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BRITISH 
FEMALE     MISSIONARIES. 


MEMOIKS 


BRITISH  FEMALE  MISSIONARIES 


WITH    A    SURVEY   OF   THE 


CONDITION  OF  WOMEN  IN  HEATHEN  COUNTRIES, 


REV.    THOMAS  ^IMPSON; 

AUTHOR   OF    THK    "  COMPANION  TO  THE    BIBLE,"    THE     "KEV   TO   THE    BIBLE,"    &C. 


^n  fintrotiuctor^  (JB^^aj) 


THE   IMPORTANCE  OF  FEMALE  AGENCY  IN  EVANGELIZING 
PAGAN  NATIONS, 


BY  MISS  THOMPSON. 


Dedicated,  by  Permission,  to  the  Right  Hon.  Lady  Barham. 


LONDON : 
WILLIAM    SMITH,     113,    FLEET    STREET. 


LONDON: 
HRADBURV    AND    KVANS,    PRINTERS,    Will  fFFRl ARS. 


TO 

THE    RIGHT    HONOURABLE    LADY    BARHAM, 

THIS  VOLUME   OF 

"  MEMOIRS  OF  BRITISH  FEMALE  MISSIONARIES,"  &c., 

ILLUSTRATING 

THE   MORAL   DIGNITY   AND   J5XCELLEN0Y   OF   CHRISTIAN    WOMEN 

OF 

GREAT  BRITAIN, 

THE   DEPLORABLE   DEGRADATION   OF 

WOMEN   IN    PAGAN   AND    MOHAMMEDAN    NATIONS, 

AND   THE 

NECESSITY    FOR   FEMALE   AGENCY   IN   THEIK   EVANGELIZATION, 

IS, 

WITH    SENTIMENTS  OF    PROFOUND   RESPECT 

FOR   HER    LADYSHIP'S  CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER, 
DEDICATED 

BY  THE  COMPILER. 


PREFACE. 

"  British  Fe3iale  Missionaries"  have,  especially 
during  the  last  forty  years,  most  beautifully  illustrated 
the  power,  the  benevolence,  and  the  divinity  of  our 
holy  religion.  The  edifying  "Memoirs"  of  their  truly 
honourable  and  useful  lives  have,  however,  been  very 
sparingly  given  to  the  public  ;  scarcely  any  of  them 
being  extensively  known  to  the  friends  and  supporters 
of  Missions  to  the  Heathen,  except,  perhaps,  those  of 
IVIrs.  Ellis,  Mrs.  Stallybrass,  and  Mrs.  Wilson. 

Judicious  persons  regard  those  remarkably  instructive 
pieces  as  deserving  to  be  universally  read,  and  as  form- 
ing some  of  the  most  valuable  specimens  of  "  British 
Female  Biography:"  they  are  by  no  means  inferior, 
and  in  some  particulars  they  even  surpass,  those  delight- 
ful Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Newell  and  Mrs.  Judson,  the 
devoted  American  Missionaries. 

Protestant  scriptural  Christianity  requires  such  agents 
in  evangelizing  the  degraded  nations  of  the  world  ;  and 
it  may  confidently  be  affirmed,  that,  according  to  tlie 
manifest  arrangements  of  Divine  Providence,  witliout 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

that  efficient  class  of  agency,  the  Heathen  cannot  be 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  salvation  by  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

Female  Christian  labourers  were  honoured  to  bear  a 
part  in  the  Missionary  work  among  the  immediate 
ambassadors  of  the  Redeemer.  Divine  inspiration 
influenced  the  Apostle  Paul  to  record  the  names  of 
several  of  those  worthy  persons  ;  leading  him  to  give 
directions  concerning  the  Female  Missionaries, — pro- 
bably Asiatic  women, — labouring  at  Philippi,  in  Europe ! 
"I  intreat  thee  also,  true  yoke-fellow,  help  those 
women  which  laboured  with  me  in  the  Gospel." 
Phil.  iv.  3, 

Many  of  such  exemplary  women  there  were  among 
the  primitive  Christian  Missionaries,  occupying  various 
stations  in  life,  and  filling  several  departments  of  invalu- 
able labour  for  the  salvation  of  immortal  souls.  Happily 
there  are  still  such  in  the  church,  devotinsf  their  talents 
and  their  lives  to  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of 
Clirist  amone:  the  Heathen.  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  there- 
fore,  in  his  "  Introduction  "  to  the  "  Memoirs  of  Mrs. 
Clough,  Missionary  to  Ceylon,"  truly  remarks,  "  Many 
excellent  women  have  adorned,  and  still  adorn,  our 
foreign  missions  ; — full  of  love  to  the  perishing  Heathen, 
and  of  zeal  for  the  honour  and  glory  of  the  Saviour 
of  men." 


PREFACE.  IX 

Missionary  biography  ought  not,  therefore,  to  be 
limited  to  Schwartz,  Henry  Martyn,  Drs.  Morison, 
Milne,  Carey,  and  such  laborious  and  apostolic  men ; 
more  especially  now  that  the  heathen  in  every  region 
of  the  globe  are  calling  for  help  to  British  Christians. 
Women,  possessing  those  indispensable  qualifications 
which  have  conferred  imperishable  honour  and  shed 
such  sacred  lustre  on  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer,  are 
needed  to  accompany  the  servants  of  Christ  in  their 
evangelical  missions.  And  for  the  purpose  of  fur- 
nishing correct  views  of  the  degraded  condition  of 
women  in  Heathen  countries,  of  inflaming  a  mis- 
sionary spirit  among  our  families,  and  of  engaging 
many  of  our  daughters  to  seek  the  gifts  and  grace  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  endow  them  for  that  most  dis- 
tinguished service,  these  memorials  of  departed  female 
excellence  have  been  compiled. 

Instructive  and  valuable  as  the  biographical  series 
may  be  esteemed,  the  volume  will  be  considered  as 
much  enriched  by  the  admirable  "  Essay  on  the 
Importance  of  Female  Agency  in  Evangelizing  Pagan 
Nations."  It  has  been  written  at  the  request  of  the 
compiler  by  a  devoted  friend  of  the  Heathen  world,  and 
it  may  justly  be  regarded  as  a  subject  of  thankfulness 
to  have  drawn  forth  a  communication  affording  most 
judicious  counsels  to  those  females  who  aspire  to  that 


X  PREFACE. 

particular  branch  of  service  in  the  cause  of  our  blessed 
Saviour,  and  so  well  calculated,  by  the  force  of  its 
arguments  and  the  warmth  of  its  appeals,  to  render 
essential  service  to  our  Missionary  Institutions. 

Designed  especially  to  interest  Christian  women  in 
the  most  elevated  department  of  benevolent  labour,  this 
work  is  commended  to  their  best  regard,  and,  with 
humble  hope,  to  the  blessing  of  the  Divine  Author  and 
Exemplar  of  missions,  the  great  "  Apostle  and  High 
Priest  of  our  profession,  Christ  Jesus ; "  that  his  glory 
may  be  promoted  among  all  the  tribes  of  mankind, 
particularly  in  our  vast  colonies,  and  among  all  denomi- 
nations of  Christians  in  the  British  Empire ! 


CONTENTS. 


PREFACE       ...  

ESSAY    ON    THE    IMPORTANCE    OF    FEMALE    AGENCY 

SURVEY  OF    THE    CONDITION    OF   WOMEN 

MEMOIR  OF    MRS.  ELLIOT                  .... 

MRS.   COULTART 

MRS.  WILSON            .... 

MRS.   HARVARD 

MRS.  MUNDY            .... 

MRS.  NORTON 

MRS.  CLOUGH          .... 

MRS.   JOWETT 

MRS.   KILHAM          .... 

MRS.   STALLYBRASS 

MISS  BIRD 

MRS.  ELLIS           .... 

MRS.  M.   WILSON 

AIRS.  LOVELESS 

-  MRS.  TAYLOR         .... 

-  MISS  SMITH         .... 


PAGE 

vii 


sill 

xlvi 


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27 

50 

60 

6G 

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110 

139 

152 

190 

200 

21G 

238 


IMPORTANCE  OF   FEMALE   AGENCY 


EVANGELIZING   PAGAN   NATIONS. 


Evangelization  of  the  Heathen  imperative  on  Christians.  —  Christian 
Women  especially  responsible.— Lander's  Account  of  the  Sacrifice 
of  Two  Wives  of  the  late  Governor  of  Jenna. — Distress  of  the  Elder, 
in  prospect  of  Death  by  Poison.— Rev.  W.  jNIorton's  Account  of  a 
Rajah  sacrificing  his  own  Daughter.— Mrs.  Porter's  Account  of  a  Tele- 
goo  Mother.— Rev.  S.  Wolfe  on  Female  Education  in  India. — Mrs. 
Leidler's  Success  in  the  Egyptian  Royal  Harem.— Female  Qualifications 
as  Teachers.— Pious  Females  peculiarly  qualified  for  the  East.— Obser- 
vations of  intelligent  Foreigners  regarding  Women  in  England,  and 
in  the  East.— Mrs.  Wilson  of  Bombay.— Mrs.  Gutzlafi',  "  the  Woman  of 
Ten  Thousand."— Success  of  Mrs-  Winslow  in  Ceylon.— Phebe.— Miss 
Crossthwaite  in  Colombo.— Claims  of  India,  China,  Africa.— Appeal  to 
Women  in  England.— Spirit  of  Piety  necessary.— Advantages  of  Young 
English  Ladies.— Few  recognise  correctly  their  obligations.— Early 
Piety  of  Mrs.  Judson,  Mrs.  Winslow,  and  Mrs.  Wilson.— Intellectual 
Discipline.— Reading  —  Plan  for.— Select  Books.— History.—  Church 
History.— Biblical  Criticism.— Evidences  of  Christianity.— Practical 
Divinity.— Mental  Philosophy.— Education.— Missionary  AVorks.— 
Biography.- Accomplishments.— Mental  Application.— Cultivation  of 
Talents.— All  sanctified  by  Piety.— Christian  Virtues.— Missionary 
Zeal.— Missionary  Hour  of  Prayer  Monthly.— Pecuniary  Aid.— Present 
active  Zeal.— Female  Influence  with  Fathers,  Brothers,  Husbands. 
Sons.— Future  Prospects  for  Missions.— Review  of  the  past  Forty 
Years  of  Missions.— Application,  and  Anticipation. 

Christianity,  with  a  daily-increasing  urgency,  re- 
quires from  its  professors  devoted  exertions  for  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen  world.     The  pulpit,  the  plat- 


FEMALE    AGENCY 


form,  and  the  press  are  continually  bringing  the 
subject  before  us  ;  and  an  augmenting  amount  of  testi- 
mony from  all  quarters  leaves  the  duty  no  longer  a 
matter  of  mere  surmise,  and  our  neglect  no  longer  a 
sin  of  ignorance  or  of  inadvertence.  The  rapidly-in- 
creasing population  of  the  world,  the  numerous  appli- 
cations for  missionaries  from  the  heathen  themselves, 
and  the  admirable  facilities  placed  in  our  hands  for 
conveying  both  the  preached  and  the  written  word  to 
every  region  of  the  globe,  are  all  so  many  incitements 
to  prompt  and  general  exertion.  It  is  not  merely  the 
great  question  of  the  ultimate  evangelization  of  the 
world  which  is  thus  brought  before  us,  as  a  thing  about 
which  we  may  take  our  time,  and  quietly  concert 
measures  for  the  benefit  of  future  ages ;  the  present 
generation  of  heathens  must  look  to  the  present  gene- 
ration of  Christians  for  the  means  of  salvation.  Those 
who  come  after  us  will  not  be  able  to  make  reparation 
for  our  neglect.  No  prayers,  no  sacrifices,  will  bring 
back  the  dead.  It  is  with  the  living  that  we  have  to 
do,  and  these  are  they  whom  we  must  meet  face  to  face 
at  the  Day  of  Judgment !  Each  day  that  we  linger, 
they  are  passing  by  thousands  into  eternity ;  and  in 
thirty  years  the  thousand  millions  who  now  cover  tlie 
earth's  surface  will  be  beyond  our  reach !  If  we  indeed 
believe  that  "  tliere  is  no  other  name  given  among  men 
whereby  we  can  be  saved,  except  the  name  of  Jesus," 
and  that  "  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord," 
we  must  beheve  also,  that  the  large  majority  of  this 
overwhelming  number  of  immortal  souls,  each  of  which 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  XV 

in  value  outweighs  the  world,  will  then  be  irrecover- 
ably lost  !  How,  with  these  tremendous  convictions, 
can  we  sit  still  ? 

If  all  Christians  are  bound  to  exert  themselves  in 
this  cause,  surely  the  obligation  which  rests  on  Chris- 
tian v/omen  is  fourfold !  They,  far  more  than  men, 
owe  to  Christianity  their  present  free  and  happy  state 
— while  it  is  on  their  sex  that,  in  other  lands,  the  hard 
bondage  of  heathenism  presses  with  the  heavier  weight. 
The  number  of  distressing  facts,  in  proof  of  the  latter 
assertion,  which  the  compiler  of  this  volume  has  brought 
together  in  his  "  Survey,"  renders  it  unnecessary  to 
adduce  many  more.  Yet  a  few  striking  instances  it 
may  be  expedient  to  introduce.  There  is  one  scene  so 
vividly  described  by  Lander,  in  his  "  Expedition  to 
the  Niger/'  that  it  may  be  worth  while  to  quote  his 
expressions. 

While  the  Expedition  were  at  Jenna,  in  Africa,  the 
governor  died,  and  "  two  of  his  wives  w^ere  expected, 
according  to  custom,  to  quit  the  world  on  the  same 
day."  They  hid  themselves ;  but  the  elder  one  being 
discovered,  "the  alternative  of  a  poisoned  chalice,  or 
to  have  her  head  broken  by  the  club  of  the  Fetish 
priest,  was  offered  her."  "She  has,"  writes  Lander, 
"  chosen  the  former  mode  of  dying,  as  being  the  less  ter- 
rible of  the  two,  and  has  come  to  our  yard,  to  spend 
her  last  hours  in  the  society  of  her  faithful  slaves.  Not- 
withstanding the  representations  and  remonstrances  of 
the  priest,  and  prayers  of  the  miserable  victim  to  her 
gods  for  fortitude  to  undergo  the  dreadful  ordeal,  her 


XVI  FEMALE    AGENCY 

resolution  has  forsaken  her  more  than  once.  She  has 
entered  our  yard  twice,  to  expire  in  the  arms  of  the 
women ;  and  twice  she  has  laid  aside  the  fatal  poison, 
in  order  to  gaze  on  the  splendour  of  the  sun  and  the  glory 
of  the  heavens  ;  for  she  cannot  bear  the  idea  of  losing 
them  for  ever.  She  is  still  restless  and  uneasy,  and 
would  gladly  run  away  from  death  if  she  durst.  Die 
she  must,  and  she  knows  it ;  nevertheless  she  will  tena- 
ciously cling  to  life  to  the  very  last  moment.  Mean- 
while her  grave  is  preparing,  and  preparations  are 
making  for  a  wake  at  her  funeral.  She  is  to  be  buried 
here,  in  one  of  her  own  huts,  the  moment  after  the  spirit 
has  quitted  the  body." 

The  Rev.  W.  Morton  of  Calcutta  relates  an  incident 
of  later  date.  The  wife  of  a  Rajah  had  five  daughters, 
who  were  all,  according  to  custom,  successively  put  to 
death  !  At  the  birth  of  a  sixth,  maternal  feeling  awoke ; 
and  having  no  son,  and  longing  for  something  on  which 
to  place  her  affections,  she  managed,  by  the  assistance 
of  a  faithful  domestic,  without  the  knowledge  of  her 
husband,  to  have  the  infant  conveyed  to  a  place  at  some 
distance,  and  there  brought  up.  Some  time  after,  she 
died.  When  the  child,  which  grew  up  a  remarkably 
beautiful  girl,  had  reached  tlie  age  of  eleven,  some  rela- 
tives thought  that  the  father's  heart  would  be  softened 
by  the  appearance  of  his  daughter,  and  they  ventured 
to  present  her  to  him.  She  fell  at  his  feet,  clasped  his 
knees,  and,  looking  up  in  his  face,  exclaimed,  "  My 
father!"  Enraged  at  having  been  over-reached,  he 
seized  her  by  the  hair  of  the  head,  and  drawing  his 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  XVU 

sabre   from   his    belt,    he   cut   off  her    head   at   one 
blow! 

Let  it  be  remembered,  when  circumstances  like  these 
are  brought  under  our  notice,  that  they  are  not  solitary- 
instances,  eagerly  sought  for,  to  make  out  a  case,  or  to 
substantiate  a  theory,  but  such  as  are  of  every-day 
occurrence  in  most  parts  of  the  heathen  world  !  How- 
ever strongly  such  details  may  appeal  to  our  compassion, 
the  violent  close  should  perhaps  less  excite  our  pity  than 
the  cheerless  existence  of  abject  degradation  which  has 
preceded  it.  An  additional  illustration  may  be  given 
from  a  letter  of  Mrs.  Porter  of  Vizagapatam  : — 

"  At  a  native  mothers'  meeting,  which  was  held  some 
time  since,  composed  of  Malabar,  Malay,  Burmese,  and 
Telegoo  women,  out  of  nearly  forty,  there  was  scarcely 
one  who  could  be  called  '  a  happy  mother/  One  poor 
Telegoo  woman  I  shall  never  forget.  I  asked  her,— 
'  Have  you  any  children  ? '  She  said,  '  Ah  !  five  sons 
I  have  got. '  I  said,  '  Do  you  love  them  ? '  Slie  replied, 
'  Do  I  not  love  my  own  ?  But  what  for  I  love  them, 
I  not  know.  Though  plenty  love  I  have  for  them,  not 
one  love  me,  their  poor  old  mother  I' — and,  bursting  into 
tears,  she  repeated,  '  Not  one  love  me — not  one  care  for 
me,  their  poor  old  mother  ! ' " 

Such  is  tlie  rule  throughout  the  heathen  world.  If 
any  happy  wives  or  mothers  can  be  found  there,  they 
are  the  exceptions.  Were  these  poor  creatures,  as  their 
own  masters  suppose  them  to  be,  "  without  souls," 
humanity  would  plead  for  the  alleviation  of  their  pre- 
sent misery.  But  when  we  consider  the  short  term  of 
h 


XVm  FEMALE    AGENCY 

their  earthly  life  but  as  an  imaginary  point  in  their 
eternal  existence,  and  regard  eternity  as  stamping  per- 
petuity on  that  moral  state  in  which  heathenism  leaves 
them  and  death  finds  them,  we  shall  feel  that  their 
condition  in  the  present  life  is  far  from  being  the  most 
powerful  argument  for  attempting  their  deliverance  and 
renovation. 

Setting  aside  their  own  personal  claims  on  our 
Christian  compassion,  and  supposing  for  a  moment  that 
we  were  bound  only  to  attempt  the  conversion  of  the 
male  part  of  the  heathen  population,  the  influence  of 
women,  as  wives  and  mothers,  on  the  next  generation 
would  alone  be  a  sufficient  argument  for  endeavouring 
to  rescue  and  to  raise  them.  In  the  language  of  Rev. 
S.  Wolfe  of  Singapore,  "  To  whatever  extent  we  may 
succeed  in  giving  a  proper  education  to  the  males,  if 
the  females  are  left  without  education,  we  can  rationally 
expect  nothing  but  a  failure  as  to  our  great  object.  Let 
us  suppose  the  present  generation  of  male  youth  to  grow 
up  to  maturity,  under  the  favourable  influence  of  the 
best  education,  if  the  females  are  uninstructed,  who  will 
be  the  wives  of  these  youths,  but  persons  with  all  the 
degraded  feelings  and  habits  which  now  prevail  ?  With 
what  other  feelings,  in  that  case,  would  the  husband  be 
able  to  regard  his  home  than  those  of  disgust  ?  And 
what  maternal  influence  but  the  most  pernicious  would 
be  exerted  on  their  offspring?  The  better  thoughts 
and  feelings  of  the  husband,  induced  in  infancy,  would 
be  incapable  of  shaking  the  confirmed  habits  of  his 
wife.     Far  more  likely  is  it  that,  instead  of  raising 


IN   EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  XIX 

her,  he  would  sink  to  the  same  level.  Thus  our  partial 
labour  would  be  completely  destroyed ;  and  it  would  be 
our  painful  task  to  commence  again  sowing  our  seed  at 
the  time  we  had  anticipated  reaping  the  harvest.  It  is 
self-evident  that  none  but  educated  wives  can  be  the  fit 
companions  of  educated  husbands.  And  equally  evi- 
dent it  is,  that  no  permanency  can  be  given  to  the 
advantages  of  good  education,  without  enlisting  on  our 
side  maternal  as  well  as  paternal  authority.  Indeed, 
it  is  universally  admitted  that  the  mother  has  far  more 
influence  in  forminof  the  mind  of  the  child  than  the 
father.  How  effectually,  then,  should  we  be  stultifying 
our  own  operations,  if  we  willingly  left  the  mother  to 
blast  the  fruits  of  our  labour,  instead  of  leading  her  to 
cherish  those  fruits,  and  to  bring  them  to  perfection  !" 

Christianity  is  the  only  remedy  for  the  suJBPerings  of 
women  in  heathen  and  IMohammedan  countries ;  and 
Christian  education  can  be  imparted  on  no  large  or 
efficient  plan,  but  through  the  interposition  of  their 
own  sex  in  this  country.  Much  less  can  their  services 
be  dispensed  with,  where  the  jealous  habits  of  eastern 
nations  suffer  none  but  women  to  have  access  to  them. 
Mrs.  Leider,  who  went  in  IMay  1836,  from  the  "  Society 
for  Promoting  Female  Education  in  the  East,"  is  a 
striking  proof  of  the  availableness  of  such  interposition. 
The  interesting  details  of  her  admission  into  the  harem 
of  the  Pacha  of  Egypt,  for  the  purpose  of  instructing 
his  wives  and  daughters,  will  be  found  in  the  Society's 
"extracts."  The  impulse  given  by  her  example  and 
instructions  has  induced  the  ladies  of  the  harem,  of 
62 


FEMALE   AGENCY 


their  own  accord,  to  found  a  "  Society  for  Promoting 
Female  Education  in  Egypt."  Through  her  agency,  also, 
several  excellent  works,  among  which  were  Paley's  Natu- 
ral Theology,  one  of  the  Bridgewater  Treatises,  Dunn  s 
Normal  School  Manual,  &c.  &c.,  were  last  year  placed 
by  the  Pasha  in  course  of  translation,  for  the  use  of  the 
Arab  schools.  Whatever  effect  the  issue  of  the  present 
war  may  have  upon  Mrs.  Leider's  proceedings,  there  is 
reason  to  hope  that  the  seed  she  has  been  permitted  to 
sow  will  not  be  lost. 

Apart  from  the  appropriateness  of  employing  women 
to  teach  women,  other  pleas  might  be  urged  for  invit- 
ing their  aid.  "  There  is  a  patience  of  endurance,  a 
buoyancy  of  hope,  and  a  fervour  of  devotion,  in  the 
female  character,"  as  Dr.  Swift  observes,  in  his  Intro- 
duction to  Mrs.  Lowrie's  Life,  "  so  well  adapted  to  the 
work  of  foreign  missions,  as  to  make  it  manifest  that 
women  are  to  sustain  an  important  part  in  this  honoured 
enterprise."  It  might,  perhaps,  be  added,  that  if  less 
capable  of  what  is  bold  and  hazardous  in  action,  pro- 
found in  thought,  or  laborious  in  investigation,  they 
possess  a  tenderness  of  feeling,  a  depth  of  compassion, 
a  quickness  of  perception,  and  a  forgetfulness  of  self, 
which  are  commonly  found  to  less  extent  elsewhere. 
They  appear  also  generally  to  manifest  a  greater  facility 
for  the  acquisition  of  languages,  as  far  as  the  mere 
power  of  conversation  is  concerned ;  and  they  can  sooner 
adapt  themselves  to  the  prejudices,  and  win  their  way 
to  the  hearts,  of  those  on  whose  welfare  they  are  bent. 

If,  moreover,  we  desire  to  break  down  the  prejudices 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  XXI 

of  the  East  against  female  education,  no  means  can 
perhaps  be  more  efficacious  than  the  introduction  of  well- 
educated,  pious  women,  exemplifying  the  charms  of 
social  virtues,  as  well  as  the  attractions  of  courteous 
manners  and  cultivated  minds,  and  all  the  charities  of 
human  nature  when  renewed  after  the  image  of  Christ. 
For  the  most  part,  the  specimens  of  our  countrywomen 
who  have  lived  among  the  heathen  in  past  years,  have 
not  been  such  as  to  impress  them  with  a  high  idea  of 
the  superiority  of  our  system.  Vain,  heartless,  indolent, 
and  enervated  as  much  by  habits  of  self-indulgence  as 
by  the  influence  of  a  tropical  climate,  they  could  exer- 
cise little  influence  for  good.  But  examples  of  active 
and  Christian  women  would,  even  from  their  novelty, 
produce  a  more  impressive  effect  on  the  heathen  mind 
than  an  equal  number  of  examples  from  the  other  sex. 
The  anxiety  which  intelligent  foreigners,  after  residing 
a  while  in  this  country,  have  manifested  for  raising 
their  countrywomen  to  the  state  in  which  they  find 
ours,  may  be  adduced  to  strengthen  the  above  position. 
The  respectful  admiration  which  has  been  paid  to  de- 
voted female  missionaries,  by  those  who  had  never 
before  cherished  any  other  feeling  than  that  of  contempt 
for  the  sex,  may  be  traced  in  almost  all  the  memoirs 
which  have  come  before  the  public.  Those  of  Mrs. 
Judson  and  others  are  sufficiently  known.  Of  JMrs. 
Wilson  of  Bombay,  Dr.  Wilson  observes  : — "  She  was 
a  principal  attraction  to  many  of  my  native  visiters, 
and  particularly  to  those  distinguished  among  their 
countrymen  for  their  education  and  intelligence;  and 
with  much  ingenuity  and  tact  did  she  seek  their  im- 


XXU  FEMALE    AGENCY 

provement,  and  promote  their  welfare.  Our  native 
Pundit  frequently  expressed  his  astonishment  at  the 
intelligence  and  aptitude  of  his  female  scholar,  and  de- 
clared, what  his  naturally  perverted  views  of  the  sex 
made  him  slow  to  admit,  that  woman  is  intended  by 
God  to  be  more  than  the  toy  of  man,  even  '  a  help-meet 
for  him '  in  all  that  concerns  his  happiness  and  useful- 
ness*." Miss  Newell  also,  afterwards  Mrs.  Gutzlaff, 
who  went  to  Malacca  in  1828,  to  devote  herself  to  the 
instruction  of  Malay  and  Chinese  children,  went  by  the 
name  of  "  The  woman  of  ten  thousand." 

Perhaps  the  most  powerful,  as  well  as  the  most  en- 
couraging, plea  in  favour  of  the  missionary  exertions  of 
females  is  to  be  derived  from  the  blessing  which  has 
rested  on  their  labours  in  various  instances.  The  bene- 
ficial results  of  Mrs.  Wilson's  exertions  in  Calcutta  are 
indisputable.  Some  interesting  anecdotes  of  girls  brought 
up  in  her  schools  may  be  seen  in  Mrs.  Chapman's  works 
on  "  Hindoo  Female  Education."  This  little  volume 
contains  various  examples  of  a  similar  kind.  Of  the 
late  Mrs.  Winslow  we  are  informed,  that  all  the  girls 
in  her  schools,  twenty-four  in  number,  became  hope- 
fully pious.  And  in  a  large  school  at  another  American 
missionary  station  in  Ceylon,  of  eighty-seven  girls,  out 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty-four,  the  same  hopes  are  en- 
tertained. The  results  of  present  experience  correspond 
with  arguments  deducible  from  Scripture.  When 
"  Phebc,  a  servant  of  the  church  at  Cenchrea,"  was 
sent  from  Athens  to  Rome,  a  voyage  more  formidable 

*  Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Wilson,  &c.,  p.  631. 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  XXlll 

then  than  one  to  Africa  or  to  India  now,  with  the 
charge  that  she  should  be  "  assisted  in  whatsoever  busi- 
ness she  had  need  of,"  the  principle  pleaded  for  received 
the  sanction  of  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  ;  and  a  greater 
than  Paul,  even  He,  who  appearing  first  to  Mary  Mag- 
dalene, commissioned  her  to  bear  the  glad  news  of  his 
resurrection  to  his  sorrowing  disciples,  refuses  not  to 
make  some  of  like  spirit  his  happy  and  honoured  mes- 
sengers now,  and  by  his  presence  and  blessing,  gives 
proof  that  He  has  sent  them. 

Many  difficulties  yet  lie  in  the  way  of  the  extensive 
or  successful  prosecution  of  Female  Education  in  the 
East.  Our  own  lukewarmness  is  perhaps  the  greatest. 
When  prayer  and  exertion  have  indeed  been  tried  to 
their  utmost,  we  may  hope  that  God  will  break  down 
the  strong  prejudices  still  existing  throughout  its  popu- 
lous regions,  and  open  for  us  a  wider  door.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  such  may  be  the  case  before  we  are  expect- 
ing it ;  and  long  before  we  are  prepared  to  improve  the 
opportunity.  Some  faint  signs  of  such  a  crisis  may 
even  now  be  occasionally  discerned.  The  school  for  the 
dauohters  of  "  headmen,"  which  ]\Iiss  Crossthwaite  has 
for  some  years  carried  on  successfully  at  Colombo, 
though  small,  exhibits  a  signal  triumph  over  native 
prejudice.  And  the  fact,  that  some  of  the  compara- 
tively enlightened  Hindoo  youths  in  the  government 
schools  are  secretly  teaching  their  mothers  and  sisters 
to  read,  is  a  bright  omen  for  the  next  generation. 

India,  from  its  extent  and  vast  population,  and  above 
all    from    its    dependency   on    our  government,    has 


XXIV  FEMALE    AGENCY 

stronger  claims  on  us  than  any  other  part  of  the  heathen 
world.  So  small  and  scanty,  however,  have  been  the 
supplies  which  we  have  sent  thither,  that  instead  of 
wondering  how  so  little  general  effect  has  been  produced, 
we  should  feel  both  humbled  and  grateful  at  the  fruit 
that  has  appeared.  All  Indian  missionaries  agree  that 
a  work  of  preparation  has  been  silently  proceeding  for 
years,  which  must,  before  long,  be  followed  by  great 
results.  There  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  the  pre- 
sent movements  in  Syria,  Africa,  and  China,  will  turn 
out  for  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel.  It  may  be,  that 
before  long,  such  a  cry  shall  come  from  the  heathen 
world  as  none  shall  be  able  to  resist — that  at  the  same 
time  the  Spirit  shall  be  poured  upon  the  church,  and 
the  eager  response  of  every  heart  to  that  call  will  be, 
"  Here  am  I,  send  me ! "  Both  sexes,  and  all  classes, 
may  then  be  called  upon  to  take  their  respective  por- 
tions of  work,  and  to  assist  in  gathering  in  the  harvest 
of  the  world.  Let  us  seek  to  be  ready,— intellectually, 
morally,  spiritually  ready  for  such  a  juncture,  lest  we 
should  be  unable  to  share  in  its  joy,  and  should  be  in 
the  condition  of  him  to  whom  it  was  said,  "  Thou  slialt 
see  it  with  thine  eyes,  but  shalt  not  eat  thereof." 

To  what  extent,  and  under  what  circumstances,  Chris- 
tian women  may  even  now  engage  in  personal  service 
among  the  degraded  of  their  sex  in  foreign  lands,  must 
be  left  to  the  consciences  of  individuals,  and  to  the  Pro- 
vidence of  God,  to  determine.  "  Let  every  one  be  fully 
persuaded  in  her  own  mind."  There  is  far  less  ground 
to  question  whether  we  ouglit  not  to  embrace  opportu- 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  XXV 

nities  of  preparing  for  such  employment,  in  contempla- 
tion of  the  possibility  of  a  divine  call  to  the  work.  To 
make  His  Gospel  known  to  every  creature  under  heaven 
is  the  great  duty  of  the  Christian  church ;  and  nothing 
but  obstacles  interposed,  or  pious  duties  appointed  by 
God  Himself,  can  absolve  us  from  taking  our  part  in  its 
diffusion.  Ought  we  not  all,  therefore,  to  be  ready  to 
do  so,  in  case  those  obstacles  should  be  removed  ?  The 
more  so,  as  preparation  for  foreign  labour  will  fit  us  for 
greater  usefulness  at  home.  Genuine  missionary  spirit 
— far  from  exhausting  itself  in  imaginary  anticipations 
of  what  may  be  done  at  a  distance, — will  animate  our 
anxiety  for  the  souls  within  our  reach.  Entire  devot- 
edness  to  God,  willingness  to  wait  his  pleasure,  to  stay 
or  go  as  he  pleases,  to  work  here  or  in  distant  lands  as 
he  may  appoint,  is  the  frame  of  mind  which  we  ought 
to  cherish.  Only,  wherever  we  are,  let  us  be  in  some 
way  engaged  in  the  work  ;  and  if  unable  to  go  abroad, 
let  us  feel  bound  to  use  double  exertion  at  home.  Let 
us  give  our  hearts  to  this  object ;  and  if  we  hope  to 
serve  God  in  heaven,  let  us  pledge  ourselves  to  his 
service  on  earth.  If  we  have  not  yet  proved  that  service 
perfect  freedom, — if  we  have  not  yet  found  the  Saviour's 
yoke  easy  and  his  burden  light, — it  is  because  we  have 
not  engaged  in  the  one,  or  taken  up  the  other  with  our 
hearts.  No  constrained,  half-hearted  service  will  be 
acceptable  to  God,  or  delightful  to  ourselves.  Let  us 
count  the  cost,  and  ascertain  whether  we  are  willing  to 
give  up  all ;  for  there  is  no  middle  course. 

All  human  beings,  whether  they  are  men  or  women, 


XXVI  FEMALE    AGENCY 

require  an  object  for  which  to  Hve ;  i.  <?.,  not  merely  the 
grand  object  of  preparation  for  the  future  life,  but  a 
subordinate  and  immediate  one  for  the  present.  Women, 
a  little  removed  from  the  humbler  classes  of  society, 
commonly  labour,  in  this  respect,  under  a  disadvantage 
not  experienced  by  men.  The  latter  have  some  profes- 
sion on  which  to  enter,  as  soon  as  what  is  usually  deno- 
minated education  is  completed ;  but  women,  at  that 
period,  for  the  most  part,  have  none.  Many  girls 
leave  school  at  sixteen  or  seventeen,  and  spend  several 
years  of  the  most  valuable  part  of  their  lives  in  a  kind 
of  restless  indolence.  Had  they  before  them  some  great 
and  benevolent  object,  such  as  taking  a  share  in  the 
regeneration  of  the  world,  they  w^ould  be  much  happier, 
and  much  more  amiable.  Their  mental  powers,  instead 
of  being  frittered  away,  would  be  increased, — their 
moral  character  would  acquire  a  higher  tone, — they 
would  be  more,  rather  than  less,  fitted  for  the  enjoyment 
of  domestic  life  in  after  years, — and  many  of  the  regrets 
of  a  death -bed  would  be  avoided. 

If,  on  the  one  hand,  woman,  when  familiar  only  witli 
fashionable  accomplishments,  and  superficial  arts,  serves 
but  to  languish  in  sickly  scntimentalism,  or  at  the  best 
to  throw  a  gorgeous  veil  over  the  emptiness  of  a  useless 
life, — on  the  other  hand,  when  adorned  witli  the  light  of 
practical  wisdom,  and  invigorated  by  the  daily  exercises 
of  active  philanthropy,  will  not  the  gloomy  and  selfish 
passions  shrink  from  her  presence  ?  Is  she  not  a  sun- 
beam, to  disperse  the  clouds  of  care,  and  dissipate  the 
mists  of  sorrow,  and  to  irradiate  the  vista  to  a  happier 
state  ? 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  XXVU 

The  seasons  of  leisure  and  the  freedom  from  care 
which  God  has  allotted  to  the  earlier  years  of  women  in 
the  rank  of  intelligent  society,  render  them  doubly 
responsible  to  devote  these  advantages  to  his  service. 
Few,  perhaps,  even  of  those  who  are  really  pious,  feel 
the  extent  of  the  obligations  under  which  such  circum- 
stances place  them.  They  are  too  apt  to  view  religion 
as  a  thing  ybr  themselves^  and  to  regard  the  little  they 
may  do  for  the  poor,  for  Sunday  or  day-schools,  or  for 
missionary  societies,  almost  in  the  light  of  popish  works 
of  supererogation.  They  measure  what  they  do  for 
these  objects  more  by  the  conduct  of  others,  than  by  the 
standard  of  God's  word,  or  by  the  vastness  of  the  work 
to  be  done.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  young  Christians  in 
the  present  day  generally  content  themselves  with  too 
low  an  aim.  They  have  been  sheltered  from  tempta- 
tion, and  every  hopeful  indication  has  been  marked 
with  joy.  They  have  encountered  no  storms  which 
might  have  uprooted  a  wavering  faith,  or  made  it,  if 
genuine,  take  a  firmer  hold.  The  affectionate  partiality 
of  pious  relatives  has,  perhaps,  contributed  to  self- 
deception;  whilst  union  with  a  Christian  church,  and  a 
tolerably  consistent  deportment,  have  put  an  end  to 
questions  on  either  side.  It  is  not  by  sucli  piety  as 
this  that  God  can  be  honoured,  or  the  world  instrumen- 
tally  converted. 

The  first  qualification  for  a  missionary  life  is  eminent 
piety.  All  those  who  have  been  peculiarly  honoured  in 
winning  souls  to  Christ  have  been,  in  tlicse  respects, 
distinguished.     Of  Mrs.  Judson,  when  seventeen  years 


XXVIU  FEMALE    AGENCY 

of  age,  it  is  said,  that  such  was  her  thirst  for  religious 
knowledge,  that  she  often  spent  great  part  of  the  night 
in  reading  religious  books.     That  "  the  throne  of  grace 
was  her  early  and  late  resort,"  and  that  "  she  would 
spend  cold  winter  evenings  in  a  room  without  a  fire, 
and  return  to  the  family  with  a  solemnity  spread  over 
her  countenance,  which  told  of  Him  w^ith  whom  she 
had  been  communing."     Of  Mrs.  Winslow,  that  at  the 
age  of  thirteen,  she  used  to  retire  to  an  attic  four  times 
every  day  for  prayer.    And  of  Mrs.  Wilson  of  Bombay, 
that  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  "  so  wholly  absorbed  was 
her  mind  in   the   contemplation  of  holy  things,    that 
secret  and  social  prayer,  meditation,  and  attendance  on 
the  public  ordinances  of  God,  might  be  said  to  have 
been  her  meat  and   her  drink."     If  we  would   be   as 
useful  as  these  excellent  women,  we  must  prepare  in 
like  manner.     Prayer  and  the  Scriptures  must  have  our 
first,  our  best  hours :    those,  when  the  mind  is  most 
vigorous, — when   there  is   least   probability    of  being 
disturbed  ;  and,  as  far  as  possible  from  being  observed. 
"  Enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou  hast  shut  thy 
door,  pray  to  thy  Father  who  is  in  secret,"  has  respect 
to  the  spirit  as  well  as  the   letter.     There  are  many 
excellent  works  on  the  cultivation  of  personal  piety; 
but  perhaps  none  are  more  stimulating  than  the  lives  of 
eminent  Christians.     We  can   hardly  read  the  lives  of 
such    men    as    Leighton,     Howe,    Allcine,     Martyn, 
Payson,    &c.,    without    feeling    both     humbled    and 
quickened. 

Piety,  however,  though  it  be  the  chief,  is  not  the  only 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  XXIX 

qualification.  Years  are  commonly  spent  in  preparation 
for  any  profession,  or  even  trade ;  and  shall  we  enter 
upon  the  greatest  and  noblest  of  all  employments 
without  any  intellectual  discipline  ?  Shall  we  offer  to 
God  that  which  costs  us  nothing  ?  Shall  we  return  the 
talents  which  he  has  intrusted  to  us  unimproved,  and 
allow  the  world  to  continue  to  think  lightly  of  religion 
by  giving  so  much  reason  to  think  lightly  of  us? 
No !  let  every  power,  every  faculty  which  God 
has  given  us,  be  engaged  in  his  service;  and  not 
content  with  bringing  thirty^  or  even  sixty  fold^  let 
it  be  our  earnest  aim  to  bring  forth  "  hundreds "  to 
his  glory. 

Those  branches  of  mental  culture  which  are  most 
important  for  missionary  objects  are  accessible  to  most 
young  persons  who  have  their  time  at  command,  even 
without  assistance  from  others.  There  is  a  general 
intellectual  preparation  of  the  greatest  use  in  strengthen- 
ing the  mind,  and  fitting  it  for  application  to  any  parti- 
cular object,  which  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  young 
persons,  if  brought  up  at  a  good  school,  or  still  more  if 
carefully  educated  at  home,  have  enjoyed.  If  they  wish 
to  devote  their  energies  to  the  missionary  enterprise,  it 
will  be  well  for  them  to  make  themselves,  as  far  as 
possible,  mistresses  of  the  subject  by  a  course  of  suitable 
reading.  A  vigorous  application  of  mind  to  the  under- 
taking will  dispel  the  romance  that  may  have  been 
thrown  around  it,  but  by  no  means  diminish  its  genuine 
interest.  The  object  will  bear  to  be  contemplated  :  it 
is  ennobling  and  animating,  and  the  conviction  of  its 


XXX  FEMALE    AGENCY 

immense  importance  must  grow  with  knowledge  and 
reflection. 

With  a  view  to  assist  the  missionary  student,  a  list 
of  works,  having  more  or  less  reference  to  the  subject, 
is  subjoined.  It  is  supposed  that  the  intelligent  student 
has  become  acquainted  with  ancient  history  from  the 
works  of  Rollin,  Mitford,  and  others  ;  and  with  that  of 
modern  days,  from  such  authors  as  Robertson,  Russel, 
and  Hume ;  and  is  also  familiar  with  the  most  popular 
works  on  general  subjects.  Any  judicious  friend  might 
revise  or  add  to  the  selection,  and  recommend  in  what 
order  or  connexion  they  should  be  read.  One  hour  a 
day  set  apart  for  reading  would  be  sufficient  for  the 
perusal  of  thirty  ordinary  pages.  Time  would  thus  be 
affiDrded,  Sundays  omitted,  for  reading  9390  pages  in  a 
year,  or  twenty-three  volumes  of  400  pages  each  in  the 
course  of  a  year.  Can  any  one,  who  is  not  obliged 
to  work  for  her  living,  say  that  she  could  not,  by 
a  little  persevering  effi)rt,  or  by  an  hour's  earlier  rising, 
find  so  small  a  portion  of  time  for  reading  ?  Yet  many 
who  spend  hours  in  music  and  fancy-work,  and  even  in 
sheer  idling,  say  that  they  ^have  no  time  to  read  !  Let 
us  not  deceive  ourselves  on  this  point  any  longer.  If 
we  wish  to  keep  pace  with  the  growing  intelligence  of 
the  times — if  we  wish  to  glorify  God,  and  to  serve  our 
generation,  we  must  set  it  down  as  a  duty  to  give  at 
least  so  much  time  daily  to  the  cultivation  of  our 
minds,  and  as  much  more  as  other  duties  will  permit. 

Some  attention  to   Biblical    Criticism,   to    Church 
History,  and  to  the  Evidences  of  Christianity,  is  particu- 


IN    EVANGELIZING   PAGANS.  XXXI 

larly  recommended,  on  account  of  the  numerous  forms 
of  error  now  abroad,  as  well  as  with  reference  to  the 
instruction  of  the  young  and  to  other  missionary 
pursuits.  Such  of  the  works  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  Isaac 
Taylor,  and  other  authors,  as  bear  upon  the  present 
state  of  the  world  are  mentioned,  and  large  additions 
might  be  made  to  this  most  improving  class.  A  few 
are  named  which  may  be  of  use  in  home,  Sunday,  and 
Infant  school  instruction,  and  works  of  a  more  direct 
missionary  character  are  mentioned  last.  It  is  a 
desirable  plan  in  reading  to  make  a  brief  written 
analysis  of  every  few  pages,  both  to  keep  up  the  atten- 
tion and  to  fix  the  author's  train  of  thouojht  or  argument 
in  the  mind.  This  need  not  take  much  time.  Such 
writers  as  Butler  and  Charnock,  and  others  of  the  o;ood 
old  school,  cannot  indeed  be  so  speedily  dismissed,  but 
the  pages  of  many  modern  writers  may  usually  be 
summed  up  in  as  many  lines  : — 

HISTORY. 
Heeren's  Works,  translated  in  America, 
Sharon  Turner's  Sacred  History  of  the  World. 
Ditto         Ditto  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons. 

Ditto         Ditto  English  History. 

Hallam's  History  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Ranke's  History  of  the  Popes. 

CnURCn    HISTORY. 
Milner's  Church  History. 
Mosheim's,  Murdock's  translation;   Mosheim's  and  Milner's 

should  be  read  together. 
Fuller's  English  Church  History. 


XXXU  FEMALE    AGENCY 

Waddington's  Church  History. 
Timpson's  Church  History  through  All  Ages. 
Merle  d'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reformation. 
Life  and  Times  of  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon. 


BIBLICAL    CRITICISM. 
Horne's  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Scriptures. 
Davison  on  Biblical  Criticism. 
Henderson  on  Divine  Inspiration, 
Scott's  Commentary  on  the  Scriptures. 
Cobbin's  Condensed  Commentary. 
Doddridge's  Family  Expositor  of  the  New  Testament. 
Lowth's  Translation  of  Isaiah. 
Newcome's  Translation  of  the  Minor  Prophets. 
Campbell's  Preliminary  Dissertations  on  the  Gospels. 
Macknight's  Translation  of  the  Epistles. 
Cruden's  Concordance  to  the  Scriptures. 
Timpson's  Key  to  the  Bible.    ; 
Calmet's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 


EVIDENCES    OP    CHRISTIANITY. 
Paley's  Natural  Theology. 
Butler's  Analogy  and  Sermons. 
Gregory's  (Dr.  O.)  Evidences. 
Chalmers'  Evidences. 
Sumner's  Records  of  the  Creation. 
Paley's  Horse  Paulinse. 
Campbell  on  Miracles. 
Wardlaw's  Christian  Ethics. 
Newton  on  the  Prophecies. 
Keith's  Evidence  of  Prophecy. 
Bogie's  Crisis. 

Bridgewater  Treatises,  particularly  Chalmers',  Whj 
well's,  and  Prout's. 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  XXXIU 

PRACTICAL    DIVINITY. 

Dwight's  Theology. 

Charnock  on  the  Divine  Attributes. 

Howe's  Works,    ''Delighting  in  God,"    "Living  Temple," 

"  Redeemer's  Tears  over  Lost  Souls,"  and  *' Blessedness 

of  the  Righteous." 
Flavel's  Fountain  of  Life:  and.  Saint  Indeed. 
Griffiths'  Spiritual  Life. 
Hall's  Contemplations. 
Leighton's  Commentary  on  St.  Peter. 
Baxter's  Saint's  Rest. 
Edwards  on  the  Affections. 


MENTAL    PHILOSOPHY    AND   MISCELLANEOUS 
WORKS. 
Watts'  Improvement  of  the  Mind. 
Payne's  Elements  of  Mental  Science. 
Abercrombie  on  Moral  Culture. 
Ditto  Moral  Feelings. 

Ditto  Intellectual  Powers. 

Foster's  Essay  on  Decision  of  Character. 
Ditto  Ditto         Popular  Ignorance. 

Douglas's  Advancement  of  Society. 
Dick's  Improvement  of  Society  by  Knowledge. 
History  of  Enthusiasm. 
Saturday  Evening. 


EDUCATION. 
I.  Taylor's  Home  Education. 
Dr.  and  Miss  Mayo  on  Infant  Schools. 
Ditto  Lessons  on  Objects. 

Stowe's  Moral  Training. 
Ditto        Bible  Training. 


XXXVl  FEMALE    A.GENCY 

delineated  on  a  black  board,  would  delight  them  even 
more  than  a  finished  picture  in  the  gayest  colouring. 
As  to  needle-work,  besides  working  for  the  poor,  the 
opportunity  is  open  to  us  of  making  garments  to  send 
to  half-civilized  missionary  stations,  or  children's 
clothes  to  sell  for  the  orphan-schools  in  India.  It  is  to 
be  feared,  that  what  is  called  plain  work  has  of  late 
years  been  almost  superseded  by  fancy  work^  of  com- 
paratively little  value  or  use.  It  is  but  folly  and 
indolence  to  say  that  we  do  not  like  the  one  so  well  as 
the  other.  A  little  effort  and  perseverance  would 
soon  make  both  equally  easy  and  pleasant.  We  are 
accountable  for  the  way  in  which  we  employ  our 
fingers  as  well  as  our  minds.  Unless  necessary  relaxa- 
tion or  immediate  duty  requires,  it  seems  also  a  waste 
of  time  to  sit  down  to  needle- work  alone.  If  one 
relative  or  friend  reads,  and  the  other  works,  the  time  is 
doubled,  as  well  as  the  profit  and  pleasure. 

Facility  in  imparting  knowledge  to  others,  and  more 
particularly  in  teaching  children,  is  invaluable  for 
missionary  purposes.  The  care  and  instruction  of  the 
young  seem  to  be  woman's  peculiar  province  ;  but  much 
study  as  well  as  practice  are  necessary  to  enable  any 
one  to  teach  with  success. 

If  you  have  any  decided  talent,  cultivate  it  :  God 
may  have  given  it  to  you  for  future  employment  in  his 
service,  though  the  mode  may  not  for  a  time  be  apparent. 
Some  truly  excellent  young  persons  have  relinquished  a 
favourite  occupation  in  which  they  excelled,  from  the 
fear  that  it  might  become  a  snare.     In  such  cases  great 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  XXXVU 

watchfulness  is  doubtless  indispensable  :  but  resolutely 
to  reject  the  gifts  of  our  heavenly  Father,  is  to  evince  a 
disregard  of  which  we  should  not  be  guilty  to  a  dear 
friend  on  earth.  Let  us  receive  both  them  and  the 
pleasure  we  have  in  them  with  thankfulness,  and 
earnestly  seek  to  improve  them  to  His  service. 

Everything  tliat  is  likely  to  secure  influence  should 
be  cultivated,  provided  only  that  one  sanctified  end  is 
always  kept  in  view.  Mere  mental  superiority  will 
have  little  effect,  unless  accompanied  by  pleasing  man- 
ners, conversational  power,  cheerfulness,  consideration, 
and  urbanity.  There  should  be  special  attention  to 
domestic  concerns,  and  minute  and  varying  attention  to 
the  comforts  of  relatives  at  home.  There  should  be 
habits  of  punctuality,  method,  neatness  and  good  taste. 
Let  time  be  well  arranged,  and  the  duties  of  every  day 
previously  marked  out.  Let  us  acquire  the  habit  of 
doing  things  for  ourselves,  and  let  us  most  vigilantly 
watch  against  every  temptation  to  self-indulgence.  On 
the  cultivation  of  moral  dispositions  I  need  not  dwell. 
There  must  not  only  be  energy  and  perseverance,  but 
sweet  temper  and  humility.  "  Put  on  therefore,  as  the 
elect  of  God,  holy  and  beloved,  bowels  of  mercies,  kind- 
ness, humbleness  of  mind,  meekness,  long-suff'ering." 
'■'  Beside  this,  giving  all  diligence,  add  to  your  faith, 
virtue  ;  and  to  virtue,  knowledge ;  and  to  knowledge, 
temperance ;  and  to  temperance,  patience ;  and  to 
patience, godliness;  and  to  godliness,  brotherly  kindness  ; 
and  to  brotherly  kindness  charity.  For  if  these  things 
be  in  you  and  abound,  they  make   you   that  ye  shall 


XXXVllI  FEMALE    AGENCY 

neither  be  barren  nor  unfruitful  in  tbe  knowledge  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ!"  Beautiful  summary  of  Christian 
ethics !  How  it  brightens  upon  us  by  contrast  with 
the  dark  systems  of  heathenism  !  May  God  enable  us 
to  test  our  own  characters  by  it,  and  to  walk  more 
closely  according  to  it  day  by  day ! 

And  w^hat  meanwhile  can  we  do  to  aid  the  missionary 
cause  in  this  country  ?  Just  those  things  which  would 
prepare  us  for  foreign  service  !  We  can  pray.  If  young 
persons  could  conquer  the  reluctance  they  feel  to  unite 
in  prayer  with  each  other,  and  could  do  so  with  simplicity 
of  mind  and  unembarrassed  manner,  as  is  customary 
among  Christians  on  the  Continent,  they  would  feel  it 
a  source  of  much  comfort  and  mutual  spiritual  improve- 
ment. If  they  would  accustom  themselves  to  the  effort, 
in  the  first  instance  with  the  sick  poor,  or  with  young 
children,  the  difficulty  might  by  degrees  vanish.  These 
meetings  for  prayer  should,  however,  be  strictly  private^ 
— if  possible  unknown  to  any  one  but  those  engaged  in 
them.  Whatever  difficulties  may  be  in  the  w^ay  of 
uniting  in  prayer  for  the  heathen  world,  there  can  be 
none  to  prevent  us  from  praying  alone.  A  request  was 
some  time  since  made  by  one  body  of  Christians  tliat 
the  rest  would  set  apart  an  hour  every  Saturday  morn- 
ing, from  seven  to  eight  o'clock,  for  this  purpose.  Friday 
morning  is  the  time  mentioned  by  the  "  Society  for 
Promotino-  Female  Education  in  the  East  :"  and  the  first 
Monday  evening  in  the  month,  at  seven  o'clock,  is  that 
of  the  Missionary  Prayer  Meeting.  Cannot  we  observe 
in  the  coming  year  all  these  seasons  ?  And  if  the  whole 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  XXXlX 

Christian  female  population  of  England  were  thus  to 
unite,  can  we  suppose  that  God  would  disregard  such 
honour  put  upon  his  own  gracious  ordinance,  and  not 
pour  forth  the  gifts  of  his  Spirit  and  the  blessings  of  his 
grace  ? 

Pecuniary  aid  we  can  also  contribute.  Let  us  study, 
not  how  little,  but  how  much  we  can  do  for  this  great 
object  in  the  new  year.  Have  we  not  all  reason  to  blush 
when  we  compare  what  we  spend  in  dress,  or  in  the 
merest  trifles,  with  what  we  offer  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world !  Let  us  try  to 
give  all  w^e  can  ourselves,  and  to  induce  others  to  do 
likewise ;  and  each  endeavour  to  inculcate,  in  our 
respective  circles,  a  new  standard  of  liberality  and  self- 
denial.  All  that  we  do  for  the  general  missionary 
societies  must  tend  to  the  advantage  of  our  heathen 
sisters.  The  orphan  schools  in  India  also  present  a 
large  and  interesting  field  for  our  exertions.  When  we 
hear  of  twenty^  thirty^  or  forty  thousand  female  infants 
annually  destroyed  in  one  province  alone,  and  learn  that 
these  might  be  saved  from  death,  and  trained  up  in  the 
love  and  service  of  Christ,  at  a  cost  of  two^  or  at  most 
three  pounds  per  annum  each,  we  must  be  callous  indeed 
if  we  feel  no  wish  to  assist  in  this  labour  of  love.  There 
is  a  society  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  "  Promoting 
Female  Education  in  the  East ;"  and  there  is  a  school 
at  Walthamstow  for  the  daughters  of  missionaries,  which 
bids  fair,  if  well  supported  by  the  Christian  public,  to 
furnish  valuable  agency  for  the  object  more  expressly 
contemplated.     There  is,  therefore,  at  present,  no  want 


xl  FEMALE   AGENCY 

of  channels,  in  which  the  streams  of  Christian  charity 
may  flow. 

Qualified  agents  are  greatly  needed  by  the  Missionary 
Societies,  and  such  are  to  be  furnished  by  our  churches. 
Every  efibrt  which  we  make  for  unconverted  individuals 
under  our  roof  or  within  our  reach  may  have  an  influ- 
ence on  the  conversion  of  the  world ;  and  when  our 
country  shall  have  become  like  "  the  garden  of  the 
Lord,"  there  will  be  enough  of  goodly  trees  to  transplant 
into  foreign  climes.  Let  there  be,  therefore,  increased 
exertion  for  the  conversion  of  souls,  by  the  distribution 
of  tracts,  by  visits  of  mercy,  conversation,  and  corre- 
spondence. Let  us  try  to  encourage  those  who  may  be 
younger  in  knowledge  than  ourselves,  and  endeavour 
to  raise  their  standard  and  to  assist  their  progress. 

We  may  do  much  for  the  young.  Are  there  no 
children  under  the  same  roof,  or  in  our  neighbourhood, 
whom  we  may  train  up  for  God  and  for  usefulness  ? 
Can  we  instil  into  their  minds  no  sentiments  of  love  to 
the  Saviour,  and  of  compassion  for  the  heathen,  which 
may  bring  forth  rich  fruit  when  some  few  years  are 
past  ?  From  that  gallery  of  little  children  who  have 
been  listening  with  eager  attention  to  your  missionary 
anecdote,  some  may  be  his  chosen  successors  in  days  to 
come.  That  little  girl  with  deep  earnest  eyes,  with  the 
look  of  enterprise  and  the  brow  of  high  resolve,  may  be 
a  Mrs.  Judson.  That  sprightly  affectionate  child  who 
sits  by  her  side  may  be  a  Margaret  Wilson  !  That  fine 
little  fellow,  in  whom  a  warm  heart  and  a  resolute  will 
seem   to  be  contending  for   the    mastery,    may  be   a 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  xli 

Whitefield  ;  and  that  one  with  a  more  thoughtful  but 
not  less  intelligent  countenance,  and  with  a  gentle  plead- 
ing expression,  may  be  a  Henry  Martyn  !  If  all  who 
have  leisure  and  education  would  turn  their  attention  to 
the  formation  or  improvement  of  Sunday  and  day  schools, 
our  poor  might  be  far  more  generally  and  efficiently 
taught ;  and  who  can  calculate  what  influence  might 
thereby  be  exerted  on  the  next  generation  ? 

But  there  is  yet  another  means,  more  powerful  than 
any  which  have  been  adduced,  by  which  the  influence  of 
women  may  be  exerted  in  favour  of  the  missionary 
cause.  It  is  their  influence  over  fathers  and  brothers, 
husbands  and  sons.  If  all  the  power  which  God  has 
given  them  to  win,  to  interest,  and  to  persuade,  were 
daily  though  almost  imperceptibly  devoted  to  the  noblest 
objects,  how  great  and  general  would  be  the  prompt 
results  !  If  when  gathered  around  the  winter  fire-side, 
or  walking  on  a  summer's  evening,  we  were  to  read  or 
relate  the  most  striking  pieces  of  intelligence  or  passages 
in  books  that  have  come  under  our  notice  during  the 
day, — if  when  asking  them  to  inform  us  of  the  aspect  of 
political  events,  we  could  modestly  suggest  their  possi- 
ble influence  on  the  cause  of  missions, — if  the  smile  of 
afiectionate  satisfaction  could  be  awarded  to  every 
effort  made  for  the  cause  of  God,  and  we  could  let  it  be 
seen  that  there  is  no  way  of  gratifying  us  so  much  as  by 
a  repetition  of  such  efforts, — and  if,  on  suitable  occa- 
sions, we  could  more  directly  and  earnestly  plead  for  the 
duty  and  delight  of  entire  consecration  to  the  service  of 
God  ;  would  not  the  powers  of  our  example  be  felt,  and 


Xlii  FEMALE    AGENCY 

the  tone  of  our  spirits  be  caught  ?  Let  us  try  the  experi- 
ment for  the  year  to  come. 

When  the  great  principles  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton's 
philosophy  first  suggested  themselves  to  his  mind,  many 
a  long  year  of  careful  experiment  and  laborious  investi- 
gation elapsed  before  he  ventured  to  offer  them  to  the 
world  as  trutli ;  and  longer  still  was  the  period  that 
intervened  before  their  adaptation  to  many  questions  of 
science  and  purposes  of  art  was  fully  proved.  And  so 
one  may  say  of  the  great  principle  of  missions,  after  the 
lapse  of  ages,  re-discovered  in  modern  times.  Between 
forty  and  fifty  jeavs  ago,  it  suggested  itself,  or  rather, 
was  suggested  by  higher  influence,  to  the  minds  of  the 
Fathers  of  our  English  Missionary  Societies.  They  and 
their  children  have  tried  its  adaptation  to  the  circum- 
stances and  peculiarities  of  almost  every  nation  under 
heaven,  and  have  found  it  suited  to  all ! — as  suitable,  as 
efiicacious  now,  under  every  conceivable  modification  of 
human  sin  and  misery,  as  when,  eighteen  centuries  ago, 
it  was  proclaimed  by  inspired  lips  at  Jerusalem.  Its 
suitability  and  efficacy  have  been  proved  by  ample  and 
manifold  experiments,  but  the  glorious  application  to 
earth's  teeming  millions  is  yet  to  come ! 

To  refer  to  another  principle,  which  if  less  imposing 
in  its  aspect,  has  been  attended  with  scarcely  less  effect 
in  our  times  ;  namely,  the  power  of  steam.  For  many 
a  year  after  its  discovery,  this  power  was  applied  only 
to  manufacturing  machinery  or  the  management  of  small 
coasting  vessels.  There  was  a  pause,  and  men  did  not 
appear  to  dream  that  it  would  admit  of  any   more 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  xHli 

extensive  application,  when  suddenly  there  arose  a  Avider 
estimate  of  its  energy,  not  only  altering  the  aspect  of 
trade  and  science  in  our  own  country,  but  approximat- 
ino-  continents,  and  leavinof  us  to  wonder  w^here  its 
gigantic  power  will  find  a  limit.  And  so  of  the  spirit 
of  missions !  It  seems  to  be  making  a  pause.  The 
income  of  the  missionary  societies  is  just  now  stationary, 
and  the  required  missionaries  are  called  for  in  vain  :  but 
we  need  not  fear  lest  tlie  work  of  God  should  stand 
still ;  far  less  that  it  should  retrograde  :  for,  in  the 
forcible  language  of  Mr.  Jay,  "  when  He  seems  to  be 
making  a  pause,  He  is  but  as  a  giant  stepping  back  to 
take  a  surer  aim,  and  to  fetch  a  more  determined  blow." 

Whence  shall  come  the  required  impulse  at  this  crisis  ? 
Who  shall  awake  tiie  slumberincj  churches,  and  infuse 
into  them  the  spirit  of  the  primitive  ages  ?  Why  should 
not  Woman  ?  She  was  first  in  transgression.  Let 
her  be  foremost  in  brinsfino;  about  the  world's  re- 
storation  !  Let  that  influence,  which  she  owes  to  Christ, 
be  consecrated  to  Him  !  It  is  an  influence  interwoven 
with  all  the  fabric  of  society,  and  can  scarcely  be  other- 
wise than  irresistible  when  fully  exerted.  God  delights 
to  use  the  weak  things  of  this  world  to  accomplish  his 
grand  designs,  and  it  may  be  that  He  will  see  fit  to 
employ  her  services  on  this  occasion.  We  know  not, 
but  of  this  we  are  assured,  that  He  would  not  despise  her 
humblest  efibrt ;  and  that  toil,  trial,  and  disappoint- 
ments w^ould  be  well  repaid,  were  He  to  say  of  any,  or 
of  each  at  lest,  "  She  hath  done  what  she  could  !" 

Some,  to  whom  these  pages  are  addressed,  are  yet 


Xliv  FEMALE    AGENCY 

young :  some  twenty,  thirty,  forty  years  may  yet  be 
theirs,  to  live  and  labour  in  the  service  of  God  on  earth, 
and  who  can  tell  what  glorious  times  may  arrive  before 
those  periods  sliall  have  passed  away  ?  Have  not  our 
hearts  thrilled,  and  our  eyes  overflowed,  when  we  have 
heard  of  the  partial  successes  of  the  gospel  among 
Bechuanas,  or  South-Sea  Islanders,  or  the  widening 
circle  around  Kishnagur?  And  if  tidings  should  come 
pouring  in,  that  tribe  after  tribe  and  nation  after  nation 
had  received  the  word  of  the  Lord,  would  not  the  joy 
be  almost  too  great  for  human  nature  to  bear  ?  and 
should  we  not  be  ready  to  say,  in  the  words  of  Simeon, 
"  Lord,  now  lettest  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  our 
eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation  !  "  Oh,  if  we  indeed  long 
for  those  days  of  heaven  upon  earth,  when  the  pure  and 
blessed  principles  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  shall  have 
an  ascendency  over  all  hearts,  let  us,  with  united  heart 
and  hand,  labour  by  the  help  of  God  to  hasten  on  their 
arrival ;  and  let  the  prayer  ascend  with  greater  frequency 
and  fervour,  "  Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done, 
on  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven  !" 

Should  any  object,  that  all  this  is  the  mere  excitement 
of  imagination,  that  no  solid  argument  can  be  drawn 
from  speculations  like  these, — let  us  turn  to  realities. 
There  will  come  a  time,  though  the  remaining  unbelief 
•which  lies  concealed  even  in  the  Christian  heart  may 
distance  it  so  far  as  to  throw  an  indistinctness  about  its 
reality,  when,  if  permitted,  from  "  the  sparkling 
turrets  "  of  tlie  City  in  the  skies,  to  look  down  over  that 
"  great  gulf"  which  none  may  pass,  it  will  be  with  far 


IN    EVANGELIZING    PAGANS.  xlv 

different  emotions  from  those  with  wliich  we  can  too 
often  think  of  it  now.  Then,  when  introduced  into  the 
realization  of  all  the  glorious  promises  of  the  future  life, 
we  feel  for  the  first  time,  in  all  the  vividness  of  reality, 
what  it  would  have  been  to  lose  heaven  ourselves, 
shall  we  not  feel  a  deeper  compassion  for  the  loss  and 
misery  of  others !  In  that  world  of  sanctified  intellect, 
shall  we  feel  no  wish  that  our  degraded  human  sister- 
hood had  been  rendered  capable  of  tasting  of  those 
streams  of  knowledge  which  flow  hard  by  the  throne  of 
God  !  In  that  world  of  purity,  shall  we  not  wish  that 
they  too  had  been  standing  there  in  robes  washed 
"  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  ?"  In  that  world 
of  joy,  shall  we  not  wish  that  their  voices  had  been 
heard  mingling  in  the  chorus  of  the  "new  song?" 
And  as  we  range  those  "  many  mansions,"  which  bound- 
less Love  has  prepared  for  the  redeemed  from  "  every 
nation,  and  kindred,  and  people,  and  tongue,"  and  find 
that  there  would  have  been  "room  "enough  for  all,  if 
regret  can  be  felt  in  heaven,  will  it  not  be  with  unutter- 
able regret  that  we  shall  then  sigh,  "  Oh  that  they  had 
been  here ! " 

Pursuing  such  a  strain  of  anticipations,  can  we  not 
almost  find  it  in  our  hearts  to  bless  God  that  we  are 
not  yet  in  heaven  ?  and  still  more,  that  there  is  a  genera- 
tion who  are  not  yet  in  hell  ?  "  Whatsoever  thy  hand 
findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might ;  for  tliere  is  no 
work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom,  in  the 
grave,  whither  thou  goest !"  Eccles.  ix.  10. 
November  1840. 


SURVEY  OF  THE  CONDITION 

OF 

WOMAN    IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES. 


Woman  among  all  heathens  most  degraded.— Cruelty  in  pagan  nations.— 
Present  survey  limited  chiefly  to  British  colonies  and  dependencies. — 
British  India.— General  condition  of  women  in  India.— Mrs.  Wilson 
of  Bombay  regarding  Hindoo  women. — Mr.  Massie's  testimony  con- 
cerning women  in  Continental  India. — Hindoo  estimate  of  women. — 
Female  human  sacrifices.— Prevalence  of  the  Suttee.  —  Fi/ly-eight 
Queens  sacrrficed  in  one  fire. — "  Facts  and  Opinions,"  by  Dr.  Johns. — 
Sacrifices  in  1812. — Thirteen  widows  burnt  in  one  fire. —  Twelve  in 
another.— Tki7-ty-seven  in  aMOther.— Eighteen  in  another.— Number  of 
females  sacrificed  annually.—  Rev.  Mr.  Peggs's  work  on  Suttees.— 
Description  of  a  Suttee  by  a  Lady.  —  Lord  W,  Bentinck  prohibits 
Suttees  in  1829. — Hindoo  opposition.— Suttees  in  the  independent  states. 
— Foiir  Queens  and  seven  female  slaves  sacrificed  in  the  funeral 
obsequies  of  Rajah  Runjeet  Singh  in  1839.— Stated  in  "  Bombay 
Times." — Col.  Osborne's  account. — Recent  Cases. — Hindoo  infanticide. 
—Atrocities  of  the  Rajpoots.— Women  in  China  described  by  Lady 
Morgan. — Testified  by  Rev.  C.  Gutzlaff. — By  Mrs.  Morrison. — Female 
infanticide  in  Pekin.— Woman  in  Polynesia.— Infanticide  at  Tahiti — 
Facts  by  Rev.  J.  Williams.— Woman  in  Africa.— Ordeal  of  "  red 
water,"  or  poison — Mokhara  slave-market. — Woman  in  Madagascar. — 

Early  marriages — Divorces Female  miseries. — Mohammedan  nations. 

— Character  of  Mohammed. — Ilis  vile  laws  degrade  woman. — Polygamy 
in  Turkey. — Lady  Montague  regarding  Turkish  women. — Lady  Hamil- 
ton respecting  the  ladies  of  the  Seraglio.— Tiaffic  in  female  beauties.— 
Dr.  Pouqueville's  visit  to  a  female  bazaar.— Mr.  Morton's  testimony 

relating  to  an  Armenian  slave-dealer Appeal   to  British  women  by 

the  Ladies'  Association  for  Female  Education.— Woman  can  be  restored 
only  by  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Woman's  condition  In  lieathen  nations,  even  now  in 
the  nineteenth  century  oi  Christianity,  presents  the  most 


WOMAN    IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  xlvii 

frightful  picture  of  human  wretchedness.  Her  misery 
furnishes  deplorable  evidence  of  human  depravity.  A 
transient  survey  of  her  circumstances  cannot  fail  to  be 
instructive  to  those  who  are  blessed  with  the  Gospel  of 
Christ ;  while  his  holy  religion  lays  every  one  under  the 
most  powerful  obligation  to  consider  those  who  suffer, 
seeking  their  relief  and  salvation. 

Woman's  rightful  dignity,  as  restored  and  established 
by  the  doctrine  of  Christianity,  will  remarkably  appear 
to  the  advantage  of  our  divine  religion,  in  contrast  with 
her  degradation  in  the  populous  pagan  nations.  Igno- 
rance, and  its  natural  consequent,  superstition,  generate 
the  most  dreadful  crimes.  Hence  the  inspired  prophets, 
contemplating  the  condition  of  the  heathen  tribes,  in  their 
state  of  alienation  from  God,  and  corruption,  poured  forth 
their  benevolent  souls  in  fervent  supplication  for  their 
moral  renovation.  Instructed  in  the  merciful  desio^ns  of 
God,  through  the  ^lediator,  whom  they  foretold,  they 
prayed,  "  O  Jehovah  !  have  respect  unto  the  covenant : 
for  the  dark  places  of  the  earth  are  full  of  the  habita- 
tions of  cruelty  ! "  Psalm  Ixxiv.  20. 

This  inspired  petition  has  through  all  ages  been  appro- 
priate, with  regard  to' heathen  lands  :  and  it  is  peculiarly 
suitable  at  the  present  time,  for  the  use  of  Christians, 
in  relation  to  the  nations  sitting  in  pagan  darkness ;  to 
Christian  females  more  particularly,  as  they  are  called 
to  reflect  on  the  degraded  condition  of  Woman,  and  tlie 
various  forms  of  cruelty  under  which  she  is  compelled 
to  suffer,  and  groan,  and  perish. 

British    Christians  are  especially  appealed  to;   and 


Xlviii  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

their  tenderest  sympathies  are  solicited  in  behalf  of 
woman,  still  enduring  miseries  most  extreme,  even  now 
in  the  nineteenth  century  of  the  full  revelation  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  Brevity  being  indispensable  in 
this  dissertation,  the  appalling  wrongs  of  woman,  as 
they  are  endured  in  all  heathen  countries,  cannot  here 
be  noticed  at  any  length  :  the  present  remarks  and  tes- 
timonies must  be  limited  chiefly  to  those  countries 
which  are  the  possessions  of  the  British  crown,  or 
which  are  greatly  influenced  by  the  power  and  autho- 
rity of  Great  Britain. 

British  India  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  faithfully 
representing  the  heathen  world,  especially  as  it  relates 
to  the  general  treatment  of  women.  Every  Christian 
writer  on  the  aff*airs  of  Hindoostan  has  mentioned  the 
deplorably  miserable  condition  of  women  in  that  vast 
peninsula.  The  eminent  authors  of  the  popular  "  His- 
torical and  Descriptive  Account  of  British  India" 
remark  : — 

"  Domestic  life,  a  most  important  branch  of  the  social 
condition  of  any  people,  is  peculiarly  interesting  as  it 
applies  to  the  Hindoo,  whose  regards  are  in  a  great 
measure  confined  within  her  family  circle.  The  jealous 
character  of  Oriental  despotism  views  with  aversion  all 
public  assemblies ;  it  checks  even  that  mingled  inter- 
course among  mankind  which  we  call  general  society. 
With  the  exception  of  great  men,  whose  vanity  is  gra- 
tified by  public  display,  the  Hindoo  forms  few  con- 
nexions beyond  those  of  his  household.  Marriage,  the 
basis  of  family  ties,  is  considered  not  only  desirable  and 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  xllx 

agreeable,  but  absolutely  indispensable.  A  youth  of 
twenty-five  and  a  girl  of  fifteen  unmarried,  are  regarded 
not  less  particular  than  unfortunate.  Mr.  Ward  (late 
a  Baptist  Missionary  of  Serampore)  mentions  a  party 
of  old  maids,  who,  to  escape  from  the  reproachable  con- 
dition, united  themselves  in  marriage  to  an  old  Brahmin, 
as  his  friends  were  carrying  him  to  die  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ganges  !  Yet  the  felicity  enjoyed  in  the  matrimo- 
nial state  corresponds  very  little  with  the  anxiety  they 
feel  to  enter  into  it.  Hindoo  laws  and  institutions 
doom  the  fair  portion  of  the  species  to  the  most  depressed 
and  pitiable  lot.  Every  avenue  by  which  an  idea 
could  possibly  enter  their  minds  is  diligently  closed.  It 
is  unlawful  for  them  to  open  a  book ;  they  must  not 
join  in  public  worship  in  the  temples ;  and  any  man, 
even  their  husband,  would  consider  himself  disgraced 
by  entering  into  conversation  with  them.  The  degra- 
dation of  the  wife  is  rendered  deeper  by  the  despotic 
power  which  usage  grants  to  the  mother-in-law, 
who  regards  her  son's  spouse  as  little  better  than  a 
slave*." 

Mrs.  "Wilson,  the  devoted  wife  of  the  Rev.  John 
Wilson,  D.D.,  of  the  Scottish  Mission,  Bombay,  in  a 
letter  dated  November  14,  1834,  remarks:  —  "The 
wretched  state  of  females  in  India  calls  loudly  for  our 
assistance,  and  for  our  prayers.  A  female  child  is 
hated  and  frowned  upon,  even  from  its  birth.  The 
unhappy  mother  is  disappointed  that  she  has  not  o^iven 


*  Historical   and   Descriptive    Account   of   British    India,  vol.    ii.    pp. 
34.3,  344. 

d 


1  CONDITIOxN    OF    WOMAN 

birth  to  a  male  child  ;  and  seldom  or  never  fails  of  be- 
coming an  object  of  aversion  to  her  husband,  if  she  is 
so  unfortunate  as  to  have  a  large  family  of  daughters. 
Happily  for  the  females  of  India,  the  funeral  torch  has 
been  extinguished,  and  the  right  of  Sati  (suttee)  abo- 
lished. But  infanticide  still  prevails,  and  the  number 
of  female  children  slaughtered  among  the  Rajputs  is 
truly  deplorable.  Oh,  that  we  could  do  more  to  rescue 
them  from  their  hard  and  cruel  fate !  Christianity 
alone  can  effect  this ;  but  the  establishment  of  female 
schools  is  one  important  step  to  it,  as  it  is  well  to  pour 
the  light  of  truth  into  their  benighted  minds*." 

Mr.  Massie,  one  of  the  most  recent  and  intellioent  of 
those  who  have  been  eye-witnesses  of  the  degraded 
condition  of  Hindoo  society,  states,  in  his  "Chapter" 
relating  to  "  Woman  in  India  :  " — 

"  Woman,  as  a  mother,  while  her  husband  lives,  is 
seldom  allowed  in  India  to  bear  any  rule  in  the  family ; 
children  are  without  natural  affection  ;  so  that  the  place 
assigned  to  females  in  Hindoo  society  is,  to  appearance, 
abject  in  the  extreme.  In  childhood's  years  a  female 
must  be  dependent  on  her  father ;  in  youth,  on  her  hus- 
band ;  and,  should  she  survive  his  decease,  her  depend- 
ence must  be  on  her  son.  The  nature  of  this  dependence 
may  be  imagined,  when  it  is  added,  that  at  no  period 
of  life,  in  no  condition  of  society,  should  a  woman  do 
anything  according  to  her  own  mere  pleasure.  Their 
fathers,  their  husbands,  their  sons,  are  verily  called 
their  protectors ;  but  it  is  such   protection  !   day  and 

*  Life  of  Mrs.  Wilson,  pp.  504,  605. 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  ll 

niglit  must  women  be  held  by  their  protectors  in  a  state 
of  absokite  dependence.  A  woman,  it  is  affirmed,  is 
never  fit  for  independence,  or  to  be  trusted  wuth  hberty. 
They  exhaust  the  catalogues  of  vice  toaffix  its  epithets 
to  woman's  name : — infidelity,  violence,  deceit,  envy, 
extreme  avariciousness,  an  entire  want  of  good  qualities? 
with  impurity,  they  affirm,  are  the  innate  faults  of 
womankind.  And  their  duty  has  allotted  to  women 
a  love  of  their  bed,  of  their  seat,  and  of  ornaments, 
impure  appetites,  wrath,  flexibility,  desire  of  mischief, 
and  bad  conduct.  Though  her  husband  be  devoid  of  all 
good  qualities,  yet,  such  is  the  estimation  they  form  of 
her  moral  discrimination  and  sensibilities,  that  they 
bind  the  wife  to  revere  him  as  a  god,  and  to  submit  to 
his  corporeal  chastisements,  whenever  he  chooses  to  in- 
flict them,  by  a  cane  or  a  rope,  on  the  back  parts.  The 
observation  was  justly  deduced  from  the  fact  of  woman's 
history  in  India,  when  the  historian  said,  a  state  of  de- 
pendence more  strict,  contemptuous,  and  humiliating, 
than  that  which  is  ordained  for  the  weaker  sex  anions 
the  Hindoos,  cannot  easily  be  conceived ;  and  to  con- 
summate the  stigma,  to  fill  up  the  cup  of  bitter  waters 
assigned  to  woman,  as  if  she  deserved  to  be  excluded 
from  immortality  as  w^ell  as  from  justice,  from  hope  as 
well  as  from  enjoyment,  it  is  ruled  that  a  female  has  no 
business  with  the  texts  of  the  Yeda — that  having  no 
knowledge  of  expiatory  texts,  and  no  evidence  of  law, 
sinful  woman  must  be  foul  as  falsehood  itself,  and  in- 
competent to  bear  witness.  To  tliem  the  fountain  of 
wisdom  is  sealed,  the  streams  of  knowledge  are  dried 
d  2 


lii  CONDITION   OF    WOMAN 

up ;  the  springs  of  individual  consolation,  as  promised 
in  their  religion,  are  guarded  and  barred  against  woman 
in  the  hour  of  desolate  sorrow  and  parching  anguish  : 
and  cast  out,  as  she  is,  upon  the  wilderness  of  bereave- 
ment and  affliction,  with  her  impoverished  resources, 
her  water  may  well  be  spent  in  her  bottle ;  and,  left  as 
she  is,  will  it  be  matter  of  wonder  that,  in  the  moment 
of  despair,  she  should  embrace  the  burning  pile  and  its 
scorcliing  flames,  instead  of  lengthened  solitude  and 
degradation,  of  dark  and  Immiliating  suffering  and 
sorrow'^'." 

Female  Human  Sacrifices,  among  the  Hindoos,  is 
a  horrid  custom  still  existing  in  some  parts  of  India, 
though  it  has  recently  been  forbidden  by  the  Governor- 
General  in  the  British  provinces.  The  practice  pre- 
vailed till  lately  to  an  astonishing  degree,  and  it  may  be 
a  long  time  before  it  can  be  totally  abohshed  :  it  is  thus 
spoken  of  by  the  authors  before  quoted  :  — 

"  The  suttee^  or  sacrifice  of  widows  on  the  funeral 
pile  of  their  husbands,  is  a  well-known  form  of  self- 
immolation.  The  practice  does  not  appear  to  be  exclu- 
sively religious,  being  connected  with  the  tenderest  of 
domestic  ties,  to  which  the  secluded  life  of  Indian  fe- 
males adds  a  peculiar  force.  Their  sacred  books,  how- 
ever, decidedly  attach  a  pious  character  to  their  unna- 
tural sacrifice,  and  lavish  promises  of  divine  blessing  on 
the  performance  of  it.  The  widow  is  assured  that  she 
shall  thus  gain  an  abode  in  heaven  during  as  many  years 
as  there  are  hairs  on  the  human  head,  which  is  stated 

*  Contincnta'  India.     By  J.  W.  .Alassie,  M.R.I.A.    Vol.  ii.  pp.  151—154. 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  llil 

at  thirty-five  millions ;  that  her  husband,  also,  though 
sunk  in  the  depths  of  hell,  will  be  drawn  up  to  the 
same  happy  region,  and  the  sins  of  both  entirely  wiped 
away.  The  deluded  female,  who  acts  her  part  well, 
proceeds  gaily  to  the  spot  in  her  finest  attire,  and  decked 
in  her  most  precious  jewels  and  ornaments.  On  her 
arrival  she  calmly  and  courteously  addresses  her  sur- 
rounding friends,  and  distributes  among  them  various 
articles  of  value.  Mandelso,  the  traveller,  when  present 
only  as  a  spectator,  had  a  bracelet  thrown  to  him  by 
the  lady,  which  he  kept  ever  after  as  a  memorial  of  the 
same.  Often,  however,  when  the  dreadful  moment 
approaches,  she  shrinks  from  the  performance  of  her 
rash  vow,  gives  way  to  despair,  and  even  refuses  to 
ascend  the  pile  ;  but  the  relations  considering  the  ho- 
nour of  their  family  implicated,  employ  every  species  of 
urgency  and  even  compulsion  to  induce  her  to  complete 
the  sacrifice.  A  scene  peculiarly  distressing  occurs  at 
the  death  of  those  opulent  Hindoos  who  have  carried 
polygamy  to  a  great  extent,  when  ticelve^  fifteen,  or 
eighteen  wives  are  known  to  have  perished  on  the  same 
pile.  Ward  mentions  a  case  in  which  the  fire  was  kept 
burning  for  three  days ;  and  during  that  time,  thlrty- 
seven  widoics  of  one  Brahmin  came  in  parties,  at  dif- 
ferent times,  and  threw  themselves  into  the  flames ! 
But  perhaps  the  deepest  of  these  tragedies  ever  acted 
in  India  was  on  the  untimely  death  of  Ajie,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  princes  of  JNIarwar,  described  by 
Colonel  Tod,  in  his  second  volume.  Fifty -eight  queens, 
'the  curtain  wives  of  affection,'  determined  to  offer 
themselves  a  sacrifice  to  Agui,  exclaiming,  '  The  world 


liv  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

we  will  abandon,  but  never  our  Lord ! '  Tliey  went, 
'  radiant  as  the  sun,  dispensing  charity  like  falling  rain,' 
and  threw  themselves  together  on  one  mighty  pile,  which 
soon  blazed  to  the  skies ;  and,  according  to  the  Hindoo 
writers,  '  the  faithful  queens  laved  their  bodies  in  the 
flames,  as  do  the  celestials  in  the  lake  of  ]\Iansa-wara.' 
It  is  painful  to  peruse  the  expressions  of  applause  and 
veneration  in  which  their  conduct  is  mentioned,  and  of 
the  honour  it  is  supposed  to  confer  both  on  themselves 
and  their  deceased  spouse.  What  renders  this  practice 
still  more  revolting,  is  the  fact  that  the  son  is  made  the 
instrument  of  his  mother  s  death,  the  ceremonial  requir- 
ing that  his  hand  should  apply  the  fire  to  the  pile*/' 

Dr.  Johns,  a  physician  of  Mancliester,  having  spent 
some  years  in  a  medical  practice  in  India,  deeply  af- 
fected with  the  miseries  of  the  Hindoo  women,  as  wit- 
nessed by  himself,  published,  in  1816,  on  his  return  to 
England,  a  volume  entitled,  "  Facts  and  Opinions  re- 
latingr  to  the  Burnino;  of  Widows  in  India."  In  this 
valuable  work,  that  humane  and  Christian  physician 
says — 

"  For  several  months  during  the  year  1812,  the  Mis- 
sionaries at  Serampore  kept  an  account  of  the  names, 
&c.,  of  those  who  were  burnt  on  the  funeral  pile  within 
a  few  miles  of  that  place.  They  remark  that,  '  as  the 
information  respecting  these  comes  without  any  effort  to 
obtain  it,  the  number  actually  burnt  in  that  period 
within  these  bounds,  can  by  no  means  be  ascertained 
by  these  memoranda. '" 

*  Historiciil    and    Descriptive    Account   of    British    India,    vol.   ii.    pp. 
343.  344. 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  Iv 

Dr.  Johns  then  mentions  the  places  where  these  shock- 
ing human  sacrifices  were  made;  and  states  the  women's 
names,  age,  husbands' castes,  and  the  number  of  children, 
which,  by  this  custom,  were  left  orphans  ;  of  which  the 
following  is  a  summary  :  — 

•'In  January,  1812,  6  widows  burnt,  leaving    32    cliildren. 

In  February    —  9                  .             .             .    28         — 

In  March         —  18             .             .                 .    r,6         ~- 

In  April           —  22                       .                       .    59         — 

In  May  and  June  70             .                 .             .  185         — 

125    widows  burnt,  leaving  3G0    children. 

"In  this  month,  (February,  1812)  at  Saudabad,  a 
little  below  jMoorshedabad,  thirteen  widows  were 
burnt  with  their  husband  Ram-narayuna,  a  Koolina 
Brahmin,  aged  81,  leaving  nineteen  sons  and  thirteen 
daugJders  ! 

"  At  Chinakuli,  a  Koolena  Brahmin  died,  in  May 
1812:  he  had  married  twenty-five  women,  thirteen  of 
whom  died  during  his  life-time ;  the  remaining  twelve 
perished  wuth  him  on  the  funeral  pile,  leaving  thirty/ 
children  to  deplore  the  fatal  effects  of  tins  horrid 
system. 

"  The  nephew  of  Gopee-nat'hu,  (a  brahmin  employed 
in  the  Serampore  printing-office),  in  the  year  1799,  saw 
THIRTY- seven  females  burnt  alive  with  the  remains  of 
Ununtu-ramu,  a  brahmin  of  Bagna-para,  near  Nu- 
deeya.  This  koolena  brahmin  liad  more  than  a  hun- 
dred wives.  At  the  first  kindling  of  the  fire,  only  tliree 
of  them  were  present ;  but  the  fire  icas  kept  burning 
three  days  !  When  one  or  more  arrived,  the  ceremo- 
nies were  performed,  and  they  threw  themselves  on  the 


Ivi  CONDITION    OF    AVOJIAN 

blazing  fire !  On  the  first  day,  three,  were  burnt ;  on 
the  ^QQ,ovi^  fifteen  ;  and  on  the  third  nineteen  !  Among 
them  were  some  forty  years  old,  and  others  as  young  as 
sixteen.  The  first  three  had  lived  with  this  brahmin  ; 
the  others  had  seldom  seen  him.  From  one  family  he 
had  married  four  sisters  ;  two  of  these  were  among  the 
slaughtered  victims. 

"•  Some  years  ago,  a  Koolena  brahmin,  of  consider- 
able property,  died  at  Sookhu-churu,  three  miles  east  of 
Serampore.  He  had  married  more  than  forty  women, 
eighteen  of  whom  perished  on  the  funeral  pile.  On  this 
occasion  a  fire  extending  ten  or  twelve  yards  in  length 
was  prepared,  into  which  they  threw  themselves,  leaving 
more  i\\^n  forty  children  /" 

Dr.  Johns  remarks,  "  From  the  latest  and  most  mo- 
derate calculation,  a  calculation  believed  by  competent 
judges  to  be  very  far  short  of  the  actual  number.  Five 

THOUSAND     WIDOWS    ARE     DESTROYED      ANNUALLY     ON 

THE  FUNERAL  PILE  IN  HiNDosTAN.  The  wholc  num- 
ber computed  to  perish  annually  by  these  destructive 
practices  generally,  is  ten  thousand  five  hun- 
dred'"!" 

"  Facts  and  Opinions,"  relative  to  this  truly  "-'  horrid" 
custom,  have  been  published  in  England  since  the  work 
of  Dr.  Johns,  especially  in  the  "  Suttees'  Cry  to 
Britain,"  by  the  Rev.  J.  Peggs,  late  missionary  in 
India ;  and  from  that  stirring  appeal  to  Christians,  the 
following  description  is  given  in  a  letter  to  the  author 
from  a  lady  who  had  resided  in  India,  and  dated 
December   8,  1827,  from  Salisbury: — 

*  Facts  and  Opinions,  &c.  pp.  36—59. 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  Ivii 

"  At  a  Ghaut  near  SeramiDore  I  witnessed  the  burning 
of  a  respectable  woman  about  thirty  years  of  age,  whom 
I  found  with  five  children,  the  eldest  a  boy  about  thir- 
teen. As  soon  as  she  saw  me,  she  asked  me  if  I  icere 
come  to  deliver  her  ?  I  told  her  I  had  no  power  to  de- 
liver her,  but  was  come  to  persuade  her  not  to  burn. 
She  shook  her  head  and  said,  '  /  icill  hum  !  Hoic  can 
I  go  hack  ?  Hoicever^  the  servant  is  gone  to  the  Eyiglish 
Magistrate ;  at  his  return  my  fate  will  he  decided ! ' 
Two  hours  elapsed  before  he  returned,  the  greater  part 
of  which  I  spent  in  conversation  with  her.  She  often 
turned  to  her  children,  and  with  affection  pressed  her 
hand  on  the  face  of  her  youngest  child,  who  could  just 
lisp  i/«,  ma.  At  length  the  servant  returned  with 
permission  for  her  to  burn.  As  soon  as  she  saw  him 
her  countenance  changed,  her  eyes  sunk  into  her  head, 
the  furrows  deepened  in  her  face,  and  when  she  heard 
her  fate,  resolution  failed,  and  nature  took  possession  of 
her  hreast.  When  the  eldest  son  saw  that  his  mother 
was  so  timid,  he  said,  he  would  not  set  fire  to  her  head. 
But  her  brother-in-law  said,  '-Now  she  must  hum.,  for 
the  horo  Sahah  (the  great  Gentleman)  has  sent  her  per- 
mission to  hum.'  He  then  began  to  anoint  her,  and 
put  a  little  oil  into  her  hand  to  pour  over  her  children 
as  her  blessing.  The  eldest  son  refused  oil,  and  persisted 
that  he  could  not  set  fire  to  her.  But  neither  the  tears 
nor  the  screams  of  the  boy,  nor  the  agonizing  fear  of 
the  mother,  prevented  her  being  hound  to  the  dead  hody 
of  her  hushand^  and  pressed  down  with  tico  hamhoos.  If 
I  had  had  any  authority  merely  to  have  said.,  '  You  are 
not  to  burn,'  all  this  icould  have  been  prevented.     I  am 


Iviii  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

sure  both  the  people  and  the  Brahmins  would  have  dis- 
persed without  a  murmuring  word.  Many  call  it  a 
bad  custom^  and  are  quite  tired  of  it^'." 

Customs  so  inexpressibly  atrocious,  observed  in  the 
name  of  religion,  under  the  direction  of  Priests,  and 
with  the  permission  and  sanction  of  the  British  Go- 
vernment, being  thus  made  known  chiefly  by  our  mis- 
sionaries, could  not  fail  to  awaken  the  Christian  part  of 
the  community  in  Great  Britain.  Memorials  and  peti_ 
tions  were,  therefore,  presented  to  the  Government  in 
England,  by  individuals,  by  Christian  churches,  and 
especially  by  the  Directors  of  the  Missionary  Societies : 
but  it  was  considered  hazardous  to  interfere  with  the 
religious  observances  of  the  natives  in  India,  lest  there 
should  arise  a  revolt  of  the  Hindoos.  Mr.  Poynder's 
able  appeals  to  the  East  India  Company,  and  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Peggs'  work,  the  "  Suttees'  Cry  to  Britain," 
witli  the  publications  of  the  Baptist,  London,  and 
Church  Missionary  Societies,  produced  a  most  powerful 
effect  on  the  public  mind ;  and  at  length  that  dreadful 
practice  was  forbidden  in  Bengal,  by  a  proclamation  of 
the  late  lamented  Governor- General  of  India,  that 
enlightened  nobleman.  Lord  William  Bentinck  ! 

India  will,  to  tlie  latest  ages,  revere  the  honoured 
name  of  Lord  Bentinck,  for  his  humane  policy  in  favour 
of  injured  woman ;  and  it  deserves  recording  here  that  his 
memorable  "  Order  in  Council,"  was  made  December  4, 
1829 ;  but  the  prohibition,  it  is  believed,  has  not  been 
universally  obeyed.  A  large  party  of  Hindoos  at  Cal- 
cutta, soon  afterwards  formed  themselves  int^  a  society  in 

=*■•  Suttees'  Cry  t6  Britain,  p.  16. 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  Hx 

support  of  their  ancient  institutions,  renouncing  all  social 
intercourse  with  those  who  oppose  the  murderous  cus- 
tom, sanctioned  generally  by  the  priests  and  Brahmins  ! 

British  authority  in  our  East  Indian  dominions  may, 
to  a  great  extent,  prevent  suttees;  but  the  dreadful 
practice  still  prevails  in  the  regions  beyond  our  immedi- 
ate controul.  We,  in  England,  hear  of  but  few  of  these 
cases,  because  of  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  information 
relating  to  the  remote  regions  of  India ;  but  the  follow- 
ing statement  of  the  case  in  the  funeral  of  the  Mahara- 
jah of  Lahore,  Runjeet  Singh,  who  died  June  27,  1839, 
will  confirm  the  representations  here  made.  The  "  Bom- 
bay Times"  of  the  27th  of  July  states: — 

"  Among  the  remarkable  incidents  connected  with  the 
death  of  Runjeet  Singh,  none  is  more  worthy  of  being- 
recorded  and  noted  than  the  fact  of  four  princesses,  his 
wives,  and  seven  slave  girls,  having  been  permitted  to 
burn  themselves  on  his  funeral  pyre.  The  sacrifice  of 
his  slaves  is  indeed  an  atrocious  cruelty,  enacted  appa- 
rently for  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  adding  dignity 
to  the  funeral  pageant.  As  regards  the  four  princesses, 
there  are  circumstances  which  render  their  sacrifice 
inexcusable.  We  are  convinced  that  suttee  was  an  in- 
stitution originating  in  a  principle  of  the  most  heroic 
devotion  in  an  heroic  age ;  that  it  was  to  one  sex,  under 
a  perverted  view  of  human  duty,  what  the  equally 
suicidal  custom  of  duelling  is  at  this  day  to  the  other, 
under  a  similar  perversion — the  guardian  of  their  ho- 
nour. This,  at  least,  from  every  reference  to  the  custom 
in  Hindoo  books,  appears  to  have  been  the  conception  of 
suttee.     But   its  practice  has  been  different.     In  the 


IX  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

case  under  consideration  it  appears  that  with  the  prin- 
cesses, not  with  the  slaves,  (be  it  remarked,  they  were 
not  worth  the  ceremony,)  the  form  of  dissuasion  was 
gone  through.  But  the  queens  were  not  wanted  ;  their 
jewels,  their  jaghires,  their  pensions — all  these  were 
wanted,  and  they  themselves  were  in  the  way.  The 
perpetration  of  this  tragedy  shows,  in  the  first  place, 
how  low  our  moral  influence  is  even  where  our  political 
influence  is  most  powerful.  It  shows,  in  the  second, 
how  futile  is  the  hope  that  India  would  ever  regenerate 
herself  under  native  rulers  !  " 

This  dreadful  tragedy  is  described  with  more  minute- 
ness of  detail,  in  a  letter  from  the  Hon.  Colonel  Osborne, 
Military  Secretary  to  the  Governor -General  of  India  : 
his  account  of  the  funeral  obsequies  states,  however, 
only  jive  female  slaves  instead  of  seven.  That  gentle- 
man says : — 

'''' Simla^  July  12,  1839. — Runjeet  Singh  is  dead, 
poor  fellow  !  and  died  as  like  the  Old  Lion  as  he  had 
lived.  He  preserved  his  senses  to  the  last,  and  was 
(which  is  unusual  with  native  princes)  obeyed  to  the 
last  by  all  his  chiefs,  though  he  tried  them  high,  as  you 
will  think,  when  I  tell  you  that  two  hours  before  his 
death  he  sent  for  all  his  jewels,  and  gave  the  famous 
Diamond,  called  the  '  Mountain  of  Light,'  said  to  be 
the  largest  in  the  world,  to  a  Hindoo  temple ;  his  cele- 
brated string  of  pearls  to  another  :  and  his  favourite 
fine  horses,  with  all  their  jewelled  trappings,  worth 
£300,000,  to  a  third. 

"  His  four  wives,  all  very  handsome,  burnt  them- 
selves with    his  body,  as  did  five  of  his  Cashmerian 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  Ixi 

slave-girls,  one  of  whom,  who  was  called  the  ^  Lotus,' 
or  '  Lily,'  I  often  saw  last  year  in  my  first  visit  to 
Lahore.  Everything  was  done  to  prevent  it,  but  in 
vain.  They  were  guaranteed  in  their  rank  and  in  all 
their  possessions,  but  they  insisted  upon  it,  and  the  ac- 
count from  the  European  officers  who  were  present 
describe  it  as  the  most  horrible  sight.  The  four 
wives  seated  themselves  on  the  pile  with  Runjeet 
Sing's  head  upon  their  laps ;  and  his  principal  wife  de- 
sired Kurruck  Sing,  Runjeet's  son  and  heir,  and  Dheean 
Sing,  the  late  prime  minister,  to  come  to  her  upon  the 
pile,  and  made  the  former  take  the  Maharajah's  dead 
hand  in  his  own,  and  swear  to  protect  and  favour 
Dheean  Singh  as  Runjeet  Sing  had  done  ;  and  she  made 
the  latter  swear  to  bear  true  allegiance  to  the  son  which 
he  had  faithfully  borne  to  his  father.  She  then  set  fire 
to  the  pile  with  her  own  hands,  and  they  are  dead  ! — 
nine  living  beings  having  perished  together  without  a 
shriek  or  a  groan.  Dheean  Sing  threw  himself  twice  on 
the  pile,  and  said  he  could  not  survive  his  master,  but 
was  dragged  away  by  main  force.  You  have  no  idea 
what  a  sensation  the  poor  old  man's  death  has  caused*." 

Intelligence  reached  London  last  month,  (January 
1841,)  by  the  overland  mail  from  India,  stating,  that 
*'  Kurruck  Sing,  king  of  Lahore,  died  on  the  5tli  of 
Noveniber  ;  and  on  the  6th,  his  favourite  wife.  Ranee 
Tsour  Kour,  and  three  of  her  attendants,  were  sacrificed 
,  on  the  funeral  pile !  His  successor,  No  Nepal  Sing, 
was  wounded  by  a  fiilling  beam,  through  the  pressure 

*  The  Court  and  Camp  of  Kuiijcet  Siiig,  by  the  Hon.  ^V■   G.  Oslorne, 
pp.  223,  235. 


Ixii  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

of  the  elephants,  on  returning  from  the  funeral ;  and  on 
the  8th,  the  revolting  rite  of  suttee  was  again  performed, 
and  two  wives  of  the  deceased  were  burnt.  A  third 
was  saved  by  the  timely  arrival  and  interference  of 
Shere  Sing ! "  These  horrors  were  practised  so  late  as 
November  1840  ! ! 

Woman's  degradation  in  India  is  seen  in  other  horrid 
popular  customs.  Infanticide  evinces  their  misery. 
This  subject  also  is  decribed  by  the  distinguished 
authors  already  quoted.  They  say  : — '•  The  very  fre- 
quent destruction  of  female  infants  among  the  Rajpoot 
tribes  in  the  West  of  India,  is  imputed  by  Mr.  Ward 
to  superstition;  but  Colonel  Tod  and  Sir  John 
Malcolm,  who  had  much  better  information  concerning 
this  quarter  of  India,  are  convinced  that  it  arises  from 
the  difficulty  of  suitably  disposing  of  daughters  in 
marriage.  While  resident  in  Guzerat,  General  Walker, 
with  his  characteristic  benevolence,  endeavoured  to 
persuade  the  chiefs  of  that  country  to  renounce  the  prac- 
tice of  infanticide^  and  enjoyed  at  one  time  a  prospect  of 
success,  which,  however,  proved  ultimately  fallacious. 

"  The  Jharajas,  a  Rajpoot  tribe,  who  hold  sw^ay  in 
the  territory  of  Cutch,  are,  by  an  intricate  operation  of 
the  system  of  caste,  placed  in  such  a  situation  that  they 
cannot  by  any  means  find  a  single  individual  with 
whom  a  daughter  of  theirs  can  be  suitably  matched. 
In  this  dilemma,  they  have  not  hesitated  to  adopt  the 
horrid  expedient  of  putting  to  death  all  their  female 
children ;  so  that,  as  Mrs.  Elwuod  mentions,  in  a 
population  of  12,000,  there  were  not,  in  1818,  more 
than   tJm^y   women    alive.      The    infants   are   either 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  Ixlii 

drowned  in  milk,  or  poisoned  by  opium  applied  to  the 
breast  of  their  mother.  The  English  have  made 
vigorous  attempts  to  abolish  this  inhuman  practice  :  by 
a  condition  of  the  treaty  with  Cutcli  in  1819,  full 
protection  was  guaranteed  to  Jharijah  chiefs  on  con- 
sentingf  to  discontinue  tliis  criminal  custom.  Since 
that  time  it  has  not  been  perpetrated  openly  :  but  the 
interior  of  palaces  and  castles  affords  ample  means  of 
concealment;  and  the  very  small  number  of  girls  in 
families  make  it  too  clear  that  it  prevails  extensively  *." 

Woman,  throughout  the  Chinese  empire  also,  is 
deplorably  degraded.  Her  wretched  condition  in  that 
vast  region  is  thus  described  by  Lady  Morgan,  in  her 
elegant  work,  "  Woman  and  her  Master  :  "  — 

"•  In  China,  polygamy  prevails  virtually,  if  not  by 
name;  and  the  sovereign,  self- imprisoned  in  his  golden- 
roofed  palace,  with  his  one  empress,  six  queens,  and 
three  hundred  (or  if  he  please,  three  thousand)  concu- 
bines, reflects,  on  the  great  scale,  the  domestic  esta- 
blishment of  those  among  his  subjects,  whose  wealth 
may  permit  the  irrational  indulgence  of  their  passion  or 
their  pride.  The  female  slave,  who,  at  the  head  of 
a  band  of  inferior  slaves,  is  dignified  with  the  name  of 
superior  (adequate  to  that  of  wife),  who  has  been 
purchased  with  gold,  and  may  be  returned,  if  on  trial 
not  approved,  is  not  deemed  worthy  to  eat  at  her 
master's  table.  Crippled  from  her  cradle,  morally  and 
physically,  ignorant  of  any  one  of  the  many  thousand 
letters  of  her  husband's  alphabet,  referred  to  the  fertile 

*  Historical  and  Descriptive  Account  of  British  India,  Vol.  ii.,  p.  370. 


Ixiv  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

amusements  of  infancy  for  all  resource  against  utter 
tedium,  to  dress  and  to  smoke  are  her  pleasures  ;  and 
to  totter  on  the  flat  roof  of  her  golden  cage  her  sole 
privilege.  She,  too,  feeble  and  imbecile  as  she  is, 
is  outraged  in  the  only  feeling  that  nature  may  have 
rescued  from  the  wreck  of  man's  oppression  :  for  the 
Chinese  wife,  like  the  odalisque  of  Turkey,  yields  up 
her  offspring  a  sacrifice  to  the  murderous  policy  of  her 
master. 

"  If  such  is  the  destiny  of  the  lady  of  the  Celestial 
Empire,  woman  of  the  middle  and  the  lower  classes 
submits  to  a  yet  severer  fate. — The  female  peasant 
in  China  presents  a  still  more  extraordinary  example  of 
plodding  industry.  Exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the 
seasons,  with  the  infant  tied  to  her  back,  which  she 
may  have  rescued  from  the  wild  beast,  or  from  the 
devouring  wave,  she  ploughs,  sows,  reaps,  and  performs 
the  thousand  ofl&ces  of  toil  and  drudgery  attached  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  from  which  she  derives  so 
little  benefit  and  enjoyment.  Denied,  too,  all  moral 
rights,  she  incurs,  nevertheless,  a  fatal  responsibility  for 
her  husband's  delinquencies ;  and  suffers  dcatli  with 
him,  as  his  dependant,  for  crimes  in  which  she  could 
have  no  moral  participation.  The  natural  death  of  her 
husband  gives  her  over  to  the  family,  who,  to  recover 
the  money  expended  in  her  purchase,  may  resell  her  to 
the  highest  bidder ;  while  her  own  is  very  frequently 
the  work  of  her  own  hand.  Suicide,  it  is  asserted,  is  of 
frequent  occurrence  among  the  Chinese  females  of  the 
lowest  classes  ;  and  well  may  they  seek  death  to  whom, 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  IxV 

from  the  cradle  to  the  tomb,  life  holds  forth  not  one 
solitary  good." 

China,  in  1813,  according  to  the  "  Government 
census,"  contained  a  population  of  362,447,183  souls, 
of  whom  probably  half,  or  180,000,000,  were  females ! 
On  their  behalf,  the  British  Association  of  Ladies  for 
Promoting  the  Education  of  Females  in  the  East,  made 
an  especial  appeal  for  pecuniary  assistance  in  their 
benevolent  undertaking ;  and  they  state  in  their  address 
to  Christian  women  of  Britain  : — 

"The  condition  of  the  Chinese  women  is  thus 
described  by  the  Missionary  Gutzlaff : — '  Such  a  general 
degradation  in  religion  makes  it  almost  impossible  that 
females  should  have  their  proper  rank  in  society.  They 
are  the  slaves  and  concubines  of  their  masters,  live  and 
die  in  ignorance,  and  every  effort  to  raise  themselves 
above  the  rank  assigned  them  is  regarded  as  impious 
arrogance.  As  long  as  mothers  are  not  the  instructors 
of  their  children,  and  wives  are  not  the  companions  of 
their  husbands,  the  regeneration  of  this  great  empire 
will  proceed  very  slowly/  'As  might  be  expected, 
suicide  is  a  refuge  to  which  thousands  of  these  ignorant 
idolaters  fly.  Many  of  them  evince  great  violence  of 
passion,  and  express  their  revenge  for  the  indignities 
received  from  their  husbands  or  mothers-in-law,  by  self- 
destruction.  Mrs.  Morrison,  who  has  lately  returned 
from  Macao,  mentions  that  three  women  committed 
suicide  in  that  settlement  near  to  her  own  residence,  and 
that  not  long  before  her  departure  four  others  perpe- 
trated the  same  deed  in  an  adjoining  province.  One  of 
e 


Ixvi  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

the  latter  number  had  been  recently  married,  and 
returned  to  make  a  short  visit  to  her  family.  She  gave 
her  young  companions  such  an  account  of  the  treatment 
of  many,  and  their  mothers,  that  they  all  concluded 
immediate  death  was  preferable  to  such  a  miserable  life. 
The  consequence  was,  that  they  went  to  an  adjacent 
river,  and  holding  each  other  by  the  hand,  plunged  in 
and  were  drowned.'  Where  women  are  so  ill-treated, 
it  is  not  surprising  the  female  infants  should  be  mur- 
dered. It  is  a  general  custom  among  them  (the 
population  of  the  city  of  Amoy  and  the  country  adja- 
cent) to  drown  a  large  proportion  of  the  new-born 
female  children.  This  unnatural  crime  is  so  common 
among  them,  that  it  is  perpetrated  without  any  feeling, 
and  even  in  a  laughing  mood — and  to  ask  a  man  of  any 
distinction  whether  he  has  daughters,  is  a  mark  of  great 
rudeness.  There  is  also  carried  on  a  regular  trajSic 
in  females. — Even  in  Pekin,  the  residence  of  the 
emperor,  about  4000  female  infants  are  annually 
murdered  by  their  unnatural  parents !  " 

Woman,  in  most  of  the  islands  of  the  Southern 
Ocean,  is  reduced  to  the  lowest  state  of  degradation. 
This  has  been  testified  by  all  our  numerous  mission- 
aries, and  by  others  who  have  visited  those  distant 
regions ;  and  though,  in  many  delightful  instances,  the 
gospel  of  Christ  has  been  crowned  with  success,  as 
the  means  of  salvation  to  individuals,  and  of  reforma- 
tion to  whole  tribes,  the  unevangelized  islands  and 
districts  still  retain  their  debasing,  cruel,  and  horrid 
practices. 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  Ixvii 

Messrs.  Bennet  and  Tyerman,  in  their  instructive 
volumes,  speaking  of  the  former  customs  of  Tahiti, 
say : — "  AVe  conversed  with  Mr.  Nott,  who  had  resided 
from  the  commencement  of  the  mission,  on  the  subject 
of  infanticide,  and  learned,  with  horror,  that  it  had  been 
practised  to  an  extent  incredible,  except  on  such  testi- 
mony and  evidence  as  he  and  his  brethren  on  other 
stations  had  been  the  means  of  accumulating.  He 
assured  us,  that  three-fourths  of  the  children  were  wont 
to  be  murdered  as  soon  as  they  were  born,  hy  one  or 
other  of  their  unnatural  parents,  or  by  some  person 
employed  for  that  purpose — wretches  being  found  who 
might  be  called  infant  assassins  by  trade.  He  men- 
tioned having  met  with  a  woman,  soon  after  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  diabolical  practice,  to  whom  he  said,  '  How 
many  children  have  you  ? '  '  This  one  in  my  arms,' 
was  her  answer.  '  And  how  many  did  you  kill  ? ' 
She  replied,  '  Eight ! '  Another  woman,  to  whom  the 
same  questions  were  put,  confessed  that  she  had  de- 
stroyed seventeen!  Nor  were  these  solitary  cases. 
Sin  was  so  effectually  doing  its  work  in  these  dark 
places  of  the  earth,  that,  full  as  they  are  with  the 
habitations  of  cruelty  and  wickedness,  war,  profligacy, 
and  murder  were  literally  exterminating  a  people 
unworthy  to  live ;  and  soon  would  their  cities  have 
been  wasted  without  inhabitants,  the  liouses  without  a 
man,  and  the  land  been  utterly  desolate.  But  the 
gospel  stepped  in,  and  '  the  plague  was  stayed.'  Now 
the  married,  among  the  Christianized  population,  are 
exceedingly  anxious  to  have  offspring ;  and  those  who 
e  2 


Ixviii  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

have  tliem  nurse  their  infants  with  the  tenderest 
affection*." 

"  Infanticide  was  carried,"  says  the  Rev.  J.  Williams, 
"to  an  almost  incredible  extent  in  the  Tahitian  and 
Society  Islands ; "  and  this  he  illustrates  by  the  fol- 
lowing statement : — 

"During  the  visit  of  the  deputation,  our  respected 
friend,  G.  Bennet,  Esq.,  was  our  guest  for  three  or  four 
months ;  and  on  one  occasion,  while  conversing  on  the 
subject,  he  expressed  a  wish  to  obtain  accurate  know- 
ledge of  the  extent  to  which  this  cruel  system  had  pre- 
vailed. Three  women  were  sitting  in  the  room  at  the 
time,  making  European  garments,  under  Mrs.  W.'s 
direction ;  and,  after  replying  to  Mr.  Bennet's  inquiries, 
I  said,  '  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  each  of  these  women 
has  destroyed  some  of  her  children.'  Looking  at  them 
with  an  expression  of  surprise  and  incredulity,  Mr.  B. 
exclaimed,  '  Impossible !  such  motherly,  respectable 
women  could  never  have  been  guilty  of  so  great  an 
atrocity.'  '  Well,'  I  added,  '  we'll  ask  them.'  Address- 
ing the  first,  I  said  to  her,  '  Friend,  how  many  children 
have  you  destroyed  ?'  She  was  startled  at  my  question, 
and  at  first  charged  me  with  unkindness,  in  harrowing 
up  her  feelings,  by  bringing  the  destruction  of  her  babes 
to  her  remembrance;  but,  upon  hearing  the  object  of 
my  inquiry,  she  replied,  with  a  faltering  voice,  '  I  have 
destroyed  7iine!'  The  second,  with  eyes  suffused  with 

*  Journal  of  Voyages  and  Travels,  by  the  Rev.  Daniel  Tyerman  and 
George  Bennet,  Esq.,  deputed  from  the  London  Blissionary  Society,  &c., 
between  1021  and  1929,  vol.  i.  pp.  71,72. 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  Ixix 

tears,  said,  '  I  have  destroyed  seven;'  and  the  third 
informed  us  that  she  had  destroyed  Jive.  Thus  three 
individuals,  casually  selected,  had  killed  one-and-twentr/ 
children  !  but  I  am  happy  to  add  that  these  mothers 
were,  at  the  time  of  this  conversation,  and  continued  to 
be  so  long  as  I  knew  them,  consistent  members  of  my 
church. 

"  On  another  occasion,  I  was  called  to  visit  the  wife 
of  a  chief  in  dying  circumstances.  She  had  professed 
Christianity  for  many  years,  had  learned  to  read  when 
nearly  sixty,  and  was  a  very  active  teacher  in  our  adult 
school.  In  the  prospect  of  death,  she  sent  a  pressing 
request  that  I  would  visit  her  immediately  ;  and,  on 
entering  her  apartments,  she  exclaimed,  '  0  servant  of 
God  !  come  and  tell  me  what  I  must  do  ? '  Perceiving 
that  she  was  suffering  great  mental  distress,  I  inquired 
the  cause  of  it ;  when  she  replied,  '  I  am  about  to  die  !' 
*  Well/  I  rejoined,  '  if  it  be  so,  what  creates  this  agony 
of  mind?'  '  Oh,  my  sins,  my  sins  !*  she  cried  ;  '  I  am 
about  to  die  ! '  I  then  inquired  what  the  particular  sins 
were  which  so  greatly  distressed  her,  when  she  ex- 
claimed, '  Oh,  my  children,  my  murdered  children  !  I 
am  about  to  die,  and  I  shall  meet  them  all  at  the  judg- 
ment seat  of  Christ.'  Upon  this  I  inquired  how  many 
children  she  had  destroyed  ;  and,  to  my  astonishment, 
she  replied,  '  I  have  destroyed  sixteen  !  and  now  I  am 
about  to  die  ! '  As  soon  as  my  feelings  would  allow 
me,  I  began  to  reason  with  her,  and  urged  the  consider- 
ation that  she  had  done  this  when  a  heathen,  and  dur- 
ing '  the  times  of  ignorance,   which  God  winked  at ; ' 


IXX  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

but  this  afforded  her  no  consolation,  and  again  she  gave 
vent  to  her  agonized  feelings,  by  exclaiming,  '  Oh,  my 
children,  my  children  ! '  I  then  directed  her  to  '  the  faith- 
ful saying,  which  is  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners/  This  im- 
parted a  little  comfort ;  and  after  visiting  her  frequently, 
and  directing  her  thoughts  to  that  blood  which  cleanseth 
from  all  sin,  I  succeeded,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  in 
tranquillizing  her  troubled  spirit ;  and  she  died,  about 
eight  days  after  my  first  interview,  animated  with  the 
hope,  '  that  her  sins,  though  many,  would  be  forgiven 
her,'  and  what  but  the  gospel  could  have  brought  such 
consolation  ?  I  believe  that  without  the  grand  truth  of 
pardon  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  I  might  have  reasoned 
with  her  from  that  time  to  the  present  in  vain.  But  I 
forbear  all  comment,  for  if  such  facts  fail,  no  observa- 
tions of  mine  will  demonstrate  the  value  of  IMissions  !  " 
Paganism  in  Africa  may  w^ell  be  supposed  to  afford 
sorrowful  illustrations  of  female  degradation  and  misery  ; 
and  it  would  be  easy  to  select  most  affecting  examples. 
A  few  paragraphs  only,  however,  can  be  given,  from 
the  recent  volume  of  Sir  T.  F.  Buxton  on  the  "  Slave 
Trade  and  its  Remedy."  Referring  to  the  Landers' 
Narrative,  he  says,  towards  the  close  of  his  "  gloomy 
catalogue  of  barbarities,''  "  We  are  informed  that  at 
Jenna  it  is  the  custom  for  Urn  of  the  governors  wives  to 
quit  the  world  on  the  same  day  with  himself;  and  that 
the  governor  of  that  place,  himself,  of  necessity  goes 
down  to  the  grave  on  the  demise  of  his  sovereign,  the 
kins:  of  Yarriba. 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  Ixxi 

"  Mr.  Laird  speaks  of  the  decease  of  an  aged  chief 
while  he  was  at  Fundah,  who  left  Jiftee7i  wives  ;  and  lie 
tells  us  that  on  the  night  this  man  was  to  be  buried, 
the  king  went  to  the  woman's  apartment,  and  selected 
one,  who  was  to  be  hung,  in  order  to  accompany  her 
husband  to  the  next  world  ! 

"  Of  the  other  barbarous  customs  of  Africa,  the  con- 
tinual appeal  to  the  ordeal  of  '  red  water,'  or  poison,  is 
one  of  the  worst.  At  Fundah,  Mr.  Oldfield  saw  a  pro- 
cession of  the  wives  of  the  king's  son,  just  deceased,  who 
were  proceeding  to  establish  their  innocence  of  his  death 
by  drinking  poison  ;  and  he  says,  that  out  of  su't^  of 
these  poor  infatuated  wretches,  thirty-one  died  !  " 

Africa  is  still  cursed  with  the  horrid  Slave  Trade  ; 
and  in  that  abominable  traffic  woman  is  a  dreadful 
sufferer.  A  paper  was  read  on  the  11th  of  February 
1839,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society, 
giving  "  an  account  of  tlie  survey  of  the  south-east  coast 
of  Arabia,  by  Captain  Haines  of  the  Indian  navy."  After 
describing  Aden,  he  says,  "  The  next  town  of  import- 
ance is  Mokhara,  containing  4500  inhabitants,  with  a 
very  considerable  trade,  particularly  in  slaves.  The 
writer  has  seen  exposed  for  sale  in  the  market,  at  one 
time,  no  less  than  700  Nubian  girls,  subject  to  all  the 
brutality  and  insults  of  their  masters  ;  the  prices  which 
they  fetch  varying  from  £7.  to  £25." 

Madagascar  exhibits  woman  in  a  truly  deplorable 
condition,  though  its  numerous  people  have  been  con- 
sidered as  rising  from  their  original  barbarism.  The 
state  of  women  in  that  great  island  will,  however,  be 


Ixxii  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

best  represented  by  the  valuable  work  of  the  Rev.  W. 
Ellis.  That  well-informed  writer  states  :  "  The  practice 
of  betrothing  children  at  a  very  early  age  prevails  to  a 
great  extent  in  Madagascar ;  the  parents  frequently  make 
an  arrangement  for  their  children  with  a  view  to  marriage, 
before  the  latter  are  capable  of  thinking  for  themselves 
on  the  subject.  Domestic  manners  in  Madagascar  do  not 
impose  the  restraints  usual  in  most  Oriental  countries; 
very  frequent  opportunities  therefore  occur  in  the  social 
intercourse  of  families,  for  young  persons  of  both  sexes 
to  see  each  other ;  and,  as  elsewhere,  love  and  courtship 
precede  matrimony.  Many  of  both  sexes  are  married  at 
the  age  of  twelve  or  fourteen. 

"  Mothers  in  Madagascar  are  usually  anxious  to  have 
their  daughters  married  while  the  latter  are  very  young  ; 
but  the  early  marriages  of  the  Malagasy  are  attended 
with  painful  and  disastrous  effects  to  the  females ; 
especially  those  contracted  in  consequence  of  betroth- 
ments  arranged  by  the  parents,  totally  irrespective  of 
the  inclinations  of  the  parties  themselves,  and  often 
before  they  were  able  to  understand  the  nature  of  the 
engagements,  or  feel  either  preference  for  or  aversion  to 
those  with  whom  they  were  pledged  to  sustain  one  of 
the  most  binding  and  sacred  relations  of  life.  The 
consequence  is,  the  unhappy  wife  soon  ceases  to  please, 
the  affections  of  the  husband  are  fixed  on  others,  and 
unfaithfulness  or  divorce  is  the  result. 

"  Concubinage,  or  polygamy,  with  all  its  train  of 
miseries,  prevails  very  generally.  The  very  term  by 
which  polygamy  is  designated  in  the  native  language 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  Ixxui 

implies  the  evils  of  which  it  is  the  fruitful  source — 
famporo  fesana^  that  is,  '  the  means  of  causing  enmity  ;  ' 
as  if  referring  to  the  interminable  jealousies  and  hostilities 
created  among  the  several  wives  of  one  husband.  With 
all  its  admitted  and  numerous  evils,  polygamy,  however, 
exists  under  the  sanction  of  the  highest  examples  and 
authorities  to  which  a  native  can  appeal.  Every 
monarch  is  complimented  as  having  twelve  wives  ;  and 
most  of  the  nobles  or  chieftains,  who  can  aiford  to 
maintain  a  plurality  of  wives,  deem  it  essential  to  their 
happiness  to  take  more  than  one  wife.  The  only  law 
to  regulate  polygamy  seems  to  be,  that  no  man  may 
take  twelve  wives  excepting  the  sovereign ! 

"  Polygamy  here,  as  elsewhere,  is  demonstrated  to  be 
a  system  of  evils.  It  is  the  chief  source  of  nearly  all 
the  domestic  disputes  and  jealousies  existing  among  the 
Malagasy :  wives  become  jealous  of  one  another,  and 
tlie  husband  suffers  from  the  jealousy  of  all.  The 
children  by  different  wives  are  frequently  the  subjects 
of  secret  heart-burnings,  or  in  open  variance  give  vent  to 
their  malevolent  feelings  and  criminating  animosities. 
Divorces  are  multiplied,  and,  with  them,  envy,  hatred, 
and  interminable  family  resentments.  Property  is  also 
wasted,  claimants  are  multiplied,  and  litigation  fre- 
quent. In  a  word,  polygamy  is  a  curse  to  the  land,  and 
its  final  abolition  is  a  consummation  ardently  to  be  desired 
by  all  who  prefer  peace  to  wrath,  affection  to  bitter- 
ness, domestic  comfort  to  domestic  strife,  and  Christian 
virtues  to  the  jealousy, malice,  and  uncharitableness  of  the 
excited  andturbulent  passions  of  depraved  human  nature. 


Ixxlv  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

"  One  great  evil  consequent  on  polygamy  is  the 
frequency  of  divorce — the  immediate  causes  of  which 
are  numerous  and  often  very  trivial.  The  woman 
is  at  liberty  to  marry  again  as  soon  as  she  pleases 
after  the  lapse  of  twelve  days,  though  the  divorcing 
husband  has,  according  to  law,  or  usages  which 
have  equal  authority,  the  power  of  divorcing  his 
wife  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prevent  her  ever  marrying 
again.  On  these  occasions  she  is  often  treated  per- 
sonally with  extreme  cruelty,  and  during  the  formal 
process  of  being  divorced,  receives  first,  a  hlack  fowl^ 
expressive,  it  is  supposed,  of  the  wish  of  her  husband 
that  she  may  ever  be  a  repulsive  object ;  second,  a 
walking -sticky  indicating  that  for  the  future  she  is  to 
have  no  home,  but  is  to  be  an  outcast  on  the  road ; 
third,  a  small  piece  of  money ^  signifying  that  she  is  to 
be  dependent  on  what  is  given  by  others  ;  and  fourth, 
a  piece  of  white  gun-waddings  to  signify  that  she  is  to 
continue  in  that  state  till  her  hair  is  white  with  age. 

"  Though  the  females  in  Madagascar  are  not  reduced 
to  the  humiliating  state  of  degradation  in  which  they 
are  found  among  some  uncivilized  portions  of  the 
human  race,  the  usages  here  noticed  show  that,  as 
among  all  other  nations  unblessed  by  the  elevating  and 
softening  influence  of  the  gospel,  she  is  far  from  being 
esteemed  as  the  equal,  the  companion  of  man,  excepting 
in  his  humiliation  and  disgrace.  If  the  husband  be 
guilty  of  any  crime  for  which  he  is  reduced  to  slavery, 
his  wife,  however  innocent  she  may  have  been,  is  also 
deprived  of  her  liberty.     "Woman  is  held  in  estimation 


IN    MOHAMMEDAN    COUNTRIES.  IxXV 

chiefly  as  the  creature  of  convenience  to  man,  and  often 
suffers  as  the  victim  of  his  caprice  and  ungoverned 
passion,  or  of  his  sordid  and  heartless  avarice.  The 
state  of  society  in  Madagascar,  in  reference  to  the 
females,  adds  another  to  the  already  extended  catalogue 
of  facts  which  show  the  obligations  of  the  sex  to  the 
Christian  religion,  and  prove  that  it  is  only  where  the 
principles  of  Divine  Revelation  prevail,  that  woman  is 
raised  to  the  position  in  the  social  relations  of  life  for 
which  she  was  qualified  by  her  Creator ;  while  the 
happy  results  that  have  followed  the  partial  diffusion  of 
Christianity,  the  introduction  of  Christian  marriage, 
among  the  natives  of  this  interesting  country,  as  well  as 
the  choice  and  abundant  fruits  in  social  peace  and 
hallowed  affection,  which  they  have  brought  forth 
among  communities  still  less  civilized,  show  that  it  has 
lost  none  of  its  power  to  refine,  to  elevate,  and  to  enrich 
with  the  highest  privileges  the  female  portion  of  every 
community  in  which  it  prevails."  * 

Mohammedan  nations  are  not  commonly  ranked  with 
pagans,  as  they  possess  a  system  of  religion  composed 
of  pagan  traditions  and  corrupted  Christianity.  Woman, 
however,  in  the  countries  where  that  creed  prevails,  are 
cruelly  degraded,  scarcely  less  so  than  among  the  more 
civilized  heathen  :  a  passing  glance  at  their  state  will 
therefore  be  necessary  in  this  place,  illustrative  of  the 
importance  of  Christian  missions. 

Mohammed's  abominable  laws,  illustrating  one  part 
of  his  personal  character,  allow  four  wives  to  each  of 

*  History  of  Madagascar,  vol.  i.  pp.  163—175. 


IXXVI  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

his  followers,  with  the  liberty  of  divorcing  them  thrice  ; 
and  as  many  concubines  as  he  is  able  to  support. 

Lady  Montague  remarks  of  the  Turks  : — "  Any 
woman  that  dies  unmarried  is  looked  upon  to  die  in  a 
state  of  reprobation.  To  confirm  this  belief  they  reason, 
that  the  end  of  the  creation  of  woman  is  to  increase  and 
multiply;  and  that  she  is  properly  employed  in  tlie 
work  of  her  calling  only  when  she  is  bringing  forth 
children  or  taking  care  of  them,  which  are  all  the 
virtues  that  God  expects  from  her.  The  vulgar  notion 
that  they  do  not  admit  women  to  have  souls  is  a 
vulgar  mistake  :  it  is  true,  they  say  women  are  not  of 
so  elevated  a  nature,  and  therefore  must  not  hope  for 
admission  into  the  paradise  appointed  for  the  men,  who 
are  to  be  entertained  with  celestial  beauties.  But 
there  is  a  place  of  happiness  destined  for  souls  of  the 
inferior  order,  where  all  good  women  are  to  be  in 
eternal  bliss ! " 

Lady  Augusta  Hamilton  remarks  ; — ''  The  ladies 
of  the  palace  of  the  Grand  Signior  are  a  collection  of 
beautiful  young  women,  chiefly  sent  as  presents  from 
the  provinces  and  the  Greek  islands,  most  of  them  being 
children  of  Christian  parents.  The  brave  prince 
Heraclius  abolished  the  infamous  tribute  of  children 
of  both  sexes,  which  Georgia  formerly  paid  to  the  Porte 
yearly.  The  number  of  women  in  the  harem  depends 
on  the  taste  of  the  reigning  Sultan;  Selim  had  Uco 
thousand^  Achmet  had  but  three  hundred^  and  the  late 
Sultan  had  nearly  sixteen  hundred.  These  ladies  are 
never  suffered  to  go  abroad,  except  when  the  Grand 


IN    MOHAMMEDAN    COUNTRIES.  Ixxvii 

Signior  removes  from  one  place  to  another,  when  a 
troop  of  black  eunuchs  conveys  them  to  the  boats, 
which  are  enclosed  with  lattices  and  linen  curtains  : 
when  they  travel  by  land,  they  are  put  into  close 
chariots,  and  signals  are  made  at  certain  distances,  to 
give  notice  that  none  approach  the  roads  through  which 
they  pass  ! " 

Traffic  in  female  slaves  is  common  in  Mohammedan 
countries,  the  natural  consequence  of  the  laws  regarding 
wives  and  concubines ;  and  bazaars  for  the  sale  of 
beautiful  girls  are  found  in  different  parts.  "Dr. 
Pouqueville,"  as  remarked  by  Lady  Hamilton,  "  had  a 
transient  entry  into  one  of  these  bazaars  of  beauty^  and 
observed  the  women,  in  number  three  hundred^  on  sale  ! 
The  Turkish  purchasers  examined  them  merely  to  feel 
out  their  qualities ;  selecting  the  sleekest  and  best 
conditioned  from  the  different  groups,  freely  handling 
their  persons,  and  examining  their  size  and  shape,  and 
opening  their  mouths  to  inspect  their  teeth  ! " 

Mr.  Thornton,  in  his  work  on  the  "  Present  State  of 
Turkey,"  in  1807,  says,  "  The  slave-market  is  a  qua- 
drangle, surrounded  by  a  covered  gallery,  and  ranges  of 
small  and  separate  apartments.  The  manner  of  pur- 
chasing slaves  is  described  in  a  plain  and  unaffected 
narrative  of  a  German  merchant,  which,  as  I  have  been 
able  to  ascertain  its  general  authenticity,  may  be  relied  on 
as  correct  in  this  particular.  He  arrived  at  Kaffa,  in 
the  Crimea,  which  was  formerly  the  principal  mart 
slaves  ;  and  hearing  that  an  Armenian  had  a  Georgian 
and  two  Circassian  girls  to  dispose  of,  feigned  an  inten- 


Ixxviii  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN 

tion  of  purchasing  them,  in  order  to  gratify  his  curio- 
sity, and  to  ascertain  the  mode  of  conducting  such 
bargains.  A  Circassian  maiden,  eighteen  years  old, 
was  the  first  who  presented  herself:  she  was  well 
dressed,  and  her  face  covered  with  a  veil.  She  ad- 
vanced towards  the  German,  bowed  down  and  kissed 
his  hand  :  by  order  of  her  master,  she  walked  backwards 
and  forwards  in  the  chamber,  to  show  her  shape  and  the 
easiness  of  her  gait  and  carriage ;  her  foot  was  small, 
and  her  gesture  agreeable.  When  she  took  off  her  veil 
she  displayed  a  bust  of  the  most  attractive  beauty.  She 
rubbed  her  cheeks  with  a  wet  napkin,  to  prove  that  she 
had  not  used  art  to  heighten  her  complexion ;  and  she 
opened  her  inviting  lips,  to  show  a  regular  set  of  teeth 
of  pearly  whiteness.  The  German  was  permitted  to 
feel  her  pulse,  that  he  might  be  convinced  of  the  good 
state  of  her  health  and  constitution.  She  was  then  or- 
dered to  retire  while  the  merchant  deliberated  upon  the 
bargain.  The  price  of  this  beautiful  girl  was  four 
thousand  piastres  !" 

Reflecting  on  these  most  heart-rending  details,  the 
spirit  of  every  reader  must  be  intensely  moved  by  the 
deplorable  debasement  to  which  females  are  reduced  in 
the  nations  of  the  heathen.  British  Women,  elevated 
to  their  rightful  station  and  dignity,  the  equals  and 
beloved  associates  of  men,  raised  by  the  heavenly  prin- 
ciples of  "  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God,"  will 
peruse  these  brief  and  imperfect  representations  of  the 
present  degradation  of  their  sex  in  Pagan  and  ]\Ioliam- 
medan  countries  with   blushes  and  tears  for  our  fallen 


IN    HEATHEN    COUNTRIES.  Ixxix 

nature.  And  no  one  can  fail  to  be  interested  in  the  work 
of  evangelical  missions,  or  in  any  means  of  promot- 
ing their  present  and  eternal  welfare.  The  truly  noble 
and  benevolent  Ladies  of  the  "  Association  to  Promote 
Female  Education  in  China,  India,  and  the  East,"  are 
especially  drawn  to  commiserate  their  woes ;  and  they 
may  reasonably  make  the  following  heart- stirring  appeal 
for  aid  in  carrying  forward  their  God-like  undertaking  : 
"  Wives,  who  are  happy  in  the  affectionate  esteem 
of  your  husbands — mothers,  who  enjoy  your  children's 
reverence  and  gratitude — children,  who  have  been  blessed 
by  a  mother's  example  and  a  mother's  care — sisters, 
who  have  found  in  brothers  your  warmest  friends, — 
Christian  women,  who  feel  that  you  can  lend  to  society 
its  charm,  and  receive  from  it  a  loyal  courtesj^  in  re- 
turn— protected,  honoured,  and  loved — impart  your 
blessings  to  those  who  are  miserable,  because  they  are 
without  them.  If  your  minds  are  intelligent  and  culti- 
vated— if  your  lives  are  useful  and  happy — and  if  you 
can  look  for  a  blessed  immortality  beyond  the  grave,  do 
not,  for  the  love  of  Christ,  whose  sufferings  have  been 
the  source  of  all  your  blessings,  and  of  all  your  hopes, 
do  not  refuse  to  make  Him  known,  that  the  deo-raded 

o 

millions  of  the  East  may,  like  you,  '  be  blessed  in  Him,' 
and  like  you,  may  '  call  him  blessed.' " 

Ignorance  and  superstition,  in  apostate  mankind,  na- 
turally produce  the  crimes  anrl  miseries  here  surveyed  ; 
and  "  tlie  dark  places  of  the  earth  are  still  full  of  the 
habitations  of  cruelty."  They  can  be  illuminated  only 
by  the  "  Sun  of  Righteousness :"  the  atrocious  delusions 


IXXX  CONDITION    OF    WOMAN,    &C. 

which  generate  such  enormous  evils  can  be  corrected 
and  annihilated  only  by  the  gospel  of  Christ ;  and  the 
only  means  of  restoring  woman  is  the  divine  doctrine  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour.  Such  most  manifestly  is  the 
wise  and  merciful  ordination  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty. 
Christian  Missions,  therefore,  to  this  end,  are  indis- 
pensable; and  God  has  graciously  granted  abundant 
evidences  of  the  power  of  their  appointed  agency,  in 
every  part  of  the  world  where  they  have  been  esta- 
blished. Missionaries  must  promulgate  the  doctrines 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures :  they  must  fill  the  minds  of  men 
with  the  light  of  God's  law  and  of  his  soul-renewing 
gospel;  and  so,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  establish, 
throughout  the  world,  the  holy,  benevolent,  and  trans- 
forming religion  of  the  blessed  Redeemer  ! 


MEMOIRS 


BRITISH   FEMALE   MISSIONARIES. 


MRS.    ELIOT. 

DIED    IN    1687. 

Mrs.  Eliot  belongs  to  the  "Pilgrim  Fathers"  of  America.— Wife  of  the 
•'  Apostle  to  the  Indians." — Mr.  Eliot's  early  Life. — His  Emigration  to 
New  England. — Mrs.  Eliot's  early  Life. — Her  Emigration  to  America. 
— Dr.  Mather's  account  of  her.— Her  Fortitude. — Their  Marriage. — 
Their  Family. — Dr.  Mather's  Testimony  to  their  Domestic  Religion. — 
Mr.  Eliot's  Missionary  Labours.— Aided  by  Mrs.  Eliot.— Her  Useful 
Qualifications. — Her  Death  and  Character. — Death  of  Mr.  Eliot. 

Mrs.  Eliot  was  associated  with  the  venerated  band 
of  "  Pilgrim  Fathers,"  who  colonized  New  England, 
laying  the  foundation  of  all  the  greatness  which  now 
distinguishes  the  United  States  of  America.  She  was  the 
excellent  wife  of  that  truly  reverend  man  of  God,  John 
Eliot,  deservedly  called,  on  account  of  his  extraordinary 
and  successful  missionary  labours  among  the  native 
tribes  of  North  America,  "The  Apostle  to  the 
Indians." 

Mr.  Eliot,  so  worthily  honoured  in  the  Church  of 
God  as  a  faithful   minister  of   Christ,    was   born    in 


2  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

England  about  the  year  1604.  He  was  educated  at 
the  University  of  Cambridge ;  and,  after  completing 
his  studies,  he  resided  for  some  time,  in  the  capacity  of 
tutor,  with  the  family  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  at 
Little  Baddow,  in  Essex.  At  that  time  intolerance 
continued  to  prevail  under  Charles  I.,  as  it  had  done 
under  his  father  James  I.  ;  and  on  account  of  persecu- 
tion, many  of  the  faithful  ministers  of  the  gospel,  with 
thousands  of  their  attached  people,  fled  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  religious  liberty  to  the  wilds  of  the  "  New 
World."  The  first  settlers  landed  on  the  rock  at 
Plymouth,  November  the  9th  1620;  and  Mr.  Eliot 
followed  those  servants  of  God  in  1631.  His  ministry 
was  highly  appreciated  by  the  pious  colonists  of  New 
England,  and  their  rising  families ;  and  he  became  the 
devoted  pastor  of  the  infant  church  in  the  newly-esta- 
blished town  of  Roxbury,  near  the  city  of  Boston. 

Mrs.  Eliot  was  a  lady  of  respectable  connexions 
in  Essex  ;  and,  by  means  of  her  esteemed  pastor,  she 
became  acquainted  with  his  valued  young  friend,  whom 
Divine  Providence  graciously  designed  for  her  future 
husband.  Mr.  Eliot  had  been  greatly  indebted  to  Mr. 
Hooker's  able  ministry,  as  the  means  of  raising  his  hopes 
to  immortal  glory  through  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  now,  by  his  paternal  kindness,  he  found 
opportunity  to  gain  the  affections  of  that  beloved 
person,  who  afterwards  became  his  "  admirable  wife  ;  " 
and  to  whose  care  and  love  he  principally  owed  the 
comfort  and  blessings  of  the  present  world  during  the 
long  period  of  fifty-five  years,  through  which,  in  that 


MRS.    ELIOT.  3 

distant  land,  they  enjoyed  each  other's  society  in  the 
fear  and  service  of  God. 

Dr.  Matlier,  in  mentioning  this  connexion,  in  his 
"  Life  of  Eliot,"  says,  "  He  left  behind  him,  in  his 
native  land,  a  virtuous  young  gentlewoman,  whom  he 
had  pursued,  and  to  whom  he  proposed  marriage ;  and 
she  coming  hither  the  year  following,  they  were 
united.  And  this  wife  of  his  youth  lived  with  him 
until  she  became  the  staff  of  his  age." 

Mrs.  Eliot's  fortitude  in  this  hazardous  under- 
taking to  cross  the  mighty  Atlantic,  is  hardly  to 
be  estimated  by  the  courage  of  a  lady,  in  our 
times  of  improved  navigation  and  almost  perfect 
accommodation  for  passengers,  venturing  on  a  voyage 
to  America ;  or  even  of  a  missionary's  wife  accom- 
panying her  husband  in  their  long  passage  to  India,  or 
the  South  Sea  Islands  :  two  centuries  aofo  it  w^as  an 
exceedingly  bold  enterprise  for  a  single  lady,  in  an 
ill-furnished  ship,  to  proceed  on  a  voyage  to  New 
England.  Intelligent  piety  and  affectionate  attachment 
to  one  whom  she  esteemed  as  a  servant  of  the  Redeemer, 
however,  sustained  the  courage  of  this  amiable  female, 
and  enabled  her  to  triumph  over  every  real  or  imagined 
difficulty. 

Welcomed  in  the  distant  wilderness  of  America  by 
many  Christian  friends,  notwithstanding  privations,  her 
best  anticipations  were  realized.  She  was  married  to 
her  chosen  partner,  and  several  children  were  the  fruit 
of  their  union  :  but  particular  details  of  their  domestic 
economy  are  not  afforded.  Dr.  Mather  briefly  refers 
b2 


4  BRITISH   FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

to  their  circumstances ;  and,  in  commending  the  dili- 
gence and  fidelity  of  Mr.  Eliot  as  a  pastor,  he  remarks, 
that  "  in  his  family  too  he  was  not  less  vigilant  and 
exemplary  than  in  his  church.  The  wife  of  his  bosom 
he  loved,  prized,  and  cherished,  with  a  kindness  that 
strikingly  represented  the  compassion  whicli  he  thereby 
taught  others  to  expect  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  His 
family  was  a  little  Bethel ;  for  the  worship  of  God  was 
constantly  and  exactly  maintained  in  it ;  and  unto  the 
daily  prayers  of  the  family  his  manner  was  to  prefix 
the  reading  of  the  Scriptures.  His  house  might  be 
called  a  school  of  piety.  Whatever  decay  there  might 
be,"  the  Doctor  adds,  "  in  family  religion  among  us,  as 
for  Eliot,  we  knew  him  that  he  would  command  his 
children  and  his  household  after  him,  that  they  should 
keep  the  way  of  the  Lord." 

Mrs.  Eliot  is  doubtless  entitled  to  no  small  share  of 
the  commendation  thus  given  by  Dr.  Mather  to  his 
venerated  father  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel ;  for 
almost  everything  in  the  domestic  arrangements  de- 
pended on  his  "  admirable  wife."  "  The  Apostle  to  the 
Indians"  had  his  hands  and  his  heart  fully  occupied  in 
his  multifarious  duties  connected  with  his  pastoral 
relation,  his  missionary  work,  and  his  correspondence 
with  many  in  England,  by  whom  he  was  aided  in  his 
expensive  labours.  His  astonishing  missionary  opera- 
tions among  the  native  Americans — his  successes  in  the 
conversion  of  very  many  to  the  faith  of  Christ — the 
character  and  influence  of  their  numerous  "praying 
towns  of  Indians  " — and  his  translation  of  the  Holy 


MRS.    FLIOT.  5 

Scriptures,  and  of  other  valuable  books,  for  their  reli- 
gious instruction,  deserve  to  be  contemplated  by  a 
perusal  of  the  truly  interesting  "  Memoirs  of  his  Life" — 
though  they  cannot  be  included  in  this  brief  sketch  of 
his  wife. 

Mrs.  Eliot,  as  is  abundantly  testified,  was  most 
eminently  qualified  to  be  a  "  help-meet"  for  this  extra- 
ordinary servant  of  Christ;  and  the  benediction  of 
Heaven  rested  largely  upon  her  active  labours  in  the 
family,  and  among  those  around  her.  Such  was  the 
continued  afi*ectIon  which  subsisted  between  him  and 
his  endeared  wife,  during  the  extended  period  in  which 
they  were  preserved  together ;  so  exemplary  was  their 
holy  conversation,  and  so  evident  was  their  participation 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  which  they  walked  with  God  in 
all  his  ordinances  and  commandments,  that  they  were 
commonly  designated  by  the  large  number  of  their 
fellow  Christians,  "Zacharias  and  Elizabeth."  Mrs. 
Eliot  lived  till  about  three  or  four  years  before  her 
husband's  decease,  regarded  as  a  woman  of  superior 
mind  and  uncommon  intelligence,  of  rare  personal 
holiness,  and  a  pattern  of  female  prudence.  She  was  a 
common  blessing,  not  only  to  her  own  family,  but  to 
the  whole  circle  of  her  neighbours ;  for  she  possessed 
considerable  skill  in  "the  practice  of  medicine  and 
surgery ; "  and  in  that  infant  state  of  the  colony  of  New 
England,  her  knowledge  was  most  important  among 
the  poor,  enabling  her  to  dispense  many  benefits  as  a 
"  practical  physician." 

"  Goodness  and  mercy  followed  "  this  honoured  couple 


6  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

through  a  long  series  of  years ;  and  Mrs.  EHot,  at 
length,  completed  her  mortal  course,  to  enter  the  ever- 
lasting kingdom  of  her  Lord  and  Saviour  :  but  the  loss 
of  such  a  wife  was  felt  by  her  venerable  partner  as 
most  truly  grievous.  "  They  had  lived  so  long  together, 
that  the  idea  of  separation  seemed  scarcely  to  have 
entered  their  minds  :  the  mother  of  his  children,  the 
companion  of  nearly  three-score  years,  was  laid  in  the 
grave  by  his  own  hand.  When  she  died,"  says  Dr. 
Mather,  "  I  heard  and  saw  her  aged  husband,  who 
seldom  wept,  yet  now  with  a  flood  of  tears,  before  a 
large  concourse  of  people,  say  over  the  coffin,  'Here 
lies  my  dear,  faithful,  pious,  prudent,  prayerful  wife : 
I  shall  £0  to  her,  and  she  not  return  to  me ! ' " 

Affection  and  piety,  united  as  they  were  in  this  truly 
Christian  couple,  were  here  beautifully  illustrated  in 
this  expression  of  genuine  feeling  :  but  the  widowed 
"apostolic  missionary"  had  nearly  finished  his  mortal 
course.  Exhausted  with  persevering  labours,  especially 
among  the  Indians,  this  eminent  and  successful  servant 
of  God,  about  three  years  after  the  decease  of  his  wife, 
entered,  early  in  1690,  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord,  aged 
eighty-six  years,  leaving  a  character  behind  him  which 
is  held  in  the  highest  veneration  by  the  Christians  of 
America  ! 


MRS.    COULTART. 

DIED    OCTOBER    8,     1817. 

Mrs.  Coiiltart,  a  native  of  Worcestershire — Edified  by  the  Ministry  of  Rev. 
T.  Biddulph  of  Bristol.— Her  Religious  Joys.— Unites  with  a  Church  at 
Stourbridge.  —  Her  Brother,  Mr.  Hiram  Chambers,  a  Student  at 
Cheshunt  College.— Devotes  himself  to  the  Missionary  Work.- Corre- 
spondence of  Miss  Chambers  with  her  Brother.— Her  Desires  to  become 

a  Missionary Her  Anticipations  of  that  Service. — Her  acquaintance 

with  Rev.  J.  Coultart.— Relinquishes  her  School.— Is  Married  to  Mr. 
Coultart. — Her  Letter  to  her  Brother. — Embarkation  for  Jamaica. — 
Her  Testimony  regarding  the  Negroes. — Progress  of  Religion  among 
them.— Her  last  Letter  to  her  Brother.— Her  Illness  and  Death.— Her 
Brother's  Missionary  Course  in  India. 

Mrs.  Coultart,  formerly  Miss  Mary  Ann  Chambers, 
was  born  February  11,  1787,  near  Stourbridge  in 
Worcestershire.  For  several  years  before  the  path  was 
opened  for  her  to  enter  the  destined  field  of  labour,  she 
breathed  most  ardently  a  missionary  spirit,  and  it 
became  her  unceasing  desire  that  she  might  serve  her 
Redeemer  among  the  heathen.  Extracts  from  her  own 
letters  and  diary  will,  however,  afford  the  interesting 
exhibition  of  the  disposition  and  ardour  of  her  mind. 

Miss  Chambers  lived,  as  the  multitude  around  her, 
until  her  twentieth  year,  "without  God  in  the  world:" 
at  that  age  she  became  impressed  with  the  worth  of  her 
soul,  and  her  need  of  salvation  :  but  three  years  elapsed 
before  she  found  peace  in  believing  on  Jesus  Christ. 
Being  on  a  visit  at  Bristol,  she  was  led  by  the  ministry 
of  Rev.  T.  Biddulph,  to  cast  the  burden  of  her  sin  and 
sorrow  on  the  Divine  Redeemer :  and  she  was  enabled 


8  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  receive  the  atonement,  rejoicing 
in  God,  as  reconciled  to  him  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  so 
as  to  walk  henceforth  "  in  newness  of  life."  From 
that  period  her  principles  became  confirmed,  and  her 
character  formed :  and  though  surrounded  by  opposi- 
tion, she  was  not  ashamed  to  confess  Christ  as  her  Lord 
and  Saviour.  The  following  from  her  diary  exhibits 
her  intelligent  and  pious  mind. 

''June  29,  1810. — This  day  the  Lord  has  been 
pleased  to  assist  me.  Never  did  I  feel  such  inward 
peace  before.  Oh  the  comfort  of  religion  !  Would  to 
God  tliat  others  knew  what  I  feel !  What  a  mercy 
for  such  an  unworthy  creature  to  know  that  she  is 
a  child  of  God  !  Dearest  Lord,  give  me  the  grace  of 
thy  Holy  Spirit,  that  my  prayers  and  praises  may 
be  accepted  by  thee!" 

Miss  Chambers  united  in  Christian  communion  with 
an  Independent  church  near  Stourbridge,  in  connexion 
with  Rev.  John  Richards ;  and  she  thus  records  that 
fact  in  her  private  diary. 

''April  10,  1815. — Especially  would  I  note  this 
day — a  day  that  I  hope  was  registered  in  heaven ;  a 
day  that  united  me  to  God's  visible  church  here ;  to  a 
people  that  are  very  dear  to  me.  I  have  been  again 
permitted  to  commemorate  our  dear  Lord's  death : 
blessed  privilege  for  sinful  worms !  Again,  in  the 
presence  of  God  and  man,  have  I  dedicated  myself  to 
my  God.  0  !  that  his  Spirit  may  lead  and  guide  me, 
and  enable  me  to  glorify  him  in  my  daily  walk  !  May 
I  never  bring  any  disgrace  upon  the  Christian  name  or 


MRS.    COULTART.  9 

profession  !  Hold  thou  me  up,  and  I  shall  stand :  if 
thou  leave  me,  I  must  perish.  Guide  me,  dearest 
Lord,  by  thy  counsel,  and  at  last  receive  me  to  glory. 
Preserve  the  church  thou  hast  formed  here  from  hypo- 
crisy :  may  they  all  be  numbered  as  thine  in  the  day 
when  thou  makest  up  thy  jewels.  Make  us  very 
useful  to  each  other,  and  enable  us  to  show  forth  to  an 
ungodly  world  whose  we  are,  and  whom  we  serve. 
Oh  Father  of  mercies,  answer  according  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  thy  will,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.     Amen." 

Miss  Chambers  felt  the  constraining  influence  of  the 
love  of  Christ,  especially  leading  her  to  regard  others 
with  a  great  degree  of  concern  for  their  spiritual 
welfare,  and  a  lively  interest  in  the  enlargement  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom  throughout  the  world.  She 
exerted  herself  with  zeal  and  diligence  for  the  salvation 
of  her  relatives ;  and  God  was  pleased  to  crown  her 
pious  efforts  with  encouraging  success.  Hence  she  felt 
such  a  spirit  of  compassion  for  the  perishing  heathen,  as 
appeared  to  designate  her  for  missionary  service,  long 
before  the  leadings  of  Providence  opened  the  way  for 
her  actual  engagement  in  that  work  of  the  Lord. 

Mr.  Hiram  Chambers  having,  at  this  period,  devoted 
himself  to  the  service  of  Christ  among  the  heathen,  cor- 
responded with  his  sister  on  his  state  of  mind  and 
prospects,  while  pursuing  his  studies  at  Cheshunt 
College,  and  afterwards  at  the  Missionary  Seminary, 
Gosport.  The  following  glowing  extracts  of  her  letters 
will  strikingly  illustrate  this  state  of  the  spiritual 
exercises  of  ]Miss  Chambers. 


10  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

'•^  June  1,  1816. — I  thank  you  for  the  account  your 
letter  contains  of  the  missionary  cause.  May  our  dear 
Redeemer  hasten  the  time  when  his  kingdom  shall 
come  !  I  feel  more  life  in  praying  for  it  than  ever  I  did 
before.  How  should  I  have  rejoiced  to  be  with  you  ! 
My  heart  was  indeed  in  the  midst  of  you.  What  a 
noble  cause  !  to  be  employed  in  preaching  Jesus  to  the 
poor  heathen  !  Oh  my  soul,  is  not  this  all  thy  desire  ? 
Dearest  Lord,  wilt  thou  make  a  way  ?  May  I  see  that 
thou  hast  ordained  it !  it  is,  thou  knowest,  my  only 
earthly  wish.  My  soul  does  indeed  long  to  be  wHth  the 
poor  heathen.  Why  is  it  that  I  feel  so  anxious,  unless 
thou  hast  designed  it  ?  0!  my  dear  Redeemer,  grant 
it,  if  consistent  with  thy  will." 

"  August  2. — 0  !  to  be  employed  for  and  by  God  in 
convertino-  the   heathen  !     What  an  honour  !    Should 

o 

you  cross  the  seas  to  be  the  instrument  of  saving  one 
soul,  even  at  the  hazard  of  your  life,  you  will  be  more 
than  repaid  for  your  trouble.  Can  you  hear  the  poor 
destitute  heathen  cry,  '  Come,  tell  us  of  salvation 
through  Jesus  Christ,'  and  yet  be  deaf  to  hear  it  ? 
Cannot  you  follow^  the  steps  of  your  Redeemer  ?  He 
left  the  abodes  of  glory  for  you ;  for  you  he  suffered 
more  than  you  possibly  can.  He  had  no  earthly  friend. 
You  have  a  sister ;  and,  though  unworthy,  her  very 
soul  pants  to  go  with  you  :  but  what  am  I  saying  ? 
My  dear  brother,  count  not  then  your  life  dear  to  you, 
so  that  you  may  win  souls  to  Christ  I  do,  indeed, 
love  the  missionary  cause ;  it  is  nearer  my  heart  than 
anything  else  :  my  soul  seems  in  the  work." 


MRS.    COULTART.  11 

^^  August  21. — I  have  not  ceased  to  bless  God  for 
your  last  letter.  Should  your  next  convey  the  news 
that  you  are  going,  and  give  me  to  hope  that  I  may 
accompany  you,  do  pray  that  the  vessel  may  be 
enlarged,  as  I  think  the  poor  clay  tabernacle  will 
almost  break." 

'^  August  24. — But  oh,  distracting  thought,  I  may 
be  left  in  England,  while  you  are  labouring  among  the 
heathen !  O,  no,  never,  I  never  can,  neither  do  I 
think  I  shalh  I  think  it  has  been  given  me  to  believe 
that  our  God  will  take  me.  Oh  that,  if  it  were  the  will 
of  God,  these  eyes  that  are  now  bathed  in  tears,  may 
before  that  take  place,  be  closed  in  death  !  Oh,  my  H., 
my  very  soul  is  there  in  the  midst  of  the  heathen  ! 
You  ask  me  if  you  shall  mention  it  to  the  Directors. 
You  must  answer  it  at  the  last  day  if  you  do  not.  My 
life  was  lengthened  in  answer  to  prayer ;  and  was  it 
not  my  prayer  that  it  might  not  be  spared,  unless  to  be 
devoted  to  my  God,  and  to  his  cause  ?  How  often  have 
I  prayed  that  you  might  be  called  to  the  work  !  and 
now  I  trust  my  prayers  are  answered,  fear  arises  lest  I 
should  be  left." 

"  September  14. — Sometimes  I  think  that,  from  what 
I  have  experienced  in  prayer,  our  covenant  God  designs 
to  send  me,  unworthy  me,  on  so  great  a  work ;  and 
sometimes  I  think  that  the  heavenly  consolations  I  now 
feel  are  given  to  prepare  me  for  a  refusal ;  but  surely  it 
cannot  be  so,  when  they  only  tend  to  heighten  the  flame 
which  already  burns.  Yes !  this  life  must  be  sacrificed 
for  our  Redeemer.     Had  I  ten  lives  to  give,  I  would 


12  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

not,  I  could  not,  I  durst  not  withhold  one.  My  soul 
has  been  purchased  with  that  blood  which  flowed  from 
the  wounds  of  a  dying  Saviour ;  and  the  blessed  Spirit 
of  our  God  is  a  witness  how  ardently  it  longs  to  relin- 
quish all  earthly  prospects  of  a  temporalkind,  and  go  forth 
to  the  poor  dear  heathen  !  Were  it  to  be  made  useful 
only  to  one  soul,  or  should  a  watery  grave  await  me, 
I  die  happy.  What  is  my  life  ?  What  is  its  worth, 
in  comparison  with  one  soul  ?  " 

"  Decemher  4. — Our  dear  Redeemer  hath  given  me  to 
believe  that  prayer  is  answered,  and  that  the  unworthiest 
of  his  creatures  is  to  be  sent  on  the  noblest  of  errands, 
and  in  the  most  glorious  of  causes  that  ever  mortal  man 
was  engaged  in,  even  in  becoming  a  missionary  to  the 
poor  dear  heathen.  Language  fails  to  speak  my  feelings  : 
how  does  my  soul  anticipate  the  day  when  I  shall  leave 
my  native  land,  and  enter  upon  that  blessed  work  !  It 
will  not  be  long  we  shall  have  to  labour  in  this  blessed 
employ,  and  then  with  what  joy  shall  we  have  to  relin- 
quish it,  knowing  that  a  better  house  awaits  us !  I 
often  see  it  by  faith,  although  detained  within  mud 
walls.  Joyfully  could  I  quit  it  all,  except  the  poor 
heathen.  Yes  !  and  if  called,  our  God  would  enable  me 
to  do  that  also." 

Miss  Chambers  was  a  lady  of  considerable  reserve 
and  retirement ;  yet  she  could  not  refrain  from  commu- 
nicating her  desires  to  some  of  her  Christian  friends,  to 
be  consecrated  to  the  service  of  Christ  among  the  hea- 
then, especially  when  conversing  about  the  prospects  of 
her  beloved  brother.     Her  state  of  mind  became  thus 


MRS.    COULTART.  13 

known  to  a  gentleman  in  Birmingham,  a  friend  of 
Rev.  James  Coultart,  of  the  Baptist  College,  Bristol ; 
and  previously  to  his  embarkation  for  Jamaica,  visiting 
his  early  religious  connexions  in  that  town,  he  was 
introduced  by  his  friend  to  that  lady.  Her  elegant  per- 
son and  accomplished  mind  at  once  engaged  his  heart ; 
while  she  regarded  the  whole  affair  as  the  gracious 
leadings  of  Providence.  Having,  therefore,  transferred 
her  school  to  her  sister,  in  about  a  fortnight  they  were 
married,  February  6,  1817. 

While  waiting  for  a  ship  at  Bristol,  Mrs.  Coultart 
wrote  again  to  her  dear  brother,  and  from  which  we 
perceive  her  holy  ardour  : — 

"  February  28. — I  cannot  leave  England  without 
addressing  another  letter  to  my  dear  H.,  who  has  ever 
been  to  me  the  kindest  of  brothers,  the  tenderest  of 
friends — from  childhood  my  companion  until  the  present 
year !  I  hope  I  feel  thankful  that  the  love  and  affection 
we  have  ever  felt  for  each  other  will  not  be  confined  to 
time,  but  be  matured  in  eternity ;  and  when  we  meet 
again,  it  will  be  to  say  'Farewell '  no  more.  I  believe  the 
hand  of  God  hath  separated  us,  and  that  the  same  kind 
hand  will  lead  us  all  our  journey  through.  I  hope  I  do 
feel  thankful  that  he  has  given  me  so  kind  and  affec- 
tionate a  friend  to  lead  me  on  my  way  to  Zion.  O  ! 
pray  that  he  may  ever  find  me  worthy  of  his  regard  ! 
Had  I  ten  lives,  and  those  ten  laboured  indefatigably 
for  twenty  years,  and  were  made  useful  only  to  one 
soul,  eternity  would  be  too  short  to  praise  God  for  it. 
Who  can  know  the  value  of  a  soul,  but  a  Saviour,  who 


14  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

in  his  human  nature  sweat  drops  of  blood,  caused  by 
the  heavy  load  of  guilt  he  sustained.  Should  this,  my 
dear  brotlier,  be  the  last  letter  I  am  permitted  to  write 
you,  forget  not  that  a  sister,  who  loves  you  very  ten- 
derly, entreats  you  to  consider  it  an  unspeakable  privi- 
lege to  be  called  to  convey  the  glad  tidings  of  the 
gospel  to  perishing  sinners.  Labour,  dear  H.,  in  your 
study  ;  labour  in  the  pulpit ;  and,  above  all,  labour  in 
prayer  to  God  for  the  conversion  of  the  souls  of  guilty 
men.  Let  your  life  be  a  continual  sermon.  0  !  forgive 
me,  if  I  have  gone  too  far  :  I  cannot,  I  would  not  pre- 
tend to  teach  you ;  but  I  feel  so  anxious  that  every 
power  may  be  spent  in  glorifying  so  kind,  so  gracious  a 
God,  and  in  extending  his  kingdom — 

'  Go,  spread  abroad  a  Saviour's  name, 
And  sound  aloud  his  praise.' 

We  go  to  the  west,  you  perhaps  to  the  east ;  our  labours 
will  soon  be  ended,  and  then  we  meet  in  the  kingdom 
of  God." 

Mrs.  Coultart  embarked  with  her  husband,  March 
14,  1817,  with  a  heart  beating  high  with  holy  antici- 
pations of  labour  and  usefulness  ;  and  writing  to  her 
beloved  brother  on  the  voyage,  she  said,  "  When  I  put 
my  foot  in  the  boat  that  was  to  convey  us  to  the  ship, 
I  prayed — '  If  thy  presence  go  not  with  me,  carry  us 
not  up  hence.'  O  !  that  it  may  really  be  the  case  ;  for 
I  dread  living  without  God !  0  be  very  importunate, 
that  God  may  make  us  useful ;  that  my  dear  Mr.  C. 
may  have  a  double  portion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  granted  to 
him ;  that  very  many  souls  may  be  given  him,  who 


MRS.     COULTART.  15 

shall  be  his  joy  and  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the  world  to 
come ;  and  may  I  sink  to  the  bottom  of  the  deep,  rather 
than  bring  any  disgrace  on  rehgion,  or  in  the  least 
prove  a  hindrance  or  snare  to  my  husband,  by  going  to 
Jamaica." 

They  landed  May  9th,  when  her  heart  was  truly 
enlarged  ;  and  she  looked  on  the  scene  of  labour,  ardently 
praying  that  she  might  be  very,  very  long  permitted  to 
prove  her  love  to  the  Saviour,  by  telling  of  his  great 
salvation.     The  day  after  their  landing,  she  wTote  : — 

"  May  10. — We  are  are  now  in  Jamaica.  O  !  my 
God,  how  great  are  thy  mercies  to  the  unworthiest  of 
beings  !  I  might  say  I  am  filled  with  wonder  at  the 
condescension  of  God.  My  daily  petition  has  been — 
'  If  thy  presence  go  not  with  me,  carry  us  not  up  hence/ 
O,  Jamaica  !  what  is  our  message  to  thy  inliabitants  ? 
Farewell,  England  !  I  still  love  thee ;  my  dearest 
friends  dost  thou  contain;  but  I  would  not  return  to 
thee.  In  Jamaica  would  I  live  and  die,  and  spend  and 
be  spent,  for  God  and  his  people.  The  heat  is  exces- 
sively great.  May  God  preserve  the  health  of  my  dear 
Mr.  C,  and  smile  upon  his  labours." 

Many  of  the  negroes  had  already  been  turned  from 
darkness  to  light ;  and  she  found  not  a  few  amono-  the 
converted  slaves  who  had  made  great  progress  in  the 
divine  life.  She  had  cause  of  joy  also,  that  Mr.  Coul- 
tart's  labours  were  acceptable  to  the  people,  and  crowned 
with  the  grace  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  She  therefore  wrote 
to  her  brother,  June  10th  : — 

"We  have  a  good  attendance  at  public  worship,  of 
black  and  brown  people.    Their  prayers  are  very  simple, 


16  BRITISH   FEMALE    MISSION  ARIES. 

and  these  have  convinced  us  that  the  grace  of  God  is 
extended  to  people  of  all  colours.  Their  singing,  too, 
for  the  first  time,  almost  overpowered  me.  To  hear 
the  praises  of  Immanuel  sung  by  them,  and  to  see  the 
tears  trickling  down  their  sable  cheeks,  filled  my  mind 
with  gratitude  to  God,  who  had  brought  me  to  witness 
such  a  sight.  0 !  my  H.,  I  find  communion  with 
God  as  dear  in  Jamaica  as  it  had  used  to  be  in  England. 
Last  Sabbath  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was 
administered,  and  nearly  five  hundred  persons,  black 
and  brown,  partook  of  it." 

She  wrote  to  Miss  S.  "  July  2. — I  rejoice  to  find 
so  much  real  religion  in  Jamaica.  You  \vould  be 
pleased  to  see  our  congregation,  consisting  of  more  than 
a  thousand  people,  black  and  brown ;  and  I  think  it 
would  nearly  double  the  present  number,  if  the  chapel 
would  hold  them.  Many  of  them  seem  thirsting  to 
hear  the  Word  :  they  are  ignorant  people,  and  may  be 
led,  but  not  driven.  To  hear  them  talk  of  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  their  hearts  would  delight  you. 
Believe  me,  my  dear  friend,  I  am  perfectly  happy  in 
Jamaica,  and  can  with  sincerity  bless  God  that  he 
brought  me  hither.  His  mercy  towards  me  has  indeed 
been  unbounded.  Let  us  be  remembered  by  you  at  the 
throne  of  grace." 

Mrs.  Coultart's  missionary  career  was  but  short. 
She  fell  soon  after  she  entered  upon  her  work,  by  a 
mortal  fever,  within  five  months  of  her  landing  in 
Jamaica  I  The  last  letter  which  she  ever  wrote  w^as  to 
her  brother. 

"  Kmgstown^  August  6,  1817. — I  think  you  would 


MRS.    COULTART.  17 

feel  thankful,  if  you  knew  how  greatly  the  Lord  has 
appeared  for  Mr.  C.  The  cause  seems  flourishing  ;  the 
people  united ;  and  the  congregation  increases  every 
Sabbath.  I  often  look  back,  and  retrace  those  past 
scenes,  which  will  never  return.  0  !  England,  how 
dear  are  those  friends  which  thou  containest !  Still  I 
have  no  wish  to  return.  The  cause  of  Christ  lies  nearer 
my  heart  than  even  all  these.  It  is  very  little  we  can 
do  for  God ;  and  ought  we  to  withhold  anything,  if 
called  on  to  make  the  sacrifice  ?  Surely  not.  Believe 
me,  my  dear  brother,  I  am  very  happy.  I  am  at  a 
loss  for  words  to  give  you  an  adequate  idea  of  the 
goodness  of  God  towards  us.  Help  us  to  praise  him  ; 
for  his  mercy  is  great  unto  the  heavens,  and  his  truth 
unto  the  clouds.  I  have  found  the  Saviour  to  be  '  a 
friend  that  sticketli  closer  than  a  brother ; '  and  have 
lately  anticipated,  with  real  delight,  the  time  when  I 
'  shall  see  him  as  he  is ; '  when  I  shall  no  more  grieve 
the  Holy  Spirit,  but  be  transformed  into  his  glorious 
image.  I  do  long  to  live  without  sin ;  I  think  I  can 
say — 

'  Haste,  my  Beloved,  fetch  my  soul 

Up  to  thy  bless'd  abode ; 

Fly,  for  my  spirit  longs  to  see 

JMy  Saviour  and  my  God.' 

Farewell,  my  beloved  brother,  we  shall  soon  meet  again. 
Heaven  will,  I  hope,  be  our  eternal  home.  Until  we 
meet  there,  may  God  be  your  friend ;  may  he  smile 
upon  your  labours,  and  crown  them  with  abundant 
success.  To  him  I  commend  you.  He  will  never  leave 
nor  forsake  you. — M.A.C." 


18  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

This  affectionate  and  spiritual  letter  closed  up  the 
written  communications  of  this  valuable  and  devoted 
woman :  within  two  months  from  the  date  of  it,  she 
was  called  to  exchange  time  for  eternity,  and  to  realise 
her  heavenly  aspirations  in  the  presence  of  God  and  the 
Lamb.  Her  health  had  been  somewhat  affected  ;  but 
nothing  serious  was  anticipated,  more  than  is  usual  from 
the  change  of  climate  on  Europeans.  She  attended 
public  worship  on  the  morning  of  September  28  ;  but 
was  unable  to  stay  the  whole  service :  a  violent  palpi- 
tation of  the  heart  was  succeeded  by  fever,  in  the  after- 
noon. Medical  aid,  at  first,  seemed  to  remove  apprehen- 
sions ;  but  in  the  space  of  ten  days  her  husband's  hopes 
were  for  ever  clouded ;  and  he  had  to  take  a  present 
farewell  of  one  so  qualified  for  a  missionary's  wife ; 
"  one,"  to  use  his  own  words,  "  so  evidently  a  Chris- 
tian indeed.  Her  heart,"  he  adds,  "  was  plainly  engaged 
in  the  cause  of  Him  under  whose  banner  she  had 
enlisted,"especially  in  h  er  female  school. 

Mr.  Coultart,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Ryland  of  Bristol, 
says,  "  My  dear  and  invaluable  partner  appeared  to 
have  a  presentiment  of  her  approaching  release,  about  a 
fortnight  before  her  fatal  disease  commenced.  But  I 
fondly  hoped,  that  God  would  spare  a  life  so  eminently 
devoted  to  himself,  and  in  pity  to  me  grant  me  the 
advantage  I  derived  from  her  very  holy  life,  pure  conver- 
sation, and  fervent  frequent  prayers.  Divine  Goodness 
lent  her  for  a  little  while,  and  the  same  goodness  recalled 
her.  She  was  known  through  a  very  limited  circle; 
but  her  qualifications  for  her  great  undertaking  com- 


MRS,     COULTART.  19 

manded  tlie  respect  of  all  who  knew  her.  She  lies  in 
Kingston  church-yard,  as  no  white  person  is  ever 
buried  in  the  Baptist  ground.  Mr.  Man,  Rector  of 
this  city,  performed  the  last  solemn  office,  and  would 
have  preached  a  funeral  sermon,  had  not  indisposition 
prevented  him  ;  for  which  purpose  he  employed  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Philips,  of  St.  John's." 

Short  as  is  this  conjugal  acknowledgment  of  her 
worth  as  a  Christian,  added  to  what  w^e  have  perused  in 
her  own  record,  it  cannot  fail  to  inspire  admiration  of 
her  excellence,  and  regret  that  a  character  so  exemplary 
and  consistent,  formed  by  faith  and  love  so  manifestly 
the  fruit  of  the  Spirit,  was  not  longer  permitted  to  bless 
her  husband  and  the  world.     Yet  she  lived  not  in  vain. 

"  Long  do  they  live,  nor  die  too  soon, 
AVho  live  till  life's  great  work  is  done." 

If  that  be  to  prepare  for  death,  to  be  meet  for  heaven, 
and  to  glorify  God  on  earth,  then  it  was  answered  in 
the  life  of  3Irs.  Coultart.  May  each  reader  search  for 
evidence  of  possessing  her  essential  attainments,  follow- 
ing her  as  she  followed  Christ. 

Mrs.  Coultart's  brother.  Rev.  Hiram  Chambers,  was 
ordained  in  Birmingham,  August  2, 1820,  as  a  mission- 
ary to  India ;  in  connexion  with  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society.  His  character  resembled  that  of  his 
devoted  sister ;  but  his  course  was  short  in  the  service 
of  his  Lord  and  Saviour :  as  he  died  January  7,  1826  ! 


c  2 


MRS.    WILSON. 

DIED    DECEMBER  11,  1821. 

Mrs,  Wilson,  formerly  Miss  Hill,  a  Buckinghamshire  lady.— Married  to 
Rev.  J.  Wilson.— They  embark  for  Madras.— Her  Plans  for  Useful- 
ness.— Her  Religious  Experience. — Her  exercises  on  Ship-board. — Her 
Views  of  the  Heathen  in  India — They  proceed  to  Tranquebar. — Her 
Studies.— Birth  and  Death  of  her  first  Child.— Her  Hlness.— Her 
Address  to  her  Husband. — Her  Death. 

Mrs.  Wilson,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Wilson  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  was  formerly  Miss  Hill, 
of  Olney,  Buckinghamshire.  She  was  highly  respected 
for  her  sincere  piety ;  and  she  had  been  an  active  col- 
lector of  contributions  for  the  Church  Missionary  Auxi- 
liary in  her  native  town,  and  for  many  years  a  teacher 
in  the  Girls'  Sunday  School,  in  connexion  with  her 
esteemed  pastor,  the  Rev.  Henry  Gauntlett. 

Miss  Hill  was  in  her  twenty-eighth  year  when,  in 
April  1820,  she  was  married  to  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson ;  with 
whom,  in  about  ten  days  after  their  union,  she  set  sail 
for  Madras,  where  they  landed  about  the  middle  of 
September  ;  and  she  closed  her  mortal  career  on  the  11th 
day  of  the  following  December.  Mr.  Wilson's  account 
of  his  wife  strikingly  illustrates  the, power  of  vital 
Christianity. 

"  We  had  no  sooner  commenced  our  voyage  from 
England,"  ]Mr.  Wilson  writes,  in  the  biographical  sketch 
of  his  wife,   "  than  she  laid  out  plans  for  the  best  im- 


MRS.    WILSON.  21 

provement  of  her  time.  She  paid  strict  attention  to 
reading  the  Word  of  God  and  prayer.  I  have  often 
been  waked  by  her  fervent  prayers  in  the  night,  when 
there  was  no  noise  to  disturb  her  devotions.  Besides 
our  regular  family  devotions,  she  would  always  have 
nearly  an  hour  in  the  middle  of  the  day  for  secret 
prayer  ;  which,  considering  all  the  inconveniences 
attending  a  sea-life,  is  not  to  be  always  enjoyed  with- 
out watchfulness  and  self-denial. 

*'  While  on  the  voyage,  she  was  ever  ready  to  turn 
the  conversation  upon  the  great  work  to  which  she  had 
devoted  herself ;  and  often  expressed  a  fear  that  she  was 
unfit  for  duties  so  sacred  and  important  as  those  which 
naturally  devolved  on  the  wife  of  a  missionary.  Some- 
times ,  when  talking  together  of  the  work  of  the  Lord 
in  heathen  lands,  she  would  rejoice,  and  praise  God  for 
giving  her  a  prospect  of  being  permitted  to  do  some- 
thing for  her  Redeemer.  She  would  say,  '  If  I  be 
instrumental  in  saving  one  soul,  it  is  worth  all  my 
labour  and  toil ;  yet,'  she  would  add,  '  why  do  I  thus 
speak? — perhaps  I  may  not  live  long.  It  is  much 
impressed  on  my  mind,  that  I  shall  soon  leave  you  to 
labour  alone  in  India.  It  is  not  for  me,  I  think,  to  be 
so  highly  favoured ;  but  I  hope  my  Saviour  will  be 
glorified,  either  by  my  life  or  by  death.  What,  if  I 
am  soon  to  be  called  away,  death  will  not  surprise  me. 
I  am  not  afraid  to  think  on  the  solemn  change  :  it  is  my 
privilege  to  feel,  that  to  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die 
is  gain  /' 

"  The  Lord's  Day  was  closely  observed  by  her.    She 


22  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

frequently  spent  the  whole  of  it  in  reading  and  prayer^ 
Her  soul  seemed  to  cry  out  for  the  house  of  the  Lord  ; 
and  she  longed  to  see  the  day  when  she  should  again 
worship  with  God's  people,  in  whom  she  took  delight. 
"When  thinking  of  the  privileges  w^hich  our  friends  in 
England  enjoyed,  she  would  watch  the  hours,  and  cal- 
culate the  time  when  many  of  her  Father's  household 
were  bowling  before  the  throne  of  grace  ;  and  would 
rejoice  if  any  part  of  the  divine  service  was  at  the  same 
time  performed  in  our  cabin. 

'^  On  the  first  Sunday  in  the  month  we  had  the  Lord's 
Supper.  This  she  enjoyed  very  highly  :  it  was  a  season 
when  she  more  particularly  spoke  of  the  interest  that 
she  felt  in  the  work  of  her  Redeemer ;  for  as  one  who 
spiritually  ate  the  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven, 
she  made  it  manifest  that  her  soul  was  nourishing  up 
to  eternal  life.  But  she  was  not  w^illing  to  possess 
these  blessings  alone ;  and  for  this  end  gave  herself  to 
prayer,  that  those  whom  she  had  left  behind  to  enjoy 
the  Christian  ordinances,  as  well  as  those  among  whom 
we  were  going,  might  rejoice  in  that  same  Divine  Lord, 
before  whom  we  all  must  soon  appear. 

"  When  the  sea  was  very  high,  and  the  wind  vehement, 
we  were  occasionally  deprived  of  light  in  our  cabin. 
At  such  seasons  she  used  to  employ  herself  in  reading 
by  a  lamp,  and  singing  hymns  ;  and  would  compare  our 
dark  situation  to  that  of  the  Christian  pilgrim  on  earth, 
who  walks  in  light  or  darkness,  as  it  pleases  his  heavenly 
Father,  expecting  that  his  days  of  gloom  will  soon  end, 
and  the  shadows  of  the  night  be  turned  into  eternal 


MRS.    WILSON.  23 

day.  Her  journal^  on  these  occasions,  breathes  a  blessed 
spirit  of  resignation  to  the  Divine  will,  and  shows  how 
near  she  was  living  to  God  in  holy  aspirations  and  a 
devout  mind.  Her  diaiy  closes  on  the  28th  of  July 
with  the  passage  of  Scripture  which  she  chose  for  her 
funeral  text :  Genesis  xlix.  18. — '  I  have  waited  for  thy 
salvation,  0  Lord  ! ' 

"  When  we  arrived  at  Madras,  her  mind  was  deeply 
affected  with  the  state  of  the  heathen.  For  a  few  of 
the  first  nights,  she  was  much  disturbed  by  the  drums 
and  other  instruments  which  they  use  in  their  supersti- 
tions and  feasts  :  this  led  her  to  fervent  prayer  that  the 
day  might  soon  come  when  they  would  remember  them- 
selves, and  turn  unto  the  Lord.  The  degraded  state  of 
the  females  and  children  was  a  grief  no  less  heavy  on 
her  mind,  and  excited  in  her  strong  d^ires  to  know  the 
lanofuacve,  that  she  might  at  least  have  a  little  school 
about  her. 

"  During  our  passage  to  Tranquebar,  it  was  pleasing 
to  witness  the  state  of  her  mind ;  prayer  seemed  to  be 
her  employment ;  and  conversation  on  the  shortness  of 
life  and  the  important  work  which  we  had  to  do,  was 
her  delight.  We  had  no  sooner  arrived  here,  than  she 
began  to  plan  her  time  for  devotional  exercises,  and  the 
study  of  the  language.  It  is  usual  to  take  exercise  in 
India  early  in  the  morning,  and  it  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  do  so  ;  but,  when  I  had  risen  for  this 
purpose,  never  could  I  prevail  on  her  to  go  out,  though 
she  rose  at  the  same  hour.  I  generally  left  her  engaged 
in  devotion,  and  as  often  found  her  when  I  returned 


24  BRITISH   FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

wrestling  with  God  in  prayer.  When  at  breakfast,  she 
generally  had  some  religious  book  with  her  ;  and  if 
she  could  get  but  a  few  minutes,  they  were  usually 
employed  in  reading  it.  At  noon  she  retired  for 
reading  the  Scriptures,  with  Scott's  notes,  and  prayers  : 
these  occasions  I  shall  ever  remember — how  much  of 
God  and  heaven  appeared  in  her  approaches  to  the 
throne  of  grace. 

"  Thus  had  she  been  long  preparing  for  heaven,  and 
was  like  a  shock  of  corn  fully  ripe  ;  but  the  time  was 
now  come,  when  her  knees  could  no  longer  bend  in 
prayer,  nor  her  eyes  trace  the  sacred  page." 

Mrs.  Wilson  had,  during  the  short  time  that  she  had 
resided  at  Tranquebar,  endeared  herself  to  all  connected 
with  the  mission  ;  and  the  journal  of  John  Devasa- 
gayam,  the  native  superintendant  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society's  schools  at  Tranquebar,  contains  many 
interesting  references  to  this  beloved  lady.  The  follow- 
mg  extracts  only  can  be  given,  as  they  are  needful  to 
supply  the  omission  of  facts  in  Mr.  Wilson's  me- 
moirs. 

"  Novemher  30.— Heard  that  Mrs.  Wilson  had  been 
delivered  of  a  dau filter.  In  our  evening  prayers  we 
praised  the  Lord  for  his  great  mercy. 

"  December  1.— After  morning  prayer  in  the  school, 
we  heard  that  Mrs.  Wilson's  child  died  last  night,  and 
was  buried  this  morning.  Mrs.  Wilson  is  danger- 
ously ill." 

Mrs.  Wilson's  experience  of  the  divine  consolation  of 
the  gospel,  during  her  illness,  corresponded  with   her 


MRS.    WILSON.  25 

profession  of  faith  on  the  Son  of  God,  and  finely  illus- 
trates the  efficacy  of  Christianity. 

Mr.  "Wilson  records,  "  When  her  illness  had  com- 
menced, she  soon  began  to  set  her  soul  in  order  for  the 
solemn  approach  of  death.  Her  mind  was  thoughtful, 
but  calm  and  cheerful  in  the  prospect  of  eternity :  she 
said  to  me,  '  I  think,  my  dear  husband,  we  must  now 
soon  part.  I  shall  shortly  leave  you  alone,  in  your 
blessed  Master  s  work :  the  Lord  is  now  calling  me 
home.'  Her  mind  was  much  affected  that  our  union 
should  be  so  soon  dissolved  upon  earth.  '  Oh  ! '  said 
she,  '  if  I  could  but  take  you  with  me  to  heaven,  then 
I  should  be  happy ; '  but  added,  '  though  I  love  you 
very  much,  I  love  my  Saviour  Jesus  far  better — we 
are  only  to  be  separated  for  a  short  time,  and  then  our 
union  will  be  consummated  in  glory.' 

"  Her  advice  to  me  on  this  occasion,  relative  to  do- 
mestic concerns  and  the  great  work  in  which  I  am 
engaged,  deserves  a  place  in  my  memory.  '  Oh ! 
remember,'  said  she,  '  what  a  serious  charge  you  have 
undertaken — Mind  that  you  be  faithful — preach  Jesus, 
and  him  crucified — tell  poor  heathens  of  his  love ;  but 
I  need  not  advise  you — I  know  you  will,  by  the  help 
of  God.' 

"  We  were  expecting  her  to  breathe  her  last :  she  lay 
in  agony  commending  herself  to  God,  saying,  '  There  is 
not  one  pain  too  many !  What  is  all  this  compared 
with  what  my  Saviour  suffered  ?  Oh,  pray  that  I  may 
not  repine  at  my  heavenly  Father's  will.  These 
will   soon   be   over !     Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit ! 


26  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Heaven  !  heaven  I  blessed  rest !  Jesus  is  now  precious, 
precious  to  me !  '  When  she  was  requested  to  keep 
herself  easy,  she  replied,  '  Oh  no  !  let  me  speak  of  the 
Saviour  while  I  can.  I  shall  soon  be  in  eternity  ! '  A 
few^  hours  before  her  death,  I  inquired  whether  she 
repented  that  she  had  come  out  to  India :  she  answered, 
with  peculiar  emphasis, — '  Repented  of  my  choice ! 
No,  no  !  I  have  never  once  repented  !  Tell  all  my 
dear  friends  that  I  die  quite  happy — all  has  been 
ordered  for  me  in  much  mercy  and  love  ! '  I  asked 
whether  she  had  anything  to  say  to  us  who  stood  by  ; 
she  said,  '  Make  yourself  a  friend  of  Jesus.'  As  to  her 
dear  friends  in  England,  she  said,  '  Give  my  love  to 
them,  and  tell  them  to  think  of  eternity^  These  were 
her  last  words  ;  and  shortly  she  slept  in  Jesus." 

Mrs.  Wilson  was  evidently  a  sincere  Christian,  who 
enjoyed  "fellowship  with  the  Father,  and  with  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ."  It  may,  however,  be  presumed, 
that  even  for  the  important  privileges  of  devotion,  she 
might  be  too  inattentive  to  her  health,  neglecting 
exercise  early  in  the  morning,  so  essential  to  Europeans 
in  India.  Still  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  pass  a  judgment, 
from  our  limited  knowledge  of  her  case  :  nevertheless  it 
may  furnish  a  profitable  hint  to  other  ladies  who  thus 
devote  themselves  to  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer  ! 


MRS.   HARVARD.* 

DIED    MARCH    5,     1823. 

Mrs.  Harvard  born  in  Kent. — Her  Parents  become  pious. — Her  Mother 
dies. — Her  Father's  Religion. — Her  own  spiritual  State  until  fifteen 
years  of  age. — Miss  Parks' active  Christian  zeal. — Her  Labours  as  a 
Sunday  School  Teacher. — Her  Religious  Advancement. — Her  Engage- 
ment to  Mr.  Harvard. — He  desires  to  become  a  Missionary. — Miss  Parka 
consents  to  accompany  him. — He  offers  himself  to  the  Wesleyan 
Society. — Renewal  of  the  East  India  Company's  Charter.' — Protection 
of  Missionaries  secured  by  Parliament. — Dr.  Coke  proposes  a  AVesleyan 

Mission  to  India Miss  Parks  willing  to  go  to  India. — Mr.  Harvard 

appointed  to  aid  Dr.  Coke,  who  marries  them Her  Father  consents,  and 

they  Embark  for  India — Their  Exercises  on  Shipboard. — Mrs.  Ault 
and  Dr.  Coke  die  on  the  Passage.— They  land  at  Bombay.— Their 
Reception. — They  remove  to  Ceylon.— Settle  at  Colombo. — Friends  in 
that  City. — A  Ceylonese  Nobleman.— Mr.  Harvard's  Endeavours  among 
the  Native  Females. —  Budliist  Idolatry. —  Conference  for  Ceylon. — 
Native  Preachers.— Budhist  Priests  ccmverted. — Mr.  Harvard  appointed 
to  Madras.— Another  Priest  converted. — Illness  of  Mr.  Harvard. — 
Voj'age  to  England.— Missionary  Friends  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.— 
Africans. — Touch  at  St.  Helena. — Land  at  Falmouth. — Attend  the 
Bristol  Conference. — Mr.  Harvard  stationed  at  Deal.^ — And  Colchester. 
— Death  and  Character  of  Mrs.  Harvard. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Harvard,  wife  of  the  Rev.  W.  H. 
Harvard,  for  several  years  a  Wesleyan  missionary  in 
Ceylon,  was  born  November  3,  1788,  at  Sittingbourne, 
in  Kent.  Her  parents  were  named  Parks,  in  respect- 
able circumstances  :  but  for  some  years  after  her  birth 
they  seem  to  have  been  only  nominal  Christians. 
During  her  infancy,  however,  they  possessed  the  power 

*  See  "  Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Harvard,  late  of  the  Wesleyan  Mission 
to  Ceylon  and  India,  with  extracts  from  her  Diary  and  Correspondence. 
By  her  Husband,  price  1*.  6d.,  Mason,  London." 


28  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

of  religion,  by  a  saving  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus. 

Mrs.  Parks  died  of  consumption  in  the  year  1799, 
leaving  the  character  of  an  Israelite  indeed,  manifesting 
the  lovely  spirit  of  genuine  Christianity  :  she  departed 
this  life  witnessing  a  good  confession,  and  piously 
committing  her  husband  and  their  eight  children  to  the 
care  and  protection  of  her  faithful  Creator.  And  that 
gracious  Providence  in  which  she  had  trusted,  raised  up 
a  pious  and  tender  mother  to  them,  by  their  father's 
second  marriage,  and  a  kind  and  helpful  fellow-traveller 
with  him  on  the  road  to  the  heavenly  Zion. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parks  having  become  the  subjects  of 
heartfelt  religion,  their  family  became  what  might  be 
properly  termed  a  religious  household.  Within  their 
domestic  circle  the  Sabbath  was  respected,  and  kept 
holy  ;  the  public  ordinances  of  God  were  observed ;  his 
divine  authority  acknowledged  in  holy  habits  of  life; 
and  worship  rendered  to  Him  morning  and  evening. 
At  those  seasons  of  family  exercise,  Mr.  Parks  regu- 
larly read  the  Scriptures,  his  wife  keeping  order  among 
the  little  ones,  while  their  father  offered  some  expository 
remarks  on  the  lesson ;  a  short  hymn  was  generally 
sung,  and  prayer  offered  up  to  our  heavenly  Father. 
"Diligent  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the 
Lord,"  was  the  family  motto  ;  and  Mr.  Parks  found 
by  happy  experience  that  "  godliness  is  profitable  imto 
all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of 
that  which  is  to  come." 

Miss  Parks  profited  by  her  religious  privileges ;  and 


MRS.    HARVARD.  29 

the  measure  of  her  improvement  will,  in  some  degree, 
appear  from  the  following  extracts  of  an  account  of  her 
religious  experiences,  written  for  the  private  perusal  of 
a  friend. 

"  I  can  remember  that  at  a  very  early  period  the 
Spirit  of  God  strove  with  me.  My  father  constantly 
attended  to  the  Christian  duty  of  reading  and  ex- 
pounding the  Holy  Scriptures  in  his  family.  For  this 
I  shall  ever  have  reason  to  bless  God. 

"  When  about  eight  years  of  age,  I  w^as  greatly 
affected  while  hearing  my  dear  father  read  the  ninth 
psalm.  The  seventeenth  verse  especially  struck  me; 
and  I  was  filled  with  amazement  at  the  awful  condition 
into  which  I  then  saw  I  had  been  brought  by  my 
childish  thoughtlessness  and  folly.  '  The  wicked  shall 
be  turned  into  hell,  and  all  the  nations  that  forget  God.' 
I  knew  that  I  had  forgotten  God ;  and  heartily  longed 
that  I  might  forget  him  no  more.  At  that  time  I  had 
not  a  clear  understanding  of  the  way  in  which  the 
guilt  of  my  past  sins  might  be  removed.  I  resolved, 
however,  to  be  more  attentive  to  the  concerns  of  my 
soul  for  the  future ;  and  to  endeavour  to  cherish  in  my 
heart,  more  frequently,  devout  recollections  of  God  and 
heavenly  things.  It  occurred  to  my  mind  that  if  I 
thought  of  Him  once  a  day,  it  would  be  enough :  but 
this  did  not  satisfy  me.  I  felt,  to  my  constant  uneasi- 
ness and  dread,  that  my  foolish  heart  was  prone  to 
forget  and  to  wander  from  God ;  and  was  often  led  to 
fear,  lest,  after  all  my  advantages,  I  should  at  last  be 
turned  into  hell  with  all  the  nations  that  forget  God. 


30  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

But  alas !  tlieso  powerful  and  salutary  convictions 
wore  off.  I  again  forgot  God  and  my  own  soul ;  and 
through  the  dissipation  of  childish  vanities,  continued 
in  that  state  of  mind  until  I  was  full  eleven  years 
of  age  ;  when  it  pleased  God,  by  a  rapid  consumption, 
to  remove  from  this  world  my  most  tender  and  affec- 
tionate mother,  leaving  eight  children  (and  six  of  them 
younger  than  myself)  to  mourn  her  loss. 

"  My  dear  mother  died  exceedingly  happy,  triumph- 
ing in  God,  and  professing  the  fullest  assurance  of  a 
glorious  resurrection.  During  her  last  illness  I  was 
very  much  with  her  ;  and  frequently  neither  the  nurse 
nor  my  father  could  prevail  on  me  to  leave  the  room. 
Sometimes  I  was  employed  in  reading  to  her,  when  she 
used  to  talk  most  sweetly  to  me  respecting  the  interest 
of  my  soul,  entreating  me  to  seek  the  Lord  in  my 
youth,  and  not  to  defer  it  to  a  death-bed.  '  Health,' 
she  would  say,  '  is  the  time  to  seek  the  Lord.' 

"  After  her  death,  the  nurse,  who  was  a  religious 
person,  told  me  my  mother  was  gone  to  glory  ;  and  in 
my  anxious  inquiries,  endeavoured  to  describe  to  me 
that  glorious  heaven  to  which  she  had  been  removed. 
This  made  me  earnestly  wish  to  follow  lier  there.  But 
the  thought,  '  I  am  not  fit  for  glory,'  thrilled  through 
my  heart,  and  filled  me  with  unspeakable  distress.  I 
begged  of  the  nurse  to  instruct  me  in  the  way  of  being 
made  meet  for  this  happy  state  ;  and  when  she  told  me 
to  seek  the  Lord  by  prayer,  the  dying  advice  and 
cautions  of  my  departed  parent  were  brought  afresh  to 
my  mind  ;  and  the  good  Spirit  striving  with  me  again 


MRS.    HARVARD.  31 

I  saw  more  fully  my  danger  as  a  sinner,  my  unhappi- 
ness  increasinof  so  miicli  that  I  knew  not  what  to  do. 

"  My  dear  father,  jDerceiving  my  uneasiness,  inquired 
one  day  into  the  cause  of  it.  ('  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my 
soul ;  and  all  that  is  within  me  bless  his  holy  name !') 
On  my  informing  him,  with  tears,  that  I  felt  I  was  a 
poor  lost  sinner,  he  expressed  the  pleasure  it  gave  him 
to  find  my  trouble  arising  from  that  cause,  and  endea- 
voured to  lead  my  soul  to  the  Saviour.  From  that 
time,  he  seemed  ever  to  have  his  eye  on  my  soul's  wel- 
fare. Often  has  he  embraced  opportunities  of  convers- 
sing  with  me,  and  encouraging  me,  when  I  have  hap- 
pened to  be  with  him ;  and  I  know  I  shall  have  cause 
to  bless  the  name  of  the  Lord  for  such  a  parent.  But 
it  was  not  only  for  myself  that  I  felt  concerned — the 
eternal  interests  of  my  beloved  brothers  and  sisters  lay 
very  near  my  heart.  I  could  not  but  tenderly  love 
them,  even  for  the  sake  of  my  dear  and  lamented 
mother,  knowing  how  greatly  we  were  all  loved  by 
her. 

"  After  twelve  months,  my  serious  impressions  were 
in  some  measure  counteracted,  if  not  effaced,  by  the 
company  and  pursuits  of  my  early  associates ;  and  then 
I  thought,  as  I  was  still  but  very  young,  I  would  be 
as  others  of  my  own  age  a  little  longer — at  all  events, 
until  I  should  be  fifteen,  when  it  was  my  decided  pur- 
pose heartily  to  enter  on  the  service  of  God.  My 
childish  heart  was  io;norant  of  Satan's  devices.  Though 
this  procrastination  caused  me  to  relax  in  some  of  my 
secret  duties  of  self-examination  and  prayer,  I  continued 


32  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

to  attend  public  and  family  exercises  of  religious  wor- 
ship ;  and  was  unable,  after  all,  to  avoid  being  some- 
times very  unhappy  on  account  of  my  sins.  But  yet 
it  was  a  very  plausible  plea,  by  which  the  vile  enemy 
of  souls  kept  my  heart  from  God.  0  !  the  long  for- 
bearance of  God  with  me !  Had  I  died  in  that  state, 
without  doubt  I  should  have  been  lost  to  all  eternity. 

"  Arriving  at  the  prescribed  age  of  fifteen,  on  my 
birth-day  my  procrastinating  promise  was  brought  with 
a, peculiar  force  to  my  mind  ;  my  convictions  of  sin  and 
danger  became  stronger  than  ever ;  and  though  I  can- 
not say  that  I  was  at  that  time  fully  converted  to  God, 
yet,  by  the  gracious  influence  of  the  ever-blessed  Spirit, 
I  was  then  again  brought  to  return  to  the  Lord,  never  more, 
I  trust,  to  wander  from  him.  Retiring  into  an  apart- 
ment alone,  I  humbly  and  penitently  bemoaned  my  past 
levity ;  and  solemnly  begged  of  God  that,  for  the  sake 
of  Jesus  Christ,  he  would  help  me  to  seek  him  in 
earnest. 

"  By  the  grace  of  God,  I  was  now  enabled  to  read 
the  Bible  with  more  seriousness  and  holy  determination, 
and,  I  hope,  with  more  self  application  and  profit.  The 
Olney  hymns  were  rendered  useful,  and  were  very  fami- 
liar to  my  mind ;  and  I  derived  great  pleasure  from 
reading  the  memoirs  of  pious  characters,  whose  holy 
and  useful  lives  have  been  closed  by  happy  and  trium- 
phant deaths.  It  pleased  the  Lord,  however,  to  make 
me  more  sensible  of  the  vilencss  and  depravity  of  my 
fallen  nature,  and  not  to  suff'er  me  to  find  any  lasting 
comfort  in  anything  short  of  the  light  of  his  counte- 


MRS.    HARVARD.  33 

Miss  Parks  exhibits,  in  this  brief  outline  of  her 
spiritual  character,  the  case  of  thousands  of  young 
persons  who  have  been  favoured  with  the  invaluable 
privilege  of  a  religious  education  :  such  need  the  wise 
counsel  of  an  experienced  pastor  or  parent  to  guide 
them  in  seeking  the  full  enjoyment  of  sacred  liberty,  in 
the  spirit  of  adoption,  "  the  Spirit  itself  bearing  witness 
with  their  spirits  that  they  are  the  children  of  God." 
That  high  privilege  Miss  Parks  afterwards  attained,  by 
which,  "  she  rejoiced  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory ; "  and  having  been  so  favoured,  she  was  soon 
persuaded  by  a  friend  to  engage  herself  as  a  teacher  in 
the  Sunday-school,  at  the  Land  of  Promise,  in  Iloxton, 
her  father  leaving  Kent  to  reside  near  London.  In- 
fluenced by  love  to  souls,  she  aimed  to  lead  her  pupils 
to  an  acquaintance,  not  only  with  letters,  but  w4th  them- 
selves as  sinners,  and  with  the  doctrines  of  salvation  by 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Thus  she  found  high  satisfaction 
in  her  Sabbath  occupation ;  and  that  God  has  con- 
nected with  the  proper  discharge  of  the  duties  of  a 
Sunday-school  teacher,  a  divine  reward  of  his  blessing. 
Besides  her  engagements  at  the  school,  she  redeemed 
leisure  to  visit  the  sick  children,  to  seek  those  w^ho 
were  wandering,  and  to  distribute  religious  tracts ;  and 
in  these  services  she  w^as  engaged  for  several  years. 
The  following  extracts  of  her  diary  will  illustrate  her 
state  of  mind  in  her  twenty-second  year  : — 

'•^Sunday,  March  3r<i,  1810. — At  family- worship 
this  morning,  my  father  read,  Matthew  xiii.  'Lord,  may 
my  heart  be  like  the  good  ground;  may  I  hear  and 
D 


34  BRITISH       FEMALE   MISSIONARIES. 

keep  thy  word.'  In  the  forenoon  heard  Mr.  Campbell 
with  much  profit,  from  Rev.  ii.  8 — 17?  on  the  hidden 
manna^  and  the  ichite  stone.  Thank  God  for  the  good 
I  received.  After  dinner  I  went  to  school  as  usual,  had 
a  goodly  company  of  children,  and  felt  my  heart  much 
interested  in  their  improvement  and  salvation.  Lord, 
give  me  to  feel  more  of  the  worth  of  souls.  May  the 
dear  children  lie  very  near  my  heart.  Help  me  to  do 
all  things  for  thy  glory. 

"  Tuesday^  bth. — This  morning  I  awoke  in  great 
depression,  owing  to  a  severe  trial  through  which  I 
have  lately  been  called  to  pass;  and  I  felt  a  strong 
temptation  not  to  return  thanks  for  again  having  been 
brought  to  see  the  morning  light !  But  I  bless  God  I 
had  grace  to  resist  the  shameful  thought ;  and  in  a 
measure,  I  trust,  came  off  more  than  conqueror. 

*''  Sunday^  l^th. — Last  evening  my  heart  was  much 
drawn  out  in  prayer  that  this  might  prove  a  profitable 
Sabbath  to  my  soul,  and  that  I  might  have  that  sweet 
union  and  communion  with  God  which  would  afford 
me  a  foretaste  of  the  eternal  Sabbath ;  and  I  bless  the 
Lord  that  my  prayer  has  been  heard  and  answered. 
At  the  school  this  morning,  I  felt  my  mind  and  heart 
much  eno-aofed  for  the  real  welfare  of  the  dear  children 
committed  to  our  care. 

"  After  taking  tea  with  Mrs.  S this  afternoon, 

her  husband  prayed  :  she  then  took  me  into  her  chamber 
alone,  and  we  there  had  a  refreshing  season  in  prayer 
together.  In  the  evening,  at  City  Road,  heard  Mr. 
Kelk,  from,  '  Say  ye  to  the  righteous,  it  shall  be  well 


MRS.    HARVARD.  35 

with  him/  &c.  We  had  a  most  excellent  and  profitable 
discourse.  Lord,  impress  on  my  mind  what  I  have 
heard  this  day." 

INIiss  Parks  had  already  been  engaged  to  Mr. 
Harvard,  one  of  the  Wesleyan  preachers,  with  whom 
she  had  been  long  acquainted,  and,  he  says,  "  I  had 
long  entertained  serious  intentions  of  being  proposed  as 
a  Missionary  to  the  degraded  and  enslaved  Africans,  in 
the  West  Indies."  On  his  communicating  his  feelings  by 
letter  to  his  beloved  friend,  she  gave  him  a  favourable 
reply.  She  says,  "  Before  I  opened  your  letter,  being 
apprised  of  its  contents,  I  went  to  the  Lord  in  prayer, 
begging  that  he  would  enable  me  to  consider  your 
communication  with  calmness  and  resignation  to  the 
Divine  will ;  and  after  I  had  read  it,  I  was  led  to  follow 
the  example  of  Hezekiah ;  and  spreading  the  letter 
before  the  Lord,  entreated  him  to  direct  us  both  in  the 
right  way. — Should  you  be  appointed  by  Conference,  I 
hope  I  shall  be  able  to  afford  you  a  proof  of  my  regard  ; 
for  I  have  now  left  it  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord.  It  is 
my  own  desire  to  be  useful,  whether  in  my  native  land, 
or  on  a  foreign  shore.  I  feel  my  own  weakness  :  but 
surely,  shall  one  say,  '  In  the  Lord  have  I  righteousness 
and  strength  : '  and  to  me,  Christ  is  all  and  in  all." 

Mr.  Harvard  having  offered  himself  for  Missionary 
service,  was  accepted ;  but  some  of  his  friends  advised 
him  rather  to  direct  his  attention  to  the  East  than 
the  West  Indies,  and  to  wait  the  openings  of  Provi- 
dence. His  wishes  were  now  made  known  to  many, 
and  Miss  Parks  was  regarded  with  increasing  friend- 
D  2 


36  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

ship  by  the  Ministers  of  their  society  in  London,  and 
looked  upon  as  a  future  female  Missionary. 

Divine  Providence  appeared  to  open  a  wide  door  in 
the  year  1813,  especially  by  the  renewal  of  the  East 
India  Company's  Charter.  Religious  liberty  gained  a 
most  glorious  triumph  over  avarice  and  infidelity  in  the 
new  charter :  for  Christians  of  various  classes,  especially 
the  "  Ministers  of  the  Three  Denominations  in  London 
and  Westminster,"  the  committees  of  the  London  and 
Baptist  Missionary  Societies,  who  had  Missionaries  in 
India,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
and  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge, 
sent  900  petitions  to  Parliament,  for  permission  to 
propagate  the  gospel  in  Hindostan ;  and  after  great 
opposition,  a  clause,  introduced  by  the  government,  was 
carried  in  the  House  of  Lords,  July  20th,  securing 
protection  to  Christian  Missionaries  residing  in  India ! 

Mr.  Harvard  remarks,  in  relation  to  this  auspicious 
event :  "  To  this  period,  India  had  appeared  entirely 
closed  as  to  the  probability  of  establishing  a  Wesleyan 
Mission  within  its  boundaries  ; "  and  some  of  her  friends 
opposed  Miss  Parks'  leaving  England :  but  the  new 
East  Indian  policy  encouraged  her;  "and  when  the 
late  admirable  and  venerable  Doctor  Coke  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  Mission  to  Ceylon,  she  had  the 
honour  to  be  the  first  female  who  put  her  hand  to  the 
plough ;  and  this  when  she  had  no  expectation  of  any 
female  companion."  Her  state  of  mind  may  be  learned 
from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter,  dated  July 
17th,  1813. 


MRS.    HARVARD.  37 

"  My  dear  father  has  been  conversing  with  a  friend 
upon  the  East  India  business  ;  from  whom  I  under- 
stand he  intends  to  oppose  my  going,  if  he  can.  He 
says,  he  feels  it  impossible  to  give  his  consent  to  my 
going.  Dear  man  !  No  doubt  he  feels :  but  I  hope 
the  Lord  will  enable  him  to  make  the  sacrifice,  should 
the  Conference  appoint  you  to  the  Mission.  Pray  for 
him.  I  must  get  you  to  write  to  him.  However,  I 
am  firm.  If  the  Lord  will  that  you  go,  I  am  ready  to 
accompany  you  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Hearing  of 
my  fathers  feelings  on  the  subject  rather  discomposed 
my  mind ;  but  I  wish  to  leave  it  all  in  the  hands  of  our 
God,  trusting  in  him  to  make  rough  places  plain,  and 
crooked  paths  straight  before  me." 

"  Her  zeal  and  firmness  in  this  new  and  difficult 
engagement,"  says  Mr.  Harvard,  "  gave  her  a  consider- 
able share  of  the  esteem  of  the  venerable  founder  of  the 
Mission ;  who  used  every  means  in  his  power  to  recon- 
cile the  minds  of  her  father  and  family  to  her  Mis- 
sionary prospects  ;  and  not  altogether  without  success. 
And  it  was  as  an  expression  of  his  regard,  that  the  Doctor 
engaged  to  perform  the  service  at  her  marriage,  which 
took  place  on  the  23rd  of  November,  and  honoured  the 
nuptial  party  with  his  presence  and  prayer  in  the  after 
part  of  the  day." 

Mr.  Parks  at  length  consented  to  his  daughter  pro- 
ceeding with  her  husband  to  India ;  and  early  in 
December  they  hastened  to  the  south  coast  to  embark 
for  the  East.  "  She  had  in  her  previous  life,"  says  Mr. 
Harvard,  "  appeared  to  manifest  a  highly  nervous  timi- 


38  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

dity  ;  yet  when  walking  from  Portsea  to  Portsmouth, 
she  for  the  first  time  in  her  life  saw  the  ocean,  and 
heard  its  rolling  waves  thundering  upon  the  shore, — 
with  the  self-command  of  a  missionary  heroine,  she 
cheerfully  expressed  the  pleasure  she  felt  on  being  so 
contiguous  to  the  mighty  element  which  was  about  to 
convey  us  to  the  unenlightened  inhabitants  of  Asia." 

Mrs.  Harvard,  writing  from  Portsea  to  her  parents, 
remarks,  "  I  fully  expected  to  be  a  little  frightened 
with  my  first  view  of  the  sea ;  but  was  not  in  the 
least.  I  feel  I  am  in  the  hands  of  a  praying  father^ 
and  a  good  God ;  and  about  to  embark  in  a  good 
cause ;  and  this  affords  me  great  comfort ;  and, 
by  divine  grace,  renders  my  heart  equal  to  my  circum- 
stances.'' They  embarked  at  Portsmouth  Point,  De- 
cember 31,  1813,  on  board  the  Honourable  Company's 
ship  Cabalva,  with  their  missionary  colleagues.  Rev. 
B.  Clough,  and  Dr.  Coke :  with  an  agreeable  large 
family  of  cabin  passengers,  and  an  excellent  com- 
mander. 

"  The  parental  affection  which  our  venerable  leader 
cherished  for  her,"  Mr.  Harvard  writes,  "  met  all  the 
returns  of  a  daughter's  regard.  It  was  her  hapjDiness 
to  have  it  in  her  power  to  be  frequent  in  offices  of  kind- 
ness and  attention  towards  that  truly  good,  gTeat,  and 
invaluable  man.  And  she  considered  herself  well 
repaid  in  his  friendly  and  patriarchal  visits,  in  his 
enlivening  and  edifying  conversation,  and  in  his  ardent 
prayers  for  herself  and  hers.  The  Rev.  B.  Clough  was 
tenderly  recognised  by  her  as  a  brother;  and  the  regard 


MRS.    HARVARD.  39 

was  mutual.  Our  daily  seasons  of  devotion  were 
interesting  and  memorable.  In  the  evening  we  gene- 
rally sang  together  in  our  apartment  some  Portuguese 
hymn,  composed  by  Dr.  Coke  in  -the  previous  part  of 
the  day :  and  thus  our  foreign  engagements  became 
anticipated,  before  we  had  reached  our  place  of  destina- 
tion and  labour." 

Their  long  voyage  was  prosperous;  but  a  gloom 
overspread  the  devoted  band.  "  Early  in  February," 
says  Mr.  Harvard,  "the  respected  Mrs.  Ault  was 
removed  by  death  ;  and  on  the  3rd  of  May,  our  mission 
family  were  bereaved  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Coke. 
Mrs,  Harvard  mourned  for  him  as  for  a  beloved  parent : 
and  in  the  various  anxieties  in  which  his  death  involved 
us,  she  was  forward  to  bear  her  part ;  encouraging  us 
to  prosecute  the  great  object  of  our  mission,  with  all 
those  Christian  considerations,  with  which,  from  a 
child,  it  was  her  happiness  to  have  been  made  familiar. 
Her  affection  for  the  Doctor  led  her  to  obtain  several 
locks  of  his  silvered  hair ;  with  small  portions  of  which 
she  afterwards  found  a  pleasure  in  gratifying  his  per- 
sonal friends  on  her  return  to  England." 

They  reached  Bombay  on  Saturday,  May  21,  1814  : 
"  but  as  missionaries,  unknown,  unexpected,  and  even 
undesired,"  Mr.  Harvard  remarks,  "  we  were  thankful 
to  accept  the  kind  invitation  of  our  esteemed  captain  to 
make  his  vessel  our  home,  until  we  were  provided  with 
a  residence  on  shore.  And  this  accommodation  was 
continued  to  us  for  some  days.  The  difficulties  of  our 
situation  arose  principally  from  the  loss  of  our  venerable 


40  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

leader  :  a  strong  and  prevailing  antipathy  to  missionary 
objects,  at  that  juncture,  tended  to  increase  our  difficul- 
ties. At  length,  by  the  goodness  of  God,  our  path 
began  to  brighten,  and  our  friends  to  multiply. 
Through  the  kind  offices  of  Captain  Birch,  we  were 
interested  in  the  friendly  regards  of  W.  T.  Money,  Esq., 
one  of  the  principal  merchants  in  Bombay ;  whose  lady 
invited  Mrs.  Harvard  on  shore,  and,  with  some  other 
ladies,  was  particularly  kind  to  her.  The  late  worthy 
Sir  Evan  Nepean,  Bart.,  the  Governor,  having  desired 
that  we  would  occupy  one  of  his  own  country  houses 
during  our  continuance  at  Bombay,  after  dining  at  Mr. 
Money's  on  the  first  day  of  Mrs.  Harvard's  landing,  we 
were  conveyed  in  his  carriage  to  the  Governor's  man- 
sion, or  rather  palace,  at  Parell,  about  six  miles  in  the 
country." 

During  their  stay  at  Bombay,  which  was  about 
eight  months,  Mrs.  Harvard's  first  child  was  bom, 
September  27th ;  and  they  made  acquaintance  with 
several  valuable  friends,  particularly  the  Rev.  S. 
Newell,  American  Missionary,  recently  become  a  wi- 
dower, by  the  loss  of  his  singularly  excellent  wife, 
Mrs.  Harriet  Newell.  They  proceeded  in  a  small  vessel 
of  sixty  tons  to  Ceylon.  From  this  place  Mrs. 
Harvard  writes  to  her  parents. 

"  Colombo,  Ceylon,  March  2Qth,  1815.— By  the 
Divine  blessing  we  were  brought  in  safety  to  Point-de- 
Galle,  on  the  24th  of  last  month,  after  a  most  perilous 
voyage  from  Bombay.  We  remained  three  weeks  at 
the  former  place  with  brother  Clough ;  who  gave  us  an 


MRS.    HARVARD.  41 

affectionate  welcome,  and  made  iis  feel  quite  at  home 
at  his  delightful  missionary  residence.  We  arrived  at 
this  place  on  Tuesday  the  21st.  Our  journey  was  per- 
formed in  bullock-carts  ;  the  distance  is  about  eighty 
miles  :  and  we  were  six  days  on  the  road  !  Europeans 
are  generally  carried  in  palanquins,  when  on  a  journey  ; 
but  as  the  Koolies,  or  palanquin-carriers,  are  now  so 
much  eno-acred  in  the  interior,  we  had  no  alternative. 

"  Ceylon,  and  especially  that  part  of  it  where  we  are 
stationed,  is  generally  reckoned  by  all  old  Indians 
(Europeans  who  have  been  long  in  India)  to  be  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  countries  in  this  quarter  of  the  globe. 
It  abounds  with  cocoa-nuts,  coffee,  and  cinnamon ;  with 
plantains,  oranges,  and  pine-apples ;  and  a  plentiful 
variety  of  excellent  Indian  fruits.  It  also  produces  the 
diamond,  the  pearl,  and  other  precious  stones.  And, 
what  is  best  of  all,  with  reference  to  its  religious  aspect, 
the  fields  are  white  already  to  harvest ;  but,  alas  !  '  the 
labourers  are  few.'  O !  that  tlie  Lord  of  the  harvest 
would  send  forth  more  labourers  into  this  part  of  his 
vineyard  !  Thirty  missionaries  would  be  but  a  scanty 
supply  for  the  work  that  is  to  be  done. 

"  W has  waited  on  the  senior  chaplain  (the  late 

Hon.  and  Dr.  Twistleton),  and  found  him  very  friendly. 
The  other  chaplain,  tlie  Rev.  G.  Bisset,  is  on  a  Bible 
Society  journey.  I  understand  they  are  both  friends  to 
the  missionary  work.  We  have  formed  an  acquaint- 
ance with  Mr,  and  Mrs.  Chater  of  the  Baptist  Mission. 
They  are  pious ;  and  I  hope  to  find  a  Christian  friend 
and  sister  in  Mrs;  C.      Also   with  a  Mr.  and  Mrs. 


42  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Amour.  Mr.  A.  was  formerly  a  member  of  our  Society 
in  Ireland  and  in  Gibraltar,  and  is  now  employed  by 
Government  to  preach  to  the  native  Singhalese  and 
Portuguese.  On  Good  Friday  we  had  an  excellent 
sermon  at  church  from  Dr.  Twisleton.  His  subject  was 
the  atonement  of  Christ.  The  same  day  we  dined  with 
our  Baptist  friends ;  and  in  the  evening  saw  the  Gover- 
nor come  in  from  the  Kandian  country,  where  he  has 
been  to  organise  the  newly-acquired  territory.  A  few 
of  the  natives  have  been  truly  converted  to  God  ;  and 
brother  Clouoh  has  been  made  an  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  God  in  the  conversion  of  one  of  the  principal 
native  priests.  Yesterday,  Easter  Monday,  I  was 
much  pleased  in  seeing  about  three  hundred  children 
assembled  in  the  Wolfendahl  Dutch  church,  to  whom 
W preached,  through  an  interpreter,  from — '  Re- 
member now  thy  Creator,'  &c.  Tlie  greater  part  were 
the  children  of  native  heathens.  May  these  dear  little 
ones  be  drawn  from  the  errors  and  vices  of  their  parents. 
"While  at  Point- de-Galle,  I  had  the  honour  of  a  visit 
from  a  moodeliar,  or  native  nobleman,  of  that  district, 
accompanied  by  his  wife,  and  a  long  train  of  attendants. 
They  came  in  kindness  to  welcome  me  to  their  country. 
Mr.  Clough's  house  has  been  freely  furnished  by  the 
generosity  of  this  moodeliar ;  and  his  son,  we  believe, 
has  a  good  work  of  grace  begun  in  his  soul.  He  holds 
a  respectable  place  under  Government ;  but  willingly 
acted  as  interpreter;  while  brother  Lynch  preached 
a  sermon  to  his  poorer  countrymen,  on  the  lawn  of 
Mr.  Clough's  house." 


MRS.    HARVARD.  43 

Mr.  Harvard  states  :—"  On  the  4th  of  June,  1815, 
our  Colombo  Sunday-school  was  commenced,  which 
afforded  Mrs.  Harvard  an  opportunity  of  having  a 
number  of  Ceylonese  females  placed  under  her  more 
immediate  care.  The  whole  of  the  female  department 
was  superintended  by  herself ;  and  her  pupils  will  long 
preserve  a  recollection  of  her  regard  for  them."  She 
accompanied  her  husband  on  several  missionary  tours ; 
and  while  she  beheld  the  abominable  idolatries  of  the 
people,  her  soul  was  stirred  within  her  on  contemplat- 
ing their  dangerous  follies.  In  a  letter  to  her  father, 
she  writes : — 

'•^  Pomt-de-Galle^  Ceylon^  March  1816. — By  a  box 
we  have  been  sending  off  to  our  Missionary  Committee, 
we  have  forwarded  to  you  one  of  the  most  important 
articles  which  can  be  produced  by  the  natives  of  this 
country — a  god  !  or  rather,  an  idol !  The  name  of  the 
deity  is  Budha.  The  religion  of  which  he  is  the  object 
is  the  prevalent  one  in  this  island,  two-thirds  of  the 
inhabitants  professing  subjection  to  it.  The  image  you 
will  have  is  only  a  few  inches  high  ;  but  in  some  of  the 
temples  the  idol  may  be  seen  lying  on  one  side,  between 
twenty  and  thirty  feet  long.  Five  or  six  of  the  priests 
have  embraced  Christianity.  One  of  these  is  with  the 
brethren  at  this  station,  and  another  resides  at  Co- 
lombo." 

Again,  in  a  letter  to  her  parents,  she  writes  : — 

'•^  Missionary -House  ^  Colombo,  Auyust  26^  1816. — "We 
have  just  had  our  small  conference  for  Ceylon.  The 
newly-arrived  brethren   made  up  the  number  of  ten 


44  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

missionaries  ! — a  very  reviving  sight  in  this  distant  and 
dark  part  of  the  earth.  Tlie  hrethren  have  at  this  con- 
ference taken  out  upon  trial  two  native  missionaries ; 
one  a  respectable,  country-born,  young  man,  and  the 
other  a  native  Malabar,  recently  a  Mahometan.  This 
letter  is  written  in  our  new  mission-house  :  the  chapel 
will  be  opened  before  the  end  of  the  year.  We  have  a 
very  pretty  and  compact  estate  here  ;  it  includes  in  one 
compound,  a  chapel,  dwelling-house,  printing-office, 
bookbinder's  rooms,  a  type-foundry,  school-room,  &c. 
&c.  It  is  situated  in  a  healthy  part  of  the  Pettah,  or 
suburb  native  town.  The  Colombo  chapel  is  the  iirst 
that  has  been  erected  by  our  denomination  in  this 
quarter  of  the  globe.     Glory  to  our  God ! 

"  We  have  lately  had  another  Budhist  priest,  a  man 
of  great  learning  and  influence,  brought  to  embrace  the 
religion  of  our  Lord.  You  will  have  an  account  of  him 
in  our  Magazine  in  England.  His  name  is  George 
Nadoris.  When  speaking  of  the  Almighty,  he  always 
says,  '  My  God/  A  few  months  ago  this  priest  was 
ignorant  as  to  who  made  him,  and  the  world  in  which 
he  lives,  and  the  heavens  above  him.  Indeed,  he  says, 
it  never  occurred  to  him  that  there  was  any  great 
Creator.     Before  he  left  his  temple,  where  he  was  the 

chief  priest,  he  invited  W to  preach  there  ;  and  I 

had  the  pleasure  to  hear  him  discourse,  in  consequence, 
at  the  temple- door,  to  a  congregation  of  Budhist  priests 
and  others,  from  1  Cor.  viii.  4. — '  We  know  that  an 
idol  is  nothing  in  the  world,  and  that  there  is  none 
other  Gods  but  one.'     One  of  the  provincial  judges  was 


MRS.    HARVARD.  45 

present.  I  afterwards  went  with  our  party  to  inspect 
the  priest's  dwelling-house  and  his  library,  which  is  a 
very  extensive  and  valuable  one,  containing  many  royal 
and  noble  presents,  which  he  received  in  the  countries 
where  he  has  travelled ;  but  all  this  he  has  lost  by 
embracing  Christianity." 

Mr.  Harvard  having  received  an  appointment  to 
proceed  to  Madras,  by  the  Missionary  Committee  in 
London,  Mrs.  Harvard  adds  in  her  letter : — "  The 
climate  of  Madras  is  much  hotter  than  that  of  Colombo ; 
and  feeling  greatly  relaxed  here,  of  course  we  shall  feel 
much  more  so  there.  However,  I  am  willing  to  go 
anywhere  where  God  may  call  us,  even  to  the  end  of 
the  earth.  I  should  be  happy  to  traverse  those  parts 
of  Africa  where  our  friend  Mr.  Campbell  has  been. 
I  feel  my  mind  quite  given  up  to  the  missionary  work. 
I  should  like  to  go  from  hut  to  hut,  and  talk  to  the 
poor  heathen." 

Mr.  Harvard  referring  to  the  opening  of  the  new 
chapel  at  Colombo,  December  22,  1816,  called  "The 
Wesleyan  Mission-House,"  remarks: — "She  claimed 
the  honour  of  making  with  her  own  hands  the  cushion 
which  was  to  bear  the  pulpit-Bible.  By  the  blessing 
of  God,  our  Colombo  Sunday-school  prepared  the  minds 
of  the  native  objects  of  our  mission  for  the  establish- 
ment of  day-schools  for  the  youth  of  both  sexes.  The 
female  department  of  each  school  on  the  Colombo  sta- 
tion, naturally  fell  under  Mrs.  Havard's  superintendence ; 
and  in  this  new  labour  of  love,  she  greatly  rejoiced  to  be 
employed." 


46  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Mrs.  Harvard  writes  again  to  her  father  : — 
^^  Mission- House^  Nov.  28,  1817. — I  believe  in  my 
last  I  told  you  we  have  several  more  Budhist  priests  in 
a  very  hopeful  state  of  mind.  One  of  them  has,  I  trust, 
been  brought  in  sincerity  to  worship  the  true  God.  He 
appears  to  be  a  happy  Christian,  and  loves  divine  things 
so  far  as  he  is  enlightened.  He  has  travelled  in  several 
countries,  being  a  friend  of  George  Nadoris,  the  cele- 
brated Ava  priest.  He  is  living  with  our  brother 
Newstead,  at  Negombo,  who  is  much  pleased  with 
him.  Out  of  respect  to  our  dear  father  and  brother 
Clough,  we  named  him  Benjamin  Parks.  When  I  told 
him  that  Parks  was  the  name  of  my  father,  and  showed 
him  your  portrait,  he  said,  he  hoped  he  should  never 
bring  any  disgrace  upon  that  name.  I  know  my  dear 
father  will  pray  for  his  namesake,  that  he  may  prove  a 
faithful  follower  of  Christ." 

Mrs.  Harvard's  health  now  appeared  seriously  to 
decline,  and  that  of  her  husband  was  so  affected  as  to 
lead  his  medical  friend  to  advise  his  returning  with  his 
wife  to  England.     In  a  letter,  dated  October  4,  1818, 

she  says  : — "  My  dear  W has  been  brought  very 

near  to  the  gates  of  death.  The  doctor  has  forbidden 
his  preaching  any  more  in  his  present  state ;  and  says 
he  must  depart  for  England  as  soon  as  possible."  A 
detachment  of  invalids  being  about  to  return  to  Eng- 
land, arrangements  were  made  for  Mr.  and  IMrs.  Har- 
vard to  sail  with  them  in  the  ship  Princess  Charlotte. 
On  this  occasion  Mrs.  Harvard  happily  found  a  skilful 
surgeon,  and  an  experienced  nurse  among  the  soldiers' 


MRS.    HARVARD.  47 

wives,  as  she  gave  birth,  on  the  third  day  of  the  voyage, 
to  her  fourth  son.  Several  important  particulars  are 
detailed  by  Mr.  Harvard,  in  relation  to  their  voyage,  of 
which  the  following  are  most  interesting  to  the  friends 
of  Christian  missions  :  — 

"  Mrs.  Fox,  during  her  last  illness,  expressed  a  wish 
that  Mrs.  Harvard  should  take  charge  of  her  only 
daughter,  and  deliver  her  to  her  friends  in  England. 
The  little  voyager  was  brought  on  board  as  we  were 
under  weigh,  by  Mr.  Fox.  Our  dear  brother  Clough 
remained  till  it  was  necessary  for  the  boat  to  return  to 
the  shore.  Mrs.  H.  had  taken  an  affectionate  leave  of 
Mrs.  M'Kenny,  and  of  Mrs.  Griffith,  both  of  them 
resident  at  Galle,  the  latter  in  connexion  with  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Society. 

"After  some  serious  storms  in  the  latitude  of  the 
Isle  of  France,  and  a  providential  escape  from  running 
on  shore  near  Delagoa  Bay,  in  South  Africa,  we  were 
safely  brought  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  A  liberal 
and  respectable  individual,  the  Rev.  John  Melville,  in 
connexion  with  the  London  Missionary  Society,  wel- 
comed us  to  his  house;  and  there  Mrs.  Harvard  had 
the  pleasure  to  meet  her  venerable  and  early  friend,  the 
Rev.  John  Campbell,  then  about  to  commence  his 
second  journey  into  the  interior  of  that  country.  Our 
own  missionary  brother,  the  Rev.  Barnabas  Shaw,  with 
his  excellent  and  intrepid  wife,  happened  at  the  same 
time  to  be  at  Cape  Town,  on  account  of  ill  health. 

"  While  at  Cape  Town,  Mrs.  H.  paid  a  visit  to  the 
celebrated  Mrs.  Smith,  a  true  mother  in  the  missionary 


48  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Israel.  That  aged  saint,  since  deceased,  received  her 
with  Christian  affection,  and  in  the  spirit  of  primi- 
tive devotion,  pronounced  a  blessing  upon  her.  With 
several  other  members  of  the  London  Society's  Mission 
she  formed  a  cordial  friendship.  And  the  late  noted 
Africaner,  then  on  a  visit  from  the  interior — formerly  a 
terrifying  freebooter,  but  subsequently  converted  to  the 
faith  of  Christ,  through  the  instrumentality  of  that 
Society — particularly  attracted  her  attention.  The  lion, 
in  his  character,  was  indeed  converted  into  the  lamb. 
Not  having  beheld  a  ship,  or  even  seen  the  ocean,  but 
at  a  distance,  Africaner,  with  his  friend,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Moffat,  accompanied  us  to  our  vessel  when  we  em- 
barked, to  gratify  his  natural  curiosity.  On  his  leaving 
the  ship  in  the  shore-boat,  Mrs.  H.  pointed  with  her 
finger  heavenward,  as  an  expression  of  the  hope  she 
felt  that  they  might  meet  again  in  glory.  The  vener- 
able African  chief,  understanding  her  meaning,  imitated 
the  signal  with  glistening  eyes. 

"  At  length,  after  touching  at  St.  Helena  and  Ascen- 
sion, by  the  goodness  of  God,  we  came  once  more  in 
sight  of  the  beloved  shores  of  our  native  land.  It  was 
early  in  the  morning  of  the  last  day  in  July  1819,  that 
we  landed  at  Falmouth.  The  female  missionary  and 
the  Indian  children  had  many  a  congratulation,  and 
many  a  blessing !  But  we  hastened  forward  to  Bristol, 
where  Conference  was  at  that  time  assembled,  to 
communicate  information  relative  to  the  cause  of  Chris- 
tian Missions  in  Ceylon." 

Mr.  Harvard  was  appointed  by  Conference  to  exer- 


MRS.    HARVARD.  49 

cise  his  ministry  at  Deal,  in  Kent ;  and  in  about  two  years 
he  was  removed  to  Colchester,  where  he  lost  his  excel- 
lent and  beloved  partner,  March  5,  1823,  after  a  union 
of  more  than  ten  years,  aged  35  years  ! 

Mrs.  Harvard  cherished  and  displayed  her  missionary 
spirit  even  to  the  last,  so  that  only  a  few  months  before 
her  decease,  she  expressed  her  readiness,  if  her  health 
had  permitted,  to  re-engage  in  that  department  of  service 
in  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer.  Her  husband  thus  refers 
to  this  in  the  following  terms  : — "  In  a  conversation 
with  our  venerable  father,  the  Rev.  Walter  Griffith,  and 
the  Rev.  Richard  Watson,  one  of  the  General  Mission- 
ary secretaries,  both  since  deceased,  she  expressed  her- 
self as  perfectly  willing  to  accompany  me  to  any  station 
to  which  I  might  be  appointed  ;  and  on  the  intended 
mission  to  Malta  being  mentioned,  she  had  the  honour, 
as  in  the  Asiatic  Mission,  to  be  the  first  female  volun- 
teer in  the  undertaking."  Hence,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend 
at  Deal,  September  22,  1822,  she  says,  ''We  have 
some  thoughts  we  shall  go  abroad  again.  If  so,  and 
we  go  through  the  Downs,  we  will  strive  to  come  on 
shore  and  see  you.  Pray  for  us,  that  the  Lord  may 
direct  us."  She  was  not,  however,  permitted  again  to 
leave  her  native  land  :  but  w^iile  she  continued  in  the 
body,  she  cherished  her  missionary  zeal,  and  rendered 
what  service  she  was  able  to  the  cause  of  her  Saviour, 
until  her  spirit  entered  into  the  joy  of  her  Lord  ! 


MRS.   M  U  N  D  Y. 

DIED   JULY  30,    1824. 

Mrs.  Mundy,  formerly  Miss  Cobden,  of  Chichester.— Her  early  Piety.— The 
Answer  of  her  Mother's  Prayers  and  Instructions.— Her  Religious 
Experience. — Her  Sister  married  to  Rev.W.  Reeve,  Missionary  to  India. 
—She  dedicates  herself  to  the  Service  of  Christ  among  the  Heathen. 
— Sent  by  the  London  Missionary  Society  to  aid  her  Sister  at  Bellary. 
Miss  Cobden's  Labours  in  Education  and  Study.— Her  Marriage  with 
Rev.  G.  Mundy  of  Chinsurah.— She  establishes  a  School  for  Native 
Females.— Her  ardent  Piety.— Attacked  with  Fever — Prematm-e 
Labour.— Her  Peace  of  Mind.— Her  Death.— Her  Funeral — Monument 
to  her  Memoryc 

Mrs.  Martha  Mundy,  the  excellent  wife  of  the 
Rev.  G.  Mundy,  missionary  at  Chinsurah,  was  born 
in  the  year  1804,  at  Chichester.  Her  parents  were 
respectable,  and  highly  esteemed  for  their  Christian 
character,  training  up  their  "  children  in  the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord,"  so  that  three  of  their 
daughters  were  induced  to  devote  themselves  to  the 
service  of  the  Redeemer  among  the  heathen,  and  became 
wives  of  missionaries ! 

Miss  Martha  Cobden  appears  to  have  been  from  her 
infancy  the  subject  of  religious  impressions.  She 
retained  a  distinct  recollection  of  emotions  of  a  spiritual 
nature  having  been  produced  in  her  mind,  as  early  as 
the  age  of  three  years,  and  of  the  peculiar  pleasure 
which  at  that  tender  age  she  felt  in  lisping  that  beauti- 
ful hymn  of  Mr.  Newton — 


MRS.    MUNDY.  51 

**  Come,  my  soul,  thy  suit  prepare, 
Jesus  loves  to  answer  prayer  ; 
He  himself  has  bid  thee  pray. 
Therefore  will  not  say  thee  nay." 

Mrs.  Cobden  had  been  led  in  an  especial  manner  to 
consecrate  herself  to  God,  a  few  months  previously  to 
the  birth  of  this  child ;  and  in  imparting  instruction  to 
her  infant  she  pursued  a  line  of  conduct  worthy  of  uni- 
versal imitation.  Before  the  child  was  introduced  into 
this  sinful  world,  its  spiritual  life  had  been  with  its 
mother  the  subject  of  many  prayers  ;  which  there  is 
reason  to  believe  were  graciously  heard  and  answered 
by  her  heavenly  Father.  From  the  age  of  three  years, 
her  mother,  more  deeply  to  impress  the  mind  of  her 
child  with  a  proper  idea  of  the  glorious  majesty  of  God, 
frequently  retired  with  her  into  her  chamber,  for  the 
purpose  of  unfolding  to  her  the  mystery  of  redemption. 
She  urged  upon  her  the  importance  of  giving  the  morning 
of  her  days  to  the  service  of  the  Saviour ;  and  closed 
these  sacred  exercises  kneeling  by  her  side,  and  pouring 
out  her  soul  in  prayer,  that  God  would  bless  the  in- 
structions thus  imparted,  and  make  the  child  a  subject 
of  renewing  grace. 

These  private  exhortations  and  prayers,  as  may  natu- 
rally be  supposed,  produced  the  most  beneficial  effects 
on  the  mind  of  Martha.  She  remembered  having  been 
deeply  impressed  by  them ;  and  was  led  thereby  to  feel 
the  natural  depravity  of  her  heart ;  and  to  see  the  dan- 
gerous state  of  one  who  was  alienated  from  God.  This 
caused  her  frequently  to  weep,  and  led  her  to  earnest 
prayer.  Timidity,  however,  prevented  her  from  un- 
E  2 


52  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

burthening  her  mind  to  her  parents;  and  for  many- 
years  the  strivings  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  secret  work- 
ings of  the  mind,  were  confined  in  her  own  bosom; 
and,  unknown  to  her  most  intimate  friends,  she  had 
been  led  by  the  hand  of  God  into  the  valley  of  humi- 
liation ;  had  experienced  the  bitterness  of  being  estranged 
from  him  ;  and,  like  the  Psalmist,  bad  made  her  bed  to 
swim  with  her  tears,  because  she  had  not  kept  his  law. 
Miss  Cobden's  convictions  were  so  deep,  and  so  ear- 
nestly did  she  desire  to  experience  the  regenerating 
influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  she  never  went  to 
the  house  of  God,  without  first  imploring  that  the  ser- 
mon to  be  preached  might  be  the  means  of  her  conver- 
sion ;  and  on  returning,  finding  the  natural  dispositions 
of  her  mind  not  subdued  to  the  extent  desired,  she 
would  retire  into  secret,  and  weep  at  the  footstool  of 
her  heavenly  Father.  The  51st  Psalm,  on  these  occa- 
sions, was  repeatedly  perused,  and  turned  into  prayer. 
She  identified  her  circumstances  with  those  of  David ; 
and  whilst  she  acknowledged  her  transgression,  and 
declared  that  her  sin  was  ever  before  her,  she  implored 
that  her  heart  might  be  cleansed  from  iniquities,  and 
that  she  might  be  made  wliiter  than  snow.  It  was 
not,  however,  until  she  was  about  thirteen  years  of  age 
that  a  decided  change  was  produced  in  her  religious 
character ;  this  was  effected  by  hearing  read  the  expe- 
riences of  her  brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  W.  Peeve,  of 
Bellary,  in  India — a  circumstance  which  she  did  not 
know  until  she  became  a  member  of  that  mission.  It 
would  probably  be  incorrect  to  consider  this  as  the 


MRS.   MUNDY.  53 

period  of  her  conversion.  Her  holy  and  heavenly 
deportment  was  the  surest  evidence  of  tliat  change 
which  has  now  brightened  into  eternal  glory. 

Mrs.  Reeve,  her  sister,  was  united  in  marriage  to  a 
missionary  in  1816,  and  sailed  to  the  East  Indies: 
Martha's  mind  became  thus  led  to  contemplate  more 
than  before  the  degraded  condition  of  the  heathen,  and 
to  regard  the  missionary  field  as  a  sphere  of  usefulness, 
in  which,  if  Divine  Providence  permitted,  she  would 
like  herself  to  engage.  She  made  it,  from  that  time,  a 
subject  of  her  secret  prayers  and  aspirations,  solemnly 
dedicating  herself  to  the  service  of  God  in  heathen 
lands.  About  the  time  of  her  sister  s  departure  for 
India,  Martha  was  placed  under  the  superintendence  of 
Mrs.  Towne,  wife  of  the  Rev.  T.  Towne,  of  Royston,  to 
enjoy  further  educational  advantages :  and  while  dili- 
gently pursuing  her  studies,  the  convictions  which  she 
had  formerly  received  were  renewed  and  strengthened. 
There  being  an  opening  of  great  usefulness  in  the  mission 
family  at  Bellary,  Martha  was  invited  by  her  sister  and 
other  missionaries,  to  come  and  aid  them  in  the  schools ; 
and  in  1819,  when  she  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  she 
entered  the  work  in  the  service  of  the  heathen,  under 
the  patronage  of  the  London  Missionary  Society.  She 
entered,  with  the  greatest  ardour,  into  the  missionary 
work  in  India  ;  and  considered  no  sacrifice  too  great, 
and  no  fatigue  too  much  to  be  endured,  so  that  she 
might  win  souls  to  Jesus.  Owing  to  the  indisposition 
of  her  sister,  the  w^hole  of  the  domestic  concerns  of  their 
family  devolved  upon  her,  together  with  those  of  the 


54  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

family  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hands,  who,  in  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  her  afflicted  partner  since  her  decease,  thus 
speaks  concerning  her  : — "  She  was  very  much  beloved 
at  Bellary,  but  perhaps  by  none  more  than  myself.  I 
loved  her  for  her  eminent  piety,  humble  and  amiable 
disposition,  and  especially  for  her  kind  attentions  to  my 
dear  motherless  children ;  and  I  cannot  tell  you  how 
much  I  was  affected  when  I  read  in  the  papers,  a  few 
days  ago,  an  account  of  her  death." 

To  the  labours  above  stated,  she  added  the  charge  of 
a  small  boarding-school,  the  profits  of  which  were 
devoted  to  the  support  of  the  native  schools  connected 
with  the  mission.  Her  leisure  was  occupied  in  study- 
ing the  Canarese  language,  in  which  she  made  consider- 
able proficiency;  in  storing  her  mind  with  heavenly 
truths,  and  in  private  devotion,  to  which  she  allotted  a 
considerable  portion  of  her  time. 

Whilst  residing  there,  she  gave  the  most  decided 
proof  of  her  attachment  to  the  cause  of  missions. 
Bellary  is  a  military  station,  and  it  has  likewise  a  civil 
establishment ;  and  she  there  had  various  opportunities 
of  settling  herself  in  life,  where  both  piety  and  worldly 
affluence  presented  themselves  to  her  view.  But  she 
had  set  her  heart  on  missionary  work,  and,  therefore, 
persevered  in  her  determination,  either  to  share  with 
such  a  partner  the  trials  of  his  arduous  labours,  or  to 
remain  in  sino-le  life. 

o 

During  her  residence  at  Bellary,  her  talents,  piety, 
and  devotedness  secured  her  the  respect  and  esteem  of 
all  classes.     But  her  continuance  at  that  mission  was  of 


MRS.    MUNDY.  55 

short  duration,  having,  in  the  year  1820,  formed  an 
acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  G.  Mundy,  of  Chinsurah, 
in  Bengal;  and  in  the  spring  of  1821,  she  w^as  united 
in  marriage  with  that  devoted  missionary. 

Mrs.  Mundy,  being,  in  March,  settled  at  Chinsurah, 
entered  very  diligently  into  a  variety  of  plans  for  the 
benefit  of  the  natives,  the  Dutch,  and  other  inhabitants 
of  that  place  :  she  immediately  commenced  the  study 
of  the  Bengalee  language,  which  she  acquired  to  a  con- 
siderable extent.  The  deplorable  state  of  the  native 
females  affected  her  heart,  and  caused  her  to  adopt  such 
measures  as  appeared  most  likely  to  benefit  their  con- 
dition. She,  therefore,  in  connexion  with  Mrs.  Townley, 
opened  a  school  for  the  instruction  of  native  female 
children ;  and  to  this  school  others  have  since  been 
added  ;  and  frequently  her  heart  bounded  with  love  and 
gratitude  to  God,  when  she  heard  these  once  neglected 
infants  singing  the  Saviour's  praise,  and  repeating  those 
lessons  which  were  able  to  make  them  wise  unto  salva- 
tion. She  also  directed  her  attention  to  the  education 
of  a  few  young  ladies  in  the  settlement,  who  could  bear 
testimony  with  how  much  affection  and  concern  she 
sought  their  welfare. 

"  She  watch'd  and  wept,  she  pray'd  and  felt  for  all  r 
And  as  a  bird  each  fond  endearment  tries. 
To  tempt  its  new-fledged  offspring  to  the  skies ; 
She  tried  each  art,  reproved  each  fond  delay, 
Alliired  to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the  way." 

Mrs.  Mundy's  religion  consisted  not  in  name  only, 
but  in  power,  and  in  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit. 
Amidst  the  various  duties  which  devolved  upon   her. 


56  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

she  always  redeemed  time  for  secret  devotion.  For  the 
purpose  of  preventing  these  devotions  from  degenerating 
into  mere  formality,  she  had  formed  a  resolution  that 
she  would  not  rise  from  her  knees  or  discontinue  the  act 
of  prayer,  until  her  heart  was  engaged  in  the  exercise 
and  she  enjoyed  communion  with  God.  And  speaking  to 
her  partner  on  the  subject  only  a  few  days  previously  to 
her  death,  she  said  she  had  been  enabled  in  general  to 
adhere  to  this  resolution,  and  had  always  enjoyed  the 
blessings  she  sought.  And  he  can  testify  that  she 
always  returned  from  her  closet,  like  Moses  upon  the 
Mount,  with  a  heavenly  glow  upon  her  countenance, 
and  evident  marks  of  her  whole  soul  liavinp-  been  with 

o 

the  Spirit  of  God. 

The  habitual  spirituality  of  her  mind  was  testified  by 
the  heavenliness  of  her  conversation.  Religion  was  the 
delightful  subject  on  which  she  always  appeared  most 
at  home,  and  many  living  witnesses  could  testify  the 
benefit  they  derived  from  her  in  this  respect :  not  only 
did  she  enjoy  spiritual  conversation  in  others,  but 
entered  into  it  herself  with  the  zest  and  feelino-  of  one 

C5 

who  could  not  but  speak  of  the  things  which  she  had 
handled  and  tasted  of  the  good  word  of  life.  And 
frequently  she  lamented  the  backwardness  of  Christians 
to  enter  on  such  conversation.  But  perhaps  what 
shone  most  in  her  Christian  character  was  her  deep 
humility.  This  she  had  indeed  put  on  as  a  robe,  and 
had  learned  to  esteem  others  better  than  herself;  and  it 
was  only  the  day  before  her  death  that  she  was  lament- 
ing her   little   usefulness  in  the  mission,    and   almost 


MRS.    MUNDY.  57 

regretting,  on  this  account,  that  she  had  ever  entered  on 
the  great  work. 

Her  affections  were  naturally  strong,  and  her  dispo- 
sition amiable,  while  her  general  deportment  was 
marked  with  such  prudence  and  kindness  as  greatly- 
endeared  her  to  her  acquaintance ;  so  that  she  still 
continues  to  live  in  many  hearts. 

Mrs.  Mundy  was  attacked,  on  the  25th  of  July 
1824,  with  the  epidemic  fever,  which  had  raged 
through puf^atcutta,  and  had  now  penetrated  the 
districts  round  about  her  habitation.  This  brought  on, 
it  is  Supposed,  a  premature  birth ;  and  on  the  evening 
of  the  29th  she  was  safely  delivered  of  a  little  boy,  who 
though  deprived  of  the  affectionate  regard  of  such  a 
parent,  experienced  maternal  attention  from  one  of  her 
sisters  in  the  same  mission.  Soon  after  this  event,  the 
hearts  of  her  family  and  friends  were  filled  with  joy  in 
the  prospect  of  her  speedy  recovery  —  they  united  in 
their  thanksgivings  to  God,  and  fondly  anticipated  a 
continuance  of  their  joy.  But  alas  !  soon  they  had  to 
exclaim,  "  Yerily,  thou  art  a  God  that  hidest  thyself." 

The  song  of  rejoicing  was  changed  for  the  voice  of 
weeping,  the  anticipation  of  gladness  gave  place  to  the 
corrodings  of  grief — and  the  beating  of  grateful  hearts 
was  paralysed  by  cold  despair.  "Within  two  hours 
after  her  delivery,  death  spread  its  awful  gloom  over 
the  house ;  and  the  dear  departed  calmly  announced 
her  hour  to  be  at  hand.  The  acuteness  of  her  pain 
rendered  conversation  impossible ;  but  it  was  evident 
from  a  few  expressions  which  dropped  from  her  lips, 


58  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

that  a  holy  peace  reigned  in  her  soul.  She  manifested 
an  entire  submission  to  the  will  of  her  heavenly  Father, 
and  no  rising  doubt  obscured  her  view  of  that  celestial 
country  on  which  she  was  about  to  enter.  In  the 
midst  of  the  distressing  scene,  her  afflicted  partner  said 
to  her,  "  Oh  !  my  dear,  my  dear  Martha,  you  are  going 
to  leave  me,  what  shall  I  do  ?  "  "  God,"  she  replied, 
in  great  pain,  "  will  take  care  of  you."  Some  time 
after,  he  said,  "  My  dear,  do  you  know  where  you  are 
going  ?  is  Jesus  precious  to  you  now  ?  do  you  feel  his 
presence  ? "  She  answered,  "  Yes."  The  same  or 
similar  questions  were  afterwards  repeated,  to  which 
she  uniformly  gave  the  most  satisfactory  answers. 
When  very  near  her  end,  her  husband  said,  "•  My  dear, 
do  you  know  where  you  are  ?  are  you  sensible  of  your 
state  ?  "  She  opened  her  eyes  but  could  not  speak  ;  he 
then  said,  "  If  you  are  sensible  of  your  state,  and  feel 
perfectly  happy,  then  make  me  a  sign  if  you  are  unable 
to  speak."  She  then  raised  her  hand,  and  as  it  fell, 
said  with  much  emphasis,  "  There;"  and  surviving  the 
birth  of  her  infant  only  seven  hours,  shortly  after  slept 
in  Jesus ! 

Her  remains  were  deposited  in  the  burial-ground 
belonging  to  the  settlement  of  Chinsurah,  where  her 
death  was  deeply  regretted;  and  tlie  inhabitants,  by 
whom  she  was  much  and  deservedly  beloved,  showed 
her  every  possible  mark  of  respect  and  affection.  Her 
funeral  was  attended  by  the  Honourable  D.  A.  Over- 
beck,  (resident)  and  by  almost  all  the  Protestant 
Christian  population ;  an  appropriate  address  was  de- 


MRS.    MUNDY.  59 

livered  at  the  grave  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lacroix,  and  on 
the  following  Sabbath,  the  event  was  improved  by  the 
Rev.  J.  Hill,  in  a  sermon  on  2  Cor.  v.  1.  "  We  know,'' 
&c.  preached  to  a  deeply  affected  congregation  ;  and  in 
Union  Chapel,  Calcutta,  on  the  subsequent  Sabbath. 
Since  her  removal,  it  has  been  intimated  to  her  afflicted 
partner,  that  her  Christian  friends  wish  to  erect,  as  a 
token  of  their  respect  and  affection,  a  monument  to 
perpetuate  her  memory  ;  and  the  usual  duty  or  tax  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  rupees,  for  the  erection  of  such 
a  monument,  was  kindly  remitted  by  the  Honourable 
the  Governor. 

Mr.  Lacroix,  in  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Townley, 
says: — "You  know,  my  dear  brother,  her  piety,  and 
how  she  constantly  lived  in  the  practice  of  all  Christian 
virtues ;  so  there  is  no  doubt  that  she  now  rests  from 
her  labours,  and  enjoys,  in  the  regions  of  undisturbed 
bliss,  the  presence  of  that  Saviour  whom  she  loved,  and 
whom  to  please  was  her  chief  delight." 


MRS.    NORTON. 

TIED   JANUARY   15,   1826. 

Mrs.  Norton's  Biography  by  Rev.  J.  Fenn.— Daughter  of  a  Gentleman  in 
Devonshire — Her  Accomplishments. — She  supports  her  Widowed 
Mother.— Her  Conversion  to  God — She  endures  Persecution  from  her 
Relatives.  —  Commences  a  Boarding  School  — Her  Mother  becomes 
Pious— She  engages  as  Governess  in  the  family  of  Sir  James  Campbell 
—And  accompanies  them  to  Ceylon.— She  is  Married  to  Rev.  T.  Norton. 
—Her  Educational  Labours.— Her  last  Illness.— Her  Piety  and  Death. 

Mrs.  Norton's  biography  is  contained  in  a  funeral 
sermon  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Fenn,  one  of  the 
Church  Missionaries  in  Travancore.  Mr.  Fenn,  having 
returned  to  England  on  account  of  his  health,  became 
minister  of  the  New  Church,  Blackheath  Park,  near 
Greenwich ;  but  supplied  this  memoir  for  the  Mis- 
sionary Register. 

"  Mrs.  Norton's  name  before  her  marriage  was  Lee. 
She  was  born  in  the  parish  of  Salcombe,  Devonshire,  in 
December  1794,  so  that  she  had  but  just  completed  her 
thirty-first  year,  and  had  thus  reached  the  most  useful 
period  of  life.  Her  father  had  been  a  private  gentle- 
man of  fortune  :  he  died  when  she  was  young,  and  left 
her  mother  in  great  straits.  She  early  manifested  a 
vigorous  activity ;  and,  by  her  extraordinary  proficiency 
in  some  of  the  fashionable  accomplishments  of  life, 
supported  both  herself  and  her  mother  for  some  years. 
She  was  an  instance  of  what  may  be  effected  by  dili- 
gence and  an  ardent  spirit ;  for,  though  engaged  in  the 


MRS.   NORTON.  61 

duties  of  her  profession  from  early  in  the  morning  till 
late  at  night,  she  used  to  devote  two  or  three  hours 
daily  to  the  cultivation  of  her  mind ;  seizing,  for  that 
purpose,  some  of  the  hours  required  for  sleep.  From 
eleven  o'clock  at  night  till  two  in  the  morning  were,  for 
some  years,  her  hours  of  study :  this  excessive  applica- 
tion, it  is  very  likely,  laid  the  foundation  of  diseases 
under  which  she  suffered  in  after  life.  But  when  it 
had  pleased  God  to  direct  her  thoughts  to  another  and 
nobler  life,  and  had  made  known  to  her  the  love  of 
Christ — a  love  which  passeth  knowledge — she  used  to 
look  back,  with  shame  and  sorrow,  on  these  years  of 
sin  and  vanity  ;  wondering  at,  and  admiring  the  grace 
of  God,  which  then  sought  her  out,  and  united  her  to 
the  people  of  God. 

"  Immediately  on  the  change  which  took  place  in  her 
views  and  character,  she  could  no  longer  conscien- 
tiously follow  the  occupation  in  which  she  was  engaged; 
and,  in  relinquishing  it,  she  showed  the  reality  of  her 
profession — the  truth  and  the  strength  of  her  love  to 
her  Saviour ;  for  she  renounced  an  ample  income,  and 
became  the  scorn  and  reproach  of  her  former  gay 
companions,  and  of  some  relatives  whom  she  tenderly 
loved  and  respected.  She  w^as  in  fact  deprived  of  her 
home — rendered  altogether  destitute — and  leTt  to  expe- 
rience the  kindness  and  disinterestedness  of  Christian 
friendship. 

"  Through  the  influence  of  her  Christian  friends,  she 
was  enabled  to  commence  a  boarding-school;  a  task 
for  which  she  was  eminently  gifted,  and  in  which  she 


62  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

had  the  most  flattering  prospects  of  success,  though 
bitterly  opposed  by  her  former  companions  in  gaiety  and 
dissipation.  But  it  pleased  her  heavenly  Father,  whose 
ways  are  far  above  out  of  our  sight,  to  try  our  sister  with 
such  severe  and  constant  indisposition  as  obliged  her  to 
give  up  her  school.  This  trial,  however,  was  effectually 
relieved  by  the  delightful  change  which  she  was 
permitted  to  witness  in  her  beloved  mother,  whose 
heart  was  brought  under  the  powerful  influence  of 
divine  grace,  and  who  ever  after  continued  her  steady 
companion  in  her  course.  From  this  period  she  engaged 
herself  as  private  governess  in  some  families  of  distinc- 
tion; and,  in  this  capacity,  came  to  Ceylon  in  the 
family  of  Sir  James  Campbell,  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand of  that  station.  One  great  inducement  to  her 
quitting  her  native  land  and  leaving  her  mother,  was 
the  peremptory  advice  of  her  medical  friends  at 
Bristol. 

"  Miss  Lee  had  been  at  Ceylon  about  two  years, 
when  God  was  pleased  to  crown  her  wishes  of  being 
employed  in  His  service,  by  uniting  her  in  marriage  to 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Norton ;  an  event  which  took  place 
at  Ceylon,  October  1,  1824.  At  Ceylon,  our  dear 
sister  had  enjoyed  nearly  uninterrupted  health  :  but, 
just  previously  to  her  marriage,  indications  of  a  liver 
complaint  appeared,  and  those  spasms  in  her  chest 
began,  to  which  she  continued  subject  till  within  a 
month  of  her  decease. 

"  She   arrived   at   Allepie,    in    company   with   her 
husband,  toward  the  latter  end  of  October;   and  en- 


MRS.    NORTON.  G3 

tered,  with  real  joy  and  alacrity,  on  the  work  in 
which  she  so  greatly  delighted,  and  for  which  she 
was  remarkably  qualified.  She  soon  began  the  daily 
instruction  of  several  of  the  youths  in  the  school 
previously  established  here ;  a  task  which  occupied 
her  from  ten  in  the  morning  till  three,  in  the  afternoon. 
Her  evenings  before  family  worship  were  spent  in 
reading  aloud  to  her  immediate  family ;  and  the  last  hour 
prior  to  her  own  private  devotions  was  given  to  the  ser- 
vants. The  morning,  from  half-past  four  o'clock,  she 
often  devoted  to  the  study  of  Malayalim ;  and  I  am 
witness  how  ardently  she  longed  for  a  perfect  acquaint- 
ance with  the  language,  that  she  might  be  able  to 
converse  freely  with  all  around,  and  tell  them  of  the 
preciousness  of  her  Saviour.  But  her  labours  were  too 
great  for  her  frame.  Often  have  I  found  her  sinking 
under  them,  and  used  my  influence  to  break  up  the 
school  for  the  morning. 

"  But  I  must  pass  on  to  her  last  illness,  which  began 
between  three  and  four  months  since ;  and  which, 
with  occasional  interruptions,  lasted  till  the  period 
of  her  decease :  she  suffered  under  chronic  or  tropical 
dysentery ;  and  from  the  period  of  its  commencement, 
she  was  persuaded  that  she  should  not  recover.  Her 
paroxysms  of  pain  were  of  the  acutest  kind :  never 
did  I  witness  such  intense  suffering.  As  the  disease 
advanced,  the  paroxysms  succeeded  one  another  more  ra- 
pidly ;  and  on  the  last  day,  there  was  scarcely  any  interval 
of  ease  from  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  half-past 
ten  at  night,  when  her  sufferings  were  closed  by  death. 


64  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Just  before  the  commencement  of  each  attack,  of  which 
she  always  liad  a  presentiment,  she  expressed  a  fear, 
lest,  through  the  intensity  of  her  suffering,  she  should 
deny  her  Saviour ;  and,  after  the  attack  was  over, 
eagerly  asked  if  she  had  uttered  or  done  anything  to 
dishonour  Him.  It  was  an  affecting  and  impressive 
sight,  to  see  her,  as  the  pain  gradually  increased,  and 
before  it  reached  the  degree  which  produced  delirium, 
grappling  with  her  agony,  clinging  to  her  Saviour, 
and,  with  increasing  strength  and  rapidity,  exclaiming, 
'  Yes,  He  is  precious  !  —  He  is  sufficient !  —  What 
should  I  do  now  without  my  Saviour  ? ' — and  then 
turning,  with  eyes  of  inexpressible  entreaty,  to  those 
around,  and  saying,  '  Pray  for  me  ! — pray  for  me  ! ' 
Often  in  such  seasons,  she  requested  of  those  near  her 
to  sing,  and  would  repeat  the  most  expressive  lines 
with  clasped  hands.  This  was  particularly  the  case 
the  morning  of  the  day  of  her  death. 

"  On  the  Wednesday  preceding  her  death,  an 
abscess  burst  on  the  liver,  from  which  moment  all 
hopes  of  her  recovery  on  the  part  of  her  medical  friend 
ceased.  She  then  took  a  solemn  and  affecting  leave 
of  all  her  friends,  accompanied  with  most  impressive 
admonitions  adapted  to  their  circumstances ;  and  mani- 
fested the  greatest  anxiety  that  her  affliction  and  death 
might  be  blessed  to  those  around  her.  She  lay  in 
a  state  of  peculiar  humiliation  and  suffering  till  the 
Sunday  following.  About  one  or  two  o'clock  on  that 
day  her  pulse  ceased,  and  the  coldness  of  death  began 
to  creep  over  her :   yet  her  pains  ceased  not :   at  length, 


MRS.    NORTON.  65 

her  afflicted  husband,  seeing  the  intensity  of  her  pain, 
prayed  that  if  it  were  the  purpose  of  God  to  remove 
her.  He  would  be  graciously  pleased  to  spare  her 
further  suffering  :  she  turned  toward  him  with  a  look 
of  inexpressible  gratitude,  fell  into  a  state  of  rest,  and 
gently  breathed  her  spirit  into  the  hands  of  her  Lord 
and  Saviour ! " 

Mrs.  Norton's  important  and  influential  course,  as 
the  wife  of  an  estimable  missionary,  was  thus  very 
short ;  and  her  exemplary  laborious  progress  was  greatly 
interrupted  by  disease  and  weakness.  Probably,  how- 
ever, she  accomplished  more  than  is  generally  known  ; 
and  it  has  been  regretted  that  we  have  no  particular 
detail  of  her  labours  and  successes  in  the  cause  of  the 
Redeemer  in  the  island  of  Ceylon,  or  in  her  more 
elevated  station  in  continental  India.  From  the  brief 
notices,  however,  which  are  here  given  by  her  reverend 
friend  Mr.  Fenn,  it  is  manifest  that  she  must  have 
honoured  her  missionary  character  ;  and  that  her  truly 
amiable  temper  towards  her  family, — her  patient  resig- 
nation to  the  will  of  her  heavenly  Father, — her  firm 
faith  in  the  promises  of  the  gospel, — and  her  humble 
confidence  in  her  Almighty  Saviour, — beautifully  illus- 
trated her  scriptural  piety,  and  adorned  her  profession 
as  a  sincere  Christian ! 


MRS.    CLOUGH*. 

DIED,    JUNE    30,    1827. 

Mrs.  Clough,  daughter  of  Mr.  Morley  of  Doncaster.— Her  early  Piety.— Death 
of  her  Mother.— Her  progress  in  Religion.— Her  active  Benevolence.— 
Her  Manners.— Becomes  a  Teacher  in  the  Sunday-school.— Her  Public 
Spirit.— Ker  Spirituality  of  Mind.— Her  visit  to  London  at  Missionary 
Meetings. — Her  Reflections  on  attaining  her  twenty-first  year. — Her 
acquaintance  with  Mr.  Clough— His  account  of  it,  and  of  their  Mar- 

riage.— Mrs.  Clough's  account  of  her  State  of  Mind Of  her  Marriage, 

and  embarkation  for  Ceylon.— Her  experience  at  Sea.— Her  Letter  to 
her  Parents  from  the  Isle  of  France.— Friends  on  the  Island.— Arrival 
at  Ceylon. — Union  of  the  different  Missionaries. — Religious  Society  at 
Ceylon.— Religious  Tract  Society — Mrs.  Clough's  first  Child. —Mis- 
sionary Prospects.— Public  Meeting.— Her  Illness  by  Fever.— Her  Reli- 
gious Experience — Her  Health  and  Prospects.— Her  last  Letter  to  her 
Mother.— Her  Death.— Account  of  her  Illness,  and  her  Character  by  Sir 
R.  Ottley. 

Mrs.  Margaret  Clough,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin 
Clough,  Wesley  an  Missionary  in  Ceylon,  was  the 
daughter  of  William  Morley,  Esq.  of  Doncaster,  where 
she  was  born,  November  3,  1803.  When  four  years  of 
age  she  was  taken  to  reside  with  her  grand-parents  at 
Hull ;  her  mind  seems  to  have  been  impressed  with  the 
necessity  and  value  of  religion  at  an  early  period  ;  and 
her  seriousness  appears  to  have  been  increased  by  means 
of  the  death  of  her  mother.  This  lamented  event  is 
thus  recorded  by  her  biographer  : — 

"When  Margaret  was  only  nine  years  of  age,  God 

*  See  "  Extracts  from  the  Journal  and  Correspondence  of  the  late  Mrs 
M.  Clough,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Clough,  Missionary  in  Ceylon,  with 
an  Introduction  by  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  Mabon,  London." 


MRS.    CLOUGH.  67 

was  pleased  to  take  her  excellent  mother  to  himself. 
In  every  relative  and  social  capacity  her  conduct  was 
exemplary.  As  a  Christian  she  was  humble,  circum- 
spect, and  sincere.  After  suffering  a  tedious  illness 
with  the  greatest  patience,  she  fell  asleep  in  Jesus, 
November  27,  1812,  aged  thirty-seven  years/' 

Miss  Morley,  at  the  age  of  ten  years,  returned  to 
Doncaster,  where  she  shortly  after  joined  the  Me- 
thodist Society,  and  continued  a  member  of  it  till  her 
early  and  lamented  death  in  1827.  After  she  left 
school,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  she  devoted  herself  more 
fully  to  God  ;  and  soon  attained  that  assurance  of  the 
Divine  favour,  which  enabled  her  to  rejoice  in  the 
forgiveness  of  her  sins,  by  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  W. 
Harrison. 

She  was  remarkable  for  her  diligence  in  the  means  of 
grace,  and  for  her  early  attendance  on  divine  ordinances. 
Her  visits  to  the  poor  were  frequent ;  "  soothing  their 
minds  by  her  gentle  behaviour ;  softening  their  hearts 
by  her  pious  addresses  and  earnest  prayers,  and  re- 
lieving their  wants  bountifully,  from  the  liberal  supply 
which  she  received  from  her  parents. 

"  Her  manners  were  peculiarly  engaging,  open, 
modest,  humble,  with  great  sweetness  of  temper, 
although  naturally  warm  and  hasty.  Truly  dignified 
in  her  deportment,  she,  however,  visited  the  poorest 
persons  with  the  greatest  affability,  and  won  their 
affections  by  her  engaging  condescension.  Among 
those  in  more  exalted  stations,  these  graces,  refined  by 
the   Holy   Spirit,    and    confirmed    by    her    Christian 


68  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

propriety  of  conduct,  caused  her  to  be  universally- 
esteemed. 

"  As  a  teacher  in  the  Doncaster  Wesleyan  Sunday- 
school,  a  visitor  belonging  to  the  benevolent  institution, 
and  collector  for  the  Bible  and  Missionary  Societies,  she 
was  patient,  diligent,  and  eminently  successful.  The 
cause  of  missions  ever  lay  near  her  heart :  but  her 
general  feeling  of  deep  piety  will  be  best  exemplified  by 
extracts  from  her  letters  written  to  a  very  particular 
young  friend."  The  following  will  beautifully  illustrate 
her  spiritual  frame  of  mind  : — 

«  Fehruary  22,  1822.— My  dear  Friend.  I  am  glad 
to  hear  that  you  are  longing  after  a  greater  conformity 
to  the  Divine  will.  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  it  is 
religion  alone  that  can  afford  real  happiness  in  this 
world,  and  prepare  us  for  another.  Let  us,  my  dear 
friend,  forget  the  things  which  are  behind,  and  be 
ambitious  to  excel  in  piety,  to  show  to  all  around  that 
we  are  the  children  of  the  Lord  Most  Hioh.     The  Ian- 

o 

guage  of  my  heart  is, 

'  O  for  a  closer  walk  with  God, 
A  calm  and  heavenly  flame, 
A  light  to  shine  upon  the  road 
That  leads  me  to  the  Lamb!  " 

I  long  to  have  every  thought  of  my  heart  brought  into 
subjection  to  God's  will,  that  I  may  be  pure  as  thou, 
my  Lord,  art  pure. — M.  M." 

"  June  19,  1823. — I  have  lately  had  the  pleasure  of  at- 
tending our  Missionary  Anniversary  in  London,  and  also 
that  of  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society ;  also  of 


MRS.     CLOUGH.  69 

seeing  Mrs.  Fry,  and  conversing  with  her.  About  sixty 
convicts  were  present,  the  greater  part  of  whom  were  to 
quit  the  prison  for  Botany  Bay  the  Monday  following. 
Mrs.  Fry  read  and  expounded  two  chapters  of  the 
Bible,  and  they  appeared  much  affected.  Various 
specimens  of  their  industry  were  shown  to  the  visitors 
for  sale.  As  to  my  experience,  I  am  desirous  that  all 
my  thoughts,  words,  and  actions  should  be  brought 
into  subjection  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

'  Were  the  whole  realm  of  nature  mine, 

That  were  a  present  far  too  small ; 
Love  so  amazing,  so  divine, 

Demands  my  soul,  my  life,  my  all !  ' 

Surely  it  does;  and  shall  we  not  give  God  his 
due?~M.  M." 

"  Congleton,  November  3,  1824. — This  day  I  have 
completed  my  one-and-twentieth  year:  upon  reviewing 
my  past  life,  I  feel  considerable  cause  of  complaint 
against  myself.  IMy  good  and  gracious  God  has  hitherto 
been  my  defender  and  keeper;  he  has  screened  my 
naked  head  in  every  storm  ;  and  I  know,  by  heartfelt 
experience,  that  Jesus  died  for  me.  I  have  in  some 
measure  appropriated  the  merits  of  his  death  to  my 
own  soul :  but  I  see  an  infinitely  greater  salvation, 
which  I  feel  I  am  desirous  to  obtain  ;  yet  I  am  too 
lukewarm,  not  sufficiently  determined  to  press  resolutely 
into  all  the  fulness  of  Christ.  I  have  of  late  felt  some 
gracious  visits  from  the  King  of  kings.  I  trust  I  am 
endeavouring  to  evidence  the  reality  of  my  religion  by 
conformity  to  the  will  of  God.     O  may  I  at  all  times 


70  BRITISH   FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

be  graciously  kept  from  the  spirit  and  temptations  of 
the  world,  and  constantly  have  an  eye  to  the  recom- 
pense of  reward.  I  should  wish  my  motto  to  be,  '  Say 
what  you  mean,  and  mean  what  you  say.'  Grant  this, 
I  pray,  indulgent  Lord  ! " 

Miss  Morlcy  had  just  completed  her  twenty-second 
year,  when  she  was  called  to  leave  her  parents  and  her 
native  country,  for  the  service  of  her  Redeemer  in 
missionary  work.  She  cheerfully  obeyed  what  she 
regarded  the  leadings  of  Divine  Providence,  the  parti- 
culars of  which  are  thus  related  by  her  biographer  : — 

"  December  1824,  Mr.  Clough,  returning  from  Brad- 
ford to  London,  stopped  a  night  at  Doncaster,  when  he 
first  saw  Miss  Morley  ;  and  as  he  expected  to  sail 
immediately  for  India,  it  was  not  probable  he  would 
ever  see  her  again.  An  impression,  however,  was  made 
on  Mr.  Clough,  which  was  not  easily  erased,  and  his 
intended  voyage  having  been  delayed,  in  January  1825 
he  wrote  to  her  father.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  IMorley  having 
seriously  weiglied  the  subject,  communicated  to  their 
daughter  the  interesting  and  important  contents  of  Mr. 
Clough's  letter,  prudently  reminding  her  of  the  difficul- 
ties and  dangers  she  would  necessarily  have  to  en- 
counter, and,  without  expressing  any  opinion,  left  the 
matter  to  her  own  consideration  and  choice.  In  a  few 
days  she  expressed  her  decided  conviction  that  it  was 
her  duty  to  go  to  India,  if  her  honoured  and  beloved 
parents,  and  her  aged  grandmother,  would  give  their 
consent.  Miss  Morley  communicated  the  affair  to  her 
grandmother,  who,  after  many  struggles  of  affection,  and 


MRS.    CLOUGH.  7l 

conversations  with  her  children,  was  yet  unable  to 
decide,  but  left  her  beloved  Margaret  to  determine. 
Mr.  Morley  then  wrote  to  Mr.  Clough,  candidly  stating, 
that  dearly  as  he  loved  Margaret,  and  great  as  the 
sacrifice  would^  be  in  surrendering  her,  yet  he  could 
not  oppose  her  views  on  so  important  a  subject ;  that 
he  left  it  to  her  decision,  which  he  believed  would  still 
be  in  subordination  to  that  of  her  most  affectionate 
grandmother.  Mr.  Clough  then  visited  Doncaster  two 
or  three  times,  and  on  Thursday,  March  21,  1825,  was 
happily  united  to  the  object  of  his  choice,  at  St. 
George's  Church,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sharpe,  vicar  ;  his 
dear  friends  and  missionary  colleagues,  JMessrs.  Harvard 
and  Newstead,  being  present  on  the  interesting  occa- 
sion. The  same  day  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clough  set  off  for 
London,  accompanied  by  their  honoured  mother.  On 
Saturday,  Mr.  Morley  joined  them  there,  and  took  an 
affectionate  and,  as  it  proved,  a  final  farewell  of  his 
amiable  and  beloved  daughter.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clough 
departed  for  Portsmouth,  and  their  parents  returned 
home." 

Mrs.  Clough's  own  account  of  this  change  in  her 
condition,  and  of  her  frame  of  mind  on  entering  her  new 
state  of  life  in  the  character  of  a  missionary's  wife, 
cannot  fail  to  be  interesting  :  this  will  appear  in  the 
following  extracts  from  her  journal : 

'-'•  Sunday  Evening^  Fehruavy  20,  1825. — The  last 
ten  days  have  been  a  time  of  extreme  anxiety  and 
depression  of  spirits,  arising  from  a  temporal  cause :  a 
matter  of  the  greatest  importance  has  come  before  me, 


72  BRITISH   FEMALE   MISSIONARIES. 

a  subject  in  which  I  am  particularly  concerned,  and 
which  may  in  a  degree  contribute  to  my  welfare,  or  add 
to  my  crosses  for  life.  I  have  hourly  been  praying, — 
'  Lord,  guide  me  by  thy  Spirit,  make  my  way  plain 
before  me  ; — what  is  thy  will  concerning  it  ? '  I  have 
generally  been  enabled  firmly  to  believe  that  the  Lord 
will  accomplish  the  purposes  of  his  grace." 

They  embarked  on  board  the  Africa,  at  Portsmouth, 
and  left  England,  April  11  :  and  in  her  journal  on  ship- 
board, Mrs.  Clough  wrote  :— "  April  17,  1825. — Since 
I  last  recorded  the  loving-kindness  of  my  heavenly 
Father,  the  most  important  event  of  human  life  has 
occurred.  On  Thursday,  March,  31,  in  the  fear  of 
God,  and  I  firmly  believe  w^itli  the  approbation  of 
Heaven,  I  was  united  to  Mr.  Clough,  Wesleyan 
Missionary  to  Ceylon.  The  circumstances  of  this  con- 
nexion seem  to  my  friends  in  general,  as  well  as  myself, 
to  be  partly  providential ;  —  the  conscience  bearing 
witness  that  I  never  sought  such  a  circumstance ;  nor 
even  when  the  offer  was  made  should  I  have  dared  to 
accept  it,  but  from  a  conviction  that  the  Lord's  hand 
was  in  the  affair.  I  feel  most  sensibly  how  much 
wisdom  and  prudence  I  need,  to  act  consistently,  and  as 
a  decided  follower  of  Christ.  Much  will  devolve  upon 
me  as  a  missionary's  wife :  0  that  I  may  adorn  the 
cause  I  have  espoused !  I  feel  alarmed  at  the  idea  of 
entering  into  such  a  public  sphere  of  life.  I  feel  my 
own  youth  and  inexperience  unqualify  me  for  so  great 
an  undertaking  ;  but  relying  on  tlie  promised  assistance 
of  God,  T  go  forth  with  a  determination  to  be  useful  in 


MRS.    CLOUGH.  73 

my  day  and  generation ;  and  after  a  life  spent  in  the 
Saviour's  cause,  I  doubt  not  of  receiving  a  crown  of 
reward.  When  my  mind  seems  to  shrink  from  what  is 
in  prospect,  I  betake  myself  to  a  throne  of  grace,  and 
feel  quite  happy  in  retracing  the  motives  which  have 
induced  me  to  enter  into  the  sphere  in  which  I  am  at 
present  placed.  O  thou  good  and  eternal  God,  be 
pleased  to  continue  unto  me  thy  promised  assistance, 
and  the  consolations  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  and  I  will 
cheerfully  take  up  my  cross,  suffer  reproach,  or  any 
deprivation.  0  that  I  may  but  be  instrumental  of 
some  good,  either  to  my  dear  husband,  or  to  thy 
militant  church !  May  the  desire  of  my  heart  be 
granted ! " 

Mrs.  Clough  experienced  the  ordinary  trials  of  a  long 
voyage,  and  the  ship  was  in  extreme  danger  more  than 
once.  After  "  a  tremendous  pfale  all  nioht,"  on  one 
occasion,  she  recorded  various  particulars  relating  to  the 
late  storm,  and  wrote  : — 

"  Sunday/,  June  26,  1825 — My  reason  informed  me 
that  we  were  more  than  2000  miles  from  land,  in  the 
most  spacious,  widest,  and  most  dreary  part  of  the 
South  Atlantic  Ocean  •  our  latitude  27°,  longitude  12°, 
W. — I  also  felt  additional  cause  for  unfeigned  thank- 
fulness, when  my  dear  husband  informed  me  that  the 
carpenter  had  told  him,  that  not  one  ship  in  fifty  would 
have  weathered  the  storm  of  the  preceding  night,  but 
that  they  must  evidently  have  foundered,  from  the  wind 
blowing  so  violently  on  the  beam,  and  the  waves 
striking  her  at  the  same  time  with  overvvhelmino:  force 
on  the  head.     Though  weak  in  body,  I  am  happy,  con- 


74  BRITISH   FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

tented,  and  comfortable  in  mind,  having  many,  many 
blessings,  which  most  of  my  friends,  in  similar  circum- 
stances to  myself,  are  quite  unacquainted  with.  In 
the  first  place,  I  have  an  exjjerieyiced^  kind,  indulgent, 
tender,  managing  hiishand  ;  secondly,  a  most  excellent 
ship,  with  delightful  accommodations ;  so  much  so, 
that  I  can  scarcely  sometimes  fancy  myself  from  my 
father's  house;  and  above  all,  the  Maker  of  the  uni- 
verse. He  who  holds  the  wind  in  the  hollow  of  his 
hand ;  who  saith  to  the  furious  sea,  '  Hitherto  shalt 
thou  go  :  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed ; '  and 
He  who  died  on  Calvary,  to  redeem  a  ruined  world 
from  that  punishment  they  so  justly  deserved  ; — this 
God  of  love  I  can  with  humble  confidence  claim  as  my 
Father.  Under  his  protection,  my  dear  husband  and 
myself  are  going  to  endeavour,  in  every  prudent  way, 
to  extend  the  Saviours  kingdom,  and  publish,  to  the 
perishing  sons  of  men,  the  great  salvation  purchased  by 
the  Lamb  that  was  slain  for  those  who  repent  and 
believe  in  his  all-powerful  soul-restoring  name. 

"  0  thou  God  of  boundless  compassion,  give  success 
to  the  important  mission  to  thy  servant ;  and  may  he 
shine  as  a  star  of  the  first  maonitude  in  the  kino;dom  of 
thy  glory,  as  the  reward  of  being  enabled,  through  thy 
direction,  to  turn  many  from  darkness  to  great  light, 
and  from  the  kingdom  of  Satan  unto  God  !  " 

They  reached  the  Isle  of  France  on  Sunday  evening, 
July  31st,  and  stayed  there  above  a  fortnight.  INIrs. 
Clough  wrote  to  her  parents  from  that  place,  concerning 
which  the  followino^  will  be  interesting : — 

"  Port  Lewis,  August  13,  1825. — With  unspeakable 


MRS.    CLOUGH.  75 

feelings  of  gratitude  and  pleasure,  I  inform  you  of  our 
voyage  and  safe  arrival  at  this  place.  We  left  Madeira 
May  8th,  after  staying  three  days :  the  climate  is  most 
delightful.  June  4th,  we  crossed  the  equinoctial,  with 
a  fine  breeze.  The  heat  was  oppressive,  and  rendered 
me  unfit  for  any  exertion.  The  latter  end  of  June  we 
drew  near  the  Cape  ;  squally,  cold  weather  commenced. 
Our  rigging,  not  being  in  very  good  order,  frequently 
trembled  and  disappeared  before  the  strong  blast.  This 
was  quite  a  new  scene  to  me ;  but  I  retained  the  same 
confidence  in  God,  who  I  believed  would  bring  us 
safely  through.  For  a  whole  month  the  water  was 
washing  over  the  decks,  and  frequently  was  three  or 
four  feet  high.  We  now  began  to  make  full  sail  for  the 
Isle  of  France ;  but,  from  opposing  winds,  were  obliged 
to  run  seven  hundred  miles  to  the  eastward.  Our 
stock  of  water  and  provisions  was  low,  so  that  we  were 
placed  on  short  allowance  for  three  weeks.  When  two 
hundred  miles  from  land,  our  last  cask  of  water  was 
opened,  and  we  were  utterly  uncertahi  as  to  the  conti- 
nuance of  the  wind.  However,  the  God  who  can  and 
will  protect  and  satisfy  those  who  put  their  trust  in 
him,  interfered,  in  our  behalf,  causing  the  wind  to  be 
propitious;  and  on  Sunday,  August  1st,  we  safely 
arrived.  My  dear  husband  j^roposed  that  we  should  go 
on  shore;  but,  on  inquiry,  we  found  the  charges  so 
enormous,  that  I  wished  to  remain  on  board.  Some 
military  gentlemen  came  on  board,  and  invited  us  into 
the  country  to  dine.  The  day  following  I  received  a 
polite  invitation  to  dine  at  the  Government-house,  and 


76  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

met  there  tlie  Adjutant-General  and  his  lady,  who 
requested  us  to  spend  the  Sabbath  with  them.  The 
Colonel  sent  his  carriage  for  us,  and  afterwards  drove 
us  to  the  resident  London  Missionary's  house.  Another 
invitation  we  received  from  Major  Bates,  whom  Mr, 
Clough  slightly  knew  at  Colombo.  The  Comptroller 
of  the  Customs  also  paid  us  every  kind  attention, 
taking  my  brother  and  nephew  to  his  house.  Yester- 
day, his  Excellency  the  Governor  requested  Mr.  Clough 
to  spend  the  day  with  him  at  his  country  house.  Here 
also  we  met  witli  Commodore  Owen,  who  so  liberally 
supported  the  mission  at  Delagoa  Bay,  and  who  is 
desirous  of  establishing  one  at  Madagascar.  Mr. 
Clough  has  preached  three  times,  and  Mr.  Hardy  once. 
The  kindness  of  all  we  have  met  with  on  this  island  is 
unbounded.  I  have  made  some  progress  in  Portuguese. 
My  health  is  much  improved. — M.  M.  C." 

Again  she  wrote  to  them,  on  arriving  at  Ceylon : — 
"  Colombo y  Septemher  9,  1825.— We  left  the  Isle  of 
France,  August  19th,  with  a  fine  breeze,  and  proceeded 
rapidly  towards  Ceylon,  which  we  made  on  Monday, 
September  6th,  and  on  Tuesday  cast  anchor  in  Colombo 
roads.  Mr.  M'Kenny  brought  two  boats  to  take  us 
and  our  little  party  on  shore,  and  expressed  great  delight 
at  Mr.  Clough's  return.  A  gig  and  palanquin  awaited 
our  arrival  at  the  port,  and  took  us  to  the  mission- 
house,  where  JMrs.  M 'Kenny  received  me  with  the 
kindness  and  affection  of  a  parent.  I  cease  not  to 
return  my  unfeigned  thanks  to  God,  who  hath  in  so 
remarkable  a  way  touched  the  hearts  of  this  people 


MRS.    CLOUGH.  77 

towards  the  Wesleyan  Mission.  The  Church,  the  Bap- 
tist, and  our  missionaries,  go  hand  in  hand,  and  mutually 
assist  one  another.  Colombo  appears  to  be  one  of  the 
healthiest  places  within  the  tropics.  The  Bishop  of 
Calcutta  (Dr.  Heber)  is  here,  and  I  hope  to  hear  him 
preach  to-morrow.  I  am  soon  to  l)e  introduced  to  Lady- 
Barnes,  who  stands  very  high  in  the  estimation  of  the 
people.  Mr.  Clough  has  introduced  Messrs.  Exley  and 
Hardy  to  his  excellency  the  Governor,  who  received 
them  in  the  most  kind  and  courteous  manner. — 
M.  M.  C." 

In  another  letter,  she  writes  : — "  November  11, 1825. 
— Mr.  Clough  looks  considerably  better  thau  ever  he 
did  in  England.  The  mission  premises  are  extensive; 
consisting  of  a  handsome  chapel,  mission- house,  school- 
room, and  library,  in  the  front ;  and  behind,  the  printing- 
office,  schools,  &c.  We  have  English  preaching  twice 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  the  congregation  in  the  evening  is 
good  ;  on  Tuesday  evening,  Portuguese  preaching,  which 
is  well  attended ;  and  we  have  class  and  prayer  meetings 
almost  every  evening  in  the  week.  We  have  some  holy, 
devoted  men  amonost  us  in  the  hioher  walks  of  life. 

o  o 

Our  highly-respected  friend,  Sir  Richard  Ottley,  is  one 
of  the  first.  From  him  we  have  received  the  most 
marked  attention.  He  has  honoured  me  by  coming  to 
our  house,  to  meet  a  few  friends  at  tea ;  and  Mr.  Clough 
and  myself  have  the  honour  of  visiting  at  his  house. 
He  is  always  the  first  to  promote  every  good  design. 
We  enjoy  the  privilege  of  holding  Christian  commu- 
nion with  this  pious  judge.     His  meekness,  gentleness. 


78  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

and  heavenly-mindedness,  are  ever  conspicuous.  An- 
other very  warm  friend  and  truly  pious  man  is  R, 
Mooyart,  Esq.,  a  magistrate.  A  female  class  is  now 
appointed.  May  the  Lord  give  his  blessing,  and  bap- 
tise us  afresh  with  his  Holy  Spirit !  There  is  a  little 
meeting  held  here,  which  I  am  sure  you  will  be  glad  to 
hear  of ;  viz.  a  missionary  meeting,  held  at  different 
friends'  houses  once  a  month.  After  singing  and  prayer, 
the  state  of  missions  in  general  is  related,  an  exhortation 
given,  and  after  breakfast  some  time  is  employed  in 
considering  what  is  best  to  be  done  for  promoting  the 
spread  of  Christianity ;  and  then  conclude  with  earnest 
prayer  to  God  for  the  promised  outpouring  of  his  Holy 
Spirit.— M.  M.  C." 

To  a  friend,  she  wrote  : — "  August  1,  1826. — An 
Auxiliary  Tract  Society  has  lately  been  established  in 
Colombo,  which  I  trust  will  be  productive  of  much 
good ;  6000  copies  of  the  tract  No.  2,  on  Drunkenness, 
have  already  been  distributed ;  and  we  have  heard  of 
several  who,  having  read  it,  have  been  so  powerfully 
awakened,  that  they  have  promised  never  more  to  take 
anything  stronger  than  water.  The  cordiality  subsist- 
ing between  missionaries  of  all  denominations  is  very 
pleasing — '  The  joy  of  one  is  the  joy  of  all.'  How 
mysterious  are  the  ways  of  Providence  !  The  Bishop 
of  Calcutta  is  dead !  Oh  the  amazmg  loss  that  India 
has  sustained !  Never  did  any  man  appear  so  likely 
to  be,  in  very  truth,  a  burning  and  shining  light. — 
M.  M.  C." 

Mrs.  Clough's  circumstances  may  be  further  under- 


MRS.    CLOUGH.  79 

stood,  as  well  as  the  progress  of  the  mission  in  Ceylon, 
from  the  extracts  of  a  letter  to  her  parents  : — 

"  Colombo^  August  5,  1826. — Doubtless,  my  dear 
parents,  you  have  heard  ere  this  of  our  little  stranger, 
Benjamin  Morley  Clough ;  whom  we  have  dedicated 
to  God  by  solemn  baptism.  Through  mercy  he  enjoys 
uninterrupted  health.  The  missionary  prospects  are 
really  deliglitful.  Our  congregations,  Singhalese,  Por- 
tuguese, and  English,  increase  rapidly.  Class  and 
prayer  meetings  are  well  attended,  and  the  native 
schools  are  in  prosperity.  Several  new  ones  have  been 
established  during  the  past  year,  and  upwards  of  600 
have  been  added.  Mr.  M'Kenny,  the  resident  mis- 
sionary at  Caltura,  informed  me,  that  in  examining  the 
society  in  that  place  he  found,  to  his  great  surprise  and 
satisfaction,  that  all  the  members  (except  one  or  two) 
had  been  educated  in  our  schools.  This  I  consider  a 
very  encouraging  circumstance  :  it  shows,  too,  the  pro- 
priety of  placing  children  early  under  religious  instruc- 
tion. In  the  month  of  June  we  held  our  missionary 
meeting;  Sir  R.  Ottley  in  the  chair.  Several  of  the 
military  officers  and  civilians  gave  us  good  speeches ; 
and  the  collection  exceeded  every  former  one.  The 
monthly  missionary  meetings  increase  in  number  and 
interest — at  the  last  there  were  most  pleasing  accounts 
of  the  conversion  of  the  heathen. — M.  M.  C." 

Mrs.  Clough  wrote  her  last  entry  in  her  journal  as 
follows  : — 

^^  August  17,  1826. — I  had  a  severe  attack  oi  fever. 
My  dear  husband  called  in  medical  assistance  ;  and,  by 


80  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

the  blessing  of  God,  the  means  made  use  of  considerably 
abated  the  disorder,  and  removed  the  alarming  sym- 
ptoms :  but  these  means  were  so  powerful  that  I  was 
reduced  to  a  state  of  indescribable  weakness.  My 
spirits  were  greatly  depressed  on  account  of  my  dear 
baby,  whom  I  was  nursing,  fearing  he  would  partake 
of  my  illness ;  but  my  distress  was  greatly  augmented 
when  Dr.  Whitfield  informed  me,  that  he  must  insist 
on  my  giving  up  nursing.  His  decided  and  candid 
opinion  was,  that,  if  I  continued  doing  it,  I  should 
throw  myself  into  a  rapid  decline,  and  probably  be  in 
my  grave  in  the  course  of  a  few  months.  Oh  may  I 
from  this  time  unreservedly  give  up  my  own  will,  and 
in  all  things  be  guided  by  the  unerring  Spirit  of  God  I 

'  Good  when  He  gives,  supremely  good. 
Nor  less  when  He  denies ; 
Afflictions  from  his  sovereign  hand 
Are  blessings  in  disguise.'  " 

During  the  next  ten  months  Mrs,  Clough's  health 
was  happily  restored ;  and  she  entered,  as  far  as  her 
circumstances  would  allow,  into  the  labours  of  her  hus- 
band. Ceylon  being  a  British  colony,  many  English 
resided  there,  and  several  with  whom  she  was  privi- 
leged to  associate  occupied  superior  stations  in  life,  and 
even  in  the  government ;  fewer  disadvantages  were 
therefore  experienced  by  her  than  in  many  places  by 
the  wives  of  missionaries  :  still,  being  in  exile  far  from 
her  native  land,  she  felt  the  separation  from  her  friends. 
But,  "  for  these  privations,"  she  says,  in  a  letter,  January 
25,  1827,  "we  shall  find  ourselves  compensated — nay, 
indeed,  highly  honoured,  by  seeing  sinners   converted 


MRS.    CLOUGH.  81 

from  the  error  of  their  ways,  and  accepting  the  Lord 
Jesus  as  their  only  Saviour.  The  Religious  Tract 
Society  appears  to  be  a  means  of  extensive  usefulness. 
We  have  heard  of  many  of  the  most  depraved  charac- 
ters forsaking  drunkenness,  which  is  extremely  common 
here,  as  spirituous  liquors  are  remarkably  cheap." 

"  March  4,  1837,"  she  wrote  :  "  I  am  truly  thank- 
ful, my  dear  parents,  to  inform  you  that  we  are  all 
well  and  happy.  My  dear  husband  is  enabled  to  attend 
to  all  his  numerous  enoagrements  with  unabated  dilio^ence. 
Our  charming  little  Morley  grows  finely,  and  is  a  very 
interesting  child  for  eleven  months.  My  own  health  is 
very  good,  though  I  have  lately  felt  the  heat  excessively, 
the  thermometer  beino-  88^  in  our  bed-room.  We  do 
not  spend  our  strength  for  nought.  The  Lord  graciously 
owns  our  labours.  We  have  great  cause  for  encourage- 
ment among  the  European  soldiers.  Many  little  occur- 
rences have  lately  transpired  to  encourage  us  in  the 
belief  that  the  Lord  will  pour  out  his  Spirit  upon  us 
more  abundantly.  There  appears  to  be  a  great  degree 
of  faith  in  exercise  among  all  denominations  for  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen.  I  do  verily  believe  that  the 
thousands  of  faithful  prayers  offered  up  in  England  will 
be  speedily  answered.  My  beloved  husband  has  just 
returned  from  Kornegalle,  in  the  interior  of  the  country, 
and  brings  pleasing  accounts  of  the  willingness  of  the 
poor  heathen  Kandians  to  hear  the  word  of  God. — 
M.  M.  C." 

Thirteen  days  only  before  she  was  called  to  her 
eternal  rest,  Mrs.  Clough  wrote  to  her  mother,  June  17, 


82  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

1827,  remarking, — "  Your  kind  letter  I  have  the  plea- 
sure to  receive  by  the  '  Sepping.s/  It  is  no  small  comfort 
to  me  to  know,  in  my  various  little  sufferings  and 
trials,  that  I  have  so  many  kind  and  sympathising 
friends  in  England,  who,  I  am  sure,  daily  remember 
me  before  the  throne  of  grace.  Indeed,  I  consider  the 
healthy  peace^  and  prosperity,  with  which  we  have  been 
favoured,  to  be  given  in  answer  to  the  fervent  and 
unceasing  prayers  of  God's  peculiar  people  at  home. 
I  assure  you,  my  dear  mother,  I  often  find  that  I 
require  a  little  of  your  judicious  and  prudent  advice  in 
the  important  situation  in  which  I  stand  as  mistress  of 
a  large  establishment,  a  wife,  and  a  mother.  The  eyes 
of  many  are  fixed  on  us  ;  and  it  is  very  necessary  that 
we  should  be  careful  in  every  part  of  our  conduct,  so 
that  we  may  bring  no  reproach  on  the  cross  of  Christ. 
I  feel  very  sensibly  the  necessity  of  divine  aid  and 
instruction  in  the  management  of  our  dear  boy.  The 
Lord  has  committed  to  us  the  training  of  a  young 
immoi'tal^  and  his  future  conduct  may  depend  on  the 
good  or  bad  management  of  his  parents.  Our  Society 
in  the  fort  is  in  a  very  prosperous  state.  It  is  really 
delightful  to  attend  their  meetings ;  there  is  so  much 
simplicity,  zeal,  and  devout  attention.  I  very  frequently 
accompany  my  beloved  husband,  and  never  come  away 
without  being  greatly  stirred  up  and  quickened  in 
my  own  mind.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  we  have 
lately  had  several  applications  from  Mohammedans,  to 
establish  schools  for  the  religious  instruction  of  their 
children.  I  hope  this  is  the  prelude  to  a  glorious  era 
in  our  missionary  work. — M.  M.  C." 


MRS.    CLOUGH.  83 

Mrs.  Cloiigli's  work  on  earth  had  now  been  finished; 
and  she  closed  her  exemplary  and  useful  life  in  giving 
birth  to  her  second  child,  June  80,  1827.  Her  elevated 
spirituality  of  mind  will  be  evident  to  every  reader  of  the 
preceding  pages ;  but  the  manner  of  her  departure  will 
be  best  learned  from  the  following  extracts  of  a  letter  to 
her  father,  from  Sir  R.  Ottley : — 

"  Ceylon,  July  7,  1827. 

"  Sir, — Although  not  personally  acquainted  with 
you,  the  interest  I  have  taken  in  her  who  has  recently 
been  called  from  this  scene  of  trial  to  the  habitations  of 
the  just  made  perfect,  will,  I  hope,  convince  you  that 
I  am  not  acting  officiously  in  communicating  intelligence 
of  the  loss  we  have  sustained. 

"Your  amiable,  pious, and  deeply-lamented  daughter, 
Mrs.  Clough,  departed  this  life  on  Saturday  the  30th  of 
June  in  childbed. 

"  Antecedently  to  the  period  of  her  sudden  and  fatal 
illness,  she  had  enjoyed  good  health.  On  the  evening 
of  the  29th  of  June  she  felt  the  pains  of  labour ;  and 
for  several  lijurs  the  appearances  were  favourable. 
But  about  eleven  at  night  she  was  attacked  by  a  con- 
vulsive fit.  From  that  time  the  ordinary  effects  of 
nature  subsided.  Every  exertion  was  made  which 
could  afford  hope  of  saving  the  mother  ;  but  frequent 
repetitions  of  the  convulsive  fits  rendered  all  those 
efibrts  unavailing.  The  best  advice  was  obtained  :  one 
of  our  most  skilful  medical  men  attended  her  from  the 
commencement,  and  he  called  in  the  assistance  of  the 
principal  medical  officer.     Her  frame,  however,  at  all 

G  2 


84  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

times  feeble,  was  incapable  of  sustaining  the  violence  of 
the  disorder.  At  six  or  seven  in  the  mornincj  of  the 
30th,  all  hope  of  recovery  was  abandoned  ;  and  at  about 
ten  o'clock  your  beloved  daughter  expired.  The  poor 
infant — a  female — was  saved,  and  is  still  alive,  very 
diminutive  indeed,  but  at  present  indicating  no  symp- 
toms of  approaching  dissolution. 

"  The  nature  of  this  climate  rendered  speedy  inter- 
ment necessary;  and  on  Sunday  the  1st  of  July  we 
attended  the  funeral  of  Mrs.  Clough.  In  England, 
where  so  many  excellent  and  exemplary  women  are 
found  to  adorn  society,  the  loss  of  one,  however  valu- 
able, is  less  felt,  except  by  her  kindred  and  relations : 
here  your  daughter  shone  forth  with  pre  eminent  lustre. 
The  sweetness  of  her  temper,  the  goodness  of  her  heart, 
and  the  fascinations  of  her  mild  and  cheerful  demeanour, 
increased  the  esteem  which  her  deep  piety,  and  the  vir- 
tuous tenor  of  her  conduct,  were  so  well  calculated  to 
inspire. 

'^  The  religious  society  in  Ceylon  forms  but  a  small 
flock.  Amongst  that  society  we  had  the  happiness  to 
see  Mrs.  Clough  a  steady  and  conspicuous  member  : 
she  was  an  example  to  us  all,  and  particularly  a  pattern 
to  her  own  sex.  Thus  she  arrived  a  truly  virtuous 
young  woman  ;  she  maintained  a  consistent  character 
during  the  whole  period  of  her  residence  among  us, 
and  died  a  happy  and  devoted  servant  of  the  Lord. 
"  I  am,  sir,  with  perfect  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  K.  Ottley." 


MRS.    JOWETT. 

DIED   JUNE  24,   1829. 

Mrs.  JowETT's'Biography,  by  her  Husband. — Her  Early  Life. — Piety  of  her 
Sister. — Her  Conversion. — Her   Active    Piety. — Married    to    Rev.   W. 

Jowett. — Accompanies  him  on  his  INIission  to  the  Mediterranean 

Birth  of  her  First  Child.^Her  Studies — Her  Co-operation  with  Blrs. 
Wilson  of  the  London  INIissionary  Society,  at  jMalta. — Her  INIaltese 
Girls'  School. — Secretary  to  the  School  Society. — Missionary  and  Bible 
Operations  at  INIalta.— Mrs.  Jowett's  Labours  among  the  Native  Females. 
Her  Domestic  Occupations.— Her  Account  of  the  Death  of  a  German 
Missionary. — Her  Care  of  the  Dying  Wife  and  Children  of  an  Ameri- 
can Missionary.— Her  Return  to  England. — Her  Illness. — Birth  of  her 
Seventh  Child. — Declining  Health. — She  Dies  at  Lewisham.— Her  Letter 
to  her  Mother  two  days  before  her  Decease. 

Mrs.  Jowett  was  the  excellent  and  devoted  wife  of 
the  Rev.  William  Jowett,  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society.  She  was  born  October  22,  1789;  but  little  is 
known  of  her  early  history.  Her  husband  has  given 
to  the  public  an  interesting  biographical  sketch  of  his 
admirable  partner,  from  which  the  following  particu- 
lars are  derived: — 

Mr.  Jowett  says, — "  Of  the  earlier  part  of  Mrs. 
Jowett's  life  I  am  not  able  to  say  much,  not  having 
known  her  till  the  year  preceding  our  marriage. 
Decided  and  permanent  religious  impressions  on  her 
mind  may  probably  be  dated  from  about  the  year  1804. 
On  coming  home  from  a  boarding-school,  where,  in 
addition  to  much  useful  knowledge,  she  had  imbibed 
not  a  little  youthful  vanity,  she  found  her  elder  sister 


86  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

teaching  a  Sunday-school  of  poor  children  of  the  village. 
At  this  she  at  first  took  offence  :  but  throuo^h  her 
sisters  mild  persuasions  and  exemplary  psrseverance, 
she  was  herself  brought  to  labour  with  earnestness  for 
the  instruction  and  salvation  of  these  Very  children. 

"  The  mutual  love  of  these  two  sisters,  jMary  and 
Martha,  now  become  similar  in  their  relio-ious  feelings 
and  employments,  from  this  period  constantly  increased. 
In  conducting  Sunday-schools,  in  visiting  the  sick,  and 
in  promoting  a  Bible  and  missionary  association  in  their 
parish,  they  were  of  one  heart  and  one  mind.  It  was 
painful,  more  especially  to  the  elder,  to  part  with  her 
younger  sister,  quitting  England,  to  accompany  me  in 
my  mission  to  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  a  no  less  painful 
stroke  was  it  to  my  wife,  five  years  after,  to  hear,  on 
her  first  return  to  England,  that  her  beloved  sister  had 
been  called  to  her  eternal  home  only  a  few  weeks  before 
our  arrival  in  our  native  country.  But  these  wounds 
of  their  affectionate  hearts  are  now  healed,  where  nothing 
will  separate  them  from  the  love  of  Christ. 

"At  school,  though  many  vain  thoughts  had  en- 
snared her  heart,  yet  my  dear  wife  had  diligently 
improved  her  time  and  opportunity  for  the  cultivation 
of  her  mind.  She  was  well  acquainted  with  French, 
which  proved  a  good  step  toward  her  employment  in 
after  life.  She  also,  before  my  acquaintance  with  her, 
began,  by  herself,  to  learn  Hebrew  ;  but  this  she  did 
not  find  it  necessary  to  resume ;  it  must,  however,  have 
had  its  use  in  preparing  her  mind  for  the  Maltese,  which 
is  altogether  an  Oriental  dialect. 


MRS.    JOWETT.  87 

"  We  were  iinitecl  in  marriage  June  26,  1815  ;  from 
this  period  an  entirely  new  scene  opened  upon  us  :  we 
were  going  to  a  foreign  land,  upon  an  untried  mission, 
and  with  very  uncertain  views  as  to  what  might  be  the 
course  proper  to  be  adopted.  Since  that  period  as  many 
as  fifty  missionaries  have  traversed  the  waves  of  the 
Mediterranean  :  but  on  our  arrival  in  Malta,  Novem- 
ber 1,  we  were  alone;  we  had  indeed  Christian  friends, 
but  not  one  missionary  brother  or  sister  with  whom  to 
take  counsel.  During  this  most  trying  period,  I  must 
ever  regard  it  as  a  singular  blessing  from  God  tliat  I 
had  a  partner  who  was  steadfast  in  the  faith,  patient 
through  hope,  and  rooted  in  charity. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1816  our  first  child  was  born  ;  and 
in  a  few  months  after  I  began  my 'Researches,'  by  making 
a  visit  of  five  months  in  the  Ionian  Islands.  During 
this  year  she  was  perfecting  herself  in  Italian — feeling 
her  way  toward  the  Maltese,  in  which  there  were  then  no 
printed  books,  except  a  lexicon  and  grammar.  At  this 
time  also,  and  for  several  subsequent  years,  she  was  my 
amanuensis  ;  which,  considering  the  extensive  journal- 
writing  and  correspondence  that  I  had  to  conduct  in 
duplicate,  was  by  itself  alone  an  occupation  of  no  small 
magnitude.  In  the  commencement  of  1817,  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  poor  Maltese  engaged  the  attention  of  some 
benevolent  gentlemen  and  ladies.  The  city  of  Yaletta 
was  divided  into  districts,  and  carefully  visited.  This 
first  presented  a  clear  opening  for  direct  intercourse  with 
the  natives ;  and  my  wife  very  readily  visited  the 
poorest  parts  of  the  city,  and  offered  to  teach  some  of 


88  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

the  children.  It  was  a  new  thing  to  see  ladies  per- 
sonally inspecting  the  close  rooms  of  the  people,  their 
miserable  clothes,  and  their  domestic  wants:  this  has  since 
been  carried  on  more  extensively  by  a  regularly  organ- 
ised sick-society,  of  which  Mrs.  Wilson  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society  is  secretary— but  at  that  early 
period  the  thing  was  scarcely  comprehended  in  Malta. 

"  In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1817  she  began,  quite 
in  a  private  way,  a  school  for  young  Maltese  girls ; 
and  which  she  continued,  without  interruption,  till  we 
left  Malta  in  18*29.  For  five  mornings  in  the  week 
she  had  her  room  filled.  Some  came  only  for  a  week 
or  two,  and  were  withdrawn  by  the  parents,  acting 
under  the  influence  of  the  priesthood.  The  total  num- 
ber which  had  attended  at  different  times,  and  for  dif- 
ferent periods,  was  upwards  of  150,  during  these  three 
years  ;  thirty  had  received  as  much  as  two  years'  edu- 
cation :  a  very  few  had  remained  nearly  the  whole  three 
years.  They  were  taught  habits  of  cleanliness,  silence, 
and  order  ;  needlework  ;  reading  and  writing — reading 
both  English  and  Italian.  They  repeated  and  sang 
many  of  Watts's  Divine  Songs  for  Children ;  but  we 
obtained  the  Gospels  to  be  translated  into  the  Maltese, 
and  portions  of  these  Mrs.  Jowett  read  regularly  to  the 
school — she  always  began  and  ended  with  a  prayer  in 
Maltese. 

"  In  the  beginning  of  1820,  when  the  treasurer  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  School  Society,  Mr.  AV  illiam  Allen, 
visited  Malta,  schools  on  a  much  more  extensive  and 
public  plan   were  established,  for  the  young  of  both 


MRS.    JOWETT.  89 

sexes.  The  affiiirs  of  these  schools  were  conducted  by 
two  committees,  one  consisting  of  gentlemen,  the  other 
of  ladies  ;  in  tliat  of  the  ladies,  Mrs.  Jowett  was 
one  of  the  joint-secretaries.  It  was  a  matter  of  un- 
feigned regret  to  her,  as  also  to  many  other  Christian 
friends,  the  opposition  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy 
to  the  free  use  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  wholly 
precluded  the  hope,  for  the  present,  of  introducing 
Bible-lessons  :  the  attempt  was  made  more  than  once, 
but  completely  failed.  She  did  not,  however,  feel  her- 
self called  upon  by  this  circumstance  to  withdraw  her 
aid  from  a  society  which  was  useful,  and  likely  to  prove 
an  introduction  to  future  measures  of  higher  utility ; 
she  was  herself  also,  in  a  more  private  way,  constantly 
labouring  to  make  the  Word  of  God  known  to  the 
poorest  classes  in  the  city. 

"At  the  end  of  1820  we  returned  to  England,  to 
recruit  our  health,  and  consult  with  the  Society  on  our 
future  measures.  On  our  return  to  Malta,  in  the 
beginning  of  1822,  she  found  the  attempt  to  re-establish 
her  school  impracticable.  Such  was  tlie  successful  foot- 
ing which  the  School  Society  had  obtained,  and  such 
was  the  zealous  activity  of  those  who  opposed  the 
Scriptures,  that  her  endeavours  to  form  a  Maltese 
Sunday-school  failed.  The  printing  of  the  Gospel  of 
John  in  the  native  language  had  also  augmented  the 
apprehensions  of  those  who  feared  the  progress  of  the 
Bible  Society.  Notwithstanding  these  circumstances, 
Mrs.  Jowett  began  in  1823,  and  for  five  years,  without 
intermission,    continued   the   reading    of    the    Maltese 


90  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Scriptures  to  the  very  poorest  class  of  old  and  infirm 
women,  whom  she  received  for  that  purpose  into  our 
house  every  Monday  morning  for  two  hours.  As  she 
spoke  Maltese  fluently,  these  poor  women  heard  her 
gladly.  She  not  only  read,  but  explained  to  them  the 
Scriptures  ;  and  examined  them  each  time  concerning 
what  they  had  heard  on  the  preceding  Monday.  Of 
two  of  them  she  had  good  hopes  that  their  minds  were 
savingly  affected  by  what  they  heard. 

"  Mrs.  Jowett  spoke  to  them,  from  a  deep  and  ex- 
perimental knowledge,  upon  the  doctrines  of  the  sole 
mediation  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  insufficiency  of  our  own 
good  works  for  salvation,  and  the  effectual  grace  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  for  our  conversion,  and  for  our  performance 
of  any  good  work.  Nor  was  she  backward  to  show 
them  the  vanity  and  sinfulness  of  their  having  recourse 
to  images,  to  saints,  and  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  in  their 
prayers.  This  excited  surprise  in  some  of  them,  and 
indignation  in  others.  One  of  the  women  attended  for 
some  time  as  a  spy  :  a  kind  of  petty  persecution  was 
raised,  and  more  was  threatened ;  but  she  went  on  in 
the  work  with  her  wonted  simplicity,  steadfastness, 
and  composure. 

"  In  the  years  1823-4,  we  received  into  our  house  a 
German  missionary,  who  was  in  a  very  precarious  state 
of  health,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Deininger.  As  he  came  back 
from  a  visit  to  Italy,  before  I  was  able  to  reach  JMalta 
on  my  return  from  Jerusalem,  the  care  of  him,  in  addi- 
tion to  that  of  her  family  of  four  children,  devolved  on 
Mrs.   Jowett,  till  within  eighteen  days  of  his  death. 


MRS.    JOWETT.  91 

Her  sympathy  and  Christian  conversation  were  felt  by 
him  to  be  very  consolatory;  and  a  brief  memoir  of  him, 
drawn  up  principally  by  her,  was  inserted  in  the  Mis- 
sionary Register  for  September  ]  824. 

"  In  the  year  1826,  we  received  into  our  house,  for 
periods  of  various  continuance,  ten  missionaries,  and  the 
wives  of  two  of  them,  all  in  the  service  of  the  Church 
INIissionary  Society.  Wliile  these  cares  and  claims  of 
an  increasing  family  engaged  Mrs.  Jowett's  attention, 
she  never  intermitted  the  reading  of  the  Maltese  Scrip- 
tures to  the  poor  women  who  came  weekly. 

"  In  January  1827,  one  of  the  American  missionaries, 
the  Rev.  Daniel  Temple,  had  the  affliction  to  lose  his 
excellent  and  amiable  partner,  a  very  few  days  after 
giving  birth  to  her  fourth  child.  As  there  seemed  to 
be  no  one  else  who  could,  with  so  much  propriety  and 
satisfaction  to  his  family,  take  the  charge  of  these  four 
motherless  and  young  children,  Mrs.  Jowett  received 
them  into  our  house.  The  youngest  two,  however, 
which  were  very  feeble,  did  not  long  enjoy  or  need  her 
care,  as  they  soon  followed  their  mother  to  the  land  of 
rest.  The  elder  two  remained  with  us  till  the  spring 
of  1828,  when  we  quitted  Malta  for  England  .a  second 
time ;  Mr.  Temple  also  sailing  shortly  after,  with  his 
two  children,  for  America. 

••'  On  reaching  our  native  shores,  and  after  having 
had  a  sight  of  all  our  relatives,  Mrs.  Jowett  was  led, 
by  some  circumstances,  to  take  a  more  particular  review 
of  her  past  missionary  course ;  and  this  faithful  servant 
of  Christ  reckoned  that  she  had  done  nothing — such 


92  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

was  her  unfeigned  humility.  In  the  autumn  of  1828, 
she  gave  birth  to  her  seventh  child  ;  and  shortly  after- 
ward had  a  return  of  rather  a  suspicious  cough,  such 
as  she  had  formerly  suffered  at  Malta.  As,  however, 
she  got  through  the  winter  tolerably  well,  my  appre- 
hensions were  not  seriously  excited  ;  and  in  the  spring 
of  1^29,  as  I  had  preached  very  little  for  the  Society 
since  my  return,  it  seemed  expedient  that  I  should  join 
in  the  missionary  journey  to  Durham ;  but  before  I  was 
able  to  return,  her  letters  began  to  indicate  an  unfavour- 
able change  in  the  state  of  her  health.  On  my  reaching 
home  in  April,  hopes  were  still  entertained,  by  myself 
at  least,  that,  by  care  and  a  little  delay,  I  might  be  able  to 
take  her  and  all  the  children  to  Malta,  in  the  autumn. 
But  in  another  month  her  brother.  Dr.  Whiting,  com- 
municated to  me  that  her  health  was  in  a  very  preca- 
rious state,  and  that  our  return  to  Malta  must,  for  the 
present,  be  laid  quite  out  of  the  question. 

"  We  then  removed  her  to  visit  a  valued  friend  at 
Homerton,  where  she  remained  ten  days  ;  while  some  re- 
sidence was  sought  for,  sufficiently  near  to  London,  and 
yet  favourable  for  good  air.  A  suitable  place  was  found 
on  Lewisham-Hill,  well  sheltered  from  the  cold  winds 
of  Blackheath,  as  well  as  from  the  air  of  London.  She 
was  brought  to  Lewisham  on  the  29th  of  May,  and  had 
not  been  there  three  weeks,  before  her  symptoms  began 
to  look  more  decisively  serious  than  they  had  ever  done 
before." 

Mrs.  Jowett  continued  rapidly  to  decline,  notwith- 
standing every  effort  of  medical  skill  to  prolong  a  life 


MRS.   JOWETT.  93 

SO  desirable  ;  but  her  mind  was  preserved  in  peace  and 
joyful  hope,  tlirouoh  Jesus  Christ.  Mr.  Jowett  details 
the  minute  events  of  the  last  few  days ;  but  only  the 
closing  scene,  as  described  by  him,  can  be  given  in  this 
place.     He  records  : — 

"About  ten  o'clock  the  family  began  to  separate. 
Some  arrangements  were  made,  preparatory  to  the 
event,  which  it  seemed  very  evident  must  take  place 
during  the  night,  as  my  dear  wife  drew  her  breath 
more  and  more  faintly.  She  did  not  appear  at  all 
insensible ;  but  gave  no  response  or  sign  which  at  all 
indicated  that  her  mind  was  present  with  us.  I 
remained  with  her,  too^ether  with  one  of  the  servants, 
and  occasionally  dropped  in  her  ear  some  short  word  from 
Scripture.  It  was  just  at  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before 
midnight,  when  the  servant  suddenly  made  a  signal  to 
me,  and  I  hastened  to  the  bed-side.  Her  change  was 
evidently  near  :  I  sent  for  her  brother,  who  was  in  an 
adjoining  room  :  and  in  a  few  moments,  without  any 
apparent  pain  or  struggle,  she  dropped  her  head  on  one 
side,  and  her  cheek  resting  on  the  pillow,  fell  asleep. 
We  then  a  few  of  us  assembled,  and  united  in  returning 
thanks  to  our  heavenly  Father,  for  her  peaceful  release  ; 
and  for  the  good  hope^  through,  grace^  that  she  had  rested 
in  glory.  It  was  night  to  us  :  but,  to  her,  eternal  day  ! 
Her  remains  were  interred  at  Lewisham,  on  June  the 
29th  :  and  on  her  tomb — after  statino-  that  she  was 
born  October  22,  1789,  and  died  June  24,  1829— the 
following  text  is  inscribed : — 'Wno  shall  separate  us 

FROM  THE  LOVE  OF  ChRIST  ?'" 


94  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Mrs.  Jowett's  personal  piety  must  be  evident  from 
this  brief  record  of  her  works  ;  and  her  state  of  mind  in 
the  prospect  of  dissolution  cannot  be  so  well  exhibited 
by  anything  as  by  the  following  letter,  which  she  only 
wrote  two  days  before  her  decease  : — 

"  My  dearest  Mother, — I  cannot  help,  with  my 
own  hand,  thanking  you  for  your  very  kind  letter,  and 
the  truly  Christian  consolations  it  contained.  I  received 
it  when  my  spirits  were  particularly  low ;  and  it  was 
a  real  cordial  to  my  mind  to  have  my  Saviour's  love  so 
set  before  me  in  so  motherly  and  kind  a  way  :  such  a 
cordial  I  greatly  needed.  I  trust,  indeed,  that  He  is 
my  shepherd,  and  that  he  will  never  leave  me,  nor  for- 
sake me.  My  spirits  are  sometimes  very  low  at  the 
thought  of  being  taken  so  early  from  my  dear  children, 
•whom  it  would  have  been  the  delight  of  my  heart  to  have 
been  permitted  to  train  up  in  the  nurture  and  admoni- 
tion of  the  Lord.  But  if  the  Lord  sees  fit  to  take  me, 
I  know  that  he  can  do  better  for  them  than  I  could : 
therefore  I  desire  to  say,  '  Not  my  will,  but  thine  be 
done.*  Since  I  have  been  at  this  place,  I  think  I  have 
been  weaker  and  weaker  every  day ;  but,  through 
mercy,  I  suffer  very  little,  scarcely  any,  pain  of  body, 
except  the  pain  of  weakness.  I  must  not  write  any 
more,  only  to  beg  that  you  will  not  cease  to  pray  for 
me  and  mine  :  and  may  our  mutual  prayers  for  each 
other  come  up  with  acceptance,  through  our  dear 
Redeemer ! " 


MRS.   HANNAH   KILHAM^ 

DIED    MARCH    31,    1832. 

Mrs.  Kilham,  a  native  of  Sheffield.. — A  remarkable  Child  in  the  Vlcarago 
School.— In  a  Boarding-school  at  Chesterfield. — Testimonj'  of  a  Friend. 

— She  joins  the  Methodists Extract  of  her  Diary — New  Connexion  of 

Methodists.— Mr.  Kilham,  its  leader.— Attached  to  Miss  Speers.— The 
Correspondence.^ — Their  Marriage.. — His  Ministry,  and  Death. — His 
Dying  Testimony. — Her  Widowhood. — She  becomes  a  Mother. — Joins 
the  Society  of  Friends. — Establishes  a  Boarding-school — Her  Religious 
Zeal.. — She  projects  a  Mission  to  Ireland. — Her  Benevolent  Labours  in 
Sheffield. — Contemplated  Mission  to  Africa.^IIer  Step-Daughter  en- 
gages as  a  Schoolmistress  for  Russia. — Hannah  Kilham  studies  the 
Zaloof  and  Mandingo  Languages.— She  goes  on  a  Mission  to  Ireland. — 
She  embarks  for  Africa. — Returns  to  London,  and  labours  among  tho 
poor  Irish — She  makes  a  Second,  and  a  Third  Voyage  to  Africa. — 
J^  -^iberia  and  the  Colonizatiim  Society. — Her  Last  Entry  in  her  Diary. — 
She  dies  at  Sea,  on  a  Missionary  Voyage. — Testimony  of  her  Character 
and  Labours,  by  Mr.  Montgomery. 

Mrs.  Hannah  Kilham,  a  devoted  missionary  to 
evangelise  the  natives  of  Africa,  and  in  the  prosecution 
of  which  holy  purpose  she  fell  a  sacrifice,  was  the 
daughter  of  Mr.  Peter  Speers  and  his  wife  Hannah, 
who  were  respectably  engaged  in  trade  at  Sheffield. 
She  was  born  August  12,  1774  ;  but  her  mother  dying 
while  she  w^as  very  young,  she  was  greatly  indebted 
to  the  judicious  and  affectionate  care  of  a  married  sister, 
who  watched  over  her  with  all  the  solicitude  of  a 
parent. 

*  See  Memoirs  of  the  late  Hannah  Kilham,  chiefly  compiled  from  her 
Journal,  and  edited  by  her  sister-in-law,  Sarah  Biller,  of  St.  Tetersburgh. 
Darton  &  Harvey,  London. 


96  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

An  early  associate  says,  in  a  letter  to  her  daughter, 
"  Our  acquaintance  commenced  at  the  vicarage  day- 
school,  when  your  beloved  mother  was  about  ten  years 
of  age  ;  she  was  then  a  most  amiable,  talented,  and 
serious  girl ;  and  set  an  example  w^orthy  the  imitation 
of  her  school-fellows.  At  that  time  she  regularly 
attended  the  evening  prayers  at  the  parish  church  ; 
and,  however  she  mioht  be  enora^ed  with  her  com- 
panions,  she  always  left  at  the  hour  for  worship." 

When  fourteen  years  of  age,  she  was  sent  to  a  board- 
ing-school in  Chesterfield,  where  she  made  great  pro- 
gress. At  the  age  of  sixteen,  she  returned  home  ;  and, 
from  changes  in  the  family,  was  thrown  into  gay  life ; 
but  its  vanities  never  were  relished  by  her,  and  her 
compliance  was  principally  to  satisfy  her  relations  and 
friends.  When  about  nineteen  or  twenty,  she  was 
interested  in  the  profession  of  religion  made  by  some 
of  her  intimate  acquaintances,  and  being  herself  under 
serious  impressions,  she  conversed  much  with  them 
concerning  their  views  and  feelings,  and  intimated  a 
desire  for  special  association  with  them.  One  of  these 
friends  makes  the  following  record  of  her  history : — 
"  The  work  of  conviction  for  sin  was  carried  on  in  her 
heart  more  by  the  drawings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  than  by 
any  deep  awakenings  of  conscience.  After  associating 
awhile  with  her  intimate  friends,  she  declared  herself 
more  openly  on  the  Lord's  side ;  and  soon  being  enabled 
to  believe  with  her  heart  unto  righteousness,  she  became 
ready  to  make  confession  of  the  same  to  others.  About 
this  period  she  joined  the  society  of  Methodists.     In 


MRS.    HANNAH    KILHAM.  07 

our  love-feasts  and  band-meetings,  she  often  testified  of 
the  God  of  orace,  to  the  edification  of  the  Church. 
We,  and  many  wlio  were  present,  remember  well  the 
first  time  in  which  she  arose  publicly  to  express  her 
gratitude  to  God  for  the  change  He  had  made  in  her 
soul ;  she  was  so  overcome  as  to  be  constrained  to  fall 
on  her  knees,  and  in  that  posture  to  pour  out  her  full 
heart  before  God." 

Her  diary  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  exhibits  her 
scriptural  piety,  which  the  following  extract  will 
illustrate : — 

"  Fehruary  16,  1796. — I  had  no  spiritual  solid  peace 
till  I  came  with  all  my  imperfections  on  my  head,  in 
obedience  to  the  call  of  my  Saviour,  simply  as  a  little 
child,  weary  and  heavy  laden,  casting  my  care  and 
burden  before  him.  Then  I  was  willing  to  take  '  His 
yoke  upon  me,  and  learn  of  Him,'  endeavouring  by  the 
grace  of  God  to  copy  His  humility,  convinced  that 
'  His  yoke  is  easy,  and  His  burden  is  light.'  I  would 
fix  my  soul  on  Jesus ;  I  would  endeavour  in  all  things 
to  follow  His  steps.  Oh,  that  I  could  glorify  the  God 
of  my  salvation  !  The  whole  world  and  all  its  pleasures 
have  nothing  to  be  compared  with  one  single  spark  of 
Divine  love.  Oh,  let  all  my  soul,  let  all  the  world  unite 
in  blessing  God,  the  Father  of  light  and  life  I  I  thank 
Thee,  O  Lord,  for  thine  abundant  goodness  to  me. 
Carry  on  thine  own  work  in  my  soul.  Let  me  be 
indeed  to  all  eternity  thy  child  in  Jesus  Christ." 

Miss  Spurr  witnessed,  the  following  year,  the  divi- 
sion of  the  "Wesleyan  Methodist  body,  and  the  formation 

H 


93  BRITISH    FEMALE    INIISSIONARIES. 

of  the  "  New  Connexion  and  New  Conference."  She 
investigated  the  causes  of  the  secession,  and  united 
with  that  section  of  which  Mr.  Alexander  Kilham,  a 
preacher  of  eminent  worth  and  talents,  was  a  chief 
leader.  With  this  gentleman  she  became  at  this 
time  acquainted ;  and  she  approved  of  his  decision  and 
proceedings,  as  in  her  judgment  they  were  according  to 
the  will  of  God.  Hence  she  encouraged  him,  in  a 
letter  dated,  ''  September  18,  1797.  I  entreat  you  not 
to  shrink  from  suffering,  if  such  be  the  will  of  God 
concerning  you.  Be  actuated  by  the  charity  which 
beareth  all  things:  l)e  willing  to  be  reviled,  despised, 
and  rejected  of  men :  let  your  name  be  cast  out  as 
evil, — only  take  care  that  it  be  undeservedly! — You 
have  real  enjoyment  while  in  Clirist  Jesus,  and  doing  the 
will  of  God  ;  the  Lord  will  support  you  under  the 
burdens  He  himself  lays  upon  you.  You  have  nothing 
to  fear  but  sin ;  then  determine  by  the  grace  of  God  to 
stand  unmoved  in  the  fire ; — your  Saviour  wdll  be  with 
you ;  but  rather  let  the  flame  consume  you,  than  that 
you  should  do  anything  to  grieve  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Your  sincere  friend,  Hannah  Spurr." 

Mr.  Kilham's  character  may  be  in  some  degree 
understood  from  the  following  addressed  to  Miss 
Spurr  : — "  October  1,  1797. — It  is  impossible  to  de- 
scribe the  joy  I  feel  in  seeking  the  salvation  of  my  fel- 
low-creatures. I  feel  a  lively  hope  that  God  will  grant 
His  protecting  cloud,  that  we  may  adore  and  love  Him 
for  ever.  My  soul  does  enter  within  the  veil  and  seeks 
her  meat  from  God.     Oh,   that   I  may  be   fed   more 


MRS.    HANNAH    KILHAM.  99 

abundantly,  and  rejoice  continually  in  His  salvation. 
After  preaching  I  returned  home  weary  and  faint.  One 
of  my  brothers  came  from  Epworth,  and  informed  me 
my  aged  father  is  well ;  he  has  known  the  grace  of  God 
more  than  fifty  years.  Your  aftectionate  friend, 
Alexander  Kilham." 

Frequent  correspondence  was  carried  on  between 
these  two  attached  friends;  and  the  following  will 
evince  the  high  esteem  in  which  Mr.  Kilham  held  Miss 
Spurr  : — "December  31,  1797.  I  know  not  a  person 
in  the  world  whose  disposition  is  so  suitable  to  mine  as 
that  of  my  beloved  Hannah.  I  think  our  heavenly 
Father  has  in  mercy  brought  us  acquainted  with  each 
other  for  the  best  purposes.  I  hope  if  I  am  not  worthy 
the  name  of  '  Pliable,'  my  dear  Hannah  will  not  merit 
that  of  '  Obstinate ! '  If  we  can  only  do  each  other 
good,  and  be  useful  to  mankind,  God  shall  have  the 
praise.  I  shall  conclude  with  observing,  on  this  last 
day  of  the  year,  that,  next  to  the  blessings  of  Divine 
grace  to  my  soul,  thou  art  the  choicest  favour  that  earth 
could  afford,  and  of  which  I  am  unworthy  ! — A.  K." 

Miss  Spurr  was  married  to  Mr.  Kilham  in  April 
1798,  but  their  union  was  of  short  continuance,  only 
eight  months  !  and  during  this  period  they  were  much 
separated,  as  he  was  travelling  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry  in  various  parts  of  England  and  Wales.  On 
Wednesday,  December  12,  1793,  he  took  a  violent  cold 
in  walking  home  between  four  and  five  miles,  after 
preaching.  He  was  extremely  ill  most  of  the  following 
week ;  and  on  Thursday,  the  20th,  he  vomited  much 
n  2 


100  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

blood.  "  I  was  much  affected,"  says  Mrs.  Kilham, 
"  with  the  thought  that  if  an  uncommonly  sweet  and 
heavenly  frame  of  mind  were  to  be  considered  as  a  sign 
of  an  approaching  change,  my  dear  husband  would  soon 
be  called  away.  He  said  he  was  much  relieved,  and  I 
expressed  my  thankfulness  to  God  with  tears.  About 
ten  o'clock  he  threw  up  a  much  larger  quantity  of 
blood  than  before ;  and  soon  after  he  vomited  again, 
and  appeared  as  if  the  hand  of  death  was  upon  him. 
The  soul  of  my  dear  husband  appeared  to  be  engaged 
with  God  as  he  said,  '  Though  I  walk  through  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil, 
for  Thou  art  with  me.'  In  a  little  time,  the  vomiting 
came  on  more  violently  than  ever ;  and  as  soon  as  he 
was  able  to  speak,  he  said,  '  If  I  am  dying  now,  tell  all 
the  world  that  Jesus  is  precious  ! '  He  added,  '  He  is 
working  gloriously  in  my  heart,  glory  to  God  ! '  A 
friend  who  was  present  said  he  would  go  for  a  physi- 
cian. My  husband  answered,  '  No,  no  doctor  ;  I  want 
none  but  Jesus  Christ ! '  When  we  were  distressed  at 
the  thought  of  his  sufferings,  we  heard  him  say,  'As  the 
afflictions  of  Christ  abound,  His  consolations  abound  in 
my  soul.'  He  appeared  sensible  that  life  was  now 
wearing  away  very  fast ;  and  left  a  dying  profession  of 
his  confidence  of  the  goodness  of  the  cause  in  which  his 
heart  had  been  engaged :  he  said,  '  "What  I  have  done 
with  regard  to  the  methodist  connexion,  so  far  from 
repenting,  I  rejoice  in  it  at  this  moment !  What  I  have 
done  in  opposing  the  corruptions  in  the  church  I 
believed   my   duty ;    I    bless  God  that  he   made   me 


MRS.    HANNAH    KILHAM.  101 

an  instrument  of  doing  it !  Oh,  that  I  had  done  it 
more  faitlifully  ! '  The  last  words  he  was  heard  to 
speak  were,  '  Jesus  Christ,  receive  my  spirit ! '  My 
mind  had  till  now  been  suspended  between  hope  and 
despair,  and  I  was  silent ;  but  now  I  began  to  speak  to 
him.  I  saw  his  faithful  soul  was  goino^  to  his 
Redeemer,  and  in  the  fulness  of  my  heart  declared, 
'  I  would  call  on  all  the  world  never  to  seek  happiness 
in  anything  but  God.'  I  assured  him  if  a  human 
being  could  have  given  happiness,  he  had  given  it 
to  me." 

Mrs.  Kilham,  thus  left  in  a  state  of  widowhood, 
about  four  months  after  the  decease  of  her  husband, 
became,  in  April  1799,  the  mother  of  a  lovely  little 
girl,  which,  with  a  daughter  of  her  husband  by  a 
former  wife,  engaged  her  attention,  and  soothed  her 
sorrows.  But  soon  after  her  recovery,  she  took  charge 
of  the  female  part  of  a  day-school,  which  was  opened 
among  the  methodists  in  Nottingham.  This  occupation 
she  followed  with  conscientious  zeal  for  about  two 
years,  during  which  time  her  mind  was  exercised  by 
certain  views  on  religious  subjects  different  from  those 
entertained  by  the  methodist  connexion.  The  progress 
of  this  change  in  her  sentiments  led  her  to  retire  from 
her  former  associates,  and  to  join  the  religious  Society  of 
Friends,  in  1801.  In  the  summer  of  this  year  she 
removed  to  Sheffield.  Here  also  she  engaged  with  a 
friend  in  conducting  a  day-school.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1803,  Mrs.  Kilham  was  received  fully  into 
membership  with  the  Society  of  Friends ;   and  about 


102  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES- 

the  year  1805  or  1806,  began  a  day  and  boarding 
school  in  Sheffield,  in  which  she  was  occupied  till  the 
year  18^1,  imparting  to  many,  not  only  the  knowledge 
of  letters,  but  the  saving  principles  of  Christianity. 
She  entered  into  the  spirit  of  her  office,  and  cherished 
her  enlarged  benevolence  of  heart,  which  had  distin- 
guished her  from  her  first  profession  of  the  gospel :  this 
will  be  evident  from  the  following  extracts  of  her 
diary  : — 

December  26,  1813. — "Fifteen  years  have  now 
passed  since  I  was  left  in  a  state  of  widowhood,  and 
nearly  twelve  since  I  lost  my  beloved  infant.  There 
has  been  much  to  combat  since  that  time,  from  within 
and  from  without :  yet  a  hand  of  mercy  and  goodness 
has  led  thus  far  through  all,  and  fixed  my  faith  and 
hope  in  increasing  stability.  What  my  future  lot  may 
be  is  wholly  unknown,  unseen.  Oh,  that  my  only 
object  may  ever  be  to  choose  that  path  in  which  I  may 
act  most  for  the  glory  of  my  Creator !  I  believe  that 
true  religion  may  lead  its  votaries  to  unite  the  diligence 
in  business  of  the  most  industrious  with  the  most  disin- 
terested benevolence.  28;A. — Read  with  much  satisfac- 
tion and  pleasure  some  of  the  Religious  Tract  Society's 
books,  and  a  few  of  the  Cheap  Repository  tracts  ;  and 
selected  about  twenty  for  lending-libraries.  Concluded 
to  send  some  of  the  Scripture  Selections  to  various 
schools.  It  is  a  privilege  I  hope  gratefully  to  enjoy,  to 
appropriate  every  year  some  of  the  first  fruits  of  the 
increase  of  my  school  to  the  dispersing  of  religious 
books,  especially  to  children  and  young  persons.     Are 


MRS.    HANNAH    KILHAM.  103 

not  Friends  peculiarly  called  upon  to  act  as  school- 
missionaries,  since  they  might  do  this  in  conformity 
with  their  best  principles  ?  and  miglit  they  not  in 
each  place  or  station  have  meetings  for  religious 
worship  ! " 

Hannah  Kilham  pursued  her  scholastic  duties  at 
Sheffield,  cherishing,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  en- 
larged benevolence  of  heart,  devising  and  executing 
various  plans  of  usefulness.  She  projected  a  mission  to 
Ireland,  to  promote  schools  among  the  distressed  people 
of  that  country ;  and  she  contemplated  the  degradation 
of  the  Negroes  with  a  generous  sympathy,  entering  upon 
a  course  of  preparation  to  be  enabled  to  undertake  a  mis- 
sion to  Africa,  to  found  schools  and  teach  the  natives  of 
the  western  provinces  of  that  continent.  A  friend  and 
fellow-labourer  in  benevolence  gives  the  following  ac- 
count of  her  activity  at  Sheffield  : — 

"  During  her  residence  at  Sheffield,  the  attention  of 
Hannah  Kilham  was  particularly  directed  to  relieving 
the  wants  of  the  poor  and  distressed,  and  endeavouring 
to  promote  their  moral  and  religious  welfare.  We 
believe  it  was  in  the  year  1815,  that  she  took  so 
active  and  conspicuous  a  part  in  the  formation  and 
establishment  of  the  '  Society  for  Bettering  the  Condi- 
tion of  the  Poor  in  Sheffield,'  which  originated  with 
her,  and  has  proved  a  model  for  many  similar  institu- 
tions throughout  the  nation  ;  the  objects  of  this  society 
engaged  a  large  portion  of  her  attention  during  the 
remainder  of  her  residence  at  Sheffield.  Her  benevo- 
lent labours  were  not  confined  to  this  society,  as  we 


104  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

learn  that  her  attention  was  much  devoted  to  the 
'  Girls'  Lancasterian  School,'  and  that  she  took  an 
active  and  valuable  part  in  the  '  Society  for  Visiting 
and  Relieving  Aged  Females.'  She  also  assisted  greatly 
in  the  establishment  and  management  of  the  '  Sheffield 
Bible  Associations.'  Our  truly  respected  friend,  Hannah 
Kilham,  with  whom  1  was  favoured  to  be  intimately 
acquainted,  and  often  privileged  to  co-operate,  from 
about  1802  to  1818  or  1819,  for  years  had  an  influ- 
ence in  the  circle  in  which  she  moved,  beyond  that  of 
any  other  individual,  among  the  great  number  of  excel- 
lent persons,  who,  during  those  years,  gave  their  ser- 
vices to  benevolent  institutions  m  Sheffield.  Hannah 
Kilham's  good  sense,  clear  discernment,  decided  firm- 
ness of  purpose,  unusual  business-like  habits  and  plans, 
untiring  industry,  united  with  her  winning,  but  unob- 
trusive manners,  all  conspired  to  make  her  influence 
great,  and  her  services  valuable." 

Hannah  Kilham,  in  August  1817,  inserted  the  fol- 
lowing in  the  Sheffield  Iris  : — "  To  the  Friends  of 
Missions.  What  would  be  the  most  easy  and  efficient 
method  of  arranging  and  reducing  to  letters  an  un- 
written language  ?  Any  considerations  which  can 
throw  light  on  this  interesting  point  would  essentially 
oblige  A  Correspondent."  And  at  the  close  of  the 
year  she  recorded  in  her  diary  the  following : — 
"  12th  mo.  20th.  The  time  is  come  in  which  it  appears 
to  me  to  be  right  to  inform  a  few  friends  of  the  pro- 
spects before  me,  of  a  duty  to  my  younger  bretliren  and 
sisters  of  the  African  continent.     I  wish  to  go  to  Sierra 


MRS.    HANNAH    KILHAM.  105 

Leone^  as  a  school-missionary,  for  the  instruction  of  the 
children  in  that  colony  and  neighbourhood." 

Her  step-daughter  appears  to  have  possessed  much 
of  the  same  spirit :  for,  in  her  biographical  Memoir,  she 
says  : — "  In  1819,  it  was  my  precious  mother  who  first 
proposed  my  leaving  England,  and  this  she  was  led  to 
do  from  an  expression  of  countenance  she  observed  in 
me,  when  a  friend  mentioned  a  person  being  wanted  in 
Russia  for  girls'  schools  on  the  system  of  mutual  instruc- 
tion. She  made  every  arrangement  for  this  step  with 
the  utmost  cheerfulness  and  alacrity,  talked  with  inte- 
rest of  the  new  field  of  occupation,  &c.  ;  and  I  could 
not  imagine  the  separation  would  be  painful  to  her ; 
not  from  any  previous  marks  of  want  of  affection,  be- 
cause of  her  love  I  had  had  continued,  and  strong  proofs  ; 
only  I  thought  her  expansive  benevolence  had  so  far 
conquered  her  natural  feelings,  as  to  render  her  able  to 
make  any  sacrifice  which  she  deemed  likely  to  promote 
the  public  good.  When,  however,  the  parting  hour 
drew  near,  the  struggle  was  so  difficult,  and  her  suffer- 
ings so  acute,  that  I  have  often  wondered  how  I  could 
tear  myself  from  her,  and  why  I  did  not  abandon  the 
enterprise.  After  these  emotions  had  subsided,  she 
accompanied  me  to  the  vessel,  and  finally  separated 
from  me  with  the  meek  and  peaceful  submission  of  one 
who  counted  her  Lord's  will  more  to  be  desired  than  all 
earthly  comforts." 

Hannah  Kilham,  before  the  close  of  the  year  1819, 
as  she  records,  "  went  up  to  London  to  converse  with 
some  missionaries  leaving  for  Sierra  Leone,  on  the  re- 


106  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

duction  of  unwritten  languages,  particularly  African. 
I  remained  some  time  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London, 
in  order  to  proceed  in  my  purpose  of  reducing  the 
Jaloof  language,  which  was  spoken  by  two  African 
sailors,  altliough  one  was  a  native  of  the  Mandingo 
country."  She  continued  the  study  of  these  two  lan- 
guages till  the  Friends'  Yearly  Meeting  in  May,  1820, 
and  afterwards  returned  to  Sheffield.  Still  she  perse- 
vered in  this  difficult  work :  as  she  records,  March  3, 
1821  : — "With  all  my  cares  it  feels  difficult  to  give 
time  to  the  study  of  the  African  languages,  yet  it  must 
be  done,  it  is  quite  necessary.  Oh  !  that  this  might 
induce  me  from  this  day,  to  appropriate  a  part  of  every 
morning  to  the  practice  of  Jaloof  and  French." 

Ireland  has  frequently  presented  scenes  of  most  de- 
plorable distress :  and  the  miseries  arising  from  the 
failure  of  the  potato  crop  in  the  year  1822,  occasioned 
the  collection  of  a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor,  and  the  formation  of  the  "  British  and  Irish 
Ladies'  Society  ;"  designing  the  improvement  of  the 
female  poor  of  Ireland.  Having  relinquished  her  school 
at  Sheffield,  Hannah  Kilham  undertook  a  mission  to 
Ireland  in  1823,  for  tliis  Society ;  and  after  several 
months'  exertion  in  that  country,  she  returned  and 
delivered  an  affiscting  report  of  her  labours. 

Hannah  Kilham,  with  three  other  Friends,  embarked 
for  Africa,  October  20,  1833 ;  and,  after  various  ef- 
forts to  promote  schools  in  several  places,  including 
Sierra-Leone,  and  the  Cape,  she  returned  in  August, 
1824,  to  England.     She  spent  much  of  her  time  in 


MRS.    HANNAH    KILHAM.  107 

1825  and  1826,  in  various  benevolent  labours  among 
the  miserable  Irish ,  in  St.  Giles's,  London  ;  and  in  the 
latter  end  of  1827,  she  undertook  a  second  voyage,  to 
carry  forward  her  benevolent  plans  at  Sierra-Leone. 
About  a  month  after  her  arrival,  she  was  seized  with 
fever,  and  prevailed  on  again  to  return  to  England  ;  after 
a  favourable  passage,  she  landed  at  Plymouth,  in  March 
1828.  She  was  actively  engaged  in  doing  good  the 
remainder  of  tlie  year,  through  J  829,  and  the  greater 
part  of  1830;  and  in  October,  she  sailed,  a  third  time, 
for  Africa,  and  landed,  December  17,  at  Free  Town, 
Sierra-Leone.  She  established  a  school  in  the  village  of 
Charlottee,  under  the  sanction  of  the  Governor,  and 
laboured  among  the  children  with  gratifying  success. 
Her  efforts  were  beneficial  in  various  ways  for  the  libe- 
rated African  children ;  while  she  expresses  her  sym- 
pathy with  them,  declaring  "  the  horrid  iniquities  which 
the  trade  in  these  little  sufferers  involves,  discovered  by 
receiving  children  direct  from  the  slave-ship." 

Liberia,  established  by  the  American  "  Colonization 
Society,"  for  free'd  blacks,  deeply  aff'ected  the  mind  of 
Hannah  Kilham  at  this  period,  and  she  resolved  on 
visiting  it.  She  accorhplished  her  object  in  February 
1832,  and  inspected  the  several  schools.  On  her  re- 
turn, in  March,  she  wrote  in  her  diary,  "  African  and 
American  Christians  from  Sierra-Leone  and  Liberia, 
must  one  day  unite  their  efforts  in  the  great  cause  of 
Christian  instruction  and  civilisation  on  this  wide  conti- 
nent. Real  Christians  of  America  and  of  England 
must  lose  sight  of  every  minor  distinction,  in  the  great 


108  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

and  soul- reviving  appeal  of,  '  Have  we  not  one  Father  ; 
did  not  one  God  create  iis  ? ' " 

Her  last  entry  was  March  25 — "  On  the  passage  to 
Sierra-Leone.  True  religion  is  the  heartfelt  acknow- 
ledgment of  God,  and  of  His  redeeming  power  and  love 
in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord," 

"  Here  closes,''  says  her  daughter,  "  the  journal 
written  by  our  precious  mother. — The  next  account  we 
have  of  this  tenderly  loved  relative  is  contained  in  the 
following  communication: — 'Free-Town,  Sierra-Leone, 
May  7,  1832 — We  are  sorry  that  we  are  not  at  present 
acquainted  with  all  the  particulars  respecting  her  ill- 
ness and  death.  The  information  we  have  received  is 
the  following  : — Mrs.  Kilham  left  Liberia  in  good  health 
to  return  to  Sierra- Leone  :  when  very  nearly  within  two 
days'  sail  the  vessel  was  struck  by  lightning,  and  put 
back  to  Liberia ;  she  was  taken  ill  the  day  following, 
complaining  only  of  sea-sickness  ;  whether  country- 
fever,  or  some  other  disease  followed,  we  have  no  inti- 
mation further  than  this  ;  on  the  third  day,  the  31st  of 
March,  she  died  quite  insensible.  Her  grave  is  the 
boundless  deep !' " 

Sincerely  has  it  been  deplored  that  we  have  no  fur- 
ther information  concerning  the  views  and  feelings  of 
this  truly  Missionary  labourer  in  her  last  hours.  But 
her  record  is  on  high  :  as  she  lived,  she  doubtless  "  died 
in  the  Lord,  she  rests  from  her  labours,  and  her  works 
follow  her,"  giving  abundant  evidence  of  her  heart-felt 
piety,  and  of  her  intelligent  faith  on  the  Son  of  God  for 
salvation. 


MRS.    HANNAH    KILHAM.  109 

Mr.  Montgomery,  the  poet,  residing  at  Sheffield, 
knew  this  devoted  servant  of  the  Redeemer.  That  ju- 
dicious philanthropist  says  of  this  excellent  woman : — 
"  It  may  be  truly  said  of  Hannah  Kilham,  that  it  was 
given  her  not  only  to  believe  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  but  also  to  suffer  for  his  sake ;  nor  can  we  doubt 
but  that  she  was  ready,  at  any  moment,  to  lay  down 
her  life  in  the  service  of  those  for  whom  He  laid  down 
his  life  in  sacrifice.  Having  known  her  for  many 
years,  and  having  often  had  occasion  to  glorify  God  in 
her,  I  can  honestly  testify  that  during  all  that  period, 
either  at  home  or  abroad,  she  was  one  of  the  most  ac- 
tively and  influentially  benevolent  persons  with  whom 
it  was  ever  my  privilege  to  be  acquainted.  She  is  now 
gone  to  her  reward, — not  of  merit,  but  of  grace ;  the  only 
ground  upon  which  she  ever  ventured  to  believe  that 
she  might  one  day  enter  into  the  joy  of  her  Lord. 

'  Thy  light,  dear  saint,  put  out  in  darkness,  sleeps 
Beneath  the  gulf  o'er  which  the  Negro  weeps 
When  borne  to  bondage  ;  from  the  ship  of  slaves 
His  tears  are  wafted  homeward  on  the  waves  ! ' " 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS*. 

DIED    FEBRtlARY    10,    1833, 

Mrs,  Stallybrass,  daughter  of  Mr.  Robinson,  deacon  of  a  church  at  Stepney. — 
Ilor  early  piety. — Letter  to  her  Sister, — Reference  to  her  Mother. — Her 
Sister's  testimony, — Miss  Robinson's  estimate  of  ^Missionary  work, — Her 
new  year's  reflections — Project  of  a  mission  to  the  Buriats  of  Siberia- — 
Miss  Robinson  married  to  Rev,  E.  Stallybrass, — They  proceed  on  a 
mission  to  Siberia, — Arrive  at  St,  Petersburgh, — Joined  by  the  Rev,  Mr. 
and  Mrs,  Rahmn. — Anticipation  of  their  journey, — Their  arrange- 
ments,— Arrive  at  Tobolsk, — Mrs,  S,'s  letter  to  her  brother, — Stay  at 
Irkutsk, — Settle  at  Selenginsk, — Her  efforts  in  the  education  of  native 
females,— Mrs.  Rahmn's  illness  and  return  to  England, — Mrs,  Stally- 
brass perseveres, — Arrival  of  Rev,  Messrs,  Swan  and  Yuille — Mrs. 
Stallybrass's  labours,  —  Expense  of  educating  Buriat  girls.  —  Buriat 
female  degradation. — They  remove  to  Khodon, —  Labours  among  the 
Buriats. — Buriat  heathenism..— Lamaism, — Pagan  customs, — Habits  of 
the  Lamas. — Of  the  Mongols. — Trials  of  a  Missionary's  wife  in  Siberia 
— The  Mission -house  destroyed  by  fire — Mrs.  S.'s  perseverance. — Her 
ill  health.— Her  state  of  mind.— Her  death.— Her  character  by  Rev. 
Mr,  Rahmn,—  Record  of  her  by  the  Directors  of  the  Missionary  So- 
ciety,—Testimony  of  her  excellence  by  Rev.  W.  Ellis.— Her  importance 
to  the  Siberian  Mission,  by  Dr,  Fletcher, 

Mrs.  Stallybrass,  "  though  dead,  yet  speaketh,"  in 
the  following  brief  sketch  of  her  life  and  character ;  it 
was  partly  given  by  the  Rev.  W.  Swan,  the  estimable 
colleague  and  fellow-labourer  of  her  husband,  the  Rev. 
Edward  Stallybrass,  stationed  in  Siberia,  in  connexion 
with  the  London  Missionary  Society.     Particulars  have 

*  See  Memoir  of  Mrs,  Stallybrass,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Stallybrass 
Missionary  to  Siberia,  By  Edward  Stallybrass.  With  an  Introduction  by 
Joseph  Fletcher,  D.D,    Fisher,  London. 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  Ill 

been  added  to  complete  the  blograpliy  of  this  excellent 
female  Missionary  to  the  heathen,  from  the  instructive 
Memoir  published  by  her  husband,  with  an  Introduc- 
tion by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Fletcher. 

Mrs.  Stallybrass  was  a  daughter  of  the  late  Mr.  T. 
Robinson,  of  Green  Bank,  London;  for  many  years  a 
highly-respected  and  exemplary  deacon  of  the  Christian 
church  at  Stepney,  under  the  pastoral  superintendence 
of  the  Rev.  George  Ford,  and  subsequently  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Fletcher.  She  was  born  April  7th,  1789,  and 
became  devoted  to  God  in  her  early  years.  Parental 
influence  and  examples  were  felt  by  her  from  her  in- 
fancy, producing  pious  impressions  on  her  mind;  and 
these  were  deepened  by  means  of  the  catechetical  exer- 
cises of  the  venerable  Mr.  Brewer,  predecessor  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Ford.  She  derived  much  benefit  from  the 
labours  of  her  pious  teachers  in  the  seminary  of  Mrs. 
Shepherd,  of  Hackney,  especially  of  Miss  Hyde,  after- 
wards the  excellent  wife  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gordon,  a  re- 
spected and  devoted  Missionary  in  India. 

Miss  Robinson's  state  of  mind  in  early  life  will  appear 
from  the  following  beautiful  letter,  written  to  her 
youngest  sister,  when  at  school  together : — 

"  My  dear  sister  A. — If  you  knew  how  much  your 
depression  affects  my  spirits,  and  the  influence  it  has 
upon  my  feelings,  you  would  hide  that  despondency 
which  veils  your  mind.  Will  not  the  animating  senti- 
ments of  last  evening  chase  away  your  sorrows  ?  Why 
should  the  heirs  of  glory  indulge  in  gloomy  sadness  ? 
All  nature  revives  with  the  dawn  of  the  morninof ;  and 
as  the  sun  displays  his  beams,  clouds  and  darkness  fly 


112  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

away.  Shall  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  arise  in  the 
dispensation  of  His  goodness  which  you  continually 
enjoy,  and  you  not  display  His  heavenly  influence  upon 
your  soul  ?  Remember  the  Holy  Jesus  here  on  earth 
poured  out  strong  cryings  and  tears  on  our  behalf. 
'  He  bore  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows,  and  on 
Him  was  laid  the  iniquity  of  us  all.'  Is  His  interces- 
sion less  prevalent  than  it  was  ?  No  !  He  advocates 
our  cause  before  the  throne  of  God;  and  whilst  He 
pleads,  we  may  go  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace.  Cast 
all  your  burdens  upon  the  Lord ;  for  He  has  promised 
to  sustain  them.  I  have  not  time  to  add  more,  than 
that  I  am,"  &c. 

Miss  Robinson  lost  her  beloved  mother  in  1804  ;  and, 
at  a  remote  period  of  her  life,  referring  to  that  amiable 
"  guide  of  her  youth,"  she  writes  in  her  journal : — 
"  This  day  twenty-three  years  ago,  I  was  listening  with 
deep  solemnity  to  the  explanation  of  that  sweet  portion 
of  Scripture,  '  Thou  shalt  guide  me  with  thy  counsel, 
and  afterwards  receive  me  to  glory;'  Psal.  Ixxiii — 24, 
and  this  passage  formed  the  subject  of  our  meditation 
this  morning. 

"  My  thoughts  naturally  reverted  to  the  scenes  of  my 
youth,  and  my  privilege,  above  many,  in  having  pious 
parents,  who  trained  me  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  turned 
aside  my  devious  steps  from  the  paths  of  vanity.  For 
the  memory  of  my  dear  mother,  in  particular,  I  have 
the  most  devout  affection,  for  putting  restraints  upon 
my  carnal  and  vain  propensities,  and  for  engaging  my 
youthful  affections  on  the  side  of  religion." 

Miss  Robinson,  '-growing  in  grace  and  in  the  know- 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  113 

ledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,"  was  ad- 
mitted a  member  of  the  Church  at  Stepney,  September 
'2,  1808,  in  the  middle  of  her  nineteenth  year  ;  and  from 
that  period  she  studiously  "  adorned  the  doctrine  of 
God  her  Saviour." 

Her  sister,  from  whom  she  was  never  separated  till 
she  left  England,  states,  "  She  united  with  the  principal 
societies  formed  at  Stepney,  and  in  her  own  locality, 
for  works  of  benevolence,  and  was  constantly  going 
about  doing  good,  and  searching  out  objects  of  distress, 
which,  as  far  as  her  means  allowed  her,  were  relieved. 
She  possessed  a  large  share  of  benevolence  ;  and  I  recoU 
lect  one  circumstance  w^hicli  proves  it  in  a  remarkable 
manner.  When  young,  she  was  visiting  a  family,  in 
which  one  of  the  daughters  was  in  a  deep  consumption. 
The  family  had  been  reduced  from  great  respectability 
to  deep  distress,  and  did  not  possess  the  means  of  af- 
fording the  sufferer  the  comforts  requisite  for  her  situa- 
tion. My  dear  sister  had  saved  a  pound-note  for  some 
particular  purpose ;  and  it  was  nearly  all  she  possessed 
at  that  time.  Not  wishinoj  to  hurt  the  feelinos  of  the 
family  by  a  direct  offer  of  help,  and  thinking  the  note 
she  had  saved  could  not  be  better  applied,  on  taking 
leave  she  left  it,  and  hastily  withdrew,  promising  to 
call  again.  I  merely  mention  this  as  one  circumstance 
that  falls  within  my  recollection,  and  shows  the  bias 
of  her  mind.  There  were,  I  doubt  not,  many  such,  as 
her  heart  was  always  open  to  do  good." 

Miss  Robinson's  enlarged,  discriminating,  and  truly 
Christian  mind  will  appear  remarkably  illustrated,  by 
I 


114  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

the  following  extracts  of  a  letter,  regarding  a  devotedly 
pious  and  respectable  minister  of  another  denomination, 
with  whom  her  family  were  on  terms  of  friendship,  and 
who  had  resolved  on  leaving^  his  charoje  in  England,  to 
accept  the  situation  of  Chaplain  in  one  of  our  foreign 
settlements,  where  opportunity  would  be  afforded  of 
preaching  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  the  heathen  : — 

'■'March  1th,  1812. — My  dear  A.,  A  little  time 
spent  with  my  friends  at  the  vicarage  enabled  me  to 
gratify  my  desire  of  knowing  the  motives  by  which 
they  were  actuated  in  leaving  England  for  foreign 
climes.  Had  society,  situation,  domestic  comfort,  or 
convenience,  been  consulted,  they  had  probably  still 
been  residents  in  their  native  country  ;  for  of  any  circle 
in  which  it  has  been  my  lot  to  move,  theirs  is  the  most 
refined,  and,  in  many  instances,  equally  spiritual.  But 
it  is  not  these  that  can  gratify  the  mind  that  is  ardent 
to  glorify  God  by  doing  good  to  its  fellow-creatures. 
I  have  a  striking  instance  of  this  fact  in  the  short  and 
concise  sketcli  of  the  character  of  a  truly  honourable 
servant  of  God,  whose  death  the  '  Times '  of  yesterday 
announced ;  which,  for  your  gratification,  I  shall  tran- 
scribe : — '  Died  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  on  the  1.5th 
of  December  1811,  after  an  illness  of  eight  days.  Dr. 
Vanderkemp,  a  distinguished  missionary  to  the  Hot- 
tentots, and  other  nations  of  South  Africa,  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  London,'  &:c. 
&c.  Who,  that  has  a  spark  of  divine  love  in  his  breast, 
does  not  wish  to  go  and  do  likewise  ?  Permit  me  here 
to  digress,  by  indulging  a  momentary  reverie.     If  there 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  '  115 

are  degrees  in  glory — nearest  to  the  throne  of  the  Lamb, 
and  transcendently  glorious,  will  be  the  crown  of  a 
Schwartz,  a  Des  Granges,  and  a  Vanderkemp.  But,  to 
return  to  my  friend,  whose  intrepidity  of  mind  and 
confidence  in  God  induced  him  to  undertake  a  voyage 
of  six  or  eight  weeks,  with  his  wife  and  three  dear 
infants,  to  embark  in  the  glorious  work  of  pointing  a 
heathen  world  to  the  bleeding  Lamb.  If  I  may  be 
allowed  a  private  opinion  respecting  their  eligibility  to 
so  important  an  undertaking,  I  must  confess,  of  the 
two,  I  consider  Mrs.  A.  most  likely  to  be  useful  to 
untutored  Indians.  My  heart  warms  with  so  interest- 
ing a  subject,  and  disposes  me  to  say,  I  could  almost 
give  up  a  brother^  for  so  godlike  an  undertaking.  Oh, 
A. ! — if  duty  has  not  pointed  the  way  for  us  to  embark 
in  such  a  cause,  yet  let  not  ours  be  the  terrible  reflec- 
tion of  having  forgotten  it  in  our  prayers ;  yea,  let  it 
be  our  daily  supplication,  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord  may  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea  ! " 
Little  did  Miss  Robinson  at  that  period  imagine  that 
she  should  one  day  make  the  sacrifices,  share  the 
trials,  and,  as  it  is  now  confidently  believed,  receive  the 
gracious  reward,  of  a  faithful  missionary.  A  few  years 
afterwards,  however.  Divine  Providence  opened  the  way 
of  duty  for  her  in  that  honourable  service,  and  in  a  most 
difficult  and  trying  station.  Her  Christian  character 
had  greatly  matured,  qualifying  her  for  the  duties  which 
she  was  about  to  be  called  to  discharge  ;  this  will,  in 
part,  be  evident,  from  the  following  extract  from  her 
journal,  on  having  completed  her  twenty-seventh  year, 
I  2 


116  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

and  on  her  entering  that  in  which  she  engaged  as  a 
missionary : — 

''April!,  1816.— Shall  the  epoch  of  my  birth  be 
known  only  by  the  date  from  another  day  ?  Oh,  no  ! 
it  is  preserved  in  my  recollection  by  all  the  mercies 
that  have  followed  me  ever  since  I  drew  my  breath. 
If  by  my  mercies  I  were  to  calculate  my  days,  I  might 
make  them  twenty-seven  years  twice  told ;  if  by  my 
returns,  they  would  dwindle  into  nothing  !  My  hap- 
piest moments  I  find  to  be  those  spent  in  the  closet : — 

'  The  calm  retreat,  the  silent  shade. 
With  prayer  and  praise  agree.' 

How  thankful  do  I  now  feel  in  stealing  from  the  busy 
multitude  !  Oh,  when  shall  I  live  more  to  the  glory  of 
God,  and  have  no  design  but  this  in  view  I  But  why 
think  this  peculiar  to  one  situation  in  life  ?  May  not 
the  Christian  glorify  God  in  the  metropolis,  as  well  as 
the  village  ?  Lord  !  help  me  ever  to  recollect,  whether 
in  the  closet,  the  parlour,  the  village,  or  the  city,  that 
I  am  a  pilgrim — a  stranger — a  traveller — a  candidate 
for  another  world  ! " 

Circumstances    havinor   led    the   Committee   of   the 

o 

London  Missionary  Society,  in  1816,  to  project  a  mis- 
sion to  the  Mongol- Tartars,  inhabiting  both  sides  of 
the  Lake  Baikal,  in  Eastern  Siberia,  chiefly  by  the 
representations  of  Drs.  Paterson,  Pinkerton,  and  Hen- 
derson, who  were  employed  in  promoting  the  objects 
of  the  Bible  Society  in  Russia,  Mr.  Stallybrass  was 
appointed  to  that  distant  region.  He  had  been  ac- 
quainted with  Mr.  Robinson's  family,  and  appreciated 


MRS.    STALLYBRxVSS.  117 

the  piety  and  talents  of  Miss  Robinson  ;  but  regard  for 
her  revered  father,  and  diffident  of  her  own  qualifica- 
tions, led  her  at  first  to  decline  his  proposals.  Dr. 
Fletcher's  sermon  before  the  Missionary  Society,  how- 
ever, determined  her  mind  as  to  the  path  of  duty,  and 
her  beloved  father  gave  his  consent ;  so  that,  after  some 
delay,  on  account  of  the  unfavourable  season  for  a  voy- 
age to  Russia,  they  w^ere  married  March  5,  1817,  and 
left  London,  May  16th,  to  join  the  vessel  Oscar,  which 
was  to  convey  them  to  St.  Petersburgh.  "  They  were 
privileged  to  have  for  their  fellow- passenger  on  the 
voyage,  that  second  Howard,  and  devoted  friend  of 
humanity  and  Christianity,  Walter  Yenning,  Esq.,  who 
then  took  leave  of  his  country,  to  devote  the  remainder 
of  his  life — which,  alas  !  proved  but  short — to  the  pro- 
motion of  the  best  interests  of  his  fellow  men." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stallybrass  arrived,  June  11th,  at  St. 
Petersburgh,  where  they  were  kindly  received  by  Dr. 
Henderson,  then  residing-  in  the  house  belonoinor  to  the 
Bible  Society ;  and  they  continued  in  that  city  the 
remainder  of  the  year,  waiting  the  arrival  of  companions 
in  their  journey ;  acquiring  the  knowledge  of  the  Rus- 
sian language ;  and  obtaining  the  patronage  of  the 
authorities  there  to  their  mission.  Opportunity  w^as 
afforded  also,  special  permission  being  granted,  to  preach 
to  the  English  residing  in  that  city;  "for  which  pur- 
pose the  chapel  of  the  United  Brethren  was  kindly 
granted  on  one  part  of  the  Lord's  day.  This  service 
was  commenced  by  the  Rev.  W.  Glen,  who  arrived 
about  the  same  time  at  St.  Petersburgh,  from  the  Edin- 


118  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

burgli  Missionary  Society,  on  liis  way  to  Astracan. 
Upon  liis  departure,  which  took  place  after  lie  had 
preached  four  Sabbaths,  Mr.  Stallybrass  continued  the 
service,  till  he  left  this  city  for  Siberia." 

During  their  stay  at  St.  Petersburgh,  they  were 
joined  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rahmn  and  his  wife,  Germans, 
appointed  to  the  same  mission ;  on  which  occasion  Mrs. 
Stallybrass  wrote :  — 

"  November  9th. — This  is  the  first  Sabbath  evening 
since  my  arrival  at  St.  Petersburgh,  or  rather  since  the 
commencement  of  public  worship,  in  which  I  have  been 
deprived  of  the  privilege  of  worshipping  God  in  his 
tabernacles.  A  slight  indisposition  keeps  me  at  home 
— not  by  my  own  desire,  but  by  the  advice  of  friends. 
Oh,  Lord  !  make  my  chamber  as  profitable  to  me  as 
thy  house.  Give  me  only  thy  presence,  and  all  will  be 
well. 

"And  now  that  God,  in  his  adorable  providence, 
has  sent  to  our  help  these  pious  and  worthy  persons, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rahmn,  oh,  that  he  would  afford  us  grace 
to  act,  in  all  respects,  to  and  by  them,  as  becometh 
fellow-helpers  in  the  noblest  of  all  causes.  May  we 
be  enabled  to  cultivate  towards  each  other  the  most 
tender  and  affectionate  dispositions,  bearing  one  an- 
other's burdens,  and  so  fulfilling  the  law  of  Christ." 

Anticipating  her  formidable  journey,  Mrs.  Stallybrass 
wrote  in  her  journal  as  follows  : — 

*-^  Decemher  7th,  1818. — Mine  is  a  higli  and  holy 
calling.  Oh,  for  a  sanctified  heart,  to  fulfil  the  duties 
of  it !     Oh,  for  more  of  the  mind  and  Spirit  of  Christ  I 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  119 

Without  this,  I  fear  greatly  that  I  shall  become  a 
stumbling-block,  instead  of  an  example,  to  the  heathen. 
Oh,  Lord  !  pour  out  thy  Spirit  upon  my  soul ;  sanctify 
me ;  quicken  mc  ;  purify  mc  ;  fit  me  for  thy  work  ! 
And  when  thou  sUalt  call  me  to  go  forward  into  it,  may 
I  go  with  the  temper  of  a  Christian,  the  zeal  of  an 
apostle,  and  the  faith  of  a  martyr." 

Arrangements  having  been  made  for  tliis  missionary 
party,  they  found  themselves  ready,  at  the  beginning 
of  tlie  year  1818,  to  commence  their  long  journey. 
"  By  the  foresight  and  indefatigable  exertion  chiefly  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Paterson — who  may  justly  be  denominated 
the  father  of  the  mission — all  that  could  contribute  to 
their  comfort  and  well-being  had  been  provided. 

"  Through  the  singular  and  almost  unprecedented 
favour  of  the  late  excellent  Emperor  Alexander,  who 
manifested  o'reat   interest  in  this  mission  to  a  tribe  of 

o 

his  heathen  subjects,  all  that  could  possibly  tend  to 
facilitate  their  journey  was  effected.  Letters  were 
written  to  the  governors  of  provinces  through  which 
they  had  to  pass,  and  to  the  directors  and  masters  of 
the  post,  under  whose  jurisdiction  horses  for  travelling 
are  placed  in  Russia ;  and  a  post-courier  was  ordered  to 
accompany  them,  in  order  to  render  every  assistance, 
and  prevent  delay." 

Having  assembled  with  their  Christian  friends  at  the 
house  of  the  Bible  Society,  in  the  afternoon  of  Friday, 
January  2nd,  to  commend  each  other  to  God  in  united 
prayer,  the  missionaries  set  out  the  same  day  from  the 
Russian  capital,  on  their  journey  oifoiir  thousand  miles 


120  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

over  the  snow  to  the  city  of  Irkutsk,  the  eastern  capital 
of  Siberia.  Mrs.  Stallybrass  enjoyed  good  health  and 
spirits  through  the  whole  course  of  this  formidable 
migration,  and  kept  a  regular  journal  of  their  progress, 
narrating  in  a  brief  but  graphic  manner  the  new  and 
remarkable  scenes  which  every  day  and  night  presented 
themselves  during  nearly  three  months,  occupied  in 
travelling  in  sledges  over  those  "  most  forlorn  and 
desolate  of  all  the  regions  on  the  globe."  Her  journal 
contains  many  interesting  notices  of  various  places 
through  which  they  passed,  particularly  of  Moscow 
and  of  Tobolsk.  In  relation  to  this  latter  city,  the 
capital  of  Western  Siberia,  she  writes  : — 

"  February  ^bth. — Arriving  at  Tobolsk,  we  expe- 
rienced the  greatest  hospitality.  Upon  our  arrival,  our 
husbands  delivered  their  first  letter  to  the  post-director 
of  all  Siberia,  expecting  to  learn  from  him  whether 
lodgings  were  provided  for  us.  But  immediately  upon 
their  making  the  inquiry,  this  generous  and  hospitable 
gentleman  led  them  through  a  range  of  elegant  apart- 
ments, saying  they  should  be  extremely  welcome  to 
what  his  house  would  afford  ;  and  ordering  his  servants 
to  take  charge  of  our  vehicles  ;  and  we,  in  all  our  dis- 
habille, were  introduced  to  him,  for  he  would  admit  no 
apologies.  He  sent  for  his  valet-de-chambre,  who,  he 
said,  would  be  our  interpreter  in  French. 

*'  On  the  next  day  we  dined  with  the  governor. 
His  family,  which  is  numerous, .  and  several  friends 
invited  to  meet  us,  were  the  companions  for  this  day. 
And  though  we  could  convey  our  ideas  to  each  other 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  121 

only  in  an  imperfect  way — sometimes  in  French — some- 
times by  speaking  a  little  English  (for  this  the  governor 
understands  imperfectly) — and  sometimes  by  German 
and  Russian,  all  seemed  much  entertained.  This  was 
Thursday,  and  the  hope  of  having  a  quiet  room  to  our- 
selves on  the  ensuing  Sabbath,  induced  us  to  resolve 
upon  remaining  till  the  following  Monday. 

"  The  politeness  and  attention  of  his  excellency,  the 
post-director,  exceed  almost  everything  I  ever  met  with 
from  a  stranger. 

'''■  Sahhath^  March  \st. — Part  of  this  day  of  the  Lord 
we  have  spent  most  happily.  Having  told  his  excel- 
lency candidly  that  w^e  wished  our  apartments  to  be 
quite  retired,  as  we  have  no  opportunity  of  worshipping 
God  in  public,  he  kindly  assented.  Afterwards  he  told 
us,  that  a  person  of  distinction  had  called  to  make  our 
acquaintance ;  but  that  he  had  told  him  we  were  at  our 
prayers,  and  must  not  be  disturbed.  Could  this  kind 
friend  have  joined  us  in  our  religious  exercises  this  day, 
how  gladly  should  we  have  invited  him  to  be  a  guest 
with  us  at  the  table  of  the  Lord  !  All  the  return  we 
can  make  him  for  his  kindness  is,  by  praying  that  he 
may  be  a  partaker  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

Writing  to  her  brother  on  the  27th,  she  says : — 
"  Looking  forward  to  the  half  of  our  journey  yet  un- 
finished, we  behold  it  with  diminished  anxiety,  regard- 
ing only  the  place  of  our  destination.  You  would  be 
much  amused  at  the  variety  of  accommodations  with 
which  we  meet.     The  last  chamber  in  which  we  lodged 

o 

before  reaching  this  place,  formed  the  sleeping  apart- 


122  •       BRITISH    FEMALE   MISSIONARIES. 

ment  of  both  our  families,  our  host  and  his  wife,  two 
other  women,  and  all  the  live  stock  of  the  family. 
Leaving  this  uncomfortable  situation  at  an  early  hour, 
we  cheered  ourselves  with  the  hope  that  the  city  of 
Tobolsk  would  afford  us  more  convenience  for  the 
ensuing  night.  Thus  you  have  a  true  picture  of  a 
missionary's  checkered  life.  The  intelligence  which 
you  gave  us  of  the  proposed  prayer-meeting  on  our 
behalf,  afforded  us  much  pleasure.  The  same  post 
brought    us    similar    tidino-s    from    St.    Petersburoh . 

o  e  o 

While  the  hearts  of  our  Christian  friends  are  thus 
raised  to  heaven  on  our  behalf,  what  may  we  not 
realise  by  the  divine  blessing  !  " 

Leaving  Tobolsk  on  the  3rd  of  March,  they  pro- 
ceeded on  their  tedious  and  dreary  course  of  about  two 
thousand  miles  further ;  and  reached  on  the  26tli  the 
city  of  Irkutsk.  This  city  contains  about  15,000 
inhabitants.  Mrs.  Stallybrass  states, — "  Tliere  are 
fourteen  churches,  and  other  public  buildings — as  a 
spiritual  seminary,  monastery,  gymnasium,  &c.  And 
at  one  end  of  the  town  are  situated  large  barracks,  with 
military  grounds,  schools,  &c.,  capable  of  accommodat- 
ino^  two  thousand  soldiers  and  fifteen  hundred  Cossacks. 
The  town  is  pleasantly  situated  on  the  north-east  bank 
of  the  Angarci,  into  which  the  small  river  Irkut — 
whence  the  town  takes  its  name — empties  itself.  The 
fortifications  of  this,  as  of  most  other  Siberian  cities, 
is  inconsiderable.  The  merchandise  from  China  and 
from  other  parts  is  productive  of  considerable  profit, 
and  the  greater  part  of  it  is  carried  on  by  bartering 


MRS.  STALLYBRASS.  123 

furs.  The  town  is  well  supplied  with  provisions  from 
the  neighbouring  villages  ;  but  the  principal  market- 
day  is,  unhappily,  the  Sabbath.  The  inhabitants  are 
numerous,  and  generally  gay;  and  the  higher  orders 
dress  after  the  fashions  of  Petersburgh  and  Moscow." 

Mr.  Stally brass,  with  his  missionary  colleague,  Mr. 
Rahmn,  continued  upwards  of  a  year  at  Irkutsk,  pro- 
secuting various  labours,  and  enduring  a  series  of  trials. 
"  It  was  found  that  the  city  of  Irkutsk  did  not  appear 
at  all  a  favourable  situation  for  carrying  into  effect  the 
designs  of  the  Society.  As  the  Buriats  do  not  reside 
in  Russian  towns— except  a  few,  for  the  sake  of  em- 
ployment— but,  on  account  of  their  flocks  and  herds, 
dwell  in  the  wilderness,  the  missionaries  found  them- 
selves cut  off  from  almost  all  intercourse  with  them^ 
It  gave  them,  how^ever,  the  desired  opportunities  of 
studying  their  language.  In  addition  to  this,  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  Buriats  near  Irkutsk  did  not  offer 
so  many  facilities  for  the  comme7icement,  at  least,  of  a 
mission,  as  another  tribe  did.  They  had  no  books,  and 
spoke  a  very  corrupted  dialect  of  the  Mongolian  lan- 
guage. The  missionaries  were  already  furnished  with 
Gospels  and  tracts,  printed  at  St.  Petersburgh,  for 
distribution  :  but  here,  of  course,  there  were  none 
to  whom  they  could  be  useful.  Whereas  a  consider- 
able proportion  of  the  Buriats,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
lake  Baikal,  have  books,  are  able  to  read,  and  use  a 
much  purer  dialect.  These  discoveries  were  made 
principally  during  an  exploratory  tour  in  the  regions 
jiround  the  lake;   when  they  fixed  upon  Selinginsk, 


124  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

in  the  vicinity  of  which  town  they  established  the 
mission. 

Mr.  Rahmn  was  obliged  to  return  to  England,  on 
account  of  the  declininfj  health  of  his  wife  :  but  Mrs. 
Stallybrass  entered  upon  this  new  station  with  her  hus- 
band, and  found  here,  with  him,  an  inviting  door  of 
usefulness  opening  to  them.  During  her  residence  at 
Irkutsk,  on  the  6th  of  August,  Mrs.  Stallybrass  gave 
birth  to  her  first  child,  in  this  land  of  strangers ;  but 
she  was  enabled  to  enter  upon  some  important  labours 
among  the  Pagan  Buriats.  She  saw  the  female  part 
of  the  population,  as  in  most  heathen  countries,  crimi- 
nally neglected,  and  fearfully  degraded  :  the  benefits  of 
education  were  denied  to  the  girls,  even  where  the  boys 
were  taught  to  read  and  write.  Amidst  "numerous 
domestic  avocations — which,  to  persons  accustomed  to 
European  conveniences,  cannot  easily  be  conceived" — 
she  set  herself  to  the  task  of  educating  as  many  as  she 
could  receive  into  her  house,  or  as  could  be  induced  to 
attend  for  instruction.  These  were,  indeed,  but  few  ; 
for  such  is  the  force  of  custom,  and  such  the  aversion 
to  change,  especially  in  the  way  of  moral  improvement, 
that  it  required  much  self-denying  perseverance,  and  un- 
wavering resolution,  to  struggle  on  in  these  attempts  to 
do  good  to  those  whose  welfare  she  laboured  to  promote. 

Mrs.  Stallybrass,  however,  persevered,  and  in  a 
measure  succeeded,  though  with  an  increasing  family  ; 
so  far,  at  least,  as  to  collect  and  keep  together  a  number 
of  interesting  Buriat  girls,  whom  she  taught  to  read  in 
their  own  language,  and  instructed  in  several  branches 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  125 

of  useful  industry,  particularly  the  plaiting  of  straw, 
and  the  making  of  it  up  into  bonnets,  an  art  which  she 
had  acquired  solely  as  a  qualification  for  her  work  as 
a  missionary  before  she  left  England  ;  but  she  attended 
especially  to  their  education  in  the  great  principles  of 
the  saving  doctrines  of  Christ  by  the  Scriptures. 

Mr.  Stally brass  was  aided  in  his  important  labours 
of  preaching  and  translating  the  Scriptures  by  the 
valuable  services  of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Swan  and  Yuille, 
who  joined  them,  after  Mr.  Rahmn  s  return,  contribut- 
ing greatly  to  the  happiness  of  the  enlarged  mission 
family.  Still  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  of  the  courage 
and  self-denial  required  in  the  circumstances  of  Mrs. 
Stallybrass,  with  three  children,  among  the  heathen  of 
Siberia.  "  One  part  of  the  day,"  she  says,  in  a  letter 
to  her  sister,  October  8,  1822,  "  I  devote  to  improve- 
ifaent  in  the  Russian  language ;  another  to  the  Mongo- 
lian ;  a  third  to  the  instruction  of  three  native  pupils  ; 
and  a  fourth  to  the  education  of  my  own  boys.  Now, 
from  what  you  know  of  domestic  concerns,  in  circum- 
stances where  much  less  care  is  required  than  in  mine, 
I  think  you  will  admit  that  I  do,  not  what  I  would, 
but  what  I  can. 

"  The  Bible  is  a  mighty  engine,  capable,  indeed,  of 
raising  the  world.  But  as  yet  its  force  here  is  little 
known,  for  '  darkness  covers  the  earth,  and  gross  dark- 
ness the  people.*  The  strongholds  of  Satan  are  many  ; 
anfl,  but  for  the  promise,  '  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power, 
but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,'  tlio  heart  of 
a  missionary  would  soon  become  faint,  and  his  hands 


126  BRITISH    FEMALE   MISSIONARIES. 

feeble.  We  are  anxiously  looking  forward  to  the  time 
when  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament  shall  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  heathen  tribes  around  us." 

Buriat  females  are  grievously  degraded,  as  will 
appear  from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  Mrs. 
Stallybrass  to  her  brother,  under  date  July  21,  1825  : — 

"  You  kindly  inquire  what  is  needful  to  carry  for- 
ward the  plan  for  educating  Buriat  girls.  Shall  I  put 
bounds  to  your  generosity  ?  Ten  subscribers  of  £5,  or 
fifty  subscribers,  of  £1  annually,  would  clothe  and 
educate  ten  girls ;  or,  if  that  sum  were  doubled,  twenty 
— the  most  that  could  be  collected  at  one  station.  So 
that  £100  per  annum  would  rescue  from  poverty,  give 
habits  of  industry,  and  aftbrd  the  means  of  learning  the 
way  of  salvation,  to  twenty  females,  now  sunk  in 
wretchedness  and  heathenism.  If,  as  has  been  justly 
observed,  upon  the  education  of  my  own  sex  depends 
greatly  the  state  of  society,  what  might  not  be  expected 
from  the  education  of  Buriat  women  ?  In  the  prime 
of  life  they  are  sold^  like  cattle^  to  the  highest  Udder  ; 
and  when  old  age  overtakes  thcm^  they  are  laid  aside  as 
useless  ;  or  the  grave  is  the  wished-for  receptacle  of  such 
a  burden  to  society  !  " 

Patiently  persevering  in  her  multiplied  and  arduous 
duties,  Mrs.  Stallybrass  continued  until  August  18:^8  ; 
when,  with  her  husband  and  family,  she  exchanged 
Selenginsk  for  Khodon.  This  was  a  station  nearly 
200  miles  distant  from  Selenginsk,  in  a  north-easterly 
direction,  among  the  Chorin-Buriats ;  and  it  had  been 
fixed  upon  as  affording  peculiar  facilities  for  extended 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  127 

intercourse  with  the  numerous  ignorant  tribes  in  that 
quarter.  She  was  therefore  compelled  to  break  up  her 
class,  and  allow  the  girls  to  return  to  the  tents  of  their 
parents,  though  with  much  regret.  Her  feelings  on 
this  occasion  she  thus  expresses  :-^- 

^' August  2nd. — I  find  it  difficult  to  cut  asunder 
many  ties  to  this  spot.  My  dear  babe,  and  the  other 
branches  of  our  once  extensive  families;  the  remaining 
child  of  my  dear  sister  Yuille  ;  my  Buriat  young  people 
— all  bind  my  heart  to  it.  Yet  w^iy  should  we  call  any 
spot  our  home  ?  Our  home  is  any  place  which  God 
appoints.  Adieu,  then,  ye  gardens — inclosures  of  sacred 
dust !  Adieu,  my  little  closet — sacred  to  retirement ! 
Adieu,  Buriats  !     My  brother  and  my  babe,  adieu  ! 

"  6th. — The  time  of  our  stay  is  drawing  to  a  close. 
Our  young  people  have  all  taken  their  leave  of  us. 
My  heart  yearns  over  some  of  those  who  have  shared 
our  chief  care.  From  some  of  them  I  have  obtained  a 
promise,  that  they  will  read  the  Scriptures  frequently, 
and  commence  teaching  their  sisters,  or  near  neighbours. 
Yet,  unless  the  Holy  Spirit  influence  them,  these  pro- 
mises will  be  in  vain.  I  have  endeavoured  to  make 
their  circumstances  a  subject  of  earnest  prayer,  particu- 
larly when  I  met  them  for  examination,  and  I  desire 
to  do  so." 

During  the  preceding  year,  the  whole  family  had 
made  a  journey  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Khodon,  and 
stayed  a  month  at  the  Ona,  near  to  which  an  out-station 
had  been  occasionally  occupied  for  several  years.  Mrs. 
Stallybrass  sent  home  a  very  interesting  journal  of  their 


128  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

residence  among  the  Buriats  during  that  month,  and  of 
their  journey  to  and  from  that  place:  that  journal,  and 
the  missionary  details  in  her  various  papers,  contain 
incidents  and  facts,  not  only  of  private  interest,  but  of 
permanent  value  and  importance  to  the  friends  of  Chris- 
tian missions, 

Buriat  heathenism  consists  principally  of  the  system 
of  absurdity  and  wickedness  known  under  the  name  of 
Lamaism.  The  Delai  Lama^  or  Grand  Lama^  is  at 
once  the  high -priest,  and  the  visible  object  of  adoration, 
to  the  Thibetians  ;  to  the  numerous  hordes  of  Tartars  ; 
and  to  all  the  other  tribes  inhabiting  the  north  and  east 
of  Asia,  including  a  large  proportion  of  the  vast  popu- 
lation of  China.  The  Grand  Lama  resides  at  Patoli, 
a  vast  palace  on  a  mountain,  near  the  banks  of  the 
Burampooter,  about  seven  miles  from  Lassa,  in  Thibet. 
Twenty  thousand  Lamas,  or  priests,  inhabit  a  multitude 
of  apartments  around  the  mountain,  more  or  less  near, 
according  to  their  respective  quality,  in  attendance  upon 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  who  is  regarded  as  the  vicegerent 
of  the  Deity  on  earth  ;  but  the  more  remote  Tartars  are 
said  to  regard  him  as  the  Deity,  and  call  him  6W,  the 
everlasting  Father  of  heaven  ! 

Mrs.  Stallybrass  writes  :— "  July  17,  1823.— On  one 
of  the  distant  hills  a  feast  has  been  held  to-day.  Having 
never  witnessed  these  annual  amusements,  I  felt  a  desire 
to  go,  which  Mr.  S.  gratified.  The  road  soon  became 
known  to  us  by  the  company,  who  were  all  mounted  on 
horseback.  The  women  were  richly  dressed,  and  their 
horses  handsomely  caparisoned.     They  would  not  be 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  129 

distinguished  from  men  at  a  little  distance,  (as  they  ride 
astride,  and  wear  broad  hats  like  the  men,)  but  for  their 
costly  beads,  of  which  an  immense  number  are  suspended 
in  long  rows  from  a  tim^a  worn  on  the  head  :  these, 
together  with  the  hair,  which  is  plaited  on  each  side 
reach  to  the  elbows.  The  saddle-cloths,  &c.  of  their 
horses  are  mounted  with  ornaments  of  metal,  and  small 
shells,  in  a  very  tasty  manner,  and,  when  several  are  in 
company  together,  make  a  great  noise  like  a  number  of 
little  bells.  From  this  scene  of  gaiety,  my  thoughts 
reverted  to  that  day,  when  *  there  shall  be  bells  upon  the 
horses,  holiness  unto  the  LORD !'  On  a  hill,  commanding 
an  extensive  view  of  the  surrounding  country,  a  sort  of 
booth  is  formed  of  trees,  called  by  the  Buriats  Oboga, 
or  Obo,  and  in  front  a  large  circle  of  Lamas  seated  them- 
selves upon  their  mats,  leaving  a  space  in  front  for  the 
offerings  to  the  gods.  These  consist  of  flesh,  corn,  &c. 
The  head  Lama,  dressed  in  costly  array,  seated  first  in 
the  circle,  began  the  service,  giving  signals,  by  a  little 
sceptre  which  he  held  in  his  hand,  and  by  various  mo- 
tions of  his  fingers.  These  were  observed  by  the  others, 
who  stood  in  the  centre,  scattering,  by  a  dexterous  motion 
of  the  fingers,  these  different  offerings;  while  the  whole 
circle,  consisting  of  about  fifty  other  Lamas,  were  read- 
ing prayers  in  the  Thibetan  language,  wholly  unintelli- 
gible to  the  common  people,  and  nearly  so  to  the  Lamas 
themselves.  Around  this  group  were  seated  all  the 
spectators,  the  men  taking  the  right  and  the  women 
the  left  side — no  one  taking  his  seat  till  he  had  been  in 
the  circle  to  obtain  a  blessing  from  the  chief  Lama." 

K 


130  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

'^Jidy  12,  1826. — Paid  a  visit  to  the  Shiretu-Lama 
to-day,  and  saw  the  Ona  temple.  It  is  surprising  how 
much  these  superior  Lamas  assume.  Seated  on  cushions, 
and  surrounded  by  all  the  appendages  of  the  Lama 
faith,  this  proud  old  man  sat  like  a  god,  diffusing 
his  blessing  to  the  deluded  worshippers,  who,  as  they 
entered  his  presence,  bowed  three  times  to  the  earth, 
and  then  received  a  touch  on  the  head  from  his  book. 
Here  we  met  the  Taisha,  who  accompanied  us  to  the 
temple,  whither  the  old  Shiretu  was  drawn  by  the 
people,  without  horses.  Although  the  Taisha  had 
bowed  to  the  Shiretu,  we  observed  that  he  evaded 
passing  through  the  usual  ceremonies  when  he  entered 
the  temple.  It  is  probable  that  the  conversations  of  our 
brethren  might  have  produced  shame,  if  not  conviction 
that  the  worship  would  be  false.  Oh,  when  shall  the 
time  come,  when  these  people  shall  declare  themselves 
the  worshippers  of  the  true  God,  and  when  the  Spirit 
of  God  shall  new  create  their  hearts?  We  returned 
home,  to  lament  more  deeply  the  bondage  in  which 
Satan  holds  his  vassals." 

Buriat  morals,  as  taught  and  exhibited  by  the 
Lamas,  and  practised  by  the  people,  may  be  under- 
stood by  the  following  record  in  the  journal  of  Mrs. 
Stallybrass : — 

"  February  hth^  1829. — I  have  taken  a  separate 
sheet  to  record  the  transactions  of  this  day,  because 
I  should  regret  to  stain  the  leaves  of  my  book  by 
recording  the  scenes  which  I  have  witnessed.  As  this 
is   the   first  day  of  the  new  year,  according   to  the 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  131 

Buriat  method  of  lunar  calculation,  having  provided 
ourselves  with  some  little  gifts,  we  went  to  see  our 
neighbours  in  turn.  In  every  tent  except  one,  whose 
owner  is  too  poor  to  purchase  the  new  mode  of  worship, 
was  an  exhibition  of  their  deities  painted  on  canvas. 
Many  of  these  paintings  are  similar  to  the  Hindoo 
objects  of  worship  ;  but  most  of  them  appeared  demons 
of  their  own  creating.  Many  of  the  Buriats  are  skilled 
in  this  art,  far  too  obscene  to  describe.  As  we  entered  into 
the  tent  of  an  old  Lama,  who  lives  near  the  temple,  we 
found  his  mistress  (for  Lamas  are  not  allowed  to  marry) 
in  the  act  of  emitting  tlie  contents  of  her  stomach.  She 
made  an  apology  by  saying  that  she  had  been  drinking 
and  smoking  till  she  was  sick.  Her  eldest  daughter,  a 
good-lookmg  young  woman,  and  well  dressed,  waited 
upon  the  visitors,  most  of  them  Lamas,  and  most 
of  them  worse  for  liquor.  This  young  woman  has 
recently  left  her  husband,  and  wishes  to  separate  herself 
from  him.  The  remaining  part  of  the  family  was 
a  sweet-looking  boy,  dressed  and  in  training  for  his 
father's  craft.  In  anotlier  tent,  the  father  and  mother 
of  two  interesting  children  were  in  a  state  of  intoxica- 
tion. And  in  a  third,  a  good-looking  young  woman, 
with  her  husband  and  two  children,  all  extremely 
filthy  ;  while  six  or  seven  large  exhibitions,  of  the  most 
indecent  kind  ever  witnessed,  hung  on  the  side  of  the 
tent,  and  offerings,  with  a  burning  taper,  were  placed 
beneath  these  filtliy  figures. 

"  The  feelings  of  a  virtuous  mind,  which  a  parent, 
independently  of  religion,  generally  feels  for  his  tender 
K  2 


132  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

offspring,  are  all  lost  here.  Virtue  can  have  here 
no  place  in  the  character  of  husband,  wife,  brother, 
sister,  friend,  or  even  child.  My  heart  sickened  at  the 
sight.  Oh,  when  shall  these  times  of  ignorance  pass 
avi^ay  !  When  will  the  Holy  Spirit  dart  some  rays  of 
light  upon  this  land  of  the  shadow  of  death  ? 

"  "While  I  write  this,  perhaps  not  less  than  eighty 
Lamas  are  sitting  within  the  walls  of  their  temple, 
vociferating  their  own  praises ;  and,  from  morning 
to  evening,  reading,  in  a  language  which  is  alike  unin- 
telligible to  themselves  and  their  hearers, — who,  one 
by  one,  walk  through  the  building,  bowing  to  the 
Lamas  with  their  heads  to  the  ground,  and  to  all  the 
gods  in  rotation.  The  deep-sounding  drum,  and  the 
shrill  trumpet,  are  within  hearing  of  our  dwelling. 
But  no  voice  is  heard  crying  for  pardon  of  sin,  for  the 
mercy  of  God,  for  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  Oh,  when 
shall  these  glad  sounds  once  more  salute  our  ears  ? 
When  shall  we  perceive  this  thirsty  land  sending  forth 
her  fragrance  as  a  fruitful  field  ? " 

Circumstances,  for  the  trial  of  their  faith,  were 
allowed  to  exercise  their  minds  in  their  new  station ; 
and  a  few  months  after  their  arrival  at  Khodon,  the 
house  they  occupied,  and  which  formerly  belonged  to 
one  of  the  chiefs,  was  burned  to  the  ground.  This  cala- 
mity happened  on  the  31st  of  December,  1828,  in  the 
depth  of  a  Siberian  winter, — in  the  centre  of  a  Buriat 
steppe, — with  no  other  house,  except  a  few  Buriat 
tents,  for  a  distance  of  twenty  miles, — when  they  were 
able  to  procure  but  wretched  accommodation  in  a  small 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  133 

adjoining  barn,  that  was  providentially  saved  from  the 
flames ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  following  spring  that 
preparations  could  be  made  for  erecting  a  new  dwelling. 
Amid  these,  and  all  the  other  trials  of  a  missionary's 
life,  in  one  of  the  most  unfavourable  stations  in  the  whole 
heathen  world,  Mrs.  Stallybrass  maintained  unshaken 
faith  in  the  precious  promises  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ, 
displaying  an  energy  truly  sublime,  and  a  firm  devoted- 
ness  of  character,  which  were  most  edifying  and  en- 
couraging to  all  who  beheld  her  Christian  temper. 
The  mission  had  repeatedly  been  threatened  with 
utter  extinction  ;  but  in  contemplating  such  an  event, 
she  shrunk  from  the  idea  of  returning  to  England. 
With  all  the  powerful  attractions  her  native  land 
might  possess,  and  all  the  delights  she  might  have 
anticipated  from  restoration  to  the  beloved  circle  of  her 
relatives  and  Christian  friends,  she  was  fixed  in  her 
purpose  and  ardent  in  her  desire  to  live  and  die  if 
possible  on  missionary  ground,  the  devoted  servant  of 
the  Lord  her  Redeemer. 

Mrs.  Stallybrass,  worn  with  labours,  experienced,  in 
the  autumn  of  1831,  an  attack  of  illness  from  which 
she  never  perfectly  recovered.  In  August,  the  following 
year,  she  undertook  a  journey  to  Selenginsk,  and 
"  enjoyed  a  residence  of  two  weeks,"  says  her  husband, 
"  in  the  family  of  our  brother  Yuille :  she  again 
dropped  a  tear  of  afi"ection,  not  of  regret,  over  the  tomb 
of  her  beloved  infant,  and  those  of  her  departed  sister 
and  her  babe ;  and  upon  her  return  home  in  the  begin- 
ning of  September,  thought  herself  strengthened  by  the 


134  BRITISH   FEMALE   MISSIONAllIES. 

excursion.  This,  however,  was  a  deceptive  hope  :  early 
in  October  her  disease  returned ;  and  till  the  beginning 
of  January  1833,  hope  and  fear  respecting  her  recovery 
alternately  prevailed.  Till  the  23rd  of  that  month,  the 
birth- day  of  one  of  our  dear  boys,  she  appeared  to  be  in 
a  state  of  convalescence.  Still,  however,  the  energy  of 
her  mind  appeared  greatly  impaired.  Conformably 
with  her  custom  for  many  years,  she  called  him  into 
her  room,  conversed,  and  prayed  with  him ;  and,  in  a 
short  time  after,  apparently  quite  unconscious  that  she 
had  performed  what  she  esteemed  a  sacred  duty,  she 
again  called  for  him,  and  repeated  what  she  had  done 
before. 

"  Whenever  her  mind  was  not  under  the  enervating 
influence  of  disease,  its  prevailing  state  was  that  of  a 
humble,  penitent  sinner  at  the  foot  of  the  cross.  She 
deeply  felt  and  deplored  her  own  unworthiness  and  sin- 
fulness ;  denounced  all  idea  of  merit ;  and  relied  solely, 
yet  firmly,  upon  the  finished  work  of  the  Almighty 
Saviour."  In  this  peaceful  state  of  mind,  her  bodily 
and  intellectual  powers  declined  until  Lord's  day, 
February  10,  1833,  when  she  entered  into  "that  rest 
which  remains  for  the  people  of  God." 

"  Having  spent  a  number  of  years  under  the  same 
roof,  and  as  a  member  of  the  same  family,  1  may  be 
considered,"  says  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rahmn,  *'  qualified  as  a 
witness  to  testify  what  I  have  seen  and  heard  of  Mrs. 
Stallybrass ;  and  much  I  could  say  of  her  mental  excel- 
lence, her  relative  worth,  and  her  spiritual  elevation,  in 
whatever  may  be  regarded  as  illustrative  of  the  faith 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  135 

and  hope  of  the  gospel.  Her  virtues  were  eminently 
Christian ;  they  sprang  from  the  influence  of  the  cross 
of  Christ ;  and  in  her,  God  was  glorified.  Her  faith 
in  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  was  steadfast  and  influen- 
tial :  '  for  to  her  to  live  was  Christ,  and  to  die  was 
gain.'  Under  the  influence  of  disease,  her  mind  was  so 
affected,  that  for  weeks  before  her  death  she  was  seldom 
sufficiently  collected  to  give  a  calm  and  correct  utterance 
to  her  feelings.  But  one  of  the  last  acts  of  her  life,  while 
she  had  possession  of  her  faculties,  was  to  converse  and 
pray  in  her  own  apartment  with  her  second  son  on  his 
thirteenth  birth-day ;  and  the  impressions  of  that  hour, 
as  they  are  not  yet  effaced,  will,  it  may  be  hoped,  be 
happily  connected  in  his  history,  with  the  promotion  of 
his  highest  spiritual  interests.  Her  death  left  an  affec- 
tionate husband  and  Jim  beloved  children  to  mourn 
their  irreparable  loss,  and  deprived  the  mission  of  its 
last  female  member.  But  while  we  mourn  that  she 
was  taken  so  soon,  we  ought  to  be  thankful  that  she 
was  spared  so  long.  Sixteen  years  is  not  a  short  pe- 
riod, and  is  beyond  the  usual  average  of  a  missionary 
life.  May  they  who  remain  follow  her  as  she  followed 
Christ!" 

Mrs.  Stallybrass  was  a  lady  of  superior  talents,  of 
richly  furnished  mind  and  high  attainments  for  her 
important  office ;  as  is  evident  from  this  brief  sketch  of 
her  life  and  character.  Her  labours  in  her  chosen 
sphere  of  service  in  the  Redeemer  s  cause  were  diligent, 
persevering,  and  indefatigable,  in  a  region  of  the 
globe   the   most  cheerless,    and    under    circumstances 


136  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

the  most  discouraging.  Her  mental  energy,  sanctified 
and  strengthened  by  the  grace  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  was 
peculiarly  adapted  to  her  difficult  position,  and  every 
reader  must  admire  her  unreserved  devotedness  of  heart 
to  her  self-denying  duties.  Her  mourning  husband,  in 
his  truly  lonely  condition,  must  have  deeply  felt  his 
extraordinary  loss,  in  the  removal  of  such  a  wife  and  so 
eminently  gifted  a  counsellor  and  fellow-labourer  in 
the  gospel  field.  Her  death  was  felt  as  a  serious 
loss  by  the  Directors  of  the  Missionary  Society ;  and, 
in  their  Report  for  1833,  they  bear  the  following  tes- 
timony to  her  pre-eminent  worth  and  valuable  ser- 
vices :  — 

"  It  has  pleased  the  Lord,  whom  she  devotedly  and 
cheerfully  served,  to  call  to  himself  Mrs.  Stallybrass, 
who  fell  asleep  in  Jesus  on  the  10th  of  February  of  the 
present  year.  Her  health  had  been  for  some  time  de- 
clining under  the  weight  of  the  duties  of  the  interesting 
charge  which  devolved  upon  her,  both  as  a  mother  and 
the  only  female  Missionary  in  Siberia.  Mrs.  Stally- 
brass possessed  a  well-cultivated  mind,  an  enterprising 
spirit,  and  a  cheerful  disposition,  and  had,  by  a  resi- 
dence of  fifteen  years  among  the  people  for  whose  salva- 
tion she  laboured  and  prayed,  acquired  that  knowledge 
of  their  language,  habits,  and  character,  which  rendered 
her  eminently  qualified  for  usefulness.  While  we 
deeply  sympathise  with  our  bereaved  brother  and  his 
afflicted  family,  we  hold  in  high  esteem  the  memory  of 
our  departed  friend,  who  was  one  of  the  first  engaged  in 
the  communication  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  the  wan- 


MRS.    STALLYBRASS.  137 

dering  Inhabitants  of  the  wild  deserts  of  South  Eastern 
Siberia." 

Rev.  W.  Ellis,  Foreign  Secretary  to  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society,  remarks,  concerning  this  distinguished 
labourer  for  the  spiritual  and  eternal  welfare  of  a  de- 
graded portion  of  her  sex  : — "  The  life  of  Mrs.  Stally- 
brass  furnishes  an  instructive  comment  on  those  pas- 
sages of  Holy  Writ,  which  assure  us  that  the  word  of 
God  shall  ultimately  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  he 
has  sent  it.  Fifteen  years  had  this  eminently  gifted 
•woman  toiled  in  Siberia,  with  a  cheerfulness  of  spirit,  a 
buoyancy  of  hope,  and  a  steadiness  of  faith,  that  had 
mitigated  the  heaviest  trials,  and  diffused  light  and 
gladness  over  the  prospects  of  the  darkest  hour ;  yet  at 
her  death  she  knew  not  that  07ie  mind  had  been  enlight- 
ened, or  one  heart  changed ;  but  the  snows  of  a  single 
winter  did  not  fall  on  her  grave,  before  the  heart  of  her 
mourning  survivor  was  gladdened  by  the  evidences  of 
the  conversion  of  several,  who  had  been  her  pupils ;  and 
the  changes  manifest  are  ascribed,  under  the  Divine 
blessing,  to  the  influence  of  her  example,  instruction, 
and  prayers." 

Dr.  Fletcher  remarks  : — "  The  Mission  to  Siberia 
has  attracted  less  attention  than  it  deserves ;  though, 
when  its  probable  results  are  contemplated,  it  will  be 
found  to  have  been  closely  associated  with  extensive 
fields  of  enterprise,  and  to  have  involved  the  destinies 
of  a  scattered  but  immense  population.  The  nomadic 
state  of  the  Tartar  tribes,  their  unsettled  habits,  their 
defective  civilisation,  and  almost  invincible  indolence ; 


138  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

the  fatal  influence  of  Mohammedism  in  some  districts, 
and  of  Lamaism  (the  prevailing  idolatry)  in  others,  both 
generating  principles  and  habits  alike  hostile  to  Chris- 
tianity, are  obvious  sources  of  difficulty,  which  must, 
for  a  long  time,  require  the  patience  of  believing  exer- 
tion and  of  importunate  prayer.  This  is  not  the  place 
to  enter  into  the  details  of  the  Siberian  Mission ;  but 
the  records  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  will 
be  found  to  contain  interesting  accounts  of  the  Buriat 
schools^  and  of  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  both 
into  the  Calmuc  and  the  Mongolian  dialects.  There 
have  recently  been  most  encouraging  instances  of  con- 
version ;  and  several  of  the  first  converts  were  amongst 
those  who  had  been  under  the  pious  care  of  Mrs.  Stal- 
lybrass.  It  is  a  delightful  confirmation  of  the  Divine 
promises,  and  an  encouragement  to  parental  duty,  that 
after  her  decease,  several  of  her  own  children  were  re- 
ceived to  the  communion  of  the  Christian  church,  and 
w^ere  thus  numbered  with  the  first-fruits  of  the  Siberian 
Mission." 


MISS    BIRD. 

DIED   IN    MAY,    1834. 

iliss  Bird  related  to  Dr.  J.  Bird  Sumner,  bishop  of  Chester.— Born  in 
London. — Mr.  Bird  emigrated  to  America.  —  Miss  Bird  makes  the 
acquaintance  of  Mrs.  Graham  of  New  York,  and  becomes  pious. — Her 
zeal. — Mr.  Bird  returns  to  England. — Miss  Bird's  active  piety. — She 
goes  to  reside  with  her  brother  in  India. — She  learns  Hindoosthanee. — 
Her  benevolent  labours. — She  settles  at  Calcutta. — Her  endeavours  to 
instruct  Hindoosthanee  females.^Her  labours  in  the  Orphan-school  at 
Alipore. — Her  literary  works. — Her  various  excellences. — Her  sudden 
death. — Testimony  to  her  valuable  services,  by  the  Governors  of  the 
Free  School.— Her  Character. —Her  humble  faith  in  Christ.— The 

manner  of  her  decease Testimony  of  a  friend  at  her  last  moments.— 

Her  funeral Public  respect  for  ^Miss  Bird. 

Miss  Bird,  the  last  eleven  years  of  -whose  life  was 
devoted  to  the  public  good  in  India,  was  a  relative  of 
Dr.  John  Bird  Sumner,  bishop  of  Chester,  and  a 
daughter  of  R.  Bird,  Esq.  She  was  born  in  London, 
May  29,  1789  ;  and  her  early  years  were  passed  in  the 
bosom  of  her  family,  enjoying  the  care  of  an  excellent 
mother  :  but  though  obedient  and  affectionate  to  her 
parents,  she  manifested  no  particular  anxiety  respecting 
spiritual  subjects  during  her  childhood. 

Nothing  remarkable  appeared  in  the  openings  of 
divine  grace  upon  the  soul  of  Miss  Bird,  though  she 
often  spoke  of  the  early  instructions  which  she  received 
from  her  pious  mother ;  adding,  that  it  was  the  observ- 
ing how  much  she  desired  for  her  children  the  salvation 


140  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

of  their  souls,  beyond  any  earthly  good,  that  led  her  to 
consider  her  own  eternal  interests  to  be  a  matter  of  deep 
personal  concern.  That  important  change,  by  which 
she  became  so  eminently  distinguished  as  a  religious 
character,  took  place  about  the  twentieth  year  of  her 
age.  Mr.  Bird,  about  that  period^  with  his  family, 
crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  settled  at  New  York.  There 
his  daughter  became  acquainted  with  the  venerable  Mrs. 
Graham,  whose  philanthropic  labours  were  so  great  a 
blessing  to  that  city.  The  conversation  and  instructions 
of  that  devoted  Christian  lady  were  greatly  blessed  to  the 
edification  of  Miss  Bird,  leading  on  her  mind  in  divine 
things,  and  maturing  her  habits  of  practical  piety  and 
active  benevolence. 

Miss  Bird's  zeal  to  be  useful  to  others,  and  her  per- 
severance in  carrying  on  her  plans  for  their  good,  began 
to  be  apparent  at  this  time ;  for  though  much  engaged 
in  the  instruction  of  the  younger  members  of  her  family, 
she  yet  laboured  diligently  among  the  poor  and  igno- 
rant; and  her  delight  and  activity  in  these  employ- 
ments induced  her  to  carry  them  on  even  to  the  appre- 
hended injury  of  her  health. 

Returning  to  England  in  1812,  she  was  greatly 
afflicted  for  some  years ;  and  more  than  once  she  was 
brought  to  the  borders  of  the  grave.  This,  which  was 
peculiarly  a  trial  to  her,  being  of  an  ardent  disposition 
and  active  habits,  and  accompanied  at  times  by  much 
mental  conflict,  God  mercifully  made  the  means  of 
deepening  the  work  of  his  grace  in  her  heart,  and 
doubtless  of  preparing  her  for  future  usefulness. 


MISS    BIRD,  141 

During  the  last  seven  years  of  her  abode  in  this 
country  she  was  diligently  engaged  in  the  instruction  of 
the  poor  in  the  neighbourhood  in  which  she  resided ; 
and  there  are  some  now  rejoicing  with  her  before  the 
throne  of  God,  to  whom  she  was  blessed,  as  the  instru- 
ment of  "  opening  their  eyes,  and  turning  them  from 
darkness  to  light  ;''  and  not  a  few,  it  is  believed,  are 
on  their  way  to  heaven,  who  will  be  her  crown  of  re- 
joicing in  the  gi-eat  day  of  the  Lord. 

Miss  Bird's  character  was  formed  for  usefulness  among 
others  beside  the  poor,  to  whom  she  had  devoted  the 
greater  part  of  the  period  from  1816  to  1823.  God  had 
endowed  her  with  natural  abilities  of  a  high  order ;  these 
she  had  diligently  cultivated ;  and  this,  together  with 
the  influence  which  a  spiritual  mind  always  gives  its 
possessor,  made  her  society  not  less  acceptable  among 
those  of  her  own  class  than  to  those  who  were  the 
objects  of  her  charitable  care.  But  her  earnest  desire 
and  endeavour  were  to  use  every  talent  to  the  glory  of 
the  Divine  Giver. 

Miss  Bird  had  a  widowed  brother  in  India  ;  and  on 
hearing  of  the  loss  of  her  sister,  she  was  induced  by 
affection  to  him,  in  1823,  to  leave  her  beloved  home  for 
the  alleviation  of  his  sorrows ;  and  in  taking  this  step, 
she  was  not  a  little  influenced  by  the  hope  that  she 
might  in  some  way  be  useful  to  the  ignorant  and  de- 
graded females  of  the  East.  With  this  idea  she  com- 
menced the  study  of  Hindoosthanee  during  her  voyage, 
and  diligently  prosecuted  it  after  her  arrival  in  India, 
till  she  attained  such  proficiency  as  to  be  able  to  compose 


142  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIOI< ARIES. 

and  converse  in  the  language  with  great  facility.  Pro- 
vidential circumstances  some  time  after  rendering  her 
abode  in  India  no  longer  necessary,  the  question  arose, 
whether  she  ought  not  to  return  to  her  native  land ; 
but,  after  serious  deliberation,  she  resolved  to  remain, 
for  the  purpose  of  devoting  herself  to  missionary  la- 
bours. In  the  pursuit  of  this  object,  the  path  which 
she  marked  out  for  herself  was  peculiar  ;  the  particu- 
lars of  which  are  well  narrated  in  the  following  extracts 
of  a  paper,  published  in  the  Calcutta  "  Christian  Intel- 
ligencer," for  June,  1834,  from  the  pen  of  one  of  her 
friends,  a  lady  in  that  city  :  — 

"  Miss  Bird  arrived  in  this  country  in  1823,  and 
proceeded  to  her  brother,  R.  M.  Bird,  Esq.  of  the  Civil 
service,  then  stationed  at  Goruckpore,  a  place  well 
suited  to  her  taste.  A  Mission  of  the  Established 
Church  had  already  been  formed  there,  in  which  she 
immediately  became  warmly  interested ;  and  besides 
assisting  in  attending  the  boys'  schools,  she  collected 
one  on  her  own  premises  for  native  females.  She  was 
thus  occupied  in  the  same  benevolent  way  she  had  been 
in  England,  visiting  and  instructing  the  young  and 
ignorant.  Nor  was  this  all ;  for  here  she  commenced 
translating  elementary  works  into  Hindoosthanee,  and 
continued  to  devote  some  portion  of  her  time  daily  to 
this  useful  employment,  till  her  lamented  death.  In 
this  interval  she  paid  some  short  visits  to  the  neigh- 
bouring missionary  stations,  and  also  to  Calcutta,  for 
the  purpose  of  contributing  to  the  comfort  of  a  younger 
brother,  suffering  severely  under  the  bereavement  of  an 


MISS   BIRD.  143 

amiable  wife,  who  fell  a  victim  to  cholera, — the  same 
frightful  disease  that  so  suddenly  terminated  the  life 
and  labours  of  his  amiable  sister. 

"  In  1830  she  finally  quitted  Goruckpore,  and  came  to 
Calcutta,  with  the  intention  of  remaining  as  long  as  she 
could  be  useful ;  and  with  a  courage  which  those  only 
who  knew  the  real  sensitiveness  of  her  nature  could 
estimate,  she  commenced  seeking  where  she  could  do 
good;  and  when  once  this  was  found,  nothing  could 
deter  her  from  prosecuting  her  labours  till  fruits  of  suc- 
cess were  visible. 

"No  power  but  love  could  thus  have  animated  a 
feeble  and  delicate  female  :  love  to  God,  in  the  first 
place  ;  in  the  next,  love  to  her  fellow-beings.  Though 
most  acutely  alive  to  the  opinions  of  those  among  whom 
she  lived,  she  still  pursued  her  way  through  evil  and 
good  report.  The  path  she  marked  out  for  herself,  new 
and  hitherto  untrodden,  was  to  visit  in  their  homes  the 
numerous  females  descended  from  Christian  parents, 
with  whom  Calcutta  abounds,  who  speak  Hindoosthanee, 
but  are  totally  unable  to  benefit  by  instruction  in  Eng- 
lish, or  to  read  any  language  at  all.  To  those  persons 
Miss  Bird  was  the  messenger  of  glad  tidings,  explaining 
and  teaching  the  gospel  of  peace,  with  such  earnestness 
and  sincerity,  that  she  seldom  failed  to  make  a  deep 
impression.  She  devoted  Thursday  evening  in  every 
week  to  the  instruction  of  these  Hindoosthanee  females 
at  their  own  residences.  By  degrees  the  number  in- 
creased ;  and  in  the  afternoon  of  Sunday,  for  two  years 
past,  they  were  joined  by  a  few  native  converts,  under 


144  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

the  instruction  of  a  Christian  Moullovee,  who  assisted, 
by  reading  the  prayers  and  expositions  of  Scripture 
which  Miss  Bird  had  previously  prepared.  At  the 
time  of  her  death,  there  were  no  less  than  fifty  females 
who  were  thus  receiving  instruction  in  the  way  of  life 
eternal.  This  work  alone  would  have  satisfied  many, 
and  would  even  have  been  too  laborious  for  most ;  but 
it  was  only  part  of  her  exertions  for  the  benefit  of 
others.  Her  method  of  communicating  instruction  was 
so  happy,  that  she  was  requested  by  several  of  the  ladies 
conducting  schools  in  Calcutta,  to  devote  some  time 
each  week  to  impart  religious  knowledge  to  their  pupils ; 
and  this  she  most  readily  did.  For  the  same  purpose 
she  visited  the  Orphan  School  at  Alipore.  She  esta- 
blished a  Bible  class,  consisting  of  about  thirty  young 
females,  who  regularly  assembled  every  Monday  even- 
ing. She  afforded  her  most  cordial  assistance  in  forming 
the  Sunday  school  assembled  at  the  Free-school  church. 
She  also,  once  aweek,  instructed  a  class  of  native  boys, 
under  the  care  of  the  Christian  Moullovee,  in  geography. 
During  this  time  her  labours  in  English  and  Hindoo- 
sthanee  composition  did  not  cease.  Besides  her  Com- 
mentary on  the  Book  of  Genesis,  well  calculated  for  the 
improvement  of  families  and  schools,  she  published, 
both  in  English  and  Hindoosthanee,  '  England  Deli- 
neated ; '  and  fitted  several  valuable  school-books  for 
more  general  use  in  India.  She  completed  the  outline 
of  '  Ancient  History,*  and  translated  the  whole  of  it 
into  Hindoosthanee.  She  finished  a  tract  on  the  Ten 
Commandments,  which  had  been  commenced  at  Goruck- 


MISS   BIRD.  145 

pore,  besides  several  smaller  tracts.  She  translated  also 
a  small  work  on  Geography,  of  her  own  composition ; 
Brewster's  valuable  treatise  on  Astronomy,  with  maps  ; 
and  was  engaged  on  a  History  of  England,  which  she 
had  brought  down  to  the  reign  of  William  II.,  when 
she  died.  The  above  is  a  very  imperfect  sketch  of  what 
she  did  ;  and  few  can  describe  how  she  did  it,  or  deli- 
neate all  the  excellences  of  her  character.  Her  mental 
powers  were  very  uncommon  ;  she  was  ready  at  acquir- 
ing, and  retaining,  and  applying  knowledge.  In  trans- 
lating the  work  on  astronomy,  she  encountered  many 
mathematical  difficulties  which  were  new  to  her  ;  but, 
till  she  fully  understood  them,  she  did  not  give  up  the 
study,  or  attempt  to  continue  the  translation.  As  a 
remarkable  instance  of  this,  we  may  mention,  that, 
having  to  explain  the  computation  of  the  distance  of 
the  earth  from  the  sun,  she  was  not  satisfied  till  she 
had  made  herself  mistress  of  the  mathematical  demon- 
stration of  the  mode  of  doing  so  by  the  transit  of  Venus, 
for  the  purpose  of  inserting  it  in  her  translation.  She 
was  perfectly  conversant  with  the  best  English  and 
French  authors,  and  possessed  a  fine  taste.  But  all 
these  literary  qualifications,  which  would  have  been 
worthy  of  remark  in  others,  were  totally  lost  sight  of 
in  the  superior  excellences  of  her  character  as  a 
Christian. 

"  Jane  Taylor  remarks, — '  What  an  honour,  to  have 
been  noted  by  St.  Paul  as  one  of  the  excellent  and 
worthy  women  of  hife  day  !  Amongst  such  how  pre- 
eminent would  the  deceased  have  been  !     Devoted,  in 


146  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

more  than  a  common  degree,  to  her  parents  and  family; 
dwelling  with  enthusiastic  delight  on  their  pleasures, 
and  sympathising  with  their  pains,  she  could  still  give 
up  all  for  Christ.  She  could  relinquish  the  comforts 
and  elegances  of  home,  and  devote  her  time,  her  means, 
and  her  talents,  to  the  poor  and  neglected  of  the  land, 
and  to  imparting  a  knowledge  of  salvation  to  them  that 
sit  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death.  Her  affec- 
tions were  as  warm,  her  spirits  as  joyous,  her  heart  as 
guileless,  as  though  she  had  never  known  the  cares  or 
sorrows  of  this  world.  Wherever  she  went  she  was  a 
bond  of  union  and  love  ;  incapable  of  giving,  as  she  was 
equally  slow  at  taking,  offence ;  and  would  not  believe 
that  any  one  would  willingly  distress  her.  Though 
delicately  formed,  and  exceedingly  lame,  in  consequence 
of  an  accident  which  occurred  many  years  before,  her 
enthusiasm  enabled  her  to  endure  such  fatigue  as  many 
robust  men  would  have  shrank  from.  The  evening 
before  her  death  she  passed  at  the  Kidderpore  orphan 
school,  apparently  in  perfect  health,  or,  at  least,  as 
well  as  any  one  could  be  during  the  extreme  heat  of  the 
weather.  On  retiring  at  night,  she  felt  indisposed,  but 
delayed  disturbing  any  one,  or  sending  for  medical  aid, 
till  near  morning,  when  the  fatal  disease  was  confirmed. 
Whatever  remains  that  we  could  have  said  has  been  so 
beautifully  expressed  in  the  last  Report  of  the  Free 
School,  that  we  cannot  do  better  than  conclude  in  its 
words : — 

" '  The  governors  cannot  close  this  Report  without 
adverting  to  the  irreparable  loss  which  the  Free  School 


MISS    BIRD.  147 

has  sustained  by  the  sudden  and  unexpected  death  of 
Miss  Bird,  one  of  their  lady-visiters.  To  her  unwearied 
diligence,  active  piety,  and  cheerful  disposition,  no 
commendation  of  theirs  can  do  justice.  Regardless  of 
bodily  weakness,  and  a  climate  quite  enough  to  excuse 
inactivity,  she  went  about  doing  good  to  those  whom 
few  care  to  seek  after.  From  house  to  house  she  carried 
consolation ;  teaching  the  young  and  aged  of  her  own 
sex,  where,  without  fear  of  disappointment,  they  might 
find  rest  for  their  souls.  The  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ — the  faithful  saying,  that  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners — was  her  delightful  theme.  On 
this  she  loved  to  dwell,  with  that  happy  cheerfulness 
of  heart  which  imparted  a  peculiar  charm  to  her  cha- 
racter, and  w^on  the  affection  of  all  who  listened  to  her 
discourse.  On  the  Free  School  she  conferred  benefits 
which  will  be  remembered  with  lasting  gratitude  by 
many,  long  after  their  connexion  with  the  institution 
has  ceased.  A  week  never  passed  in  which  she  was 
not  twice  or  thrice  found  seated  among  the  children, 
patiently  conveying  instruction,  as  tliough  she  had  been 
a  hired  servant,  rather  than  a  gratuitous  friend.  One 
so  disinterested,  so  zealous,  so  indefatigable,  so  desirous 
of  doing  good,  is  seldom  found.  Her  memory  will  be 
dear  to  a  multitude  of  sorrowing  friends,  by  whom  she 
will  be  honoured  as  one  of  those  excellent  women  who 
have  patiently  laboured  in  the  gospel,  and  whose  names 
are  written  in  the  book  of  life.'  " 

These  expressions  may  be  thought  by  some  to  assume 
too  much  of   "  the  tone  of  panegyric :   but  they  would 
L  2 


148  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

not  have  beea  inserted,  wore  it  not  cordially  believed 
that  their  basis  is  strict  truth.  It  is  not  desifjned  to 
hold  her  up  to  admiration,  but  Him,  whose  image  she 
exhibited  in  her  life  and  temper,  and  by  whose  grace 
she  Was  what  she  was."  They  have  been  brought  for- 
ward, because  they  show  forcibly  tlie  excellent  charac- 
ter of  her  whose  unwearied  exertions  were  devoted  to 
His  service  whom  she  loved.  The  shortness  of  her 
illness,  and  the  entire  prostration  of  her  strength  from 
the  very  beginning  of  the  attack,  prevented  her  from 
expressing  her  feelings  on  the  prospect  of  death  ;  but 
the  following  passage  from  a  letter,  written  sixteen 
months  before,  will  show  what  was  the  habitual  state 
of  her  mind.  After  giving  an  account  of  a  fall  from 
her  horse,  when  she  was  taken  up  in  a  state  of  insen- 
sibility, she  proceeds  : — 

"  People  will  say,  what  an  escape  I  have  had  !  but 
I  cannot  help  thinking  how  pleasant  it  had  been  to 
have  joined  '  the  church  of  the  first-born,'  and  to  have 
done  for  ever  with  the  perplexities  and  temptations  of 
this  evil  world.  However,  as  it  pleased  God  to  pre- 
serve my  life,  I  know  I  ought  to  be  thankful,  and  to 
receive  it  anew  as  His  gift,  to  be  used  in  His  service  ; 
and  I  hope  I  do  feel  something  of  wliat  I  owe  to  the 
love  of  Him,  who  redeemed  me  by  liis  cross  from  the 
fear  of  death." 

Miss  Bird's  friends  have  abundant  reason  to  bless 
God  that  no  dying  testimony  was  needful  for  their 
comfort ;  and  a  short  sentence  from  the  last  letter 
received   by   them,    dated    only   ten   days   before   her 


MISS    BIRD.  149 

removal,  has  been  a  great  comfort  to  them  ;  her  mind 
appearing  to  have  been  mercifully  prepared  either  for 
life  or  death.  Speaking  of  one  of  whom  she  had  just 
taken  leave,  on  his  departure  for  England,  she  remarks: 
— "  He  asked  me  when  I  should  take  my  furlough.  I 
cannot  think  of  it,  and  would  not  wish  it,  as  long  as  I 
have  such  health,  and  such  a  field  of  labour;  and 
sometimes,  undeserving  as  I  am,  refreshings  from  on 
high,  and  ardent  longings  to  be  with  His  (Christ's), 
and  to  live  for  Him  only." 

Enough,  how^ever,  passed  during  the  last  few^  hours 
of  her  earthly  pilgrimage  to  show  that  her  mind  was 
kept  in  perfect  peace.  Before  the  arrival  of  the  medical 
gentlemen,  who  were  summoned  upon  the  first  alarm 
being  given  of  her  illness,  and  when  no  idea  was  enter- 
tained of  the  nature  of  her  disorder,  she  called  to  her 
bedside  the  friend  with  whom  she  resided,  and  gave  her 
some  directions  respecting  her  papers,  should  her  sick- 
ness terminate  in  death.  This  was  the  only  sentence 
respecting  worldly  things  which  she  uttered.  A  friend 
writes : — 

"  The  first  intimation  I  had  of  her  illness  was  received 
by  me  about  half-past  six  in  the  morning,  in  a  note 
from  Dr.  J.,  her  medical  attendant,  who  begged  me  to 
lose  no  time  in  coming  to  her,  as  there  was  every  pro- 
spect of  a  fatal  termination.  Taking  with  me  the 
archdeacon  (Mr.  Corrie),  I  went,  and  found  her,  with 
Mrs.  M.  by  her  bedside,  free  from  pain,  and  with  a 
most  peaceful  smile  upon  her  countenance.  She  told 
me  she  felt  better,  and  thought  she  should  recover ; 
and,  like  Moses,  she  wished  to  remain,  for  the  sake  of 


150  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

tlie  people.  She  soon  after  said  it  was  her  birth-clay  ; 
upon  which  Mr.  C.  said,  ^Perhaps  it  maybe  your  ever- 
lasting birth-day.'  She  was  not  able  to  speak,  except 
in  a  whisper ;  and  to  the  observations  made  by  Mr.  C. 
with  reference  to  her  state,  such  as,  '  Thou  wilt  keep 
him  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  Thee  ; — 
He  doeth  all  things  well ; — His  time  is  best; — His  w^ay 
is  best; — His  will  is  best;'  she  could  only  smile  assent." 

Having  at  this  time  called  her  female  friend  to  her, 
and  asked  if  the  doctors  had  any  hope  of  her ;  and  the 
reply  being  given,  "  Very  little,"  she  made  no  remark, 
nor  was  the  slightest  agitation  apparent.  She  seemed 
inclined  to  sleep,  and  perfect  quiet  being  enjoined,  her 
friends  left  her.  Immediately  after  their  departure  life 
began  to  ebb ;  and  before  they  could  obey  the  summons 
to  return,  her  happy  spirit  had  left  the  body,  and  was 
present  with  her  Lord. 

The  estimation  in  which  Miss  Bird's  character  and 
labours  were  held  in  Calcutta  was  evinced  in  a  most 
affecting  manner  at  her  funeral.  Short  as  was  the 
notice — for  it  was  thought  necessary  to  commit  her 
remains  to  the  earth  within  eight  hours  after  her  death 
— the  number  of  persons,  of  all  ranks  and  classes,  that 
assembled  spontaneously,  showed  their  deep  feeling  of 
the  loss  they  had  sustained.  The  friend  already  alluded 
to  writes  : — 

"  I  returned  to  Mr.  M.'s  to  assist  in  the  performance 
of  the  last  melancholy  duties.  I  found  the  house 
crowded  with  persons  to  whom  she  had  been  of  service 
in  one  way  or  other,  anxious  to  pay  their  last  tribute 
of  respect,   and   surrounding  the   table  on  which  the 


MISS   BIRD.  151 

coffin  was  placed.  The  scene  was  quite  overwhelming. 
Presently  came  most  of  the  clergy,  and  her  female 
friends.  The  chapters  were  then  read,  and  a  most 
impressive  prayer  was  offered  up  by  Mr.  D,,  which 
would  have  melted  the  hardest  heart.  We  then  pro- 
ceeded to  the  burial-ground,  the  archdeacon  and  myself 
occupying  the  first  mourning-coach.  On  our  arrival 
we  witnessed  a  scene  such  as  I  never  saw  at  any  funeral 
before,  and  shall  probably  never  have  occasion  to  see 
again.  Crowds  of  young  women  were  at  the  gate,  all 
dressed  in  white,  with  black  bands,  collected  on  the 
impulse  of  the  moment  from  the  different  schools  which 
she  was  in  the  habit  of  frequenting ;  and  no  sooner  was 
the  coffin  taken  from  the  hearse  than  they  surrounded 
it,  many  deep,  and  escorted  it  to  the  grave,  leaving 
Mr.  C.  and  myself  at  the  head  of  the  procession  to 
follow  as  we  might.  Mr.  F.  performed  the  service, 
interrupted  occasionally  by  the  expressions  of  feeling 
which  it  was  impossible  to  restrain,  and  which  testified 
too  truly  the  deep  sense  which  all  entertained  of  the 
calamity  which  had  befallen  them.  The  bishop,  on  the 
following  Sunday,  from  the  pulpit  of  the  cathedral, 
adverted  to  it  in  the  most  touching  manner ;  and  at 
the  Hindoostanee  service,  Mr.  C.  was  so  overpowered 
by  the  feeling  evinced  on  the  part  of  the  congregation, 
on  commencing  to  advert  to  the  circumstance,  that  he 
was  unable  to  proceed.  In  short,  there  is  but  one 
feeling  upon  the  subject,  among  high  or  low,  and  this 
is  evinced  in  every  possible  way.  In  the  native  papers 
her  loss  is  lamented  as  a  public  calamity." 


MRS.    ELLIS. 

DIED   JANUARY   11,   1835. 

Mrs.  Ellis,  a  native  of  London.— Her  pious  Mother,  a  daughter  of  Rev- 
J.  Hart.— Early  Piety  of  Miss  Moor.— Left  an  Orphan.— Her  active 
Religion. — Housekeeper  to  her  Brother. — Interested  in  Missions,  by  the 
Details  of  the  Rev.  J.  Campbell. — Married  to  Rev.  Mr.  Ellis. — Antici- 
pation of  a  Voyage  to  the  South  Seas. — Land  at  Eimeo. — Missionary 
Triumphs  at  Tahiti. — They  settle  at  Eimeo. — Remove  to  Huahine. — 
Mrs.  Ellis's  Labours  among  the  Native  Females. — Arrival  of  Mission- 
aries.— Visit  to  Raiatea,  Tahaa,  and  Borabora. — Various  Services 
among  Native  Females. —  The  Deputation  and  Mr.  Ellis  visit  the 
Sandwich  Islands. — Native  Teachers  accompany  them. — Mrs.  Ellis  in 
her  Husband's  long  absence. — Invited  to  the  Sandwich  Islands — Mrs. 
Bingham's  Letter  to  Mrs.  Ellis. — Mrs.  Thurston's  Letter.— Mr.  Ellis 
seemed  to  be  called  by  Providence.— Review  of  Mrs.  Ellis's  Labours  at 
Huahine. — They  proceed  to  Oahu. — Mrs.  Ellis  to  IMrs.  Williams. — 
American  Missions  to  the  Sandwich  Islands. —  Conversion  of  some 
chief  Women. — Queen  Keopulani  removes  to  I\Iani. —  Missionaries 
accompany  her  to  Lahaina. — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellis  visit  the  dying 
Queen. — Her  Death,  and  Funeral. — Mrs.  Ellis's  Illness. — Voyage  of 
the  King  and  Queen  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  to  England.— Mrs. 
Ellis  grows  worse. — Dr  Blatchly  advises  her  Return  to  England. — 
They  prepare  for  the  Voyage.— Embark  in  the  "Russell"  whaler  fbr 
America. — Visit  several  Islands. — Arrive  in  America — Mrs.  Ellis 
kindly  received  by  Christian  Friends. — Becomes  worse — She  embarks 
for  the  "  Hudson."— Arrives  in  London.— Visited  by  Rev.  Rowland 
Hill,  and  others.— Her  state  of  Mind.— Visited  by  Rev.  Mr.  Nott.— Her 
happy  Experience. — Partial  Recovery,  and  Journeys. — Visited  by 
Rev.  J.  Williams. — Her  Decline. — Anxiety  for  her  Children. — Her 
Death — And  Character. 

Mrs.  Mary  Mercy  Ellis,  wife  of  the  Rev.  "William 
Ellis,  missionary  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,  was  born 
October  16,  1793,  in  St.  Mary's  Hill,  London.  She 
was  distinguished  as  being  the  child  of  pious  parents, 


MRS.    ELLIS.  153 

who  sought  her  spiritual  welfare  as  the  best  portion. 
Her  father,  Mr.  Alexander  Moor,  was  a  native  of  Perth, 
in  Scotland,  and  a  worthy  son  of  those  who  feared  God  ; 
and  her  mother,  Mary  Mercy,  was  the  youngest  daughter 
of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hart,  well  known  as  tlie  author  of  a 
volume  of  "  Experimental  Hymns,''  and  minister  of 
Jewin  Street  chapel,  London. 

Miss  Moor  became  "  the  child  of  Divine  Providence" 
at  an  early  age,  being,  by  the  death  of  her  affectionate 
parent,  left  a  fatherless  infant  before  she  was  three 
months  old.  Her  widowed  mother  was  spared  to  train 
her  in  the  way  of  life ;  and  she  directed  the  thoughts 
of  her  daughter  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  blessings  of 
his  redeeming  love.  In  her  fifth  year  some  remarks  of 
her  mother  concerning  a  minister  being  the  servant  of 
God  in  preaching  Christ,  deeply  impressed  her  mind  ; 
and  from  that  age  her  memory  became  stored  with  pas- 
sages of  Scripture,  and  appropriate  hymns.  When  six 
years  old,  she  received  lasting  benefit  by  the  present  of 
a  book,  with  a  request  that  she  would  learn  as  many 
hymns  as  she  could  ;  and  she  committed  to  memory  an 
entire  collection  of  about  sixty,  and  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  of  those  written  by  her  grandfather  Hart. 

Mrs.  Moor  departed  to  her  eternal  rest  when  her 
daughter  was  only  eight  years  old,  leaving,  besides  her, 
a  son,  only  two  years  older  ;  but  these  orphans  became 
the  peculiar  care  of  Divine  Providence,  and  at  an  early 
period  devoted  to  the  service  of  Christ.  "  Mary,  don't 
weep  for  me,"  said  her  dying  mother,  the  last  time  she 
spoke,  while  reason  held  its  seat :  "  lam  going  to  glory; 


154  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

we  shall  not  long  be  separated;  we  shall  meet  again 
soon."  Her  mother  s  death  was  the  means  of  spiritual 
life  to  Mary  ;  and  all  her  good  impressions  were 
cherished  by  a  valuable  Christian  friend,  who  kept  a 
boarding-school,  and  who  had  taken  her  before  her 
mothers  decease,  evincing  towards  her  an  affectionate 
and  maternal  reo;ard. 

Miss  Moor,  at  this  time,  attended  the  ministry  of  the 
Rev.  E.  J.  Jones,  at  Silver  Street  chapel,  London  ;  and 
by  a  sermon  from  him,  on  Whit-Monday,  in  the  year 
1804,  addressed  to  young  people,  from  the  words,  "I 
love  them  that  love  me ;  and  they  that  seek  me  early 
shall  find  me,"  it  appears  the  Holy  Spirit  led  her  to 
make  an  entire  surrender  of  herself  to  her  Creator  and 
Redeemer.  That  sermon  was  designed  to  prepare  for 
the  establishment  of  a  Sunday  school,  which  was  opened 
in  connexion  with  Silver  Street  chapel,  September  14, 
1 804  ;  to  this  school,  Miss  Moor,  then  in  her  eleventh 
year,  and  a  pupil  in  a  boarding-school,  was  admitted, 
and  her  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  became,  by  the 
exercises  of  the  Bible  class,  greatly  promoted.  At  a 
public  examination,  in  1806,  she  was  rewarded  for  her 
diligence  and  improvement  with  a  handsomely-bound 
Bible ;  and  this  she  was  accustomed  to  place  under  her 
pillow,  for  the  purpose  of  perusal  before  her  companions 
at  school  were  risen  in  the  mornings.  At  the  same 
time  she  frequently  committed  to  memory  from  twelve 
to  fourteen  hymns  during  the  week,  besides  her  portions 
of  Scripture  and  catechism.  She  was  punctual  in  her 
observance  of  private  devotion,  and  used  to  attend,  with 


MRS.    ELLIS.  155 

some  pious  members  of  the  family,  the  early  prayer- 
meetings  at  the  chapel  on  the  Sabbath  mornings ;  and 
shortly  afterwards  she  became  a  teacher  in  the  Sabbath 
school. 

AVhen  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  in  consequence  of 
temporary  illness,  she  left  the  house  of  her  friend,  and 
resided  with  a  near  relative,  who  lived  regardless  of 
religion  ;  her  own  piety,  therefore,  declined,  though  the 
forms  of  godliness  were  not  disregarded  by  her ;  but 
the  gracious  guardian  of  her  early  life,  by  his  good 
providence,  opened  a  way  for  her  restoration.  Her 
brother  havino-  in  1812,  commenced  business  on  his 
own  account  in  London,  invited  her  to  take  charge  of 
his  domestic  concerns.  She  accepted  his  proposals ; 
and  was  thus  mercifully  delivered  from  the  unfavour- 
able circumstances  which  had  occasioned  her  spiritual 
declension ;  so  that  she  soon  found  peace  and  joy 
through  believing,  by  the  grace  and  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Miss  Moor  knew  the  sober  character  and  exemplary 
habits  of  her  brother  ;  but  she  had  not  been  fully  aware 
of  the  extent  of  his  religious  attainments  :  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  day,  therefore,  on  which  she  entered  his 
dwelling,  she  was  both  surprised  and  delighted  to  hear 
him  speak  with  affection  and  gratitude  of  the  mercy  of 
God  in  protecting  them  while  orphans,  raising  them  up 
valued  friends,  giving  them  a  comfortable  home,  and 
providing  them  with  so  many  enjoyments.  He  expressed 
his  conviction,  also,  of  their  duty  to  worship  the  Lord 
in  the  family,  and  declared  his  intention  to  persevere  in 


156  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIOISAllIES. 

thus  seeking  and  serving  the  God  of  their  fathers.  He 
then  read  a  chapter  in  the  Bible ;  and  kneeling  with 
his  sister  at  the  footstool  of  the  Divine  mercy,  poured 
forth  his  soul  in  fervent  prayer  and  grateful  praise. 
They  regularly  attended  the  worship  of  God  where 
their  mother  had  worshipped;  and,  after  a  distressing 
conflict  and  deliverance  from  a  painful  sense  of  guilt, 
arisino-  from  her  conscious  backslidino-  in  heart  from 
God,  she  was  admitted  to  the  fellowship  of  the  church, 
March  7,  1813,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jones,  with  another 
female  friend,  who  afterwards  became  the  wife  of  a 
much-honoured  missionary  of  Clirist. 

Miss  Moor  continued  her  useful  services  as  a  Sunday- 
school  teacher;  and,  in  1814,  her  mind  was  excited  to 
the  consideration  of  missionary  labours  among  the 
heathen,  especially  by  the  affecting  accounts  which 
were  given  by  the  Rev.  J.  Campbell,  after  his  return 
from  visiting  the  stations  of  the  Missionary  Society,  in 
the  colony  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  concerning  the 
deplorable  wretchedness  of  the  Hottentots,  and  other 
native  tribes  in  South  Africa.  Her  missionary  predi- 
lections were  cherished  under  the  influence  of  much 
serious  prayer  and  intelligent  reflection;  and  though 
her  health  was  but  delicate,  a  warmer  climate  than 
England  was  judged  likely  to  be  favourable  to  her  con- 
stitution :  she  was  therefore  married,  November  9,  1815, 
to  the  Rev.  William  Ellis,  who  had  been  appointed  to 
aid  the  successful  labourers  among  the  degraded  island- 
ers of  the  South  seas. 

Mrs.   Ellis,   with   her  husband,  and  the   Rev.  Mr. 


MRS.    ELLIS.  157 

Threlkeld,  embarked  at  Portsmouth,  in  Jamiary  1816  ; 
and  her  state  of  mind  in  her  new  circumstances  may  be 
judged  of  from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  to  her 
beloved  pastor,  dated  Gosport,  January  16,  1816  : — 

"  We  are  now  waiting  for  Him  who  commands  the 
winds  and  waves,  and  they  obey  him,  to  commission 
them  to  be  favourable,  and  waft  us  to  our  desired  port. 
Did  we  not  believe  that  an  overruling  Providence  orders 
all  thino^s  for  the  best,  we  midit  be  inclined  to  murmur 
at  being  sent  out  in  a  transport  vessel,  (for  we  find 
that  the  convicts  are  a  desperately  wicked  company ; 
they  have  made  several  disturbances  already,  and 
threaten  mutiny  on  the  voyage,)  but  we  know  that  we 
are  in  the  hands  of  God ;  therefore  we  cheerfully  go 
forth,  assured  that,  if  the  Lord  has  anything  for  us  to 
do  among  the  heathen,  we  are  safe  until  our  work  is 
done.  If  our  Saviour  be  at  the  helm,  we  need  fear  no 
evil  ;  rather  let  us  say, — 

'  Christ  is  our  Pilot  wise, 

Our  compass  is  his  word  ; 
Our  soul  each  storm  defies, 

While  we  have  such  a  Lord  ; 
We  trust  his  faithfulness  and  power. 
To  help  in  every  trying  hour !' 

"  But  we  are  aware  that  we  need  great  grace,  to 
enable  us  to  walk  wisely,  and  as  becometh  the  gospel 
of  Christ ;  that  we  are  safe  only  while  kept  by  the 
mighty  power  of  God ;  and  that  if  left  but  for  a 
moment,  we  fall  into  sin.  I  hope  we  shall  be  constantly 
looking  to  Jesus  :  may  we  be  found  in  him  when  we 
shall  next  meet  you   again,  not   in  this  sinful  world  ; 


158  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

not  in  these  mortal  bodies,  which  clog  our  devotions, 
and  chain  our  spirits  down  to  earth  when  they  would 
fain  soar  to  heaven ;  but  at  the  right  hand  of  our 
heavenly  Father,  in  a  world  where  sin  and  sorrow  can 
never  enter,  clothed  upon  with  immortality,  in  a  body 
like  our  dear  Saviour's.  Surely  we  can  say,  if  we  had 
a  thousand  souls  and  bodies,  we  would  devote  them  all 
to  the  service  of  Him  who  hath  done  so  much  for  us." 

They  sailed  from  England,  January  23rd,  and  on  the 
22nd  of  July  the  vessel  cast  anchor  in  Sydney  Cove.  At 
Sydney  they  remained  five  months,  during  which  period 
Mrs.  Ellis  gave  birth  to  a  daughter.  At  length  a  pas- 
sage to  the  Islands  was  secured  in  the  Queen  Charlotte, 
a  brig  bound  to  the  Society  and  Marquesas  Islands ; 
and  on  the  10th  of  December  the  mission- family  em- 
barked for  Tahiti.  Ten  days  after  leaving  the  colony, 
the  Queen  Charlotte  entered  the  bay  of  the  islands  in 
New  Islands  in  New  Zealand  ;  and  the  last  week  of  the 
year  1816  was  spent  in  profitable  intercourse  with  the 
missionaries  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  who 
had  about  two  years  before  commenced  that  mission. 
Here,  for  the  first  time,  they  came  in  contact  witli 
heathen  and  savage  life ;  but  Mrs.  Ellis  gained  inter- 
course with  some  excellent  Christian  women,  and  some 
lessons  which  prepared  her  for  future  usefulness.  On 
resuming  the  voyage,  they  touched  at  the  island  of 
Rapa  ;  and  on  the  10th  of  February  1817,  they  beheld 
the  elevated  land  of  Tahiti ;  on  the  following  day  many 
came  on  board,  among  whom  was  the  queen,  with  her 
infant  daughter  ;  on  the  13th  the  vessel  reached  Eimeo, 


MRS.    ELLIS.  159 

where  they  were  welcomed  by  resident  missionaries, 
with  whom  they  were  to  labour  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord. 

Mrs.  Ellis  iiad  contemplated  the  difficulties  of  the 
service  upon  which  she  had  entered  ;  and  now  she 
directed  her  attention  and  her  energies  to  acquire  the 
native  language,  that  she  might  be  able  to  co-operate 
more  efficiently  with  her  husband  in  his  important 
undertaking  to  aid  his  fellow-labourers  in  their  mani- 
festly successful  ministry. 

Eighteen  years  of  persevering  labour  had  been  ex- 
pended by  the  first  Tahiti,  to  little  purpose  apparently, 
except  in  teaching  some  of  the  natives  to  read,  and 
translating  parts  of  the  Bible;  infanticide,  human  sacri- 
fices, and  war,  continued;  but  in  the  year  1815,  a 
wonderful  change  took  place,  as  is  well  known  to  all 
who  take  an  interest  in  missions :  the  Spirit  of  God 
was  manifestly  poured  forth  upon  the  miserable  idola- 
ters ;  their  wooden  deities  were  cast  into  the  fire,  some 
of  the  priests  renounced  idolatry,  and  Christianity 
became  triumphant  among  the  people  thus  brought  to 
God ;  parts  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  in  their  own  lan- 
guage, were  dispersed  among  the  numerous  believers ; 
all  sought  to  the  missionaries  for  instruction  ;  and 
Pomare  the  king  sent  all  his  former  family  gods  to  the 
Missionary  Society  in  England,  as  evidence  of  his  sin- 
cere faith  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellis  entered  into  the  labours  of  their 
faithful  predecessors,  admiring  this  dispensation  of 
Divine   Providence,    and   diligently   prosecuting   their 


160  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

efforts  to  perfect  themselves  in  the  native  language. 
Mrs.  Ellis  directed  her  attentions  to  the  females,  teaching 
them  various  European  arts,  as  well  as  the  elementary 
principles  of  Christianity. 

Having  selected  a  new  station  on  the  other  side  of 
this  land  of  Eimeo,  Mr.  Ellis,  with  two  others,  removed 
thither.  "  There  were  no  mission-families  to  receive 
the  strangers,  and  afford  the  rights  of  hospitality ;  no 
hotel  in  which  they  could  live,  until  able  to  suit  them- 
selves. Mr.  Davis,  who  had  previously  reached  the 
.  port,  bade  them  welcome ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  a 
large  bird-cage  sort  of  a  house,  thatched  with  palm- 
leaves,  and  enclosed  round  the  sides  with  small  poles, 
vacated  it  for  their  temporary  accommodation.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Crook  took  up  their  lodgings  at  one  end  of  this 
building,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellis  at  the  other.  Here 
Mrs.  Ellis  and  her  companions  found  themselves  sur- 
rounded by  native  society  in  its  rudest  form.  The 
wars,  in  which  Eimeo  had  taken  its  full  share,  had 
greatly  diminished  its  population ;  and  as  no  European 
had  ever  resided  in  the  district,  the  remaining  inha- 
bitants were  much  in  the  same  state  as  when  the  island 
was  visited  by  Captain  Cook. 

"  The  curiosity  of  many  was  excited  by  Europeans, 
with  their  wives,  and  little  ones,  coming  to  reside  amongst 
them  ;  and,  having  little  else  to  do,  for  a  long  time  they 
thronged  the  dwelling  of  the  missionaries  in  such  num- 
bers, as  to  render  some  degree  of  patience  and  self- 
possession  requisite  to  maintain  good-humour.  Daily 
inconveniences   and  privations  were   inseparable  from 


MRS.    ELLIS.  I6l 

such  a  state  of  society ;  as  the  totally  different  kind  of 
food  used  in  the  islands,  and  which  for  a  long  time  was 
far  from  being  palatable  to  a  European.  There  was  no 
reofular  market  at  which  even  this  could  be  bouoht  : 
and  this  supply,  obtained  for  presents,  or  bartered  for 
knives  and  scissors,  fish-hooks,  or  other  European 
articles,  was  always  uncertain,  and  exceedingly  irregu- 
lar." Fetching  water,  washing  linen,  cooking  the  food, 
or  performing  other  acts  of  drudgery  connected  with 
their  incommodious  habitations,  and  the  necessity,  in 
consequence  of  the  heat  of  the  climate,  of  removing  the  . 
fire  from  their  dwelling-houses,  added  to  the  daily 
inconveniences  of  the  wives  of  the  missionaries,  until 
they  had  been  long  enough  among  the  natives  to  induce 
some  of  the  young  people  to  become  permanently 
attached  members  of  their  families. 

Mrs.  Ellis  had  not,  however,  fallen  into  the  lament- 
able error  of  selecting  the  work,  without  endeavouring 
to  count  the  cost;  and,  therefore,  an  uncomfortable  native 
house,  with  the  various  inconveniences  inseparable  from 
her  situation,  was  not  deemed  so  heavy  a  trial  as  to 
interfere  with  her  cheerful  devotedness  to  her  work. 
Her  first  object  was  to  seek,  and  her  next,  in  depend- 
ence on  the  Divine  blessing,  to  improve,  every  means  of 
doing  good  that  her  circumstances  might  afford.  "  For 
instruction  Mrs.  Ellis  was  eminently  qualified ;  it  was 
an  employment  in  which  she  ever  found  great  satisfac- 
tion ;  and,  anxious  to  relieve  the  pressure  of  care  on  her 
only  female  companion  at  the  station,  she  undertook, 
while  studying  the  native  language  herself,  to  superintend 


162  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

the  education  of  six  of  Mrs.  Crooks'  children;  and 
when  thus  engaged,  she  was  frequently  attended  by  a 
number  of  native  females,  who  came  to  be  instructed  in 
needlework." 

Various  important  labours  were  carried  forward 
among  the  people  of  this  station ;  to  some  of  which 
Mrs.  Ellis  refers,  in  a  letter  to  her  late  pastor,  dated 
Afareaitu,  May  14,  1817  :— 

"  On  the  15th  of  March,  we  removed  to  the  place  of 
our  present  residence,  which  is  about  a  day's  journey 
from  our  fellow-missionaries.  The  natives  willingly 
came  forward  to  build  a  school-house  and  printing- 
office.  We  have  a  tolerably  large  place  of  worship, 
where  Mr.  Davis  preaches  twice  on  the  Lord's  day,  and 
once  on  Wednesday  evenings ;  the  place  is  usually 
crowded.  On  Monday  evenings  Mr.  Davis  resolves 
any  questions  or  doubts  that  may  arise  in  the  minds  of 
the  people :  great  numbers  attend,  and  often  put  some 
very  interesting  and  important  questions. 

"  On  the  first  Monday  in  the  month,  or,  I  should  say, 
Tuesday  morning,  we  hold  our  missionary  prayer-meet- 
ing, which  is  conducted  partly  in  Enghsh,  and  partly 
in  Tahitian.  If  the  people  in  England,  who  support 
missions,  were  but  present  at  one  of  these  meetings, 
they  would  think  they  never  could  do  half  enough  for 
the  promotion  of  a  work  followed  by  such  results.  I 
assure  you  we  think  it  is  worth  enduring  ten  times  the 
privations  and  trials  we  have  experienced,  or  coming  a 
tenfold  greater  distance,  to  behold  what  our  eyes  see, 
and  .hear  what  our  ears  hear.     On  Tuesday  evening  we 


MRS.    ELLIS.  163 

have  an  English  prayer-meeting ;  and  on  Thursday 
evening  we  meet  for  reading,  reciting,  andimprove- 
ment  in  the  Tahitian  Language,  which  we  are  very 
anxious  to  acquire  perfectly. — The  printing-office  has 
been  finished,  and  Mr.  Ellis  has  begun  printing  an 
edition  of  the  spelling-book." 

Again,  December  4,  1817,  she  writes  to  some 
friends : — 

"On  November  17th,  our  ears  were  agreeably  sa- 
luted with  the  shout  of,  '  E  pahi !  e  pahi !'  namely,  *  A 
ship  !  a  ship  !'  Shortly  afterwards,  by  a  letter  from  the 
brethren  on  the  other  side  of  the  island,  we  were  in- 
formed that  a  vessel  had  anchored  bringing  six  addi- 
tional labourers;  Messrs.  Threlkeld  and  Barff  having 
joined  the  four  who  left  England  in  November  1816. 
This  joyful  news  gladdened  our  hearts.  My  dear  partner 
went  down  to  see  them,  and  in  two  days  returned  with 
abundance  of  letters  from  dear  friends  :  the  letters  were  to 
us  as  cold  water  to  a  thirsty  soul.  Do  not  cease  to  pray 
for  us ;  I  assure  you  we  much  need  your  prayers,  and 
daily  find  that  nothing  but  the  exercise  of  strong  faith 
will  keep  religion  alive  in  the  soul.  We  have  but  few 
spiritual  privileges;  but,  blessed  be  God,  we  are  not 
deprived  of  the  best  of  all  privileges,  that  of  holding 
sweet  fellowship  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  through 
the  Holy  Spirit." 

"  The  chief  object  for  which  the  station  at  Afareaitu 
was  temporarily  occupied  having  been  accomplished," 
says  Mr.  Ellis,  "  the  mission  families  repaired  to  the 
settlements   in   which   it   was  expected   their   labours 


164  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

would  be  more  permanent.  On  the  18th  of  June, 
1818,  in  company  with  Mr.  Davis,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Williams,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ormond,  Mrs.  Ellis,  with  her 
husband  and  children,  embarked  for  the  Society,  or 
Leeward  Islands.  On  the  evening  of  the  following  day 
they  reached  Huahine,  the  most  easterly  island  of  the 
cluster,  and  anchored  in  the  beautiful  harbour  of  Fare 
on  the  20th.  There  the  work  of  fitting  up  a  habita- 
tion, and  also  of  commencing  a  mission,  was  to  be  per- 
formed again ;  but  the  people  welcomed  them  with 
demonstrations  of  joy,  and  appeared  anxious  to  receive 
their  instructions."  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williams  proceeded 
to  Raiatea. 

Exercised  with  unavoidable  cares  and  afflictions,  these 
excellent  women  devoted  themselves  to  the  improvement 
of  the  native  females,  correcting  their  excessive  indo- 
lence, and  inducing  them  to  give  special  attention  to 
their  children,  and  to  learn  the  methods  of  preparing 
decent  articles  of  dress,  and  of  manufacturing  bonnets 
from  the  beautiful  grasses  of  the  islands.  Mrs.  Ellis 
Laving  increased  in  her  acquaintance  with  the  language 
of  the  people,  so  as  to  be  able  to  converse  with  them  in 
their  own  tongue,  discoursed  with  them  concerning 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  salvation.  "  During  some  periods, 
Mrs.  Ellis  went  down  to  the  native  school  every  morn- 
ing soon  after  sun-rise,  taking  her  two  children  with 
her,  and  confiding  them  to  the  care  of  native  girls,  who 
nursed  them  in  the  school,  while  she  taught  in  her 
class,  or  superintended  the  whole.  She  had  always 
delighted  in  teaching  the  young,  but  never  entered  upon 


MRS.    ELLIS,  165 

the  enjoyment  with  so   much  pleasure  as  among   the 
South- Sea  Islanders." 

Mrs.  Ellis,  with  Mrs.  BarflP,  pursued  her  benevolent 
labours  among  the  young  and  their  mothers ;  for,  be- 
sides their  attention  to  the  schools,  they  had  a  weekly 
class  of  inquirers  after  the  way  of  salvation  ;  and  these 
meetings  with  the  females  in  Huahine  were  exceedingly 
beneficial  in  preparing  those  who  were  desirous  of  spi- 
ritual instruction  for  admission  to  the  ordinances  of 
Christ.  "  Sometimes  between  sixty  and  seventy  per- 
sons belonged  to  this  class ;  but  not  more  than  half  that 
number  ever  attended  at  one  time.  Many  of  them  were 
mothers,  and  often  brought  their  infant  children  with 
them  to  these  meetings.  The  exercises,  which  were  all 
in  the  native  language,  were  usually  commenced  by 
singing  a  hymn  and  reading  a  portion  of  Scripture, 
after  which  a  prayer  was  read  by  one  of  the  Christian 
females;  the  remainder  of  the  time  was  occupied  in 
communicating  instruction  in  reference  to  the  obligation 
of  those  who  desired  to  profess  the  Saviour,  and  in 
resolving  the  doubts  or  answering  the  questions  they 
might  propose. 

"  Another  department  of  benevolent  effort  in  which 
at  suitable  seasons  Mrs.  Ellis  engaged,  was  visiting  the 
sick.  Her  visits  of  this  kind,  and  those  of  her  sister 
missionary,  were  always  welcome.  They  were  greeted 
as  angels  of  mercy  by  those  who  heretofore  had  been 
abandoned  to  helplessness  and  despair ;"  as  they  sympa- 
thised with  them  in  their  sufferings,  and  led  them 
to    seek   pardon   and  eternal   life   by   the   Redeemer. 


166  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

The  wives  of  tlie  Missionaries  were  generally  regarded 
as  oracles  of  wisdom,  especially  by  the  native  females  ; 
and  their  counsels  and  example  were  employed  by 
Divine  Providence  to  elevate  them  from  their  degrada- 
tion, and  to  establish  them  in  their  rightful  dignity  as 
the  redeemed  children  of  God. 

Fortitude  and  self-denial  were  required  on  many  pe- 
culiar occasions  in  the  Missionaries'  wives,  especially  in 
seasons  of  sickness.  "  The  circumstance  of  there  being 
only  one  individual  in  the  Leeward  or  Society  Islands 
(properly  so  called)  possessing  medical  knowledge  or 
skill,  with  the  occasional  occurrence  of  illness  in  the 
mission  families,  rendered  voyages  from  one  island  to 
another  frequently  necessary ;  and  twice  on  these  ac- 
counts Mrs.  Ellis  visited  Raiatea  during  the  year  1819. 
The  distance  from  Huahine  to  Raiatea  was  nearly  thirty 
miles,  and  between  the  islands  the  billows  of  the  Pacific 
rolled  in  all  their  majesty  and  force.  The  means  of 
conveyance  were,  usually,  small  boats,  rudely  constructed 
by  the  Missionaries  themselves,  and  worked  by  native 
seamen.  The  weather  was  generally  pleasant ;  and 
when  the  wind  was  favourable,  the  passage  from  one 
island  to  another  was  seldom  more  than  five  hours. 
But  a  promising  morning  was  occasionally  followed  by  a 
stormy  day  ;  and,  besides  the  inconvenience  of  exposure 
to  the  scorching  sun,  the  voyage  was  at  times  attended 
with  peril ;  but  He  who  controls  the  winds  and  the  sea 
graciously  preserved  the  Missionaries,  in  the  frequent 
voyages  they  were  under  the  necessity  of  undertaking. 

'-^  During  the  early  part  of  the  mission,  the  labours  of 


MRS.    ELLIS.  167 

the  Missionaries  at  Raiatea  were  more  extensive  than 
those  in  Huahine,  in  consequence  of  the  claims  of  the 
adjacent  islands  of  Tahaa  and  Borabora,  at  that  time 
destitute  of  teachers.  It  was  the  practice  of  the  Mis- 
sionaries to  visit  Tahaa  every  Sabbath,  for  the  purpose 
of  preaching  to  the  people;  and  when  any  of  the  Mis- 
sionaries from  Huahine  were  at  Raiatea,  they  cheerfully 
shared  these  labours.  Mr.  Ellis  was  occasionally  thus 
engaged,  and  Mrs.  Ellis  accompanied  her  husband 
whenever  he  went  to  Tahaa,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
versing with  the  females,  or  teaching  in  the  Sabbath 
schools.  The  voyage  was  sometimes  made  in  a  little 
boat,  the  planks  of  which  were  sewn  together  with 
cords  of  cocoa-nut  husk,  and  which  were  so  small  as 
to  be  scarcely  capable  of  conveying  more  than  three 
persons !" 

Mrs.  Ellis'  state  of  mind  in  these  labours  she  thus 
expresses,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  dated  June  21,  1821  : 
— "  What  with  our  meetings  for  spiritual  conversation, 
our  domestic  employments,  the  instruction  of  our  dear 
little  ones,  &c.,  we  do  indeed  find  every  day  too  short 
for  the  much  we  have  to  do.  But,  I  am  happy  to  say, 
we  find  our  reward  in  our  work ;  and  those  are  indeed 
our  happiest  seasons,  when  we  are  so  employed  as  to 
have  reason  to  believe  we  are  in  some  small  measure 
following  the  footsteps  of  Him  who  went  about  doing 
good.  Oh  that  we  possessed  more  of  the  mind  that 
was  in  Christ,  and  followed  more  nearly  his  blessed 
example  !  Continue  to  pray  for  us ;  our  work  is  ardu- 
ous and  important,  our  enemies  numerous  and  powerful, 


168  BRITISH    FEMALE   MISSIONARIES. 

while  we  are  weak  and  feeble ;  but  if  strengthened  by 
the  arm  of  Omnipotence,  we  shall  come  off  more  than 
conquerors  through  Him  that  hath  loved  us.  We  desire 
to  press  onward,  knowing  that  in  the  end  we  shall 
reap,  if  we  faint  not :  rm/»,  not  the  reward  of  our  poor 
imperfect  services,  but  the  rich  blessings  purchased  for 
us  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb." 

Mrs.  Ellis  was  called  to  the  exercise  of  peculiar  self- 
denial  in  February  1822,  when  her  husband  accompa- 
nied the  Rev.  D.  Tyerman  and  G.  Bennett,  Esq.,  the 
Deputation  from  the  Missionary  Society,  then  at  the 
island,  with  two  native  Missionaries  and  their  wives,  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands.  Speaking  of  their  departure, 
Mrs.  Ellis  wrote  thus  to  a  friend,  under  date  March 
31,  1822:  — 

"  Sister  Barff  and  I  continue  our  meeting  with  the 
females.  We  often  find  it  a  season  of  refreshing  to  our 
own  souls,  and  do  hope  it  is  beneficial  to  the  dear  natives. 
We  had  a  very  affecting  meeting  with  them  at  the 
parting  of  our  two  dear  sister  (native)  Missionaries. 
Many  of  them  could  not  speak  for  tears ;  indeed,  there 
was  not  a  dry  eye  in  the  room.  '  We  grieve  to  part 
with  our  dear  sisters,'  said  they ;  '  we  shall  never  again 
see  their  faces  at  our  meetings  for  conversation,  at  our 
meetings  for  prayer,  at  our  meetings  for  public  worship. 
We  have  been  used  to  listen  to  them  with  delight,  when 
they  have  exhorted  us  with  affection,  and  prayed  with 
and  for  us  ;  but  now  we  shall  hear  their  voices  no  more. 
But  we  will  not  keep  them  back :  the  work  is  God's  ; 
and  if  the  teachers  had  not  been  sent  to  us,  we  should 


MRS.    ELLIS.  169 

now  have  been  dwelling  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of 
death  ;  we  should  now  have  been  killing  one  another, 
murdering  our  dear  babes,  and  sinking  into  hell.  But 
God  had  compassion  on  us ;  he  has  sent  his  good  word 
to  us,  and  caused  our  hearts  to  believe  that  Jesus  Christ 
alone  is  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  to  desire  him  for 
our  Saviour :  and  shall  we  not  be  willing  that  others 
may  know  this  good  word  and  Saviour  also  ?  Yes ! 
Go,  sisters ;  and  we  will  not  cease  to  pray  that  Jehovah 
may  bless  you,  and  that  all  the  world  may  know  the 
only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour  of  sinners.' 
This,  and  much  more  to  the  same  purport,  was  the  lan- 
guage of  their  lips,  and,  we  believe,  the  language  also  of 
their  hearts." 

During  her  husband's  absence,  in  compliance  with 
the  earnest  solicitations  of  Mrs.  Orsmond,  who  was  the 
only  European  female  in  Borabora,  Mrs.  Ellis  accom- 
panied Mrs.  Orsmond,  on  liis  return,  to  share  with 
Mrs.  Orsmond  for  a  season  the  labours  of  the  station, 
and  render  those  attentions  which  her  situation  would 
make  peculiarly  acceptable.  Her  state  of  mind  is  thus 
expressed : — 

''Borabora,  April  10,  1822. — I  am  now  a  solitary 
widow ;  my  dear  husband  has  left  me,  to  accompany 
the  deputation  sent  out  by  the  Society  on  a  visit  to  the 
diiferent  islands.  They  have  taken  with  them  two 
native  missionaries  from  our  church,  whom  they  intend 
to  leave  at  the  Marquesas,  if  the  people  are  willing  to 
receive  them.  The  missionaries  and  their  wives  are 
very  pious,  worthy  people ;  the  language  of  the  Mar- 


170  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

quesans  is  similar ;  and  it  is  likely  the  people  may  pay 
attention  to  tliem  when  they  observe  their  superiority 
in  knowledge.  They  are  both  good  workmen,  and  mean 
to  build  themselves  houses,  to  make  tables,  seats,  &c." 
Speaking  of  her  husband  being  frequently  ill,  she 
says : — 

"  We  often  think  he  will  not  live  long ;  and  to  be 
left  here  with  a  family  of  young  children,  is  a  trial,  of 
which  the  anticipation  makes  me  tremble  ;  but  if  called 
to  bear  it,  I  trust  He  who  sends  the  trial  will  give 
strength  to  sustain  it  with  becoming  fortitude,  and  be  a 
husband  to  the  widow,  and  a  father  to  the  fatherless. 
I  am  sometimes  very  low-spirited,  and  the  dear 
children  are  a  great  charge  here. 

"  We  have  a  comfortable  house  and  garden  at  our 
station.  The  king  and  chiefs  behave  kindly  to  us,  and, 
what  is  better  than  all,  the  work  of  God  continues  to 
prosper  in  our  hands.  We  have  ni7ie  hundred  bap- 
tized, and  candidates  for  baptism,  and  about  forty 
members  in  our  church.  My  dear  husband  has  lately 
finished  printing  an  edition  of  upwards  of  3000  copies 
of  the  Gospel  by  John,  which  are  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  natives.  The  children  are  getting  forward,  and 
attend  school  very  regularly." 

Mr.  Ellis  expected  to  be  absent  on  this  visit  about 
three  months,  as  stated  by  the  captain  of  the  Mermaid  ; 
but  ei^ht  months  elapsed  before  the  return  of  the  vessel ; 
during  which  period,  his  wife's  fears  were  greatly  excited, 
apprehending  that  her  husband  had  been  lost  at  sea, 
or,  perhaps,  murdered  by  lawless  and  bloody-minded 


MRS.    ELLIS.  171 

men  :  but,  happily,  her  fears  were  removed  by  his  safe 
return,  with  pressing  letters  from  the  wives  of  the  two 
American  missionaries,  who  had  then  recently  entered 
upon  that  extensive  field  of  labour,  to  come  to  their 
assistance  in  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

Mrs.  Bingham  wTote  : — "  Honoruru  Oahu,  August 
19,  1822.— My  dear  Mrs.  Ellis,— It  is  with  feelings 
of  no  ordinary  kind  that  I  address  you  by  the  tender 
appellation  of  friend  and  sister,  and  commence  an  inter- 
change of  thought,  which,  if  our  heavenly  Father  will, 
ere  long  shall  be  sweetened  by  personal  intercourse. 
Separated  by  beloved  sisters,  who  in  infancy  and  child- 
hood shared  with  me  the  paternal  blessing;  separated 
from  beloved  sisters  in  Christ,  with  whom  I  have  wept 
and  have  rejoiced ;  I  feel  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  hoping 
that  another  is  about  to  be  added  to  the  little  number, 
allowed  to  fill,  in  some  measure,  the  place  of  those  so 
dear ;  and  one,  too,  whom  I  have  learned  to  love,  and 
whose  name  is  already  dear  to  many  chosen  from 
among  the  heathen.  Your  anticipations,  while  with 
cheerfulness  you  acquiesce  in  what  our  Divine  Master 
appoints,  cannot  be  joyful  as  mine.  He  who  first  led 
you  to  adopt  this  language,  '  Father,  not  my  will,  but 
thine  be  done,'  and  made  you  willing,  for  the  blessed 
cause  of  our  Divine  Jesus,  to  set  your  face  towards 
a  strange  land,  we  trust,  will  now  make  duty  very 
plain  to  your  mind,  and  pleasant  to  your  heart.  Led 
by  Him,  experience  can  decide,  that  pleasant  is  every 
path,  though  it  lead  through  the  wilderness,  or  over  the 
deep — to  Christian,  or  to  heathen  lands.     On  another 


172  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

point  most  tender,  dear  sister,  has  my  heart  sympa- 
thised with  you — the  absence,  and  to  you  the  dis- 
tressing absence,  of  your  beloved  friend.  I  have  tried  to 
make  your  case  my  own.  I  have  thought  that,  should 
the  friend  of  my  bosom  be  so  long  and  so  strangely 
separated  from  me,  should  my  sweet  little  one  ask  for 
papa,  when  my  distracted  breast  harboured  the  thought 
that  barbarians  had  devoured  him — oh,  should  I  have 
faith  in  God  !  I  have  thought,  till  tears  have  filled  my 
eyes,  and  I  have  longed  to  see  some  messenger  flying, 
if  with  a  message  no  more  than  this,  '  Trust  in  God  ; 
all  is  safe.'  Then  I  have  thought,  messengers  unseen, 
ever  delighting  in  errands  of  mercy,  commissioned  by 
Him  who,  '  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  pitieth 
those  that  fear  Him,'  may  convey  consolations  rich  and 
abundant. 

"  Brightening  prospects  cheer  our  hearts  with  respect 
to  this  dark  land.  We  do  believe  that  the  beams  of  the 
'  Sun  of  righteousness'  will  ere  long  be  felt  here.  Many 
have  been  the  providences,  since  God  first  put  it  into 
the  hearts  of  his  children  to  ofi'er  special  prayer  for  this 
poor  people,  which  have  called  forth  their  wonder  and 
their  grateful  praise.  This  late  cluster  of  providences, 
leading  our  dear  brother  Ellis  here,  detaining  him, 
saying  to  him  in  so  clear  a  manner,  '  Leave  the  little 
spot  in  the  vineyard,  which,  through  the  Divine 
blessing,  you  have  been  so  successfully  cultivating,  and 
with  your  dear  companion  join  this  faithful  few  in 
breaking  up  the  uncultivated  ground ' — we  hail  as 
among  the  auspicious  omens  of  the  near  approach  of  tlie 


MRS.    ELLIS,  173 

shilling  of  the  Divine   word   in    these   long- benighted 
minds.     Affectionately  yours,    Sybil  M.  Bingham." 

Mrs.  Thurston  also  wrote,  to  Mrs.  Ellis,  saying : — 
"August  28,  1822.— My  dear  Mrs.  Ellis,  — Your 
portrait  is  before  me ;  I  view  it  with  pleasing  anticipa- 
tions of  future  happiness.  The  trying  circumstances  in 
which  you  have  been  placed  have  called  forth  my 
sympathies,  my  tears,  and  my  prayers  for  you  ;  the 
providences  of  God  have  opened  a  prospect  of  intro- 
ducing you  as  a  fellow-labourer  into  this  missionary 
field  :  under  these  circumstances,  and  with  these  feel- 
ings, you  will  allow  me  to  give  expression  to  a  full 
heart,  and  address  you  with  all  the  freedom,  interest, 
and  affection  of  a  dear  sister.  While  I  now  write, 
I  fancy  you,  in  all  the  sorrows  of  widowhood,  pressing 
to  an  almost  agonizing  heart  your  tender  babes.  But 
during  this  season  of  deep  affliction,  and  of  awful 
suspense  and  uncertainty,  God  is,  I  trust,  by  Divine 
support  enabling  you,  imder  the  most  distressing  ap- 
prehensions, to  resign  yourself,  and  those  most  dear, 
into  his  sovereign  hand,  to  be  disposed  of  according  to 
his  Divine  will. — While  all  your  anxieties  have  been 
employed  lest  your  beloved  husband  should  be  engulfed 
in  the  mighty  deep,  or  have  met  a  more  dreadful  death 
among  the  Marquesans,  he  was  standing  before  heathen 
kings  and  rulers,  who  were  just  beginning  to  inquire 
after  God,  declaring  in  their  own  language  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ :  their  hearts  are  softened,  their  minds 
are  changed,  and  Jehovah  is  about  to  take  possession 
of  their  isles.    But  where  are  the  instruments  to  accom- 


174  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

plish  the  mighty  work  ?  To  yourself,  and  your  beloved 
partner,  are  turned  for  help  the  eyes  of  rulers,  on  whose 
movements  hang  suspended  the  immortal  interests  of 
thousands.  We  are  aware  of  the  sacrifices  you  will  be 
called  to  make.  We  who  sojourn  as  pilgrims  in  this 
benighted  land  for  the  up-building  of  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom,  will  liail  your  arrival  with  joy,  tender  you  our 
sympathies  and  affections,  and  help  to  smooth  the 
rugged  path  in  which  you  will  be  called  to  walk. 
Should  Providence  hedge  up  your  way  from  coming  to 
our  aid,  and  no  personal  interview  ever  be  afforded,  still 
I  shall  retain  a  lively  interest  in  yourself  and  family  ; 
you  will  often  have  my  kindest  thoughts,  and,  as  I 
value  the  image,  I  shall  love  the  original.  This  day 
our  friends  will  leave  us,  to  embark  for  Huahine. 
Painful  will  be  the  separation.  My  spirit  and  my 
prayers  will  accompany  them  across  the  tempestuous 
ocean.  Christian  salutations  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barff :  I 
often  hear  them  spoken  of  in  the  most  affectionate 
terms.  The  little  ones  are  tenderly  remembered,  and 
all  the  dear  missionary  families  are  viewed  with  pecu- 
liar interest  and  affection.  My  dear  sister,  adieu.  Be 
'  faithful  unto  death,  and  you  w^ill  receive  a  crown  of 
life.'  Yours  most  affectionately,  Lucy  G.  Tuurston." 
Divine  Providence  appeared  to  his  fellow-missionaries 
evidently  to  call  Mr.  Ellis  to  labour,  at  least  for  a  sea- 
son, in  the  Sandwich  Islands  ;  and  arrangements  were 
made  for  his  speedy  removal  thither ;  but  this  was  a 
measure  which  occasioned  extreme  sorrow  among  the 
native  females,  especially  those  of  the  chief's  family. 


MRS.    ELLIS.  175 

Christian  principle,  however,  led  them  to  concur  in  the 
measure.  Mrs.  Ellis  and  Mrs.  Barff  felt  deeply  the 
contemplated  separation.  "  They  had  studied  and  toiled 
to  promote  the  spiritual  benefit  of  their  own  sex,  with 
a  degree  of  union  and  co-operation  which  had  diminished 
every  difl&culty,  and  doubled  the  influence  of  every 
eftbrt.  During  the  first  year  spent  in  Huahine,  the 
early  part  of  the  day,  -when  sickness  did  not  prevent, 
was  devoted  to  the  schools.  The  forenoon  was  usually 
appropriated  to  their  own  children  and  domestic  arrange- 
ments ;  part  of  the  afternoon  was  employed  in  teaching 
the  natives  needlework,  and  imparting  instruction  by 
familiar  conversation.  The  meetings  with  the  natives 
were,  alternately,  for  five  days  in  the  week,  at  each  of 
the  missionaries'  houses,  where  the  missionaries'  wives 
met  their  scholars  in  one  united  class,  and  where  the 
missionaries  joined  them,  after  the  public  engagements 
of  the  day  ;  and  while  the  females  spent  the  evening  in 
needlework,  their  husbands  engaged  unitedly  in  the 
study  of  the  language,  or  in  writing  for  the  benefit  of 
the  people." 

Mrs.  Ellis  left  this  scene  of  labour  with  sincere  regret, 
notwithstanding  the  truly  Christian  assurances  of  the 
American  missionary-sisters  at  Oahu ;  and  she  ever 
regarded  the  four  years  spent  at  Huahine  as  one  of  the 
most  happy  and  useful  periods  of  her  life.  The  meet- 
ings held  previously  to  their  departure  were  most 
affecting.  A  female,  who  had  long  been  an  intelligent, 
active  member  of  the  church,  and  teacher  in  the  school, 
accompanied  Mrs.  Ellis,  as  well  as  the  native  teacher  and 


176  BRITISH   FEMALE   MISSIONARIES. 

his  wife,  appointed  by  the  church  to  labour  with  their 
countryman,  Auna,  already  in  the  Sandwich  Islands. 
They  embarked  December  31,  182-2,  and  reached  Oahu 
February  5,  1823,  a  distance  of  about  3000  miles. 
Huahine  contained  comparatively  but  few  inhabitants, 
but  Oahu  comprised  a  population  of  20,000  people. 
Their  field  of  labour  was  greatly  enlarged;  and  the 
influence  of  the  missionaries  was  brought  here  to  bear 
upon  180,000  or  200,000  souls. 

Mrs.  Ellis'  state  of  mind  on  entering  this  new  field 
of  labour  will  be  evident  from  the  'following  extract  of 
a  letter,  dated  Oahu,  February  17,  1823  : — 

"Dear  sister  Williams,  —  We  were  welcomed 
with  the  greatest  cordiality  by  the  missionaries,  the 
king,  and  principal  chiefs,  and  we  were  happy  to  find 
things  greatly  improved  since  Mr.  Ellis  was  here ; 
thouo-h  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  amendment  still ;  but 
the  people  give  the  hearing  ear,  and  seem  willing  to  re- 
ceive instruction.  Let  us  hope  and  pray  that  the  Spirit's 
influence  may  be  showered  down  in  rich  abundance, 
and  that  the  words  spoken  may  profit  those  who  hear. 
The  climate  is  delightfully  cold,  and,  I  tliink,  would  well 
ao-ree  with  you.  I  was  quite  delighted  with  the  view 
of  the  snow-topped  mountains  of  Hawaii,  but  felt  glad 
to  be  at  a  respectful  distance  from  them.  We  are  at 
present  with  the  missionaries;  but  the  king  has  pro- 
mised to  put  us  up  a  native  house  to  live  in,  till  we 
get  one  built.  There  is  a  great  work  to  be  done  here. 
I  trust  the  Lord  will  send  more  faithful  men  into  this 
part  of  his  vineyard,  and  cause  a  great  shaking  among 
these  dry  bones. 


MRS.    ELLIS.  177 

"  If  you  should  be  obliged  to  go  to  dear  England, 
and  we  should  not  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  on 
your  way  thither,  pray  for  us,  that  we  may  have  grace 
given  to  perform  the  important  duties  that  devolve 
upon  us ;  and  if  we  meet  not  again,  my  dear  sister,  on 
earth,  may  we  have  a  happy  meeting  at  the  right  hand 
of  our  Divine  Saviour,  with  our  dear  children,  and  all 
whom  we  love,  to  sing  the  praises  of  Him  who  washed 
us  from  our  sins  in  His  own  most  precious  blood." 

Divine  grace  had  already  triumphed  by  the  American 
mission  in  the  Sandwich  Islands ;  and  it  was  at  this 
time  in  an  interesting  state.  The  idols  of  the  natives 
had  been  generally  destroyed,  and  their  temples  over- 
thrown ;  and  though  the  veneration  arising  from  ancient 
usages,  traditionary  legends,  early  deep  impressions  of 
the  power  of  senseless  deities,  and  fear  of  their  displea- 
sure, had  led  many  to  hide  their  objects  of  superstitious 
homage  for  the  present  in  the  caves  of  the  rocks,  or 
under  the  floors  of  their  houses,  where  they  still  might 
pray  to  them  secretly,  there  was  throughout  the  nation 
no  public  idol-worship.  By  the  labours  of  the  Ameri- 
can missionaries,  and  the  Hawaiian  youths,  much 
information  respecting  the  nature  and  claims  of  Chris- 
tianity had  been  diffused ;  and  several  of  the  principal 
chiefs,  of  great  decision  of  character  and  extensive  in- 
fluence, were  favourable  to  its  propagation,  while  a  few 
had  made  such  progress  in  tlie  use  of  letters,  as  rendered 
them  enthusiastic  in  the  pursuit  of  greater  knowledge, 
and  excited  the  desire  of  many  to  follow  their  example. 

"  Among  the  chief  women  most  favourable  to  Chris- 

N 


178  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

tianity  were  Keopuolani,  mother  of  the  king ;  Kapio- 
lani,  the  heroic  wife  of  the  national  counsellor,  who 
afterwards  distinguished  herself  by  challenging  the  pro- 
phetess of  the  great  volcano  to  a  trial  of  the  power  of 
the  fire-gods  of  the  island  ;  Kamehamaru,  the  favourite 
queen,  who  accompanied  the  king  to  England,  where 
she  died ;  Kaahumanu,  and  Karaimoku,  who  were,  in 
fact,  the  rulers  of  the  island ;  and  Piia,  also  a  queen- 
dowager,  a  woman  of  great  influence,  and  one  of  the 
earliest  and  most  consistent  Christians  in  the  island. 
These  were  amona:  the  most  earnest  for  Christian  in- 
struction ;  and  some  of  them  almost  daily  visited  the 
dwelling  of  the  missionaries.  In  their  progress  as 
scholars  Mrs.  Ellis  took  a  lively  interest,  and  joyfully 
improved  every  opportunity  of  aiding  the  American 
sisters  in  their  plans  of  usefulness." 

Queen  Keopuolani,  the  consort  of  King  Tamehameha, 
was  the  first  of  her  nation  who  received  Christian  bap- 
tism. She  removed  in  May  1823  from  Oahu  to  Maui, 
and  engaged  some  of  the  missionaries  to  accompany 
her,  to  communicate  instruction  to  herself  and  the  inha- 
bitants of  that  island.  Her  request  was  complied  with  ; 
and  Messrs  Stewart  and  Richards,  with  their  wives, 
accompanied  by  Taua  and  his  wife,  sailed  with  her,  in 
the  Cleopatra's  barge,  to  Lahaina.  To  tlieir  instruc- 
tions, and  especially  the  representations  that  were  given 
of  the  love  of  God  in  the  gift  of  his  Son,  and  the  suit- 
ableness, freeness,  and  fulness  of  salvation  by  Christ, 
she  gave  the  most  prayerful  attention,  and  afforded 
delightful  evidence  that  slie  had  received  the  grace  of 


MRS.    ELLIS.  179 

God  in  truth.  After  about  four  months,  she  became 
alarmingly  ill :  and,  as  is  customary  on  such  occasions, 
the  chiefs  of  the  nation  gathered  round  her.  Keopuo- 
lani  being  viewed  as  tlie  first  convert  to  Christ  from 
Hawaii,  and  the  period  being  important,  from  the 
heathen  usages  wliich  might  be  observed  in  the  event 
of  her  death,  it  appeared  exceedingly  desirable  that  one 
of  the  missionaries  acquainted  with  the  language  should 
be  present,  and  Mr.  Ellis  was  requested  to  proceed  to 
Lahaina.  Mrs.  Ellis  was  so  far  recovered  from  illness 
as  to  allow  her  to  undertake  the  voyage  ;  and  the  sisters 
of  the  American  Mission  persuaded  her  to  make  the 
visit  to  Maui,  hoping  the  change  would  be  beneficial 
to  her  health,  and  kindly  taking  the  charge  of  her 
children.  They  reached  Lahaina  on  the  15th  of  Sep- 
tember ;  Mr.  Ellis  baptised  the  queen,  and  she  died  the 
following  day,  affording  satisfactory  evidence  of  her 
interest  in  the  gracious  Redeemer. 

Mrs.  Ellis,  with  the  female  members  of  the  royal 
family,  made  the  arrangements  for  the  funeral,  and  was 
among  those  who  followed  to  the  grave  the  first  native 
of  those  islands  who  had  been  interred  with  Christian 
obsequies ;  no  heathen  usage,  according  to  the  wish  of 
the  deceased,  was  permitted  on  that  occasion. 

During  this  visit  of  Mrs.  Ellis  at  Lahaina,  her  health 
somewhat  improved;  and  she  was  able  frequently  to 
visit  the  natives  in  their  houses,  inviting  them  to  send 
their  children  to  school,  and  encouraging  them  to  attend 
the  means  of  religious  improvement  by  the  Christian 
teachers.  On  the  24th  of  September  it  was  her  un- 
N  2 


180  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

speakable  happiness  to  unite  with  the  dear  brethren  and 
sisters  in  Christ,  the  mission-famiUes  at  Maui,  and 
members  of  the  church  in  Oahu  then  at  Lahaina,  in 
commemorating  the  dying  love  of  the  Redeemer,  the 
first  time  that  sacred  ordinance,  designed  to  show  forth 
the  Lord's  death  till  he  come,  was  ever  administered  in 
the  long-benighted  and  pagan  shores  of  Maui. 

"Within  a  few  days  after  this  solemn  commemoration 
of  the  Saviour's  love,  Mrs.  Ellis  returned  with  her  hus- 
band to  Oahu;  and  soon  after  she  suffered  another 
attack  of  illness:  it  was  then  recommended  that  she 
should,  in  November,  accompany  the  king  and  queen  of 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  when  they  left  their  native  shores 
to  pay  their  long-projected  visit  to  England.  Though 
this  was  desired  by  the  king  and  suite,  who  offered  any 
sum  that  might  be  required  in  payment,  the  American 
captain  declined  to  take  them  :  but  this  disappointment 
was  for  a  season  relieved  by  the  return  of  a  measure  of 
health,  and  some  faint  hopes  of  ultimate  recovery,  as 
she  was  able  to  sit  up  for  a  whole  day.  Little  improve- 
ment, however,  took  place ;  and  she  wrote  to  her  brother, 
June  11,  1824,  in  the  true  spirit  of  a  Christian.  She 
says :  "  My  illnesss,  mentioned  in  my  last,  will  have 
excited  your  sympathy ;  and  your  prayers  will  have 
ascended  to  your  God  and  our  God  in  my  behalf — but 
I  am  still  languishing  in  pain  and  disease.  I  have  been 
favoured  with  the  privilege  of  going  to  the  house  of  God, 
with  the  multitude  who  keep  holy  day,  only  once  since 
September  last.  I  think  my  dear  Mr.  E.  suffers  as 
much  in  mind  as  I  do  in  body :  but  our  dear  children, 


MRS.    ELLIS.  181 

more  than  all,  for  want  of  instruction,  &c.  None  but  a 
mother  in  a  heathen  country  can  know  what  it  is  to 
bring  up  children,  exposed  to  innumerable  dangers,  as 
missionaries'  children  are,  even  where  the  parents  enjoy 
health.  "We  thought  ere  this  to  have  visited  our 
beloved  land, 

'  That  spot  of  earth  supremely  blest ; 
A  sweeter,  dearer  spot  than  all  the  rest  ;* 

to  US  our  home.  But  hitherto  our  way  has  been  com- 
pletely hedged  up  ;  and  at  present  it  seems  to  be  the 
design  of  our  heavenly  Father,  that  we  should  wait  the 
issue  here.  Well,  be  it  so.  It  is  honourable  to  die  at 
our  post.  The  Christian  missionary  has  a  sweet  source 
of  consolation  in  the  contemplation  of  his  heavenly  home," 
Towards  the  close  of  July  her  sickness  returned,  with 
other  distressing  symptoms ;  and  on  the  29th  of  August 
the  feeble  suiFeref*  was  carried  to  a  place  of  w^orship  in 
Oahu,  for  the  last  time.  One  week  afterwards,  on  the 
first  Sabbath  in  September,  the  brethren  and  sisters  in 
the  Sandwich  Islands  met  in  her  dwelling,  to  comme- 
morate, as  a  church  of  Christ,  his  dying  love.  Mrs. 
Ellis  was  removed  from  her  bed  to  unite  in  this  hallowed 
celebration.  On  the  9th  of  September,  Captain  Cole- 
man, of  the  Russell,  American  whaler,  arrived  at  the 
island;  and  on  being  made  acquainted  with  the  cir- 
cumstances and  desires  of  the  afflicted  family  and  their 
friends,  stated  that  he  was  homeward-bound,  and  would 
very  cheerfully  furnish  such  accommodations  as  the 
ship  afforded,  if  Mrs.  Ellis  chose  to  take  a  passage  to 
America." 


182  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Dr.  Blatchley,  the  physician  attached  to  the  Ameri- 
can mission,  and  the  brethren  and  sisters,  after  united 
prayer,  concurred  in  representing  it  as  the  duty  of  Mrs. 
Ellis  to  avail  herself  of  the  offer  of  Captain  Coleman. 
"  The  sisters  of  the  American  mission  manifested  the 
most  tender  solicitude  to  relieve  Mrs.  Ellis  as  much  as 
possible  from  anxiety,  by  supplying  her,  chiefly  from 
the  scanty  wardrobes  of  their  own  families,  with  suitable 
clothing  for  her  children,  during  their  passage  round 
Cape  Horn,  where  snow  and  storms  were  expected,  and 
on  their  arrival  in  America."  The  Christian  natives, 
especially  the  females,  were  scarcely  less  active,  bringing 
presents  of  every  variety  of  necessaries.  ''  On  the  24th 
of  October  the  vessel  reached  Huahine.  The  natives 
seemed  anxious  to  give  e^ery  possible  expression  of 
their  sympathy  and  affection,  by  bringing  some  little 
token  of  their  regard.  The  little  children  of  the  Sunday 
school,  also,  brought  their  present  of  arrow-root,  sugar- 
cane, fruit,  and  fowls,  for  the  children,  their  former 
companions,  and,  as  they  had  hoped,  their  future 
teachers.  Their  fond  mother  was  affected  into  tears 
when  she  heard  of  this  present.  While  the  ship  re- 
mained in  harbour,  the  people  held  one  of  their  social 
entertainments,  at  which  about  1,400  were  present. 
At  their  earnest  request,  Mrs.  Ellis  was  carried  to  the 
place  of  meeting  on  a  couch,  and  reclined  during  the 
repast  by  the  side  of  the  queen  and  the  young  princess, 
who  had  been  her  ward,  and  who  still  called  her  guar- 
dian, or  mother." 

Sixteen  days  they  remained  at  Huahine ;   "  the  ship 


MRS.    ELLIS.  133 

afterwards  called  at  the  islands  of  Rurutu  and  Raivavai, 
where  the  wives  of  the  native  missionaries,  some  of 
whom  had  formerly  been  among  Mrs.  Ellis's  pupils, 
visited  her  on  board  the  vessel ;  and,  while  they  cheered 
her  spirits  with  the  tidings  of  the  Divine  blessing  resting 
on  their  labours,  afforded  grounds  and  cause  of  thanks- 
giving to  God." 

Leaving  these  islands,  tlie  vessel  pursued  her  way  to 
the  south,  and  the  cool,  bracing  atmosphere  of  the 
region  over  which  they  were  now  sailing  proved,  by 
the  mercy  of  God,  so  beneficial,  that  in  the  beginning 
of  December  the  invalid  passenger  was  able  to  walk 
once  or  twice  along  the  deck,  which,  being  the  first 
time  for  very  many  months  that  she  had  enjoyed  the 
pleasure  of  walking  a  few  yards,  excited  lively  feelings 
of  gratitude  and  hope. 

Divine  Providence  conducted  them  safely  to  America : 
they  reached  New  Bedford,  in  Massachusetts,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  March  1825.  The  owners  of  the  ship  Russell 
expressed  their  entire  approval  of  the  captain's  having 
afforded  a  passage  to  the  Missionary  family,  and  not  only 
refused  to  accept  any  remuneration  for  the  same,  but 
kindly  tendered  assistance  towards  defraying  the  ex- 
penses which  were  occasioned  by  their  detention  in 
America.  Mrs.  Ellis  received  every  possible  attention 
from  medical  and  religious  friends,  at  Bedford,  Boston, 
Dorchester,  Hartford,  and  New  York ;  while  Mr.  Ellis 
gave  the  most  encouraging  information  to  large  assem- 
blies of  Christians,  at  New  York,  respecting  the  pro- 
gress of  the  gospel  by  the  missions  in  the  Sandwich  and 
other  islands  of  the  South  seas. 


184  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Mrs.  Ellis'  state  of  mind  and  health,  at  this  period, 
may  perhaps  be  best  judged  of  by  the  following  letter 
to  her  husband,  at  that  time  attending  the  great  Mis- 
sionary anniversaries  at  New  York  : — 

^'Missionary  Booms,  Boston,  May  14,  1825. — My 
dear  Sir, — Mrs.  Ellis  does  not  gain  strength,  as  we 
hoped  and  expected  she  would,  and  last  evening  we 
were  apprehensive.  Mrs.  Ellis  desires  me  to  say  to 
you,  that  she  enjoys  the  presence  of  her  Lord,  and  is 
happy.  She  appears  to  have  no  anxiety  with  respect 
to  the  future.  Of  this  I  am  sure,  that  whenever  I  see 
her,  my  mind  is  borne  away  to  the  contemplation  of 
the  mercies  of  our  God,  rather  than  of  his  judgments. 
Even  in  her  distress,  I  perceive  the  hand  of  a  Father. 
The  sanctified  efi^ect  is  most  clearly  to  be  seen.  M — 
has  just  called  at  the  rooms  to  say  that  Dr.  Warren  has 
advised  to  send  for  you ;  for  although  we  hope  Mrs. 
Ellis  will  be  relieved  from  this  attack,  it  is  uncertain. 

"  My  dear  Sir,  you  must  stay  yourself  on  God ;  do 
not  be  over  anxious.  I  think  you  will  again  see  your 
beloved  partner ;  still  we  know  not  what  a  day  may 
bring  forth.  The  physician  has  been  quite  in  doubt  as 
to  her  prospects,  and  is  now.  What  then  can  I  know  ? 
But  the  Lord  reigns.  He  holds  her  breath ;  He  will 
do  wisely,  will  act  mercifully.  Let  no  engagements 
detain  you.    Yours,  very  affectionately,  R.  Anderson." 

Dr.  Warren's  medical  attentions  were  happily  the 
means  of  considerable  relief  under  the  blessing  of  God  ; 
and  every  possible  arrangement  was  made  for  Mrs.  Ellis 
to  be  removed  to  New  York  :  where  she  was  carried  on 


MRS.    ELLIS.  185 

board  the  excellent  packet  ship  "  Hudson  ;"  and  after  a 
pleasant  voyage  of  twenty-one  days,  in  all  which  time 
she  was  confined  to  her  bed,  she  again  beheld  the  British 
coast,  after  ten  years'  absence  on  the  service  of  her 
Saviour.  On  the  morning  of  the  18th  of  August  she 
reached  London  ;  and,  being  carried  on  her  bed  to  the 
conveyance  provided  for  her  at  Tower  Stairs,  in  an  hour 
after  she  was  welcomed  with  tears  of  joy  under  the 
hospitable  roof  of  her  beloved  brother  and  his  amiable 
wife ! 

Mrs.  Ellis  was  deeply  sensible  of  the  goodness  of  God 
towards  her ;  and  she  had  peculiar  satisfaction  in  de- 
claring this  to  all  who  visited  her  chamber.  '•'  Through 
the  winter  of  1825,  and  the  spring  of  1826,  she  suffered 
from  frequent  attacks  of  fever,  and  acute  pain  in  the 
head  and  region  of  the  spine,  with  few  and  transient 
intervals  of  alleviation.  Much  enjoyment  was  derived 
by  her  from  the  conversation  and  prayers  of  the  minis- 
ters of  Christ,  who  visited  the  afflicted  sufferer.  The 
Rev.  Rowland  Hill  occasionally  called  on  her,  and  she 
evinced  much  pleasure  in  listening  to  his  remarks  on 
the  grace  and  love  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  blessedness 
of  heaven.  This  venerable  servant  of  Christ  appeared 
conscious  that  he  was  himself  on  the  borders  of  eternity ; 
and  there  was  a  power  and  sweetness  in  his  conversa- 
tion on  the  glories  of  the  Divine  purity,  the  ineffable 
felicity  of  the  redeemed  in  the  Divine  presence,  and  the 
wonders  of  the  Divine  love,  which  were  peculiarly 
grateful  to  one  in  circumstances  of  affliction.  On  the 
11th  of  June,   when   her   esteemed   friend,    the  Rev. 


186  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Matthew  Wilks,  and  the  wife  of  another  excellent  mi- 
nister, called,  she  remarked,  '  My  mind  is  overwhelmed 
with  a  sense  of  my  iin  worthiness,  and  the  condescending 
mercy  of  God.  I  am  nothing,  I  have  nothing,  I  can 
look  at  myself  only  as  an  unworthy  and  ungrateful 
sinner  :  all  in  myself  is  sinful,  but  it  is  the  mercy  of 
God  in  Christ  which  supports  me.'" 

Through  the  following  winter  her  sufferings  were 
very  great :  but  she  possessed  her  soul  in  patience.  "  I 
am  now  raised,"  said  she,  "  above  the  influence  of  suf- 
fering ;  and  immediately  after  the  most  agonising  pains 
that  I  endure,  I  can  sing  of  the  Saviour's  love.  I  am 
grateful  that  the  enemy  is  not  permitted  to  distress  my 
mind  :  I  know  the  Spirit  of  God  supports  me,  and  I 
have  no  fears  respecting  the  future  ;  though  I  sometimes 
feel  a  dread  of  suffering,  yet  I  dare  not  doubt  that  I  shall 
be  sustained,  though  I  could  almost  say,  '  If  it  be  pos- 
sible, let  this  cup  pass.'  Oh  !  what  must  have  been 
the  anguish  of  the  Saviour,  when  he  exclaimed,  '  My 
God  !  my  God  !  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  !'  God 
has  never  forsaken  me  in  the  midst  of  the  most  acute 
suffering.  Passages  of  Scripture,  or  verses  of  hymns, 
committed  to  memory  in  former  years,  are  often  brought 
into  recollection  with  a  power  which  constrains  me  to 
believe  them  applied  by  the  Holy  Spirit." 

Mrs.  Ellis  received,  on  the  22nd  of  November,  a  visit 
from  an  old  friend  and  fellow-labourer,  the  Rev.  H. 
Nott,  from  the  South  Sea  Islands ;  and  to  him  she  ex- 
pressed her  conviction  that  she  was  rapidly  sinking  into 
the  grave.     Mrs.  Townley  visiting  her,  and  all  expecting 


MRS.     ELLIS.  187 

her  end  very  near,  she  spoke  much  of  her  anticipations 
of  heaven.  "  I  am  waiting,"  said  she,  "  for  the  coming 
of  my  Lord.  In  one  half  hour  in  heaven,  more  will  be 
known  than  by  years  of  conjecture  here."  One  present 
remarked,  "  There  will  be  no  half-hours  in  heaven  : " 
to  which  slie  replied  with  animation,  "  No,  all  will  be 
one  eternal  noio  !  I  am  happy,''  she  continued,  "  that 
God  has  condescended  to  employ  me  on  earth.  I  do 
not  regret  having  engaged  in  communicating  the  gospel 
to  the  heathen  :  had  I  to  spend  again  the  early  periods 
of  life,  I  would  make  the  same  choice.  I  do  not  regret 
having  lost  my  health  in  it,  and  have  never  thought 
that  had  I  remained  in  England,  I  should  have  lived 
longer.  I  dare  say  Mr.  Smith  of  Demerara  did  not 
regret  dying  in  prison  for  the  cause  of  Christ." 

During  many  months  Mrs.  Ellis  had  renounced  all 
hope  of  recovery  :  but  in  the  spring  of  1827,  her  pains 
decreased,  and  she  was  much  restored.  Her  medical 
friend  recommended  an  invalid  carriao;e  for  her,  and  she 
was  enabled  to  pay  a  visit  to  a  relative  at  Lincoln,  and 
to  other  friends  at  Sheffield.  Nailsworth  in  Gloucester- 
shire, and  Brighton,  at  different  periods ;  and  she  so  far 
recovered  in  1827,  as  to  entertain  the  hope  of  resuming 
her  labours  at  the  Sandwich  Islands  :  but  in  January 
1828,  unfavourable  symptoms  again  appeared  ;  her 
spirit  was,  however,  joyful,  and  "  though  faint  and  cast 
down,  the  meek  sufferer  was  not  allowed  to  murmur  or 
repine,  but  was,  by  the  Divine  mercy,  enabled  to  exer- 
cise a  cheerful  hope  and  a  filial  affiance  in  the  tenderness 
and  love  of  her  qpmpassionate  Redeemer." 


188  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Alternations  of  great  suffering  and  alleviation  conti- 
nued through  several  years  till  1833  ;  and  in  the  month 
of  June  in  that  year,  she  had  the  privilege  of  meeting 
once  more  in  the  present  world,  the  Rev.  John  Williams 
and  Mrs.  Williams,  her  fellow-labourers,  from  Raiatea  ; 
they  having,  on  account  of  Mrs.  Williams's  declining 
health,  visited  England.  The  renewal  of  personal  inter- 
course with  these  beloved  friends  was  a  source  of  un- 
speakable pleasure  to  her ;  she  was  delighted  especially 
by  letters  which  they  brought  from  several  of  the 
Christian  females,  her  pupils  among  the  natives  of  the 
South  Sea  Islands. 

Mrs.  Ellis  continued  to  decline  in  strength  and  to 
suffer  great  pain  from  the  disease  in  the  spine  :  but  her 
consolations  abounded,  sustaining  her  spirit.  She  was 
spared,  however,  to  see  her  children,  three  daughters 
and  one  son,  grow  up  towards  manhood;  and  she 
evinced  the  most  exemplary  solicitude  for  their  spiritual 
and  eternal  welfare ;  conversing  with  them  "  on  the 
Lord's  goodness,  the  mercy,  sympathy,  love,  interces- 
sion, and  grace  of  the  Divine  Saviour,  and  the  blessed- 
ness of  reconciliation  and  fellowship  with  the  Father  of 
Spirits,  through  the  mediation  of  his  Son."  Her  care 
will  be  best  illustrated  by  the  following  extract  of  one 
of  her  last  letters,  addressed  to  one  of  her  daughters  :  it 
is  dated  "  October  22,  1834  :  — 

"  I  am  exceedingly  anxious  to  hear  from  you,  as  I 
wish  to  know  whether  these  impressions  on  the  most 
important  subjects  continue  and  increase.  Do  not  be 
afraid  to  write  on  this  subject  to  your  dear  and  afflicted 


MRS.    ELLIS.  189 

mother. — Seek  intimate  communion  with  your  heavenly 
Father,  and,  in  the  diligent  use  of  the  appointed  means, 
cultivate  holy  dispositions,  with  every  grace  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  meekness,  forbear- 
ance, humility  of  heart,  &c.  ;  and  you  will  enjoy  a  peace 
which  passeth  understanding,  a  happiness  that  only 
those  can  know  who  are  under  the  blessed  guidance  of 
the  Spirit  of  God." 

On  the  new  year's  day,  1833,  her  children  assembled 
with  their  parents  in  her  sick  chamber,  to  exchange,  as 
had  been  their  custom,  their  tokens  of  affectionate 
regard.  Several  relatives  and  friends  were  present,  and 
the  day  was  closed  with  singing  a  hymn  and  prayer, 
while  she  was  extremely  weak,  confined  to  her  bed.  On 
Saturday,  January  10th,  after  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures by  the  family,  in  her  bedroom,  for  evening  wor- 
ship, Mrs.  Ellis  presented,  as  usual,  when  her  husband 
was  from  home,  the  prayers  of  the  family  at  the  throne 
of  the  Divine  mercy ;  and  a  little  before  midnight,  on 
Sunday,  the  11th,  her  reason  failed,  and  she  then  finished 
her  course,  entering  into  the  joy  of  her  Lord. 

Mrs.  Ellis  was  a  person  of  the  rarest  Christian  qua- 
lities ;  and  on  the  perusal  of  the  account  of  her,  drawn 
up  by  her  husband,  one  of  her  medical  friends  says, — 
^'  I  have  perused  the  Memoir  with  deep  interest  and 
with  great  satisfaction.  It  is  indeed  a  most  instructive 
recital  of  devoted ness  of  heart  and  life  to  the  adorable 
Saviour.  How  many  in  America  and  in  England  may 
have  had  their  faith  confirmed,  and  their  hopes  elevated, 
by  such  a  convincing  display  of  the  power  of  Christ ! " 


MRS.  MARGARET  WILSON.* 

DIED    APRIL    19,    1835. 

Mrs.  M.  Wilson,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  K.  Bayne  of  Greenock.— Her  pious 
Mother.  —  Her  Blother's  death. —  Her  religious  care  of  her  younger 
sisters.— Completion  of  her  education.— Death  of  her  Father. — Her 
active  piety. — Removal  to  Edinburgh. — Ordination  of  Mr.  Wilson.— 
Her  prayer  for  him. — Her  marriage  with  him. — They  proceed  to 
Bombay. — Her  labours  among  the  native  females. — Her  illness. — Her 

last  letter  to  her  son Dr.  Wilson's  testimony  as  to  her  excellence. — 

Her  Character  from  the   "  Bombay  Corrector."—  Testimony  of  the 
Scottish  Missionary  Auxiliary  at  Bombay. 

Mrs.  Margaret  Wilson,  the  devoted  wife  of  the 
Rev.  John  Wilson,  D.D.,  Missionary  of  the  church  of 
Scotland  to  Bombay,  was  a  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
Kenneth  Bayne,  M.A.,  Greenock.  She  was  born  No- 
vember 5,  1795.  She  enjoyed  from  her  earliest  years 
the  highest  spiritual  and  intellectual  advantages,  from 
her  father,  who  was  a  minister  of  Christ  held  in  high 
estimation  ;  and  from  her  mother,  a  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  James  Hay,  D.D.,  worthy  from  her  education  and 
piety  to  be  the  wife  of  a  clergyman  of  the  church  of 
Scotland. 

Mrs.  Bayne's  death,  when  her  daughter  was  in  her 
sixteenth  year,  devolved  upon  Margaret  duties  of  an 
important  character  ;  but  she  participated  largely  of  the 

*  See,  •'  Memoir  of  Margaret  Wilson,  of  the  Scottish  Mission,  Bombay. 
By  John  Wilson,  D.D.     Johnson,  Edinburgh." 


MRS.    MARGARET    WILSON.  191 

spirit  and  excellences  of  her  exemplary  mother.  Two 
years  after  that  lamented  event,  she  received,  for  a 
time,  the  peculiar  care  of  the  other  members  of  the 
family  ;  and  one  who  experienced  her  sisterly  affection 
says, — "  I  well  remember  how  every  day  only  increased 
my  love  and  admiration  of  her,  and  how  there  blended, 
with  something  like  the  veneration  due  to  a  parent, 
feelings  at  once  joyous,  happy,  and  unrestrained."  "  Her 
feelings  in  relation  to  the  younger  members  of  the  fa- 
mily," writes  Miss ,  "  were  at  times  almost  over- 
powering ;  and  many  a  prayer  did  she  offer,  many  a 
tear  did  she  shed,  on  their  account.  She  often  said, 
that,  having  been  deprived  of  a  mother's  care  and  in- 
structions, tlie  responsibility  of  training  them  up  for  God 
lay  upon  the  elder  members.  And, '  Oh,  if  they  should 
fall  short,  from  any  neglect  of  ours,  how  awful  the 
thought,  how  deep  the  responsibility  ! '  On  these  occa- 
sions, I  have  known  her  retire  with  one  after  another 
of  her  younger  sisters,  that  she  might  instruct,  entreat, 
and  pray  with  them.  Was  not  this  a  portion  of  the 
same  spirit,  which  when  expanded,  enlightened,  and 
sanctified,  afterwards  carried  her  across  the  mighty 
ocean,  induced  her  to  devote  herself  to  the  conversion 
of  the  heathen,  and  made  her  a  blessing  to  many  on  the 
distant  shores  of  India  ?  " 

Some  time  after  this  Miss  Bayne  went  to  Aberdeen 
for  the  completion  of  her  education,  being  placed  in  the 
house  of  an  old  and  confidential  friend  of  her  father,  to 
whose  care  he  could  with  all  security  commit  his  child. 
"  Here,"  says  Miss ,  "  I  can  trace  a  part  of  the 


192  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

mighty  training  which  was  more  fully  to  prepare  her 
for  that  extended  sphere  of  usefulness  she  was  after- 
wards to  fill.  For  a  time,  however,  the  charms  of 
science  and  literature  greatly  fascinated  her.  Her  ta- 
lents were  admired,  her  society  was  sought  after,  and 
she  failed  not  to  win  the  friendship  and  the  affection  of 
many  of  whose  acquaintance  she  miglit  well  be  proud. 
She  delighted  in  the  study  of  mathematics  and  astro- 
nomy. She  read  much  and  deeply  on  almost  every 
subject ;  and  her  conversation  was  at  once  brilliant  and 
attractive." 

Miss  Bayne's  application  to  learning  with  extraordi- 
nary avidity  and  diligence  was  observed  to  occasion  a 
considerable  degree  of  declension  in  her  former  spiritu- 
ality of  mind  :  but  on  her  return  home,  she  was  trained 
in  the  school  of  affliction,  which  was  mercifully  designed 
as  the  means  of  recovering  her  to  her  wonted  tone  of 

o 

piety,  and  of  leading  her  to  more  unreserved  consecra- 
tion to  God  her  Saviour.  Her  venerated  father  de- 
parted to  his  rest  April  1;^,  1821,  leaving  the  character 
of  an  able  and  useful  minister  of  Christ. 

"  Greenock  continued  to  be  the  residence  of  the 
family,"  Dr.  Wilson  remarks,  "  for  five  years  after  the 
death  of  their  venerated  parent.  During  that  time 
Margaret,  in  conjunction  with  one  of  her  sisters,  taught 
a  Sabbath  school,  and  displayed  much  Christian  faith- 
fulness to  those  who  were  placed  under  her  care.  Her 
rule  was  that  of  love  and  gentleness,  tempered  by 
firmness.  Her  instructions  were  admirably  adapted  to 
the  capacities  she  had  to  address.     As  a  visitor,  in  con- 


MRS.    MARGARET    WILSON.  193 

nexion  with  a  Female  Benevolent  Society,  in  which  she 
took  a  great  interest,  she  devoted  much  of  her  time  and 
strength  to  the  relief  of  suffering  humanity.  '  She 
delighted/  says  a  friend  who  knew  her  self-denial  and 
exertions,  '  to  visit,  to  instruct,  to  comfort,  and  to  pray 
with  the  poor,  and  the  afflicted,  and  the  dying.  She 
ministered,  in  every  practicable  way,  to  the  temporal 
and  spiritual  necessities  of  all  who  came  within  her 
reach.  I  doubt  not  that  many  now  before  the  throne 
will  eternally  bless  God  that  he  put  it  in  her  heart  to 
visit  them.'  Of  the  institutions  for  the  spread  of  the 
gospel  in  heathen  lands  she  was  the  warm  friend  and 
supporter ;  and  in  the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  she 
manifested  a  particular  interest.  Subsequently,  how- 
ever, when  she  referred  to  the  time  of  which  we  now 
write,  she  was  conscious  that  her  exertions  bore  no 
just  proportion,  on  the  one  hand,  to  opportunities  of 
usefulness  which  presented  themselves  to  her,  and, 
on  the  other,  to  her  own  obligations  to  Divine 
grace." 

Miss  Bayne  removed  with  the  family  in  1826  to 
Inverness- shire,  and  the  following  year  to  Edinburgh, 
improving  and  maturing  in  her  Christian  character,  and 
preparing  thus  for  her  future  sphere  of  labour  as  a 
fellow-labourer  with  her  husband  as  a  missionary  to 
the  heathen. 

"  My  own  solemn  ordination,"  says  Dr.  Wilson,  "  as 
a  minister  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Lauder,  took  place  on  the  24th  June,  1828. — She 
wlio   was  to   be   my   fellow -worker   in   my   ministry 


194  BRITISH    FEMALE   MISSIONARIES. 

among  the  Gentiles  was  not  able  to  be  present  with 
me.  How  much  I  enjoyed,  however,  her  sympathy, 
and  her  fervent  aspirations  to  the  Great  Head  of  the 
church,  and  how  much  her  soul  was  engaged  in  other 
heavenly  exercises  becoming  the  situation  of  both,  will 
appear  from"  extracts  of  her  letters  which  he  gives, 
and  of  which  the  following  are  paragraphs  : — 

"  I  was  cheered  by  the  assurance  that  the  throne  of 
grace  was  open  to  my  approach,  and  that  the  Great 
High  Priest,  now  set  over  the  house  of  God,  is  the  sole 
and  absolute  proprietor  of  that  rich  treasury  of  spiri- 
tual blessings  which  he  dispenses  in  varied  proportions  to 
his  believing  people.  I  had  much  enjoyment  in  com- 
mitting you  to  God,  and  in  reflecting  upon  your  future 
prospects.  The  presence  of  Jesus  encompassing  you 
— all  his  high  perfections  enlisted  for  your  support — 
and  your  happiness  becoming  purer  by  being  assimi- 
lated to  the  joys  of  heaven,  were  brought  to  mind  with 
a  certainty  of  belief,  which  made  my  unbelieving  heart 
ashamed  of  its  former  doubting,  and  caused  me  to  lift 
my  feeble  voice  in  thanksgiving  to  God.  I  hope  you 
continue  to  enjoy  much  of  the  Divine  presence,  and  to 
feel  an  entire  and  simple  dependence  upon  the  promised 
aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

"  Our  marriage,"  says  Dr.  Wilson,  "  was  celebrated 
on  Tuesday,  the  12th  of  August  1828.— The  late  Rev. 
Dr.  Andrew  Thomson  officiated  on  the  solemn  occasion. 
Our  circumstances  awoke  the  strongest  sympathy  of  all 
our  acquaintances,  as  well  as  many  of  the  friends  of  the 
Missionary  Society :  and,  I  doubt  not,  we  were  aided 


MRS.    MARGARET   WILSON.  195 

by  their  prayers,  while  we  felt  cheered  by  their 
benedictions." 

These  devoted  missionaries  left  Scotland  for  London, 
and  thence  to  Portsmouth,  where  they  embarked, 
September  8th,  for  India,  and  cast  anchor  at  Bombay, 
February  13,  1829.  With  determination  they  entered 
upon  their  important  duties,  encountering  many  diffi- 
culties and  enjoying  numerous  blessings.  Mrs.  Wilson, 
as  her  domestic  occupations  and  trials  would  allow,  laid 
herself  out  in  various  important  services,  acquiring  the 
knowledge  of  the  native  languages,  in  two  of  which  she 
wrote  for  the  periodicals,  to  advance  the  cause  of  the 
Redeemer.  She  made  some  important  translations,  and 
composed  some  school-books,  for  sia^  female  schools, 
containing  from  150  to  200  scholars.  These,  and  other 
invaluable  services  of  Mr.  Wilson  are  fully  detailed  in 
the  "  Memoir "  written  by  her  husband :  but  a  few 
paragraphs  only,  relating  to  the  termination  of  her 
course,  can  here  be  given,  illustrative  of  her  spirit  and 
character  as  a  Christian  missionary. 

Dr.  Wilson  states,  in  relation  to  her  last  illness, 
"  Her  prayers  for  her  children  were  frequent  and 
fervent  beyond  conception.  To  use  her  own  expression, 
she  '  agonized  with  God  for  their  sanctification,'  and 
being  set  apart  for  the  Lord's  ministry  among  the 
Gentiles  in  India.  '  Do  let  me  see  the  dear  babes,'  she 
said;  'they  do  not  pull  me  back  to  this  world.  Oh, 
no  !  the  sight  of  them  only  quickens  my  prayers  on 
their  behalf.  I  have  devoted  them  to  God,  and  I 
know  that  he  will  care  for  them.  How  happy  am  I  to 
0  2 


196  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

have  them  to  leave  with  you  ! '  When  told  of  the 
birth  day  of  Andrew,  she  prayed  that  the  God  of 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  might  bless  them.  In  the 
most  solemn  circumstances,  and  in  the  presence  of 
several  Christian  friends,  she  dictated  verbatim  the 
following  letter : 

"  Bombay,  April  8th,  1835. 
"  My  beloved  Andrew, — This  is  the  last  letter 
that  your  dearest  mama  will  ever  write  to  you.  In  a 
few  hours  I  hope  to  be  with  Jesus,  and  with  all  the 
glorious  company  of  the  redeemed.  I  am  transported 
at  the  prospect  of  what  awaits  me.  I  have  often  com- 
mitted you  to  Jesus  ;  and  I  do  in  more  solemn  circum- 
stances than  ever,  with  nothing  but  eternity  before  me.  I 
have  prayed  to  God  to  inspire  you  with  zeal  to  become 
a  missionary  to  the  heathen  in  this  land.  No  work  at 
present  appears  to  me  so  important  and  glorious  as  the 
work  of  a  missionary.  But  my  prayer  will  be  of  no 
avail,  if  the  Divine  Spirit  does  not  put  it  into  your 
heart.  Pray,  then,  my  dear  child,  that  the  Lord  may 
put  it  into  your  heart  to  follow  the  footsteps  of  your 
beloved  father.  What  I  say  to  you,  I  say  to  my 
beloved  Johnny.  Tell  your  affectionate  aunts  and 
uncles  how  much  mama  loved  them.  She  wished  to 
write  to  them,  but  cannot  hold  the  pen.  Never  forget 
the  inestimable  obligations  you  are  under  to  them,  nor 
cease  to  cherish  toward  them  the  tenderest  affection. 
If  your  aunts  accompany  your  beloved  uncle  to 
Canada,  I  wish  Mary  Isabella  to  be  placed  under  their 
charge ;  and  0,  let  them  feel  their  deep  responsibility 


MRS.    MARGARET    WILSON.  197 

in  having  her,  a  little  immortal,  to  train  for  heaven.  I 
commit  you  to  God.  Your  own  devoted  mother, 
Margaret  Wilson." 

"  Havinof  written  the  words.  Your  own  devoted 
mother^  Margaret  Wilson^  with  her  own  hand,  she  laid 
down  the  pen,"  says  Dr.  Wilson,  "  never  more  to  take  it 
up,  and  said,  '  Now  am  I  ready  to  die.'  I  felt  over- 
powered with  gratitude,  and  every  spectator  was  most 
deeply  affected,  at  this  consecration  of  her  offspring  to 
the  cause  of  the  Redeemer  among  the  heathen.  I  view 
it  as  a  legacy  to  my  dear  children,  immensely  more 
valuable  than  silver  and  gold,  houses  and  lands.  May 
the  Lord  incline  the  hearts  of  the  two  boys  who  remain 
to  regard  it  as  such.  Their  sister  did  not  long  survive 
her  sainted  mother." 

Mrs.  Wilson  continued  to  decline;  and  on  the  morning 
of  Sabbath  the  1 9th  April,  sacred  to  the  commemo- 
ration of  the  Redeemer's  triumph  over  the  grave,  her 
spirit  winged  its  flight  to  its  eternal  rest.  "  The  last 
words  I  heard  from  her  lips,"  says  her  mourning 
husband,  "  were,  'The  Kingdom  of  the  Saviour  ! '" 

"  Three  days  after  this,"  (on  the  21st  of  April,) 
says  Dr.  Wilson,  "  the  following  notice  appeared  in  the 
Bombay  Corrector.  It  is  from  the  pen  of  the  Editor, 
an  individual,  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  who  engaged  in 
public  controversy  with  me  a  few  years  before  "  : — 

"On  Sunday,  the  19th  instant,  Margaret,  the  wife  of 
the  Rev.  John  Wilson,  quitted  this  world  for  the  abodes 
of  the  blessed.  This  deceased  lady  was  highly  distin- 
guished for  her  acquaintance  with  European  literature, 


198  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

and  proficiency  in  the  Marathi,  Hindusthani,  and  other 
native  languages.  She  was  a  mother  to  hundreds  of 
poor  destitute  children.  She  was  unexampled  for 
charity,  adorned  by  humility,  and  unrivalled  for  polite- 
ness. To  natives,  as  well  as  to  Europeans,  her  friendly 
attachment  was  unbounded.  This  faithful  wife,  leaving 
several  young  children,  and  a  devoted  and  tender-hearted 
husband,  to  bewail  her  loss,  has  bent  her  course 
towards  the  dwelling-place  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  de- 
parture has  filled  with  overwhelming  sorrow  the  hearts 
of  all  classes  of  the  community,  who  will  not,  while 
they  exist,  lose  the  impression  of  her  friendship  and 
virtue." 

Mrs.  Wilson's  removal  to  her  eternal  rest  in  heaven 
was  not  only  felt  as  a  loss  by  her  husband  ;  the  death 
of  a  lady  so  eminently  endowed  and  so  truly  conse- 
crated to  the  honour  of  the  Redeemer  and  the  advance- 
ment of  his  kingdom  in  the  world,  was  regarded  as  a 
calamity  to  India.  It  was  particularly  felt  as  a  serious 
loss  to  the  Scottish  Mission,  of  which  she  was  so  bright 
an  ornament. 

The  Honourable  James  Farish,  President  of  the 
Bombay  Auxiliary  Scottish  Missionary  Society,  at  the 
request  of  their  Committee,  wrote  to  the  bereaved 
servant  of  God  ;  and  the  following  is  a  part  of  his 
communication  to  Dr.  Wilson. 

"  In  performing  this  duty,  I  have  to  express  our 
deep  and  unfeigned  sorrow  under  the  dispensation  of 
our  heavenly  Father,  who  has  removed  from  the 
Christian  Church,  and  from  the  Scottish  Mission,  one 


MRS.    MARGARET    WILSON.  199 

whom  he  had  peculiarly  qualified  as  a  most  useful, 
talented,  and  indefatigable  labourer;  and  from  her 
family  and  friends,  the  most  amiable  and  affectionate 
parent  and  partner.  I  cannot  but  feel  that  in  this 
expression  of  our  sorrow, — a '  sorrow  not  without  hope  for 
them  who  sleep  in  Jesus,' — I  but  inadequately  convey 
the  Committee's  sense  of  the  value  of  Mrs.  Wilson's 
varied  and  arduous  labours  in  different  branches  of  the 
mission,  which,  in  her  removal,  has  sustained  so  great 
a  loss." — 

Numerous  were  the  testimonies  to  the  distinguished 
excellences  of  this  lamented  lady,  communicated  to  her 
sorrowing  husband,  from  private  friends  and  his  fellow- 
labourers  in  India :  and  in  their  expressions  of  sympathy 
and  condolence,  they  confirm  all  that  has  in  this  brief 
sketch  been  intimated  of  her  eminent  talents  and  quali- 
fications, as  a  devoted  Missionary  of  Jesus  Christ  to 
the  heathen. 


MRS.    LOVELESS*, 

DIED   SEPTEMBER  20,    1837- 

Mrs.  Loveless's  history .^Rev.  R.  Knill  her  Biographer. — Bom  in  New  York. 
— Educated  by  Mrs.  Graham,  as  her  Mother — Her  Illness. — Her  Voyage 
to  India.' — Arrival  in  England. — Proceeds  to  Madras. — English  Mis- 
sionaries in  the  same  ship. — Miss  Farqiihar  married  to  Mr.  Loveless. — 
Mrs.  Graham's  Letter  to  her. — They  settle  in  Madras. — Mr.  Loveless 
Superintendant  of  the  Military  Orphan  Asylum. — His  Success.— His 
Preaching.^He  builds  the  Missionary  Chapel.— Schools  attached. — 
Expense  defrayed. — They  open  a  Boarding-School. — Mrs.  Loveless's 
qualifications. — Her  Establishment.— Her  Children. — Death  of  three  of 
them Mrs.  Graham's  Letter — Mrs.  Loveless  promotes  Female  Educa- 
tion.— Aided  by  other  Missionaries. — Her  kind  care  of  Mr.  Knill  in 
Sickness. — Missionary  Breakfast. — Building  of  a  new  Chapel. — Mrs. 

Loveless'  illness She  leaves  India. — Arrives  in  London. — Resides  at 

Heme  Bay.— Settles  at  Canterbury.— Her  active  piety.— Her  example. 
—Her  Religious  Experience.— Her  Death. 

Mrs.  Loveless,  wife  of  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Loveless,  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  w^as  a  native  of  New 
York.  She  was  regarded,  however,  as  scarcely  Ame- 
rican, as  she  was  adopted  and  educated  by  a  Scotch 
lady  ;  she  spent  the  vigour  of  her  life  in  British  India  ; 
she  honoured  her  character  for  nearly  thirty- two  years 
as  the  wife  of  an  English  Missionary ;  passed  her  last 
thirteen  years  in  England ;  and  closed  her  useful  life  in 
the  city  of  Canterbury. 

Rev.  Richard  Knill  has  drawn  up  a  memoir  of  this 

*  See  "  The  Missionary's  Wife,  or  Brief  Account  of  Mrs.  Loveless,  of 
Madras ;  The  First  American  Missionary  to  Foreign  Lands.  By  Richard 
Knill.    Tract  Society,  London." 


MRS.    LOVELESS.  201 

excellent  lady;  and  from  his  account  principally  the 
following  sketch  is  taken,  admirably  illustrating  the 
importance  of  the  missionary's  wife.  In  his  peculiar 
style,  Mr.  Knill  says  : — 

"  In  this  brief  memoir  of  an  excellent  female  mis- 
sionary, I  shall  endeavour  to  interest  the  feelings, 
inform  the  judgment,  and  clear  the  hearts  of  my  readers 
by  presenting  her  under  the  various  characters  of  a 
pupil,  a  wife,  a  mistress,  a  mother,  a  promoter  of 
female  education,  the  friend  of  missionaries,  and  a 
pattern  to  us  all. 

"  Mrs.  Loveless  was  an  American  ;  she  was  born  on 
Long  Island,  State  of  New  York,  23rd  of  September, 
1774.  Her  maiden  name  was  Sarah  Farquhar,  and 
she  was  the  first  American  who  engaged  in  foreign 
missions. 

"  At  an  early  age  she  was  placed  at  school  with  that 
eminently  gifted  and  pious  lady  Isabella  Graham^  of 
New  York,  and  afterwards  became  an  assistant  in  her 
school.  Like  her  esteemed  instructress  she  was  a 
Presbyterian,  and  a  member  of  the  church  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Mason. 

"  In  1798,  when  Mrs.  Graham  retired  from  the 
arduous  duties  of  her  school.  Miss  Farquhar  was 
solicited  to  become  her  successor ;  but  this  she  declined, 
choosing  rather  to  enjoy  the  society  of  her  patroness  and 
friend.  The  attachment  between  them  was  so  great, 
that  Mrs.  Graham  always  addressed  her  as  her  child. 
But  instead  of  enjoying  the  society  of  her  friend,  she 
was  removed  far  from  her.     The  Lord,  by  whom  the 


202  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

bounds  of  our  habitation  arc  fixed,  had  designed  her 
for  another  sphere,  and  to  live  and  die  in  foreign  lands. 
An  epidemic,  which  in  1804  carried  many  persons  to 
the  grave,  brought  Miss  Farquhar  also  to  the  gates  of 
death ;  and,  as  she  vs^as  recovering,  her  medical 
attendant  said,  the  only  means  of  saving  her  life  would 
be  a  voyage  to  a  hot  climate. 

"  About  this  time,  a  son-in-law  of  Mrs.  Graham, 
Andrew  Smith,  Esq.,  was  trading  to  the  East  Indies, 
and  was  then  preparing  to  sail  with  his  family  to  Lon- 
don, and  thence  to  Madras  and  Calcutta.  With  them 
she  embarked  in  the  ship  '  Alleghany,'  and  arrived 
safely  in  England.  She  sojourned  several  weeks  in 
Birmingham  ;  and  here  the  circumstances  commenced 
which  eventually  led  Miss  Farquhar  to  become  a  mis- 
sionary's wife.  The  London  Missionary  Society  were 
preparing  to  establish  a  mission  in  the  idolatrous  city  of 
Surat ;  but  the  East  India  Company  would  not  allow 
Christian  missionaries  to  sail  in  their  ships  ;  therefore 
Dr.  Carey,  Mr.  Loveless,  and  many  others,  were  glad 
to  sail  to  British  India  in  the  ships  of  foreigners ! 
The  London  Missionary  Society  thankfully  availed 
themselves  of  the  privilege  of  sending  Dr.  Taylor  and 
Mr.  Loveless  in  the  American  ship  'Alleghany.'  They 
embarked  on  the  4th  of  December  1804,  and  arrived 
in  Madras  June  1805. 

"  During  the  voyage  that  attachment  was  formed 
which  death  only  could  sever,  and  which  for  more  than 
thirty-two  years  was  a  source  of  the  purest  earthly 
delight.     It   was   a   saying   of   Mrs.    Graham's,    that 


MRS.    LOVELESS.  203 

'  Religion  and  conjugal  love  will  sweeten  almost  any 
lot ; '  and  this  happy  couple  found  it  so  amidst  all  the 
trials  of  a  missionary  life.  On  their  arrival  at  Madras, 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  mission  rendered  it 
desirable  for  Miss  Farquhar  to  proceed  with  Mrs.  Smith 
to  Calcutta,  whence  she  returned  the  next  year  to  Ma- 
dras;  and,  on  the  9th  of  May  1806,  she  was  married 
to  Mr.  Loveless,  in  the  Fort  Cliurch,  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Kerr." 

Mrs.  Graham  was  informed  at  the  earliest  period  of 
Miss  Farquhar's  union  with  Mr.  Loveless.  "  That 
extraordinary  lady,''  Mr,  Knill  remarks,  "  was  half  a 
century  before  most  other  people  in  her  views  of  mis- 
sionary work."  Her  opinion  was,  that  "to  publish  the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation  is  the  highest  post  of  honour 
that  men  can  have  on  earth ;  and  among  these  the 
missionary  is  the  nearest  to  the  apostle."  She  wrote 
therefore  to  her  beloved  young  friend ;  and  the  follow- 
ing is  part  of  her  letter  :  — 

"  My  dear  Sally. — Many  tears  have  I  shed  over 
your  letter.  What  a  changing  lot  has  been  that  of  my 
family  !  The  Lord's  providences  to  me  and  mine  have 
not  been  of  the  ordinary  kind ;  and  you,  as  one  in  it, 
seem  to  be  a  partaker  with  us.  Surely,  of  all  others, 
we  have  most  reason  to  sav,  '  "We  are  strano^ers  and 
pilgrims  on  the  earth.'  Oh,  that  we  may  drink  into 
the  true  spirit  of  that  phrase,  and  enjoy  the  genuine, 
firm  faith  of  an  everlasting  habitation  of  living  at  home 
with  God ! 

"  My  dear  Sally,  take  the  comfort  of  this,  that  it  is 


204  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

the  Lord  who  hath  led  you  all  the  way  by  which  you 
have  gone.  Many  a  pang  it  has  cost  me,  on  reflection, 
to  think  how  positive  I  was  that  you  should  take  a 
voyage.  But  it  was  of  the  Lord.  The  physician  urged 
it,  as  the  only  chance  you  had  for  life.  The  Lord,  by 
wonderful  means,  called  you  from  your  native  land, 
and  led  you  to  the  very  spot  where  you  met  Mr.  Love- 
less. You  ask  my  blessing.  I  have  carried  both  of 
you  to  my  God  and  Saviour ;  and  have  prayed,  and 
continue  to  pray,  that  the  Lord  will  bless  you  indivi- 
dually and  unitedly.  May  he  bless  Mr.  Loveless  as  a 
missionary,  and  give  him  the  spirit  of  his  office,  and 
much  fruit  among  the  heathen,  as  seals  to  his  ministry  ; 
and  may  you  be  a  helper  with  him,  and  both  be  blessed, 
and  made  a  blessing. 

"  My  dear  Sally,  I  have  ever  considered  you  as  my 
child.  You  are  very  dear  to  my  heart.  Tell  Mr. 
Loveless  he  must  ever  consider  me  as  his  mother. — 
Your  affectionate  mother. — Isabella  Graham." 

Mr.  Loveless  had  the  honour  of  being  the  first 
English  missionary  to  Madras,  and  his  situation  had 
peculiar  difficulties.  The  city  of  Madras  is  the  resid- 
ence of  the  governor,  and  the  capital  of  the  presidency: 
it  stands  near  the  sea,  on  the  coast  of  Coromandel,  and 
contains  about  300,000  inhabitants.  "  As  the  policy 
of  the  East  India  Company's  government  prevented 
missionaries  from  going  to  India  in  their  ships,"  IMr. 
Knill  remarks,  "  so  the  same  policy  made  it  very  diffi- 
cult for  a  missionary  to  labour  there,  having  come  in  a 
foreign  ship.    The  Baptist  missionaries  in  Bengal  had 


MRS.    LOVELESS.  205 

sheltered  themselves  at  Serampore,  a  Danish  settlement; 
and  John  Thompson  had  been  hunted  as  a  partridge  on 
the  mountains^  until  he  was  put  into  the  grave.  The 
Kev.  Dr.  Kerr,  senior  chaplain,  and  a  few  other  friends 
who  took  an  interest  in  missions,  advised  Mr.  Loveless, 
as  the  only  way  to  get  a  footing  at  Madras,  to  become 
the  superintendant  of  the  Military  Orphan  IMale  Asy- 
lum, and  there  to  impart  religious  instruction  to  350 
boys.  He  yielded  to  their  advice ;  and  in  this  asylum 
he  remained  about  six  years,  under  Dr.  Kerr  and  his 
successors.  Mrs.  Loveless  united  in  various  ways  in 
promoting  the  best  interests  of  the  rising  generation ; 
many  of  whom  lived  to  fill  useful  stations  in  the  pre- 
sidency, and  became  members  of  the  church,  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  her  husband. 

"  One  of  these  boys,  who  has  become  a  pious  and 
intelligent  man,  once  said  to  me,  '  When  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Loveless  first  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  gave  me  good 
advice,  I  did  not  know  that  I  had  a  soul ;  and  I  always 
consider  a  hymn  which  they  gave  me  to  learn,  as  the 
instrument  of  leadinor  me  to  seek  salvation  through  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  Another  youth,  who  had  enjoyed 
the  privilege  of  living  with  Mr.  Loveless  from  his  ninth 
year,  made  a  similar  confession  to  me.  This  youth 
knew  more  of  the  Bible  than  any  person  I  ever  met 
with  ;  and  he  has  up  to  this  day  maintained  an  honour- 
able character  as  a  disciple  of  Christ." 

Mr.  Loveless  was  engaged,  during  this  time,  in 
preaching  in  various  places  in  the  city  and  suburbs  to 
that  important  class  of  the  community  called  "  country- 


206  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

born" — descendants  of  Europeans  by  the  father's  side, 
and  likely  to  form  an  influential  part  of  the  British 
empire  in  India.  Two  free  day-schools  were  established 
for  the  same  class,  in  whose  prosperity  Mr.  Loveless 
took  a  deep  interest. 

"  In  1810,  Mr.  Loveless  commenced  his  great  work 
of  building  the  missionary  chapel  known  by  the  name 
of  '  Loveless's  Chapel.'  It  is  one  of  the  most  complete 
missionary  chapels  in  the  world  ;  and  the  laying  of  the 
foundation-stone  of  that  edifice  was  a  grand  day  for 
India.  The  chapel  is  built  in  Black  Town,  and  is  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  Pagan  temples.  A  fine  mis- 
sionary free-school  for  boys  adorns  it  on  the  right,  and 
a  similar  school  for  girls  on  the  left,  and  a  school  for 
heathen  children  in  the  rear.  The  congregation  is  of 
vast  importance  to  the  missionary  cause  in  India,  not 
only  from  the  fund  which  it  supplies,  but  as  being  the 
nursery  of  a  few  of  our  most  devoted  missionaries. 
Mrs.  Loveless  took  a  very  active  part  in  the  erection  of 
this  house  of  God  ;  and  the  business  habits  which  she 
had  acquired  in  America  now  shone  forth  to  great 
advantage  by  her  wise  arrangements.  Mr.  Loveless 
never  received  any  salary  from  his  congregation;  neither, 
at.  this  time,  were  they  receiving  any  from  the  Mission- 
ary Society  :  but,  by  her  prudential  domestic  economy, 
she  enabled  her  husband  to  give  largely  to  the  building 
fund. 

"  This  building  cost  about  £3000,  not  a  shilling  of 
which  came  from  Europe.  Some  generous  and  noble- 
minded  Episcopalians  were  Mr.  Loveless's  best  friends 


MRS.    LOVELESS.  20/ 

in  tills  matter  ;  but,  notwithstanding  all  their  efforts,  a 
debt  of  300  pagodas,  or  £200  still  remained.  This 
pressed  heavily  on  the  mind  of  Mr.  Loveless ;  but  the 
load  was  soon  suddenly  removed,  in  the  following 
manner  : — A  stranger  called,  and  requested  a  private 
interview.  He  spoke  to  this  effect — '  I  knew  that  you 
had  a  debt  of  300  pagodas  on  your  chapel,  and  I  made 
a  vow,  that,  if  a  certain  plan  of  mine  succeeded,  I 
would  liquidate  your  debt.  Tliat  plan  has  succeeded ; 
and  I  am  come  to  pay  my  vow.  Here  is  the  money ; 
and  you  must  not  refuse  it.  No  mortal  knows  of  this 
but  you  and  me ;  and  my  name  must  remain  a  secret.' 
The  debt  was  paid,  and  my  friends  were  joyful." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loveless  left  the  Military  Asylum  in 
1812,  and  opened  a  boarding-school  for  their  support. 
Mr.  Loveless,  speaking  of  this,  says — "  It  is,  in  strict 
justice,  due  to  the  memory  of  my  departed  wife,  to 
acknowledge  that,  through  the  blessing  of  God  on  her 
agency,  in  advice  and  management,  1  owe  chiefly  my 
temporal  prosperity  in  India,  and  the  enjoyment  of  it 
in  England."  "  It  appeared  to  me"  Mr.  Knill  remarks, 
*'  that  her  three  cardinal  virtues  were,  industri/^  eco- 
nomy^  and  punctuality  :  these  she  learned  of  Mrs. 
Graham,  and  found  them  of  the  greatest  advantage  in 
her  large  establishment. 

"  Mrs.  Loveless  had  one  of  the  largest  families  in 
India ;  but  everything  was  in  order,  and  every  one  in 
his  place.  Sometimes  they  had  thirty  boarders,  besides 
day-scholars,  several  of  whom  were  girls ;  and  Mrs. 
Loveless  took  the  whole  weight  of  the  domestic  con- 


208  BRITISH   FEMALE   MISSIONARIES. 

cerns,  that  her  husband  might  be  more  at  leisure  for 
the  work  of  the  mission  ;  while,  for  some  hours  every 
day,  she  taught  the  girls,  and  some  of  the  younger 
boys. 

"  Mrs.  Loveless  must  now  be  considered  as  a  mother. 
She  had  four  children  of  her  own  :  three  of  whom  she 
followed  to  the  grave.  The  first  that  she  buried  was  a 
daughter.  I  know  what  a  father  feels  on  the  mournful 
occasion,  but  I  cannot  describe  what  mothers  feel. 
But  Mrs.  Loveless  knew,  and  sought  resignation  and 
consolation  from,  the  right  source.  Soon  after  this,  a 
second  daughter  died ;  and  before  the  tears  were  well 
dry,  her  son,  John  Thompson,  died  also.  This  last  was 
a  fine  little  boy,  who  was  born  at  the  time  when  a 
young  missionary,  named  John  Thompson,  lived  at 
their  house,  and  afterwards  died  in  their  arms.  The 
sincere  attachment  which  they  felt  to  their  brother  led 
them  to  call  their  son  after  him,  hoping  that  he  would 
follow  his  steps  ;  and  he  soon  followed  him  indeed,  not 
as  a  missionary  to  the  heathen,  but  as  a  glorified  spirit 
to  heaven. 

"  Their  only  surviving  child  was  named  AVilliam 
Kerr,  after  Dr.  Kerr,  the  senior  chaplain,  who  had 
always  been  Mr.  Loveless's  warm  friend.  At  the  time 
when  their  son  John  died,  the  health  of  William  was 
so  delicate,  that  their  medical  friend  assured  them  the 
only  means  of  saving  his  life  was  to  send  him  to  Eng- 
land ;  and  before  that  day  month  William  was  on  the 
mighty  waters.  Thus  all  her  children  were  removed 
from  her  sioht,  and  she  was  left  childless." 


MRS.    LOVELESS.  209 

Mrs.  Loveless  found  no  small  consolation  in  her 
afflictions  in  the  letters  of  her  beloved  friends,  especially 
in  those  of  her  venerated  mother  in  spiritual  things, 
Mrs.  Graham.  In  one  of  her  communications,  she 
says : — "  It  is  all  well,  my  Sally !  You  devoted  your 
dear  children  to  the  Lord :  you  gave  them  to  him 
without  articleing  with  him  how  he  was  to  dispose  of 
them.  He  has  put  you  to  your  word.  It  is  well,  my 
Sally,  and  you  shall  be  a  gainer  at  his  hand.  I  hope 
your  young  Missionary  may  be  spared,  blessed,  and 
made  a  blessing  to  many.  I  am  in  my  seventieth 
year,  and  am  looking  daily  for  my  Saviour's  promise : 
'  If  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again, 
and  receive  you  unto  myself;  that  where  I  am,  there 
ye  may  be  also.'  Faith  in  promised  forgiveness,  through 
the  death  and  merits  of  my  great  High-Priest,  is  his 
gift ;  and  I  do  feel  his  love  in  my  heart,  and  earnest 
desires  of  conformity  to  his  image.  His  name,  his 
word,  his  ministers,  his  people,  are  precious,  and  are  my 
delight.  My  pains  often  keep  me  awake  in  the  night ; 
but  I  have  kept  on  my  memory  some  sweet  hymns,  and 
I  sing  one  after  another,  and  find  my  pains  diverted ; 
and  I  often  drop  asleep  with  the  word  in  my  mouth, 
and  the  sentiments  as  it  were  sleeping  with  me." 

Mrs.  Loveless' heart  was  long  set  upon  the  education  and 
elevation  of  females  in  India.  Popular  feeling  was,  how- 
ever, against  this :  the  natives  said,  "  It  is  not  the  Malabar 
custom  to  teach  women  to  read;"  and  this  was  echoed 
from  many  voices  respecting  the  "country-born"  children, 
whom  Mrs.  Loveless  wished  first  to  elevate ;   for  they 


210  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

were  almost  as  much  deoraded  as  their  heathen  sisters. 

o 

She  commenced,  therefore,  her  Free  girls'  school,  in  con- 
nexion with  the  Chapel ;  and  some  particulars  of  the 
work  are  thus  narrated  by  Mr.  Knill  : — 

"  Mr.  Loveless  had  laboured  alone  for  nearly  thirteen 
years,  except  now  and  then  he  was  visited  for  a  short 
time  by  a  brother  missionary,  who  was  passing  through 
Madras  to  some  other  station;  but,  in  1815,  the  di- 
rectors of  the  London  Missionary  Society  appointed  me 
to  be  Mr.  Loveless's  coadjutor  in  the  work  of  the  mis- 
sion. In  August,  1816,  I  arrived  in  company  with 
five  other  missionaries  and  their  wives,  appointed  to 
other  stations,  and  two  young  ladies,  who  were  after- 
wards the  wives  of  missionaries.  This  was  a  great  day 
with  the  friends  at  Madras,  and  none  enjoyed  it  more 
than  the  affectionate  and  generous-hearted  friend  about 
whom  I  am  now  writing.  The  arrival  of  a  fellow- 
labourer  enabled  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loveless  to  devote  some 
part  of  their  time  to  objects  which  they  could  not  at- 
tempt alone.  The  first  was,  this  long-cherished  wish  of 
her  heart,  the  Missionary  Free-school  for  girls.  She 
had  the  complete  arrangement  of  it  in  all  its  branches, 
and  a  beautiful  picture  it  was.  Pious  and  benevolent 
ladies  of  the  presidency  often  visited  it,  and  took  great 
delight  in  promoting  its  success.  The  school-mistress 
was  well  suited  to  her  station,  and  great  good  was 
done.  The  school  was  built,  and  supported  by  friends 
on  the  spot." 

Mrs.  Loveless  was  also  a  generous  friend  of  mission- 
aries ;  and  Mr.  Knill  bears  his  most  willing  testimony 


MRS.    LOVELESS.  211 

to  her  excellencies  in  this  character.  He  refers  to  the 
fact  of  Madras  being  the  seat  of  government,  and  the 
chief  sea-port ;  "  it  often  happens  that  missionaries  from 
various  societies  touch  there,  and  remain  for  a  short 
season.  JNIany  of  these  beloved  brethren,"  he  remarks, 
"  have  shared  in  the  sisterly  kindness  of  Mrs.  Loveless. 
Her  house  was  their  home,  and  her  well-spread  table 
supplied  them  during  their  stay  with  plain,  wholesome 
food.  Newly-arrived  missionaries,  if  not  more  than 
three  or  four  in  number,  never  needed  to  seek  any  ac- 
commodations while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loveless  were  at 
Madras.  In  this  way  they  contributed  largely  to  the 
missionary  cause.  By  this  means  also  many  experi- 
enced their  kindness  ;  but  none  so  greatly  as  myself.  I 
lived  two  years  in  their  family  ;  and  through  their  ge- 
nerous treatment,  I  was  able  to  support  several  native 
schools  with  my  salary.  A  few  of  the  last  months  that 
I  was  with  them,  my  health  failed ;  most  of  my  friends 
thought  I  should  die,  and  I  attribute  the  preservation 
of  my  life,  in  a  great  degree,  to  her  unremitting  care. 
Yes ;  if  any  among  the  millions  of  Russia  have  been 
benefited  by  my  labours,  or  if  any  good  has  been  done 
by  my  tongue  or  my  pen  in  Britain  or  America,  I  must 
ever  connect  it  with  the  tender  care  of  my  good  sister 
Loveless. 

"  The  last  day  that  I  saw  her  in  India,  she  was 
superintending  a  JNIissionary  Breakfast :  a  repast  quite 
common  now,  but  a  rare  sight  under  a  tropical  sun  in 
the  year  1819.  On  this  occasion  there  were  Church 
Missionaries,  Baptists,  AYesleyan?,  and  those  of  tlie 
p  2 


212  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

London  Society.  We  had  assembled  to  commence  the 
erection  of  a  missionary  chapel  at  Persewankum,  exactly 
of  the  same  dimensions  as  that  in  the  Black  Town  ;  and 
as  it  was  the  day  on  which  I  was  to  sail  for  England, 
and  thus  take  leave  of  my  beloved  fellow-labourers, 
they  requested  me  to  lay  the  foundation-stone.  A 
parchment-roll,  containing  the  names  of  the  Mission- 
aries present,  was  sealed  up  in  a  bottle,  and  deposited 
in  the  stone,  that  future  ages  might  read  what  we  at- 
tempted to  do  for  the  evangelisation  of  India." 

Mrs.  Loveless,  though  improved  in  health  by  her  re- 
sidence in  India,  began  to  feel  the  dire  effects  of  disease, 
and  the  last  four  years  that  she  remained  at  Madras 
were  a  period  of  suffering  :  her  medical  attendant,  there- 
fore, urged  a  speedy  return  to  England  or  to  America. 
After  some  hesitation  she  at  last  consented  ;  and  as  soon 
as  it  was  known  in  Madras  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loveless 
had  determined  to  revisit  Europe,  a  handsome  purse 
was  presented  them  by  the  congregation,  containing 
about  two  thousand  rupees !  This  delightful  token  of 
the  love  cherished  for  them  by  their  Christian  friends 
was  increased  in  value  by  the  manner  in  which  the 
present  was  made  to  them.  Some  of  their  oldest  friends 
accompanied  them  to  the  ship,  January  14,  1824;  they 
thus  left  the  scene  of  their  numerous  and  useful  la- 
bours ;  and  in  the  month  of  June  following,  they  arrived 
at  the  house  of  kind  friends  in  London. 

Mr.  Knill  remarks  further  of  his  amiable  friend,  that 
she  was  a  "  Pattern  to  us  all."  After  Mrs.  Loveless 
and  her  husband  returned  to   England,  tliey  lived  for 


MRS.    LOVELESS.  213 

some  years  at  Heme  Bay,  on  the  coast  of  Kent,  where 
Mr.  Loveless  exercised  his  ministry;  but  for  several 
years  she  resided  at  Canterbury.  In  both  these  places, 
as  she  was  able,  she  pursued  the  same  diligent  course  of 
active  benevolence.  At  Canterbury,  she  attended  the 
ministry  of  the  Rev.  H.  Cresswell,  and  became  much 
attached  to  him  and  his  people.  And  "  there  are  four 
things,"  as  stated  by  her  biographer,  "  connected  with 
her  residence  in  this  city,  which  are  well  worthy  of  the 
imitation  of  Christians  in  every  city  and  in  every 
country. 

"  1.  Her  love  to  the  rising  generation  led  her,  in  ad- 
vancing years,  and  amidst  many  infirmities,  to  become 
one  of  the  superintendants  of  the  Sunday-school. 

"2.  She  never  grieved  her  minister's  heart  by  desert- 
ing her  pew  on  the  Lord's  day.  She  loved  her  minis- 
ter, and  his  Master,  and  the  sanctuary  ;  therefore  she 
was  never  absent  unless  compelled  by  necessity. 

"  3.  No  cooking  or  unnecessary  work  was  suffered 
to  be  done  in  her  house  on  the  sabbath.  As  her  son 
was  a  surgeon,  it  was  necessary  for  some  person  to 
remain  at  home  ;  but  it  was  always  a  day  of  rest. 

"  4.  Though  she  had  not  the  pecuniary  means  for 
doing  what  she  had  been  accustomed  to  do  at  Madras, 
yet  she  frequently  visited  the  sick,  the  aged,  and  infirm, 
and  administered  to  their  temporal  comfort,  nor  did  she 
overlook  their  spiritual  state. 

"  She  was  of  a  most  retiring  disposition,  and  could 
speak  but  little,  from  natural  diffidence ;  yet,  when  in 
the  presence  of  friends,  and  especially  when  among  the 


214  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

poor  of  her  own  sex,  and  among  children ;  then  her 
embarrassment  was  removed,  and  she  would  reprove 
their  sin,  and  direct  them  to  Christ  as  the  only  Saviour, 
with  peculiar  tenderness  and  becoming  faithfulness. 

'*"  As  she  drew  near  eternity,  she  found  the  advantage 
of  the  good  old  orthodox  truths  which  she  had  learned 
from  Dr.  Mason.  She  gloried  in  the  doctrines  of  grace, 
and  their  genuine  effects  in  a  holy  life.  She  said  but 
little  to  strangers,  but  she  used  to  speak  with  delighted 
feeling  to  her  husband  on  the  consolation  she  enjoyed  as 
a  sinner,  from  the  completeness  of  the  work  of  Christ. 
She  viewed  the  efficacy  of  the  atonement,  as  arising 
out  of  the  glory  of  his  character,  as  God  equal  with  the 
Father.  In  this  she  trusted  for  eternal  life.  Hence  she 
delighted  to  read  those  parts  of  the  sacred  Scriptures 
which  speak  so  fully  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  of 
the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  applying  these  truths  to  the 
heart.     All  her  hopes  for  salvation  centred  here. 

"  One  of  the  last  books  we  ever  read  together," 
says  her  bereaved,  but  divinely  supported  husband, 
"  was  the  Great  Teacher.  She  was  peculiarly  charmed 
with  that  book,  because  it  exhibits,  in  almost  every 
page,  the  glory  of  Christ  shining  forth  in  all  its  meri- 
dian splendour  ;  not  only  on  the  mount  of  Transfigura- 
tion, and  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  but  in  the  most 
minute  circumstances  of  his  life ;  proving  him  to  be 
indeed,  '  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.' " 

This  desirable  state  of  mind  resulted  from  her  cordial 
regard  to  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God.  Her 
soul  to  the  last  was  fixed  on  Christ,  and  she  enjoyed 


MRS.    LOVELESS.  215 

holy  tranquillity  through  faith  in  the  Divine  promises. 
3he  enjoyed  heaven  before  she  left  the  earth  :  all  that 
she  said  in  her  departing  moments  w^as  cheering.  To 
the  inquiry,  "  Do  you  w^ant  anything  ? "  she  an- 
swered, "No:"  and  again,  "Are  you  liappy?"  she 
replied,  "  Yes  :  peace,  peace."  At  another  time,  referring 
to  the  inspired  expression,  "  Unto  you  which  believe  he 
is  precious,"  she  added,  "  Precious  Jesus ! "  and  de- 
parted to  her  eternal  rest  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  on 
the  20th  of  September,  1 837,  within  three  days  of  com- 
pleting the  63rd  year  of  her  age. 

Adorning  thus  the  doctrine  of  God  her  Saviour,  this 
amiable,  devoted,  and  useful  missionary  closed  her  truly 
honourable  course.  Her  valuable  life  was  prolonged 
to  a  rather  greater  extent  than  that  of  many  whom 
Divine  Providence  has  employed  in  the  same  depart- 
ment of  Christian  labour ;  and  her  memory  is  endeared 
to  many  who  knew  her  in  Canterbury.  Mrs.  Loveless 
was  truly  exemplary  in  all  the  important  relations  of 
life  ;  her  character  shone  with  a  heavenly  lustre,  which 
cannot  be  contemplated  without  admiration,  by  any 
who  are  capable  of  correctly  estimating  the  power  and 
grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


MRS.    TAYLOR.* 

DIED,    NOV.   7,    lii3S. 

Mrs.  Taylor  daughter  of  Mr.  E.  AVilshere  of  Greenwich.— Descended  frors 
Sir  II.  Myddleton.— Her  early  piety.— Her  early  advantages.— Her 
habits.— Engages  in  a  family  in  Somersetshire. — Letter  to  her  brother. 
—Her  return  home.— Joins  a  Bible  class  of  Rev.  H.  B.  Jeula.^Engages 
again  as  teacher. — Reflections  in  her  diary. — Unites  with  a  Christian 
Church Her  reflections  after  the  Lord's  Supper.— Returns  to  Black- 
heath.— Her  active  benevolence —Her  missionary  spirit.— Engages  to 
unite  with  Mr.  Taylor.— Her  state  of  mind.— Visits  the  Isle  of  Wight. 
— Is  married. — Her  farewell  to  her  parents. — Voyage  to  Demerara. — 
Labours  at  George-town. — Settles  at  Leguan.— Mrs.  Taylor's  labour.— 
Debased  state  of  the  Negresses.— Their  instruction.— Mrs.  Taylor's 
account.— Excessive  duties.— Loss  of  her  second  child,— Her  devotedness 
to  missionary  labours.— Emancipation  of  Negroes.— Religious  services. 
—Negresses  eager  for  instruction.— Mrs.  Taylor's  illness.— Birth  of  her 
third  child.— Visit  to  George-town.- Her  disease  increases.— Her  death. 
—Her  funeral  and  character. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Anne  Taylor,  wife  of  the  Rev. 
R.  B.  Taylor,  Missionary  to  British  Guiana,  was  born 
October  19,  1812.  She  was  the  eldest  daughter  of 
Mr.  Edward  Wilshere,  of  Greenwich,  Kent ;  and  *'  on 
the  maternal  side  a  direct  lineal  descendant  of  the  cele- 
brated knight  and  baronet.  Sir  Hugh  Myddleton,  the 
spirited  projector  of  the  New  River." 

Miss  Wilshere's  parents  regarded  her  spiritual  wel- 
farp  as  far  more  important  than  her  temporal  interests  ; 
and  they  endeavoured  to  "  bring  her  up  in  the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord."     From  a  child  she  knew 

*  See  Memoir  of   Elizabeth  Anne  Taylor,  wife  of  Robert  Barry  Taylor, 
jSIissionary  to  British  Guiana.    Snow  ;  London. 


MRS.    TAYLOR.  217 

the  Holy  Scriptures;  and  she  states,  "  I  tliank  my  God 
tliat  from  a  very  early  age  I  can  say  that  many  sweet 
seasons  of  communion  with  himself  has  he  granted  me, 
and  I  can  look  back  to  many  delightful  moments  spent 
at  the  foot  of  the  Cross,  which  is  the  only  foundation  of 
my  hope." 

But  "  what  it  was,"  Mr.  Taylor  remarks,  "  which  led 
her  thus  early  to  seek  the  God  of  her  fathers,  she  never 
could  tell  with  certainty.  But  from  the  remarks  which 
would  fall  from  her  occasionally  when  speaking  upon 
the  subject,  it  would  appear  that  the  weakly  state  of 
her  health  first  induced  serious  reflection,  and  that  the 
impressions  thus  made  were  deepened  by  a  sermon  on 
the  brevity  of  life,  and  the  importance  of  early  religion, 
preached  by  the  Rev,  W.  Chapman,  of  Greenwich,  her 
parents'  pastor." 

Miss  Wilshere  possessed  many  advantages  in  relation 
to  her  education  ;  and  her  choice  of  books  indicated  her 
superior  and  decided  mind.  "  Her  study  of  the  sacred 
Volume  was  regular  and  systematic — she  read  it  daily 
a.nd  as  a  ickole,  comparing  spiritual  things  with  spiritual, 
and  pressing  into  her  service  whatever  of  human  know- 
lege  came  within  her  reach,  of  a  nature  to  illustrate  or 
confirm.  The  greater  part  of  the  Book  of  Psalms  and 
of  the  Gospels  she  committed  to  memory,  and  very 
many  of  our  modern  Christian  poets." 

"  These  studies,  as  might  be  expected,  were  attended 
with  the  most  pleasing  results.  Her  natural  sweetness 
of  disposition,  gentleness,  goodness,  and  self-denial,  be- 
came  more   and    more   conspicuous   and   lovely,    and 


218  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

endearing.  By  her  brothers  and  sisters  especially  she 
was  looked  up  to  as  their  presiding  genius,  and  over 
them  she  exercised  almost  unlimited  controul,  solely 
through  her  affectionate  and  consistent  example.  To 
her  parents  ^he  never  occasioned  an  anxious  thought. 
But  her  views  of  herself  were  of  the  most  humbling 
description.  Her  journal  is  full  of  complaints  over  her 
pride,  vanity,  and  general  unworthiness ;  displaying 
evidences  at  once  of  the  most  jealous  watchfulness  over 
the  secret  workings  of  the  heart,  and  of  the  natural 
effect  of  such  a  habit — profound  humility. 

"  Hitherto  we  have  seen,  and  that  very  imperfectly, 
what  she  was  only  at  home  and  among  her  immediate 
friends  :  and  what  she  was  at  the  age  of  ten,  describes 
what  she  continued  to  be  during  the  five  succeeding 
years,  except  that  with  the  lapse  of  time  her  character 
and  conduct  became  amiable,  corresponding  to  her  ad- 
vancing age.  About  this  time  her  parents  were  desirous 
of  her  enjoying  the  advantages  of  sea-bathing  for  a  few 
months  :  and  while  devising  various  plans  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  wish,  an  application  was  made  to 
them  from  a  lady  residing  near  B —  in  Somersetshire, 
offering  the  very  facilities  which  they  were  desiring  to 
secure,  in  consideration  of  their  devoting  part  of  her 
time  to  the  instruction  of  the  applicant's  family,  con- 
sisting of  two  or  three  children.  With  this  lady  and 
her  family  she  spent  some  months  on  the  north  coast  of 
Devonshire." 

During  her  absence  from  home,  Miss  Wilshere  wrote 
several  letters  to  her  friends ;  and  the  following  extracts 


MRS.    TAYLOR.  219 

of  one  to  her  eldest  brother,  will  illustrate  her  charac- 
ter at  this  period  :  — 

^'•February  2,  ]828. — My  dearest  Edward. — I  have 
heard  from  papa  that  he  has  not  been  able  to  get  you 
into  any  situation.  I  think  for  some  reasons  you  must 
be  glad  of  it  :  but  I  hope,  my  dear  brother,  that  where- 
ever  your  future  lot  may  be  cast,  you  will  be  enabled 
to  act  with  decision  and  firmness ;  that  you  will  scorn 
the  narrow  limits  of  fashion,  pride,  and  prejudice,  and 
not  resemble  one  of  those  minds  which,  Foster  says, 
'  Nature  has  made  by  the  gross.'  Seek,  above  all 
thinos  to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  Christ.  In 
doing  this  you  will  find,  as  I  do,  ten  thousand  sins  and 
follies  continually  keeping  you  from  that  enjoyment 
which  you  might  otherwise  experience  from  the  light 
and  favour  of  the  Redeemer  s  countenance  ;  but  nothing 
short  of  perfection  must  be  your  standard.  It  is  true 
we  can  never  attain  unto  it  in  this  world  ;  but  from 
beholding  it  in  the  Lord  our  Righteousness,  we  shall  go 
on  from  strength  to  strength. 

"  I  trust,  my  dearest  Edward,  that  the  instructions 
which  you  have  received,  and  the  means  of  grace  with 
which  you  have  been  blessed,  have  often  been  instru- 
mental in  leading  you  to  the  Saviour.  I  say  instrumental, 
because  they  will  avail  nothing  without  the  blessing  of 
God.  But  remember  this  blessing  must  be  sought,  and 
prayer  is  the  appointed  means.  Never  neglect  this 
duty.  Oh!  how  sweetly  will  you  pass  through  this 
world  if  you  live  by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God.  Do  not 
rest  till  you  can  call  him  yours.     Pray  write  to  me  and 


220  BRITISH    FE3IALE    MISSIONARIES. 

tell  me  your  thoughts  on  these  subjects.  I  cannot  tell 
you  what  pleasure  it  would  give  me  to  know  that  you 
were  desirous  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  to  learn  of 
Him ;  and  endeavouring,  by  your  example  and  prayers, 
to  arrest  the  attention  of  dear  Ebenezer  and  Alfred  to 
the  concerns  of  their  souls. 

"  I  feel  quite  unworthy  and  unable  to  give  you  any 
advice  ;  but  what  I  pant  after,  that  I  wish  to  see  you 
striving  for — an  interest  in  Christ. — I  have  sent  you  a 
Bible,  which  I  hope  you  will  carefully  study ;  it  is  the 
most  precious  gift  that  I  can  present  to  you ;  its  value 
increases  with  its  use.  Never  let  a  day  pass  without 
reading  at  least  one  chapter,  and  do  not  read  in  a  desul- 
tory manner.  I  should  advise  you  to  go  regularly 
through  the  New  Testament,  and  seek  to  do  so  with 
self-examination  and  prayer.  God  must  be  youis. 
Think  what  love  that  must  be  which  moved  Him  to 
give  his  only  Son,  our  blessed  Lord,  to  die  the  just  for 
the  imjust,  that  he  might  reconcile  us  to  Himself.  Pray 
write  to  me  soon,  my  dear  brother.  Your  affectionately- 
attached  sister — Anne  ! " 

Miss  Wilshere  returned  home  to  aid  her  mother,  then 
in  an  indifferent  state  of  health,  in  the  care  of  a  large 
family ;  yet  she  redeemed  leisure  for  her  own  improve- 
ment, and  made  some  progress  in  the  study  of  the 
Greek  and  German  languages.  She  enjoyed  also,  for 
some  time,  the  advantages  of  a  Ladies'  Bible  Class, 
formed  by  the  Rev.  H.  B.  Jeula,  minister  of  Maize-Hill 
Chapel,  Greenwich,  where  her  parents  worshipped. 
But  her  mother's  health  improving,  she  engaged  her- 


MRS.    TAYLOR.  221 

self,  in  the  autumn  of  1830,  for  two  years,  as  a  gover- 
ness in  a  family,  strongly  recommended  by  the  lady 
with  whom  she  had  spent  some  time  on  the  coast  of 
Devon.  In  this  situation  she  experienced  considerable 
difficulties  from  the  undisciplined  children  ;  for  whose 
welfare  she  was  prayerfully  solicitous,  as  will  appear 
by  the  following  extract  of  her  journal :  — 

"  What  should  I  do  without  an  Almighty  friend ! 
My  duties  overwhelm  me  ;  the  children  are  an  unceasing 
source  of  anxiety.  I  fear  lest  my  friends  should  think 
me  unfaithful.  I  am  deeply  sensible  of  my  insufficiency. 
Pity,  my  beloved  Redeemer,  the  sorrows  of  my  heart. 
Bless  my  labours  with  the  children;  and  though 
characters  are  not  formed  in  a  day,  teach  me  to  take 
such  steps  as  may  lead  to  the  formation  of  a  good 
foundation. 

"  Dear  E —  is  again  the  burden  of  my  prayer.  How 
long,  0  Lord !  how  long  shall  this  dear  child  be  the 
slave  of  sin  and  Satan  !  Was  engaged  in  earnest  prayer 
for  her  before  tea.  All  my  endeavours,  0  Lord,  are 
powerless  without  thy  blessing.  I  have  sown  in  tears. 
Thou  knowest.  Oh,  have  mercy  upon  thy  poor  servant, 
for  I  am  as  a  worm  before  thee." 

Miss  Wilshere's  state  of  mind  will  further  appear 
from  the  following  : — "  December  31. — The  last  day  of 
the  year  1830,  still  finds  me  surrounded  with  innumer- 
able mercies  ;  and  still  finds,  alas  !  my  poor  sinful  heart 
too  unmindful  of  its  Creator.  The  more  T  look  into 
myself,  the  more  am  I  astonished  at  the  love  of  God. 
How  can  he  bear  to  look  upon  me ;  my  thoughts  are 


222  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

continually  wandering  from  Him,  although  I  desire  to 
love  Him  ahove  all  on  earth.  Lord,  send  down  thy 
Holy  Spirit  into  my  heart !  Oh,  renew  the  spirit  of  my 
mind !  Oh,  fill  my  heart  with  thy  love  ! 

''In  the  distance  I  hear  the  bells  of  the  different 
churches  ringing  out  the  old  year.  One  year  nearer  to 
eternity  !  There  is  something  very  awful  and  solemn 
in  that  word :  yet  why  should  it  be  awful  to  the  Chris- 
tian ?  The  nearer  heaven  the  better  ;  the  sooner  will  he 
get  rid  of  his  wicked  heart,  and  be  enabled  to  praise  his 
Redeemer  without  one  distracting  thought.  Oh  !  bliss- 
ful moment,  draw  nigh,  when,  freed  from  this  fleshy 
tabernacle,  my  soul  shall  triumph  in  eternal  day." 

Miss  Wilshere,  now  in  her  nineteenth  year,  in  Feb- 
ruary 1831,  made  an  open  public  profession  of  faith  in 
the  Lord  Jesus,  by  uniting  herself  with  the  church  of 
Clirist  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  L — ,  of 
B — .  This  important  and  interesting  step  had  for  some 
years  previously  occupied  her  thoughts.  She  applied  to 
her  kind  friend  in  whose  family  she  was  living,  and  at 
once  received  that  attention  and  encouragement  which 
the  state  of  her  mind  required.  An  introduction  to  Mr. 
L —  followed,  and  soon  after  she  had  the  happiness  of 
enjoying  that  privilege  which  she  had  desired  for  so 
long  a  time." 

She  enjoyed  her  privileges;  as  she  wrote  in  her  jour- 
nal,— "  To-day  I  joined  in  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's- 
supper.  I  am  very  tired  to-night,  sleepy,  and  cold ; 
but  I  must  just  record  God's  mercy  to  my  soul  to-day. 
How  beautiful  he  lias  appeared  to  me,  especially  while 


MRS.    TAYLOR.  223 

seated  at  his  table  !  My  Saviour !  oh,  how  dehghtful 
to  think  I  can  call  him  mbie.  Unworthy  as  I  am,  He 
stoops  to  love  me,  and  condescends  to  grant  me  his 
presence.  Lord,  wdierever  I  go,  be  Thou  with  me ;  in 
all  that  I  do  enable  me  to  do  it  with  a  single  eye  to  thy 
glory,  looking  ever  to  the  blessed  Author  and  Finisher 
of  my  faith.  A  few  more  years,  and  if  Thou  wilt  pre- 
pare me  for  that  heavenly  kingdom,  I  shall  see  Thee 
face  to  face,  and  never  leave  Thee  more.  Eternity 
shall  roll  in  ceaseless  praises  to  Him  who  hath  loved 
me,  and  hath  redeemed  me  by  his  own  precious  blood  ; 
hath  sanctified  me  by  his  Spirit,  and  clothed  me  in  his 
beautiful  robe.  I  shall  mingle,  exulting  thought  !  with 
angels  and  archangels  in  celebrating  his  boundless 
praise." 

Having  completed  the  term  for  which  she  had  been 
engaged  as  governess,  she  returned,  in  1832,  to  her 
parents,  at  Blackbeath,  where  she  prosecuted  various 
plans  of  usefulness.  "  She  opened  a  sabbath  school  for 
the  children  of  the  poor  people  living  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  her  father's  residence,  dividing  the  labour  of 
instruction  with  her  sister  M.  This,  besides  affording 
to  herself  a  pleasant  and  useful  occupation  for  some 
hours  on  the  sabbath,  and  to  the  poor  children  the  means 
of  obtaining  scriptural  knowledge,  opened  the  way  for 
many  visits  of  mercy  during  the  week.  In  these  she 
read  the  Scriptures,  conversed,  and  prayed  ;  and  to  such 
as  needed  assistance,  her  heart  and  her  hand  were  cheer- 
fully opened.  Once  in  every  week,  also,  it  was  her 
custom  to  visit  a  village  a  short  distance  from  home. 


224  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

for  the  purpose  of  distributing  religious  tracts.  Visiting 
the  sick  was  another  favourite  occupation  of  her  leisure 
hours,  andfor  which  she  was  eminently  qualified.  In 
one  family  she  was  the  instrument  of  much  good.  The 
daughter,  a  young  girl  in  the  last  stage  of  consumption, 
to  whom  she  paid  frequent  visits,  became  the  subject  of 
converting  grace,  and  died  in  possession  of  a  hope  full  of 
immortality.  The  parents  next  became  concerned  for 
the  salvation  of  their  souls,  and  the  whole  family  soon 
felt  the  happy  change,  if  not  by  all  becoming  partakers 
of  precious  faith,  at  least  by  experiencing  many  of  the 
comforts  of  home,  produced  by  the  benign  influence  of 
religion." 

Miss  Wilshere,  thus  actively  devoted  to  the  service  of 
the  Redeemer,  could  not  be  uninterested  in  the  progress 
of  the  gospel  in  the  regions  of  pagan  darkness.  For 
several  years  her  thoughts  had  been  directed  to  the  state 
of  the  heathen  and  the  labours  of  missionaries.  Still, 
although  she  thought  much  of  the  degraded  condition 
of  the  world  lying  in  wickedness,  and  prayed  earnestly 
for  the  comino-  of  Messiah's  kingdom  on  the  earth,  she 
had  not  the  most  distant  idea  of  ever  being  personally 
engaged  as  a  missionary,  Circvim stances,  however, 
arose  which  required  her  serious  attention  to  the  subject 
by  the  fact  of  Mr.  Taylor,  a  friend  of  the  family,  having 
devoted  himself  to  the  work  of  the  Lord  in  heathen 
lands,  and  who  had  been  accepted  by  the  directors  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  who  had  appointed  him 
to  a  station  among  the  negroes  recently  delivered  from 
slavery.     Mr.  Taylors   attachment  to   Miss  AVilshere 


MRS.    TAYLOR.  225 

was  well  known,  and  on  his  proposing  to  her  to  ac- 
company  him,  as  his  companion  tlirough  life,  in  the 
work  of  God,  she  deliberated,  prayed,  and,  with  the 
consent  of  her  beloved  parents,  engaged  thus  to  conse- 
crate herself  to  the  service  of  her  Saviour. 

Her  state  of  mind  after  this  momentous  decision  will 
appear  best  from  an  extract  of  her  diary;  in  which  she 
says — "  Have  just  returned  from  the  missionary  prayer- 
meeting,  where  I  trust  I  have  been  enabled  once  more 
to  renew  my  dedication  to  God.  Never  was  there  .one 
so  unworthy  of  the  Saviour's  love,  so  very  sinful  as  I  am. 
For  although  I  commit  no  open  sin,  yet  my  thoughts 
are  so  unholy,  so  very  little  with  God  my  Father.  But, 
blessed  be  his  holy  name,  he  permits  me  to  kneel  with 
his  people.  He  has  made  this  world  seem  a  blank  to 
my  soul  without  his  endeared  presence.  Oh,  blessed 
Saviour,  poor  sinner  though  I  am,  I  love  thee,  I  delight 
to  dwell  on  thy  sacred  name,  there  is  a  sweetness  in  it 
which  no  other  name  bears.  I  desire  nothing  so  much 
as  thy  love.  With  thee  I  think  I  could  be  happy  in  a 
dungeon ;  without  thee  I  could  not  be  happy  in  a 
palace. 

"  If  I  did  not  feel,  and  had  I  not  experienced,  God's 
watchful,  and  unceasing  care,  I  should,  under  present 
circumstances,  frequently  experience  great  misgivings ; 
indeed  I  do  so  now.    But, 

'  His  love  in  times  past,  forbids  me  to  think 
He'll  leave  me  at  last,  in  trouble  to  sink.' 

My  eyes  fill  with  tears,  and  my  heart  swells  to  bursting, 
when  I  think  of  the  responsibility  of  the  station  which 
Q 


22d  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

I  may  sooner  or  later  be  called  to  occupy.  I  do  not 
wish  to  look  at  things  through  a  false  medium.  I  wish 
to  glorify  God  in  whatever  relation  I  shall  ever  stand, 
but  I  feel  my  utter  helplessness.  Give  me  strength,  O 
Lord  ,•  for  who  else  can  support  me?  May  the  Lord 
strengthen  me  ;  for  without  Him  I  can  do  nothing. 
Helpless  as  infancy,  I  would  throw  myself  on  his  arm 
of  mercy  for  strength." 

A  few  months  previously  to  her  marriage,  Miss 
Wilshere  spent  a  few  weeks  at  Ventnor,  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  in  company  with  several  young  friends  of  her 
early  life.  During  her  stay  in  that  place  she  occupied 
a  portion  of  her  time  in  visiting  the  cottages  of  the  poor, 
distributing  religious  tracts,  and  occasionally  reading  the 
Scriptures  to  such  as  were  willing  to  receive  her  visits  ; 
so  intent  was  she  on  doing  good,  and  so  anxious  to  im- 
prove every  opportunity  of  imparting  the  glad  tidings  of 
salvation  by  Jesus  Christ. 

Returning  to  her  much  loved  home,  she  employed  her 
time  in  preparing  for  her  marriage,  which  took  place  in 
the  parish  church  of  St.  Paul's,  Deptford,  December 
16,  1834,  to  her  long  esteemed  friend,  Mr.  Robert  Barry 
Taylor,  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society  to  labour  in  the  county  of  Essequibo,  in 
British  Guiana.  Mrs.  Taylor  s  letter  to  her  parents,  the 
day  before  she  embarked  for  Demerara,  will  exhibit  her 
state  of  mind  in  the  prospect  of  her  important  under- 
taking : — 

"  January  25, 1825 My  dearest  Papa  and  Mamma. 

With  a  trcmblino-  hand  I  must  now  endeavour  to  take 


MRS.    TAYLOR.  227 

my  leave  of  you,  the  dear  protectors  of  my  infancy,  the 
guardians  of  my  childhood,  and  the  dear  companions 
and  friends  of  my  later  years.  Were  you  not  so  dear, 
the  task  would  be  less  painful :  as  it  is,  I  know  not  how 
to  get  through  it,  for  the  past  beams  full  upon  me. — 
How  shall  I  begin  ?  What  shall  I  say  ?  Lord,  when  my 
dearest  parents  read  these  lines,  may  the  feelings  which 
thou  hast  given  them  be  sanctified  and  restrained ! 
Having  given  their  child  to  God,  and  devoted  her  to 
Him  from  earliest  infancy,  may  they  be  enabled  to  trust 
her  to  thee,  even  to  death !  May  every  feeling,  and  every 
heaving  emotion,  be  stilled  and  calmed  by  the  assurance 
that  the  Lord  will  do  still  more  and  better  than  they 
can  ask  or  think,  for  Jesus'  sake  ! 

"  My  dearest  parents,  think  of  the  love  of  Jesus  in 
thus  choosing  your  first-born,  and  thus  setting  her  apart 
for  his  service.  What  honour  is  put  upon  her  !  how 
deeply  unworthy  is  she  of  it !  God  has  done  very  much 
for  me,  eternity  alone  can  disclose  how  much,  in  answer 
to  your  prayers. — I  thank  you  now  for  all  your  care, 
your  watchfulness,  and  love,  and  pray  you  to  forgive 
all  that  has  been  wanting  in  my  dutifulness  and  affec- 
tion. The  debt  of  gratitude  which  I  owe  you  will  ever 
glow  and  kindle  in  my  heart  when  distance  shall  separate 
us,  and  will  lead  me  continually  to  pray  for  every  bless- 
ing for  you.  The  Lord  is  full  of  compassion  and  mercy. 
He  will  make  up  to  you  abundantly  what  you  have  been 
enabled  to  devote  to  him.  Jesus,  our  adorable  Redeemer, 
left  the  throne  of  his  glory  and  underwent  sufferings 
innumerable  for  us,  and  for  our  salvation ;  and  having 
q2 


228  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

redeemed  us  by  his  precious  blood,  and  promised  us  the 
gift  of  his  Spirit,  we  should  be  willing  iwid  joyful  to 
devote  our  lives  to  him.  I  trust  the  Lord  will  have 
mercy  upon  me,  and  enable  me  to  be  useful.  His  good- 
ness and  loving-kindness  have  followed  me  in  a  peculiar 
way  ;  and  I  can  set  to  my  seal  that  the  promises  of  God 
are  all  yea  and  amen  in  Christ  Jesus.  I  tell  you  this, 
my  dearest  parents,  because  I  know  it  will  administer 
peace  to  your  troubled  minds. — May  God  indeed  be  with 
you,  and  bless  you  exceedingly,  and  keep  you  very  near 
to  himself,  and  grant  an  abundant  supply  of  his  Spirit, 
to  be  your  comfort  in  every  sorrow.  May  your  souls 
1)6  like  well-watered  gardens,  your  graces  brighter  from 
the  continual  contemplation  of  the  Saviour's  perfect 
righteousness.  Once  more,  my  dearest  parents,  farewell, 
and  believe  me  to  remain,  your  ever  affectionate  daughter, 
E.  A.  Taylor." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  embarked  on  board  the 
Albinia,  on  the  following  day,  January  26,  1835,  and 
"made  land"  at  Demerara  on  the  9th  of  March. 
After  a  few  days'  rest,  and  recovery  from  an  alarming 
attack  of  fever,  Mrs.  Taylor  devoted  herself  to  aid  in 
the  labours  of  the  Infant  Missionary  School,  at  George 
Town.  They  expected  to  have  found  a  station  pre- 
pared for  them  on  the  "  Arabian  coast,"  Essequibo ; 
but  they  were  disappointed,  through  the  disinclination 
of  the  planters,  after  their  fears  of  the  "  Emancipation 
on  the  1st  of  August,  1834,"  had  been  dissipated.  Mr. 
Taylor  remained,  therefore,  with  his  brethren  at  George 
Town,  labouring  among  his  ignorant  neighbours,  and  at 


MRS.    TAYLOR.  229 

the  out-stations,  making  several  missionary  excursions, 
seeking  to  secure  a  permanent  settlement,  which  he  at 
length  obtained  on  the  island  of  Leguan.  This  island  lies 
at  the  mouth  of  the  grand  river  Essequibo,  and  about 
twenty-five  miles  from  George  Tov^n,  the  capital  of  British 
Guiana.  The  length  of  the  island  is  about  ten  miles,  and 
its  breadth  four  miles  ;  nearly  the  whole  surface  is  in  a 
high  state  of  cultivation,  being  divided  into  twenty-six 
estates,  all  of  which,  except  two,  "  are  in  sugar : "  it 
has  a  fine  port,  and  it  is  usually  styled  "  the  garden  of 
Demerara."  The  population  of  the  island  is  about 
5000,  of  whom  about  400  are  whites;  a  free  black 
man,  desirous  of  the  gospel,  nobly  ofi'ered  the  gift  of  a 
piece  of  land  for  a  "  Mission- house."  This  was  re- 
garded as  a  remarkable  interposition  of  Divine  Pro- 
vidence, as  the  planters  used  every  eff'ort  to  prevent 
Mr.  Taylor,  as  a  missionary,  settling  on  the  island  :  but 
ill-will  and  hostility  were  in  a  great  degree  overcome 
by  his  benevolent  labours  among  them,  especially  the 
self-devotion  of  his  amiable  wife. 

Mrs.  Taylor,  having  now  become  a  resident  on  the 
island,  "felt,"  to  use  her  own  language,  "just  in  her 
own  element,  and  commenced  without  delay  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  females."  The  state  of  degradation,  how- 
ever, in  which  she  found  them  it  is  utterly  beyond  the 
power  of  mere  words  to  describe  :  "  apparently  desti- 
tute of  moral  sensibility,  following  all  uncleanness  with 
greediness ;  lascivious,  proud,  irascible,  treacherous, 
deceitful,  suspicious."  For  some  time,  the  deplorable 
state  in  which  they  were  sunk  so  appalled  and  pained 


230  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

the  mind  of  their  teacher,  that  she  shrank  from  the 
arduous  and  disgusting  task  of  attempting  their 
improvement.  ''The  most  abandoned  characters  in 
Britain,"  Mr.  Taylor  remarks,  "can  understand  an 
allusion  or  a  hint ;  but  owing  to  the  extreme  ignorance 
of  the  negresses  in  Leguan,  and  the  dreadful  familiarity 
which  they  had  acquired,  through  debasing  slavery, 
with  vices  and  practices  of  the  most  infamous  and 
abominable  character,  allusions  and  hints  were  entirely 
lost  upon  them.  To  impress  them,  therefore,  with  any 
suitable  sense  of  the  sinfulness  and  odiousness  of  those 
practices  in  which  they  had  so  long  indulged,  it  was  found 
absolutely  necessary  to  descend  to  particulars  and 
to  explanations  of  the  plainest  nature :  this  she  did  at 
the  sacrifice  of  much  personal  feeling.  The  extent 
of  her  labours  may  be  judged  of  from  the  following 
summary : — 

"  Classes  of  adults  she  held  regularly  four  evenings  in 
the  week,  and  in  the  mornings  and  afternoons  of  the 
Sabbath-day.  Besides  these,  she  always  occupied  her 
place  in  the  girl's  school  during  the  hours  of  instruction 
in  the  week.  These  were  from  ten  o'clock  to  twelve 
A.  M.,  and  from  two  to  half-past  four,  p.  m.  Added  to 
these  she  had  an  extra  class,  which  usually  assembled 
either  before  the  time  of  school,  or  in  the  interval 
between  twelve  and  two  o'clock.  This  last  comprised 
females  desirous  of  receiving  Christian  baptism,  or 
more  particular  instruction  in  the  principles  and  precepts 
of  revealed  truth. 

"  In  this  epitome  the  reader  may  consider   himself 


MRS.    TAYLOR.  231 

presented  witli  an  accurate,  unexaggerated  statement  of 
the  direct  missionary  labours  in  which  Mrs.  Taylor  was 
engaged  until  her  death,  subject  only  to  those  interrup- 
tions which  domestic  afflictions  and  other  casualties 
rendered  necessary  and  unavoidable." 

Mrs.  Taylor  herself,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  her 
parents,  thus  describes  her  labours  on  the  Sabbath  : — 
"  I  have  the  classes  after  service  :  the  room  quite  full, 
almost  more  than  I  can  possibly  attend  to.  The  first 
thing  I  do  when  they  come  up  is  to  seat  all  the  women 
around  me.  I  then  teach  them  the  text,  and  question 
them  upon  the  sermon.  After  this  they  learn  a  hymn, 
repeating  the  words  after  me.  They  are  now  learning, 
'  Alas,  and  did  my  Saviour  bleed,'  &c.,  and,  '  Now  for 
awhile  aside  I'll  lay,'  &c.  These  afford  fresh  matter  for 
instruction  and  inquiry.  I  next  exercise  them  in  Dr. 
"Watts'  Second  Catechism.  While  thus  employed  with 
the  women,  I  set  the  children,  with  their  monitors,  to 
learn  the  alphabet  and  repeat  their  hymns.  When  I 
have  done  catechising  the  women,  they  parcel  off 
according  to  their  classes, — most  of  them  to  learn  the 
alphabet ;  some  to  read  the  New  Testament,  and  others 
easy  lessons;  and  then  I  take  the  children  a  short 
time." 

Such  multiplied  labours,  in  the  heat  of  the  climate 
near  the  equator,  by  a  mother  and  head  of  a  family, 
will  excite  astonishment  in  British  ladies  at  home. 
But,  as  her  husband  remarks,  "  Her  habit  of  early 
rising  and  love  of  order  may  in  part  resolve  this  diffi- 
culty.    She  usually  rose  at  half-past  five  o'clock  ;  and 


232  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

this,  with  the  excellent  tact  with  which  she  arrranged 
all  her  plans,  enabled  her  to  get  through  her  domestic 
duties  before  ten  o'clock,  the  hour  of  school." 

Mrs.  Taylor  gave  birth  to  her  second  child  in 
August  1837  ;  but  the  infant  lived  only  a  very  few 
days.  "  Oh  !  then  I  knew  anguish,"  says  this  devoted 
mother,  "  such  as  I  had  never  felt  before  :  but  I  cannot 
any  more  of  this — it  harrows  up  my  soul.  God  does 
all  things  well.  My  Father,  I  know,  does  not  willingly 
afflict  his  poor  child.  My  chief  concern  at  present  is, 
that  this  deep^  deep  cut  may  not  be  in  vain,  but  that  it 
may  answer  the  end  Infinite  Wisdom  designs." 

This  painful  visitation  was  the  more  distressing,  on 
account  of  the  self-denial  requisite  in  arranging  for  the 
funeral.  Mr.  Taylor  states,  in  a  letter  written  at  the 
time,  "  This  is  a  sore  trial  in  any  country  ;  but  here  it  is 
attended  by  circumstances  that  make  it  doubly  severe. 
I  have  had  to  measure  with  my  own  hands  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  dear  remains,  and  supply  the  boards. 
and  nails,  and  cloth,  and  all  the  other  little  necessaries 
for  the  coffin  ;  to  help  to  dig  the  grave ;  and  this  evening 
it  will  be  my  lot  to  bury  my  dear  infant's  corpse,  the 
only  alternative  presented  between  this  torture  and  that 
of  seeing  it  treated  like  the  carcase  of  a  dog.  These, 
and  many  other  bitter  ingredients  in  my  bitter  cup, 
which  I  could  mention,  are  as  so  many  additional  goads 
steeped  in  gall,  that  wound  and  pierce  my  already 
bleeding  heart." 

Mrs.  Taylor's  parents,  hearing  of  her  loss,  and  of  an 
attack  of  fever  with  which  she  w\as  afflicted  soon  after- 


MRS.    TAYLOR.  233 

wards,  wrote,  desiring  her  to  return  to  England  in 
order  to  recruit  her  health  ;  but  she  declined  entertain- 
ing their  proposal,  in  a  letter,  from  which  the  follow- 
ing is  an  extract : — 

"  You  seem,  my  dearest  parents,  to  feed  on  the  hope 
of  our  return  ;  but  still  you  must  lend  me  to  the  Lord, 
and  trust  me  in  his  faithful  hands.  He  has  mercifully 
removed  afflictions  from  our  dwelling ;  and  the  desire  of 
our  hearts,  if  they  do  not  deceive  us,  is  to  be  faithful 
unto  death.  You  must  pray,  my  dear  papa  and 
mamma,  that  we  may  be  true  missionaries,  not  count- 
ing our  lives  dear  unto  us,  being  willing  to  spend  and 
be  spent  in  the  best  of  services,  the  service  of  Christ." 

Particular  details  of  Mrs.  Taylor's  subsequent  history 
must  be  sought  for  in  her  instructive  "  Memoir,"  by 
her  mourning  partner  ;  but  his  record  of  the  memorable 
day  of  "  Negro  emancipation  from  slavery"  cannot  be 
omitted  here,  as  it  will  at  once  illustrate  the  moral 
power  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  the  valuable  labours 
of  this  excellent  female  missionary. 

Mr.  Taylor  remarks,  "  The  first  of  August  (1838), 
that  great  day  which  brought  freedom  to  so  many 
thousands  of  our  fellow- creatures  in  British  Guiana, 
and  other  British  colonies,  conferred  on  them  the  long- 
wished- for  privilege  of  being  able  to  attend  regularly 
on  the  means  of  instruction. 

"  As  a  preparatory  measure,  an  evening  or  two 
before  the  day  of  freedom,  the  apprenticed  labourers 
attached  to  one  of  the  estates  near  the  mission  premises, 
and  which  Mr.  Taylor  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  every 


234  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

Friday  evening,  were  addressed  from  the  words  found 
in  1  Samuel,  xii.  23,  24,  '  Moreover^  as  for  me^  God 
forbid  that  I  should  sm  against  the  Lord  in  ceasing  to 
pray  for  you :  hit  I  tcill  teach  you  the  good  and  the 
right  icay.  Only  fear  the  Lord,  and  serve  him  in 
truth  with  all  your  heart  :  for  consider  how  great 
things  he  hath  done  for  you.'  The  first  moments  of 
the  auspicious  day  were  ushered  in  by  prayer  and 
praise :  a  special  meeting  having  been  convened  in  the 
school-house  at  the  mission  station.  At  seven  o'clock 
the  people  again  assembled ;  and  after  some  time 
spent  in  prayer  and  praise,  an  address  was  delivered, 
founded  on  Nehemiah,  viii.  6,  ^  And  Ezra  blessed  the 
Lord,  the  great  God :  and  all  the  people  answered^ 
Amen,  Amen,  icith  lifting  up  their  hands ;  and  they 
bowed  their  heads  and  worshipped  the  Lord  u'ith  their 
faces  to  the  ground.'  At  eleven  o'clock  another  public 
service  was  held,  and  a  sermon  preached,  at  the  request 
of  Mrs.  Taylor,  from  Exodus  xii.  42,  '  It  is  a  night  to 
be  much  observed  unto  the  Lord  for  bringing  thetn  out 
from  the  land  of  Egypt :  this  is  that  night  of  the  Lord 
to  be  observed  of  all  the  children  of  Israel  in  their 
generations'  The  appearance  of  the  people  was  pecu- 
liarly interesting  and  solemn.  For  some  minutes  after 
the  service  had  closed,  they  seemed  as  if  unable  and 
unwillinsf  to  rise  from  their  seats.  This  state  of  feeling 
was  instantly  embraced  by  the  missionary  and  his  wife 
to  go  to  each  one  separately,  and  endeavour  to  press 
home  upon  the  conscience,  by  a  personal  appeal,  the 
supreme   happiness   and   importance  of  becoming  the 


MRS.    TAYLOR.  235 

'  Lord's  freemen.'  Not  only  during  the  time  of  public 
worship,  but  throughout  the  whole  day,  the  greatest 
decorum  and  quietness  prevailed.  It  was  remarked, 
even  by  many  who  viewed  the  day  with  feelings  far 
removed  from  gratulation,  that  they  never  could  have 
believed  the  Negroes  would  be  so  quiet  and  orderly. 
Not  a  single  dance  was  given,  nor  the  sound  of  a  drum 
heard.  Their  conduct  surprised  even  those  who  had 
hoped  and  expected  the  best.  All  classes,  indeed, 
seemed  to  be  under  the  influence  of  a  pleasing  dream 
rather  than  that  of  a  sober  reality. 

"  Many  of  the  young  females  residing  on  the  estate 
near  the  mission  station  embraced  the  opportunity  now 
afforded  them  to  place  themselves  under  Mrs.  Taylor's 
care  in  the  day-school.  Many  of  the  adults  would  have 
done  so  too ;  but  as  such  a  course  would  have  involved 
the  neglect  of  domestic  and  positive  duties,  they  were 
not  allowed  to  follow  their  inclinations.  They  were 
advised  to  come  to  school  early  every  Sabbath.  The 
increase  which  thus  took  place  in  the  number  of 
scholars  materially  added  to  Mrs.  Taylor's  labours ;  but 
she  would  remark,  when  urged  to  curtail  the  time  of 
her  attendance  in  the  school,  '  Work  while  it  is  called 
to-day,  for  the  night  cometh,  in  which  no  man  can 
work  ;'  adding,  '  I  cannot  expect  to  be  about  much 
longer ;  and  I  do  not  like  to  give  up  till  I  am  obliged.' 

"  Within  tw^o  weeks  after  the  day  of  freedom,  this 
'  night'  came,  and  forced  her  to  abandon  her  work.  On 
INIonday,  the  13th  of  August,"  she  was  seized  with  an 
attack  of  fever  :   its  violence  increased,  till  it   "  seemed 


236  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIOxNARIES. 

actually  to  scorch  the  hand  that  touched  her,  and  Mr. 
Taylor  was  constantly  dashing  raw  rum  on  her  head, 
hands,  and  feet.  On  Friday  evening  she  gave  birth  to 
a  female  infant,  which  died  almost  as  soon  as  it  was 
born." 

Happily,  Mrs.  Taylor  recovered  in  a  great  degree 
from  this  dreadful  fever ;  but  soon  after  she  experienced 
disease  in  another  form,  evident  by  an  abscess  in  the 
leg.  Her  medical  friend  advised  a  voyage  to  Barbadoes, 
and  a  return  to  England.  Her  state  of  weakness,  how- 
ever, rendered  this  impracticable ;  but  she  removed  to 
George  Town,  where  every  possible  attention  was  paid 
to  her,  especially  by  the  generous  hospitality  and  un- 
remitting kindness  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buttivant.  Her 
state  will,  perhaps,  be  best  understood  by  the  following 
extract  of  a  letter  to  her  parents,  dated  October  29, 
1838,  only  nine  days  before  her  lamented  death  : — 

"  I  cannot  walk  yet ;  and  to-morrow  the  doctor  is 
going  to  put  a  seton  in  my  leg,  which  rather  resembles 
an  elephant's.  My  side  is  better ;  the  abscess  appears 
to  have  almost  discharged  its  load.  My  face  is  deadly 
pale,  and  swells  very  much ;  but  Dr.  C.  says  there  is 
much  more  appearance  of  blood  about  me  than  there 
was.  We  are  still  at  the  Buttivants',  where  we  receive 
every  attention  and  kindness.  They  not  only  gave  up 
their  sleeping-room  to  us,  but  had  it  enlarged  by  pulling 
down  a  partition.  Thus  you  see,  my  dear  parents, 
you  need  not  be  uneasy.  You  must  not  reckon  upon 
our  coming  home.  If  it  is  the  will  of  God,  we  shall ; 
if  otherwise,  we  shall  not.     You  must  try,  my  dear 


MRS.    TAYLOR.  237 

parents,  to  banish  the  idea  for  two  or  three  years.  IMy 
last  loss  was  greatly  softened ;  for  what  could  an  in- 
sensible mother  have   done   with   a   livinor  child  ?     It 

o 

was  all  in  mercy,  and  I  felt  it  so  from  the  hour  of  its 
birth,  for  I  was  sensible  then." 

]\Irs.  Taylor  never  wrote  again  !  The  abscess  in  her 
side  became  worse :  it  was  opened,  but  it  would  not 
heal ;  and  she  consented  to  take  a  voyage  to  Barbadoes, 
as  the  will  of  the  Lord,  so  repeatedly  urged  by  Dr.  C. 
and  another  medical  gentleman  ;  but  the  undertaking 
was  impossible.  She  lingered  a  few  days  longer  ;  and 
thus  died,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty  six  years,  this 
devoted  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  day  she  died,  Wednesday 
November  7,  1S38.  her  remains  were  conveyed,  at  the 
request  of  her  husband,  to  Leguan,  and  interred  early 
next  morning  in  the  mission  premises,  beside  the 
remains  of  her  two  infants,  by  one  of  the  brethren 
from  George  Town.  On  the  following  Sabbath,  Mr. 
Taylor  was  obliged  to  fulfil  his  ministerial  duties, 
though  with  an  aching  heart.  He  preached  on  Rev. 
xiv.  13,  "  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord," 
&c.,  to  a  truly  sorrowful  people,  who  deplored  the 
removal  of  one  whom  they  so  greatly  revered  and  loved, 
as  a  faithful  missionary  labourer  for  their  spiritual  wel- 
fare ;  and  one  of  the  planters  pronounced  her  merited 
eulogy,  declaring, — "  I  consider  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Taylor  to  be  a  great  public  loss  ! " 


MISS    SMITH. 


DIED   APRIL  30,   1839. 


Miss  Smith,  a  Missionary  to  India,  connected  with  the  Female  Education 
Society.— Born  in  London.— Educated  in  Somersetshire.— Her  juvenile 
Character.— Engaged  as  Governess  in  a  Family.— Resides  in  London. 
—Her  serious  Impressions. — Her  religious  Character. — Further  engaged 
as  Governess.— Her  religious  activity.— Her  progress  in  Piety.— Her 
desire  for  Missionary  Service.— She  is  accepted  by  the  Female  Educa- 
tion Society.— She  arrives  at  Bombay.— Labours  among  the  Indo-Britons. 
—Removes  to  Nasik.— Is  attacked  by  the  Small-Pox.— Her  Illness, 
Joys,  and  Death,  described  by  Mrs.  Stone.— Influence  on  her  Family. 

Miss  Mary  Augusta  Smith,  for  some  time  until 
her  death,  was  a  missionary  labourer  in  India,  in  con- 
nexion with  the  "  Society  for  Promoting  Female  Edu- 
cation in  the  East  *."     She  was  born  in  London,  on 

*  This  very  excellent  and  important  institution  is  far  too  little  known 
among  British  Christians  ;  and  therefore  the  first  three  "  General  Regula- 
tions of  the  Society"  are  here  given,  to  aid  in  making  public  its  noble 
design : — 

"  I.  The  object  of  this  Society  shall  be,  the  establishment  and  superin- 
tendence of  schools  in  the  East,  where  favourable  opportunities  are  presented 
—the  selection  and  preparation  in  this  country  of  pious  and  well-educated 
persons  to  go  out  as  superintendants— and  the  training  and  encouragement 
of  subordinate  native  teachers. 

"  II.  The  requisite  funds  shall  be  raised,  as  in  other  institutions,  by 
annual  subscriptions,  donations,  and  all  other  advisable  methods. 

"  III  In  the  schools  c(mnected  with  this  Society,  the  end  chiefly  kept  in 
view  shall  be,  to  bring  the  pupils  to  an  acquaintance  with  Scripture  truth, 
and  to  a  belief  in  Christ  as  their  Saviour  ;  all  other  useful  knowledge  which 
circumstances  may  render  desirable  being  at  the  same  time  imparted." 

The  following  are  among  the  "  Bye-L^iws  "  of  the  Society  :— 

"  25.  Each  agent,  previous  to  her  dei)arturc,  sliall  be  required  to  sign  an 


MISS  SMITH.  239 

the  23d  of  December  1809;  but  while  she  was  very 
young,  her  parents  removed  into  the  country,  a  consi- 
derable distance  from  the  metropolis,  and,  under  their 
eye,  she  was  placed  for  education  in  a  genteel  seminary 
in  a  town  in  Somersetshire.  Her  friends  perceived  in 
her  an  excellent  understanding,  and  remarkable  docility 
of  mind,  from  a  child  ;  but  they  did  not  consider  that 
she  possessed  extraordinary  talents.  Parental  influence 
and  watchfulness  happily  governed  her  in  early  life ; 
and  its  moral  power,  though  not  characterised  by  evan- 
gelical religion,  was  highly  beneficial.  Her  regard  to 
truth  was  scrupulously  exact;  and  in  this  respect 
especially    she  enjoyed  the   utmost    confidence  of  her 


engagement,  in  the  presence  of  two  witnesses,  binding  herself,  in  case  of  her 
voluntarily  relinquishing  her  situation  within  five  years,  or  in  case  of  her 
marriage  within  five  years,  to  repay  to  the  Committee  the  sum  expended 
by  them  on  her  account,  a  fifth  part  being  deducted  for  every  year  during 
which  she  shall  have  complied  with  the  terms  of  her  engagement,  and 
remained  unmarried  ;  the  said  five  years  to  be  reckoned  from  the  period  of 
her  arrival  at  the  post  of  labour.  She  shall  also  bind  herself  to  give  the 
Committee  previous  notice  of  any  such  proposed  change,  or  of  any  inten- 
tion of  marriage,  that  proper  measures  may  be  taken  for  supplying  a  suc- 
cessor.   A  copy  of  this  engagement  shall  be  furnished  to  the  agent. 

"  29.  A  friendly  intercourse  shall  be  maintained  with  other  Protestant 
Societies  engaged  in  the  same  benevolent  design  of  propagating  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  following  is  from  the  "Summary  of  Proceedings  during  the  Sixth 
Year  of  the  Society's  existence,"  dated  "  July  184U." 

•'  Within  the  last  year,  twelve  new  labourers  have  been  dismissed  to  their 
respective  stations,  viz.— Miss  Holland  to  Smyrna  ;  Miss  Woodman  to 
Neyoor,  Travancore;  Miss  Puddicombe  to  Poonah,  Bombay;  Miss  Tunstall 
and  Miss  Huntly  to  the  Cape  ;  Miss  Wilson  to  Burdwan  ;  .^liss  IMacklin  to 
Bangalore  ;  MissHobbs,  MissTwiddy,  and  IMiss  Douglas  to  Ceylon  ;  the  two 
Misses  Baynes  to  Singapore.  The  total  number  sent  out  since  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Society  is  thirty-six,  of  whom  twenty-five  remain  in  direct  con- 
nexion with  the  Society,  and  two  have  died," 


240  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

friends :  so  that  once,  when  she  was  grown  up,  one  of 
her  parents,  mentioning  this  impression  in  her  favour, 
said,  "  I  don't  think,  Mary,  that  you  ever  told  a  false- 
hood in  your  life;"  she  replied,  with  much  emphasis, 
and  peculiar  emotion,  ''  Yes,  I  did  once,  to  screen  a 
friend  from  punishment ;  but  it  made  me  wretched  for 
a  long  time." 

Miss  Smith,  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years,  went 
from  home,  being  engaged  as  a  governess  in  a  small 
family  in  a  neighbouring  town ;  and  afterwards  she 
went  to  reside,  for  about  twelve  months,  with  a  pious 
lady  in  London.  Previously  to  this  event,  her  manners 
had  been  correctly  moral :  but  her  heart  had  not  yielded 
to  the  gracious  invitations  of  God  in  the  Gospel :  she 
had  the  form,  but  not  the  power  of  the  godliness.  "  I 
have  heard  her  say,"  her  sister  remarks,  "  that  she 
never  knew  what  true  piety  was,  till  she  saw  it  exhi- 
bited in  this  lady."  The  amiable  spirit  and  the  scrip- 
tural sentiments  of  this  exemplary  Christian,  impressed 
the  mind  of  Miss  Smith  that  religion  was  a  divine 
reality,  and  prepared  her  to  receive  further  impressions, 
which  resulted  in  her  conversion. 

Having  returned  to  the  country,  Divine  Providence 
led  her  into  another  family,  where  she  was  brought  out 
of  darkness  into  the  marvellous  light  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  From  her  infancy  she  had  attended  the  public 
worship  of  God ;  and  in  ^London  she  had  heard  the 
Gospel  fully  preached  with  all  fidelity;  but  at  the  time 
it  seemed  to  make  little  or  no  impression  upon  her  self- 
righteous  mind.     The  Bible  was  to  her  both  a  sealed 


MISS    SMITH.  241 

and  neglected  book,  as  she  never  studied  its  blessed 
testimony  with  prayer  ;  but  now  her  privileges  became 
prized,  her  understanding  was  enlightened,  and  she  felt 
the  sanctifying  power  of  the  Gospel,  rendered  effectual 
by  the  Divine  Spirit,  renovating  her  Avhole  soul.  Havinfy, 
therefore,  been  solemnly  convinced  of  her  danger  as  a 
sinner  against  God,  and  having  been  led  to  believe  on 
Jesus  Christ  for  life  and  salvation,  feeling  the  power  of 
the  glorious  Gospel  draw  her  heart  from  earthly  to 
heavenly  things,  she  was  delightfully  engaged  to  a 
serious  and  diligent  searcli  into  the  word  of  truth,  as 
the  means  of  her  sanctification  and  consolation. 

Although  Miss  Smith's  time  was  much  occupied  in 
the  education  of  three  young  ladies,  to  whom  she  w^as 
governess,  she  devoted  daily  many  hours  to  her  fa- 
vourite pursuit,  redeeming  the  time  for  sleep.  She 
committed  large  portions  of  the  Scriptures  to  her 
memory :  she  was  able  to  repeat  the  Books  of  Psalms, 
Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  Solomon's  Song,  the  Apostolical 
Epistles,  and  the  Book  of  the  Revelation.  She  had 
contrived  also  manv  methods  of  arranofino-  texts  of 
Scripture,  to  promote  her  own  spiritual  edification. 
Her  piety,  by  these  means,  became  matured  :  it  was  of 
a  deep  and  solid  character;  and  she  might  emphati- 
cally be  called  a  Bible  Christian, — that  sacred  volume 
being  the  only  visible  source  from  which  she  sought 
daily  wisdom  and  strength,  for  direction  in  all  things 
regarding  the  performance  of  her  various  duties. 

Miss  Smith,  having  finished  her  eno-ao-ements  with 
her   young   friends,    entered,    in    July    1830,    another 

R 


242  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

family,  in  which  she  was  again  entrusted  with  the 
education  of  three  young  ladies.  Her  religious  princi- 
ples and  character  were  honoured  in  this  situation,  and 
she  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  her  amiable  pupils,  not 
only  increase  in  knowledge,  and  make  satisfactory 
progress  in  learning,  but  every  one  of  them,  through 
the  Divine  blessing  on  her  instrumentality,  brought 
to  devote  themselves  to  God,  by  the  reception  of  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

She  now  directed  all  her  eneroies  to  the  dissemina- 

o 

tion  of  the  knowledcre  of  those   doctrines  which    had 

o 

been  so  blessed  to  herself:  she  established  a  Sunday- 
school  on  her  own  plan,  and  she  gave  a  weekly 
cottage  lecture  in  the  village —  a  mile  and  a  half 
distant,  —  never  allowing  the  inclement  weather  to 
prevent  her  attendance,  although  her  constitution  vvas 
far  from  strong.  It  pleased  her  heavenly  Father  to 
bless  her  labours  greatly,  many  being  thus  brought  to 
see  their  lost  and  ruined  condition  as  sinners,  and  to 
cherish  heart-felt  belief  in  the  gospel,  fleeing  for  salva- 
tion to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  She  was  also  active  in 
visiting  the  sick  and  poor  in  their  cottages,  and  in  cir  - 
culating  religious  tracts  and  books.  "  She  was  impor- 
tunate," her  sister  remarks,  "  at  the  throne  of  grace, 
never  allowing  anything  to  prevent  her  kneeling  and 
making  supplication  to  her  God  three  times  a  day,  after 
the  example  of  the  venerable  prophet  Daniel :  besides 
which  she  walked  in  a  sweet  spirit  of  prayer;  she 
enjoyed  much  comfort  in  religion,  many  delightful 
seasons,  in  which  she  felt,  with  overpowering  consola- 


MISS   SMITH.  243 

tions,  the  gracious  presence  of  God.  The  name  of 
Jesus  was  peculiarly  sweet  to  her,  and  in  her  daily- 
walk  and  conversation  there  was  a  holy  savour  of  the 
things  of  Christ.  She  dwelt  with  peculiar  delight 
on  the  glorious  covenant  of  Jehovah  ;  her  views  of  the 
subject  were  deep  and  solid,  and  her  meditations  were 
particularly  directed  to  the  all-sufficiency  of  her  Lord 
and  Saviour." 

Missions  to  the  heathen  could  not  fail  to  be  subjects 
which  would  be  deeply  interesting  to  a  person  influenced 
by  the  principles  of  the  gospel  as  was  IMiss  Smith.  A 
Christian  friend,  a  respected  minister,  about  this  time 
informed  her  of  the  recent  establishment  of  the  "  Society 
for  Promoting  Female  Education  in  the  East."  Her 
mind  dwelt  mucli  upon  the  arrangements  of  Divine 
Providence  in  favour  of  the  deoraded  females  in  India. 
She  was  now  especially  led  to  earnest  prayer  frequently 
for  the  heathen;  and  many  times  in  secret  did  she 
entreat  the  Lord,  if  it  were  his  holy  will,  to  open  the 
way  for  her  to  put  in  practice  the  purpose  she  had  now 
most  fully  at  heart, — that  of  consecrating  herself  more 
entirely  to  His  service,  by  becoming  a  missionary.  It 
pleased  the  Lord  to  hear  her  prayer  in  this  matter,  and 
to  grant  her  request.  "  She  offered  herself  as  a  candi- 
date to  the  Female  Education  Society;  she  was 
accepted  by  the  committee ;  and,  in  July  1838,  she 
forgot  her  own  people  and  her  father's  house,  that  she 
might  more  unreservedly  devote  herself  among  tlie 
natives  of  India,  in  the  service  of  God  and  Saviour." 

Miss   Smith   arrived    at   Bombay   on   the    13th    of 
R  2 


244  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

November.  Nasik  was  fixed  on  as  the  place  to  which 
she  was  to  proceed  in  her  appointed  labour ;  but  in 
consequence  of  unforeseen  circumstances,  it  was  ar- 
ranged, that  for  a  time  at  least,  she  should  remain  at 
Bombay.  She  was,  therefore,  received  into  the  family 
of  a  Christian  minister,  with  whom  she  laboured  among 
the  Indo-Britons ;  at  the  same  time  she  continued 
studying  the  Marathee  language.  She  remained  at 
Bombay  a  few  months,  and  then  proceeded  to 
Nasik,  to  aid  Mrs.  Stone,  wife  of  the  American 
Missionary,  in  the  schools  established  there.  Imme- 
diately on  her  arrival,  she  commenced  her  labours 
among  the  young;  in  which  she  found  great  delight, 
hoping  to  see,  at  an  early  period,  some  divine  fruits 
from  her  endeavours. 

Miss  Smith's  sojourn  at  Nasik,  however,  was  very 
short:  it  was  the  Lord's  will  to  dispense  with  her  cheerful 
services  in  his  cause,  removing  her  from  this  selected 
station  in  the  church  on  the  earth,  to  the  abodes  of  blessed- 
ness in  heaven.  The  small-pox  had  already  carried  off 
some  of  her  young  charge,  and  she  knew  of  the  disease, 
but  felt  no  alarm,  as  she  had  been  vaccinated.  She 
was,  nevertheless,  soon  attacked  by  that  dreadful 
disorder,  and  her  illness  was  unhappily  fatal,  termi- 
nating her  engagements  with  this  world  in  the  short 
space  of  a  week.  During  part  of  the  time  her  mind 
wandered  in  delirium,  through  the  prevalence  of  the 
fever :  however,  in  her  lucid  moments,  she  expressed 
herself  as  quite  happy  through  faith  in  the  promises  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus,  her  hope  and  confidence,  the  fruit 


MISS    SMITH.  245 

of  the  Spirit,  being  strong  in  the  Lord.  But  her  state 
of  mind  in  her  hist  days,  and  the  estimate  of  her 
character  in  relation  to  her  missionary  labours,  will  be 
best  understood  from  the  following  account  oiven  in  a 
letter  from  Mrs.  Stone,  wife  of  the  Rev.  C.  C.  Stone, 
American  Missionary  at  Nasik,  to  the  wife  of  the 
Rev.  G.  Candy  at  Bombay  : — 

'•'•  May  1,  1839. — Knowing  your  Christian  attach- 
ment to,  and  the  deep  interest  you  have  taken  in  the 
welfare  of,  our  highly  esteemed,  greatly  beloved,  and 
now  lamented  sister.  Miss  Smith,  I  feel  it  to  be  my 
Christian  duty,  however  painful,  to  give  you  some 
account  of  her,  since  her  arrival  in  Nasik,  until  her 
sudden  transit  from  this  vale  of  tears,  this  dark  world 
of  sin  and  sorrow,  to  the  world  of  light,  life,  and  bliss  in 
presence  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb.  Her  sojourn  among 
us  was  short,  but  sufficiently  long  to  make  us  feel  the 
loss  we  and  tlie  Nasik  Female  Schools  have  to  sustain 
by  her  deatli.  I  was  much  pleased  w^ith  the  humble 
and  ardent  piety  and  devotcdness  in  the  cause  of  our 
blessed  Lord  and  Master  which  she  uniformly  evinced, 
and  felt  that  I  had  great  cause  for  gratitude  to  you  for 
sending  a  helper  of  so  excellent  a  spirit  and  so  much 
promise,  to  share  with  me  in  the  arduous  duties,  trials, 
and  joys,  in  the  female  department  of  labour  in  this 
mission.  The  field  seemed  already  white  for  the 
harvest :  but,  alas !  how  soon  are  our  fondest  hopes 
and  most  sanguine  anticipations  blasted !  God  has,  in 
a  mysterious  providence,  seen  fit  to  remove  our  beloved 
sister  from  her  labours  in  the  churcli  militant,  to  the 


246  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

higher  employments  and  purer  joys  of  the  church 
triumphant.  He  can  and  will  carry  on  his  purposes  of 
mercy  among  the  nations  of  the  earth  by  such  instru- 
ments as  shall  abase  the  pride  of  man,  and  make  it 
manifest  that  all  the  glory  and  excellency  of  the  work 
redound  to  Him.  How  easily  He  can  dispense  with 
any  of  our  labours,  and  still  carry  on  His  work  of 
converting  His  heathen  people  without  us  ! 

"  From  the  time  of  Miss  Smith's  arrival  at  Nasik 
until  her  last  illness,  she  often  spoke  of  having  much 
less  head-ache,  and  feeling  better  otherwise,  than  while 
in  Bombay,  and  said  she  thought  the  Nasik  climate 
would  agree  with  her  better.  On  Monday,  the  9th  of 
April,  Miss  Smith  took  charge  of  the  education  of  the 
boarding  girls,  which  was  a  very  great  relief  to  me,  and 
enabled  me  to  devote  more  time  to  the  Marathee  school 
and  native  females.  From  that  time  to  the  21st,  she 
continued  to  instruct  them  almost  entirely  herself. 
Thursday  evening,  the  18th,  when  she  got  into  her  pa- 
lankeen to  go  out  to  take  the  air,  the  hamals  were  taking 
it  up,  she  at  the  same  time  attempting  to  shut  the  door, 
and  leaning  upon  one  side  of  the  palankeen,  it  rolled  over, 
and  she  fell  from  it  on  the  pavement,  which  quite 
stunned  her  for  a  few  moments.  She  soon  recovered 
herself,  however,  and  was  helped  vip  stairs,  and  laid  on 
her  couch.  She  suffered  a  good  deal  that  night,  and  the 
next  day  a  good  deal  from  head- ache,  and  scarcely  had 
recovered  from  the  shock,  before  she  was  taken  with 
the  small-pox.  She  did  not,  however,  suppose  she  was 
attacked  with  this  disease,  until  it  made  its  appearance 


MISS    SMITH.  247 

in  eruptions  on  her  hands,  face,  &c.  On  Tuesday,  the 
23rd  ult.,  the  assistant  apothecary  was  called  in,  and  he 
said  she  would  have  it  very  slightly;  indeed  he  thought 
she  would  suffer  very  little  from  it.  Every  thing  went 
on  favourably  as  w^e  could  wish  until  Friday,  the  26th. 
The  usual  remedies  were  duly  administered,  and  she 
was  very  comfortable :  but  on  Friday  noon  her 
symptoms  assumed  a  less  favourable  appearance :  her 
head  was  greatly  affected,  and  her  mind  became 
wandering.  We  sent  for  the  apothecary ;  who  came  and 
ordered  five  dozen  of  leeches  to  be  applied  to  her 
temples,  which  seemed  to  afford  her  relief.  She  had, 
however,  before  this  complained  of  a  wandering  state  of 
mind ;  but  it  was  not  perceptible  to  me.  I  often 
conversed  with  her  about  her  situation,  and  she  always 
expressed  herself  as  resigned  to  the  will  of  God  in  her 
severe  affliction;  and  said,  she  believed  it  was  sent 
upon  her  for  her  good,  and,  if  rightly  improved,  would 
work  out  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness.  This 
day,  in  her  lucid  moments,  I  spoke  to  her  of  her 
situation,  and  inquired  of  her  if  God,  in  his  righteous 
providence,  should  see  fit  to  take  her  away  in  this  sick- 
ness, if  she  had  any  fear  of  death  ?  She  said,  '  0,  no  ! 
not  the  least.'  Her  hope  and  confidence  were  strong 
in  the  Lord.  I  asked  her  if  she  would  like  me  to  read 
a  portion  of  Scripture  and  pray  w^th  her  :  she  said, 
'  Yes  ! '  and  selected  the  Iv.  chapter  of  Isaiah.  I  read 
it,  and  she  spoke  of  the  comforts  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
promises  therein  contained,  as  being  very  precious  to 
her.     After  prayer  she  seemed  much  more  composed 


248  BRITISH    FEMALE    MISSIONARIES. 

and  calm  in  her  mincL  In  the  course  of  the  day,  slie 
said  to  me,  '  I  understand  the  mysteries  of  providence 
in  regard  to  these  afflictions,  and  I  have  understood 
them  from  the  beginning;'  referring,  I  supposed,  to 
her  fall  from  the  palankeen.  I  said  to  her,  what  do  you 
understand  by  them  ?  Will  you  not  tell  me  ?  '  Yes,' 
she  said,  '  I  will  tell  you  and  Mr.  Stone  :  but  I  cannot 
tell  you  now.  I  will  tell  you  bye  and  bye.'  I  inquired 
of  her  again  respecting  this  subject ;  but  she  said  she 
could  not  tell  me.  She  was  very  anxious  that  ]Mr. 
Stone  and  I  should  remain  in  her  room  with  her,  and 
could  not  bear  to  have  me  away  from  her  a  moment ; 
and  said  she  wanted  '  to  have  only  those  about  her,  who 
had  a  Christian  mind.'  I  was  with  her  the  greater  part 
of  the  day,  as  much  as  my  other  duties  would  allow. 
Even  after  this  I  conversed  with  her  frequently,  when 
her  mind  was  clear,  upon  the  subject  of  death,  of  the 
comforts,  and  precious  promises  of  the  gospel  to  the 
humble  and  believing  soul,  and  she  ever  seemed  to 
receive  great  consolation  in  these  promises. 

"  Sabbath  evening  she  appeared  quite  comfortable, 
and  sat  up  in  her  chair  by  the  window  to  breathe  the 
fresh  invigorating  air.  Her  mind  was  then  quite 
clear  :  I  asked  her  if  the  Saviour  was  still  precious  to 
her,  and  if  she  could  commit  the  keeping  of  her  soul  to 
Him  ?  '  Oh  yes  !  '  she  replied,  '  I  have  great  comfort 
and  consolation  in  Him.'  I  asked  her  which  would  be 
her  preference,  to  die  and  go  to  the  Saviour,  where  she 
should  be  for  ever  happy,  and  where  she  would  be  free 
from   sin,  or  recover!     She  said  she  had  a  desire  to 


MISS  .SMITH.  249 

r^^cover,  that  she  might  do  good  to  the  boarding-girls,  in 
whom  she  took  great  interest.  I  told  her  we  had 
special  prayers  in  our  churcli  for  her,  and  that  w^e  also 
remembered  her  in  our  family  and  private  devotions. 
She  seemed  to  have  been  quite  lost  for  some  time,  and 
was  surprised  to  hear  me  speak  of  its  being  Sunday. 
She  complained  much  of  her  mind  wandering,  and  that 
she  could  not  fix  it  upon  the  Saviour,  or  any  other 
object  as  she  desired ;  yet  she  was  happy  and  peaceful. 
"  Yesterday  about  noon,  I  went  into  her  room,  and 
said  to  her,  '  How  do  you  now  feel  ? '  '  Oh,'  slie  said, 
'  I  feel  much  better  ;  the  girls  have  been  singing  some 
sweet  precious  hymns,  and  I  am  so  happy,  my  dear 
Mrs.  Stone.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  happy  I  feel. 
Jesus  !  how  precious  is  He  to  my  soul !  Oh,  what 
comfort  and  consolation  do  I  find  in  Him  !  '  '  Yes,'  I 
said,  '  He  is  indeed  a  very  precious  Saviour,  and  your 
faith  and  hope  are  so  strong  in  Him,  that  if  even  death 
itself  should  come,  you  would  fear  no  evil ! '  '  Oh,  no  ! ' 
she  replied.  I  then  spoke  to  her  of  the  joys  of  the 
eternal  world,  and  the  unspeakable  happiness  and 
blessedness  of  those  who  enter  there,  where  they  Vv^ill 
sing.  Glorify  and  honour^  and  praise  to  Him  tcho  sittetJi 
upon  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb,  for  ever  and  ever  ! 
Her  soul  seemed  to  be  elevated  above  the  world,  and 
her  mouth  was  full  of  the  praise  of  her  Redeemer ; 
and  she  said  to  me,  '  Dear  Mrs.  Stone,  do  pray  for  me.' 
I  did  so:  she  seemed  to  enjoy  the  season  much.  In  the 
course  of  the  afternoon,  she  held  up  her  hands,  and 
looking  at  them,  said  to  me,  '  My  dear  Mrs.  Stone,  did 


250  BRITISH    FEMALE   MISSIONARIES. 

not  the  doctor  say,  in  two  days  more,  by  tlie  blessing 
of  God,  these  hands  will  look  much  better,  and  the 
swelling  will  have  gone  down  ? '  I  said,  '  Yes,  he  said 
so :  and  we  hope  this  will  be  the  case.'  She  appeared 
much  better  durinoj  the  afternoon,  took  the  congie  and 
other  nourishment  with  much  better  relish  than  she 
had  done  for  some  days,  so  that  I  felt  quite  encouraged 
about  her.  But  about  sunset  the  fever  returned,  her 
mind  became  wandering,  and  she  was  heard  to  be 
talking  about  her  parents,  brothers,  and  sisters,  &c.  ; 
after  which  she  uttered  a  short  prayer,  and  closed  with 
saying,  '  Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to 
the  Holy  Ghost— Amen; '  which  were  her  last  words 
she  was  heard  to  utter.  She  remained  in  a  state  of 
insensibility,  until  she  expired  without  a  struggle,  at 
half-past  nine  o'clock  !  Our  great  and  unexpected  loss 
is  her  great  and  unspeakable  gain  ;  as  she  is  now  gone 
where  she  is  singing  with  the  happy  there  around  the 
throne  of  God  ! " 

Miss  Smith's  labours  in  the  church  of  Christ  on  earth, 
compared  with  those  of  many  others,  were  but  very 
inconsiderable ;  her  missionary  career  was  painfully 
short ;  and  her  mortal  course  was  closed  in  a  manner 
altogether  anticipated.  Such  was,  however,  the  wise 
and  holy  appointment  of  her  heavenly  Father.  But 
her  friends  have  this  satisfaction,  that  she  lived  to  good 
purpose  after  she  became  a  decided  Christian.  Her 
several  pupils,  who  were  privileged  to  enjoy  her  dili- 
gent care  in  her  native  land,  have  reason  to  bless  God 
for  her  instructions,  her   example,   and   her   prayers. 


MISS    SMITH.  251 

Divine  Goodness  also  honoured  her  endeavours  to  pro- 
mote the  spiritual  welfare  of  her  beloved  connexions 
and  friends  ;  and  her  living  illustration  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ  was  made  instrumental  in  conveying  imperish- 
able benefits  to  her  ow^n  family  :  for,  chiefly  through 
her  influence,  several  members  of  it  were  led  to  attend 
seriously  to  the  things  belonging  to  their  everlasting 
peace,  and  thus  to  seek  their  own  salvation.  The  loss 
of  so  truly  amiable  and  endeared  a  relative  was  deeply 
felt  by  them  ;  but  they  bowed  with  humble  resignation 
to  the  Divine  will ;  and  wdiile  they  admired  her  self- 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer,  her  early  removal 
from  this  world  appears  to  have  been  rendered  the 
means  of  their  confirmation  in  the  ways  and  service  of 
God  her  Saviour ! 


THE    END. 


LONDON : 
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