat yesterday in S. George' .s,
the Cathedral of Cape Town, the Metropolitan, with the
Bishops of Natal and S. Helena, laid their hands on my
head, and made me a Bishop of the Church, to lead a Mis-
sion to Nyassa and the Shire. I am very thankful that
this has ended as we all hoped. I have said several times,
that if I was to go at the head of this mission, as it was in
any case the work of a Bishop, I ought not to be sent with-
out the authority, and still more the grace of God, given in
consecration. Besides this, I feel strongly that it is the
right course, and that, whether there be any marked success
in this mission or not, on the whole, we may hope for more
rapid, sound, and united progress.
Some of my party, Waller, Scudamore, Adams, Gamble,
and three blacks, including Lorenzo Johnson, the cook,
started yesterday from Simon's Bay: at least, our latest
news was that the vessel was getting up steam at seven A.M.,
when the mail left, and that mail brought us no letter from
them : so I conclude, and shall jirobably hear to-day for
certain, that they are off. It is a pity, after being delayed
so long that they should not have stayed one day longer :
they might then have been present at the consecration : and
I, with Procter and the other two black men, might have
gone with them. But I would not delay for an hour, by
any request of mine, the vessel which was taking up the
Pioneer to Livingstone.
On the seventli of January a large meeting vt^as
held in Cape Town, for the pui-pose of taking public
leave of the missionary party, who shortly after went
down to Simon's Bay to join H.M.S. Lyra, which was
waiting to take back the Bishop of Natal to his diocese,
and to convey Bishop Mackenzie, with the remainder
of his party, to the scene of their future labours. At
28o MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
the farewell meeting the Bishops of Natal and of
S. Helena spoke of the work which was being carried on
in their respective dioceses. Bishop Mackenzie also
spoke, and concluded his speech as follows : " And so
it is that we have confidence to go forth on this mission,
a small body indeed amongst the mass of heathenism,
but trusting for God's blessing on what we do, on the
work to be done in some measure through our agency,
and in a still greater measure through the agency of
native converts ; so that by degi*ees the truth may be
received among the nations of the interior, and may
widely and more widely extend hereafter. Let us
pray for God's blessing on this and all such works,
not for success for our own honour and glory, for that
is of no matter, but for the honour and glory of our
Heavenly Father, for the honour and glory of His
Son, who came into the world to redeem the heathen,
to purchase for Himself an inheritance, and for the
sake of those whom He so purchased, that they may
have the blessing of God in His infinite mercy given to
them, that they may lead Christian lives, may die
Christian deaths, and may so be ushered into the pre-
sence of the Eternal King above."
No words can better express the spirit in which
Bishop Mackenzie left the Cape of Good Hope, and
which indeed breathed throus^h his whole hfe.
CHAPTER X.
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRK
Bishop Mackenzie is now nearing the scene of his
labours. He will have but one more halt, namely, at
his old home. Natal, and then he will enter upon that
field in which he was appointed to labour for so short
a time. The mission party were on board H.M.S. Lyra
on the morning of January 8, in Simon's Bay, but the
ship was compelled by the South-East wind to wait
till January 12, before she could get out. The party
consisted of Bishop Mackenzie, the Rev. L. J. Procter,
and three black men. Of these, one will especially come
before our notice hereafter, Charles Thomas, of whom
the Bishop says in one of his letters, " Charles Thomas
was one of the pillars of Lightfoot's native congi'egation
at Cape Town. It is twenty years since he came to
the Cape. He was in the house of a Captain and
Mrs Thomas, and owes to his mistress (or adopted
mother, for he was quite a lad) his first knowledge and
feelings of a religious kind. He is an active, intelligent
man, speaking English well, and some dialects of
Makoa, his native tongue, fluently." These black men
282 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
left their wives at Cape Town, to follow^ them with the
next mission party. In addition to the missionaries
for the Zambesi, the Lyra also carried back to his own
diocese the Bishop of Natal.
The voyage to Natal was made as pleasant as might
be by the extreme kindness of Captain Oldfield, who
made arrangements for receiving into his own cabin
the two Bishops and Mr Procter. On Sunday, January
13, divine service was performed on deck ; Bishop
Mackenzie read prayers, and the Bishop of Natal
preached ; one of the sailors said he would walk twenty
miles to hear him again. With reference to this
voyage. Bishop Mackenzie writes in one of his letters
as follows:
LETTER LXXIV.
H. M. S. Lyra S. Lat. if 48'.
E. Long. 36° 36'.
Feb. 4, Monday.
Dear ,
My memory will not serve me as to whether I
have written to you since I left England : but in any case
I am glad to be obliged to take up my pen, and say a few-
words to you, before leaving this the first man-of-war to
which I was ever indebted for a passage. The Bishop of
Natal, who came from Cape Town with us, agreed with me
that we had seen a specimen of discipline, and of regular
activity, and constancy of employment, which we ought not
to forget. I spoke of being obliged to take up my pen to
you, and part of the obligation consists in this, that I must
ask you and any friends of the mission, in the event of their
having any opportunity of being civil to Captain Oldfield of
this vessel, to do so, on account of his great kindness and
consideration for us on board. He has not only made this
by far the most comfortable passage across the seas that I
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 283
have made, and that at considerable inconvenience to him-
self,— taking three persons into his own cabin, &c., — but has
also offered to provide us with anything we want, or to let
his men make anything for us, I am glad to say we are so
well provided, that we have not been obliged to avail our-
selves of his offer, to the extent at least that he intended
and wished : but the kindness and interest he has shewn
are the same.
We are having beautiful weather, and have had ever
since we left Plymouth, with the exception of one night of
wind, two or three days after leaving the Cape. I am thank-
ful for this, on account of others as much as or more than
myself
The visit to Natal could scarcely fail to be one of
great interest. Natal liad been certainly the scene of
the most painful days of Mackenzie's life, perhaps also
the scene of the happiest. Many would welcome him
there with great joy, and even those who had for-
merly been regarded as his adversaries had probably
been brought by this time to appreciate the real no-
bility of his character, and to grieve that they had
ever been found to oppose him. There is every reason
to believe that the visit did in fact heal old wounds,
and strengthen the bands of Christian charity. But,
however this might be, the visit to Natal gave the
Bishop the opportunity of seeing and consulting with
the sister, whom he used playfully to call his hlach
sister, from her love to the black people and success-
ful work amongst them, and upon whose cooperation
he now reckoned in his more distant mission. It may
be well to explain here that this cooperation was not
284 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
only reckoned upon by the Bishop, but intended by
his sister at this time ; subsequently, however, her own
marriage with the Archdeacon of Maritzburg disturbed
the arrangements, and compelled her to continue her
useful missionary work amongst the Zulus of Natal.
I shall give the reader an account of the Bishop's visit
to his old country, as I find it in a very interesting
home-letter, written by this sister.
•Jan. 23, Wednesday. On Monday morning we were at
the Point by 7 o'clock, and found them more than doubtful
about going out, at any rate not till 9. * * * At last
another message came from the flags at the ship that if they
would not go out, the captain would come ashore in his
boat; so orders were given to light the tug-fires, and off we
set. We had a good toss on the bar, and then we neared
the shi^i, and they sent out a boat and took us all on board.
There were the two Bishops, and I was so happy. I hardly
dared to ask how long we should have, for I feared to hear
only twenty minutes ; but our time was not to be so short.
"Till Saturday, at any rate," said the cajitain, who has
been most kind to the whole party. He with some of his
officers and Mr Procter have gone to P. M. B., and our
Natal Bishop started within a few hours.
The way in which he (Bishop Mackenzie) has been re-
ceived has been quite heart-warming. One man, who was
strong in opposition, came immediately and said how much
he regretted what had passed, and how glad they would be
now could they have him amongst them once more. He is to
open and consecrate the pretty little church at the Point,
and also to hold a Confirmation at the Umlazi.
All that afternoon people came and went, and came and
went; but at last we made our escape, and had a little stroll
on the shore, which was most pleasant.
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 285
January 31, Thursday. It is already more tlian a week
since I wrote, and here I am quietly sitting at home. * '"' *
I shall go on with my story as well as I can. On Wednes-
day I wi'ote with perpetual interruptions and callers : tliis
lasted till dinuer-time; after which we went to the photo-
grapher's, then home to tea, and then to church, where he
preached. It was on the ten virgins, — earnest and rousing,
and yet so tender that at the end I fairly got my head down
and sobbed. * * * Next day was a day, work, work,
work : packing and unpacking, dividing and sorting, in-
terriipted with visitors. * * * Next morning to work
again, for we had to clear the room for an entertain-
ment, and at half-past ten to go off by the train to the
little Point Church. It was beautiful. The new Bishop
in his robes, with six of the Natal clergy after him, came
up the centre of the little church, chanting the 24th
Psalm. Then the prayers for the Consecration, so exqui-
sitely beautiful; then his sermon. He began with Solo-
mon's temple, wherein our churches differ from it, resemble
it, and exceed it in glory; the duties of the worship-
pers because of their privileges ; and then a most home-
touching appeal to \is all, as being ourselves temples con-
secrated to God. It was most earnest, and most profitable,
and most sweet to listen to. Then came the Holy Commu-
nion. * * » Then home to our entertainment, which
went off remarkably well. Then came speeches, and in the
deep, earnest, loving words which fell from one after another,
I was not the only one who was overcome. Strong men
fairly cried, then and afterwards, as they spoke of the kind
heart and loving deeds and earnest Christian life of him
who was going from among them, and of the noble self-
sacrificing spirit in which he goes foi-th. I cannot tell you
all that passed: how he took blame to himself for some
share in the troubles of past days, and begged those who heard
him to tell his former opponents what he said, and how his
friends repudiated the idea with horror, and declared that
285 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
if all was to do again, they would again stand by him
through thick and thin, and how the Bishop of Natal's
health was proposed by one who is deeply indebted to him
and most gratefully affectionate in his feelings to him, and
at last how thankful I was to get away.
*****
Next morning an-ived the captain from P. M. B. , and
said if the mail did not come before two he would wait till
Monday.
*****
On Sunday off the first thing to Claremont riding. The
ride was delightful. The whole road so full of associations.
The river where I sat on my horse alone on the first night
after my arrival, &c. The little church at Claremont was
well filled. Seven were confirmed. The Bishop's address
and sermon seemed to reach the children's hearts. The
Litany seemed more full of meaning than I had ever heard
it. Then the hymn, " Put thou thy trust in God," though
chosen for the candidates, seemed every word to suit our-
selves. * * * After church we rode to the Umlazi * * *
and so back to town, just in time for the evening service.
The Bishop preached again. He found a missionary sermon
was expected. The church was crowded. He spoke most
openly on the treatment of the natives here as a shame to
the white people, only taking as much work out of them as
possible, without caring for their interests in any way; no
Church-school for them in the town ; no sympathy with
their home-joys or sorrows; hardly credit given them for
having within them deeper thoughts and feelings, than they
care to reveal to those who seem to have so little human
sympathy with them. He said while this was the state of
things among us here, to raise an interest in the tribes
further off would be something unreal, and could lead to no
good. Even before we left the church, as well as several
times afterwards, people came to me to speak of the sermon.
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SIIIRE. 287
and say how it had smitten their consciences, and made
them desire that the reproach should be upon them no
longer. Indeed, we had a kind of meeting in our room
after church, and I have good hope something may be done
in the way of evening teaching for the people.
As we were returning we saw a rocket from the sea :
a gun fired: the mail was in: and the captain, who was
with us, said he would let us know the first thing in the
morning what hour he would sail. Well, after this there
was little peace or quiet. We were too tired to sit up that
night, and next morning there was so much to arrange, and
everybody was coming and going, and we heard we were to
go by the half-past two train. A great many friends went
with us ; but on the shore we slipped away. * * ^' We
went on board the tug, and stood together high up on the
captain's place; we were washed again and again by the
great waves. * * * When he went, and I had his last
kiss and blessing, his own bright beautiful spirit infected
mine, and I could return his parting words without flinch-
ing ; I saw him go without even a tear dimming my eye,
so that I could watch him to the last, looking after our
little boat again crossing the bar, till we could distinguish
each other no more.
In speaking one day of happiness, he said, " I have given
up looking for that altogether. Now till death my post is
one of unrest and care. To be the sharer of every one's sor-
rows?, the comforter of every one's griefs, the strengthener
of every one's weakness — to do this as much as in me lies
is now my aim and object : for yoii know when the members
sufier, the pain must always fly to the head." He said this
with a smile, and O ! the peace in his face ! it seemed
as if nothing could shake it.
The vessel which brought the mail for which the
Lyra waited, brought also another missionary, the
Rev. H. Rowley, who joined the Bishop's party. The
388 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
plan now was to meet Dr Livingstone at the Kongone
mouth of the Zambesi, pick up the first portion of the
mission party, who had already gone forward in the
Sidon, and then immediately proceed up the Zambesi
and Shire in the Pioneer with Dr Livingstone.
The Lyra arrived off Kongone on February 7, and
found that the Sidon, with the Pioneer, had arrived
eight days previously. The Pioneer had gone in on
Feb. 5, only two days before the Bishop's arrival. On
Saturday, February 9, Captain Oldfield kindly took
Bishop Mackenzie over the bar, in order that he might
be no longer prevented from meeting Dr Livingstone
and concerting future measures with him. The result
of the consultation was rather disappointing ; Dr Living-
stone strongly dissuaded an immediate ascent of the
Zambesi ; the season was not favourable ; there was no
chief to whom he felt that he could at this time con-
fidently commend the mission party, and he was very
anxious to explore what he believed would be a better
route to the future scene of the labours of the mission-
aries by way of the Bovuma, a river which enters the
sea at a considerable distance north of Kongone.
Bishop Mackenzie's position was one of much difficulty :
he dreaded the thought of several months' further delay,
and the possible forced idleness of a large portion of
the mission party ; on the other hand, it seemed im-
possible to insist upon a step opposed to the mature
judgment of Dr Livingstone. The result was, that he
consented to Dr Livingstone's plan, and the actual
work of the mission was thus postponed. I will here
introduce a letter from the Bishop to one of the secre-
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 2<S9
taries of the mission, in which the position of affairs
is explained.
LETTER LXXV.
Matotta,
Feb. 27, Wednesday.
Dear Strong,
I have lately written, but as it is not unlikely that
this letter may anticipate the last, I will tell you shortly
what has happened since we left Natal. We sailed on
Tuesday, July 29th, from Natal, having Rowley ou board.
We got to Kongone after a fair passage of nine days, and
found the Sidon at anchor, having been there eight days ;
the Pioneer had crossed the bar on Feb. 5. On Saturday,
Feb. 9, the Pioneer not having come out, as I thought she
would, Captain Oldfield most kindly took me over the bar,
when we fell in with not only Waller, Scudamore, Gamble,
Adams, May and his party, but also Livingstone, Kirk, and
Charles Livingstone. We had arranged to return to the
ship on the Sunday morning, but again Captain Oldfield
arranged his movements so as to suit me, and put off his
return to his ship till Monday morning. This was rendered
necessary by Livingstone's proposing a plan, which required
some thought on my part. He proposed that instead of
going up the Zambesi and Shii-e at once, to settle in such a
place as he shoiild advise, which was the plan we had all
along considered our only one, we should postpone going up
till he had explored the Rovuma, and ascertained whether
or not it would give a better road to the district of the Shire
and Nyassa than that afforded by the Zambesi. I objected
to this proposal, that it would involve considerable and in-
definite delay to us, and would transform us from a mission-
ary body, ready to attempt at once to overcome the diffi-
culties attending a settlement in a new country, into an
exploring party, that we should be not only losing our time
but embarrassing him by our presence, and that I did not
19
296 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
see that our going up from Kongone and settling on the
banks of the Shire was in any way opposed to his plan of
exploring the Rovuma ; for if he found a good entrance
there, we could communicate with him in the interior. To
meet my objection that we should be encumbering him, an
objection that was not mine alone, he answered that the
mass of our party might remain at some such place as Jo-
hanna, one of the Comoro Islands, which lie between the
northern end of Madagascar and the continent, while I and
perhaps another might go with him. I at once objected to
this that we had had separations enough, as well as delays,
and I thought this modification made the plan more dis-
tasteful to me than before. After speaking to "Waller and
Scudamore on the Sunday, and consulting Captain Oldfield,
I determined to ask Livingstone to let us adhere to our
plan, and to go with us, and see us settled, before he went
to the Rovuma. Accordingly I wi'ote him my decision, not
being able to see him before our early start to the ship on
Monday morning (Feb. 11).
Next morning the Pioneer came out, and Livingstone
begged me to reconsider my decision : he put more strongly
than I expected the difficulties of doing as I proposed, repeat-
ing what he had written to England the previous May, that
he did not know a single chief to whom he could commend
us with confidence, now that Chibisa had gone ; and besides,
that before we could settle on any healthy spot, we must
leave our goods on the low ground close to the Shire, and
that the one who remained in charge, while we attempted
to remove them gradually to a place of safety, would be sure
to take the fever. In short, he spoke so strongly that I felt
I had no right to force him to take part in a plan, of which
he so distinctly disapproved ; and yet my own objections to
his plan were as great as ever. At last we agreed that we
would do as he advised, with this proviso, that he should
not keep us waiting more than three months, but would
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 291
then, if not sooner, decide between our going up by Kongone
or by the Rovuma. I fiu'ther followed his advice by deter-
mining to go with him. myself and take Rowley, but leave
the rest at Johanna. I found that they all agi-eed to this as
a disagreeable necessity, but in a way that left me no mis-
giving in adopting it. Johanna was chosen as being the
head-quarters of the cruising squadron on this coast. It is
a naval coaling station, and seemed the most suitable place
both for present need and future contingencies.
Accordingly we again parted company : the Pioneer., taking
May's and Livingstone's parties, proceeded direct to the Rovu-
ma. The Sidon taking her old complement, excepting Waller,
(that is to say, Scudamore, Gamble, Adams, Job, and Apol-
los,) was to convoy the Pioneer some part of the way, and
then come on to Johanna, while the Lyra came away first
to Johanna (with Rowley, Waller, Procter, Charles, Thomas,
Roby, and myself) to coal, and then to meet the Pioneer ab
the Rovuma mouth, carrying to her five tons of coal, and
handing over to her Rowley and myself, having previously
deposited the rest of our party at Johanna. Waller bad
wisely brought out from Kongone on Tuesday morning all
his detachment, and Livingstone his whole party; so that
we were ready to be off. Accordingly that same afternoon we
were all on our several routes. We fell in with the Pioneer
two days after on the high seas, and were near enough to
exchange visits by means of boats: also on the 16th, Satur-
day, we sighted them again. They had lost sight of the Sidon
on the first night, and were making their way alone.
I ought to have said above, what will I think have been
taken for granted, that during the discussion Livingstone
continued as friendly and kind as possible, and was most
willing to help in carrying out the plan we had thought of,
if decided upon. He is an excellent fellow, and I have no
fear of any difficulty at any time arising between us.
We reached Johanna on the morning of February 21.
* * * * ->
19—2
293 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
The following letters will carry on the story :
LETTER LXXVI.
H. M. S. Lyra, off the Coast, 50 Miles S. of Cape Delgado,
March 4, Monday.
Dear Strong,
-X- * * * *
My last date was, I think, Feb. 22. On that evening
news reached us confirming the report of the Wasj) being on
shore on the mainland, and also of the Enchantress having
struck a reef off Mayotta, one of the Comoro Islands. Next
morning, Feb. 23rd, we sailed for the spot and spent the
next five days in saving goods from the wreck.
*****
On Saturday morning, March 2, we left Johanna, pass-
ing for the fourth time safely through the passage between
reefs, which is the only entrance to the harbour. * * *
We are now (about one p.m., Monday, March 4) in sight
of the Wasp and Persian^ though not near enough to see
what is being, or has been, done. Should the Lyra be
obliged, as we have thought most probable, to remain and
help here, the captain most kindly promises to send the
2ud litiitenant in the pinnace to take Rowley and myself
to the Rovuma. If not, he will take us up in this ship.
On parting from the Pioneer we said tliey might look for us
about March 1. We may now hope to be not more than
five days behind our time, notwithstanding the accumulation
of obstacles that we did not foresee ) and even this is of the
less consequence, inasmuch as from the light winds we have
had we do not think the Pioneer will be much, if at all,
sooner than ourselves in reaching the rendezvous.
March 5, Tuesday.
At Anchor, Long. 40° 30' E. Lat. ii°io'S.
We came to anchor yesterday, about one. Found the
Wasp got off, though it is still a question what state she is
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 293
in. As far as we are concerned our connection witli lier
will cease to-niglit. We start for the Rovuma to-morrow
moraing. We expect to be out one night. (How little we
think now of a voyage to last two days ! It seems a mere
step.) And then we quite hope to meet Livingstone. News
of other kinds I have none. I am tired of saying I shall be
tjlad to be at work.
LETTER LXXVIL
H. M. S. Li/ra, March gth, 18(11,
Mouth of the Rovuma, Lat. 10° 30'.
Dear Strong,
I wrote to you by the Cape a letter which I sent on
board the Persian three days ago. I was then on board this
vessel, about 100 miles further south, in company with the
Persian and the Wasp. We weighed anchor on the morning
of the 6th, and rounded Cape Delgado and got into this bay,
whose headlands ai'e about ten miles ajiart — a shallow bay into
which all the mouths of the Rovuma discharge themselves.
We soon saw the Pioneer lying near the shore at anchor,
and, steering for her, cast anchor some 300 or 400 yards
from her. Dr Livingstone, Mr May, R.N., and Dr Kirk,
were soon aboard of us. They had been here eleven days.
They had gone up a narrow outlet to see to v/hat it led, and
returned, confirmed in the idea that the great mouth, in the
jaws of which we are now at anchor, is the one. They spent
a day on this also, and say that it is one mile broad between
high water-mark on the two sides, and that in sounding
they had no bottom at seventeen fathoms. There is no bar,
only a rippling on the water at high tide. They went up
about eight miles, and found themselves then at the entrance
upon higher lands, about 300 feet high. This leads to the
hope that vessels may easily anchor here, and that a very
294 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
short time will suffice to carry a party through the delta,
which is always found to be the most feverish place. They
saw a good deal of cultivation. Many of the gardens of the
natives near the river were flooded, the river being now
about its highest. These natives spoke languages akin to
those on the Zambesi, and, though much surprised, were not
afraid. They had made up then* minds to start up the river
on Monday without iis if we did not appear, and had already
buried a bottle with this intelligence for us. They had sus-
pended a large barrel, painted white, to a tree on the beach,
to direct us to this simple poste restante. Now we pi'opose
to start on Monday about noon, the morning of that day
being required for transferring coals and provisions to the
Pioneer. They have been quite well, and were very glad to
see us. Livingstone says they have been thinking that if
this river looks well, they may, when a land exploring party
leaves the ship, send her for the rest of our party to Johanna.
March 12, 1861, ahout 15 miles up the Rovuma.
It is more than I expected, being able to write to you
by this opportunity from a point so far up the river. Capt.
Oldfield determined to spend a day and a half, which have
now grown into two days, in accompanying us part of the
way up this river, and we shall send this away by him.
Monday morning (yesterday) was spent by us in transferring
some coals and provisions from the Lyra to the Pioneer, and
finally, about one o'clock, we transhipped ourselves. I had
formed some acquaintance with all on board the Lyra.
Rowley also knew them all — I mean sailors as well as offi-
cers— and the cheer they gave us from the rigging, when
our boat had pulled off from the ship's side, makes my heart
leap to my mouth still by the mere remembrance.
We steamed up the right bank of the river, for two or
three hours. The stream is about a mile wide, in many
places five to six fathoms deep, in some one fathom and
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 295
less; once we had to anchor, as we were in water less than
a fathom deep, and we draw over four feet, and there
did not seem to be any passage above. A boat went out
to explore, and after some delay we retraced our course
a little, and then got an opportunity of passing into ano-
ther channel. It is interesting work watching this ope-
ration of seeking a channel, hearing the conversation be-
tween May, Livingstone, Charles Livingstone, and Kirk, or
some of them, or getting an actual lesson when Livingstone
shows us the signs of a bank, which we should not have
seen. Last night we anchored in the full channel, stream
running as usual two or three miles an hour. In the morn-
ing a boat pulled across the stream before the anchor was
raised, to open or renew communications with the natives.
I say " renew," because the Pioneer's boat had come up
nearly as high a week ago, and had made friends, and begun
a system of barter with one village. On landing we found
it was not the same spot; one or two dark figui'es wei"e just
disappearing among the shrubs and trees. Dr Livingstone
told one of the party (Joseph, who was engaged at Cape
Town) to tell them not to run away, and the result of his
shouting was that a man soon returned.
The language here is so much akin to that on the Lower
Zambesi, that even Dr Livingstone holds a (somewhat broken)
communication with them. The resvilt of the interview was
the purchase of some fowls and vegetables for cloth; a pro-
mise on the part of the native that he would tell all his
neighbours that we are merciful and good Englishmen ; and
an attempt to express to him that we have come to teach the
black people. We had not much time to spend, but were well
satisfied with the resvilt of our first interview with natives
of the country. It is true this man is a stranger; the ap-
pearance of his garden corroborated his own accoimt that he
had not cultivated there long; still he will tell his neigh-
bours, and so the effect of oiu- visit will be the same.
The scenery is now becoming beautiful — hills two or
296 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
three hundred feet high within two or three miles of us, and
the river winding majestically in its wide bed, sometimes
washing the foot of the ridge that bounds the valley, on one
Bide or the other; sometimes widening to a mile and a half,
and forming islands, generally low and grassy, but occa-
sionally of size and importance enough to carry trees with
fresh and luxuriant foliage. The mangroves have all been
left behind; now we have baobabs, flat-crowned palms, wild
date, wild fig, &c. There has not as yet been either any
tributary, or any stream branching off to form another
mouth. It is clear this is the main mouth, though no doubt
there are connections with other mouths near this one. In
one or two places, within four miles of the sea, there were
sluggish channels, fifty or sixty yards wide, leaving the
stream and almost immediately escaping sight in the closer
vegetation of that part. These might continue indejiendent
channels to the sea, or quite as likely might fine away
altogether, or return shortly to the main stream.
So far as we can see, this river is answering the expec-
tations formed of it. Of course we cannot tell what its
upper jmrt may be, but it is something to have got up fifteen
miles (or at least twelve) with such ease. Good bye.
Youi's affectionately,
C. F. M.
LETTER LXXYIII.
River Rovuma, 20 iniles from Sea,
March 23, Saturday.
Dear Strong,
* * * 45- *
We ascended this river for five days. At first we had
deep water, but very soon began to find it shoal. On the
first day we had to stop (finding only one fathom), and cross
to the other side. On the second, the navigation was in one
or two places intricate. On the third, we had to return
tiome distance, finding our channel fail us : so that we began
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 297
to perceive tliat we should be compelled to return in a few
days, instead of spending a couple of months, to secure our
getting out before the fall of the water should make some of
our difficulties become impossibilities, and so cut me off
from a return to my party at Johanna, and indeed from any
actual mission work. * * * It was by this time clear
that we could not hope this season to explore far enough to
give a favourable account of this river, and go to Johanna
for our men. We were not 30 miles (probably about 25)
from the sea, and could not be sure that before we had gone
20 miles further we should not find a cataract or something
that would in*emediably impede water-cari'iage. The natives
indeed, on the whole, give a good accoiint of it. They say
that a canoe can come out of Lake Nyassa, where the Mang-
anja live (they knew both these names before we suggested
them), and reach the sea by the Rovuma : but no one of
them has been far enough to quote his own experience on
this point, nor have they seen any one who has ; so that the
matter is still in doubt. Besides, there is the important
consideration that the steamer cannot go wherever a canoe
can. We had no hesitation on this point, that the steamer
must lose no time in reaching the sea, so that she may call
at Johanna, and proceed up the Shire this year to place us
where we may begin our woi'k.
But nonfacilis descensics Ovuma, (the natives pronounce
it as often without the R as with it ;) the current, which
would be of the greatest service if the channel were broad,
makes it much moi-e dangerous to thread the way down
through shoals, than to go up over the same ground. We
have already spent five days, and have not made good twice
as many miles. We have spent two nights gi-ounded on
the sand, and have all had much hard work.
298 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
LETTER LXXIX.
{To the same.)
April I, Monday.
Lat. n° S. Long. 41° E.
When I last wrote, I spoke of continuing to cut wood
all tliat Saturday (Maj'ch 23), and not lifting our anchor
till the following Monday. However, about two p.m. it
was decided that we should call all on board and start, a
boat preceding us in doubtful places : partly by its aid,
though moi'e by the gain of a foot from the late rains, we
ran down with less trouble than we had come up. Within
a couple of hours we were in sight of the sea. * * *
Thus ended a fortnight's voyage in the river.
The results of the exploration have not been great ;
chiefly this, that the hopes founded ujion the appearance of
the mouth have been to a considerable extent disappointed,
while there is room left for hope as to the effect of trying
a vessel drawing (say) two feet, and also the effect of the
falling of the flood in deepening the channel when the river
shall spread less uni'estrainedly from bank to bank.
We proposed to spend two or three days in cutting
wood, and preparing the vessel for sea, and hoped to get to
Johanna in time to spend Easter-day (March 31) in reunion,
and with Holy Communion with our fi^iends there. But
in this we have been disappointed. On the Monday or
Tuesday I resigned myself into the doctor's hands, to be
treated for fever : it was a very mild attack, cei-tainly no
worse than a slight influenza cold, and I was all right again
in a day or two. Unfortunately, I was only the first of
several, and before the engine was put into gear, after some
parts had been repaired, an engineer was on his back ; and
in all, half the whites on board were attacked. It was
clear that the sooner we could leave the coast the better.
Accordingly, as soon as the engine could be connected,
which was on Good-Friday morning, we were rejoiced to
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 299
hear the order, "All hands, up anchor;" and we were soon
out of sight of land.
The crew are beginning to return to work one after
another: we have taken turns to sujiply their place at the
wheel, and on the look-out. There has not been much
else to be done.
As to the fever, they say that they think the Eovuma
worse than the Zambesi. My experience worxld lead me to
say that the cui'e is worse than the disease, but my attack
was a slight one.
LETTER LXXX.
(To the same.)
April 18, Thursday.
Johanna.
The day following that on which I last wrote, we
reached, not Johanna, as we had wished, but another
island of the group, Mohella. We cast anchor when the
fuel remaining was not more than would have served to
keep up the steam for one hour longei". We could not but
feel a little anxious as we gradually neai-ed the island : for
had the coal failed before we could anchor, we should have
been drifted back by wind and currents. We were detained
for six days, merely getting enough wood and water to take
us across to Johanna, which was now in full sight. At
last, on April 8, we crossed, and found that though our
friends had had severe attacks of fever, they were now all
well, or with slight ailments.
Thus ended the expedition to the Rovuma. As it
turned out, little advantage, or none, was gained for
the missionary work ; but I think it is clear that Bishop
300 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
Mackenzie could not have acted otherwise than he did,
without exhibiting a confidence in his own opinion,
when opposed to that of Dr Livingstone, which might
have been justly described as not wise but head-
strong.
It was in getting ready for sea, at the mouth of the
Rovuma, that Bishop Mackenzie had his first attack of
African fever ; it will be seen from his mention of the
attack, in the preceding page, that his illness was but
slight, and that he was already tempted to think too
little of the power of the disease; the strength of his
constitution, and the readiness with which he rallied,
tended perhaps to foster the notion more than he him-
self suspected, that the dangerous character of the
fever had been exaggerated. To this underrating of
the fever may to a certain extent be attributed the
conduct, which afterwards, as we shall see, led to so
lamentable a result.
In the Rovuma also. Bishop Mackenzie appears to
have run a risk of his life, to which I find no allusion
in his own letters ; in a letter to a friend, Mr Charles
Livingstone writes, "He worked very hard while we
were in the river ; and once, to our utter horror, gave
a Rovuma alligator an opportunity (the like of which
no alligator ever had before) of immortalising himself
by devouring a live Bishop ! Fortunately, the monster
was not ambitious of such renown."
The next letter does not add to the narrative, but
will be acceptable as a token of the gentle affectionate
feelings of the writer. It is to a brother in Scotland.
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 301
LETTER LXXXI.
On Board the Pioneer,
Lat. 11° S. Long. 41° E.
Ajml I, Monday.
Dear
Every happiness and every blessing to you in the
year that opens upon you on this day. I thought of you
early this morning, before in fact it was your birthday to
you at home. I was on watch on deck from one to half-
past two tliis morning, as four of us agreed to relieve the
crew for the night, many of them being down with fever.
It is a dull day, and we have had rather a dreary week;
but things are looking up, and we are now steaming rapidly
(six or seven knots an hour) towards Johanna, where we
hope to find our party in health and strength. It is this
day three months since I was made a Bishop, and received
mission to preach to the tribes of Nyassa and Shire; and
since that time, I have been almost without inteiTUjDtion
at sea. I do not think this has been my own fault ; and
even now Livingstone speaks of the advantage of our not
having gone up to the Shire in February, when we were at
Kongone. I am still of opinion that it would have been
better if we had, but I do not think I could withstand the
weight of advice that was pressed on me. Now, however,
I trust that this month will not end before we are at the
foot of the Murchison Cataract. It is very pleasant being
on the easy terms we are with Livingstone ; and as for Dr
Kirk, we are the greatest possible cronies. He encouraged
me to try my hand at botanizing, a thing which has been
open to me any time as long as I can remember, but for
which I never thought I had any turn ; but now, with his
help, I have settled the order to which each of some ten or
twelve plants belong, of whose nature I had no notion to
begin with. He is an excellent teacher.
There are a few things, which I have in constant use :
your wrist-studs; the watch you gave me, which goes well;
302 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
the clock witb alarum, which is at present acting as ship's
clock; the writing-case I begged from in the Cam-
brian; the sextant gave me; 's Prayer-book;
Mrs 's Christian Year : and, by the bye, as I may not
be writing to Portmore immediately, please tell the
cheese was not opened till we were in the B-ovuma, and
was found in excellent condition, thanks to your friend the
tinman; indeed, Livingstone and all the party begged me to
give their best thanks to the lady donor for a cheese, which
had evidently not been made for sale. It was really very
good; Englishmen allowed that Scotland could match them
even in pasture produce, and we esteemed it so highly, that
we laid by half till our whole party should be together : it
will come out in the Zambesi.
I insert the following, because it contains one of the
few confessions that (I believe) Bishop Mackenzie ever
made of being overdone and out of spirits. It is to his
sister in Scotland. It is amusing to observe the reason
assigned for this confession of weakness.
LETTER LXXXIL
Johanna,
April 20, Saturday.
I HAVE been very well since I wrote last, excepting
a fit of lowness and weakness from over- work a week ago.
I had returned to this island a little below the mark, but
thought a good walk would do me good. I arranged with
Kirk that we should go together: we started at 7.30, in-
stead of 5.30 or 6, as we were advised. The climb, 3000
feet, was very steep. I felt knocked-up, could hardly
touch breakfast, and almost came back for fear I should
break down. However, foi*tunately an hour's rest in the
shade by a stream did me good. I went on, and got home
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SIIIRE. 303
tired. Next day I felt well, but the day after knocked-up ;
and my spirits gave way. I lay on the bed, or in an arm-
chair, as weak as water for two days : but Kirk set me right,
and now I am quite well. I tell you all this, because I
wish you to believe me when I tell you that I have been
quite well.
The delays which had been so wearisome to the mis-
sionary party were now at length at an end. Tlie Rovuma
had been tried, and for the present at all events had
proved a failure ; the missionaries were assembled at
Johanna, and all was ready for a start towards the
Zambesi. Speaking of the residence of himself and the
rest of the party left at Johanna during the exploration
of the EiOvuma, Mr Waller says, " Our stay here would
have been one of the utmost enjoyment, surrounded as
we have been by extreme kindness on the part of the
inhabitants, and benefiting by the unbounded hospi-
tality and attention of Mr Sunley, the British Consul
for the Comoro Islands. Unfortunately, however, we
have sujEfered a good deal from fever, and I think but
one out of the party of ten has escaped it." Speaking
of the work in which they had employed themselves
during their enforced residence at Johanna, he adds,
" The Arabs of the islands are a most interesting set.
They nearly all speak English a little, and were anxious
beyond measure to learn it ; kings, lords, and commons
were our pupils ; and right sorry we were to leave
them. They are not at all disposed to quarrel on
points of religion : on the contrary, nothing interested
them more than comparing our stories of the Old
304 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
Testament with their Koran. Of course, when it came
to the main points of our faith, the same disbelief which
makes Mahometanism so antagonistic to our religion
was present. One of the young princes has become a
staunch Christian ; and report says, the Sultan himself
is mainly anxious to know English thoroughly, that
he may read the Bible. He says it is ' more better'
than the ' other book,' meaning the Koran. Still read-
ing it for its poetry and searching it for its faith are
two different things. Yet with a people so eminently
susceptible of the power of language, and really re-
ligiously inclined, I cannot help thinking very much
might be done. I mentioned the subject of a mission-
aiy to several of them. Nothing would delight them
more than to have some one who would teach them
English, and the king promises a piece of land and his
personal aid to any one who would come out for this
purpose ; but, as a good Mahomedan, he cannot ask
point blank for a missionary. Still, any energetic man
would find here that the thin end of the wedge is
inserted, and he would stand a better chance of causing
a rift in this wretched infatuation than others less
fortunate in finding a people disposed most favourably
to ever3d:hing English."
On the last day of April the Pioneer was off
Kongone; the bar was too rough to permit the vessel
to cross; on the morning of May 1, the j)assage was
effected without difficulty, and on that day the Bishop
reported his party " all well ;" though he adds, that in
the course of the voyage about half of those on board
had been down with attacks of fever.
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 305
It is unnecessary to dwell upon the arrangements
for ascending the river. We will suppose these to have
been made, and will allow Bishop Mackenzie to tell
his own story,
LETTER LXXXIII.
{To his Sister at the Cape.)
May 8, Wednesday.
Dear ,
* * * * *
We are now steaming up tlirougli the delta, without a
single case of sickness on board.
This is a fine river; and we have this advantage over
the E-ovuma, that Livingstone knows the river, and we
never stick as we did there.
The responsibility and difficulty of the work seem to in-
crease as it comes nearer. I have been reading Moffat's
missionary labours, and it has made me think moi'e of the
difficulties, not only of a practical outward kind, but still
more of a spiritual kind. It has helped me also to remember
that in God is our help, and that we attempt nothing in our
own name.
Livingstone is most kind and excellent. He promises to
make a tour with us, as soon as we leave the shi^?, to look
out for a site. We hope to reach the Murchison Cataract
in about seventeen days, that is, about Trinity Sunday.
Then a pai-ty of us, perhaps all of us, with Livingstone
Kirk and others, will stai-t to look at the country between
the Shire and Shirwa : high table land, south of the top of
Zomba, where Livingstone thinks we shall find a suitable
spot. After that, he proposes to take a boat up the side of
the river, for thirty-three miles, and putting it on the water
20
3o6 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
again spend four or five months exploring Nyassa, especially
with the view of finding how near the Rovuma comes to
the lake, or whether it actually runs out of Nyassa, which
I do not believe. He will be back in time to take the
Pioneei' down to meet you on December 15. You may on
getting this think of us as heard of as high as Mazaro, where
it will leave my hands. God bless you.
Notice in the next two letters the unfortunately-
slight opinion, which Bishop Mackenzie had already
been led to form of the dangerous character of African
fever.
LETTER LXXXIY.
{To a Sister.)
KivER Shire,
May 1 6, Wednesday.
*****
We are lying moored to the bank of the river, about
three miles above its confluence with the Zambesi. Half
our river voyage is thus finished. We are all in fine health ;
I myself in perfect health. We think very little of fever;
but take fifteen or twenty grains of the mixture of calomel,
quinine, &c., which Livingstone has found eflScacious, lie by
for a day or so, and then get up, a little weakened. In
about a couple of days we are entirely set up : during these
there is a gi'eat tendency to lassitude, which hangs about
and retards recovery, unless an efibrt be made to throw it
off.
*****
We expect to settle somewhere on the high plateau be-
tween the Shire and Shirwa, which ends northwards in the
high mountain Zomba. Our settlement will very likely be
about thirty miles from where we disembark. Of course,
cceteris 'paribus, the nearer the river we are the better : but
we must choose our site partly with a view to health, and.
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 307
the heights are less feverish than the low valley of the Shire,
aud still more with a view to our work, for which a friendly
chief will be a great help. However, we shall see in the
course of our fii-st month, that is, I hope, before the end of
June, where we can best locate ourselves. Then getting to
know the people, putting up buildings, beginning a garden
and a field beyond it, bringing a stream of water to the
house, these will fully occupy us till about Nov. 15, when
the Pioneer will go down to the mouth for our ladies. We
shall all rejoice very much to see them again.
LETTER LXXXV.
{To a Sister.)
May 25, Tuesday.
* * * * *
I amused Livingstone the other day by saying I knew
that his engine burnt wood in the river, but had never
reckoned the time required for cutting it. They cut down
dead trees, and then have to saw them into lengths of about
four feet for the furnaces, and split the thicker blocks. This
often takes two days at a place, furnishing a supply for about
as long. This time we also spent two days and nights a-
ground. This was a serious matter, as the water was not
rising, but gradually falling. With some difliculty we got
off: it was not exactly mission- woi'k, but was a necessary
antecedent to it.
I have had another specimen of the fever since we
anchored here, but it seems slighter and slighter every time :
it came on Saturday morning without interfering with my
breakfast, except by making it lighter than usual, and on
the next day I was able to take part in the service. It
would be worth some people's while to come out here, to get
so easily through a fever.
* * * * *
20—2
308 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
The reader will conclude from these letters that the
ascent of the Shire in the Pioneer was a very wearisome
and laborious matter ; in addition to the difficulties
arising from the necessity of cutting wood for fuel,
there were others arising from the numerous sand-
banks, and the imperfect knowledge of the river pos-
sessed by those who were navigating it. One source
of trouble was inherent in the Pioneer herself; she
drew too much water ; and occasionally a slight devi-
ation from the channel would throw her upon a bank,
upon which she would remain fixed for hours or even
days. These difficulties brought out the finest parts
of the Bishop's character ; he was ready for all
emergencies, and would help to cut wood, or assist in
pushing off the boat, with as much vigour and earnest-
ness as he could possibly exhibit in his own more
peculiar duties. I do not wonder that he should have
made a deep impression upon Dr Livingstone, who, in
several of his letters, speaks in the highest terms of his
character and his fitness for the work.
In a letter which I shall give presently. Bishop
Mackenzie writes under date June 1, " We are not more
than twenty miles from the end of our river voyage :"
but in the letter which will next come before the
reader, under date June 16, the party are still in the
river Shire. This will give some notion of the ex-
tremely tedious character of the voyage. I do not wish
that it should be equally tedious to the reader, but I
cannot refrain from inserting the following letter, which
is addressed to the Cambridge friend to whom was
written Letter XL VIII. ; the letter, to a certain extent,
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SIIIRE. 309
repeats what the reader abeady knows, but it contains
also some expressions of Avarm brotherly feeling, which,
under the circumstances of his own labours and anx-
ieties, are very noticeable, and which I think the
reader would be sorry to lose.
LETTER LXXXVL
(To a Friend in Cambridge.)
BivER Shire,
Sunday, June 16, t86i.
My dear ,
You will hear probably from others what tedious
delays have arisen in our going up to the place of our work.
On Feb. 7 we anchored off the mouth of this river, and
there met Livingstone, who persuaded us to delay our going
up, till he had tried to ascei'tain the feasibility of a road by
the Rovuma.
March 1 found us at Johanna, one of the Comoro Islands,
delayed in reaching the Rovuma by disasters which befell
two of H. M. ships.
April 1 found us returning from the Roviima, which
had eneoxiraged iis at first to believe that it might he. an
open way to the inland country, but from which we were
glad to escape before the falling of the water should make
this impossible. On April 2 we were near the Comoro
Islands again, where we had to pick up those of our party
whom we had left there, not to encumber the vessel in the
exploration of the Rovuma.
May 1 found us crossing the bar of the Zambesi, and the
month and a half since have been spent in labouring up the
Zambesi and Shire. We are now constantly going aground
from the narrow and winding channel, which alone is deep
enovTgh to float us ; and a stick generally costs us three days'
hard work, to be followed probably by a few hours' motion,
3IO MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
in wMcli we proceed a few miles. This is the more distress-
ing, as I have written to Cape Town for our party left
there to come to the Kongone and meet Livingstone and
myself on December 15 j and we have much to do, before
we can call ourselves ready for them.
On the other hand, there is the all-comforting assurance
that tlie work is not our own, but God's : that we did not
seek it for ourselves, but were sent: that we have the
prayers of those at home, and those in South Africa, for our
preservation : and that if only we love God, all things will tvirn
out for our good. I cannot but be most thankful for the spirit
which God has given to all my fellow-workers, lay as well
as clei ical, of patient waiting on God : " Blessed is the man
that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is : for
he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spread-
eth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat
cometh, but her leaf shall be green ; and shall not be careful
in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit." Jer. xvii. 7, 8.
And all this time we have no news from home. The
last letters we got were those that left England by last De-
cember mail : we cannot expect to get others till August
or September next, or perhaps the end of the year. I am
anxious to hear news that may affect the Mission, whether
all those who purposed to come are still in the same mind,
and other such like things. Perhaps I shall hear fi'om you.
You remember how I urged you to get into practical paro-
chial work : I still think this more wholesome for you than
College life. It will bring you into contact with those who
feel the need of religion, and when the great fundamental
truths are not merely propositions to which you assent, nor
only the foundations of your own life and hope, but when
you have fed others too, encouraged the timid, warned the
over-confident, instructed the young, you will find other
points take their subordinate place firmly and distinctly.
You have qualities of intelligence and gentleness, which
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 31 1
would enable you for this ■work. God bless you, my dear
fellow. Write to me.
Yours affectionately,
C. F. M.
One more letter will carry us to the end of this
tiresome river expedition. It is written to a sister in
Scotland.
LETTER LXXXVII.
Dear
Shire,
June 1, i86x.
We are now not more than twenty miles from the end
of our river voyage at Chibisa's. It is just a month since
we crossed the bar. We have come up much more slowly
than we expected. This has been a week of misfortunes.
We have not made more than ten miles since Sunday, and
this is Saturday noon. The fact is, we have been aground
about as many hours as we have been afloat, and the last
stick has been one of the most troublesome we have had
since I first came on board. She was aground midships,
both bow and stern being almost or quite afloat. Accord-
ingly, when we laid out an anchor from her bow she swung
round that way, and when we laid out an anchor from the
stern she just swung back, turning on her middle as on a
pivot, but not coming off. It has been hard work. My
hands are sore and ci'amped with hauling cables and hand-
ling chains and anchors. They say this vessel must never
come up this river again, and they will be thankful if she
ever gets down.
*****
We are proposing now, that as soon as may be after
reaching Chibisa's we should all (except Rowley and Gamble)
313 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
go witli Livingstone to clioose a site, and that "Waller alone
should return to the ship and make successive journeys to
bring up goods, while we remain on the spot, and begin our
work. Rowley and Gamble will stay to get up a shed on
the bank of the river for the reception of goods.
June 13. Well here we are, not having made more
than 6 or 7 miles in the last three weeks. We have had
serious fears that this vessel might be unable to reach
Chibisa's. But yesterday we got out of a difficulty we had
been in for two nights, and we are to-day steaming up with
more hope.
You know I am of a sanguine temperament, and always
believe that things will go well. Some of our party are not
quite so much so : and even I foresee the probability of our
being in some difficulties often. I was glad therefore to
read the other day S. Paul's words, "perplexed but not in
despair," and I mean to steep my mind in them in pi'epara-
tion. Besides, our Lord's promise is for us too, "It shall
be given you in that same hour what ye shall say and do ;"
and those other words we may claim, I think, even more
than clergymen at home, "Lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the world."
July 6. Since I last wrote, we have passed the great
chief of the district, Rondo, and have got his consent to our
going up and settling in the hills ; which is well, though his
consent is obtained more as a matter of form than anything
else : he has little real power with the subordinate chiefs.
We are now within half a mile of Chibisa's, the place
where the steamer anchored last year (but one), and where
the vessel will lie this year.
At length then the Pioneer has arrived at her
anchorage, and the missionaries at the end of their
wanderings upon the water. The reader will observe
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SIIIRE. 313
that I have told the story of the voyage from the Cape
of Good Hope very briefly, or rather have allowed
Bishop Mackenzie himself to do so ; the materials are
in my hands from which the account might have been
made much more full, and perhaps in one sense more
intei"esting ; but I have endeavoured to bear in mind
that my business is not to write a history of the Uni-
versities' Mission to Central Africa, but a memoir of
Bishop Mackenzie, and that this will be done most
effectively by confining myself to a narrative of which
his thoughts and doings shall be the principal or almost
sole constituent. Moreover, much might have been said
concerning the incidents of adventure on the way, con-
cerning the inconveniences and hardships suffered, and
concerning many other matters ; but I think that a
narrative, which passes by all these things, does in re-
ality give the truest and most faithful picture of Bishop
Mackenzie. I notice in all his communications a desire
to be at his work, a tendency to pass by all other
considerations as of little value compared with the
great end of settling his party and commencing mis-
sionary operations : and so I think that the view of
the voyage from the Cape to Chibisa's, which the reader
will have gathered from this chapter, will be a faithful
view of that voyage as it presented itself to Bishop
Mackenzie's own mind.
It may however be interesting to remark, that even
in this voyage his old love for mathematical investiga-
tion did not desert him. I have before me a memoir
of considerable ingenuity on the Method of Least
Squares; it is dated March 7, 1861; probably it was
314 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
the last mathematical paper he ever wi'ote, and doubt-
less it served as an amusement in some weary hour.
The mathematical reader will appreciate the taste and
ability which could find pastime in so difficult a field
of investigation ; the ordinary reader may be satisfied
with being informed, that the subject of the memoir in
question belongs to the highest and most refined region
of mathematical science. Mr Scudamore was also a
mathematician, though his place in the Cambridge
Tripos was not so distinguished as that gained by the
Bishop, and frequently a mathematical discussion (so
delightful to the initiated, though so dry and unin-
telligible to the rest of the world) formed a pleasant
recreation for both.
Perhaps also I ought to observe, before concluding
my account of the long voyage from the Cape, that the
pressing anxiety of his own work did not prevent Bishop
Mackenzie from taking a lively interest in the welfare
of those with whom he was brought in contact. From
Mohella, he wrote a long letter concerning the in-
habitants of the Comoro Islands, especially those of
Mohella^. It seems that the people of this island have
a great dread of French influence, and a gi'eat desire
to receive an English consul ; they opened their hearts
to the Bishop and Dr Livingstone, who spoke many
kind words to them, but were able to do little more.
"If I had not other work on hand," wrote Bishop
Mackenzie, " I could find in my heart to settle here."
^ The letter was published at length in the Guardian newspaper
of Nov. 20, 1S61,
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 315
The letter from Mohella, to which I have just re-
ferred, was accompanied by the following. It was
written to one, for whom he had a very great regard,
and exhibits that earnestness of devotion to his work,
coupled with a playfulness of expression, and at the
same time a depth of tender and affectionate feeling,
which were increasingly characteristic of Mackenzie as
his life advanced.
LETTER LXXXVIII.
Pioneer, April 5, i86r.
Mohella, one of the Comoro Islands.
* * * * *
It is one of the pains attending this kind of work that
our efforts seem to be partly wasted. We are gathering out
the stones, while others are ploughing; but this preliminaiy
state must be gone through. It is just six months since I
left England, and I have not yet seen my work, nor do I ex-
pect to be on the ground for another month. Well, it is
not wasted : it is the road to our work.
I am glad to say that the prospect of our expenses is not
great. There seems every prospect of our being able to gi-ow
our own wheat; vegetables are common; and there is no
reason why we should not have flocks and herds. This will
take a year or two, or more likely tliree : but at the end of
three years I hope to be, to a considerable extent, independ-
ent of such supplies. Materials for clothing will always
come from England. The shoes and boots we brought are
first-rate : the trousers have not stood the work (in my case
it has been, and always will be, heavy) so well as I hoped.
Our ordinary costume is simply flannel-shirt, trousers, shoes
and socks: so there is no complication when things go to
the wash. We have few wants, and no cares, except when
we thought it possible that this vessel might not get out of
3^6 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
tlie Eovuma, in whicli case "we should not have got up the
Shire for many months, or that we miglit be out at sea
without water or fuel in this vessel, which does not sail
well, having no keel. AYith these (little^) exceptions, — I
wrote the word little in joke, and strike it out in earnest, —
which made us pray at the time and be thankful afterwards,
we have had no cares. And if we shall not soon, perhaps
in some cases never, meet our old friends on earth, we have
a sure and cei-tain hope of a better meeting. It is pleasant
to look forward to the one : it is Life and Joy to be sure of
the other.
God bless you all.
Your affectionate brother in Christ,
C. F. M.
We must now return to the Shire. We left the
Pioneer at her anchorage. The missionaries, it will
not be doubted, lost as little time as possible in making
preparations for their journey in search of a settlement.
We will suppose these preparations to have been
made, and the missionary party landed on the left
bank of the Shire. The commencement of the jour-
ney shall be given in the words of Letter LXXXVIL,
which continues as follows.
LETTER LXXXVIL {continuation).
Chibaba's Village,
July 20, i86r.
I am now writing on a Saturday morning. Last Mon-
day we left the vessel, and took to our feet. It is a beau-
tiful country this, as fine as Natal.
You would like to see our picturesque appearance on
march. From 50 to 100 we have been at diffei-ent times
this week. Livingstone in his jacket and trousers of blue
1 In the original the pen has been drawn through the word.
FROM CAPE TOWN TO THE SHIRE. 317
serge and Lis blue cloth cap. His brother, a taller man, in
something of the same dress. I with trousers of Oxford
gi-ey and a coat like a shooting-coat, a broad-brimmed wide-
awake with white cover, which Livingstone laughs at, but
which, all the same, keeps the sun off. He is a Salamander.
Then some thirty natives canying bundles. My large red
carpet-bag, loosely packed, contains my kit, including two
blankets and a rug for bedding : (I sleep on a cork bed,
weighing 7 lbs., an excellent invention). A sack contains
the pots and pans, betrayed by a handle sticking out through
some hole. Livingstone's black people, many of them with
guns; Mobita, who acts as lieutenant, and Charlie, who is
interpreter. All these winding along the narrow path, some-
times admiring the glorious hills, Chiradzula which we left
behind yesterday, Zomba with its flat top, or the distant
peaks and precipices of the Milanje mountains on our right,
beyond Shirwa. We have not seen its blue waters yet :
we are about 1000 feet above it, on a plateau, but there
must be many rising grounds on this plateau from which
the lake will be visible.
-::- * * * .Si-
We are later this morning than usual in making a start.
We generally get two or three hours' walk before breakfast;
but yesterday on getting here it was discovered that one
basket was missing. One of Livingstone's people went back
alone, without giving notice, to look for it, and has not yet
returned, and, in the present state of the country, Living-
stone is anxious about him. I hear this moment that the
man has returned, but four others who went to look for
him are still out. I suppose .we shall be off immediately.
Good bye, then, for the present.
The missionary party are now finally on African
soil, and on their way to choose a settlement. The
important events connected with this choice shall be
reserved for another chapter.
CHAPTER XI.
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO.
"We now come to the most eventful portion of Bishop
Mackenzie's life.
The Pioneer cast anchor at a point of the river
Shire, marked in the map as Chibisas, on July 8. It is
the spot at which Dr Livingstone left the Ma Rohei^t
on his former trips to Shirwa and Nyassa. Bishop
Mackenzie says of it, "it is a beautiful place, on the
right bank of the river : from the ship you can see the
smoke and tops of the huts of the village, still called
Chibisa's, though that chief has returned to his former
place near Tette."
Some time was taken up in landing baggage and
stowing it in a tent, which was erected for the purpose
on an island between the ship and the eastern or left
bank of the river ; and when all necessary arrangements
had been made, the party started on a land expedition,
with Dr Livingstone at their head, and a train of
bearers, as we have seen in the preceding chapter. The
design was to find some healthy situation on the high
ground, where the party might form a settlement, under
the protection and patronage of some friendly chief.
The people inhabiting the district in Avhich the mis-
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 319
sionaries now found themselves are known as Mang-anja;
they appear to be not a very powerful race, at all events
they are inferior in strength and courage to another
tribe, or set of tribes, who occupy the neighbouring
country, and who are known as the Ajawa. It is a slave-
hunting, slave-dealing district, and is full of the evils
which belong to that vile traffic. The Mang-anja, as
the weaker folk, are the greater sufferers ; they are
not themselves by any means guiltless, and though
they feel the inconvenience of living near to a people
fiercer and stronger than themselves, they are full of
the brutality of savage life, and have undoubtedly been
engaged in the traffic from which they themselves suffer
so severely. It was amongst these Mang-anja, that the
missionary party intended, by Dr Livingstone's advice,
to settle themselves, and that they did actually settle.
Just before starting on their expedition, a little
circumstance brought before tlie eyes of the mis-
sionaries the first view of difficulties in which they
might possibly be involved. Four men came down to
Chibisa's to represent that the Ajawa were making
war upon the Mang-anja people, and to seek assist-
ance. This brought the question of the attitude
which the missionaries should assume with regard
to the slave-trade very close home. "The question,"
says Bishop Mackenzie in a letter to the Bishop
of Oxford, "had been raised before, whether it would
be right to use guns in self-defense, if by any possi-
bility our own people should attack us. And we were
nearly unanimous in thinking that we had better let
matters go to any extremities, even to the loss of our
320 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
own lives, than take the life of one of those for whose
conversion we had come. We agreed that anything
short of taking life was allowable in self-defense." The ■
question, which was raised by the request for assistance
against the oj)pression of the Ajawa, was however mani-
festly different from that which the missionaries had
discussed. They had agreed that they would not hold
by force their position amongst the tribes whom they
came to teach and evangelize ; but what should they
do in case of being asked to assist tribes who received
them gladly, supposing there should be such, in repell-
ing aggression from neighbouring hostile tribes? It
would not follow that because they ought not to defend
themselves in a warlike manner against their own flock,
therefore they ought not to help the weak against
the strong, and prevent their mission work amongst
friendly people from being stopped by the interference
of mischievous and depraved neighbours. Bishop
Mackenzie at once saw that questions might possibly
arise, which would require his most anxious and prayer-
ful consideration. For the present, he was content to
leave such questions unanswered. He says in the
letter just above referred to, "I thought I should be
guided to a right course, if the emergency should occur,
which did not seem very likely ; and praying for such
guidance, I went on without coming to a decision on the
point."
I have given this account of what passed through
Bishop Mackenzie's mind, when the first appearance of
the possibility of a conflict with the Ajawa tribes pre-
sented itself, in order that we may fully understand
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 321
that the policy of the missionary party was essentially
pacific, and that we may be prepared to believe that
nothing but overwhelming necessity (in the Bishop's
judgment) could have induced him to adopt a policy of
an opposite kind.
The foundation of this pacific policy was destroyed,
(as we shall see), before the entire responsibility of
the conduct of the party devolved upon the Bishop.
It may perhaps be questioned, whether, under any
circumstances, a thoroughly pacific course would have
been understood and appreciated by men situated as
the Mang-anja people were ; I mean, whether they
would have been able to comprehend the conduct of
men who professed their desire to teach a more ex-
cellent way than the slave traffic, and yet sat with
their guns by their sides while the Ajawa were hunting
them do^vn and selling them for slaves ; but anyhow,
such a course of conduct to be effective and impressive
must be severely consistent ; it must begin with non-
intervention, and end with non-intervention ; as soon
as the first blow has been struck for the purpose of
regenerating the country by physical force, the pacific
policy can hardly fail to be mistaken for indifference or
cov/ardice.
In saying this, I intend to cast no blame upon the
conduct of Dr Livingstone, which will be related pre-
sently ; that he acted with the best intention no one
will doubt, and I think that it would be a bold thing
to say that his conduct was not wise and justifiable ; I
only desire that it should be thoroughly understood to
what extent that conduct committed the Bishop and
21
332 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
his party, and that in any judgment which may be
formed of his subsequent deahngs with the natives due
weight may be given to the first step, for which he
was in fact not responsible.
Of course it may be said, that in a country in which
the slave-trade is rampant, and the more powerful are
preying ujDon the weaker and hunting them down for
slaves, there is no proper missionary field : it may be
said that the true Christian policy, however difficult
it may be to practise, is to wait patiently until either
the progress of civilization and the entrance of lawful
commerce, or the undisputed possession of the more
powerful tribes, have taken away from the list of mis-
sionary difficulties those which arise from the minds of
the people being disturbed by the constant presence of
war : and a very good argument may be based upon
these premisses against interfering in any manner with
the intestine troubles of savage tribes. But the reader
ought to bear in mind that however good such a line
of argument may be, it was not open to Bishop
Mackenzie. It was not open to him to consider whether
the tribes on the banks of the Shire were in a fit state
for missions : he was sent as a missionary to them
after the circumstances of the case had been weighed,
and an opinion in favour of a mission had been formed :
he could not retreat without changing the character of
the mission or giving it up altogether ; and therefore
he had to determine what course of conduct he should
pursue, when he found himself in friendly communica-
tion with tribes, whom the neighbouring Ajawa were
willing to oppress, and persecute, and sell into slavery.
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 323
Having made these preliminary observations, I will
now continue the narrative ; and I cannot do so in any-
better way than by quoting the Bishop's own account,
as contained in the letter to the Bishop of Oxford, from
which I have already made an extract.
LETTER LXXXIX.
*****
It was on Monday last, July 15, that we left the ship.
We had been in some anxiety how we should get our things
carried up. You know that there is no four-footed beast
here larger than a goat ; so luggage must be carried by men.
We were thankful to find on the Monday morning that we
had fifteen bearers, in addition to the six coloured men from
the ship, whom Livingstone had most kindly assigned to us.
We were prepared to start if we could get ten men to carry.
How rich we were now with twice as many ! and before the
end of the day we had twenty-seven.
We were a strange jjai'ty. Livingstone tramping along
with a steady heavy tread, which kept one in mind that he
had walked across Africa. * * * We were all loaded.
I had myself in my left-hand a loaded gun, in my right the
orozier which they gave me at Cape Town, in front a can of
oil, and behind a bag of seeds, (together weighing about
twenty-five pounds,) which I carried the greater part of the
day. I thought of the contrast between my weapon and my
staff, the one like Jacob, the other like Abraham, who armed
his trained servants to rescue Lot. I thought also of the
seed which we must sow in the hearts of the people, and of
the oil of the Spix-it that must strengthen us in all we do.
We got to that day's end most of us stifi" and tired, and
found that the last three miles had not only been more than
was intended, but being off the road had not shortened our
march. The people of the village refused to sell anything.
For ourselves we had biscuit and salt beef to eat with our
tea and coffee, but the people that wex'e with us had eatea
21—2
324 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
nothing since morning, and many of our bearers had pro-
bably fasted all day. We followed Livingstone's example,
giving the party a piece of cloth, that they might try their
success in bartering, and that if they failed they might at
least not blame us, and might console themselves by a divi-
sion of the stuff. It was but two yards of calico among
twenty-one persons.
In the morning on calling our bearers it seemed that five
had gone off to try and buy meal at a neighbouring village.
We took a cup of coffee, but were to breakfast at the next
village. The sun was up, and Livingstone was anxious not
%o detain the whole party (in all forty-seven); so Procter
remained with me to bring up the rear. We sat on one of
the packages in the middle of that heathen village, and read
the Psalms for the day, chanting the doxologies ; partly be-
cause we are both fond of music, partly that the people
might become aware of our occupation, as they doubtless
would from one of our Christian blacks who stayed with us.
At last the men appeared, and we started. We knew the
general direction, and at every place where the path branch-
ed one of the leadei's of the party made a scrape with his
shoe across the path which we were to avoid, or laid a fresh
twig across to mark it. We got to the village of Mambame
about an hour after the others, and learned that by going
out of the way the previous day, we had this morning I'eached
this village by a much easier path than that which Living-
stone already knew, a discovery of far more importance for
the future than simply for the ease of that mox-ning's walk.
With what appetites we sat down to breakfast about eleven,
you may imagine.
But now comes the important part of my story. Living-
stone being not quite well, and this village being large, and
the head man, Mambame, friendly, it was decided to stay for
the day. I went down to the stream with Procter and
Scudamore to bathe. We heard a sound of penny trumpets,
and thought Livingstone had been giving away presents:
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 325
•when sliortly Dr Kirk came and told us that a party of six
men with muskets had come flourishing into the village,
with a train of eighty-four slaves; that the men had run
away and the slaves were free ; that our guns had all been
out, though the conscience-stricken wretches had needed no
firing to hasten their flight. There had been five or ten
minutes' notice of their approach, so that Livingstone had
time delibex-ately to take his course, — a course which no one
can blame; but surely all will join in blessing God that we
have such a fellow-countryman.
When I came up from the stream I found the whole
party that had been freed sitting in groups round fires, which
they had lighted and were feeding with the sticks which had
been fastened round the necks of some to reduce them to
obedience. There was a preponderance of children ; not
many men. In answer to Livingstone's inquiries, they said
they had been brought from Zomba, that is, near the place
where we thought of settling ourselves. One little boy
looked up at Livingstone and said, " They starved us : and
you tell us to cook food for ourselves : where do you come
from?"
It seems that Mambame gave Livingstone notice that
a large slave-party was coming, and would reach his village
that day. * * * The party arrived. Livingstone at
once recognized amongst the drivers a slaver whom he had
known at Tette, He took him by the wrist and said,
" What are you doing here, killing people ? I shall kill you
to-day." The man (Keturah) answered, "I do not kill; I
am not making war ; I bought these people." Livingstone
then inquired of the slaves. Two men said, " We were
bought :" six said, " We were captured :" and several of the
women said, " Our husbands and relatives were killed, and
here we are." By this time some of Livingstone's people,
(Makololo and others,) had begun to plunder the party and
tear the clothing from the backs of the drivers. Keturah
said, "May I have my gun again?" Livingstone said,
3^6 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
" Yes, if I am satisfied about you :" he then added, " We
will free these people," and began himself to cut their bonds
and loose them. They were tied together as usual in gangs
of two or three or five or six, by strong cords fastened to a
cord round the neck, so that they can walk in Indian file
along the path. Livingstone then explained to the late
captives that they were free, that those who liked might go
on to Tette, and those who liked might return home, or stay
for the present under the protection of the English. Of
course all stayed. All this time they were expressing grati-
tude and respect in the native fashion, by a slow clapping of
the hands. Livingstone told them to cook and eat, but
they said, " These things have taken us by surprise ; we will
eat jiresently." Some of the captives told us, that two
women who had been trying to escape had been shot as an
example, and that an infant who was too heavy to be carried
by its mother-, along with the burden assigned to her, had
its brains dashed out before her eyes to solve the difiiculty.
There is something awful in being brought so near to the
cruelties of which we have heard so much.
The following day we proceeded and kept a look out as
we walked, having heard that another party of slaves was
a-head on its way to the Shire (that is, coming to meet us).
About an hour after we started we found six captives, three
women and three boys. The captors ran away and left them
in our hands.
* * * * *
Yesterday we had a long march. We split our body in
order to follow two paths, and on arriving at night at Man-
gazi, we found that Waller and Charles Livingstone had
surprised two Tette men, with four guns and six captives.
The captives were free, the captors were bound. This made
our number ninety-eight. The villains made their escape
during the night, though guarded by five trusty men.
To-day we came on to this place, known as Chibaba's,
though Chibaba has died since Livingstone was here two
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 327
jears ago. We learn here that the Ajawa are near us, per-
haps five or ten. miles from this, in what the people here call
considerable force, that yesterday they attacked and burned
a village near this, and made captives, and that yesterday
calico went up to them from men of Tette in our rear to
buy captives.
The Ajawa live on the south-west of Shirwa, about 100
miles from this, but Livingstone heard when he was here
before that they come over here to fight, and it seems that
a few of them have settled in villages on this side of Shirwa.
* * * * I ought to have said, that whereas our plan
was to come up here to Chibaba's, where we are, and to
Chinsunzi, who is the next chief in the neighbourhood, and
with Livingstone's advice select a site near to some largish
village, it was suggested when these eighty-four captives
were rescued that we should plant oui'selves in some con-
venient place with these people to begin with. Accordingly
it is now under consideration where we shall settle. In the
meantime we have left our ninety freed people at Soche's,
under the care of Procter and Scudamore.
July 20. This morning some light was thrown upon the
question of our future settlement, by the chief of this village
(Chigunda) asking how long Livingstone would stay in this
country. He answered that he himself would go this month,
but that some would stay altogether v ith our fi'eed people.
Chigunda said, " Will they not stay here 1 All the chiefs
around have fled before the Ajawa; Chinsunzi has hid him-
self for fear. I only remain ; and I will not run away, if the
English will stay with me." Livingstone said, " But there
are so many people, and there may be more : and they will
want gardens." Chigunda said, " There is plenty of room for
them here." It was only last night that I determined to
ask this man if he would like us to be near him with our
freed people, and to be guided partly by his answer. The
objections to this place are, that it is nearly twice as far
fi-om the ship as the plain we selected on oui* way up, and
328 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
does not seem so fertile and beantiful, or to have sucli facili-
ties for water-power : but we have not seen enough of either
to make a fair comparison.
I ought to say a word about the principle of using force,
and even firing, if necessary, upon the captors of these poor
creatures, in order to free them. The objection lay chiefly
in this, that having been sent out to this country to bring
blessing and peace to the people, I could not reconcile it to
myself to kill them even in self-defense: and I still think
that if by any possibility the people of this land should
attack us, to drive us away or to rob us, we ought not to
kill our own sheep. But this is a different case. These are
strangers from Tette and beyond Shirwa, coming to make
war on our people and carry them off as slaves. This we
must help them to resist by every means. Livingstone is
right to go with loaded gun and free the poor slaves ; and
there being so few English here, we are right, though clei'gy-
men and preachers of the Gospel to go with him, and by
our presence, and the sight of our guns, and their use, if
necessary (which may God avert), to strengthen his hands
in procuring the libei'ation of these people. When Kii'k
went down last Thursday to the ship, where Rowley is, I
wrote to Rowley to say, " Do as you think right your-
self; but my advice is, that you volunteer to help Kirk by
going armed in the boat or by staying armed on board, and
use your gun, if necessary : but if you ai'e not required, be
glad that you are sj)ared so painful a position. I intend to
act on that principle here." I believe some will blame
Livingstone, and more will blame me : but I can only act as
I think right, after often using the Collect for the first
Sunday after Epiphany and similar prayers.
*****
July 22. I take out my letter, not to detail the events
of this day, for that would weary you ; but I will only say
that being on our way towards the Ajawa, and meeting
many persons running away from the war, we learned at one
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 329
village that some Tette pecr^ile wlio had come up to buy
captives yesterday, were on their return, with a great many
slaves, and were close at hand : having got one or two
natives to shew us where they were, we turned aside, and
after two miles' march came upon them, freed more than forty
captives, and took three Tette slavers prisoners. One of these
says that he was sent by his master, and that the Govern-
ment of Tette knew of his going.
*****
I am now writing with two groups of these freed people
before me, dressed (elaborately, almost extravagantly, ac-
cording to native ideas, having from one to two yards of
white calico wrapped rovmd them) with the stuff intended
by their captors to increase the nximber of miserables. In
the middle of each group is a fire, with two or three black
earthenware native pots, cooking porridge of fine white na-
tive meal, almost as fine and white as flour, or pieces of
goat-meat. This food was captured with them. On my
right-hand are the three prisoners, their own necks now con-
fined in the forked sticks we took from the captured men, of
which I have made a rough sketch : a stick as thick as one's
thigh, six or eight feet long, with a natural fork, and with
an iron pin passing thi'ough in front of the neck. A man
with such a thing on is very helpless.
It will be seen from this narrative, that even before
a settlement had been fixed upon, a character had been
impressed upon the Mission party, which they had not
S3<^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
contemplated at first. Thej had come to preach the
Gospel, and to instruct and civilize the natives, and by
indirect moral means to raise a protest against slave-
taking and slave-selling : but now they stood before
the country as slave-liberators, and it is manifest that
this character would be in the eyes of the natives a
very different one from that of mere preachers and
teachers. I am not at all condemning the conduct of
the party, nor do I see how Englishmen, situated as
Dr Livingstone and the Bishop were, could very well
have acted in a different way : but certainly it was a
way which led the Mission party out of the intended
track, and which if it promised greater usefulness, at
the same time entailed greater responsibility.
Moreover, the liberation of the slaves had an im-
portant influence upon determining the settlement of
the Missionaries. They had now a tribe, as it were,
of their own ; the Bishop had become an African
Chief, and he could settle down not as a visitor in a
native village, but as the head of his own population,
the father of his own family. This is the character in
which we must henceforth view him ; and the mission-
ary problem which was given him to solve was this,
whether with a number of natives attached to him
by the bonds of gratitude and affection, he could hold
his position in the country, civilize and convert those
brought into immediate contact with him and his party,
and make the settlement a centre of light and freedom
to the country round.
Towards the end of July the missionaries settled
themselves down at a spot called Magomero. The reader
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 331
will see its position upon the map. The chief advantage
of its situation seems to have been, that it is included
by the bend of a river in such manner that by running a
stockade across from bank to bank over the promontory,
the settlement would become safe from any hostile
attack. On the other hand, the sanitary circumstances
of the place were not good ; it was low and covered with
trees, so that the party found by sad experience that
it did not secure for them that immunity from fever
which they had been led to expect in the high land.
It was also inconveniently distant from the river sta-
tion, Chibisa's, — about 60 miles; this length of journey,
up hill, with a bad road and no beasts of burden, was
certainly a great drawback, and might have seemed
to those, who did not know all the circumstances of the
case, an objection which should have been fatal. How-
ever, Magomero was chosen as the Mission Station, and
there Dr Livingstone and his party left the missionaries
while he pursued his own journey of exploration.
The first consideration was the erection of huts for
residences. The reader will see in the drawing opposite
to this page the appearance of the settlement in its
complete state. It was a matter of much labour, how-
ever, for some months to bring things to a condition of
such apparent comfort ; all laboured vigorously, none
more so than the Bishop himself ; and, indeed, it seems
wonderful how the missionary village could have been
built so well and so speedily.
But the erection of the village was not the only
labour. A population of more than 100 had been
thrown upon the hands of the missionaries by the
33^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
emancipation of the slaves. These had to be provided
for; many of them were women and children. The
children must be educated ; and it was thought that in
the absence of j^erfect communication with them by
language, it would be well to attempt the foundation of
their education by bodily discipline. Accordingly, under
the direction of Mr Scudamore, they were drilled and
taught the first lessons of order and submission to au-
thority. One portion of the drill was amusing : the
small regiment of boys were drawn up in line by the
side of the river ; then at the word of command given,
the whole body plunged into the water, no doubt with
the best results. The women it was more difficult to
deal with. The Bishop often sighed for the female
part of the mission party, feeling that the presence
amongst themselves of some Christian women was, un-
der God, the only means of purifying the minds of the
female portion of the Magomero heathen settlers. He
sincerely hoped that this defect in the missionary staff
would be corrected towards the end of the year, when
Dr Livingstone had arranged, having returned from his
own journey of discovery, to descend the river in the
Pioneer, and bring up the first party of ladies who were
to meet him by appointment at Kongone.
I shall presently give a more full account of the
peaceful and happy occupations of Magomero, as de-
scribed by the Bishop himself Indeed, I may say here,
that the life of the missionaries appears to have been
most peaceful and most happy : in one of his letters
the Bishop declares with most affectionate earnestness,
that he believes there never was a man so fortunate
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. ZZ?*
in his fellow-workers as himself, and they on their
part appear to have felt to the full extent that personal
influence of Mackenzie's character, and that warm love
towards himself, of which I have had occasion to speak
in a former part of this memoir, I would willingly
dwell only on this portion of the mission work, but
unfortunately it is necessary at once to describe events
which were of a different kind, — events which I will
endeavour to describe simply and fairly, and then leave
the reader to form his own candid judgment concerning
them.
The reader has seen that the principles, upon which
the missionaries took up their position at Magomero,
were of necessity affected by the liberation of the
captives on their way thither. The emancij)ation not
only surrounded them with a native population attached
to them by a strong bond of interest, and threw an un-
expected responsibility upon the Mission, but (as I
have already observed,) it published the advent of
the missionaries, to the apprehension of the natives,
as an engagement to protect the weak against the
strong, and to defend the friendly tribes against their
slave-hunting neighbours. I do not intend to assert
that Dr Livingstone, in liberating the captives, or
the missionaries in co-operating with him, at all de-
sired to pledge themselves to a war against slave-
hunters; it would clearly have been most impolitic
and unwise and unsuitable to do this ; but I think it
cannot admit of a doubt, that the interpretation which
would be put by the natives upon the first acts of
emancipation would be something of this kind — " here
334 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
are men who will not permit slave-dealing to be carried
on : they have power and will on their side : hence-
forth, if we want help, we shall know where to seek it."
Dr Livingstone evidently perceived that such an
interpretation was possible, and of course he equally
perceived that it was an interpretation, the fallacy of
which could not be demonstrated too soon. Accord-
ingly, when he took his leave of the missionary party at
Magomero, at the end of July, he warned them against
taking any part in defending the Mang-anja tribes
against the Ajawa : he said, they must expect to have
constant applications for help, but they must not
yield to them. Applications, as he had predicted, soon
arrived from various quarters, all in most urgent terms
stating that the enemy was close at hand, and that they
expec1:ed to be destroyed in a day or two. These stories
the Bishop and his party did not wholly believe ; in-
deed, there were inconsistencies in the accounts which
made it impossible to give credence to them all. Never-
theless, they found it painful to be compelled to turn a
deaf ear daily to men, who told them that their wives
and children were sleeping in the bush, and that no one
dared to cultivate the ground for fear of being seized
and sold into slavery.
At length a more formal application was made. On
August 7 ambassadors came from Ghinsunzi and Kan-
komba, the two greatest chiefs in the country, to inquire
whether they might themselves come and state their
case and ask for help. To this application the Bishop
did not think it right to say no ; and accordingly, on
August 9 the two chiefs arrived, with about one hundred
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 335
attendants. The mission party was strengthened by
two ojfficers of the Pioneer, and altogether mustered
ten white and three black.
Before admitting the chiefs to a conference, the
Bishop debated with his friends the general question,
Could they, under any circumstances, entertain the pe-
tition ? or must they at once give a refusal, as they had
hitherto done?
The answer to these questions was based upon two
principles. In the first place, the missionaries con-
sidered that had they been an ordinary body of English
Christians settling amongst the Mang-anja as friends
and neighbours, and had these friends and neighbours
been in danger from a fierce enemy, who would destroy
the strong men and sell the rest into slavery, they, the
English Christians, would be justified in putting them-
selves at the head of the Mang-anja, and so giving
them their support against an. enemy, otherwise in-
vincible. But, secondly, they concluded, and that with-
out a dissentient voice, that if the circumstances were
such as to make it their duty, regarded simply as
English Christians, to head their Mang anja friends,
there was nothing in the fact of the clerical character
of the party to annul the duty. No doubt, they argued,
such work is best left to lay hands, as it would be in
a civilized country ; but so also in a civilized country
a clergyman would not build his own parsonage, nor
perform a number of duties which must fall upon
missionaries in a wild country like central Africa : and
if it should be said, that no clergyman should be en-
gaged in shedding human blood, it might be replied that
33^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
neither should any Christian be so engaged ; but as
there are conditions which render scenes of bloodshed
the right scenes for Christian duty, so there may be
conditions which render such scenes not unsuitable
even for a Bishop and his clergy.
These considerations led the missionaries to agree
not to give a decided negative to the application from
the Mang-anja. It may be open to doubt whether the
conclusion to which they came was the wisest and best :
of course the natural tendency of the minds of Chris-
tians at home, removed from the actual scene of opera-
tions, and enabled to contemplate it upon abstract
principles, is to condemn the conclusion as unsound ;
and it may be added, on this side of the argument, that
Dr Livingstone had himself warned the missionaries
that they would receive applications, and that they
must not attend to them. But, on the other hand,
I think that we are bound to regard with great re-
spect a conclusion arrived at on the spot, by men whose
every feeling would draw them away from the con-
clusion to which their judgment brought them, and in
the soundness of which (as will be seen hereafter)
Dr Livingstone ultimately expressed his belief. I am
certain that no person who was acquainted with Bishop
Mackenzie would believe, that anything less than a
very strong conviction of the duty and necessity of
assisting their friends would have induced him to adopt
a course of conduct, from which his gentle heart would
shrink ; and I shall be much disappointed if those who
know him only through the medium of this memoir,
have not gained suflEicient confidence in him to adopt
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 337
the same view. We have seen ah'eady, that in the first
colHsion with slave-takers he anticipated much blame
for his conduct from friends at home, but he counted
the cost, and believed that he was " doing right ; and
in the present instance, he must still more surely have
seen that his conduct would be severely criticized ; the
ground was less clear, the responsibility was greater ;
yet, with all this before him, he considered that it
would be unworthy of the place which they had as-
sumed amongst the friendly tribes, if they should stand
by as idle spectators of the destruction of their friends.
He again counted the cost, and did what he believed
to be his duty ; I would ask, therefore, at the hands
of the reader, for one so good and gentle, placed in
such strange and painful circumstances, a kindly and
considerate judgment.
There was one point which does not seem to have
entered into the calculations of the Bishop and his
friends, but which was certainly worthy of consider-
ation, as the event proved : — I mean the real relations
in which the Mang-anja tribes stood to the Ajawa.
The missionaries seem to have assumed that the dis-
trict in which they were settled Avas Mang-anja ground,
that the Ajawa ground was at a distance from them,
and that the incursion of the Ajawa, which was now
causing so much terror, wa§ (as it were) an accidental
raid, which might be checked by showing a firm front,
and would then subside and leave the Mang-anja in
peace. It was clearly impossible that they could be
for ever fighting native battles ; and if the ground
upon which they had fixed themselves were such as
22
S3^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
could be held only by such a course, then it would
be obvious that the ground was unfit for missionary
work. Now the truth appeared to be, though the
missionaries were not aware of it at the time, that
they had made their settlement at Magomero just at
the time of the approach of a more powerful tribe :
the Ajawa attack was not a casual outbreak of a
stationary people, but the indication of an aggressive
policy on the part of a race who felt themselves to be
stronger than the present occupiers of the country.
This process of conquest, of the possession of weaker
tribes by more powerful, has, as we well know, been
going on from the beginning ; it is, as it were, a law
of the world's progress, and though the process may
be productive of much misery, and may be a very
painful spectacle for Christian eyes, and may bring to
mind the thought that the whole creation groaneth and
travaileth in pain, still it is one against which it is
useless to contend ; and it is after the healing of the
wounds caused by this terrible natural surgery, that
the missionary work of the Gospel of peace has its proper
point of commencement. It was after the Saxons had con-
quered their position in Britain, and become undisputed
lords of the soil, that they were converted to the faith
by Christian missionaries. Had Bishop Mackenzie and
his party known at the time as much as they knew
afterwards, they might possibly have come to the
conclusion that Magomero was the wrong spot for their
settlement, and they might have effected at once that
migration which was carried out afterwards ; but if
they were to hold their position in the neighbourhood of
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 339
the Ajawa tribes, I think that nothing would have
persuaded them that any line of policy was feasible
other than that which they adopted.
But to return to our story. Having come to the
conclusion which has been above explained, the mis-
sionaries went and received the petition of the chiefs.
They declined to give them an immediate answer ; but
explained that some of their party had just come from
the vessel at Chibisa's, and were weary with their
journey, so that it would be necessary to defer their
final answer till Monday. Meanwhile, however, they
wished to ask the chiefs a few questions. Would the
Mang-anja people join together, if the missionaries
headed them ? Yes. Who would join ? Chinsunzi,
Kankomba, and some ten or twelve subordinate persons,
in lively speeches, expressed their willingness. How
many followers could they bring? Many more than
were there present. Had they any guns ? Yes, they
had some.
On Saturday night, the missionaries discussed the
answer which they should finally give ; and they de-
termined to go. But in coming to this determination,
it was necessary to have some settlement of the terms
on which they should assist the Mang-anja ; they were
to help these men against those who would take them
and sell them as slaves ; but how if the Mang-anja
should indulge in slave-dealing themselves, as doubt-
less they had done in former times? There was no
native law against it, and custom was in its favour :
would it not be a grand step in the missionary work,
if the assistance given to the Mang-anja against their
22—2
34° MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
euemies could be made the occasion for enacting a law
against slave-taking amongst themselves ? This seemed
to be the right basis for the defensive alliance ; ac-
cordingly, on Monday, when the chiefs came for their
final answer, the Bishop said to them, "We will head
you against the Ajawa on certain terms :
I. The captives in the hands of the Ajawa are to
be set free. No one shall claim them as his. They
shall go where they please.
II. You will all promise not to buy or sell men
any more.
III. You will all promise to join in punishing any
chief who sells men.
IV. If any persons come to buy men, you will not
let them stay, but will drive them away, and tell us."
To these conditions the chiefs agreed ; to the second
they replied that they never did such a thing, but the
Bishop told them not to deny it, but to promise for the
future ; to the third Kankomba declared that if he ever
found any one selling men, he would bind him. The
chiefs having agreed, the Bishop invited all those who
would promise to stand up : they all stood up : and so
the alliance was made. The natives applauded the
result with three slow united deep-sounding claps of
the hands.
On August 13, the Bishop and his party arrived
at Chinsunzi's, but not sufficiently early to see where
the hostile Ajawa were situated. Soon after six o'clock
the next morning they started, followed by a large
body of natives, probably nearly a thousand. In about
two hours they came in sight of the Ajawa villages.
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 34 ^
It was determined that before anything else was done,
a parley should be attempted by two of the English
going unarmed towards the Ajawa camp, and requesting
an interview with the chiefs, also unarmed. The Bishop
himself, with Mr Waller, undertook this task ; they
were accompanied by Charles Thomas, one of the Cape-
town men, and by one of the Mang-anja : this arrange-
ment was necessary, inasmuch as the Bishop was com-
pelled to speak in English, which was translated into
Makao, his own language, by Charles, and so made in-
telligible to the Mang-anja man, who finally acted as
interpreter to the Ajawa.
The terms proposed to the Ajawa were as follows :
I. They must liberate all their captives.
II. They must give up all Tette men and others,
who might be with them to buy slaves.
III. They must give up all their guns, and go right
away out of the country.
It was hardly expected that these terms would be
accepted, but it was thought right to offer them. The
parley turned out to be a more dangerous affair than
was anticipated : the Bishop and his small unarmed party
went somewhat rashly (as it would seem) out of sight
of their friends, and had an interview with half a dozen
of the Ajawa, who were armed with bows and arrows,
and one with a gun : indeed, as Charles Thomas after-
wards informed the Bishop, they only escaped with
their lives by the fact of the parleying party disobeying
orders, which were shouted to them from head-quarters,
to fire upon them at once. The result was nothing :
when the Ajawa heard that the Bishop and his friends
342 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
were English, tliey said, "We do not want to have
anything to do with the EngHsh ; they help the Mang-
anja against us."
Having performed their perilous task, the parleying
party retired, first walking, and then at length, when
the thought of a musket-ball in their rear had had time
(as the Bishop expresses it) to produce in their legs a
sufficient amount of nervous irritation, running.
It was now clear that the hostile measures must pro-
ceed. Before the parley above described, the Bishop
with his friends and Mang-anja allies had gained a com-
manding situation, overlooking the Ajawa encampment ;
soon after ten they were marching down the hill under
the direction of Mr Waller, to whom the Bishop had
wisely given the chief command. The result of the
conflict appears never to have been doubtful ; the few
English were as a host on the side of the Mang-anja,
who, though inferior to the Ajawa when left to them-
selves, fought with sufficient courage under English
auspices. In one hour the victory was gained ; but
it was more than three before the affau- was entirely
over, and the victorious party brought back from the
pursuit.
It must have been a very painful day for Bishop
Mackenzie. War, in its most civilized form, is suffi-
ciently revolting to gentle minds ; but the war of bar-
barous people is utterly horrible, and the Bishop found
that he had the double work of assisting the oppressed
against the oppressors, and then of restraining the
savage zeal of the oppressed in their flush of victory.
When the victory was complete, and the Mang-anja
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 343
restrained from pursuit, other cares opened upon the
missionaries. It was necessary to see that the regula-
tions were enforced respecting the captives : the Bishop
had given assistance on certain terms ; he was bound to
see that those terms were fulfilled. A number of
captives who were in the hands of the Ajawa were
taken in charge by the Bishop, while others of the
party led back the body of natives who had gone to
the war.
It was a weary march home ; many were foot-sore,
many leg-sore. On the way a touching incident took
place. Passing through a deserted village, the Bishop
observed a httle boy, looking very ill, sitting in the
door of a hut. He desired a man to take the child up,
and bring him along with the party : the man objected,
saying that the child was sickly, and that it was of no
use to take him. The Bishop, however, insisted, and
the child was carried as he had desired. When they
got to Chinsunzi's, the village in which they were to halt
for the night, the child was deadly cold : the Bishop
took him into his own hut, wrapped him in a blan-
ket, and tried, though in vain, to administer some
brandy : he lay by the Bishop's side all night : in the
course of it brandy was tried again, but with no better
success. In the morning the child died : the Bishop
had baptized him the evening before, giving him the
name of Charles Henry : he was buried in a place
assigned by the chief, the English funeral service being
read over his remains.
On the evening of the engagement they counted
eighty women and children of rescued captives. Next
344 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
day, the chiefs of the allied army met, and the Bishop
reminded them of the conditions of the alliance, namely,
that all rescued captives should be allowed to go where
they pleased. These were separated from the captured
Ajawa, and each woman was allowed to name some
Mang-anja man with whom she wished to go, he
promising to be kind to her, and not to sell her. All
were disposed of on these terms, which seemed to give
general satisfaction ; the missionaries alone felt a little
disappointed, that after the part they had taken in
the rescue, none cared to come with them and settle
at Magomero. The Ajawa women and children had not
been included in the treaty ; but these the mission-
aries took under their own charge, rightly considering
that it would be impossible to entrust them to the
tender mercies of the Mang-anja, even with a promise
of good behaviour towards them. They also took the
Mang-anja orphan children who were too young to
choose for themselves. They then told the Mang-anja
people, that the Ajawa having been driven away, it
behoved them to work diligently in their fields, lest a
famine should come upon the land.
The adjudication lasted four hours, and was veiy
laborious. Then came the burial of the little boy al-
ready mentioned, and then the march home. They
started at about tAvo P.M. The march was very weari-
some, and was still further complicated by rain. The
Bishop would not leave his charge, and many of them
were not more than ten years old. It seemed likely that
they would have to spend another night upon the road,
and there was no village in which to shelter ; happily.
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 345
some of the Mang-anja came up, and, at the Bishop's
instigation, consented to carry some of the Httle ones.
He himself set the example, and walked into Magomero
at eight o'clock in the evening, with a little girl on his
back, amid three cheers from those of the party who
had already returned. Charles Thomas remained to
bring up the rear, and did not reach home till half-
past nine. This man had been out for fifteen hours,
without sitting down and without eating, yet never
grumbling or complaining of his position, but rejoicing
in the opportunity of doing something for people, with
whom, as a rescued slave himself, he knew so well how
to sympathise. As they walked home together, the
Bishop said to him, " Charles, it is wonderful those
men did not fire on us this morning, when we asked
them to send the chief to a parley." He said, " Yes,
sir, I have been thinking that it was God that pro-
tected us."
This expedition added about forty to the population
at Magomero, dependent upon the missionaries ; it
having been no less than 111 previously. Here was a
serious increase of responsibility ; but th^ Bishop looked
upon it with his usual cheerful hopefulness. Speaking
of the general results of the expedition, he says, " The
results are, that we have freed at least forty (probably
three or four times as many) captives who were in the
Ajawa camp, ready to be sold into slavery to men
from Tette, who were in the camp at the very time :
and, on the other hand, we have captured about forty
(perhaps many more) of the Ajawa, but have brought
them not into slavery, but into more perfect freedom,
34^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
and besides, brought them within hearing of the Gos-
pel, which we hope soon to be able to preach to them.
Then we have given peace and security, which I trust
will be lasting, to a large tract of country, which was
gradually melting away into a desert, as the flames
of Ajawa war spread across it ; and we have given, I
trust, a decisive second blow to the slave-trade in these
parts, — Livingstone having given the first. We have
also got the chiefs (at least the most influential in
these parts) to agree to abstain from and abolish the
buying and selling of people, and have made it legiti-
mate for those who hate such traffic to use force to
prevent it ; and I believe that these results, combined
with the steady influence of Christian teaching and
example, and the introduction of legitimate trade, will
soon make slavery unknown here, at one of its freely
flowing sources."
" But if," he continues, " the stream is to be dried up,
it is not enough to dry up one of its springs. We cannot
at present exercise an influence to much effect beyond
thirty or forty miles on every side. There is an opening
for other efforts of the same kind as ours. In a year
or two I shall hope to have split up all the men I
have, or expect, so as to cover a wider extent of country
than I have just named, and then I shall be com-
pelled to call on you at home to make another great
effort, and send us out further reinforcements. I speak
of this at once, that you may be prepared for the
appeal when it comes. In the mean time, may God
bless our efforts here, and give us peace, that we may
learn the language and the habits of this people, and
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 347
may proceed with the moral and religious training of
those whom God may put within our reach."
Having done what they deemed right for the pro-
tection of their friendly neighbours, and for the re-
pression of slave-hunting, the missionaries now hoped
to be able to give their undivided attention to home
work at Magomero. I will here introduce a description
of their daily life, as given by the Bishop, in a letter to
his sister in Scotland : the letter is the continuation of
that which was partly given in the preceding chapter : it
was the Bishop's habit to commence letters to his friends,
and then add to them from time to time, after the
manner of a journal : hence it is, that in the present
instance the date of the latter part is considerably later
than the period at which we have now arrived : but
as the subject is one, I have thought it well to intro-
duce the whole in this place.
LETTER LXXXYIL
{Continuation. )
Aug. 29. I have not said mucli to others of our do-
mestic life. At 6 A.M. we are all called by the cook. The
summons arouses us to vai'ied scenes. I wake to the con-
sciousness of lying in a round hut, 9 feet in diameter and
10 feet high in the middle, with the cheerful light of the
breaking day twinkling through innumerable openings in
its straw roof and walls. I am full length on a cork bed,
which avoids all fear of damp, and weighs only seven pounds,
with (don't be shocked) my clothes on, and a blanket oyer
my legs, another round my shoulders and head. The
34^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
upper end of my bed resting on my carpet-bag makes my
pillow.
On the other side of the but is "Waller, nearly a fac-
simile of myself in bis circumstances. Tbe floor is strewn
Tvitb dry grass (grass bere is about five feet long), and in tbe
strip between our beds is a stick, about two feet bigb, on
tbe top of wbicb is tbe oil-lamp whicb bas been in use tbe
night before. Between me and tbe round side of tbe but is
a deal-box, containing a few rockets and spare ammunition j
above my head my double-barrelled gun loaded ; a revolver
also loaded. Above all, a shelf, made by thrusting the ends
of bamboos through the roof at both ends, on which are my
Bible, Christian Tear, Thomas a Kempis, Wordsworth's
New Testament, Trench, and one or two others.
After taking advantage of the quiet for my prayer, I get
up, put on my shoes and cap, fold up my blankets, roll up
my bed, take my towel, and go to bathe and wash in the river.
By the time I come back, Charles has tidied the hut, and is
probably sweeping the carpet, that is, stroking the grass
smooth with a stick, I have now about twenty minutes or
half-an-hour to read quietly before our morning prayers, the
full Church service, at seven : every one attends once a
day : most of us twice. Then there is a quarter of an
hour before breakfast : perhaps I look up some one of our
party who is ill : for it is unusual for all our thirteen to be
well at once, so far as our present experience goes. Break-
fast consists of meat, (fowls or goat), vegetables, (yam or
sweet potatoes, beans or peas,) and porridge of groiind Indian
corn. Once or twice a week we have a loaf. We drink
cofiee or tea, and have one goat in milk. Our plates and
cups belong to a canteen for six persons, bought in London.
They are iron, enamelled inside, and don't break. During
our breakfast Charles has been gathering the men and boys
together. The list is called over as they stand in a ring,
and answer to their names "Kuno," [here). Then I tell
them what work they have to do, and make any address
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 349
tliroiigli William whicli may be required. By tliis time the
men have finished breakfast, and we get to work about 9.30.
I have 75 men and boys on my list, of whom about 30 or
35 may be employed, the rest being too small, or there being
no tools for them. These latter then have their breakfast.
Two w-omen have been appointed to receive every night the
next day's food for two lots of little ones, and to give them
their breakfast about 10, and tbeir supper about 5. It con-
sists of porridge, and sometimes a few beans to give it a
taste. We have no plates or spoons for them; we shall
acquire that luxury, I hope, soon. They sit down in a row,
and a fat motherly woman, with an infant on her back (which
she adopted, because it had no mother), gives to each
a handful. They sit and eat well pleased, and when each
has had some, she gives the remainder among them as extra
mouthfuls. This is more orderly than at first, when there
was always a scramble for every meal, like one for nuts at
a school-feast.
Then the work of the day proceeds till one. One doctors
the sick and sore. One buys the food which comes in
daily, baskets of meal, or bunches of corn-cobs, or nuts,
or beans, or huge yam-roots, some weighing fifty pounds :
or goats are led in, or fowls hung upon sticks or in the
hand; and for these we usually give white calico, some-
times coloured, or beads. One drills the boys; part of their
drilling consisting in being marched into the river. The
order, "Off clouts," being by most obeyed in laughter,
by one or two with slow hand and mournful face. Some
work at our new house, which is within ten days of com-
pletion.
We dine at 1, and amuse ourselves till 3. Dinner is a
facsimile of breakfast, only that out of the same cups we
drink native beer, here called '■ moa," instead of tea or coffee.
From 3 to 5 we go to work again. The sun sets near 6, jiist
now : in the longest days it will never be quite so late as
half-past six. We have tea with porridge, and nuts or eggs;
35^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
and at about half-past seven prayers. Soon after tlaat we
part for the night.
Saturdays and Saints' days are half-holidays.
One of the curious customs of this country is their way
of giving presents. They always expect to receive a present
of at least equal value in return. One morning a woman
brought us three large baskets of beer, each as heavy as a
person could carry : we did not want so much : it would
spoil before we could drink it : but we did not like to refuse
it, lest she should be offended. So we sent her just what
we thought its value. She considered our present too small,
and took away the largest basket, saying we had not given
enough.
Oct. 22. I take up my pen, that there may not be too
long intervals between my paragraphs.
*****
Dr Mellor, the medical man of the Pioneer, is here on
a visit, having leave of absence with two of the men, to re-
cruit their health by change of air.
I am so longing for our ladies to come up. It is not
a week since we got an increase of fifty people, only ten
boys and no men. Here is more work for them. It is im-
possible for us men to do what I trust God wUl do by them.
The women are some of them wild and rude, and some of
them worse, but I hope the influence of our ladies will tell
upon them.
There is one girl in whom I feel great interest. She is
deaf and dumb. The rest treat her kindly, but her poor
mind must be sadly wearied by the want of communication
with others. She is ten years old, good-tempered, and obe-
dient whenever she knows what you want her to do. When
she sees me passing she claps her hands together. One day
I wanted to fold up a gi'eat sheet, and made her take one
end, just as a table-cloth is folded : she watched what I did.
SETTLEMENT AT MA GOMERO. y^ I
and did the same, as neatly as slie conld, with the greatest
gravity. Four or five times I have brought her into my
hut, and made her sit at the door while I shewed her a
picture. I took one of the large coloured Scripture-prints,
the raising of the Shunammite's son : she pointed to some
limb, and then pointed to the same part of herself. I have
followed this hint, and each time we have gone through
every part. We are keeping patiently to the one picture.
There are four figures, which is variety enough. From the
earnestness with which she does this I am sure it is a plea-
sure to her, as indeed it must be, breaking in on the vacuity
of her mind. I do not know any one of my charge with so
gentle, manageable and amiable disposition; and that is bet-
ter than all brightness of intellect, or keenness of perception.
I do not know that she ever had a name; but the one by
which she commonly goes is Kana nena, "she cannot speak."
Our people are singing and dancing outside the hut ; not
the fierce dances of the Zulus, nor with their deep, panting
noises. I do not know that the Mang-anja have any war-
dance; it is more like the dance "all round the hawthorn-
bush," or such simple games as they have at school-feasts.
The music consists of three or four drums, played with great
vigour- and perfect time, while the dancers move slowly
round in a ring. Sometimes there is a rapid movement of
the feet, like that in a hornpipe, only each step is not more
than an inch or two, while the body is nearly still, remind-
ing one of the graceful motion of a good skater. Sometimes
one or more make a diversion into the space within, turning
once I'ound rapidly and moving the arms over the head, and
all this time they sing a strain consisting of but few notes,
with clapping of hands in time, and the sound of cymbals,
which are fastened, I think, to the ankles of one of the
circle.
October 28. We have jokes among us, notwithstanding
the seriousness of our profession. Last Saturday night there
was very little to eat at tea. There was no porridge, because
35^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
the people had not brought any meal for sale all day. So
I went out, got some heads of chimanga (mealies, under
another name), had them shelled, ground them myself in
the mill, ordered some water to be boiled, made some
porridge, and reappeared in twenty minutes with the dish.
They did not know what I had gone for, and my dish was
highly praised : it was not quite enough boiled; but by com-
mon consent we use now meal from our own mill, instead
of the ufa or meal, which the people bring.
The quiet of tlie missionary station was not secured
by the successful expedition against the Ajawa, which
has been described in this chapter. Reports soon be-
gan to circulate of Ajawa incursions, and of the terror
caused to the minds of the Mang-anja in the neigh-
bourhood. These reports the Bishop did not feel inclined
wholly to believe ; he knew the unfortunate readiness
of the natives to lie if it suited their purpose, and he
found so much inconsistency in the tales told concerning
Ajawa atrocities, that he perceived it was impossible
to believe everything, and therefore doubted how much
was true, or whether there was any truth in the tales
at alL Accordingly, he determined to go and see for
himself, and started on September 9, with Mr Scuda-
more, three Makololo, William, (the Cape Town man,)
as interpreter, and some guides, to reconnoitre. The
application for help in this case had come from a certain
chief, named Bawi, who represented that the Ajawa
were burning his villages, murdering his men, and
taking the women and children into captivity. They
very soon found that the doings of the Ajawa had
been much exaggerated ; and they quarrelled with
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. ^j^
their frieud Bawi, who turned sulky because the Bishop
refused to go with him and his followers, and forthwith
give battle to the enemy. The reconnoitring expedition
was continued several days, during which, notwith-
standing the exaggerations referred to, they saw abun-
dant evidence that an enemy was in the neighbourhood,
\dllages burnt, others deserted, and the inhabitants of
those not deserted manifestly living in daily terror of
an attack from an enemy whom they dared not face.
On one occasion, they fell in with some of the Ajawa
foe, and endeavoured to catch one or two of them, in
order that they might send a message to the rest, and
warn them to mend their manners or depart ; but the
Ajawa were too fleet for them. William, the inter-
preter, who suggested this scheme, described the effect
which he hoped to produce in a very amusing manner.
"One will say, I saw him myself! another, I was in his
hands ! they will say, there were a great many of them,
and all had guns : the news will spread, just like a
newspaper." However, William's plan could not be
carried out, and the Bishop had to return home with
the general result of knowing that the Ajawa were
near, but not knowing their numbers or exact situation,
and of being pestered with applications to go once
more at the head of the friendly tribes, and endeavour
to clear the country finally of the lawless and cruel
Ajawa.
Soon after the return to Magomero, a messenger
came to say that two days after the Bishop and his
party had been at the village of the chief Nampeko,
the Ajawa had come down and burnt it. A discussion
23
354 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
was held as to what should be done, and it was deter-
mined to go and drive the marauders away. The
chiefs in the neighbourhood were called together, and
the injured man himself confirmed the account of the
destruction of his village. Conditions were made con-
cerning the freeing of captives, and putting a stop to
the slave-trade, as on the former occasion, and the ar-
rangements were nearly complete, when something was
said about meeting at the chief's village. What village ?
" The village in which you slept," was the reply. The
Bishop asked, " Is it not burned then ?" " No." " Did
you lie then, when you said it was burned ?" To
wliich the chief replied, with a smile upon his face, " I
lied." "I am not," writes the Bishop, "naturally ex-
citable, but I have once or twice since I came here
thought it necessary to make a demonstration. I
shook my fist in his face, and said, 'If a dog could
do as you have done, I should kick it. I cannot speak
to you any more to-day.' Very soon, after a few mo-
ments' consultation, I said I could not go to fight at
all ; that I wanted them to feel how bad a thing it
is to lie."
However, after a fortnight, the chiefs began to come
asrain. He who had told the lie about his village
expressed his sorrow ; he promised to tell truth for the
future, and began by confessing that they had seen
nothing of the Ajawa since the Bishop's visit : still he
represented that they were in constant fear. The Bishop
thought that the purpose of keeping the Ajawa at
peace might be effected by sending them a message,
to say that if they attacked the Mang-anja, they would
r LAKE Sill iw,. mrn Mr. CmiiAi.< fn m
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 355
certainly be punished: none of the Mang-anja folks
however could be found courageous enough to carry
the message ; in fact, the vices of cowardice and lying
seemed in their case, as in many others, to go closely
coupled together.
What was to be done ? The Bishop was extremely
anxious to avoid further warlike proceedings ; but soon
after, he received reliable information of villages burned
in the neighbourhood ; he felt that such marauding
habits must be stopped, and therefore he again headed
a party against the Ajawa trespassers. I shall not give
this expedition in so much detail as the former ; in fact,
there was little or no actual fighting ; the Ajawa re-
treated at once at the approach of the Mang-anja
with their English allies. Here is the Bishop's own
account.
" October 17. Noon. We got away at six : which was
a wonderful thing, as loading more than thirty Mang-
anja guns took an hour, I suppose. We walked slowly
for nearly four hours, with a large body of Mang-anja,
and a weak force of English. Dr Mellor was what
would be called in England quite unfit for anything.
Two others of our party were far from well. So that
it seemed almost rashness to go to war in such a state ;
but it would not have been easy to put off the fight,
and I trusted partly to the influence of our presence,
but I trusted more in the verse which I repeated to
myself several times, 'The battle is the Lord's, and He
is the governor among the people.'
" October 18. Friday evening. (On the banks of
Shirwa.) As on former occasions, we the Christians
23—2
35^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
stood together to ask Him to direct all things accord-
ing to His will. It was near ten when we found we
were getting near. The Mang-anja kept running on
before, and on the smallest alarm falling back. One
time, when we came to the edge of the river, close to
the Ajawa, they all stopped and allowed Adams, who
was the foremost Christian, to go on twenty or thirty
yards alone, and only followed him when we came up.
I asked two or three times for Nampeko, and was told
that he was behind ; so he was, for I never saw him
all day. It is unsatisfactory, acting in alliance with
such people, on whom you can rely only for cowardice
and falsehood. Adams, in the act of crossing the water,
fired two shots at Ajawa, two of whom had guns. They
immediately ran away, and this was all the opposition
we met with : when we arrived, we found the huts
empty, which we burned."
The arrangements concerning the captives were
carried out as on the former occasion ; the result was
a still further addition to the population of Magomero.
" This addition," says the Bishop, at the close of the
letter in which he describes the expedition, "makes
our number exceed two hundred. We might be tempted
to fear about the supply of food : but we cannot re-
fuse to take care of people who thus throw themselves
upon us; and we trust that He, who has given us the
charge of them, will give us the means."
The reader has now before him the history of what
may be called the Ajawa wars, in which Bishop Mac-
kenzie and his party were engaged. His conduct has
been severely criticized, as himself anticipated ; and
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. ^^i^l
of course, if we adopt the principle that under no con-
ceivable circumstances can a minister of the Gospel be
justified in taking up arms, his conduct must be con-
demned. But I think it is very difficult to establish
any such general principle ; and unless it be established
beyond the possibility of a doubt, it is an ungracious
thing for us in England to sit in judgment upon the
conduct of men placed in such peculiar circumstances
as were the missionaries of Magomero. Certainly it is
a point to which great importance should be assigned,
that these good and holy men, having weighed upon the
spot all the responsibility of the course to which they
were committing themselves, should have adopted the
course unanimously. It is irrelevant to say that the
measures adopted did not eventually succeed ; success
was in God's hands ; and I have said before that there
was an element in the case, of which the missionaries
took no account, and which tended to make their policy
a failure; I refer to the fact, that the Ajawa tribes were
spreading over the country as a more powerful race,
and that they were not merely mischievous neighbours
who could be kept within their o^vn bounds by a little
boldness. It is clear that Bishop Mackenzie's conduct
can be condemned, only upon the general principle of
the impropriety of war on the part of the missionaries
under all circumstances ; and supposing this principle
not conceded, it may well be asked whether the concep-
tion of the missionary settlement as the head-quarters
of a tribe of emancipated persons was not a very noble
one, and whether the existence of such a settlement
might not be the most effective means of preaching the
35^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
kingdom of heaven. It would be very difficult, as
missionaries always find it to be, to reach the intellect
of the poor savages ; it would be very difficult even
with all the facilities afforded by a thorough knowledge
of their language, the vehicle of their thoughts ; it would
be infinitely more difficult for preachers, whose powers of
oral communication were so small as those of Bishop
Mackenzie and his party must have long continued to
be ; but suppose that the natives found amongst them
a settlement of men emancipated by the missionaries,
and knew that in this settlement truth was cultivated
and brutality of all kinds discouraged, that in this settle-
ment there was constant worship of God, and that the
white men would not allow the black population under
their government to be molested and alarmed, would
not this be a practical preaching of the kingdom of God
and of Christ, which the native mind could understand,
and which would attract and move towards itself the
native heart ? This seems to have been Bishop Mac-
kenzie's conception : who will say that it was not a
noble one ?
I have said more than once, that if the missionaries
had realized in the first instance the true relations of
the Ajawa to the Mang-anja, they might possibly have
come to a different conclusion with regard to the course
to be pursued, when they were requested to defend one
against the other. This statement seems to be justified
by such a passage as the following, which I extract
from a letter written to the Bishop of Cape Town in
May, 1862, The letter was written in explanation of
the reasons which induced the mission party subse-
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 359
([uently to leave Magomero, and settle themselves at
Chibisa's ; besides elucidating the point for which it is
adduced, it will also confirm the statements made in
this volume as to the unhealthy character of Magomero.
" We had intended," writes Mr Procter, " to leave
Magomero, and seek a new site somewhat nearer the
Shire, among the hills, ever since our sad experience
of the last rainy season, in which so many of our people
died, and we suffered ourselves so much from sickness.
The place lying low", and surrounded with thick vegeta-
tion, had been j^ronounced decidedly unfit for our fur-
ther habitation by Dickinson; and as soon as the
Pioneer arrived with a fresh supply of cloth, to enable
us to pay bearers, we had decided to make a removal.
In the meantime, however, we heard that the Ajawa
were again busy ravaging the country, in various par-
ties, to the North-West of us; and applications for help
against them kept coming in from several Mang-anja
chiefs, who declared themselves to be sufferers from
their incursions. I have not time to go into the many
reasons for our constant refusals to li.sten to these
requests ; but chiefl.y because we saw from our expe-
rience of last year, that we had made a mistake in
becominfj the warriors instead of the teachers of the
Mang-anja, who, weak and cowardly, were learning to
value us only because we could defend them, and
because we were making enemies of a powerful tribe,
or rather nation, who clearly must in time become mas-
ters of all the JS^orth-West corner of the Mang-anja
territory between Mount Zomba and the Shire. At last
we determined to go and fight for the Mang-anja no
360 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
more." This shews the views of the missionaries founded
upon their experience ; at the same time it is right to
add, that some persons well acquainted with the country
have held, and still hold, that if Bishop Mackenzie's
policy had been consistently carried out, the terrible
devastation of the country, which afterwards took place,
might very possibly have been prevented. This is a
point, however, upon which it is unnecessary, perhaps
it would be presumptuous, to express an opinion.
There is one other point which I would ask the reader
to bear in mind, in order that he may estimate fairly
the conduct of the missionaries with regard to these Ajawa
troubles. He must bear in mind, that although in the
history they seem to occupy so large a space, yet in
reality they occupied a very small portion of the time
spent by Bishop Mackenzie at Magomero. One or two
stirring days of warlike expedition make a great figure
in a narrative, whereas ten times the number of days
spent in the works of peace make little show. The
reader therefore must not give too much weight to the
Ajawa wars, as though the missionaries were always
fighting, but rather regard the missionaries as given
up to the peaceful and holy labours of Magomero,
with the exception of some few days, in which,
under an imperious and painful sense of duty, they
assisted their Mang-anja friends against their Ajawa
oppressors.
I have said that the conception of the kingdom of
God, come among the poor natives of central Africa, in
the form of a colony of emancipated blacks under the
government of a white Christian Bishop and his clergy.
SETTLEMENT AT MJG03I^R0. 361
was a very noble one ; the drawback was the difficulty
which the Bishop felt, but which his strong faith in God
enabled him to tolerate, of finding food for the people.
Moreover, even if food should be forthcoming, the police
regulations (if I may so call them) necessary to make
the condition of Magomero healthful, would be difficult
of execution.
This difficulty of knowing how to deal with their
friends was (as I apprehend) quite as formidable as that
of dealing with their enemies : in fact, the colony grew
too rapidly, and it seems inconceivable that a popu-
lation such as that of the blacks at Magomero could
be supported permanently, and that Magomero with
such a population could be a suitable residence for
white men.
This is a question, however, which need not be fur-
ther discussed now ; my purpose in the remarks which
I have made is rather to restrain the reader from hasty
condemnation of Bishop Mackenzie, and to suggest that
the policy adopted by him was not wrong and bad in
itself, might have been necessary, and may even now
be blessed by God to the benefit of the oppressed
Africans. If any corroboration of this view be required,
it will be found in the following testimony from Dr
Livingstone. The letter which I here produce, and
which has been published before, was addressed to the
late Sir Culling Eardley. It was written, as will be
seen, long after the Ajawa troubles, and when the
country had been reduced to famine and misery by
those internal wars, which Bishop Mackenzie endea-
voured to bring to an end. With this testimony from
3^^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
one so competent to form a judgment, I shall leave the
case in the reader's hands.
River Shiee, Jan. 23, 1863.
I have just been visiting Bishop Mackenzie's grave. At
first I tlioiiglit him wrong in fighting, but don't think so
now. He defended liis 140 orphan children when there was
no human arm besides to invoke. To fight even in self-
defense must always be but a sad necessity ; but to sit still,
and let bloodthirsty slave-hunters tear away those orphans
who cleave to us for protection, must be sufiei'ing martyr-
dom for our own folly. In coming up the Shire we have
met fifteen dead bodies fioating down. The whole country
on the east of the river is devastated by a half-caste Portu-
guese, called Marianno, with about 1000 armed slaves.
You would not credit the enormities of which this fellow
has been guilty; the poor people have fled to the reedy
banks of the river, and having left all their grain behind,
famine and death (of which we are every now and then
compelled to see sickening evidence) have followed as a mat-
ter of course. The same evils have been produced higher
up the river by the people of Tette, of whom the governor is
the leader ; and besides those carried into slavery, an untold
number perish of hunger. The Tette people put arms into
the hands of the Ajawa, to be wielded against a tribe named
Mang-anja. The passions of one body of blacks are em-
ployed against another. Both suffer grievously. We have
tried, and still try, to stop the evil at its origin in the Por-
tuguese slave-hunter. The gi'eatest evil of all is, that this
legalized system of slave-hunting has prevented the influences
of Her Majesty's squadron being felt inland through mis-
sionaries. On the west coast compai'ative quiet has been
produced by the presence of men-of-war. About twenty
missions have been established ; the means have been
brought into play which the government hoped for, while
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. 363
here tlie only mission that has been tried is in danger of
being worried out by slave-hnnting. On the side of the op-
pressor there is power. Let us hope that ye, who have
power with the Almighty, will let your prayers prevail on
behalf of this wretched trodden-down country.
With Christian salutations, I am, &C.
David Livixgstoxe.
That the Bishop's mind was not wholly absorbed
in warlike matters during his residence at Magomero,
will be seen from the following letter written to a very
dear friend, whose name has already appeared several
times in the course of this memoir,
LETTER XC.
Magomero, Nor. 3, i86r.
E. Long. 35" 35', S. Lat. 15" 35'.
Dear Hopkins,
I have been writing a good many letters through
the week about what has been passing here, and what state
we are in, till I am sick of it ; and this is Sunday — so I
shall leave you to get your information about the mission
from other sources, and return to the old days when we
could chat in that inner room of yours at Catharine Hall.
-;:- -;:- * * *
On the whole my life here is most happy. There is
everything to make it so, and you know I am not much
given to moping: but just occasionally for an hour or so
I get low, and can always trace it to my own fault, letting
this lower world send up a mist to obscure the bright clear
sunshine of God's loving presence, in which we might always
live. It was in such a mood, a little, that I sat down to
chat with you just now : but it has gone. I was thinking of
you this morning. You will have forgotten a walk I had
with you on the Ely road before my degree, when I said
3^4 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
T thought sorrow and mourning need never be in this world :
and you said you thought there was good cause for them. I
was reading Archer Butler's Sermon on the daily imitation
of Christ, in taking up our cross daily. How beautiful his
sermons are !
I thought I had such a deal to say; but I am afraid
I have got out of the habit of thinking lately : though by
the bye it is a severe restriction which I laid on myself, not
to allude to anything that is going on among us here. I
wish we could meet, (or rather how nice it would be, for
I do not wish it really,) and have a chat about everything.
When I come back, shall I find you in Wisbeach still 1 I
think I shall, and I hope I shall. There is always to me a
great charm in the idea of an aged clergyman, in a parish in
which he has been for thirty years, half of his people having
known no other pastor, and loving and respecting him as he
deserves, and better. To be sure my vision of such an old
age was laid in a country parish, not too large to be worked
with something like satisfaction, but the principle would be
the same. Stop : I shall be late for evening prayers.
Nov. 4. We are looking now for the return of Dr
Livingstone from Nyassa. He has been gone more than
three months : he was to be back about the middle of this
month. So he may turn up any day. Yoii will hear by
this same mail the news of this exploration of his, which
we have not yet got. It will be interesting to you, but
doubly so to us, as influencing ou.r movements and plans.
I know now where I should like to plant our first branch-
mission, supposing his discoveries do not aflfect the qiiestion,
namely, at Nampeka's : but it is quite possible that what
we may leai-n, as to our future route of communication with
the sea, may affect the planting of the first branch. We have
plenty of room here for setting down six or eight missions :
in one or two places we know that the chief would welcome
us : in others, I have no doubt he would ; but we have avoided
asking too definitely, for fear of raising false hopes. I shall
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. ^6^
be able ia a week or two, I hope, to mature my ideas about
the future, when I have seen Livingstone, and to write
accordingly to the Committee.
We have j ust got up the last part of our baggage from
the landing-place. Charles, one of our Cape men, went
away last Monday morning taking some twenty men from
hence : he returned this morning, having these and about
sixty-three more, each >vith a load of from forty to fifty
pounds. Each is to be paid by a scarf about five feet by
three, worth one shilling in England. So you see we get our
things by luggage-train. This was rapid work : we took five
days to come up ; and they have gone and come in six days.
I told you I should not write you a missionary letter,
and neither have I. So good bye.
Youi's afi'ectionately,
C. F. M.
It will be seen, that at the period of writing the
preceding letter, Bishop Mackenzie's mind was full of
hope with regard to his work. The position of the mis-
sion appeared to be pretty well established ; his policy,
in shewing himself the active enemy of the slave trade
and the energetic protector of those who trusted them-
selves to his guardianship, appeared crowned with suc-
cess ; and he looked forward to a system of missionary
colonization, which should bring the whole neighbouring
district under Christian influences. Meanwhile the
work of Magomero went quietly on, and the chief draw-
back was the growing sense of the unhealthiness of the
place ; it was too low, too much surrounded by thick
vegetation, and the uncleanly habits of the native popu-
lation which the missionaries had gathered round them
tended to make the habitation pestilential. I may state
^66 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
by way of confinnation, though the circumstance lies
beyond the limit of Bishop Mackenzie's life, that about
six months afterwards the missionaries found them-
selves compelled to leave Magomero, and to seek another
settlement.
Nothing more, I think, need be said concerning this
portion of Bishop Mackenzie's life. It is the portion
which will be most canvassed ; by some, perhaps, it will
be condemned. I have no right to dictate a verdict to
the kindly hearted Christian reader, and I have already
said all that I deem necessary in the way of defense.
I shall conclude this chapter with some very energetic
words written by Mr Waller, for which I would bespeak
the attention which they deserve. " I do so hope and
trust," says Mr Waller, " that the news of our doings
with the Ajawas may get the shrewd and candid in-
vestigation they require. To us it is palpable that it
was perfectly right and necessary : whilst the end has
been so blessed to us, in the love and respect gained
from the fatherless, the child, and the widow, — ^the
rescued human merchandise, for which we risked so
much. The means were, and are, in our estimation,
quite justifiable, — the helping those who had no friends,
the trusting in God's strength to stay the most ac-
cursed state of things I ever came across. Our ene-
mies have found the nerve gone from their arm, and the
blow cannot be struck at those, Avho they see come to
do good. 'You came and helped us,' say chiefs from
afar, reinstated in their villages, 'and we thank you.' 'We
want to come and to live with you,' say the Ajawas.
Who shall say we did wrong ? But we care not : some
SETTLEMENT AT MAGOMERO. Z^l
must cavil : we will forgive them. Six thousand miles
requires a long and clear sight to scan facts and cir-
cumstances. Far from the spot, far from the land that
fills the slave ships, theirs may well be a cramped and
one-sided view. Do not let us be run over roughshod.
I know that there are heads and hearts in plenty to do
battle for us."
CHAPTER XII.
LAST DAYS AND DEATH.
On the sixth of April, 1860, the second detachment
of the mission party sailed from Plymouth. It con-
sisted of the Eev. H. De Wint Burrup and his wife,
Mr John Dickinson, M.B., the medical officer of the
mission, John Andrew Blair, a printer, and Thomas
Clarke, a tanner. They reached Cape Town on May 14,
and were received by the Bishop and Mrs Gray with
their accustomed kindness. The Admiral of the station,
Sir Baldwin Walker, offered to send them to their
destination in H.M.S. Gorgon and Penguin, in the
latter of which Mr Dickinson proceeded at the end of
May ; Mr Burrup, with the two mechanics, followed in
the Gorgon on June 14 ; and Mrs Burrup remained
at the Cape, to follow with Miss Mackenzie, when the
mission arrangements should be reported as suitable for
the arrival of ladies.
Mr Burrup fell in with Mr Dickinson at Johanna,
on August 3, and sailed with him for Mozambique,
where they landed on August 9 ; Blair unfortunately
was compelled to return to the Cape for the recovery
of his health. At Mozambique they were detained
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 369
for a fortnight, and in the middle of September ar-
rived safely at Quilimane. The expedition from Quili-
mane to Magomero deserves to be recorded in Mr
Burrup's own words ; it was an expedition which was
most successful, inasmuch as the party arrived safely
at their journey's end, but unfortunate inasmuch as
it tended to do away with the force of the lessons
of caution, which Dr Livingstone and those who had
had experience of African climate had endeavoured
to impress upon the missionaries. " My cautions to
the Bishoj)," wrote Dr Livingstone afterwards, "were
unfortunately all nullified by Mr Burrup's wonderful
feat." Here is his own account.
We started from Quilimane on the 12th Oct. Mr Dick-
inson had just been ill of fever, but was able to start. I
had also felt an attack, but had taken medicine and would
not lie by, and so, although weak, was able to look to things.
We had two large river-boats and six canoes : one, Major
Tito had to himself; and I, Dickinson, Clarke, and young
Tito, were in the other. I should tell you that what is
called the Quilimane river, named likewise the Mutu, is a
large branch of the Zambesi, the bed of which is diy to the
extent of about twelve miles in the dry season. It is a very
fine river in itself, even when cut oflf from the Zambesi, be-
caixse it has many fine streams which support it. We started
laj) the Mutu, and used to land, sleep, breakfast, and dine at
villages or huts. In one or two instances there are regular
places for accommodation. Instead of going to the extreme
point of the Mutu, we turned up one of its tributaries called
the "Quar-quar." We landed from this river on Friday, the
19th,'and had our baggage carried twelve miles to the Zam-
besi by fifty-two bearers. This was our first African walk
across country, and I assure you it was piping hot. Thanks
24
370 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
to our kind friend Tito, we found a capital house ready for
us close to the left bank of the glorious Zambesi. It cer-
tainly had many inhabitants in the shape of a determined
colony of cobras, one of which emerged from Dickinson's
bedding one night just as he was unfolding it. We had an
offer here from the Governor of Quilimane to escort us up
to Livingstone, as he was going with his Portuguese and
native soldiers after a man who does not choose to own
the Portuguese authority. This we gladly accepted, and
made an appointment to meet him up the river ; in con-
sequence, neither Major Tito nor his son went with us, as
the latter was going to Tette, on the Zambesi. We started
on Tuesday, 22nd Oct. We also lost Major Tito's piivate
slaves, a crew, &c., by this change, which was a great loss.
We had two canoes — one a large one, about two and a half
feet broad — two-thirds covered by straw to secure our lug-
gage, most of which was in this boat ; the rest was in an-
other small canoe, about a foot and a half broad. In one
were ten natives, whom we had never seen before, for crew,
and in the small one, four natives. We had not gone far
before the men in the big canoe refused to go any further,
as it was sunset. They had not gone three mdes; they
were close to home; and to-morrow there would be all the
trouble of getting them off again. I insisted on their not
stopping. They got out of the boat. I gesticulated, vo-
ciferated, declaimed in broken jargon of Portuguese, <fec.
At last I got them in, and off again. They were continually,
however, turning the head of the boat round, and letting
her drift back. Fortunately, as the sun set I had noticed
the course, and with a punt-pole at the bow, and the assist-
ance of Dickinson and Clarke at the stern, we managed to
keep the boat right. I so far conquered them, that, with
the fear of crocodiles, they pulled the boat up to their
middles in water for an hour or two that night. Mean-
while, we had missed the small canoe ; biit at length, much
to our delight, we rejoined her, and I allowed my unruly
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 37 1
crew to land and sleep, about niidniglit, at Mazaro, at Mr
Vienna's, which we took by storm. The first trial ovei',
I remained master of the position to the end of the jour-
ney. We were four days in the Zambesi, and then came
to its confluence with the Shire, where was a Portuguese
fort, and at which the Isle of Monoconga was the rendezvous
appointed by our friend the Governor, four days from start-
ing. We met him with eight boats full of men coming
down the river, on the third day. He said he was going to
Quilimane. I said I was going up the Shire. We rather
coolly shook hands, and went our diflerent ways. The Com-
mandant here was very civil j he wanted us to stay; tried
to frighten us with lions, tigers, <fec., up the Shire. He did
us one good turn. He threw into the canoes, just as we
were off, two strong ropes, which did us a good turn after-
wards. We slept under shelter in a house twice out of
the four nights on the Zambesi, otherwise in the open air.
Our routine was to rise at daybreak, get a cup of coffee,
and be I'eady to start by broad daylight; about 10 o'clock
we used to land in the open air, make fire and have break-
fast; about 12.30 or 1 o'clock start again, and go on until
sunset. We slept, as you may suppose, in some very rough
places, but during the whole time were never once attacked
by man or beast.
On the 26th we entered the Shire; it is a fine broad,
deep, and, in some places, rapid river. The range of the
Morambala skirt the whole left bank up to the Elephant
Marsh. We went on without any mishap up to this time,
when a change took place. You must know that our first
point was to get to Livingstone, who was at anchor in the
Pioneer, at a place called Chibisa's ; our party was we knew
not where. Livingstone, therefoi*e, became our rendezvous;
but not Tito, nor anybody at Quilimane, nor Poi-ti;guese
on the river, could give us any but the vaguest idea about
the locality. Worse still, when we got on the Shire,
where we hoped, as we got further, to get a little more
24—2
373 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
certain information, we found tliat the natives all knew
too well tlie great " Puff, puff," wliich had so startled them
when first it went up, but they gave the most inconsistent
and vague accounts of the distance and position. The con-
sequence of this was, that our crew were in danger of being
disaffected, and leaving us in the lurch. They had already
asked for the full payment they were to receive at the end
of the journey, and I had given it them, and had engaged
them on ; but there was no knowing when they might take
it into their heads to say their engagement was at an end.
Dickinson and Clarke thought that if we could only com-
municate some certain information of our being on the river,
it would be very well. I therefore started ofi" ahead in the
small and light canoe, with a crew of four black men, to get,
if possible, quickly up to Livingstone, tell him we were on
the river, and then retiu-n. This was Tuesday, November
5th. We went on capitally, soon lost sight of the big canoe,
but at night we stopped at a large village to get rice. The
object of the crew evidently was to delay and sleep there.
I was determined not to do so if possible, and pushed off
two or three times, but could not get them all into the boat
at once. It was now become quite dark, and I was afraid
of the inhabitants of the villages sympathising with them if
I went too far ; so I was forced to yield ; but T sulkily made
myself a bed on the luggage in the boat, with my revolver
at hand.
The men made a fire close by the boat, and were visited
repeatedly during the night by villagers : one, a kind of
jester or singer of the village, remained the whole night,
singing to the accompaniment of a very extraordinary in-
strument, which he played with his mouth and hands, being
some rude combination between a fiddle and bagpipes. My
attempts to get him to leave off were of no use. This is the
only incident of this part of the journey (not a good begin-
ning), and I soon got them to shake down into implicit obe-
dience. They often tried to entice me to stay at a village
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 373
when tliey heard ' Tom-toms ' and drums sounding — signs of
a night dance, and where they knew they would get ' Pombi,'
the native beer; but they never again succeeded, and we
reached the ship safely on Wednesday, November 13th.
The last day was very wet ; it rained the whole day ; and
was the first day of the rains, which we had feared, as swell-
ing and making the river too rapid for the large canoe to
stem it, besides being an additional risk of disafiecting its
crew. I can tell you, when we hailed the Pioneer, and saw
English faces looking over the side at iis, wondering who
we were, and then among those on deck recognised the
hard- worn face of Livingstone, I felt a considerable thrill of
pleasure and satisfaction pass through me. They were very
kind and hospitable. In my hurry to get away I had for-
gotten to put Dr Livingstone's letter-bag into my canoe j
this certainly disappointed them much. I slept on board,
in the next berth to Livingstone. On Thursday morning,
to my very great satisfaction, who should appear but Bishop
Mackenzie himself, from Magomero, our home. He greeted
me most warmly; was, of course, most surprised, as he had
never expected us. He had come to see Livingstone, before
he left Chibisa's to go down the river to meet a vessel at the
mouth on the 1st of January. As Livingstone was going
down the river, I was released from the obligation of going
back myself, and so I remained. On Friday morning the
Pioneer weighed anchor, and was soon out of sight going
down the river. Directly afterwards the Bishop and I started
with a train of bearers overland for Magomei-o ; it is a hilly
rough road the first part of the journey, and the hills were
covered with mist. We slept at a village, having walked
about twenty miles. We ought to have reached Magomero
in about thi'ee days or less ; but I was not quite up to walk-
ing, in consequence of not having walked much lately, and
also as the river, cold at night, &e., had chilled my stomach.
We therefore delayed on my account a good deal, and did
not reach Magomero until November 19th.
374 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
Having welcomed Mr Burrup at Magomero, after
this truly wonderful expedition, we must now pass to
events which led directly or indirectly to the pre-
mature termination of Bishop Mackenzie's labours.
It will be remembered that Miss Mackenzie remained
at the Cape, intending to follow her brother as soon as
news should be received that the settlement was suit-
able for the accommodation of ladies. Mrs Burrup
also was left by her husband at the Cape, to follow on
the same conditions. The Bishop had written to say
that the ladies might come, and it was arranged that
Dr Livingstone should meet them at the mouth of the
Zambesi, in the Pioneer, and bring them up to Chibisa's.
The Pioneer left her moorings at Chibisa's on Nov. 15.
It could not but be doubtful whether the arrange-
ments would all fit in with each other, — whether the
ladies would have received the Bishop's letters, and
whether they would have been able to obtain a passage
from the Cape to Kongone. However, so far as this was
concerned, all was well. Mrs Burrup and Miss Mackenzie,
together with the Rev. E. Hawkins, and Mrs Living-
stone, took their passage in December, by a small vessel
called the Hetty Ellen: it was a very rough and un-
comfortable passage, but on January 8 they reached
Kongone, where they threw up rockets and made
signals, hoping that the Pioneer would shew herself.
There was no sign of life, and the vessel again put
out to sea, intending to make for Mozambique. The
weather became very bad, and the voyage miserable ;
they reached Mozambique however on January 21,
where they happily fell in with H.M.S. Gorgon. Cap-
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. S75
tain Wilson, of the Gorgon, kindly took Miss Mackenzie
and Mrs Burrup on board, and taking the Hetty Ellen
in tow, they sailed on the afternoon of January 22,
in greater comfort and with better prospects than they
had had hitherto. On the 27th the ship anchored about
three miles from the bar of Quilimane, where at present
I must leave the party, in order to relate the doings of
Bishop Mackenzie.
It has been already stated, that the Pioneer left
her moorings at Chibisa's on Nov. 15; the arrangement
was, that Dr Livingstone should bring up the ladies,
who it was thought might arrive at Kongone in the
beginning of January, and that the Bishop and Mr
Burrup should meet them at the confluence of the
Shire and the Ruo. The map will at once shew the
reader, that there ought to be some more direct road
from Magomero to this point of confluence than by
way of Chibisa's and the river. Accordingly, on De-
cember 2, Mr Procter and Mr Scudamore started to
explore a road. What happened to them can be best
described by the following letter from the Bishop.
LETTER XCI.
Magomero, Dec. 7, 1861.
Dear Strong,
This is a day we shall not easily forget; and, as
our friends at home cannot fail to be interested in the events
of the last week, I shall write to-night while some of them
are fresh in my mind, and enclose a fuller account of those
which did not pass under my own eye.
When Livingstone left his anchorage on November 15,
he arranged with me that I should be ready to meet him on
January 1 at the mouth of the RuOj about half-way between
S7^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
the ancliorage and the confluence of the Shire and Zambesi.
He would there hand me over the party. We expect to
meet him at the bar, and we should proceed to this place by
land. Of course it was necessary to ascertain that there was
a practicable road this way ; and I proposed to explore the
way first, and then start from this with a sufficient party in
time to keep the appointment. He said he thought it would
be better to make one trip of it, starting in sufficient time
to allow for unforeseen delays; and he also advised me to
try a line more to the west than that which I had thought
of.
On returning home, I considered the whole matter, and,
after consulting the others, I determined to abide by my
own opinion, have an exploring party first, and try the line
of country stretching from this to the southern end of
Shirwa, and thence to the Euo mouth — probably down the
valley of that stream itself. My reason for preferring this
line was, that it would set at rest the question of having a
main line of communication from north to south on Shirwa.
I intended to have gone on the exploring party myself,
but there were one or two things to be done at home which
I could not well commit to any one else, and I had gone on
almost every trip ; so I arranged with Procter and Scuda-
more, to their complete satisfaction, that they should go
with Charles to find the road, and retui-n before Christmas,
or, failing that, " let me hear from them." We only waited
for the arrival of the mail with Dickinson and Clarke. They
got here all right on Friday, November 29; and last Monday
(December 2) Procter and Scudamore set off, having some
hastily-wi-itten letters to be given to Livingstone in the event
of their seeing him.
*****
This afternoon I was sitting out, trying to improve in
knowledge of the language by talking to one of the natives,
and was in the act of endeavouring to get the word for
" hope," by saying that I thought Procter and Scudamore
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 377
would soon be back, aud that I should be glad when they
came home safe, when I saw a strange figure coming in at
the gate; it was some time before I recognised that it was
Charles — haggard, in rags, foot- sore, and looking wretched
to the last degree. He was soon sm-ronnded, and said
faintly, " I am the only one that has escaped — I and one of
the bearers. The Mang-anja attacked ns." Finding he had
had nothing to eat for eight-and-forty hours, some soup was
made ready for him at once. He then told ns his story.
They had got on well for three days ; on the third the
chief whom they passed at midday went with them to their
resting-place, Manga. On Thursday they started with two
additional guides, intending to sleep at Tombondira's, whom
Chigunda had named as a great chief of those parts. At a
fork of the path their old guide pointed to the right, which
was the direction they would have preferred from the com-
pass ; but the two guides maintained that the left-hand path
was the better one, and their local knowledge gave weight
to their counsel, which was accordingly followed. By mid-
day they reached a large village, strongly defended, as some
villages in this country are, with hedges and thorns. On
entering they were almost at once asked if they wanted to
buy slaves — a pretty clear indication of the kind of white
people they were accustomed to see. Of course they said
they did not come to buy slaves, that the English set their
faces against such trade, and that they were English. " Well,
then, what will you buy]" Answer — "We are only pass-
ing through to look at the path, and are anxious to lose no
time that we may meet our friends at the mouth of this river
(the Ruo). Where is the chief?" "He is coming; you
must wait for him." " Yery well ; only we want to get on to
Tombondira's to-night." After a delay of an hour or two, no
chief appearing, they determined to go on; so they packed
up, and set ofi". They were followed out of the village by a
number' of men with bows and arrows, who became loud
in their calls and threats if they did not return. When they
3/8 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
liad got about two miles from the village, tlie violence and
ill-feeling was such that they stopped to consider whether
they were not needlessly making enemies of these people,
and whether it might not be best to see the chief, instead of
breaking the etiquette of the country by running through his
village. They asked if the chief were returned, and, being
assured he was in the village, agreed to retui"n and cook
food, and then to set off, as they were really in haste.
When they got back they found the chief, who treated
them civilly, giving them beer and wishing to trade. Tliey
bought what they wanted, which seemed, however, very
small to the people, who unfortunately saw their cash for
three weeks' absence (consisting of about 140 yards of calico),
and evidently thought themselves ill-treated in not getting
a good share of it. Stragglers were dropping into the village,
and things were not looking quite pleasant. Their host was
not surprised at several European articles they produced,
saying he had been at Quilimane and Senna. Still he was
civil, and pressed them to remain all night. They went
down to bathe, and on their return Charles told them that
their bearers had overheard plans for burning their hut in
the night, killing them, and taking their goods. This deter-
mined them to be off. They called the chief, and while they
occupied him by giving him a fine bright-coloured scarf,
Charles was instructed to get the beavers into motion, and
Procter and Scudamore would follow them out of the gate.
The chief seemed taken by svxrprise, on hearing they were
going to start at once, but the scarf occupied his attention
in some degree. The men in the open space of the village,
on seeing the movement, cried out, Atawa! ("they are
running away"), and some of them tried to block up the
gate ; but Charles dashed forward, and made them fall back,
and the flight became general. Charles escaped into the
bush; he heard two shots fired, which must have been by
our friends, — our dear brothers, as we felt more than ever
they were ; but what had become of them he did not know.
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 379
He had been almost caught once or twice, had heard the pur-
suers say, " Here he is ! here he is ! " but, thank God, he had
been hid in the darkness. They had left the village just at
sunset, and night had set in very soon. He avoided all
paths, but was stopped by a large river, which they had
crossed that morning at a village ; so that he was forced to
seek a new place for crossing. He sat down on the bank
till morning. He was then obliged to ask where he could
cross, and with difficulty persuaded the people to guide him.
That day he avoided tillages still, and got here on the fol-
lowing day, as I have described, hungry and weary.
You may perhaps imagine our state of mind. We
anxiously made inquiry, from which to form conjectures
where our two friends might be ; but first we gave Charles
some soup, and then we joined together in our temporary
church in prayer for them, whether in suffering or fear, or
wherever they might be, that God would be their support
and strength ; and for ourselves, that we might have wisdom
to act with thought and charity towards the persecutors, and
yet for the safety of oiu' brethren. Then we consulted what
was to be done. Rowley was on his bed, unable to move
from the place ; some of the rest were a little out of sorts ;
but, besides, we had sufficient accounts of Ajawa fighting on
our west, within twenty miles, to make us feel the necessity
of leaving an adequate strength here, while we went towards
the south-east. On the other hand, to go to a strong village,
in the centre perhaps of a populous district, only four or
five of us, seemed likely to increase the mischief; yet
we could not depend on the Mang-anja going with us in a
case in which they were not concerned, still less on their
standing by us in case of need. Our only course was to get
the help of the Makololo, who would not be disposed to take
the part of any of the natives against us, and would be
glad to go w^ith us anywhere if there was any chance of
plunder. They were most of them at the anchorage of the
Pioneer (Chibisa's), and Job must be sent for them. This
380 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
settled, the sorrow, and tlie tiyiug to be simply trusting in
our Father, returned as before. We thought how sad it was
to have to wait some days before setting off to look for them.
I could not drive from my imagination the picture of what
I saw in August — a man in the act of being stabbed to
death. Just then one of our women came running to say,
that the English were returning : and so indeed they were.
They looked in better heart than Charles, for whom they
asked immediately, not knowing whether he was safe.
They, too, were hungry, having lived on a single fowl each
for eight-and-forty hours, in which time they had walked
about eighty-five miles. They were supplied with soup, and
then we again assembled with very different feelings in
oiu- place of worship, to thank Him who had been guiding
them while we in our anxiety were praying for them, and to
pray that we might be bound together now in still closer
bonds in carrying out our great common end.
By degrees we heard their account. They had passed
through the gate close after Charles. Some of the bearers
had their loads taken from them, others threw theirs down.
They were followed, and crowded on each side, by a mass of
men armed with bows and poisoned arrows. They shouted
for Charles, but got no answer. Two or three of the natives
got hold of Procter's gun and tried to wrest it from him ;
afterwards they got him down, and he had to defend himself
with his heels as he lay on his back. Scudamore, who was
a few steps in advance, came to the rescue, and fired on the
man who was most busy. On this they ran away. At one
time an arrow was discharged at Procter, which must have
passed through his thigh, and, laming him, most probably
have cost them both their lives, had it not viost providentially
been received by the stock of his gun. He broke it off after-
wards, but the point is still deeply bedded in the wood.
Procter also fired both barrels; and this and Scudamore's
shot having cleared a space behind and round them, they
struck off into the trackless bush on the left of the path. In
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 381
a minute or two tliey stopped, deliberated, and prayed for
guidance, and then set off homewards.
It was slow work, treading over the burnt grass, the
stalks of which stood np crisp and black, about a foot high ;
but it was better than long grass higher than their heads, or
thick underwood, while the darknes ssufficiently concealed
them : thus " all things worked together for good for them."
About twenty miles they went that night, guided by a fire
on the Milanje mountains on their right. But for this fire
they must in all probability have wandered, and perhaps fallen
back into the village they had left. Their next difficulty
was the river. Three times Scudamore (who is a good swim-
mer) stripped to find a crossing : twice he was carried down
by the stream, and obliged to land on the same side. At
the third place he got across, and then they carried their
clothes above their heads to keep them dry. For half an
hour about sunrise they rested, half-dozing, on the top of an
ant-hill, concealed by the bushes which grew upon it, and
discussed the plan of hiding there till night. It was well,
however, that they went on. That day, Friday, they got
over forty miles, finding it safe now to keep the path, but
avoiding a village here and there. They asked a man who
was hoeing in his garden to shew them the path to a hill
which they had passed, and which they named, telling him
they had no cloth to pay him. The man put his hoe on his
shoulder, and went with them some miles. Afterwards they
thought of their pocket-handkerchiefs. One was torn up and
used as cash; a quarter of it remained on their return. On
the Saturday they walked about twenty-five miles, making
the whole distance eighty-five, which tallies with other esti-
mates. They were both looking much fagged; Procter has
a scratch on his face, made by an arrow in the tussle.
Now, after four nights have passed, they are more like
themselves.
In looking back on all this, some people will blame me
for not exactly following Livingstone's advice. He said :
382 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
" Send no separate exploring party, but start in sufficiently-
good time to explore and ariive on tlie 1st of January at the
Rug mouth. Take the old road as far as Soche, and then
keep the mountain Choro on your right." Livingstone had
never been on the road, but thought that the best way. He
also advised me not to weaken our home party too much, for
fear of attack from the Ajawa on our west. My reasons for
not acting on this advice were, that by the route actually
taken we could get guides on whom we could depend from
Chigunda, who spoke at one time of going himself; whereas
guides from Soche might, I thought, be as likely to mislead
us as to guide us rightly. Besides, I thought it a good
opportunity to explore a new route, and one which, if suc-
cessful, would probably be better than the one named by
Livingstone; and I thought he had given the advice he did,
because he wished us to keep the old safe road, so far as it
would serve. How far I am condemned by the result will
not be clear till we have tried his path, which I now propose
to do.
Dec. 13.— There have now returned six of the men who
went with Procter and Scudamore, leaving two, together
with Nkuto, one of our boys who went with them. The
sixth came here this morning, and made a formal report to
Chigunda and us. He was caxight on that Thursday night,
on the path, some men having gone on before to secure all
who tried to escape. Our friends and the others struck off
the path, anticipating the danger. They bound all the foiir,
and kept himself and our boy Nkuto in the great village, the
other two in a neighbouring village. Our goods were all put
into the large hut in which " the English " had been, and to
which the two false guides had access. In the morning,
these two, the sons (as it appears) of Chipoka, the chief from
whose village they had started on the "Wednesday morning,
claimed the freedom of this man, and he was at once given
up to them. With them he returned to Chipoka's village.
Manga. In answer to the question whether these two had
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 383
any shai-e of the plunder, he said that he could not see what
was inside their bags, nor hear what was said behind his
back. Chipoka escorted him to the village of Saopa, and
Saopa to a village near this. Chipoka sends an arrow to
Chigunda, our chief, and says: "I am not in blame for this
war; Mauasomba has tried to kill the English, has stolen
their baggage and their boy, and has kept two of your men.
He says, If the English want the men, let them come and
buy them out, or else fight for them." We asked why he
supposed they had thought evil against us ; he said, " Because
you went about with much cloth, and refused to buy slaves,
and would not buy much of anything else ; so they thought it
better to take it from you." We asked some questions about
the nation of Manasomba, and the extent of his territory.
It seems probable, though not certain, that he is not a Mang-
anja; some say Auguru, some Amlache. If they had kept
the right road they would not have come near him, and
would have been well received by Tombondira, who is
supreme over Saopa and Chipoka, and whose influence is
said to extend to the Shire.
This treaclierous attempt to murder the two mis-
sionaries, besides being extremely painful in itself,
was also a source of anxiety to Bishop Mackenzie
in another way. Could such an outrage be passed
over without notice ? especially as some of the party
were still missing, and might possibly have been
murdered ? And if any notice should be taken, when
and by whom? The Bishop would gladly, as he
states in one of his letters, have left to Dr Living-
stone the responsibility of calling the offenders to ac-
count in the Queen's name ; but would it be likely
that Dr Livingstone would be able to find time to take
the matter in hand? and if it should prove that the
3^4 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
work must fall upon the Bishop himself, would it not
be much better to see to it at once and not defer the
matter till his return from the rendezvous with Dr
Livingstone, when he would probably have a party of
ladies, and a large supply of goods, on his hands ? But
if so, there was no time to be lost ; it would be ne-
cessary to go to Manasomba's, then perhaps return to
Magomero, and then hasten with all speed to keep the
appointment at the mouth of the Ruo, by way of
Chibisa's and the Shire. This general explanation will
be sufficient to introduce the following letter to his
sister in Scotland ; it carries the story of the Bishop's
life very nearly to its conclusion, and is the last letter
written home by him. Possibly, had it not been the
last, I might have been tempted to abridge it.
LETTER XCIL
:Magomero, Bee. 22, iSfio.
Fourth Sunday in Advent.
Dear
I must write a few lines by this mail, thougli it
may not be much. First, I asked you, in a letter despatched
Dec. 2, 1861, which is probably lost, to send me three Bibles,
like the one I have myself, in strong binduig. I want also
a copy of Boone's Sermons, late Incumbent of S. John's, Pad-
dington. You may read them, if you like, first : let them be
bound. Also please buy for yourself from me a copy of
Archer Butler's Sermons, and for , from me, a copy of
The Faith Duty and Practice of a Christian Missionary
(Rivingtons') ; also, for me, Thriipp On the Psalms (Mac-
millan).
Pear , I have much at times to depress me ; more
than ever I had. But I expected it, and must not complaiu.
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. ^^S
Tlie Dean of Cape Town, in liis sermon at my consecration, told
me I should. But the work is God's. I should not mind dis-
couragement among the heathen ; but it is among our Cape
Town men. God help us all to grow in grace, and them especi-
ally in the grace of purity. Dear and , pray for them.
They need also humility, and especially needs command
of temper. I feel these sins in themselves as wounds to
our Saviour and breaches in the walls of our Zion, and
as positive hindrances, so far as they go, to our work, by
lowei-ina us among the heathen. But in all this I comfort
o o
myself that the work will live, and leaven the masses of
this people by the power of the Holy Spirit, dwelling in and
vivifying His Church.
Dec. 24. To come to events. This is the second day of
our journey to the Ruo mouth to meet the Pioneer on Jan. 1.
How strange that you probably know already whether I shall
find our sisters in the Pioneer or not. There is a good deal to
say on both sides from our point of view. The Bishop of
Cape Town would know of the appointment as soon as the
Admiral; and whether the Admiral sent a vessel from Cape
Town, or sent word to one on the station, that is, near Jo-
hanna, to go to Kongone to meet Livingstone, in either
case our party would have an opportunity of leaving Cape
Town. But then it is urged here, that as I wrote for them
from the Zambesi only, and have not had an opportunity of
writing for them from Magomero in time for them to come
this time, the Bishop of Cape Town and all prudent people
would advise their staying at Cape Town till accounts of us
are received from some fixed resting-place. This is quite
natural ; biit I hope as against this that would be strong
enough to say, "We yielded to his own (that is, my) decision,
that the ladies could not go up at first : surely we ought not
to be kept from going up, when Livingstone and he agree
in saying, Come." Again, I say, if there was any difficulty
about a man-of-war from Cape Town for them, still they
would have to send us stores ; at least I trust they know
25
385 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
that we are depending on a fresh snpply now, having bronght
from Johanna as little as we could possibly do with. If they
do not send us stores, we shall have to hope that we may get
some cloth throiigh the Doctor from Senna, at three times the
English price, and live on native produce till we can get
more stores ; and on this we shall probably be half of us ill
all the time, on an average. But I am not afraid of this.
The above discussion of probabilities may amuse you.
"We meant originally to have left home on Thursday*.
Then, to please Chigunda and accommodate ourselves to the
assembling of the few hundred men he was gathering to go
with us, we delayed till Friday. From Friday we delayed
till Satvirday from the impossibility of getting bearers ; and
the Makololo, whom we had asked to come with us, only
arrived on Saturday, and there was not time to make a start
after talking over the affair with them. So it was Monday,
leaving eight week-days in this year, one of which is Christ-
mas. Of these I expect six will be spent in walking, and
there will be left two for the visit we intend to pay to Mana-
somba. You know already what is the cause ; it is clear we
can not do anything like making a demand to be backed by
force when we have ladies on our hands, and it is likely that
it will not suit Livingstone to keep our ladies till we can do
this; though if I thought he could do this, I would much
rather have his name and authority joined with my own in
the matter.
I was not well in the morning, and the doctor gave me a
little chalk and opium ; I hoped the walk would quite set me
up. It was a good day for walking ; and we did a short
journey, about fourteen miles. I bathed afterwards, which
was perhaps unwise, and found at night that I was no
better; bxit Waller has just (11 a.m.) given me some more
medicine, and I shall enjoy my breakfast when it is ready.
There is the chief of this village, and I must speak to him.
I have had my talk with him, and have had breakfast ;
^ December 19,
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 387
and now lie is looking on in wonder while I write. He
gave us a kid, and a basket of corn, and I have given him
two yards of velvet, bright blue, with which he looks much
pleased. His name is Kwanji, and also Sata-Massira, the
latter of which means plenty of corn ; a very appropriate
name, for it is almost the only village I have seen for some
time, in which the people have not been starving. We are
going nearly due South, and are getting near to the grand
range of the Milanje, nearer than Livingstone has been. To-
night we sleep at Saopa's, and to-morrow go on to Chipoka's.
We cannot afford, after so much loss of time, to sit still on
Christmas Day, but we shall have our service of worship and
communion with the whole Church, of which Christ is Head,
notwithstanding. Now they are ready to start : it is about
12 or 1, I suppose.
Dec. 25. Christmas Day. You will be sorry to hear
that we are walking to-day as usual. I was very anxious to
get here (Saopa's village) last night, that our journey to-
day might have been a short one, from this to Chipoka's.
And then we should have had a communion service in the
quiet part of the day, which would have been the morning.
But some of the party were too tired to come on last night.
So we have had more than three hours' walking this morning,
and have about six before us.
Since I wrote the above we have had breakfast, and
have had a long talk with the two chiefs, Chigunda, who
came with us, and Saopa of this village. They say that
Chipoka was here not long ago, to ask if we were coming.
(Saopa also was at Kwanji's, and returned the day before
yesterday.) Chipoka left directions that when we came he
should be summoned, that we might talk over the whole
matter quietly. This he thought better, because in his vil-
lage are so many that have relations with Manasomba, who
would be apt to call out Nkondo (war), on our appearing,
and give notice at once to Manasomba, while here at Saopa's
we may stay without his hearing of us. As it was by the
25—2
388 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
two giiides from Chipoka's that our party was led to Mana-
somba's, we ask whether he is to be trusted ; they say, " Yes :
he and Chigunda and Satawa and Saopa and Tombondira
are brothers; they all look up to Chinsunzi and Kankomba,
and they will all send some men with the English against
Manasomba." It will be best, they think, to call Chipoka,
as he wished. The messenger will go, so as to get to Chi-
poka's at night. The chief will come away in the darkness,
and no one in his village will know where he is gone. I
asked these two chiefs what they thought would be the
resulting advice to-morrow : Chigunda answered, more by
signs than by words, that we should go to ChijDoka's from
this perhaps to-morrow afternoon, as quietly as possible,
trusty men guiding by a zigzag path, to avoid the main road ;
that early next morning we should go in silence (his lips all
grasped in his hand to indicate silence) to Manasomba's,
(his forefingers stepping stealthily along the mat on which
we sat, till on getting to Manasomba's he made a spring
forward with both hands so as to seize all that was there),
and then retui-n quietly to Chipoka's, (where his look of per-
fect innocence, and ignorance of having done anything re-
markable, after the animated features of the march and
attack, was inimitable). I asked how it would do to send
a message to Manasomba that we were coming against him,
and that his only way of averting an attack would be by
meeting us on the path and bringing the stolen men and
property, with a goat for each man wrongfully detained ; if he
did this, we should not tovich him ; if he did not, we should
burn his village ? They said, " O, he will take the people and
the things, and will run away, and we shall never see them."
I said, " Suppose then we go quietly as you propose, and on
getting near the village tell the first men we see to tell the
chief the same thing." They thought this might be done.
Dec. 26. I laid down my pen at this point yesterday,
a fit of drowsiness having come over me. In a few minutes
we had our evening prayers, followed by Communion. I
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 389
thought there were innumerable Christian congi-egations
joining in Communion, but probably none so far from the
centre of earthly communion, I mean none in so out-of-the-
way a place. How wondrous the feeling of actual instan-
taneous communion with all you dear ones, though the dis-
tance and the means of earthly communication are so great
and so difficult ! How great this boon which He instituted
and in His Holy Gospel commanded us to continue, as a
perpetual memory of Him until His coming again !
The chief of this village is Saopa, an old, thin, tallish
man, with a pleasant face, with whom I think I get on
better in trying to speak, than with any previous stranger.
He sent for his neighbour Satawa (meaning, not runaway ;
tawa is to run away), to whom we gave two yards of blue
velvet, as we had given Saopa the same quantity of scarlet.
They were beautiful colours, though the stuff is narrow, and
the fabric slight: it calls forth great admiration always.
The site of this village is very good : on the east is the
towering range of the Milanje, hiding the sun^ it is tiiie, till
two or nearly three hours after he has begun his course to
the zenith. These hills, whose summits are estimated by
Livingstone as being about 8000 feet above the sea, (and we
are here about 2000,) remind me of the Wetterhorn near
the river Aar in Switzerland; so towering, such inacces-
sible precipices. There the avalanches are roaring down
every hour; here the torrents pour down, tracing vertical
lines on the rock, which remain when the supply of water
fails, and give the precipice a curious striated look, which
we can see from Magomero, forty or fifty miles off. In
some parts the precipice gives place to a steep slope covered
with the trees and other luxuriant vegetation, below which
is precipice again ; the streams from the top giving an almost
daily supply of moisture to the slope, from which it drains
again to supply the lower ground ; and all along the foot of
the precipice is the rapid descent to the level of the plain,
formed by the debris of the clifis above. On this descent
390 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
are many villages, and well cultivated gardens, the early
produce of which heljDed our simple meal yesterday ; for we
had new heads of Chimanga (the mealies, you remember, of
Natal), Indian corn, a fortnight or three weeks earlier than
I remember them in Natal. The village itself lies in the
shade of its own large trees, Indian fig and others, the cen-
tral space being vacant, and serving for the reception of
visitors, and large bodies of men, and for the transaction of
business. It is in this place that we have taken all our
meals, and that I am now sitting on one of our boxes writ-
ing to you. I have said there is abundance of rain here,
caused, I suppose, by the nearness of these lofty, precipitous
hills : and this with the heat produces the luxuriant vege-
tation; but on the other hand the place is damp; all round
the village the grass, as high as one's middle, is soaking ; and
under these trees the mossy mould of damp soil is spread,
while the tops of the hills are shrouded in the level lying
clouds, like the table-cloth on Table Mountain at the Cape.
We have not seen the sun during the four-and-twenty hours
we have been here. Even here the people are complaining
of hunger ; and one would have accused them of inconceiv-
able idleness for being without food in such a land of plenty,
but that we hear in this quarter also of inroads by other
oppressors, like our friends the Ajawa on the other side.
The poor Mang-anja seem hunted and oppi-essed on all sides.
Perhaps these afiiictions have been appointed as a means of
their receiving the Gospel. Tontorua seems to have been a
destroyer now for a long time. William, who has been
twenty-one years at the Cape, remembers his name be-
fore he left his own country, though that may have been
a former holder of the title. We are told that the present
Ajawa chief, Kainka, is the son and successor of another of
the same name.
Dec. 27, S. John's day. Dear , it is sti-ange pass-
ing these Holy days in this secular way. It makes me often
review my position and say, "If it feels strange to be on such
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 39 1
an expedition on a Saint's day, is it right to go on it at all ]"
and the result is that I always feel that it is. Yesterday
we stayed at Saopa's village till 12, and then sent word to
the chiefs that as the messenger had not yet come back from
Chipoka's, we should go immediately, and meet him on the
road. At the same time we ordered a fire to be lighted,
water to be boiled, and chocolate made, that we might have
something to start upon, as it wovild probably be dark before
we began to think of another meal. By one, we were ready
to start : but they said our bearers had gone out to buy food,
and the only guide who knew the way to Chipoka's was gone
with them. I said to my party, "If you will go on, mai'king
the road well (that is, making a line with a stick, or shoe,
across every path that you do not take, to bar it), I will
follow with the luggage as soon as I can. I can walk
quicker, and do not mind being late out." This plan was not
a good one, and met with no favour from my companions;
but it seemed to me to be the only way to save, if possible,
the day which was just slipping through our fingers. So
I stuck to it. The baggage was made up. The bearers
turned up, and some of the Makololo also who were out;
the chiefs Chigunda and Saopa were induced to get off the
ground, and the latter himself became our guide. We got
ofi" by two; a perfect triumph of determination over obsti-
nacy and indolence.
We got here (Koronko, I think, is the chiefs name) about
seven, having crossed some troublesome streams, swollen by
the heavy rain, which was dashing down the precipices on our
left in beautiful cascades. The first of these we crossed by
tucking up our trousers, and half wading, half springing from
stone to stone: the second we were carried over; the rest we
waded simply, being already drenched with rain; and at the
last, which was the worst, we were obliged some of us to stand
in the water holding each other up, and pass over baggage,
and help some of the rest. Some of our bearers from Ma-
gomero were the worst; the old cMef Saopa, a man of sixty
392 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
})erhaps, was very plncky : Chigimda came out in a "way that
surprised us all, and his nephew and heir-apparent, Zachura-
kamo, was the boldest and best.
The chief, Chipoka, has come here, and is in confabu-
lation with Chigunda and Saopa. I let them alone for a
little, on the principle that disturbing them would only be
wasting time, as they would have their talk out before I
heard anything. But after a little I sent William to say,
that I should be glad to see Chipoka. He has been gone
about a quarter of an hour, and I suppose is learning all the
news.
This morning we heard the following account. A man
of this village told Chigunda last night that he had been
lately in Manasomba's village, and learned that three of
Manasomba's men had been as spies at or near Magomero ;
he having ascertained that we were coming against him,
had called his brother from the banks of the Shii-e to help
soniha
Tonibondira
Ruo
^j/jRendezvous
tuith Livinyslone
him, and had strengthened himself in a camp on the east
(the left) bank of the Ricania, at the only ford where we
could cross to get to Manasomba's. In the annexed sketch
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 393
tbe line in the writing^ may represent the outline of the
Milanje mountains. The lines in the map are meant for the
river Shire, its branch the Ruo, and its branch the Ricania.
Tombondira's village is on the west side of the Ruo, as I have
put it, and probably below the confluence of the Ricania. I
do not believe the whole of this story : I do not believe that
the spies ascertained, at or near Magomero, what our move-
ments were. It was only tlii'ee days before we left home
that I told Chigunda what we were going to do. Men
might guess before that, as I sent about a week earlier for
the Makololo to come up ; but I don't believe our intentions
were at all generally known till this day last week. The
other part of the story is possible enough : we have two
other and independent sources of the information that Mana-
somba has relations on the Shire, or Ruo, or at the conflu-
ence. A further account says, that the camp is on this side
of the Ricania, which is better for us, as we should have
an opportunity of routing them before trying to cross the
river in the face of them. This latter is, I think, a possible
though certainly a difficult operation, as we may probably
have to swim, and it will be difiicult to obey Cromwell's
injunction, to keep our powder dry,
1.30 P.M. We are just going to sit down to breakfast,
(having, however, broken our fast on two cups of cofiee and
a biscuit at 7). We have had a long talk with Chipoka, and
the rest. He said he was very sorry for what had happened,
but Manasomba had done it himself. He (Chipoka) had sent
our party there in good faith. We asked what character
Manasomba had, and he said, that "though he had often ill-
treated strangers, he had never done any harm to any one
conducted by his messengers. It was their ordinary way of
going back and forwards between Chipoka and Tombondira."
"What did Tombondira think of it all ?" Ans. " O, we are
^ The Bishop has written over the upper part of his sketch; this
cannot be reproduced in print, but the reader will find the map per-
fectly intelligible.
394 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
one : wliat is done to one is done to both." I said, "I tliink
it riglit to punish such a man ; so we will go togethei* ; but
do not suppose that I am always going about with my gun
to kill men, (" hear ! hear ! " from Chigunda ;) my children
came down peaceably to this place, but were detained and
attacked by Manasomba. I live quietly at Magomero. Our
wish is to do you good by exchanging cloth, beads, and other
English goods for your goats and com, ivory and cotton:
and what is more than all, we come to you from God, of
whom we have a better knowledge than you, whose laws we
know, and we want to teach you these things. (All the
chiefs said to this, "that is good.") So do not think I like
bloodshed ; but this man must be punished, and we must get
back the three that are in his hands."
As to the time, we arranged that we should come to his
village and sleep there ; that he should go at once to call toge-
ther his own and Tombondira's men, and that we should all
be off early in the morning. He proposes that we should
return to his village at night. Whether we do that, or go
on to Tombondii-a's, will depend on circumstances. Kow we
must be off, 3.30 p.m.
Dec. 30, 10 A.M. Chipoka's village, called Manga. We
got here on Friday sooner than I expected, soon enough to
have a bath before dark in the sparkling rocky stream that
we crossed just before we entered the village. This is a won-
derfully beautiful situation. Under the overhanging pre-
cipices of the Milanje on the north, rising in two huge domes
of the shape of a lemon standing erect on a plate, when the
smaller half has been removed; the sides of the granite
furrowed and gnarled by the torrents, that pom* down when
there is tropical rain. These domes guard the entrance of a
steep-sided horse-shoe valley or scoop in the range, the back
of which is thickly covered with trees on its inaccessible
surface. From the foot of one of these domes the ground
slopes pretty rapidly to the level of the southern plain ; and it
is on a part of this slope, just above the bank of the stream,
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 395
the Malodza, (Marossa, as Procter and Sciidamore have
written it, and it is not much different, as I and r seem in-
terchangeable in this hxngnage,) that the village of Manga is
biiilt. There are fine trees, among which the huts nestle in
groups of four or five, so that it is difficult to know their
number, but I suppose there are fifty ; the one we are sleep-
ing in is one of the largest : it is about sixteen feet in dia-
meter, inside, the roof extending to a diameter of about
twenty-four. There are numbers of beautiful banana trees,
but there is little ripe fruit this year, the people having
eaten a great deal unripe during the late scarcity. The view
towards the south is extensive, seeming to reach for fifty
miles or more, a wide rich plain, intersected by the E,uo and
its tributaries, dotted with hills of six or eight hundred feet,
and bounded, I believe, by the hills beyond the Shire, with
perhaps a dip down on this side of it, like a sunk fence, con-
cealed from this.
That night we had a talk with the chief, and finally
arranged that we should start very early, so as to get to
Manasomba's before people were awake. But when they came
to wake us it was half-past twelve, and so dark a night, that
no one would go down the bank of the stream to get us some
water for coffee, till Scudamore went with them. We agreed
that it was wild to start so early, and that they might come
for us towards daybreak; and we lay down again to sleep.
In the moi'ning we started on a cup of coffee, carrying with
us cold kid and a bottle of wine. Our only cup was the one
gave me. The first stream we came to was so deep,
that, though I was mounted high on the back of a man
as tall as myself, I got wet up to the knee. The largest
river we had to cross was the Ricania. It was this water
that Scudamore had tried three times to ford before he suc-
ceeded that night in the dark. To our sui-prise we found a
good bridge, consisting of a large tree thrown across. On
the other side we halted for a quarter of an hour to refresh
ourselves. We were in all about fifty, fifteen of whom were
39^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
English, and Makololo, with guns, the rest Mang-anja from
Chipoka and Saopa, with one or two guns among them : so
that both in number of our own party and in smallness of
our allies, we were more like the party of July under Li-
vingstone than either of our own later bodies of August or
October. About a quarter of an hour after this we stopped
to pray for God's blessing, professing that we were not going
in private revenge, but to free the captives, and to punish
the robber and would-be murderer, in God's name, (having
the good word, as you see, of the chiefs around, and their ap-
proval of our going,) and then I told them all that I wanted
was to get my children back, and the stolen property, (more
than 100 yards of cloth, besides change of clothing, food,
pots and pans, &c. ;) that I did not wish to kill any one,
only to get these things, and to burn the village, that Mana-
somba might learn not to do so again, and others might fear;
that if they defended their village we would drive them out,
but on no account take women or children, or hurt them ;
that I wanted none of the plunder we might get, but they
must bring it all together, and I would give shares of it.
After this we proceeded, expecting to reach the village
in about an hour. Within ten minutes of our halt, (during
the prayer all had been bowed to the ground except myself,
standing up, with my eyes shut,) we saw a body of men
nearly as lai"ge as our own coming to meet us. I called out,
"Walk on, do not stop." I wished to know at once for
myself what they said. As we afterwards learned, Chipoka,
the chief of this village, had last Wednesday, (before he knew
of our approach,) held a meeting with Manasomba, and ar-
ranged to have a Minandu, a discussion of their quarrel, on
that very Saturday, that this was actually Manasomba and
a few men coming to the Minandu, and not seeing at first
that there were English or so many guns in our party,
called out, " Stand still, do not come on :" but on our con-
tinuing to advance they left the path, and he stood on a
huge ant-hill on our right. I found they were saying some-
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 397
thing about a talk; so I told "William to call out, that if
they wished to speak, five of them might come out and meet
us. I did not know Manasomba was among them ; but
they ran away, and on asking where they had gone, I got
answer that probably they had gone to his village. So we
resumed our march, expecting to find the village defended :
but when we got there, we found the entrance where the
bearers some weeks ago had thrown down their burdens, and
where Scudamore and Procter had had such a tussle, un-
guarded; and on passing through we found ourselves in a
fine, but deserted village. I stayed at the centre, telling the
rest to search the huts and bring everything to the centre.
There were some fine Muscovy ducks, about half a dozen
sheep and goats, and a little corn; of our own goods we
recovered our valise, a pair of shoes, two or three pots, two
tins of preserved meat, and a piece of soap. Then we set
the huts on fire, most of the jDarty carrying out the plunder.
I had left Burrup with Charlie (Makololo), Zachurakamo,
and one or two others at the gate, to prevent our being sur-
prised. We left the village in about half an hour; the sheep
and goats were divided, three to the Makololo, two to
Zachurakamo, (the nephew and heir of Chigunda,) two to
Chipoka's people. Everything else I left as it had arranged
itself, and we began our return. The live stock were much
in our way; and Waller begged me to cut them adrift j and
this had to be done at last. About an hour on our way
home, as Scudamore and Burrup, who were in front, were in
a narrow muddy place between masses of reeds, a shot was
fired on them from the front. I heard the shot, where I
was, behind, and hurried forward. I sent a party to go
through, saying we from behind could now command the
ground from which the shot had come. They went through
this time without molestation. We found one man had been
shot in the stomach by an arrow, which had to be cut out,
as the first barb was buried, and another had flesh-wounds
as from shot, or small stones. After this we tried to keep
39^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
our party a little more in hand ; but this was not easy, for
after I had cut the sheep and goats adrift, the men would
delay to kill and carry them : a time of no small anxiety, as
the head of the column had got out of sight ; I was in the
middle waiting for Mobita to come up. However, at last
we got into order, and went on slowly. The wounded man
could not walk fast, and at last had to be carried. We were
thankful to find the tree-bridge across the Ricania free, and
got home rather tired about five. The day had been got
through, to which we had looked forward with much doubt
as to how we were to act. We had, indeed, failed to get
back our people, (I forgot to say that we called out to Mana-
somba, that we wanted our people, when we met that party
on the path,) but we had punished the robber, and had re-
tui-ned safe. We had vindicated the English name, and had
shewn in this neighbourhood that it is not safe to attack an
Englishman ; and I hope the lesson may not be thrown
away on these people.
Yesterday, being Sunday, we were a little disturbed by
reports, which we did not believe, that Manasomba had
come across the Ricania, and at one time that he was
already at the foot of this village. I sent some of the
Makololo to ascertain the truth, and in the mean time we
had prayers. The chief Chipoka was attracted by the sound
of the responses, and came to the door of the hut, where he
stayed quietly, standing and sitting as he saw they did in-
side, all through the Morning Prayer and Litany: we re-
served the Communion-service till the Makololo should
report, and when they did it was late. Theii- report was,
that Manasomba had never crossed the Ricania, but they
saw a messenger professing to come from him, asking Chi-
poka to come next day to a Minandu. Chipoka sent back
answer (on their return) to the messenger, who was to wait
where they found him, that he would not cross the Ricania,
that Manasomba must come to meet him at Coswe's, (a vil-
lage we saw on Saturday ;) he would meet him there.
LAST DA YS AND DBA Til. 399
Last night and this morning we have had much discus-
sion what to do. The proposed plans were, to go across
country to Soche, where (with your accurate geographical
knowledge, you will know) we fall into our old route to the
ship's anchorage, take that route, and go down the Shire by
canoe, or go to Tombondira's from this, and so down the
Kuo, or, as we have seen some reason to fear the chiefs on
the Kuo, to keep a little more to the right, (the West,) say
twenty or fifteen miles, and try to strike the confluence as
nearly as jjossible, or to stay where we are and hear the end
of the Minandu, sending Zachurakamo to it, to represent
us, and in our name and Chigunda's demand the captives.
Of these four plans Waller and Scudamore leaned to the
first or last, the second was mine, the third Burrup's. I
objected to the first, that we should be about a week too late
in keeping our appointment. To the fourth, that I did not
see that we should do any good to Chipoka by staying a day
or two here : he must depend on himself at last, when we
went; and as to demanding the captives, saying that was
the condition of peace with us, it seemed neither true nor
expedient to do so, unless we were prepared to do something
to enforce the demand in case (as seemed very likely) it were
refused; and we were all agreed that we could not and
would not do more. Finally, we took this last course, with
the modification of not making any threat : we told Chipoka
we would wait till he came back from the Minandu, and we
sent Zachurakamo, simply to demand the captives. That
was, I suppose, about nine o'clock. It is now a quarter to
two. The wounded man has died, and his companions have
taken the body, in a piece of cloth which we gave, to bury
him. Scudamore is very far from well, feverish all over.
I think we shall not get away from this to-day. I imagine
we shall be three days in getting to the Shire : if we start
to-morrow we shall be there on the second instead of the
first.
I have had a chat this morning with the old mother of
400 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
Chipoka: wlien she came yesterday I gave her a piece of
cloth, and to-day she brought her acknowledgments in the
shape of a fowl and three eggs.
Jan. 3, 1862. Dear . This is the first time I have
wi-itten the name of this year : may it be to us and to you a
year of greater grace and blessing than the last, and so may
we abound more and more until the coming of our Lord and
Saviour. How curious saying this to you, and probably the
year will be far gone before you read it ! But you are saying
the same things, and God hears the prayers of both, and will
shower down on each the showers of His blessing in answer
to the distant prayer, just as the rain rises from the distant
ocean, and falls on the thirsty ground, where He has ap-
pointed it. I am sitting in a hut on my way from Ma-
gomero to the Pioneer's anchorage : it is about six o'clock,
and the light will soon fail me, and the fowl we have just
bought will soon be ready : so I rc\ust make the best of my
time to bring you up to date.
We meant to leave Chipoka's on Tuesday, and make our
way with all speed to the Euo mouth. Scudamore was look-
ing so much unwell, that I determined he must go home, and
Waller go to take care of him, while Burrup and I went on ;
but in the morning, when we asked for guides and bearers,
Chipoka refused. He said, "All that country is occupied by
Manasomba's friends : you will be killed if you go, and then
the English who are behind (at Magomero) will come and
blame me and burn my village. If you want to go back, I
will give you guides and bearers; but forwards, I will not."
It was vain to argue. He had made up his mind ; and
much against our will we turned homewards about eleven
o'clock. Waller and Sciidamore both said strongly, it was
much better. Scudamore said it was natural he should wish
to keep us behind him, while he was still treating with Mana-
somba. Waller said we had had enough of fighting : and
that going down that way was only provoking more, and
would make it more difficult for us to assert our character
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 401
as ministers of the Gospel of peace. I said I did not expect
any more fighting : my party would be too strong to allow
them to think of touching us. Accordingly, I tried on the
road to arrange that Waller and Scudamore should go on.
with the guides and^ * * *
Jan. 8. I forget where I was, and what place I was
at. O, I see ; I was an hour or two from Magomero, and
was describing our return from Chipoka's. I am now at
Chibisa's, the anchorage of the Pioneer, and hope to get
down the day after to-morrow, and to find that the Pioneer
has not been staying long waiting. To make short work
with the old story, I tried time after time to get down across
country to the Ruo mouth, but always failed : generally there
were at least thi'ee obstacles, and so it ended in my going
on homewards day by day ; actually turning my back on
the spot I was making for, on the day I had aj^pointed to
meet Livingstone. I found, you see, that it was impossible
to get down straight, and was obliged therefore to take a
longer way round as the shortest in the end, and by coming
down from home to Chibisa's here, to go down the river
fx'om this. I gave up the plan of going across from Soche,
as being a tempting of hostilities lower down the river,
which was undesirable on every ground. Well, on Thursday,
January 2, I got to Magomero. Scudamore was very unwell
from fatigue and exposure. We found them a sick house :
Procter only on the turn to amend, after fever : Rowley very
low : Dickinson a good deal pulled down with work. Burrup
and Waller were both worse than myself; and I had beeu
sufiering from diarrhoea for three or four weeks. I had
hoped to get a fresh companion out of the home stock.
But this was impossible : and I think in any case Burrup
would have objected to staying at home. So off we started
next day.
We have established the custom of having a few prayers
^ The letter here breaks off abruptly, as though the Bishop had been
called away by sudden interruption.
2a
402 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
at our Church before starting, and after return of any of
our party on a journey : so we had prayers for those that
remained and for those who were going, and we set off. It
rained heavily, and we had hard work to get the Makololo into
motion. But it is a good thing to get away, though we only
made five or six miles that day. From that till this morn-
ing we have had almost incessant rain, and have slept five
nights on the road, which I ran through in seventeen hours
last time. Once we were detained two or three hours by a
river, in a place where I think I have always stepped across.
In two others some of us stood in the middle and on the
banks to help others across. It was a great relief on Monday
night to find ourselves more than half-way, at Soche : the
chief was veiy civil, and gave us some ufa (native meal), for
which we were very thankful. Yesterday we got on better,
and this morning we got here : but so ill had we calculated
the distance, that we took a couple of hard eggs with us,
starting without even coffee, meaning to breakfast here, and
it was two P.M. before we began that said early meal. But
we are repaid for all our trouble by finding that it will not
be diflScult to get boats a little lower down, the chief here
undertaking to send us there, which augurs well. Accord-
ingly we are in better sj^irits, and are to start with volun-
teers from among the Makololo. This is good. Then we
have seen the sun to-day ; and this is a very beautiful place :
a village perched on the top of a cliff of i-ed clay over-hanging
the stream, which is now swollen much, and commanding a
view of the valley of the Shire, or at least of its lowest level,
extending four or five miles to the eastern hills. The valley
itself, in a freer sense, stretches many a mile behind us to
the west, — fine fertile land, studded with shi-ubs and trees,
and apparently fit for any cultivation. I suppose, however,
it is not so healthy as the higher lands.
The men of this village are old friends, most of them :
and all looks bright. I have been having many a laugh with
them already. Thus it is that God gives us bright spots in
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 403
our life at the darkest, — and how often bright tracts stretch-
ing over much of it !
I am all this time stopping to shew my watch to some
of them, and to explain to another that if we do not agree
on the price of his meal we need not quarrel ; on which he
comes back to take what I offered, and I give him a little
more. But I must stop now. Thank God for this day.
Jan. 9. It is half-past 8. We have had breakfast; at
least we are waiting for the tea. Burrup has taken but
little. I hope he will be up to his work to-day. He will in
spirit, I am sure. You may think we are in tolerable time j
but that only shews your ignorance. We ought to have been
off before this. However, it is no use hoping to go at rail-
way speed here, or with railway punctuality. The delay
now is on account of Mobita, whose mansion is at some
distance, perhaps a mile, and who has not yet turned up.
I read Burrup this morning the Keble for xxvfch Sunday after
Trinity. I do so admire the last verses.
Monday, Jan. 13. Our suspense is at an end. We got
here, the Euo mouth, on Saturday, to learn that Livingstone,
by most trying delays, as they must have been to him, had
passed downwards not many days before ; so that, if we
had kept our appointment, and been here by the first of
January, we should have been in time to see him going
down. This, though sadly trying to him, and running some
risk of his losing the meeting at the bar, and also involving
our staying here a good while, two or three weeks px'obably,
seemed, and seems still, good news to me, inasmuch as we
have not detained him by arriving ten days after time.
We had, on the whole, a prosperous journey down. The
chief at Chibisa's, you know, undertook to send us down to
a chief an hour or two down the stream, Turuma, where we
should be likely to get a larger boat. His own he could not
spare, as it is constantly wanted to cross the river, and for
communication between the village and the island, on which
are some of their gardens. Accordingly, on Thursday we
2e— 2
404 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
set off at 3, and got to Tuiiima's in lialf an hour. It was
deliciovis, the floating down that broad, green-banked river.
The uncertainty as to the length of the voyage gave it a
dreaminess, like some parts of Southey's Thalaha. But like
Thalaba our difficulties were not at an end. Turuma re-
fused to see us, returned our present, and declined to hire
his boat to us, not, as I believe, from ill will, but, as he said
himself, for fear of Mankokwe, whom (you remember) we
saw on July 1 with Livingstone \ What was to be done ?
We thought of trying to persuade our boatmen to take us to
another village, where we might have better luck; but be-
fore doing so, I thought it might be possible to borrow the
boat we were in, (the men having positively refused to go so
far as the Ruo,) by arranging to borrow Turuma's boat for
them. They agreed to this, and so did he, a good deal to
my surprise. The next question was about men. Chibisa's
would not go on, Turuma was afraid to send his. Just then
two of the Makololo, Zomba and Siseho, joined us, having
walked down the bank. Mobita had in the raorning re-
fused to come, and I gave them all up except Charlie, who
never hesitated. These three undertook to go down with us.
So off we started, wondering at the way God was leading us.
In an hoiir or two we landed at Magunda's, where they
received us well. The chief, not well enough to see us, sent
us a goat, before we had sent him anything, which was
unusually civil. Next morning we were off early. Burrup
was far from well. About midday we stopped to cook;
found a village a little back from the stream, where we
stayed three hours : we carried our cooked food, as we were
entering the Elephant Marsh, and should not come to an-
other village before dark. At night we drew to the shore,
made fast the boat to the grass on the bank, ate some cold
goat, and prepared for bed. By this time the mosquitoes
were very troublesome. I lent two pairs of trousers, and
a blue coatie to the three men, wrapped my own head and
^ The Bishop refers to a letter not printed in this volume.
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 4^5
shoulders in my mosquito curtains, and should soon have
been asleep, when one of the men said, " We are going on."
It was better, they thought, to work on in moonlight, rather
than be eaten up by the insects. In less than a minute we
were off. Sometimes I sat up, watching the guiding of the
boat in the narrow winding channel, for before dark we had
left the midstream on the chance of finding a village on the
margin of the marsh. After half-an-hour or so we found
ovirselves stranded on the flooded bank, having been sucked
out of the stream by the overflowing water. As we had
taken a little water, and might have been upset, two of the
men were for stopping here. I, who had been delighting in
this way of turning mosquitoes to good account (by getting
three or four hours at five or six miles an hour, a problem
this which has, I believe, baffled all foi'mer travellers in
mosquito countries,) — I was for going on, saying, "Let us see
a second time," but gave in to the majority of the men.
In a few minutes Zomba, the bowman, gave his orders for
a start, and off we were again in silence. This time we were
sooner in coming to grief A sudden turn, which our bow-
man did not see in time, landed us again on a point where
the stream parted into two; the two men in the stern
jumped out, up to their middles. I followed immediately;
Burrup after me. But in vain ; the canoe continued to fill,
and we began to pull out our things. Unfortunately one
piece of baggage, containing all Burrup's things, was washed
out of the stern : all that was saved had to be laid on the
bank, which consisted of long grass, two or three feet deep
in water, till we could get the canoe raised and baled out.
Then the things were put in again, all soaking; guns,
powder-flasks, bags of sugar and coffee, books, mail-bag,
watch, (fee; all from below the surface; and we wet up to
our middles. We had to get into the boat, wringing the
water from ovir trowser-legs, and then to lie down again,
worse attacked by mosquitoes than at first. It was about
ten, as my watch informed me in the morning, not having
406 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
gone after this. I slept the best, I suspect. Burrup said
he did not mind mosquitoes, and certainly never uttered a
word. I took Charlie under the corner of my curtain. The
rest switched themselves from time to time. No one pro-
posed going on again : indeed, we were thankful our losses
had been no worse, though it was not till next day we
remembered that all our medicine was gone, and our spare
powder ; and all my powder was wet. Before the sun was
up we were off. Fortunately the night was far from cold,
or we must have taken harm : as it is, Burrup is none the
better for it. I think I have escaped any ill consequences.
In the morning (Saturday, Jan. 11), about 9, I was
wakened by being told we were at the Ruo mouth. We
landed on an island where we saw a village, learned that
the Pioneer had lately passed, (though it is evidently not a
week ago, it is hopeless to make out the exact day), and I
cannot learn that Livingstone has left any letter for me.
I must get a canoe as soon as I can, and go and look for it
among the neighbouring villages. In the meantime we have
been led to a very nice village. A benign, oldish chief,
Chikanzi, with a lai'ge population, occupying, I think, about
a hundred hixts, willing that we should remain here, warn-
ing us that the chiefs a little way up the Buo would cut our
throats if we tried to pay them a visit, which, whether trvie
or not, at least removes all fear of his joining them, and
betraying us. I have my hopes, ia my own mind, that our
being here in this way may be intended to prepare this vil-
lage for being one of the stations to be worked by owy Mis-
sion steamer (the University Boat), for which I hope to write
by this mail.
So matters stand at present. Burrup is very low, and
we have no medicine. Quinine, which we ought to be
taking every day, there is none. But He who brought us
here can take cai'e of us without human means. If we
should be down at once, Charlie will take care of v^. The
texts in Greek which we have learned day by day lately
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 407
have been Rom, ii. " For he is not a Jew, whicli is one out-
wardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in
the flesh : but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly ; and cir-
cumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the
letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." iii. "But
now the righteousness ot God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets ; even the
righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto
all and upon all them that believe : for there is no differ-
ence : for all have sinned, and come short of the kingdom
of God." vi. "For the wages of sin is death ; but the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." vii.
" O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from
the body of this death ] I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law
of God ; but with the flesh the law of sin." viii. " I am
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor prin-
cipalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord." x. " Whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they
call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard % and
how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall
they preach, except they be sent ? as it is written. How
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things." Good bye
for the present.
Here the letter terminates abruptly, for reasons
which the reader will guess only too truly. I may add,
the letter bears marks of having been immersed in
water ; some small portions of it have been rendered
nearly illegible. It is a very precious document ; and
the concluding words, Good bye for the present, form as
4o8 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
suitable a parting from liis earthly friends as he him-
self could have desired.
The loss of medicines by the upsetting of the canoe
was a matter of far more serious moment than the
Bishop has represented it. Looking upon the matter
coolly, one would feel disposed to say, that there were
three courses which might have been adopted, and that
the one actually taken was the only thoroughly bad
one. The Bishop and Mr Burrup might either have
gone back to Chibisa's and Magomero, and returned
with a new supply of quinine, in which case active
exercise might probably have preserved their health ;
and even then, judging from the former experience of
the Pioneer, they could have been again at the ren-
dezvous, before Dr Livingstone was likely to have
returned: or they might have made a push to over-
take the Pioneer, which had only recently passed, and
which might in all probability have been overtaken :
or lastly, they might remain where they were, in jDcr-
fect bodily inaction after long severe bodily exercise,
with no exciting mental occupation, and with no
medicine, and consequently under the most favourable
conditions for the action of African fever. But, un-
fortunately, the Bishop had hitherto seemed almost
fever proof, and Mr Burrup had already been able to
set all rules of African travel at defiance ; as Dr Living-
stone said, Mr Burrup's wonderful feat, which has been
already recorded, had destroyed the effect of all his
cautions ; and so, in defiance of the apparent dictates of
ordinary prudence, they determined to remain where
they were.
No doubt one stronsf argument for remainins: was
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 4^9
that the Bishop thought he could turn his time to
good account. He could make friends with the chief
of the island and his people, and so lay the founda-
tion for future missionary work; and with this prospect
before him, the rashness of the attempt would become
invisible. The result, however, adds another to the
list of melancholy proofs which have been furnished, of
the need of not completely forgetting the necessities
and the weaknesses of flesh and blood : let a man,
placed in a responsible position, whether as a mission-
ary or otherwise, first do all that human wisdom and
prudence can suggest, and then humbly and devoutly
leave the result in God's hands ; but it is impossible to
applaud the wisdom, though we may marvel at the
exalted piety, of trusting for preservation to God's pro-
vidence, under circumstances in which the laws of the
natural world prove by experience that safety is not
to be expected.
However, the Bishop determined to remain on the
island. On January 16, he wi'ote as follows in a letter
to Mr Strong : the date, it will be observed, brings it
into immediate connection with the letter to his sister
given above.
LETTER XCIII.
Jan. 16, 1862. I have wi-itten to my sister a full ac-
count, which you will see, of my journey with Scudamore,
BuiTup and Waller, to Manga and back, and subsequently
with Burrup to this place, an island at the confluence of the
Ruo with the Shire, where we are awaiting the return of
Livingstone, in the Pioneer, from the sea. We left home on
December 23. Spent Christmas at Saopa's village, under the
precipices of the Milanje mountains. Found that Chipoka,
4IO MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
whose guides led Procter and Sciidamore to the village of Ma-
nasomba, disclaimed all complicity in the outrage. Accord-
ingly, with a few of his men, who, together with our own,
amounted to about fifty, we went on January 4, and finding
the village of Manasomba deserted, burnt it, and returned to
Chipoka's. "We went with the avowed object of recovering
the two remaining captives, one of whom was one of our
own freed-people at Magomero, and punishing the perpe-
trators of so treacherous an act as that described above, in
order that he might desist from such courses, especially in
the case of Englishmen, and that others might fear. In this
I feel that we did right. It is true our Lord said to His
disciples, " They knew not what spirit they were of." But
in this case we were not revenging ourselves. There was no
ruler ordained of God (Rom. xiv.) to whom we could refer
the matter, else we should have been only too glad to do so ;
but we believed that, being the only power in the place that
could do it, we were ourselves God's ministers for the pur-
pose.
I would gladly have left it for Livingstone to do in the
Queen's name, but feared he would say his other duties were
too pressing, and that he had no time. I should have pre-
ferred waiting for his approval of my doing it, which I am
sure he would give; but by that time, with ten tons of
goods, and probably a party of ladies, on my hands, it would
have been impossible. As speedy a retribution as possible
seemed the best ; and in that belief, and with the approval
of my associates, I acted. We marched peaceably among
fields and villages belonging to Manasomba's people, and
spared a village near his own, said to be the residence of his
wife (equivalent to a second village belonging to himself),
and were glad to find on our return that this moderation
was appreciated, and was attributed to a desire not to shut
out the possibility of a reconciliation with the ofiender. To
this object Chipoka now devoted his energies, and, to avoid
risk of failure, refused to help me in any way to make my
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 411
way to the Ruo mouth in a straight line, as I believe I
might easily have done in two days. Chipoka said we
should pass through country occupied by Manasomba's
friends, and that our doing so would frustrate his attempts
to heal the breach. Besides, if we were killed, the English
from behind (at Magomero) would come and blame him for
guiding us into danger. With the greatest reluctance I
yielded to necessity, and got here in eleven or twelve days,
instead of two, going over about 230 miles instead of about
fifty, and being ten days after our appointment with Living-
stone. I ought to have said that in the attempt to recover
the captives we utterly failed, but left that as an outstand-
ing demand which Chipoka promised to make in my name.
The most painful jjart of the whole was the death of
one of our bearers, who was wounded by an arrow on
our way back, and the illness which repeated exposure
brought back with increased force upon Scudamore. I left
him, I am soriy to say, on January 3rd, in a high fever.
There was not one of the party that I left really well (except
perhaps Adams), though none of the rest were very seriously
ill. Burrup and 1 had a very wet walk to the anchorage of
the Pioneer, sleeping five nights on the way, and came down
here in a canoe with no other mishap than being once upset
and losing one of our bundles; it contained our spare powder,
(so that we have only three or four chai'ges dry,) all our me-
dicines, which we miss as we are both in want of them, and
all Burrup's bedding, change of clothes, and other private
property. We had an uncomfortable night (it happened at
10 P.M. by moonlight), as we were soaked up to the waist
(nothing whatever indeed was dry but the shirts we had on),
and we were nearly at the mercy of an unusiial number of
mosquitoes. Burrup has not been well since. I am myself,
thank God, in almost perfect health, and only regret, on my
own account, the loss of the little packet of dnigs, inasmuch
as I shall probably have a touch of fever soon for want of
quinine. We learned that Livingstone had gone down only
412 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
a few days before we reached the rendezvous : his delays from
sandbanks must have been as trying as on our way up. We
do not expect him back for at least a fortnight (our cloth
for purchasing will last perhaps three weeks).
At first sight it might seem that it would have been
much better, could we have been here in time to see him
before he went down. We could, it is true, have sent letters
later by six or seven weeks, as an addition to our mail of
November 15 ; and we should probably have gone to the
sea with him, and so received our ladies. We tivo might
also have answered the letters we hope to receive soon. On
the other hand, by our stay here, we are making intimate
friends of the inhabitants of this large village. There are,
I believe, more than 100 huts, giving, I suppose, about 500
people. I do not know any Mang-anja village so large, and
the importance of this friendship may be great, for I expect
to add to this letter a request for a steamer to ply on this
lower Shire, to constitute our connection with the civilised
world. Livingstone warns me not to depend on the Pioneer
to bring up stores, or occasional additions to our body; for
it will not always be possible for him to do us this service at
the time we require it, as he would be only too glad to do.
There must, then, be a steamer on which we can depend for
supplies and communication. I think I told you how I.
shrank from the responsibility of having such a vessel, which
would have to lie idle for months together, periods injurious
alike to body and soul. I thought of fevers on board, and,
far worse, of quarrelling among its crew, and of conduct
unbecoming our Christian name, and dishonouring to God,
and undei'mining our mission work among the natives. But
why should it be idle ] Why not have mission work on this
river, under the management of a priest, and perhaps a
deacon, always on board? Why should not there be several,
aye, from five to ten villages, on the banks, visited regu-
larly, in which preaching, schooling, marketing, and gene-
ral civilising influences might go on] The trij) to the sea,
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 413
once or twice in a year, would make little interruption in
this, wbicli would be the main work of the vessel; and if
there were this constant passing up and down, at regular or
irregular intervals, only not too long, there would be much
greater difficulty than at present in transmitting slaves from
the east to the west bank. In this way of looking at the
matter, which has arisen in conversation at Magomero, all
my objections vanish. There would be healthful occupation
for the crew, and such employment for their minds as would,
I hope, give the ship rather a good than a bad influence on
their characters, while the whole would be under the com-
mand of a clergyman, who would consider that his parish
included his fellow-voyagers, as well as the natives on the
banks. And, in this view, may not our stopping here and
making friends with this island chief be of importance,
greater than all that we might have done if we had been
here a week earlier?
Soon after writing the above the fever seized upon
the Bishop, and made rapid progress. He became
aware of his approaching end, and told his Makololo
attendants that Jesus was coming to fetch him away.
About the 20th or 21st of January, his intellectual facul-
ties gave way, and he lay in his hut in a state of utter
prostration, almost without uttering a word, or if he did
speak, speaking incoherently. Sometimes, in going out
of his hut, he would fall forward on his face, and lie on
the ground without being able to move. On the 24!th
he appears to have ruptured a blood-vessel, and was
henceforth weaker than before. Mr Burrup was almost
as debilitated as himself, and was of course unable to
render much assistance. The three Makololo, however,
were faithful and attentive, and did all they could. So
414 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
matters went on till January 31, when the Bishop
died.
On the morning of that day, the chief, under the
pretence that the hut was needed for some other pur-
pose, insisted upon the Bishop being moved ; Mr Burrup
represented the impossibility of moving a man in such
a condition ; but in vain. The fact probably was, that
the chief was afraid that the death would take place
in his hut, and that afterwards, according to the native
superstition, the presence of the departed spirit would
render it uninhabitable. Fearing lest the chief should
banish them from the island altogether, Mr Burrup at
length consented, and the dying Bishop was removed
to another hut. The change probably hastened the
end, for in about an hour and a half after arriving in
the new hut, the Bishop breathed his last.
It is needless to say that the position of Mr Burrup
was a very painful one. Himself in a state of great
exhaustion, he was compelled at once to take steps
for removing the body from the island : the chief would
not permit it to remain even till the following day :
and accordingly, on the same evening, assisted by the
three faithful Makololo, Mr Burrup conveyed the re-
mains of Bishop Mackenzie to the main-land in the
canoe, chose a secluded spot under a large tree, dug
a grave, and after reading as much of the burial ser-
vice as he was able in the dim evening light, left the
dear remains in sure and certain hope of the resurrec-
tion of the just.
The reader will wish to know what became of Mr
Burrup. The day after the Bishop's death, he made
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 4^5
preparations for returning to Magomcro ; and leaving
a letter with the chief to be given to Dr Livingstone,
when he should return in the Pioneer, he started on
his homeward journey on Sunday, February 2. The
Makololo wished to leave the canoe and go to Chibisa's
by land ; but as the canoe had been lent by the people
of that place, Mr Burrup would not consent. Accord-
ingly, the party started in the canoe, but at the end
of three days, when they had got through the Elephant
Marsh, the navigation became so difficult, that the
Makololo positively refused to continue with the boat,
and landed ; Mr Burrup was compelled to follow. On
February 8, they arrived at Chibisa's : Mr Burrup's
walking powers were by this time all expended, and
from Chibisa's to Magomero he was carried.
It was on February 14 that the missionary party,
who had begun to grow uneasy concerning the Bishop
and Mr Burrup, were discussing the propriety of sending
down to Chibisa's and making inquiries, when one of
the Makololo suddenly appeared : his sad looks at once
told them that something was wrong. They asked
whether the Bishop was coming ; he shook his head,
looked on the ground, and answered in Mang-anja,
"Bishop wa fra," — the Bishop is dead. The truth
could not be doubted : he himself had assisted at the
burial.
Soon after Mr Burrup arrived. The first few days
it was hoped that he would recover his strength, and
in all probabihty this hope would have been reaUsed
had European comforts been at hand ; his appetite was
good, and he was able to walk ; unfortunately, neither
4t6 memoir of bishop MACKENZIE.
brandy, nor wine, nor wheaten bread were to be bad,
and on February 22 he rapidly sank, and died in the
evening. On Sunday, February 23, he was buried in
a quiet retired spot near Magomero.
The story of the Bishop's decease would hardly be
complete, if I did not add some account of the party
of ladies, to meet whom the disastrous journey down
the Shire had been undertaken. The reader will re-
member that we left Miss Mackenzie and Mrs Burrup
in charge of Captain Wilson of H.M.S. Gorgon, at
Quilimane. They soon fell in with Dr Livingstone and
the Pioneer, and arrangements were quickly commenced
for taking the whole party up the country. There was
a good deal of work to be done before the expedition
could start ; Dr Livingstone's new steamer, the Lady
Nyassa, which was on board the Hetty Ellen, had to be
transshipped to the Pioneer, besides smaller arrange-
ments. However, on February 10 they entered the
narrow channel which joins the Kongone mouth with
the great Zambesi, and the difficulties of navigation
soon began. On that very afternoon, they grounded on
a sand-bank ; two days afterwards, something went
wrong with the machinery ; and the next day all the
coals were exhausted, and they were compelled to send
out parties to cut wood. At length. Captain Wilson
kindly proposed to take Miss Mackenzie and Mrs
Burrup forward in his gig, and on Monday, Feb. 17,
they started tipon their journey. It would be beyond
the scope of this memoir to attempt to narrate the
details of this remarkable expedition, and I am unable
to describe, in adequate terms, the chivalrous courtesy
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 417
which the two lone hidies received from Captain Wilson,
Dr Ramsay, and the crew. Suffice it to say, that the
party reached in due time the place of rendezvous, at
the junction of the Ruo and Shire, Miss Mackenzie at
the time lying in a state of unconsciousness from fever ;
here the}^ made inquiry concerning the Bishop, but the
natives denied that they had seen or heard anything of
him, the reason for their lie no doubt being this, that
they feared lest they should be called to account for
the Bishop's death. On March 4, they reached Chi-
bisa's, where they heard of the sad calamity. From,
hence Captain Wilson, with Dr Kirk, made an expedition
to Magomero, to hear all particulars ; on arriving there,
it was found that not only the Bishop, but Mr Burrup
also, as the reader already knows, had been taken away.
There was nothing to be done but to return to Chibisa's
with the melancholy intelligence, and offer to the two
sad-hearted women the means of leaving a country in
which it was now impossible for them to remain.
They started on the return voyage at live A.M. on
March 12, and at four P.M. reached the island where
the Bishop died. Inquiry was made for the letter which
had been left ; the natives looked one at another, and
saying, " It is all known," produced the letter. It ran
thus :
Mouth of Euo, Island and Village Malo,
Saturday, Feb. i, 1S62.
My dear Doctor,
I deplore to tell you that our good Bishop died on
this island yesterday about 5 o'clock. We anived here on
Saturday, January 12. We had been upset in our canoe
the night before, and the valise in which the medicines were
27
41 8 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
with the quinine was lost. We had, therefore, none, with
the exception of some made from your prescription, which
had likewise suffered from the wet. He had been suffering
from diarrhoea for some weeks before, but had got rid of it.
He took the pills twice, once before he came here. He was
quite well and strong notwithstanding, and shewed no signs
of failing strength for ten days after our arrival, but from
that time he shewed symptoms of wandering in the head,
and at length mental and physical prostration, which con-
tinued up to the last. The Chief objected to his being buried
on the island. We therefore, although sunset, went over
and buried him as decently as the haste thought necessary
made possible. The spot is under a large tree, which the
natives will shew you. In consequence of my arrangements
I shall not be able to do anything to the grave.
Captain Wilson had great dijBEiculty in procuring
a guide to shew him the grave; at last an old man
consented to go, but on condition that he should go in
his own canoe, not in the captain's gig. Captain Wilson
and Dr Kirk found the spot, which had evidently not
been disturbed ; they made a cross of reeds, and placed
it over the grave. This act of piety performed, the boat
continued her sad voyage that same evening.
On April 2 the ladies were again on board the
Gorgon; on April 26 they were safely landed at the
Cape, and were once more hospitably received by the
good Bishop of Cape Town.
Reference has already been made to the plan of
having a steamer in the service of the mission. The
Bishop conceived the notion of making an appeal for
such a steamer to the members of the boat-clubs in
Oxford and Cambridsre. I now sive the letter in which
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 419
the appeal was contained. It is only a fragment, and
is a rough draft written in pencil ; but it will, if I mis-
take not, be read with gi'eat interest, partly as being
one of the last productions of the Bishop's mind, partly
because it will shew how nobly desirous he was, even
to the last, of turning every advantage which his posi-
tion gave him to the account of the great work which
he had in hand.
LETTER XCIY.
KivER Shire (a "Dranch of the Zambesi),
January, 1S62.
Sir,
I write to you as a member of the University Boat-
Club, of which I am myself a member, to ask you to give
attention to the matter which I now lay before you. Those
were noble contests in which some of us took part, and all
took interest, on the Isis or the Cam ; but we are older men
now, and may well turn to higher and nobler aims. There
is on the river Shire a contest to be maintained with evil,
both with sin, as the root, and with oppression, cruelty, and
every other form of the fruits of sin. In order to engage in
this contest, and to continue the mission already established
on the high table-land fifty miles from its banks, we must
have a steamer to ply on the stream, to connect and bring
under our superintendence the several points along its course,
where Christian and civilising influences may advantageously
be applied; and also to keep up our communication with
the sea, from which we must receive our letters and supplies
for barter, and other necessaries. The Bishop of Cape Town
first spoke of the need of such a vessel, and I am fully con-
vinced it is absolutely required; I have delayed writing for
one, only till we could see our way through one or two ob-
jections to the idea as it at first presented itself to me.
The following is a sketch of what I think would do the
27—2
420 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
work, and witliout which it could not be done. A steamer
80 feet long, 16 feet wide, drawing two and a half feet of
water, when carrying her own spare gear, without crew or
stores, and making easily (with wood in her furnaces) a speed
of eight miles an hour when loaded so as to draw four feet
of water. A master of the grade of the master of a mer-
chantman, with boatswain and three seamen, an engineer
with assistant, one stoker, and a doctor ; the whole to be
under the direction of one of the clergy of the mission.
I would make it the duty of this vessel to take a trip down
the river and back again, once in (say) two months (its head-
quarters being at Chibisa's, the anchorage of the Pioneer),
and stay two or three days at each of the five or six villages
on the bank, which might by degrees be chosen as central
points for their respective neighboui'hoods. In the course
of these two or three days, preaching, schooling, and general
teaching would be the main objects, while the inhabitants
of the vicinity might be tempted to swell the numbers in
the villages by the opportunity they would have of getting
cloth by bartering their goods. The vessel would in this
way have a supply of fresh goods, and the first attempt
would be made to establish a trade in cotton and other
articles of export. To keep up foreign communication, the
steamer would make a trip once a year or oftener to the
bar, meeting some sea-going vessel by appointment. She
would then discharge any cotton, ivory, tkc, which she
might have received in barter, at the same time that she
i-eceived the year's supplies for the missions on the river
and on the highlands. In case of necessity this vessel would,
I conceive, be able to make a run to Johanna or Natal;
l)ut I would not contemplate this as any part of her duty.
One future good result of the plying of such a vessel on this
river, would be that, in concert with Livingstone's opera-
tions on the upper Shire and Lake Nyassa, the transfer of
gangs of slaves from the east to the west side of this line
would be very much impeded — probably entirely prevented
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 42 1
— and thus a slave path, apparently quite recently opened,
would be closed. The cost of such a vessel would probably
be £5,000, and the annual outlay not less than £1,700.
Might not these sums be raised by the members of the Uni-
versity Boat-Clubs, and the boat be called the "University
Boat T Will you give a liberal share, and do what you can
to urge others to do the same ?
The appeal contained in the Bishop's letter lias not
met with a response so warm as might perhaps have
been anticipated. Nevertheless, something has been
done towards carrying out the scheme, though in a
modified form. Further consideration, and the results
of Dr Livingstone's experience, led those best fitted to
judge into the opinion that a boat, manned by a native
crew, would be far more practicable and more effective
than a steamer ; in fact, that a steamer could not be
permanently worked, and that a boat, rowed by natives,
possibly might. Accordingly, an attempt has been made
to raise the funds for such a boat service ; it is mani-
fest, that if the mission is to hold its ground in the
country, something of the kind must be done.
And now I come to the last document, left behind
him by Bishop Mackenzie, which I shall think it
necessary to preserve in these pages. It is Bishop
Mackenzie's will ; it has already been printed in a
paper put forth by the Committee of the Mission, but
deserves a place in this Memoir of his life, because it
is so thoroughly like himself, — so manly, so considerate,
so kind, so Christian. Before leaving Magomero on
December 23, the Bishop put a paper into Mr Procter's
bands, directing that it should be looked at in tho
422 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
event of his death. When that sad event did take
place, the paper was examined, and contained the
following.
Magomero, December 23, 1861.
At my death I commend my soul to God, as unto a
merciful Creator, Saviour, and Sanctifier, until that day.
As to the affairs of this world, I should wish the
members of this Mission to act under the temporary
headship of the Senior Priest, acting with the advice
of the other Priests, or if there be no Priests, the
Senior Deacon, or if there be no Deacon, the Senior
Layman, acting with the advice of the others of their
own degree respectively, reckoning seniority in the
following order: — Procter, Scudamore, Burrup, Rowle^^,
Waller, Dickinson, Gamble, Adams, Clarke, Charles,
Johnson, Williams, Job. This temporary arrangement
to hold until the arrival of my successor, or of instruc-
tions from the Metropolitan.
My personal property, such as has not been bought
at the expense of the Mission, I leave to the Mission,
with the exception of a few books, to be given to my
family as reminiscences, such as my Consecration Bible,
my Bible and Prayer Book, my Prayer Book, Greek
Testament, Christian Year, Bishop Andrews' Devotions,
Hickes' Devotions.
After payment of all dues, I give the remainder of
my property to the Additional Bishopric's Fund, re-
mitting the loan I made to the Cathedral at Maritz-
burg, in Natal, and acting with consideration for all my
debtors.
This memorandum to be read here, and then sent
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 423
to my brother, John Mackenzie, Esq., 11 Abercromby
Place, Edinburgh.
C. F. Mackenzie.
„,., (H. C. Scudamore,
Witnesses \^ „^ „
[H. Waller.
It is perhaps a little remarkable that the execution
of this will did in reality precede by little more than
a month the event, in anticipation of which it w^as
prepared. To a looker-on the Bishop's life would have
appeared to be in no greater peril at the time of start-
ing for Manasomba's, than on several previous occasions ;
and there is, I think, no trace to be found in any of
his letters of his having taken a less cheerful prospect
of the future than formerly. The reader may possibly
be disposed to think that the faithful servant had re-
ceived some slight shadowy hint, which he could hardly
explain or express, that the time of his departure was
at hand. Anyhow, it is beautiful to see how, in the
prospect of an event, which was always more or less
probable, the good Bishop thought chiefly of his flock,
and took care that, so far as he could ensure the result,
the peace and harmony which had reigned in Magomero
during his own lifetime should not be endangered by
his departure.
What the feeling of loss and desolation would be
at Magomero, when the news of the Bishop's death
became known, possibly the reader may imagine ; any
one who knew Mackenzie as I knew him, will quite
understand that the party would grieve over something
more acutely painful even than the loss of their head ;
424 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
every one would feel tlia,t he had lost a brother. I have
avoided as much as possible in this Memoir mere com-
mendation of him who is the subject of it, but I think
that I may, without any breach of good taste, introduce
in this place a passage from a letter written by Mr
Procter to Miss Mackenzie, in which he speaks of his
own feeling concerning the loss, and of the impression
made upon his mind by Bishop Mackenzie's character.
Speaking of the troublous state of the country,
subsequent to the Bishop's death, and the need of trust
in God's protection, Mr Procter says, "Such thoughts
as these never fail to remind me of him whom you and
we have lost, our friend and Bishop, who was of all I
have ever known the most calm and gentle, and whoso
spirit failed not to make itself felt on all around him.
0 ! Miss Mackenzie, great as is the brother that you
have lost, the father and friend that we have lost, and
the careful shepherd that the poor wandering heathen
have lost, I can never think of that calm quiet man
in every sense of the word, that kindly heart which was
ever ready with its sympathy and love, that lofty mind
that soared so far from earth, and yet seemed not to
soar at all, without feeling that the Christian world
has lost more than all, — a benefactor whose influence
extended far wherever he went, and with whom no
one could converse even for a little time without feel-
ing himself a better, and very often a mser man. I
cannot look upon him as a hero, as one standing out
from and above all others, but as one moving amongst
them, assuming nothing high or original, but a true
and genial friend of the world, — in the sense of all men
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 4^5
living in one common brotherhood. He has left us
too soon as we may be inclined to feel, but not before
his Father saw fit to summon him to the house of
the angels and the blessed, whom he loved so well.
And it seems as if a goodly string had been struck
while he lived and spoke amongst us, and that,
though broken and silent now, a sweet echo still comes
as from the everlasting hills, ' Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men !'
I, as one only, loved your brother, and knew not how
I loved him until he was gone."
Nor can I resist the temptation of adding here a
few lines from one who had every opportvmity of form-
ing a judgment concerning Bishop Mackenzie — I mean
Dr Livingstone. The Bishop's admiration for Dr Living-
stone has been seen several times in this volume ; it is
a pleasure to be able to record that the admiration was
mutual. The paragraph which follows is taken from a
private letter written to General Hay.
"I regret exceedingly," writes Dr Livingstone, "having
to report the death of your kinsman. Bishop Mackenzie,
on the 31st of January last. He came down to meet his
sister in a small canoe, which was unfortunately upset
in the Shire, and bedding, clothing, and medicines lost.
He arrived at the place of meeting twelve days after the
date of the appointment, took fever, and without medi-
cine or any proper treatment succumbed on the 31st,
the very day that H. M. S. Gorgon appeared off the mouth
of the Zambesi, with his sister on board. We had agreed
to meet on New Year's Day, at the mouth of a feeder
of the Shire, called the Ruo, but were ourselves so
426 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
detained by a sudden fall of the river above that point,
that we passed it on that same day on our way down.
He came, as I have said, twelve days afterwards, and,
unlike himself, remained there, instead of pushing on
after us. It is a sad blow to us here, and his loss will
be deeply deplored by all who knew him. He was
utterly regardless of comfort in his work ; he never
spared himself; and we now grieve that he did not
husband his strength, and avoid exposure. The low-
lands are deadly, but he was so strong that he could not
believe it. He used jokingly to say that our pills were
worse than the fever. Mr Burrup, the next in strength,
perished also about a fortnight after the Bishop ; he
left the Euo ill of dysentery, aad a few days after
reaching the mission in the highlands died."
The fact to which reference is made in the preceding
letter, namely that the strongest man in the mission
died first, and the next in strength (in Dr Livingstone's
judgment) second, is worthy of notice. It seems to give
a warning to those who undertake missionary work,
as to the absolute necessity, for the sake of those great
interests which they have most at heart, of taking care
of their own lives and of running no unnecessary risks.
It is curious, but I believe cannot be accounted for by
reference to any imprudence of conduct, that the next
loss which the missionary party sustained was that of
Mr Scudamore, who appears to have been pre-eminent
in strength and activity. It would carry me out of my
proper province if I should undertake to give an ac-
count of this devoted and good man : he was admirably
fitted for his work, cheerful, unselfish, well-judging, and
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 4^7
appears to have been specially dear to Bishop Mackenzie,
and in many respects not unlike him. I could not
mention Mr Scudamore's name in this place, without
alluding to the fact of his subsequent death, and paying
a slight passing tribute to his memory ; but my chief
reason for referring: to him is that I wish to introduce
a portion of a letter written by him som.e months after
Bishop Mackenzie's death, in which he describes in a
very interesting manner a visit made by himself to the
Bishop's grave.
"After passing through the Elephant Marsh," so
runs the letter, " two days in length, the Ruo enters
the Shire, running from its source in the Milanje. As
it enters the Shire it breaks into two streams, which
form with the Shire what is called here a Malo. The
island or Malo^ is where the Bishop died. We did not
stop in going down, but on our way back we spent a
Sunday on the bank, opposite the island, and deter-
mined, if possible, to see the Bishop's grave. This was
not easy ; for the people are very superstitious, and
always denied knowing anything about it. After try-
ing several chance persons in a quiet way, we deter-
mined to go and see the chief, and ask him at once.
It seemed almost hopeless, but at last by bribing and
talking we managed it. The chief said all the men
who knew where he was, who had buried him, had gone
over the mountain. Then I asked him if he knew ; he
said he did, and I got him to point in the direction. At
length he said it was on the opposite side of the river.
^ I am informed that this is a mistake, and that Malo is the name of
that particular island: but I do not wish to alter Mr Scudamore's letter.
428 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
Then a man undertook to shew me from the water's
edge the place on the opposite bank ; and finally, by
the promise of a fathom and a half of cloth, to take us
there. We took him into the canoe, but he was in a
great state of excitement, and worked away to get the
job over as quickly as possible. Presently he began to
lap the water with his hand in a very hurried manner,
which made Mr Stewart, who was with me, think that
he would break down. We kept talking and laughing
with him, in order to draw off his attention till we came
to the place. It was very wild, desolate-looking, but
quiet, and at a little distance seemed better fitted for
his grave than any we could choose. There were several
crocodiles lying under the bank, quite out of the water,
and fast asleep.
"When we landed the guide took a paddle, and
told us to take our guns because of wild beasts. We
made our way to the grave, not more than fifty yards
off. The grass and reeds were so tall and so dry, that
they drooped and met over our heads, and sometimes
we had to stop and crawl through the tangle which we
could not pass in any other way. Every now and then
we came to a dry gully, where the guide would rattle
about with the paddle to frighten away the alligators.
At the end of one of these tunnels of reeds the guide
stepped on one side and said, ' There is the grave.' We
could perceive nothing ; but going a little further I saw
something like a pole hidden in the grass ; pushing the
tangle aside I discovered it to be the cross put up by
the sailors of the Gorgon.
" When we came away, and had emerged from the
LAST DAYS AND DEATH. 429
long grass, Mr Stewart took a sketcli of the place. The
bank rises high from the river ; two trees stand some
little distance apart about two thirds of the way up,
one I think an acacia, the other I don't know ; the
ground seems rather level at their feet. There is the
grave. It will never be disturbed by the natives ; they
are too much afraid of the place ; it is quite out of
their haunts, and is never visited but by lions and
wolves."
The Bishop's resting-place has since been visited by
Dr Livingstone, as stated in the letter printed on page
362. On this occasion Dr Livingstone erected a more
permanent cross over the grave, and a sketch was made
by one of the party, from which has been copied the
engraving, which will form the conclusion — I think, a
very appropriate conclusion — of this volume. Is it too
much to hope that a church may one day be built upon
the spot, and that the inhabitants of this region of
Africa may point to it as the place in which the Cross of
Christ was first effectually planted in their dark land ?
I must not speculate upon the future of the Mission
in founding wdiich Bishop Mackenzie sacrificed his life\
Troubles came thickly upon it after his departure ; war
and famine desolated the country, sickness afflicted their
own party, while the difficulty of obtaining supplies was
a constant source of anxiety. The Mission Station was
^ I may however mention that on the news of Bishop Mackenzie's
death reaching the Cape, Bishop Grey at once started for England, and
that before he left this country a successor was found for the deceased
Bishop in the Rev. W. G. Tozer. While these sheets are passing through
the press, letters are anxiously expected from Bishop Tozer, which may
explain his views concerning the future prospects of the Mission.
430 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
moved, as already mentioned incidentally, to Chibisa's ;
and there we must leave it, holding its ground nobly
against unforeseen difficulties, and waiting for the ar-
rival of the new Bishop from England. Whatever the
future of the Mission may be, certainly it will have the
advantage of having been led to the scene of its work,
and watched over during its infancy, by one of the most
noble and simple-hearted servants of Christ, who ever
gave up his home, and his comforts, and his life, for the
sake of that which was to him infinitely more precious
than all.
Nor is it possible to believe that in any case can the
life and death of Bishop Mackenzie have been in vain.
It is not Central Africa only, but the whole world, that
has an interest in such men. The immediate work to
which they gave themselves may or may not appear to
flourish ; but the fruit of their example is certain. God
will not permit it to perish. And so whatever may be
the -results of his labours to that afflicted country, for
the evangelization of which he gave himself up so
freely and so completely, I am convinced that hereafter
Bishop Mackenzie will be to many, — more than he
himself in his humility could have believed, — a witness
for Christ and for Christian truth. Many who feel no
call to the missionary life themselves will yet see in the
missionary life of Bishop Mackenzie a pattern of that
self-sacrifice and love to which all Christians are called,
and perhaps some may be tempted to follow him even
as he followed Christ.
CHAPTER XIII.
CONCLUSION.
Upon a review of what has been laid before the reader
in the preceding pages, I have felt in doubt whether I
should here close the memoir of Bishop Mackenzie's
life, or whether I should add another chapter in which
an attempt might be made to give a condensed and
comprehensive view of that which has already been
exhibited in detail, and to form something hke an
estimate of the Bishop's mind and character.
On the whole I have determined to add the chapter.
It shall be very short, and I shall endeavour, as in the
former part of the volume, so in this its conclusion, to
abstain from the flattery of friendship, and from those
exaggerations into which the biographers of good men
are tempted to fall.
Be it observed in the first place, that the intellectual
side of Bishop Mackenzie's character can, by the neces-
sity of the case, be exhibited very imperfectly, and that
it is in fact exhibited very unfairly and inadequately,
in this volume. His intellectvial superiority was chiefly
confined to the domain of mathematical reasoning, and
in this department he was undoubtedly very powerful ;
432 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
but a missionary to the Kafirs of Natal, or to the Mang-
anja of the river Shire, has small opportunity for ex-
hibiting this mathematical pre-eminence ; and therefore
the distinguishing power of Bishop Mackenzie's mind
never found any sufficient field of operation. The
reader should bear this in mind while he peruses the
memoir of the Bishop's life ; and he should also bear in
mind that the opportunity of indulging his mathe-
matical taste, of indulging, in fact, the strongest in-
tellectual passion that he possessed, was deliberately
and knowingly sacrificed for the sake of Clirist. If in
this volume Bishop Mackenzie does not appear in all
the strength of intellect that belonged to him, it is be-
cause he consented to put aside his strength and to
l^ecome weak for the sake of his weak brethren.
But it was never as a man of high intellect that
Mackenzie was specially valued by his friends. "We all
knew his powers, and appreciated them. His intellect
was in his own peculiar sphere comprehensive, pene-
trating, manly. This last epithet expresses correctly,
in my judgment, though some persons may think it
strangely applied, the intellectual character of his mind.
Mathematicians have their styles, and one differs much
from another. When I examined Mackenzie for the
Smith's Prize, as related in this volume, the thing which
struck me was the straightforward manner in which he
grappled with the problems he endeavoured to solve:
his manner was not neat, and did his matter injustice :
in one or two cases I was disposed to imagine at first
sight that he had quite mistaken the problem, but I
always found that however he might have failed to
CONCLUSION. 433
arrive at the result, he had always seized the principle,
and with a consciousness of right on his side had worked
vigourously and manfully, though perhaps not always
successfully. But, as I have said, it was not emphati-
cally as a clever man, or a man of intellect, that Mac-
kenzie was chiefly estimated by his friends ; if his
powers had been tenfold what they were, they would
never have given him that peculiar hold upon the hearts
of those who knew him, which as a matter of fact he
possessed. His special and peculiar attribute was that
of loveableness. Those, who knew him, more than
liked him: they felt themselves drawn towards him by
strong bonds of affectionate and brotherly feeling. In
saying this I am not speaking from a limited experi-
ence : I am convinced that my judgment would be sup-
ported by all his contemporaries.
If it be asked upon what features of his character
was based this facility of being loved, I may refer to
the pages of this volume, and say that they tell their
tale but badly if they do not supply an answer to the
question. But more particularly I may remark, that
utter unselfishness and thoughtful kindness in small
things and imperturbable good temper were perhaps
the features of character which chiefly made it difficult
or impossible to know Mackenzie without loving him.
Then, too, he was thoroughly humble ; he never put
himself forward, and even in giving up his home for
foreign service, apologized as it were for his presump-
tion by saying, that nobody else would go and there-
fore he would.
This humility was associated with, or rather was
28
434 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
identical with, a simplicity of demeanour, which was
more remarkable in Mackenzie than in any man I ever
knew. On one occasion, before his last voyage to
Africa, he was receiving some hints from an old African
traveller, I think Mr Galton. Speaking of some astro-
nomical observations, Mr Galton said, " They will only
require a little Algebra and Trigonometry ; and I
suppose you can manage that ?" *' 0 yes," repUed
Mackenzie, " I dare say I can," but with such perfect
simplicity, that it would have been impossible for Mr
Galton to detect the fact that he was talking to an
accomplished mathematician. If the reader should say
— which after perusing this memoir I am sure he will
not — that this was pride aping humility, I can only
record my conviction, founded on an intimate know-
ledge of Mackenzie's character, that it was nothing of
the kind.
Being humble in his disposition it would be expect-
ed that Mackenzie would take patiently any reproof or
advice given to him ; but I think it right to add, that
his humility did not prevent him from gently reproving
others, when he thought himself called upon as a true
friend to do so. Nothing is more difficult than to tell
a friend of a fault, and this Mackenzie could do, so
simply, so good-naturedly, so unaffectedly, as to ensure
the rebuke being taken in good part, and to give it a
chance of being useful.
From the very first Mackenzie regarded himself,
as we have seen, in the light of a candidate for the
sacred office of the ministry. To this he made all
other purposes subservient, and if he did not receive
CONCLUSION. 435
so definite a training as might have been wished, it
was the current in which he found himself that car-
ried him away, and he himself expressed his regret
that his clerical education had not been more com-
plete. As a parish priest in England, however, I
should doubt whether he left much to be desired in
his qualifications for the office : nothing could exceed
the love and reverence felt for him by the people of
Haslingfield, and had his lot been cast permanently
in an English parish, I think that he would have been
a country jJarson after George Herbert's own heart.
At the same time I think that a country parish,
during his younger days at least, was not the most
useful sphere for his exertions. He would have made
a good parish priest, but a college priest better still.
He was singularly fitted to influence young men of
ability, and notwithstanding his own feeling of dis-
appointment, I am sure that his actual influence in
Cambridge was most strong and valuable.
But it pleased God that neither English parish
nor English college should have the principal portion
of Mackenzie's life and labour. He gave himself up
to foreign work, and the point to which I would wish
to direct the mind of the reader of this Memoir, is
not so much the sacrifice which Mackenzie made, as
the spirit in which he made it. " Others will not go,
so I will." "Christ's servants should consider them-
selves as labourers in the same field, and be ready to
go to any part where there is work to be done." These
were the principles upon which he went out, and if,
like Henry Martyn, he was not pennitted to labour
43^ MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
long or with any very conspicuous results, still, like
Henry Martyn, he has set an example of missionary
spirit which cannot very easily, and by God's grace
will not, be barren of fruit. If Mackenzie had left
nothing behind him, except the letter numbered XIX.,
and printed at page 65 of this volume, I should hold
that he had bequeathed a most precious legacy to the
Church.
With regard to Mackenzie's conduct as a missionary,
and specially as a missionary Bishop, in which capa-
city he was for the first time his own master, I think
that we are not yet in a condition to form a thoroughly
satisfactory judgment. So far as regards inspiring love
and confidence into the hearts of his associates, and
governing as an elder brother should govern, it is clear
that he was thoroughly successful ; so far as his general
principles of establishing the Mission are concerned,
we shall perhaps be able to form a better estimate
at a later period of the history of the Mission. I
shall be very glad if the reader of this Memoir should
come to the conclusion, that Bishop Mackenzie at-
tempted to carry out the great purposes committed
to him in the wisest and best and most manly and
practical way possible under the circumstances in which
he was placed. But even if he should come to a dif-
ferent conclusion, he will not be prevented from ad-
miring the spirit and zeal with which the Bishop
laboured on behalf of those afflicted people, to whom
he came to bring the glad news of salvation and
liberty.
The point upon which of course hostile criticism
CONCLUSION. 437
is likely to fix itself, is the troubles with the Ajawa
tribes. I have already gone pretty fully into this
matter, and have no desire to repeat what I have said ;
I would only add, that I cannot regard the Bishop's
conduct as a mistake for which to apologize, and I
trust that nothing which I have written will be re-
garded in this light. It was a conduct which he knew
would be criticized, and which, having counted the cost,
he determined to adopt. It was a conduct which all
his associates approved. It was a conduct, which, after
mature deliberation, and after forming a different opi-
nion in the first instance, Dr Livingstone declared to be
right.
There are two occasions on which I have ventured
in this Memoir to say that the Bishop appeared to
me to have acted with bad judgment. The first was
with regard to the Church Council at Maritzburg, the
second was his determination to stay on the island at
the mouth of the Ruo without medicines. I bring
these two together, and mention them here, because,
different as the nature of the two errors was, (if errors
they are adjudged to be,) yet the source was the same,
and that a noble one : in each case it was the love of
the native races, to whom he regarded himself as
specially sent, that rightly or wrongly moved him to
act as he did. Thus I apologize for Mackenzie's faults :
I leave the reader to form his own estimate of his
virtues.
One other subject I wish briefly to touch upon
before I lay down my pen. I have said nothing in
this volume concerning a point which in these days
438 MEMOIR OF BISHOP MACKENZIE.
suggests itself very prominently to many minds, namely,
the school of religious opinion to which Bishop Mackenzie
belonged. Was he High Church, or was he Low Church,
or what was his school ? I shall be very glad, if, after
perusing this volume, the reader should declare himseK
unable thoroughly to answer the question. To say the
truth, Bishop Mackenzie could not be identified with any
party : his doctrinal views were in loyal and affectionate
conformity "with the Book of Common Prayer, but I do
not remember ever to have heard him discuss with
earnestness any of the controversial questions of the
day. The view of religion which commended itself to
his mind, was the practical application of the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ to the wants of men ; and the
best method of doing this was, in his opinion, a simple
and faithful adherence to the principles and rules of
the Prayer-book. I never met with a more sincere
Churchman, or with one who had less of the spirit of
party. I never met with a man whose reUgious system
seemed to lie more completely within the four corners
of the Book of Common Prayer. For religious specu-
lation he had little taste, for religious eccentricities he
had an utter abhorrence ; but if there was any Chris-
tian deed to be done, any work of mercy to be per-
formed, either for the bodies or the souls of men, then
Mackenzie's whole heart was engaged: to go about
doing good was the only employment, which he
thoroughly and unreservedly loved.
And he did go about, like his Master, doing good ;
and he grew in grace, and in the knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ, so long as life was given him. Now
Stan^r-d's L^oo^ap^'^ Sstat' londorv
r.\R-|' OF UIK I-
ASTKliX COAST oK AFUll.
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>"^l
„™n,,s?-n^
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Cambndv Ilmihbm Ik-ll.S Co., Lmdm IkU t- DaUfy
he rests from his labours, in his quiet grave by the
river Shire, under the symbol of that Gospel of salva-
tion which he came to preach to his poor degraded
brethren. His labours will not be in vain; and the
Cross planted upon his grave may be the emblem and
pledge to Central Africa of a great work of evangeliza-
tion, which has been nobly commenced, and which it
is to be hoped that the charity and the zeal of the
Church of England will endeavour faithfully and vi-
gorously to carry on.
Dr Livingstone planting the Cross on Bishop Mackenzie's Grave.
(From a sketch made on the spot.)
THE E^D.J't^
CamBntJge :
pnrNTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A.
AT THE UNrvBRSITY PRESS.
n