Men of might in India missions; the leaders and their epochs, 1706-1899

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PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY
PRESENTED BY

Hamlll Missionary Fund

~BV~3265 7h65 1901

Holcomb, Helen H. b. 1836.
Men of might in India
missions

MEN OF MIGHT

IN

INDIA MISSIONS

MEN OF MIGHT

IN

INDIA MISSIONS

The Leaders and Their Epochs
1706-1899

By HELEN H. HOLCOMB

AUTHOR OF

^^ Mabel's Summers in the Himalayas " ^'•Bits About India "
FULLY ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO

FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
1901

Copyright 1901

by

FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

(September)

DEDICATION

To the young men and maidens whose hearts
God has touched, and who in life's fair morning,
looking out over the world's great harvest-Held,
are asking, " Lord, zvhat wilt thou have me to
do?" this volume is dedicated with the prayer
that some of those who read these pages, hearing
the voice of the Lord saying as He did to His
prophet Isaiah, " Whom shall I send, and who
will go for us?" may answer as did the prophet,
" Here am I; send me."

Among the books which have been consulted and
from which aid has been received, are the following:

Fenger's History of the Tranquebar Mission ; The Land
of the Tamulians and its Missions, by the Rev. E. R.
Baierlein; Letters of Ziegenbalg and Pliitschau; Pearson's
Life of Schwartz; Life and Times of Carey, Marsh-
man and Ward, by John Clark Marshman ; Christianity
in India, by the Rev. J. Hough; Life of William
Carey, Life of Alexander Duff, Life of John Wilson,
Life of Henry Martyn, by George Smith, CLE., LL.D. ;
Memoir of Henry Martyn, by the Rev. John Sargent;
Life of Gordon Hall, by the Rev. Horatio Bardwell ; Life
of Charles T. E. Rhenius, by his son; The Tinnevelly
Mission, by the Rev. G. Pettitt; Life of the Rev. John
Scudder, by the Rev. J. B. Waterbury, D.D. ; True
Yoke-Fellows in the Mission Field: being the Life
and Labours of the Rev. John Anderson and the Rev.
Robert Johnston, by the Rev. J. Braidwood ; Memoir of
the Rev. R. T. Noble, by has brother, the Rev. John
Noble. To the very interesting sketch by the Rev. S. A.
Gayley, the writer is indebted for the facts connected
with the early years of the Rev. Isidor Loewenthal, and
of his life in America after his arrival in that country.
From the reports sent by Mr. Loewenthal to the Mission
Board in America, have been gleaned all that relates to
his life and work as a missionary in India.

CONTENTS

PAGI

I. Bartholomew Ziegenbalg. 1706-1719. . . 13
•II. Christian Frederick Schwartz. 1750-1798 . 39
ill. William Carey, Joshua Marshman and Will-
iam Ward. 1 793-1 837 65

IV.#Henry Martyn. 1 806-1 81 2 97

V. Jjordon Hall. 1812-1826. . . . .125

VI. Charles T. E. Rhenius. 1814-1838. . . 150

VII. John Scudder. 1819-1855 167

VIII. John Wilson. 1829-1875 190

;, IX, Alexander Duff. 1830-1863 213

X. John Anderson. 1837-1855. . , . 240

XI. Robert T. Noble. 1841-1865 267

XII. Isidor Loewenthal. 1855- 1864. . . . 292

XIII. Samuel H. Kellogg. 1864- 1899. . . .320

ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

The Pioneers Frontispiece

Fortress at Tranquebar . . . . . .26

Rock at Trichinopoly 46

Christ Church, Tan j ore . . . r . . 62
Serampore College . . . . . . .88

A Group of Veterans 106

John 3 : 16 in India Languages 138

Village Temple 158

Carrying Grain to Market 176

Malabar Hill 208

Duff College 229

A Busy Village Street 248

Anderson Hall 264

Noble Memorial 288

Fort Jumrood 302

Dr. Kellogg and his Pundit 338

INTRODUCTION

Those lives which have been distinguished for
eminent usefulness in connection with Missions
in any part of the world, when truly sketched,
are, aside from the history with which they are
associated, highly entertaining and edifying. The
interest we feel in such biographies is, however,
greatly enhanced when the influence which they
individually exerted upon other workers is clearly
traced, and when the links connecting their indi-
vidual services are shown. Especially interesting
and instructive, in this point of view, is the earlier
history of missionary work in India. To trace
these historical connections from the beginning
to the times of the great Serampore men, and
of that other distinguished trio — Wilson, Duff and
Anderson — at Bombay, Calcutta and Madras re-
spectively, has been one object of this book.

Grand as that beginning was which Bartholo-
mew Ziegenbalg, aided by his devoted coadjutor,
John Ernest Grundler, made at Tranquebar, in
spite of difficulties which to men of another mould
than his would doubtless have appeared insur-
mountable, the results of the efforts which he put
forth so strenuously during the twelve and a half
years of missionary service which brought his life
7

3 Introduction

to a close, might as to fruits which should follow
them, have counted for nothing, and might soon
have passed into oblivion, had not the God of Mis-
sions raised up other men of like devotion to per-
petuate the work so well begun by him, and had
not his influence upon others been such as to in-
cline them zealously to follow in his steps.

Truly the way in which India's evangelisation
under Protestant auspices commenced showed
clearly that God intended India to be evangelised.

The next epoch-making missionary sent out
from Halle to the Danish Mission at Tranquebar
was Christian Frederick Schwartz. Although not
born until seven years after Ziegenbalg's death,
the influence of Ziegenbalg still survived to incline
him to dedicate his life to the missionary work.
The link connecting Ziegenbalg and Schwartz
was Schultz, selected by Grundler, whose mission-
ary career, like that of Ziegenbalg, was early
closed, and who survived his fellow-labourer but
little more than a year. Schultz took up the work
of translating the Scriptures where Ziegenbalg
had left it, and returning to Europe to Halle to
superintend the printing of a new edition of the
Bible in Tamil, became acquainted with young
Schwartz, a student living in Professor Francke's
orphan house, where the returned missionary had
found a lodging. His unusual aptitude for lin-
guistic studies, attracted the attention of Schultz,
who easily persuaded him to acquire a sufficient
knowledge of Tamil to qualify him to render some

Introduction 9

needed assistance in correcting the printing of the
Bible for India, and when Francke made inquiries
for new men for India, Schwartz was easily per-
suaded to go.

We must now note the connection between the
Tranquebar Mission and the work of Carey and
his coadjutors. But for the work inaugurated at
Tranquebar by the Danish King, Frederick the
Fourth, Carey would not have been able to obtain
any foothold in Bengal. Never was dynamiter
more closely w^atched than was the first English
missionary by the English East India Company.
But God's purpose could not be thwarted. He
had prepared beforehand a refuge for His servant,
and so when he was forced to flee from the threats
of his own countrymen who refused to give him
any sort of shelter under the British flag, he found
sympathy and success at the Danish settlement of
Serampore, sixteen miles by river from Calcutta,
where the Danish governor Col. Bie, assured him
of his friendship and the protection of his Gov-
ernment. Following upon this reception and a
correspondence with the Court of Copenhagen,
came a stringent command to Col. Bie. Thus
were Carey, Marshman and Ward led to settle
at Serampore, which on account of what these
" men of might " accomplished there will ever be
regarded by those interested in missions as one
of the most sacred spots in India.

But why was Col. Bie so deeply interested in
these servants of God? During the earlier years

lo Introduction

of his service — perhaps at old Tranquebar — ^he
had come under Schwartz's influence, had received
great good through him, and ever after had
counted it one of the great privileges of his life
to have enjoyed the delightfully evangelical min-
istrations of this good and great man. Thus the
seed sown in that early Tamil Mission bore fruit
for the Serampore work.

So too who that has eyes to see can fail to ob-.
serve the wonder-working providence of God in
bringing together at Serampore five such men as
William Carey, Joshua Marshman, William
Ward, Henry Martyn and David Brown? Eccle-
siastically two of them were widely separated from
the other three ! Yet united in heart, all alike were
consumed with zeal for the evangelisation of the
people of India, how they prayed together, and
how they worked! With what devoted energy
they gave themselves unitedly to the gigantic
work of preparing translations of the Word of
God in the various vernaculars of the people
among whom their lot was cast, and versions for
the heathen of other lands besides! How vast
their designs, how amazing their endeavours, and
how wonderful their accomplishments! With
such men, and others in whole-hearted sympathy
with them, like the godly Danish governor of
Serampore, Dr. Claudius Buchanan across the
river at Barrackpore, Wilberforce and the Grants
— father and son — in the British Parliament, all
uniting in prayer with many in Britain to en-

Introduction ii

sure the removal from the British nation of a
great reproach, is it surprising that the year 1 813,
when the charter of the East India Company was
again renewed, should be made forever memor-
able in the annals of Protestant missions for the
emancipation of British India, by the withdrawal
of the prohibition to give the Gospel of Jesus
Christ to its perishing millions? Truly the men
of that time were epoch-making men.

That same momentous decision which removed
the bands from the Serampore company opened
the doors of Bombay and West India to Gordon
Hall, the worthy leader of the great body of
American Missionaries in that land. It also made
South India accessible to Charles E. T. Rhenius
and John Scudder, the one preserving the con-
tinuity of the labours of Ziegenbalg and Schwartz
while the other and his seven missionary sons
performed a service not measured only by the
foreign field where they laboured.

Following close upon these came those human
exemplars of what educational work as an evan-
gelising agency can do for India — John Wilson,
Alexander Duff, John Anderson and Robert T.
Noble. No better missionary work has ever been
done in India than these men did, and great was
their reward.

Says Dr. W. Fleming Stevenson, in his little
book, '' The Dawn of the Modern Mission," '' The
distinguished biographer of Dr. Duff has linked
the first Protestant Mission in India with our

12 Introduction

own time, for he tells us that it was only six
years after Ziegenbalg sailed for India that Kier-
nander was born, and when he was eighty-three,
he received a visit from Carey, who records the
fresh ardour he derived from the still burning
fire of the aged saint, as he waited quietly by the
Ganges for the summons of his Lord, and how
three years before Carey died, a young High-
lander sprang out of his boat at Serampore, and
turning into the study of the mission house, saw
what seemed to be a little, shrivelled old man in
a white jacket, who, when he heard the name,
rose from his book, tottered to meet his visitor,
and stretching out his arms, solemnly blessed
him."

It derogates nought from the meed which Alex-
ander Duff's name deserves, to say that not less
significant of a splendid missionary career would
that benediction in after years appear to have been,
if it had been bestowed upon either of those con-
temporaries of Duff — John Wilson, John Ander-
son, or Robert Turlington Noble.

No sketches of lives devoted to God's work in
India are more worthy to be included in this
volume than those of Isidor Loewenthal and
Samuel Henry Kellogg, for they were distinct-
ively " men of might " as missionaries. Dis-
tinguished for talents of the highest order, their
great abilities were put to highest use for the ad-
vancement of that cause to which their lives had
been consecrated.

James Foote Holcomb.

I

BARTHOLOMEW ZIEGENBALG

THE BEGINNING OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN
INDIA

I706-I719

Not far from the city of Dresden is the little
town of Pulsnitz. It lies in a valley surrounded
by green meadows, and is hemmed round by
thick forests. On the 24th of June, 1683, in one
of the most quiet homes in this green valley, a
son was born. The parents, Bartholomew and
Catherine Ziegenbalg, were plain people, grave
and upright. The boy, to whom was given his
father's name, was left an orphan at the age of
six. The circumstances connected with the death
of his mother were graven indelibly on his
memory,

' Around the bedside in the darkened room were
gathered the weeping children. Raising herself
by a great effort, the mother in a feeble voice
said, " My dear children, I am leaving to you a
great treasure, a very great treasure."
? The eldest daughter, bending over the mother,
said in tones of surprise, " A treasure ! dear
mother. Where is that treasure ? "

" Seek it in the Bible," the dying mother re-
13

14 Men of Might in India Missions

; plied. " I have watered every page with my
j tears."

The boy left an orphan at so early an age,
was tenderly cared for by his elder sister, who
lavished upon the delicate child almost the affec-
tion of a mother.

As the schools in his native town were poor,
Bartholomew was early sent to a gram.mar school
in a neighbouring town. At fourteen years of
age, he entered the high school of Gorlitz. Pas-
sionately fond of music, he naturally sought the
companionship of those possessed of a kindred
taste. At a musical class, he one day met a
student older than himself who spoke eloquently
of " the harmonies of spiritual life and of the
harmony between God and man which had been
lost by the fall and restored by Christ. Only
those who understand this," said he, " know what
music really is."

This apparently accidental meeting was the
beginning of a friendship greatly blessed to Zie-
genbalg. Every day the two friends met to-
gether to read the Scriptures and to pray. Now
for the first time the young man felt that he fully
understood the words of his dying mother. The
Bible had become in his own experience a very
great treasure.

After much prayerful consideration, the young
student resolved to devote his life to the Gospel
ministry. To help in fitting him for his chosen
work, after visiting several universities, he de-

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 15

cided to prosecute his studies at the University of
Halle, in order to be under the instruction of
Professor August Hermann Francke. He en-
tered this University in 1703 and was delighted
to find himself in the society of congenial spirits.
At the end of the session, the health of the enthu-
siastic student gave way, and with a decline of
physical strength, the thought took possession
of him that he had chosen a profession for which
he did not possess the necessary gifts.

In his perplexity, feeling the need of counsel,
he carried his trouble to his instructors. Asso-
ciated with Prof. Francke in the University was
Dr. Breithaupt, a man of great wisdom.

Ziegenbalg, advised to weigh well the question
of a vocation in life, suggested " Perhaps some
modest place might be found for me where fewer
gifts would be required than in the Gospel min-
istry."

" Requests for teachers are sent to Halle from
all parts," answered Dr. Breithaupt, " and we
can scarcely supply the demand, but to lead one
soul from among the heathen to God, is as much,
as if in Europe, one brought a hundred, for here,
the means and opportunities abound and there
they have none."

This remark made a deep impression at the
time and was never forgotten.

Before going to Halle, Ziegenbalg had spent
two months in Berlin with great advantage and
the inspiration of Lange's ripe scholarship and

1 6 Men of Might in India Missions

rare gift of teaching told upon him for life. One
session only was spent at Halle, as the state of
his health forbade a return to university life.
After leaving Halle he accepted a position as
tutor in the town of Merseburg, and though his
stay in this place was short, he ever remembered
with gratitude the time spent there. We shall
hear of one of his pupils again.

To Erfurt he went from Merseburg and here
a wide field of usefulness seemed opening before
him, when he was laid aside by illness. The in-
valid now found, as he had on previous occasions,
an asylum in the hospitable home of his elder
sister, where a year was spent. On his recovery,
Ziegenbalg was invited to go to Werder, twenty
miles from Berlin, to take charge of a parish for
two months during the absence of the pastor.
Gladly he accepted the invitation and while in
temporary charge of this field, there came to him
the Master's call to enter upon the supreme work
of his life.

In the year 1612 the Danes had established at
Copenhagen, a company with a view to embark
in commerce with India. The first vessel arrived
on the Coromandel coast in 161 6 and was soon
followed by others. In the year 1621 a treaty
was concluded with the Rajah of Tan j ore by
which a tract of country five miles long by
three miles broad on the Eastern coast, was
ceded to the Danes. At Tranquebar, the fort
named Dansborg was built, and above this floated

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 17 .

the Danish flag. At the time when the building
of the fort began, the foundation of a church was
laid and the fortress and the Christian sanctuary
rose side by side. The new settlement rapidly
increased in prosperity, and the harbour was
crowded with shipping.

Chaplains were sent out to minister to the
Danes and the Germans in the employment of the
Company. But the propagation of Christianity
among the people of India formed no part of the
design of the first Danish settlers. The Danes
had been in possession of Tranquebar more than
eighty years before they gave themselves any con-
cern about the souls of the people around them.

When King Frederick IV. ascended the throne^
of Denmark, he found the treasury exhausted
and the affairs of the Kingdom in a very un-
settled condition; but when quiet was restored
to his dominions at home, he turned his thoughts
to his Eastern possessions and was prepared to
lend a willing ear when Dr. Liitkens, one of the
court chaplains, set before his Majesty the duty
of providing means whereby his Indian subjects
could be made acquainted with the Gospel.

When the King began to make inquiries for ,
men willing to undertake a mission to India, Dr.
Liitkens offered himself for this service.

" No,'* said the King, " I cannot send that hoary
head to encounter the dangers of the voyage and
the devouring heat of the Indian climate. Seek
younger men. It is a work for them."

1 8 Men of Might in India Missions

Gladly Dr. Liitkens entered upon such a quest,
but in the Church in Denmark he found not one
willing and fitted for such a work.

When this report was made to the King, he ex-
claimed, '' I am grieved not a little. What ! Not
one such instrument ready for the Master's use
in all my kingdom ! Seek for men in Germany."

Ziegenbalg was at this time throwing all his
soul into the pastoral work in Werder. His de-
votion to duty, his diligence, his habits of self-
denial and his acquirements had won for him
favourable recognition, and his name was pro-
posed to Dr. Liitkens as a man eminently fitted
for the proposed undertaking. Dr. Francke of
Halle gave to the selection his hearty approval,
and proposed as his companion in labour, Henry
Pliitschau, a man of like mind.

The two young men, after prayerfully consider-
ing the matter, decided to accept the call, regard-
ing it as God's appointment for them.

Speedily settling their private affairs, on the
8th of October, 1705, according to the directions
received, they proceeded to Copenhagen to be ex-
amined for ordination. The King and his chap-
lains received the two candidates with great
kindness, but no one besides, not even the Bishop,
felt much interest in the proposed mission. The
young men were not on this account discouraged,
and on the 24th of November, 1705, they em-
barked for India.

The voyage, impeded by frequent storms, lasted

Bartholomew Ziegcnbalg 19

eight months. Much of the time spent on the sea
was occupied in the study of Portuguese, as a
knowledge of this language would enable them to
enter upon work immediately on their arrival,
as it was spoken by a large numiber of the people
on the eastern coast of India.

On the 9th of July, 1706, the ship in which
the two pioneer missionaries had made the voy-
age, anchored in the harbour of Tranquebar.
Presently boats pushed out from the shore, and
the passengers, the ship's officers and the freight
were all landed, but the missionaries, greatly to
their surprise and disappointment, were left on
the ship. A day passed, and yet another, and still
they waited. At length the captain of a ship at
anchor near their own, filled with compassion for
the patient strangers, brought them to his own
vessel and had them rowed to the shore. As
they approached the land, native boatmen rushed
out to pull them through the surf; but an effort
was made to prevent this.

No voice in this strange land, bade them wel-
come. Instead, they were ordered to remain out-
side the gate until the Governor had leisure to
attend to them. It was a long anxious day, for
the Governor with his Council did not arrive
until four o'clock in the afternoon. What had
brought them to the country, the Governor curtly
asked. When they had made known their mis-
sion and presented their credentials signed by the
King's own hand and bearing the royal seal, the

20 Men of Might in India Missions

Governor replied, that he could do nothing for
them, and advised them to return without delay
to their own country. Then turning his back
upon the missionaries he was followed by his
suite as he returned to his mansion and the
strangers were once more left alone. While they
waited in the gathering darkness, one of the
Governor's suite, more humane than his chief,
offered to conduct the missionaries to the house of
his father-in-law, where they would find a tem-
porary asylum.

The Danish East India Company had no sym-
pathy with the desire of the King to evangelize
the heathen in his Eastern dominions, and secret
instructions had been despatched to the Governor
in Tranquebar, authorizing him to offer every op-
position, and on no account to further the enter-
prise.

A few days after their arrival, the missionaries
were permitted to occupy a house close to the
heathen and Portuguese quarter. Ziegenbalg
began at once to acquaint himself with the rudi-
ments of the Tamil language, though prosecut-
ing the study under great difficulties, without
books and without a teacher. A Malabar school-
master was at length persuaded to bring his
pupils to the house occupied by the missionaries,
who were allowed to becomje learners. And so
we have the picture of these two pioneer mis-
sionaries, sitting day after day, cross-legged on
the floor, by the side of the Malabarian children,

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 21

and gravely making letters in the sand, as did
they ; and at the same time learning the sound of
the letters.

By constant intercourse with the people, Zie-
genbalg became, before many months, familiar
with the colloquial Tamil, and eight months after
his arrival, preached his first extempore sermon.
He very early began to make a collection of such
books as would give him some knowledge of the
native mind. This unique library was composed
of strips of the palmyra palm leaf, punctured
with a stylus and then fastened together.

" I chose such books," wrote Ziegenbalg, " as
I should wish to imitate, both in speaking and
writing and had such authors read to me a hun-
dred times, that there might not be a word or
expression which I did not know, or could not
imitate."

It was customary at that time for natives in
times of scarcity to sell themselves for food and
raiment, and great numbers of the people had
thus come into the possession of the Danes and
the Germans. The condition of this wretched
class excited the deepest pity in the hearts of
the missionaries. They, accordingly sent a
memorial to the Governor begging him to in-
struct the Protestant owners of these slaves to
send them two hours a day to the mission house
for instruction. The Governor promised compli-
ance, the more readily as he had a short time
before received instructions from the King to

r

22 Men of Might in India Missions

forward to the utmost, the work in which the
missionaries were engaged.

On the 1 2th of May, 1707, ten months after
the arrival of Ziegenbalg and his companion, the
rite of Christian baptism was, for the first time
administered, five of the slaves who had been
under Christian instruction, receiving the ordi-
nance, after having been publicly examined in
the Danish Church.

The missionaries now began to feel the need
of a house of worship in which to hold Tamil
services. The Governor opposed the project and
threw every obstacle possible in the way of ob-
taining a site for the proposed building. A suit-
able site was however secured on the road near
the sea-shore and in the midst of the Tamil
population. In great poverty, but in strong faith,
the work was begun. The foundation-stone was
laid on the 14th of June, 1707, and two months
later, on the 14th of August, the new sanctuary
was dedicated to the worship of God, in the pres-
ence of a large company. To the church was
given the name of " Jerusalem."

From the beginning, much attention was be-
stowed by the missionaries upon the Christian in-
struction of the young. ' '' It is a thing known
to all persons of understanding," wrote Ziegen-
balg, " that the general good of any country or
nation depends upon a Christian and careful
training of children in schools, due care and dili-
gence in this matter, producing wise governors in

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 23

the State, faithful ministers of the Gospel in the
Church and good members of the Commonwealth \
in families." The schools into which the chil- \
dren of this infant mission were gathered, were
indeed nurseries of piety.

Ziegenbalg's knowledge of the language and
literature of the country, made him a skillful de-
bater and his fame extended beyond Danish ter-
ritory. His first tour outside the Danish domin-
ions, was made in the spring of 1708, to a town
in the kingdom of Tan j ore, where he had a con-
ference with the Brahmins and left with them
messages from the Gospel written on strips of
the palmyra leaf.

In July of this same year, he visited by invita-
tion, the Dutch settlement of Negapatam. On his
arrival, one of the magistrates invited the Brah-
mins and other learned men to meet for a con-
ference on religious subjects. A great concourse
of people assembled to hear the discussion, which
lasted five hours.

The evangelistic tours undertaken by this zeal-
ous missionary were not unattended with danger.
At a great heathen festival near Madras, he
laboured incessantly for five days, proclaiming to
the crowds which gathered around him, the way
of salvation through Christ. Overcome by fa-
tigue, he sought a quiet place in which to rest.
His movements were watched by an angry priest,
who whispered that he would soon silence that
ready tongue. A lad from one of the schools

24 Men of Might in India Missions

heard the threat and roused the sleeping mis-
sionary just as the blow was about to fall.

• In the midsummer of 1708, a ship arrived from
Denmark bringing for the work of the mission
$1,000, half the expected amount. The other
half, with letters for the missionaries, had been
put on board another ship which had been
wrecked. This was a sore disappointment, but
a greater was in store for them. In landing
the cargo, the package containing the money for
the mission, fell into the sea and was never re-
covered. And now their enemies said derisively,
"did we not tell you that heaven is very high
above our heads and Copenhagen very far off ? "
But in this time of trial, when their funds were
exhausted, the missionaries found that they had
friends as well as enemies. One after another
came forward, begging their acceptance of such
sums as they required, the amount to be repaid,
when funds should arrive from Europe.
r In October, 1708, Ziegenbalg began a transh-
ip tion of the New Testament Scriptures into Tamil.
Great difficulties attended such an undertaking,
as the native teachers could give little efficient
help. The Greek text was closely followed, and
the Latin, German, Dutch, Portuguese and Dan-
ish versions were consulted, together with the
best commentaries at command. To this impor-
tant work Ziegenbalg devoted himself with great
diligence, rightly declaring that great progress in

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 25

Christianity could not be expected until the peo-
ple possessed the word of God in their own
language. — y

While engaged in translating the word of God
and at the same time busily carrying forward
various kinds of missionary work, hindrances be-
gan to increase. Ziegenbalg wrote thus of the
situation. '' God gave His rich blessing to all
that we tried to do in His name and yet we had a
determined opposition. The Commandant and
the whole Privy Council, tried in every way to
impede the holy vv^ork, so that at last it seemed
as if they wished to exterminate both us and our
congregations." And this was indeed their aim.

Pliitschau was charged with rebellion against
authority, arrested and publicly dragged through
the streets. Ziegenbalg's turn soon came. ' An
official appeared one day before the entrance to
the mission-house with a mandate for the imme-
diate arrest of Ziegenbalg who was dragged
away, the native inhabitants looking on in speech-
less amazement. On reaching the fortress, he
was thrust into an inner prison, a mere cell,
where the heat was so great that life- could hardly
be endured and here he was allowed to languish
for four months./ He was guarded by soldiers
and his friends were not permitted to visit him.

When he had spent a month in his cell, he was
one night awakened by his guard, and writing
materials, which had been denied him, were

26 Men of Might in India Missions

passed into his cell, with a whispered message
that all the inhabitants of the town, Christians
and heathens, felt sincere sympathy for him.

The Governor had not expected that the man,
hitherto so full of fiery zeal, would manifest so
brave and patient a spirit, and fearing longer to
keep an innocent man in confinement, requested
his prisoner to write a letter, asking for his re-
lease. This Ziegenbalg consented to do, moved
by pity for his congregation, v/hose condition
sorely grieved him/.

When he, who had suffered so unjustly, once
more appeared among his people, every hand was
stretched out to grasp his and the Malabarian
congregation, gathering about him, wept tears
of joy.

The summer of 1709 brought not only relief
from many trials, but ushered in a season of
greater prosperity than the mission had hitherto
enjoyed. Financial help came both from Den-
mark and Germany ; and, greatest joy of all, three
additional labourers arrived from Europe. The
enemies of the mission were confounded. They
had hoped that the trials through which the mis-
sionaries had been called to pass, would lead them
to decide to abandon the work and return to their
own country. Instead, they were extending their
borders and new labourers had been added to
their number. To add to their discomfiture, the
same ship which had brought reinforcements for
the mission and means with which to carry on

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 27

and extend the work, brought also from the King
of Denmark, to the Governor of Tranquebar, ex-
plicit commands to render to the missionaries
whatever assistance or protection they might
need.

One of the new missionaries, Johann Ernst
Griindler, became a tower of strength to the
mission. Out of the money at this time received
from Europe $1,000 was expended in the pur-
chase of a dwelling-house for the now large mis-
sion family. The new home was consecrated with
a service of prayer and praise.

During this memorable year, new friends were
raised up for the infant mission. The Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,
established in the year 1701 and having for its
sole object the supplying of the British Colonies
with clergymen, in token of the interest felt in
the work of the Danish Mission in India, voted a
present of £20; and this gift, it is believed, rep-
resents the first English offering upon the mis-
sion altar. A small sum, this gift appears in
this age, but it was no inconsiderable amount at
that time. With this gift of money was also sent
a present of valuable books. Ziegenbalg went
himself to Madras to receive those gifts. The
distance from Tranquebar was thirty-six German
miles and was performed partly in palanquin and
partly on horseback. Before leaving Tranquebar,
the missionary obtained permission from the
Rajah of Tan j ore, to travel through his domin-

28 Men of Might in India Missions

ions and to preach the Gospel wherever he found
the people willing to receive the message.

A month was spent in Madras, a time of great
refreshment, both of mind and body, and new
friends were raised up for the mission.

War was at this time going on between Swe-
den and Denmark and when, in 1710, the Danes
met with reverses, many persons prominent in
the affairs of State, expressed great unwillingness
to send money abroad to promote an object of
such remote interest, when funds were urgently
needed to provide ships and soldiers for the de-
fence of the Kingdom; and, in consequence, the
mission cause in Tranquebar suffered for lack of
financial aid. To add to the pecuniary embarrass-
ment, during the same year, the city was
visited by a disastrous flood in which much of
the property belonging to the mission was in-
jured or destroyed. And now another friend was
found for the struggling mission, in the Society
for Promoting Christian Knowledge, which
had been established in London in 1699, having
for its object the promoting of religion in the
British Colonies. It was at this time proposed,
in view of the need of funds for carrying on the
work of the Danish Mission in Tranquebar, to
raise a special fund for this object. An appeal
to British Christians, met with a prompt and
generous response. Means were thus provided
for the purchase of a printing-press, a long desired
and much-needed acquisition, as books had been

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 29

multiplied only by employing native copyists, a
tedious and expensive process, since the work
was all done on strips of the palmyra leaf, every
letter punctured by an iron stylus.

On the 31st of May, 171 1, the Tamil transla^,
tion of the New Testament was completed by
Ziegenbalg. The day was celebrated by a service
of praise. Of the completion of this work Zie-
genbalg wrote, " This is a treasure in India which
surpasses all other Indian treasures." This great
work accomplished, the ever zealous missionary
made an evangelistic tour, proceeding northward
as far as Madras. Soon after his return from this
tour, he was called to part with his fellow-
worker, Pliitschau, the health of whose family
made a return to Europe necessary.

The printing-press sent out from Europe,
reached India in August, 1712. The services of
a soldier in the Danish army, who had learned
the art of printing, were secured, and the work
of issuing books in the Portuguese language,
was at once begun. The German friends of the
mission sent out a second press and a font of
Tamil type, made at home under very interesting
circumstances. A young man of great mechani-
cal genius, who had learned the art of printing
by studying carefully the structure of the Tamil
letters, with infinite patience, had produced a
font of Tamil type. His interest grew with the
prosecution of the work and in December, 1712,
both he and a younger brother offered themselves

30 Men of Might In India Missions

and their art for the service of the mission. The
young men were accepted and a free passage
secured for them in one of the vessels of the
Company's fleet. On their arrival in Tranque-
bar, in June, 17 13, the printing of the New Testa-
ment in Tamil was begun.

Ziegenbalg's declining health, made a change
to his native land imperative, and the work of
putting the Tamil New Testament through the
press devolved upon Grundler. Upon him also
rested the responsibilities of the congregations
and the schools, all of which were in a prosper-
ous condition.

On the last day of October, 17 14, Ziegenbalg
embarked on the Danish ship Frederick IV for
Europe. He was accompanied to the ship by
great numbers of the Tamil Christians, who be-
sought him with tears not to leave them; and
many from among the heathen begged him to
hasten his return, as they " liked to have those
in their midst who stood near to God and by
whose presence both they and their country
profited."

Ziegenbalg had begun the work of translating
the Scriptures of the Old Testament into Tamil
as soon as he had completed the translation of the
New. During the voyage to Europe, he occupied
himself with the translation of the book of Joshua
and this he had completed when the ship reached
the Cape of Good Hope. During the remainder

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 31

of the voyage, he was employed upon his Tamil
dictionary and upon a Tamil-Latin grammar.

The ship reached its destination, Bergen, Nor-
way, on the first of June. The King of Den-
mark was at this time engaged in the siege of
Stralsund. The country around was one vast en-
campment. To the royal camp Ziegenbalg hur-
ried with all speed, for he desired greatly to
see the King. He was at once admitted into the
presence of his Majesty, though he came unan-
nounced. The interview lasted five hours, the
King, for a time, throwing off the cares of
State and lending an interested ear to the story
of the mission, its trials and its triumphs. He
promised not only to continue to give pecuniary
aid to the mission, but, as far as possible, to re-
move obstacles to the successful accomplishment
of the work. Ziegenbalg was informed that he
had been made Superintendent of the Mission
and his commission forwarded to India.

During this interview between the King and the
missionary, there was much excitement among
the Danish troops, for it had been voiced abroad
that a distinguished stranger had arrived and it
was supposed that he had come to communicate
matters of importance.

When the stranger came forth from the pres-
ence of the King, the interested spectators saw
"a man of commanding presence, of great dig-
nity, with a flashing eye, resolute and calm in

32 Men of Might in India Missions

his demeanour, a bronzed face, seamed with deep
hnes of care." He was invited to preach the
word of God to the assembled troops and his
message found deeply interested listeners.

From the Royal family in Copenhagen, Zie-
genbalg received a cordial welcome. While tarry-
ing in the Capital City he prepared his grammar
and a large part of his dictionary for the press,
and these were printed at Halle before his return
to India. From Copenhagen, he proceeded to
Germany to revisit the scenes and renew the
friendships of his youth. He was everywhere
received with marked respect and vast audiences
filled the churches, when he preached.

A visit was also paid to Merseburg, where he
had for a short time been tutor, before going to
India. One of his pupils was Dorothea Saltz-
mann, daughter of one of the Secretaries to Gov-
ernment. She was now grown to womanhood,
of ardent piety, great strength of character and
with a well-cultivated intellect. Before his re-
turn to India, Ziegenbalg was united in marriage
to Miss Saltzmann, who proved in every respect
a help-meet to her husband.

With health renewed, Ziegenbalg joyfully pre-
pared for his return to India. The Directors of
the Danish East India Co. gave a free passage
to the mission party on one of their ships leaving
Europe for the East, on the 4th of March, 17 16,
and Madras was reached on the 9th of August.

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg ^3

There was great rejoicing when Ziegenbalg and
his bride reached Tranquebar.

The work during the absence of the senior
missionary, had been carried on by Griindler
with unflagging zeal. Governor Hassius had been
recalled and a friend of missions appointed in
his place. Soon after the return of Ziegenbalg, j
with the co-operation of Griindler, a seminary I
was established in which the most promising •
pupils from the various schools could receive '
such Biblical instruction as would fit them for
the work of catechists and teachers in the mission.

The church built in 1707 had for several years
been too small for the growing congregation and
it was resolved to provide a more spacious edifice.
On the 9th of February, 1717, the foundation
stone of a new and commodious house of wor-
ship was laid by the new Governor in the pres-
ence of a large assembly. The completed build-
ing was dedicated to the worship of God, before
the end of the year and named " New Jerusalem."

After the completion of the new sanctuary, in
the beginning of 171 8, Ziegenbalg made an ex-
tensive evangelistic tour. At the close of this
tour, he prepared for the press the third collec-
tion of his conversations with both Hindus and
Mohammedans, setting forth in a concise and
lucid manner, the truths of Christianity, and re-
futing the objections most frequently urged by
these classes against the truths taught in the

34 Men of Might In India Missions

Sacred Scriptures. This was the last work he
sent to the press, for at the end of this year
his health began seriously to' decline. *' It was
sorrow of heart rather than multiplicity of
labours," which had laid low this man of iron will.
The Mission Board which had been founded in
Copenhagen, had for its secretary a man who
was incapable of comprehending Ziegenbalg's
bold ideas, and his earnest desire to take advan-
tage of the openings of Providence. The letters
sent from the secretary to the missionaries had
been not only lacking in sympathy, but cruelly
unjust and Ziegenbalg, enfeebled as he was by
unremitting labour and hard self-denial in an ex-
hausting climate, received a blow from which he
never recovered.

In October, 1718, he took to his bed, but near
the end of the year he rallied and on Christmas
day he preached in the new church. He
preached again on the first day of the year and
this was his last public service. On the loth
of February he made over to his beloved colleague
Griindler, the superintendence of the mission.
The 23rd of February was his last day on earth.
He rose early and as was his custom, joined with
his wife in prayer. Soon after, great suffering
came on. To those gathered about him, he said,
" I shall endure in this conflict." A little later
a look of infinite peace stole over his face. At
his request, a favourite hymn was sung. Then
suddenly raising his hand to his eyes, he said,

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 35

"How is it so light? It seems as if the sun
were shining in my eyes." Soon after, he calmly
fell asleep in Jesus.

Thus passed away in his early manhood, for
he was not yet thirty-six years of age, one of
whom it has justly been said, that to him, more
than to any other man. belongs the title of the
Apostle of India. '

The death of Ziegenbalg caused universal sor-
row. On the day following his decease, his re-
mains were deposited in a vault in the New
Jerusalem church, amid the tears of his European
friends and his native flock.

Upon Griindler now rested the burden of the
responsibility of the mission; and while bowed
beneath a weight of care and sorrow, another
letter arrived from the mission secretary at home,
full of condemnation of the conduct of the mis-
sion. Ziegenbalg had sent a reply to the first
of these letters, received some time before his
death. To this last, Griindler penned an answer.
These letters from Ziegenbalg and Griindler are
still regarded as among '' the most brilliant of
missionary apologetics."

The friends of Griindler noted with deepest
sorrow, his rapidly failing strength; and he too
felt that his time of labour would soon be over.
On one occasion, in the presence of the congre-
gation, he prayed with tears that the Lord, in
love and mercy, would spare him until the arrival
of the missionaries then on their way to India.

36 Men of Might in India Missions

His prayer was answered. One day on his way
to church, letters from Europe were put into his
hands. The first one opened was from Dr.
Francke and was full of cheer and tenderest sym-
pathy, which seemed as cordial to the sorely
wounded heart of the missionary.

These letters had been brought from Europe
by the new missionaries, who had forwarded
them to Tranquebar from Madras. In Septem-
ber, 1719, the three missionaries arrived and on
one of these, Benjamin Schultze, Griindler's
mantle fell, when a few months later, the brave
warrior laid down his armour. Early in 1720,
Grundler transferred to Schultze, the charge of
the mission. On the 15th of March, with totter-
ing steps and bowed frame, he made his way to
the church. His colleagues w^ere alarmed at his
appearance, for the seal of death was even then
on that calm brow. *' I wish once more to read
the liturgy from the altar," said Griindler, in an-
swer to the startled looks bent upon him, " and
once more to pronounce the benediction over the
congregation I am soon to leave."
C On the 19th of March he gave his last instruc-
tions to Schultze concerning the work of the mis-
sion, and prayed that God's richest blessing might
rest upon him. A portion of Scripture, at his
request, was read to him, his lips moved as if
in prayer, — on his face was a look of infinite
peace, and thus he fell asleep.

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 37

The following day he was laid to rest near
Ziegenbalg, in the New Jerusalem church.

" Who can feel greater grief than I ? " said
Schuhze, '' for the mission has been deprived
both of its founder and of his efficient and faith-
ful successor." Schultze was spared to labour in
India with great zeal, for nearly a quarter of a
century.

As soon as he felt himself in a measure quali-'
fied for the work, he took up the translation of the
Old Testament Scriptures into Tamil, commenc- ,
ing with the book of Ruth, where the death of
Ziegenbalg had interrupted the work. The trans-
lation was completed in 1725 and two years later,
after careful revision, the whole Bible was ready
to put into the hands of the Tamil Christians.

The first church built by Ziegenbalg, near the
sea-shore, with the cemetery adjoining it, has
long since been swallowed up by the sea, but the
house in which the great missionary lived and
from whence his spirit took its flight, still stands,
a modest dwelling, hallowed by precious associa-
tions.

The New Jerusalem church, in the form of a
Greek cross, is in a perfect state of preservation
and is still the mission church of Tranquebar.
High up on its face is the date 17 18, and above
this glitters a golden crown and the letters F. R.
— Frederic Rex.

Looking upon the congregation worshipping in

38 Men of Might in India Missions

this historic church, visiting the schools where the
children and youth are gathered for instruction,
and the seminary where young men are being
trained to preach the Gospel to their fellowmen,
and knowing how through the length and breadth
of India, such congregations, such schools and
such seminaries have multiplied since the days
of Ziegenbalg, the Christian visitor to Tranque-
bar, notes with gratitude that the grain of mus-
tard-seed planted in this idolatrous land by the
first Protestant missionaries has indeed become
a great tree.

II.

CHRISTIAN FREDERICK SCHWARTZ.
1750-1798

Christian Frederick Schwartz was born^
in Sonenburg, Prussia, on the 8th of October,
1726. Like Ziegenbalg, he was left without a
mother at a very early age. His mother was a
woman of ardent piety and her son Christian had
been dedicated to the Lord from his birth. When
she felt that death was near, the mother called
to her bedside her husband and the pastor of the
parish church and charged them to train up this
child in the remembrance that he had been dedi-
cated to God's service, and she entreated the
father, should the son, when arrived at years of
discretion, express a desire to devote himself to
the Gospel ministry, to encourage and promote
that desire to the utmost.

At eight years of age the boy entered the gram-
mar-school of his native town. When fourteen
years old he was " confirmed," according to the
practice of the Lutheran Church. In his sixteenth
year, when he had acquired as much Latin and
Greek as could be learned in the schools of Sonen-
39

40 Men of Might in India Missions

burg, together with the rudiments of Hebrew,
his father placed him in an academy in the neigh-
bouring town of Custrim. The journey was made
on foot, by both father and son and there was
much profitable discourse by the way, for the
father was not only a man of fervent piety, but
of vigourous intellect.

At Custrim young Schwartz was beset with
temptations to which he had hitherto been a
stranger, and without steadfast faith in God, he
found it difficult to maintain his integrity. "At
this critical time a friend was raised up for him
in the daughter of one of the syndics, who gave
him much wise counsel.

The father of this young lady had been edu-
cated at Halle and retained an affectionate remem-
brance of, and a profound respect for the pro-
fessors of this celebrated university. His inter-
esting reminiscences of life at Halle kindled in
the breast of Schwartz a desire to complete his
course of study at this seat of learning. This
proved the turning point in the life of the young
student. He entered the University of Halle
when twenty years of age, and there, three years
were most profitably spent in study, in the midst
of associations the most favourable for the devel-
opment of spiritual graces.

A short time before Schwartz entered the uni-
versity, the veteran missionary, Schultze, had
returned invalided to Europe from India. He
made Halle his place of residence and thus the

Christian Frederick Schwartz 41

young student came under his influence. ^ Mr.
Schultze was greatly drawn to the young man,
who, in his turn listened with a strange fascina-
tion to a recital of the labours and experiences of
the missionary from the distant East.

It was at this time in contemplation to print at
Halle a new edition of the Tamil Scriptures,
under the superintendence of Schultze, and at his
suggestion, Schwartz began the study of Tamil
in order to give assistance in the work of cor-
recting the proofs. Thus were the thoughts of
the ardent young student, turned to the great mis-
sion field of India.

Professor Francke had been instructed by the
Danish College of Missions at Copenhagen to
select suitable men for reinforcing the Tranque-
bar mission and, as forty years before he had
counselled with Ziegenbalg, so now his thoughts
turned to Mr. Schwartz as a man eminently
fitted to engage in such a work ; and in this opin-
ion Mr. Schultze cordially concurred.

Mr. Schwartz had before this time resolved to
devote his life to the Gospel ministry, and when
asked by those whose opinion he valued if he
would prayerfully consider the matter of serving
the Lord as a missionary in India, he declared
himself ready to follow the leadings of the
Master. But before making a final decision he
felt that he must consult his father. A visit to
Sonenburg was accordingly made and the father
was asked to consider the question of resigning

42 Men of Might in India Missions

this beloved son to the work of a missionary
abroad. The father repHed that so important a
matter required serious consideration and he
could not at once announce his decision.

Who can doubt that this Christian father spent
much of the time before making known his de-
cision, in earnest prayer for guidance, and at
such a time there would come vividly to his re-
membrance the death-bed scene of the mother,
and her dying charge in reference to this son.

When the father came forth from his chamber,
there was on his face a radiant look as though
in a mighty conflict he had come off conqueror.
Approaching his son who had risen to meet him,
he laid his hands in blessing upon his bowed
head, and in a voice tremulous with emotion,
bade him go forth on his Christ-like errand, for-
getting his country and his father's house.

The desired permission having been obtained
Schwartz hastened the preparations for his de-
parture, generously resigning his patrimony to
his brothers and sisters, and at once returned to
Halle.

After completing his course at the university,
Mr. Schwartz, accompanied by two other young
men under orders for India, set out for Copen-
hagen, where they were ordained by the Danish
Bishop, on the 6th of September, 1749. Before
sailing for India, some time was spent in Eng-
land, in order that the young nien might gain
some acquaintance with the English language.

J Christian Frederick Schwartz 43

During the time spent in London they received
great kindness from the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, and were thereby greatly
comforted and encouraged. /7-53

On the first of February,-^g^ the mission-
aries embarked at Deal, the Directors of the East
India Company, at the request of the Christian
Knowledge Society, having kindly granted the
party a free passage on board one of their out-
ward-bound ships.

At nine o'clock on the morning of the 13th of
July, Ceylon came into view and great was the
joy of all. On the following morning Cudda-
lore was reached. The Rev. Mr. Kiernander,
missionary of the Society for Promoting Chris-
tian Knowledge, at Cuddalore, received and hos-
pitably entertained the missionaries until one of
the brethren from Tranquebar, arrived to con-
duct the party thither.

The young missionaries began at once to apply
themselves with diligence to the study of the
language. Mr. Schwartz now found to his great
joy that the time spent in the study of Tamil
under Mr. Schultze at Halle had by no means
been lost time, as in four months after his arrival,
he preached his first sermon in the vernacular.
He soon had such a command of the language as
enabled him to engage in a daily catechetical ex-
ercise with the " youngest lambs " in the Tamil
schools, though to use his own words, " it was
with a faltering tongue."

44 Men of Might in India Missions

Two afternoons each week, in company with
some of his missionary associates, he visited the
Christians in the villages and tried to tell to the
heathen gathered about him, the story of the
cross. ' He found the people shrewd, ready to
argue and to defend their ancestral faith.

"How shall I be maintained?" said one, "if
I become a Christian." Another said, " if I ac-
cept Christianity, I shall be called an apostle and
shall lose the regard of my countrymen." /T'^^i''''

Then as now, the ungodly lives led by some
of those who bore the Christian name, were made
a reason for the non-acceptance of Christianity.
One day, meeting a Hindu dancing-master and
his female pupil, Mr. Schwartz, after some con-
versation, told them that the entrance to heaven
was barred against all unholy persons. " Alas !
sir," quickly retorted the girl, " in that case how
few Europeans will be found there."

Mr. Schwartz early arrived at the conclusion
that in order to refute successfully the sophistries
of this people, so wise in their own conceit, it
would be necessary to become acquainted with
their sacred books, and irksome in some respects
as he found this study, yet he felt that the knowl-
edge thus acquired, was a potent factor in his
work as a missionary.

The missionary associates of Mr. Schwartz
were not slow in discovering that his abilities
were of a superior order and important trusts
were committed to him. He had a remarkable

)>

Christian Frederick Schwartz 45

facility in acquiring languages, was ready at all
times to endure hardness and was possessed of
consummate tact which paved the way for his
ready admission either to a hunt or a palace.

The Dutch missionaries in Ceylon had received
from the missionaries in Tranquebar, copies of
the Tamil Bible for use among the Tamil speak-
ing people of the island and in 1760 some of the
Tamil Christians sent a request for one of the
Tranquebar missionaries to pay them a visit and
to labour for a time among them. Mr. Schwartz
being deputed by his colleagues to comply with
this request, he reached Jaffna on the last day
of April and immediately began his labours. He
was absent from Tranquebar five months, and
his visit was long remembered in Ceylon and his
name loved and honoured alike by Europeans and
natives.

Useful as was Mr. Schwartz in the work in
Tranquebar and on his missionary tours, a wider
field was about to open before him. In May,
1762, accompanied by a brother missionary, he
paid a visit to the cities of Tanjore and Trichi-
nopoly, according to his custom, making known
the Gospel wherever he could find listeners to
his message. At Tanjore he preached the Gospel
not only in the city, but in the palace of the
Rajah, who, concealed by a screen, heard without
being seen.

Trichinopoly was then visited and here he
was received with great kindness by the English

46 Men of Might in India Missions

officers and civilians. In September, he returned
to Tranquebar, which continued for some tim^
longer to be nominally his home ; but from the
time of this visit, Tanjore and Trichinopoly oc-
cupied his thoughts more and more, and became
eventually the scene of his truly apostolic labours.

In 1766, the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge, decided to occupy Trichinopoly
permanently as a mission station and Mr.
Schwartz was asked to take charge of the new
station as a missionary of that society. The
invitation was approved by the Danish College
of Missions at Copenhagen and by the mission-
ary brethren in Tranquebar, and after more than
sixteen years in India and at the age of forty he
entered upon his really distinctive and independent
work as a missionary.

Trichinopoly at this time contained a popula-
tion of from twenty to thirty thousand inhabi-
tants, was noted for its fine mosques and in a
large palace, in the midst of beautiful gardens,
dwelt Mohamed Ali, the Nawab of the Carnatic.
Here Mr. Schwartz made the acquaintance of
William Chambers, Esq. brother of the Chief
Justice of Bengal and an accomplished Oriental
scholar. This gentleman soon learned to feel a
high regard for the missionary and from this
new acquaintance, we have a pen-picture of Mr.
Schwartz as he appeared at that time. " I had
expected," said Mr. Chambers, " to find the fa-
mous missionary a very austere and strict person,

Christian Frederick Schwartz 47

whereas the first sight of the man made a com-
plete revohition on this point. His garb, indeed,
which was pretty well worn, seemed foreign and
old-fashioned, but in every other respect, his ap-
pearance was the reverse of all that could be
called forbidding or morose. Figure to yourself
a stout, well-made man, somewhat above the
middle size, erect in his carriage and address,
with a complexion rather dark, though healthy,
black curled hair, and a manly, engaging counte-
nance, expressive of unaffected candour, ingenu-
ousness and benevolence, and you will have an
idea of what Mr. Schwartz appeared to be at
first sight."

His entire income at this time was ten pagodas
a month, or about £48 per annum. Through the
military oi^cer in charge of the garrison, he se-
cured a room with barely space for his bed and
himself. In food and clothing he was most
frugal. The little brass lamp which had served
him in the university at Halle, accompanied him
to India, and was used to the end of his Hfe.

Mr. Schwartz sought to do faithfully the work
of an evangelist, preaching not only in the city
of Trichinopoly, but in the surrounding villages,
and soon a congregation of converts was formed.
Among these were found some capable of in-
structing others, and these were employed as
catechists. The large English garrison had
neither church nor chaplain, and without neglect-
ing his work for the people of the land, he

/

48 Men of Might in India Missions

sought to be of service to these sheep without a
shepherd. He persuaded the soldiers to meet
in a room in an old building, but so popular did
these services become, that it was resolved, if
possible to raise funds for the building of a
church edifice. The sum contributed for this
purpose was not large, but in the hands of Mr.
Schwartz was so wisely used that a building
capable of accommodating an audience of 1,500
or 2,000 was provided. The new sanctuary was
solemnly dedicated to the worship of God on the
i8th of May, 1766, and called Christ Church.
On the Sabbath, services were held in this church
from morning until evening, in English, in
Tamil and in Portuguese.

The Madras Government, without solicitation,
granted Mr. Schwartz iioo per annum as chap-
lain of the garrison. This money he used in the
first instance in the building of a mission-house
and school-room adjoining. This work com-
pleted, he accepted one half the amount, nominally
for his own personal use, though it was chiefly
distributed in charity. The remaining half he
spent on his native congregation.

In 1767, the country in the vicinity of Trichi-
nopoly became the seat of active military opera-
tions, and Mr. Schwartz had many opportunities
of exercising the duties of his office, in attending
upon the sick and wounded from the English
camp. A treaty of peace between the combatants,
was concluded in April, 1769 and he felt that the

Christian Frederick Schwartz 49

way was open to pay a long contemplated visit
to Tanjore, where he spent three weeks, preach-
ing daily, and examining the schools which had,
been established. One important result of this
visit to Tanjore, was the introduction of the mis-
sionary to the Rajah Tuljajee, who had expressed
a desire to make his acquaintance and with whom
he was henceforth to be so closely associated.

" He is a priest," remarked the Rajah to one
of his suite, and the conversation turned at once,
upon the truths of the Gospel. According to
custom, a tray of sweetmeats was presented at
the close of the interview. The missionary ac-
cepting a portion, said, '* we Christians, Before
partaking of food, are accustomed to implore
grace to use the gift to the glory of God." He
was then desired by the Rajah to offer up such a
prayer.

" Oh ! that the King would accept this relig-
ion," said an interested listener, when Schwartz
was on one occasion proclaiming the Gospel
message, *' then all in his kingdom would forsake
heathenism."

From time to time Mr. Schwartz continued to
visit Tanjore accompanied by one or more of his
faithful catechists, but he felt very forcibly, that
for so important a field, the occasional visits
which he was able to pay were insufficient if
permanent good was to be exoected. In the year
1773 a catechist from Trichinopoly was stationed
permanently in Tanjore and a small building was

5© Men of Might in India Missions

erected in the fort in which those who desired to
receive Christian instruction could assemble.

The close of this year brought disaster to the
Rajah and to his people. The Nawab of Arcot on
the ostensible pretext of the non-payment of
tribute due to the Nawab from the Rajah, sent
an army from Trichinopoly, to enforce his de-
mand. The Rajah and his family were taken
prisoners and the Nawab took forcible possession
of his Kingdom and his treasure.

The effect of this change of government was
seriously to impede missionary operations in Tan-
jore. The building erected in the fort, for Chris-
tian worship was destroyed, and many thousands
of the inhabitants left the country for want of
food and employment.

Mr. Schwartz was allowed a brief interview
with the Captive Rajah. An officer of the Rajah
who shared his confinement, said with deep emo-
tion, " we remember what you said to us, though
we did not follow your advice." On being asked,
" do your Gods help you now ? " they frankly
admitted, " They are all naught."

In the city of Tan j ore, desolation reigned ; but
this state of things was not to continue. The act
of the Madras Government in giving assistance
to the Nawab of Arcot, against the Rajah of
Tan j ore, met with the emphatic disapproval of
the Court of Directors in England. An order
was therefore issued by that body, demanding
the immediate restoration to his Kingdom, of the

Christian Frederick Schwartz 51

deposed Rajah. This was an act of justice in
which the missionary greatly rejoiced, but he
noted with sincere sorrow that the Rajah had
learned no salutary lessons from his misfortunes.

The missionary brethren in Tranquebar at
length decided to send to the assistance of Mr.
Schwartz, the Rev. Christian Pohle in order that
the senior missionary might be able to devote
more of his time to work in Tanjore. Possessed
of great zeal, practical wisdom, and unusual apti-
tude in acquiring languages, Mr. Pohle was soon
able to take an active part in the varied duties of
the mission.

Feeling assured that the work in Trichinopoly
would not now be left to suffer, Mr. Schwartz
turned his attention more and more to Tanjore.
His Success in reaching the hearts of those to
whom he addressed the messages of salvation was
evidenced by the rapid increase of the Christian
community. The church building in the fort,
which had been destroyed after the deposition of
the Rajah, was replaced by a temporary struc-
ture through the liberality of a pious English
officer; but as this furnished insufficient accom-
modation, Schwartz began to think of erecting a
permanent and more spacious edifice.

On the loth of March, 1797, General Munro,
an earnest Christian, and a warm friend of the
Mission, laid the foundation stone of a new house
of prayer. In recognition of the services which
the missionary had rendered as chaplain, and also

52 Men of Might in India Missions

as translator for the Government in important
cases, General Munro requested the representa-
tives of the Government in Madras to make Mr.
Schwartz a suitable recompense.

On becoming acquainted with the kind inten-
tions of General Munro, Schwartz immediately
wrote, declining any present for himself, but said
that if the Government desired to do him a favor
he would forward a request for material toward
the erection of the contemplated church building.

After some time had elapsed, Mr. Schwartz
received a letter from General Munro, desiring
him to come without delay to Madras, as the
Governor, Sir Thomas Rumbold, had matters of
importance to communicate to him. On his ar-
rival, the missionary was asked if he would
undertake a confidential mission to Hyder Ali, at
Seringapatam, in order to ascertain his actual
disposition with respect to the English. " There
is reason to believe," said the Governor, " that
he has hostile designs, and we wish to assure him
of the pacific intentions of the Madras Govern-
ment. We have fixed upon you to undertake
this important and difficult mission, not only be-
cause of your intimate knowledge of Hindustani,
making the services of an interpreter unneces-
sary, but we are convinced that you would act
in a wholly disinterested manner, and that no
one can approach you with a bribe."

Mr. Schwartz consented to undertake this mis-
sion, because persuaded that it was in the inter-

Christian Frederick Schwartz 53

ests of peace, and because it would open new
doors for the publication of the Gospel message.
He returned at once to Tan j ore, leaving direc-
tions with the native helpers for guidance during
his absence. He also visited Trichinopoly, and
left instructions for the conduct of the work in
that station.

On the first of July, 1779, accompanied by
Satthianadhan, one of his faithful catechists, he
set out on the important mission which had been
intrusted to him. After a palanquin journey of
six days, the travellers reached Caroor, the fron-
tier fort of Hyder Ali, where they were detained
a month, waiting for permission to proceed.
This interval was fully occupied in preaching the
Gospel, and sometimes the streets were thronged
with listeners. The required permission to ad-
vance, having at length been received, the jour-
ney was continued, and on the 24th of August,
the fort of Mysore was reached. From this
point the travellers had a view of Seringapatam,
the goal of their journey.

The conferences with the Prince were usually
held in a spacious hall supported by marble col-
umns, and looking out upon a fine garden. Hyder
Ali received the missionary seated on the floor
on a rich carpet, and gave him a place by his
side. He desired, he said, to keep peace with the
English, but he was not convinced that the Eng-
lish entertained really friendly views toward
him. " You," he said, addressing Schwartz,

54 Men of Might in India Missions

" are made an instrument to cover intentions and
views very different from those which actuate
your own mind. You are welcome to remain in
Seringapatam, as long as it pleases you to do so,
and you have also my permission to try to con-
vert my subjects to the Christian religion, as I
feel confident that you will say nothing improper
to them, or that will tend to injure my authority."

Having received a letter which he was to de-
liver to the Governor of Madras, Mr. Schwartz
took leave of the Sovereign of Mysore. On en-
tering his palanquin he found a bag of three
hundred rupees which Hyder AH had ordered to
be presented to him with which to defray the ex-
penses of the journey. This money Mr.
Schwartz wished at once to return, but being in-
formed that such an act would be regarded as
discourteous, on his arrival in Madras, he de-
livered the bag of rupees to the Government
officials, who, of course, declined to receive it.
Mr. Schwartz then asked permission to appro-
priate the sum to the beginning of a fund for a
school for English orphan children in Tanjore.
Such a school was at once established and proved
a great blessing.

When Mr. Schwartz learned that the Governor
of Madras intended presenting him with a sum of
money in recognition of the service he had ren-
dered, he begged to be allowed to decline the
gift but signified that it would gratify him if the

Christian Frederick Schwartz 55

Board would allow to Mr. Pohle, his colleague in
Trichinopoly, the sum of iioo per annum, the
same amount which he himself received, since he
knew that, as in his own case, the money would be
employed for the benefit of the mission. This
request was granted, and Mr. Schwartz then
wrote, " we are now able to maintain in both
Trichinopoly and Tan j ore, catechists and school-
masters."

The Government also ordered that the mission-
ary should be supplied with bricks and lime to-
ward the building of the church in Tan j ore. This
w^ork was therefore pushed rapidly forward and
the completed building was consecrated to the
worship of God, in April, 1780. As the situation
of this church was convenient for the garrison,
but inconvenient for the Tamil congregation, a
second church was provided for them, the Rajah
contributing the site and English friends the
larger share of the funds required for the erec-
tion. On the ground given by the Rajah for the
church, Mr. Schwartz eventually built a mission-
house, houses for the catechists and a school, and
here he lived like a father in the midst of his
family.

Notwithstanding the assurances made by the
Sovereign of Mysore that he was anxious for the
preservation of peace, in June, 1780, he com-
menced hostilities, invading the Carnatic with an
army of nearly 100,000. His cavalry overran the

56 Men of Might in India Missions

country leaving ruin and desolation behind them,
and for three years, war, famine and desolation
reigned in that section and the South of India.
When Mr. Schwartz returned from Seringapa-
tam, being persuaded that war was imminent, he
purchased and carefully stored, 12,000 bushels of
rice while it was abundant and therefore cheap,
and when the time of distress came, he had food
for all who were dependent on him. The Euro-
peans who knew and trusted the ** good mission-
ary," sent him large sums monthly with which to
purchase food to distribute among the starving,
and great numbers were thus saved from death.
In 1 78 1 the city of Tan j ore was crowded with
starving people, and the food supply was ex-
hausted. There was grain in the country, but
no bullocks could be obtained to bring it into the
fortress, as the people refused to trust either the
Rajah or his officials. At length the Rajah said
to his ministers, " we all, you and I, have lost
our credit. Let us try whether the inhabitants
will trust the missionary." He accordingly sent
to Mr. Schwartz a communication giving him full
authority to make his own terms with the people.
Within two days 1,000 bullocks were placed at
the disposal of the missionary, who had engaged
to pay the people with his own hands, and soon
and the fortress was thereby saved from starva-
tion.

* Maund=a weight of almost 80 jx^unds.

Christian Frederick Schwartz 57

The following year the city of Tan j ore was re-
duced to a like extremity, and again the " good
missionary " was asked to come to the help of
the perishing. Placing implicit confidence in the
promise of Mr. Schwartz, that prompt and ample
remuneration would be given, the people came
with their cattle, and accompanied by the Chris-
tian helpers of the mission, brought from the coun-
try an ample supply of grain. The Christian mis-
sionary had won the esteem and confidence of all.
Hyder AH was so deeply impressed by the nobility
and uprightness of his character that he gave
orders to his officers to permit the '' venerable
padre " to pass unmolested and to show him re-
spect and kindness.

In the third year of the war Hyder Ali died
and was succeeded by his son, known later as
* Tippoo Sultan." Becoming convinced that his
cause could not succeed, Tippoo was anxious for
a cessation of hostilities. A treaty of peace was
at length concluded, and the army of the Sultan
was withdrawn. The misery of the Tan j ore King-
dom was, however, little abated, for the Rajah,
afflicted with an incurable disease had left the
affairs of his Kingdom to a cruel and unscrupulous
minister and because of intolerable oppression,
65,000 of the best inhabitants left the Kingdom.
The Rajah was at length prevailed upon to recall
the inhabitants, making many fair promises as to
the future administration of justice. But the
people, having been often deceived, refused to re-

58 Men of Might in India Missions

turn. The Rajah then asked Mr. Schwartz to
use his influence to his end, and such was the
confidence of the people in the integrity of the
missionary that 7,000 returned in a single day.

Mr. Schwartz had a heart full of love for chil-
dren and some of the most beautiful letters from
his pen which have been preserved, are letters to
the children of some of his friends. For several
years he had acted the part of a father to the
eldest son of his friend, the Rev. John KolhofiE
of Tranquebar. The boy became a member of
Mr. Schwartz's household when eight years of
age and received from his foster-father the most
tender care. He was carefully educated and pre-
pared to take part in the work of evangelization,
for, to the joy of his foster-father, young KolhoflF
desired to consecrate his life to this service.

In the year 1786, Mr. Schwartz desired the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge to
place the name of his foster son on the list of
their missionaries, and asked also that he might
be made his successor in the Tanjore mission.
The young man was ordained to the work of the
Gospel ministry in the New Jerusalem Church of
Tranquebar in the presence of a large European
and native congregation.

While Mr. Schwartz was in Tranquebar in at-
tendance upon the ordination services, an incident
occurred at the court of Tanjore which called the
missionary to take a prominent part in the affairs
of the Kingdom. The Rajah, having no heir to

Christian Frederick Schwartz 59

succeed him, adopted the child of a cousin, a boy
ten years of age, as his heir. He gave him the
name of Serfojee, asked the EngUsh Govern-
ment to extend to this son of his adoption, the
favour and protection which he had enjoyed, and
when Mr. Schv*^artz returned from Tranquebar,
the Rajah sent for him and requested him to be-
come the guardian of the boy.

The missionary, however, felt that he could not
undertake so responsible a charge, because of
complications that would inevitably arise, and he
advised the Rajah to intrust the child to his half-
brother Ameer Singh. This was accordingly done
and Ameer Singh was also appointed Regent dur-
ing the minority of his ward. Two days after
these arrangements had been made the Rajah died
and Ameer Singh was formally inducted into the
duties of his new office. He was not long con-
tent, however to act merely as Regent. He wished
to be placed on the throne as Rajah, and in order
to reach the coveted position the claims of Ser-
fojee, must be set aside. This was finally accom-
plished and Ameer Singh installed as Rajah.

Under the new rule the Kingdom did not pros-
per, and the Court of Directors in England urged
Mr. Schwartz to see that plans of reform which
he himself had suggested were carried out. He
was now sixty-five years of age and shrank from
undertaking such heavy responsibilities, but felt
that he could not conscientiously decline, especially
as this new sphere of usefulness would furnish

6o Men of Might in India Missions

new and wider opportunities for making Christ
known.

Mr. Schwartz, when declining to take the sole
guardianship of Serfojee, had promised the Rajah
to promote his welfare by every means in his
power. When, therefore, he ascertained that
Ameer Singh was treating his ward as a prisoner
and wholly neglecting his education he felt con-
strained to appeal to the British authorities, who
enjoined him, in conjunction with the English
Resident, to make suitable provision for the young
Prince. He was eventually removed to Madras
where his safety and comfort would be assured.
Mr. Schwartz accompanied his royal charge to
the Capital, and remained with him several
months. During this period, he had an oppor-
tunity to give wise counsel and faithful Christian
instruction to Serfojee. '* Be not ashamed to ask
the help of God," he said to the Prince on one
occasion, " for He alone can do all for you." On
his return to Tan j ore, he left as the Christian
instructor and chief adviser of Serfojee the Rev.
Christian William Gericke; but he kept himself
well informed in regard to all that concerned the
young Prince.

Mr. Schwartz rejoiced that he was able now
to occupy himself wholly with the duties of his
sacred office and in his varied labours, he found
a faithful coadjutor in his foster-son, the Rev.
Caspar Kolhoff .

Toward the close of 1797, a serious illness came

Christian Frederick Schwartz 6i

upon him, advancing years however began to tell
and when it became evident to his friends that the
end was not far distant, being himself aware of
his critical condition, Mr. Schwartz expressed a
desire to see Serfojee once more. The young
Prince made haste to obey the summons. On his
arrival, the dying saint, with great tenderness
and impressiveness, gave his last advice to the
weeping Prince. He charged him to govern his
life according to the precepts which he had on
previous occasions made known to him. He urged
him, when he should come into possession of his
Kingdom, to abstain from extravagant and sen-
sual indulgences, and to walk in humility, as this
would be pleasing to God. He charged him to
seek in every laudable way to promote the pros-
perity of his subjects. He asked that the Chris-
tian community be protected against oppression,
and left undisturbed in the free exercise of their
religious rights. Then raising his hands toward
heaven, as if in prayer, he said, " My last and
most earnest wish is that God in His infinite
mercy, may graciously regard you and lead your
heart and soul to Christ that I may meet you
again, as His true disciple before His throne."
This interview with the Prince took place on
the 23rd of November. The aged sufferer rallied
for a time and on Christm:as day was able to at-
tend church. On the 2nd of February his dear
friend Gericke arrived from Madras and the two
friends took sweet counsel together.

//T^,^

62 Men of Might in India Missions

On the 13th of February, feeling that the end
was near, the aged pilgrim called to his bedside,
Mr. Kolhofif, and with great tenderness and
solemnity, gave him his paternal blessing and of-
fered a brief and touching prayer. He exhorted
his missionary brethren who were gathered
around him to make the duties of their office their
chief care and concern, joined his voice with
theirs in singing a hymn, and calmly entered into
rest.

All the following night the sound of weeping
was heard from the Christian villages in the
vicinity. On the afternoon of the day succeeding
his death, the mortal remains were carried to the
chapel near the mission dwelling and laid in a
grave before the altar. Serfojee came to look once
more upon the beloved face, before the grave hid
it from view. He shed many tears and covered
the casket with a rich, gold cloth. Mr. Gericke
conducted the funeral service and the Prince re-
mained to the close.

On the stone above the resting-place of the
revered missionary is the following inscription :

Sacred to the Memory of
The Rev. Christian Frederic Schwartz,

Missionary to the Honorable

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,

in London ;

Who departed this life on the

13th of February, 1798,

Aged seventy-one years and four months.

Christian Frederick Schwartz 6^

To this inscription, Serfojee caused the follow-
ing lines of his own composition, to be added :

Firm wast thou, humble and wise,
Honest, pure, free from disguise,
Father of orphans, the widow's support.
Comfort in sorrow of every sort.
To the benighted, dispenser of light,
Doing, and pointing to that which is right.
Blessing to princes, to people, to me ;
May I, my father, be worthy of thee !
Wisheth and prayeth thy Sarabojee.

In the month of June following the death of
Mr. Schwartz, Ameer Singh was formally de-
posed and the young prince, Serfojee proclaimed
Rajah. Placed in a position of authority and re-
sponsibility, he showed that he had not been un-
mindful of the instructions and admonitions of
his friend and adviser; but he did not relinquish
idolatry.

Three years after the death of the venerable
missionary, the Rajah sent a letter written with
his own hand to the Society for Promoting Chris-
tian Knowledge, requesting the Society to arrange
at his expense for a monument of marble " to per-
petuate the memory of the late Father Schwartz
and to manifest the great esteem felt for that
great and good man and the gratitude due to
him. I wish the monument to be erected," wrote
the Prince, " in the church which is in my capital
and residency."

64 Men of Might in India Missions

In accordance with the wishes of the Rajah, a
beautiful monument was prepared by Flaxman,
representing in basso-reHevo, the death-bed scene
of the departing missionary. For some time after
its arrival, the Rajah kept the monument in his
palace, but it was eventually removed to the
church in the fort, the Western end of which it
still adorns. For many years the Rajah paid a
daily visit to the fort to gaze upon this monu-
ment, recalling, as it did, his last interview with
one to whom he felt that he was deeply indebted.

The Rajah Serfojee rejoiced in being the first
to do honour to the memory of Mr. Schwartz, by
giving orders for the erection of a monument.
The Directors of the East India Company were
equally anxious to mark the high sense they en-
tertained of his public and private worth, by send-
ing out to Madras a beautiful monument to be
erected in the church in the fort of St. George in
that city. But the missions founded by Mr.
Schwartz and the congregations gathered through
his zealous labours, were nobler monuments to his
memory than the most costly memorials of marble.

Ill

WILLIAM CAREY, JOSHUA MARSHMAN
AND WILLIAM WARD,

THE SERAMPORE MISSIONARIES
I793-1837

On the right bank of the river Hugli, sixteen
miles above Calcutta, is the town of Serampore.
Here the Danes for trading purposes, acquired by
purchase from the native owners, twenty acres
of land, and on the 8th of October, 1755, Danish
officers bearing a commission from Tranquebar,
raised the Danish flag over the newly acquired
possession, and there for ninety years it con-
tinued to float. One of the early governors of
this new settlement was Colonel Bie, who while
an official of the Danish Government at Tranque-
bar, had enjoyed the ministry of Christian Frede-
rick Schwartz, and had imbibed so much of the
missionary spirit that when the British East India
Company absolutely refused to permit missionary
work in their domains he did not hesitate to re-
ceive under his protection the men whom during
those very years God had been raising up to do
valiant service for Him in India. Thus the work
of that early Danish Tamil mission furnished the
65

66 Men of Might in India Missions

basis for the commencement of what are often
known as Modern Missions in the East. To
Ziegenbalg and Schwartz, Carey, Marshman and
Ward owed their home at Serampore.

While these preparations were being made in
India, God was raising up in three rural homes in
England the men whose names have been asso-
ciated with Serampore. William Carey, Joshua
Marshman and William Ward were born in the
same decade that placed Colonel Bie as governor
of Serampore.

William Carey, who was both the oldest in
years and the first to enter the field, was born
on the 17th of August, 1761, in the village
of Pury, or Pauberspury, in Northamptonshire,
where his father was parish clerk and village
school-master; and the boy, who at a very early
age evinced a taste for learning, was a diligent
pupil in his father's school. The family was poor
and at the age of fourteen, William, who was
the eldest of five children, was apprenticed to a
shoemaker in the neighbouring village of Hackle-
ton./ He was delighted to find in the shop of
his master, a small collection of books, among
which was a commentary on the New Testament
interspersed with Greek words. These the young
apprentice copied out with great care and when-
ever he paid a visit to his father, carried the list
to a journeyman weaver, living in the vicinity,
who had received a classical education, and from
him learned the letters of the Greek alphabet and

Carey, Marshman and Ward 67

the translation of the words. In the same way
he began the study of Latin ; while from a neigh-
bouring parish minister he took his first lessons
in Hebrew.

Two years after the beginning of young Carey's
apprenticeship, his master died and he then en-
gaged himself as a journeyman shoemaker to a
Mr. Old. As son of the parish clerk, he was
brought up as a Churchman and was in due time
confirmed but through the teaching of a pious
fellow-workman, he was led to feel that he had
not been converted, and began to study the Scrip-
tures diligently and to pray for a new heart.
When filled himself with joy and peace in believ-
ing, he desired to be used in bringing others to a
knowledge of the Saviour, and to help in prepara-
tion for such a work, he began a systematic read-
ing of the Bible in Greek, Hebrew and Latin as
well as English.

At eighteen years of age, Mr. Carey made his
first appearance in the pulpit, although, as he
afterwards acknowledged, he felt himself '* very
poorly furnished for such a service." On the
death of Mr. Old, he succeeded to the business
and married the sister of his former master before
he was twenty years of age. The marriage was
an uncongenial one as Mrs. Carey had no sym-
pathy with the aspirations of her husband. Soon
after his marriage, Mr. Carey was invited to
preach regularly to a small congregation at EarFs;
Barton, and in this place, for three and a half

68 Men of Might in India Missions

years he preached on the Sabbath and worked
dihgently at his cobbler's stall during the week.
At the same time he neglected no opportunity for
the improvement of his mind. At the age of
twenty-four he accepted the ministerial charge of
a small Baptist church at Moulton. The salary
promised was quite insufficient for the support
of his family, but he hoped to supplement this
by teaching a small school. The school, however
did not prove a success and he was obliged to
return to " his last and his leather."

Cook's " Voyages Around the World," about
this time came into the possession of the young
minister and possessed for him a marvellous fas-
cination. He learned to dwell more and more on
the spiritual degradation of a large part of the
world's inhabitants. The Rev. Andrew Fuller,
destined to be closely associated with Mr. Carey
in the cause of missions, has related that on one
occasion, entering the Httle shop, he saw, hanging
on the wall, a large map composed of several
sheets pasted together, on which Mr. Carey had
written against each country whatever informa-
tion he had been able to collect in reference to the
population, religion and government.

To his disappointment he found few ready to
share his convictions that it was the duty of Chris-
tians to send the Gospel to the unevangelised.
At a ministerial meeting in Northampton, Mr.
Ryland, senior, invited the young men in the audi-
ence to propose some subject for discussion. Mr.

Carey, Marshman and Ward 69

Carey rose and proposed, " the duty of Christians
to attempt the spread of the Gospel among heathen
nations."

As soon as he had sufficiently recovered from
his astonishment, Mr. Ryland rose and in an
agitated voice said, " young man, sit down.
When God pleases to convert the heathen He
will do it without your aid or mine.''

When twenty-eight years of age Mr. Carey
removed to Leicester, to take charge of a small
church in that place. While in Leicester he pre-
pared a treatise entitled " An Inquiry on Mis-
sions." A friend contributed £10 for the printing
of this paper which still holds a high rank as a
missionary treatise.

On the 31st of May, 1792, at a minister's meet-
ing in Nottingham, Mr. Carey preached a ser-
mon which doubtless laid the foundation of the
Baptist Mission in India. Announcing Isaiah
54: 2, 3, as his text he drew from this portion of
Scripture these two great lessons, which have
since become missionary maxims : *' Expect GreatW
Things from God. Attempt Great Things fori
GodJ At the close of this very impressive serv--^
ice, as Mr. Carey saw the audience about to \
disperse, he grasped the hand of ]Mr. Fuller and j
in a tone of great concern, asked if they ** were
again going away without doing anything."

The result of this anxious appeal was the fol-
lowing resolution : " That a plan be proposed
against the next ijiinister's meeting in Kettering

70 Men of Might in India Missions

for the estabhshment of a society for propagat-
ing the Gospel among the heathen." The meet-
ing at Kettering was held on the 2nd of October,
1792. At its close a committee of five was ap-
pointed, of which Mr. Carey was one. The Rev.
Andrew Fuller was appointed Secretary. The
collection taken up on this occasion in aid of the
cause of Foreign Missions amounted to £13. 2s.
and 6d. Mr. Carey at once offered to go at the
earliest opportunity to any country designated by
the committee.

Outside the infant society, the project, with few
exceptions was treated with contempt. Referring
to the feeling manifested at this period. Arch-
deacon Farrar in an address on the subject of
Missions in Westminster Abbey, in March, 1B87,
said, ** those who in that day, sneered that Eng-
land had sent a cobbler to convert the world, were
the direct lineal descendants of those who sneered
in Palestine, 2,000 years ago, * is not this the
carpenter ? ' "

The minds of the committee were turned to
India by the return to England of Mr. John
Thomas, who had gone out to Calcutta several
years before as a surgeon. Being a good man,
his heart had been stirred within him when he saw
the land wholly given to idolatry, and he had
tried to make Christ known. The infant society
decided to invite Mr. Thomas to unite with them
and if possible, to procure a companion in labour
to accompany him to India. Mr. Carey at once

Carey, Marshman and Ward 71

offered himself as a fellow-worker. ** We saw,"
said Mr. Fuller, " that there was a gold mine in
India, but it was deep as the centre of the earth.
Who will venture to explore it?" ''I will ven-
ture to go down," said Mr. Carey, " but remem-
ber that you," turning to Air. Fuller and other
members of the committee, '' must hold the
ropes."

On the loth of January, 1793, Messrs. Carey 1
and Thomas were appointed missionaries to the^
East Indies. Mrs. Carey declined to accompany
her husband, but unwilling to relinquish the
project, Mr. Carey resolved to take with him one
of their sons and to return for his family as soon
as the mission was established. While waiting to
complete necessary arrangements, Mr. Carey met
at Hull, Mr. William Ward, printer and news-
paper editor. *' If the Lord bless us," Mr. Carey
said to his new acquaintance, '' we shall want a
person of your business, to enable us to print the
Scriptures. I hope you will come after us."

At this time all Europeans not in public serv-
ice were forbidden to set foot in the Company's
territories in India without special license ; but a
ship's captain with whom Mr. Thomas had twice
sailed as surgeon, offered to take the party with-
out license. The passage money had been paid
and the two missionaries were actually on board
when the captain received a letter warning him
against taking out passengers without the required
permission. With eyes filled with tears Mr. Carey

72 Men of Might in India Missions

saw the Indian fleet sail away without him. But
feeling a strong confidence that the Lord would
yet open the way for the departure of His serv-
ants, he left his luggage at Portsmouth, and ac-
companied Mr. Thomas to London. Going into
a coffee-house for some needed refreshments, one
of the waiters put into the hands of Mr. Thomas,
a card bearing the announcement that a Danish
East Indiaman was about to sail for India. Has-
tening at once to the office they learned that the
terms were £icx) for each adult and £50 for each
child.

Another attempt was now made to persuade
Mrs. Carey to accompany her husband. This she
finally consented to do, but stipulated that her
sister, Miss Old should accompany her. The
party would therefore consist of four adults and
five children. The captain, on being made ac-
quainted with the circumstances, agreed to re-
ceive the entire party for £300.

They embarked on the 13th of June, 1793, and
the voyage lasted five months. On their arrival
in Calcutta a house was secured and Mr. Carey
at once began the study of the language. But ere
long, it was decided that he with his family should
move to the Sunderbunds, the name given to the
marshy jungles facing the Bay of Bengal, and
there cultivate a tract of land which he could
obtain free of rent. Mr. Carey hoped thus to pro-
vide for his family while pursuing his studies.
The place selected for the new home was on the

Carey, Marshman and Ward 73

river Hugli, about forty miles from Calcutta. A
hospitable English gentleman in charge of the
Government salt manufactory in this wild spot,
received the entire party into his own bungalow,
until the bamboo structure which Mr. Carey at
once commenced to build was ready for occu-
pancy. Their kind host was a deist and professed
to feel no sympathy with Mr. Carey in his desire
to give religious instruction to the people. He,
however, eventually renounced his infidel views,
embraced Christianity and married Miss Old.

Mr. Carey was not long in learning that the
place he had selected was not favourable for mis-
sionary enterprise. Relief came to him from an
unexpected quarter in the midst of great per-
plexity. Mr. George Udney, a man of decided ^
Christian character offered Mr. Carey the super-
intendence of his indigo factory at Mudnabutty.
The superintendence of a second factory was of- ^
fered to Mr. Thomas, each to receive a salary of 1
£250 a year. The proposal was gratefully ac- ^
cepted. Mr. Carey reached his new field of labour
on the 15th of June, 1794, and remained there a
little more than five years.

About ninety native workmen were employed
in the factory, to whom he gave Christian instruc-
tion. Mr. Udney fully understood that Mr. Carey
was before all a Christian missionary, and was
himself deeply interested in the prosecution of
this work. From the factory, about two hundred
villages could be reached, and Mr. Carey went

74 Men of Might in India Missions

from village to village preaching the Gospel, re-
cru ting his Sabbath congregations from them.

"-'he situation of the factory proved unhealthy
and the family suffered much from sickness. One
of the sons died of fever. Grief at her loss un-
balanced the mind of the mother and from this
time until her death in December, 1807, it was
necessary to keep her under restraint. In the
midst of circumstances so afflictive, Mr. Carey
continued his labours. Side by side with his public
ministrations and private instruction, in conjunc-
tion with his oversight of the indigo factory, the
work of translating the Scriptures into Bengali,
was carried on. When it was so far advanced
that printing could be commenced he made a visit
to Calcutta to obtain estimates for printing, and
learned that a wooden printing-press was for sale.
He decided to purchase it, but Mr. Udney asked
to be allowed to pay for it, and presented it to the
mission. When it was set up in one of the rooms
of the factory at Mudnabutty, the natives declared
that this must be the idol of the Europeans.

It was in March, 1799, as Mr. Carey was re-
vi, turning from Calcutta, that he saw for the first
. time, a widow burned alive with the dead body
of her husband, and from this time, he ceased not
to use every possible influence, by appeals in India
and in England, until the horrid rite was abolished
by law.

Near the end of 1799, Mr. Udney was forced
to abandon the manufacture of indigo, as the

Carey, Marshman and Ward 75

enterprise had proved financially a failure and Mr.
Carey was therefore obliged to seek another resi-
dence and occupation. Perhaps the pre .pect,
momentarily seemed dark, but succour was near,
In quick succession, four young men in England
had offered themselves to the Baptist Missionary
Society, to go out to India. They were William
Ward, whom Carey himself had called, Joshua
Marshman and Messrs. Brunsdon and Grant.

William Ward was born in Derby on the 20th
of October, 1769. He was early left without a
father, and on his mother, a woman of rare in-
telligence and ardent piety, devolved the care and
education of the boy. He was thoughtful beyond
his years and no opportunity for mental improve-
ment was neglected. On leaving school he was
apprenticed to a Mr. Drury who was at the head
of a large printing establishment. William began
now to write as well as read and soon acquired
great facility of expression. At the close of his
apprenticeship, on behalf of Mr. Drury, he edited
the " Derby Mercury" so successfully that this
journal soon became one of the most influential
papers in the county, and six years were spent in
the keenest editorial excitement. In 1797, Mr.
Ward laid aside journalism and began to make
diligent preparation for the work of making
known the Gospel to his fellowmen. The follow-
ing year a member of the Baptist Missionary So-
ciety visited Ewood Hall, where he was pursuing
his studies, in search of labourers to join Mr. Carey

76 Men of Might in India Missions

in India. Mr. Ward offered himself to the society
in the hope that he might be employed in print-
ing the Scriptures and was at once accepted.

Joshua Marshman was born in Westbury
Leigh, in Williston, on the 2Qth of April, 1768.
His father, John Marshman, was a weaver, a
man of fervent piety and his mother was a woman
of superior mental gifts, as well as of deep
spirituality. When fifteen years old, a bookseller
in Holborn, who had formerly resided in West-
bury Leigh, proposed to Mr. Marshman that
his son should come to the metropolis and help
in his shop. Joshua, who was passionately fond
of reading was now in a congenial atmosphere,
but he soon found that his duties left him little
leisure. The drudgery of walking the streets sev-
eral hours each day, carrying heavy packages of
books soon became intolerable. On one occasion,
Weary and discouraged, as he reached Westminster
Abbey, he laid down his load, buried his face in
his hands and burst into passionate weeping, as
he thought that perhaps there was before him, no
brighter future than that of a bookseller's appren-
tice. Then raising his tear-stained face, he saw
within the portals of the venerable pile, the monu-
ments rising in solemn beauty there and he said to
himself '* the men who have found a resting-place
here, fought bravely the battle of life and won,
and so will I." He then took up the burden he
had laid down with so heavy a heart and walked
on with new courage. At the end of five months

Carey, Marshman and Ward 77

he returned to his rural home and took his place
at his father's loom. He had now leisure for
reading and before he was eighteen years of age,
he had read more than five hundred books.
Among his acquaintances he found little sym-
pathy with his aspirations after knowledge. When
he sought admission to the church he was met
with the objection that he had too much head-
knowledge of religion to have much heart-knowl-
edge of its truths.

In the year 1791, Mr. Marshman was married
to Hannah Shephard, a lady who possessed in an
eminent degree those qualities of heart and mind
which fitted her to be a help-meet to her husband.
Three years after his marriage, he accepted the
position of master of a school in Broadmead, Bris-
tol, and here he laboured successfully for five years.
Reading with ever-increasing interest the accounts
of the mission work in India and the spiritual
needs of that vast field, he resolved to offer his
services to the Baptist Society. He was accepted
and made hasty preparations to join the party
about to sail for India, Messrs. Ward, Grant and
Brunsdon. After a voyage of five months, the
vessel came to anchor on the 5th of October, 1799.
Captain Wickes sent the mission party in his
boats to Serampore. Two members of this party,
Messrs. Grant and Brunsdon, men of great zeal
and much promise, were early removed by death.

On their arrival the Danish Governor, Colonel
Bie, gave to the strangers all the help in his power

78 Men of Might in India Missions

and gladly consented to the establishment of a
mission in the settlement of Serampore. It was
accordingly decided that Mr. Ward with a Dan-
ish passport should visit Mr. Carey at Mudnabutty
and confer with him upon the subject of his re-
moval to Serampore and the establishment of a
mission there embracing various departments of
work. The proposal met with Mr. Carey's ap-
proval; on the loth of January, 1800, he took
up his residence in Serampore, and the work of
Ziegenbalg and Schwartz received a new im-
pulse.

The missionaries determined to form a common
stock and to dine at a common table. A house
was purchased near the river side with a plot of
ground walled around. In the centre of the house
was a spacious hall which was devoted to public
worship, while a large storehouse within the in-
closure was fitted up for a printing-office, and the
wooden press brought from Mudnabutty was set
up. With the exception of two books of the Old
Testament Mr. Carey had completed the trans-
lation of the entire Bible in Bengali, and it was
resolved to begin with the printing of the New
(Testament. The 24th of April was appointed as
a day of thanksgiving for the establishment of the
mission under circumstances so favourable. On
the same day a church was organised. In May
Mr. and Mrs. Marshman opened two boarding-
schools, having in view not only the education of
the children and youth around them, but the earn-

Carey, Marshman and Ward 79

ing of means to assist in the support of the mis-
sion. These schools soon became the most popu-
lar and remunerative establishments of the kind
in the Presidency. Mrs. Marshman, who has
been called " the first woman missionary to
India," gave not only invaluable aid in the schools,
in the home and among the little band of Chris-
tians, but exerted an influence for good in non-
Christian circles also.

During a visit made by Mr. Thomas to Seram^ IV
pore, a carpenter belonging to the town was Of^
brought to the mission-house with a dislocated
arm. After the physical suffering had ^ been re-
lieved by Mr. Thomas, the ever zealous physician
began to discourse on the way of life through
Christ. The man appeared much interested and
came again and again for instruction and eventu-
ally with his brother and two of the women of the
household, renounced Hinduism and embraced
Christianity. Mr. Thomas was so overjoyed, that
for a time his mind lost its balance and it became
necessary to confine him. The native mob mani-
fested violent opposition when it became known
that some members of the Hindu community had
embraced Christianity, and on this account the
brother of Krishna and the two women decided
to postpone, for a time, a public profession of
their faith in Christ.

On Sunday, the 28th of December, 1800, Mr.
Carey walked down to the river that flowed past
the mission-house, his son Felix on one side and

l^

8o Men of Might in India Missions

Krishna on the other, prepared to administer the
rite of baptism to the two candidates. At the
steps leading down to the water, Governor Bie
waited with several other Europeans. A dense
crowd of Hindus and Mohammedans, were as-
sembled, but there was no disorder. A feeling
of deep solemnity seemed to pervade the whole
assembly and Governor Bie shed tears.

On the 7th of February, 1801, the last sheet
of the Bengali New Testament issued from the
press. The type of the greater part of the sacred
volume had been set up by Mr. Ward and the
work had been completed within a year, though
prosecuted under great difficulties. As soon as
the first copy was bound, it was placed on the
communion-table in the chapel and a meeting was
held which was attended by the entire mission
family and the recently baptized converts, to give
thanks to God for the completion of so important
a work.

Lord Wellesley, Governor-General of India,
having made arrangements for the establishment
of a college at Fort William, Calcutta, for the
training of young English civilians in a knowl-
edge of the vernaculars of the country, its laws
and its customs, invited Mr. Carey to accept the
post of teacher of Bengali in the new institution.
With the approval of his colleagues, he assented,
but stipulated that he should be left entirely free
to discharge his duties as a Christian missionary.
He entered upon his new post in May, 1801, re-

Carey, Marshman and Ward 8i

ceiving for his service, a salary of 500 rupees a
month. In a letter to the Rev. Andrew Fuller, he
said, " our school has increased, and together with
my allowance from the college, will, we trust, sup-
port us without further help from England." In
October of this year Mr. Thomas died and there
remained now of the mission band, only the three
with whose names the Christian world has long
since grown familiar.

With the appointment of Mr. Carey to the col-
lege, began the publication of books in the Bengali
language for use in the classes. The compilation
of a Bengali grammar was at once undertaken
and other books rapidly followed. When Mr.
Carey was appointed a teacher of Sanskrit in
the college, he immediately began the compilation
of a Sanskrit grammar for use in his classes.

After a residence of two years in Serampore
the missionaries began to make tours in the sur-
rounding country, and Krishna, the first convert,
who had proved himself admirably fitted for such
work, accompanied the missionaries on these evan-
gelistic tours. One of the first tracts issued by
the Serampore press fell into the hands of Per-
tumber Singh, a man of the writer caste. This
man eventually embraced Christianity, and fur-
nished just what was required, a superior school-
master for the vernacular schools which had been
established. He afterwards became a most accept-
able and useful preacher of the Gospel The first
Brahmin convert came from the Sunderbunds,

82 Men of Might in India Missions

where Mr. Carey began Hfe as a missionary
farmer.

In April, 1803, the first Christian marriage
among the converts was solemnized, the bride
being the daughter of Krishna, the carpenter, and
the bridegroom the son of the first Brahmin con-
vert. In October of this year, the missionaries
purchased an acre of ground where they might
bury their dead. Four days after this purchase
the first death in the Christian community oc-
curred. Mr. Marshman was at the time alone in
Serampore and he determined to improve 'the op-
portunity to help in loosening the bonds of caste.
A plain coffin was made and covered with white
muslin. When all was in readiness, Mr. Marsh-
man, Felix Carey, a Christian who before his
conversion had been a Brahmin and a Christian
who had come from the ranks of the Mohamme-
dans, lifted the coffin and bore it to the cemetery.
The deceased, before his conversion, had been a
man of low caste and to see him thus honoured in
his burial, was a lesson not readily forgotten.

The appointment of Mr. Carey to the College
of Fort William, opened the way for securing the
assistance required for the translation of the Scrip-
tures into a large number of the languages of the
East, as there were associated with him in the
college a great number of accomplished Oriental
scholars. In the beginning of 1804, and three
months before the establishment of the Bible
Society in England, the Serampore missionaries

Carey, Marshman and Ward 83

sent home a plan which they had arranged for
the translation of the Scriptures, or portions of
them, into seven of the languages of the East,
explaining that Mr. Carey's connection with the
college w^ould enable them to avail themselves of
the services of learned men from various parts
of India. A valuable library of critical works had
been collected, and they had in Serampore a large
printing establishment capable of expansion.

Mr. Fuller was deeply interested in these plans
and succeeded in raising for the proposed object
£1300 ($6,500). From America iyoo ($3,500)
were sent. It was even proposed that a transla-
tion of the Bible into the Chinese language be
added to the translations attempted and that with
this object in view, Mr. Marshman should enter
upon the study of this language. For fifteen
years he devoted to the furtherance of this object
all the time that could be secured from other oc-
cupations and actually carried through the press'
the first Chinese translation of the Scriptures.
The work was necessarily very imperfect, but was
" a monument of diligence and perseverance al-
most without a parallel."

In May, 1805, Colonel Bie who had filled the
office of Governor for forty years with conspicu-
ous ability was removed by death, a great loss
not only to the Danish settlement of Serampore,
but to the cause of missions. Lord Wellesley, the
Governor-General, who had aided the mission-
aries by every means in his power, retired from

84 Men of Might in India Missions

office in the summer of the same year. Before his
retirement the first official communication on the
subject of female immolation was placed on the
records of Government. This paper had been
most carefully prepared by the Serampore mis-
sionaries, but on the eve of retirement of the Gov-
ernor-General a subject involving great questions
of public policy could not receive proper consid-
eration.

Lord Wellesley was succeeded in office by Lord
Cornwallis who died only two months after his
arrival in Calcutta, and he by Sir John Barlow.
During his eight years' tenure of office, the mis-
sionaries encountered more or less opposition.
/ In May, 1806 the first sheet of the Sanskrit
New Testament was printed at Serampore. Little
aggressive missionary work could be done among
non-Christians, as stringent orders had been
issued prohibiting the doing of anything whatever
that might be regarded as interference with the re-
ligious prejudices of the people. The mission-
aries therefore improved the time by keeping the
presses in Serampore fully occupied. The Mara-
thi, the Ooriya, the Persian and the Hindustani
versions of the New Testament were put to press.
The completed Sanskrit Grammar was also pub-
lished. Mr. Ward, during this time of enforced
inactivity in evangelistic labours outside of the
Danish settlement, published the first volume of
his work on " The Habits, Manners and Religion

Carey, Marshman and Ward 85

of the Hindus," for which he had for many years
been collecting and arranging the material.

When by changes in the College of Fort Wil-
liam, Mr. Carey was made a full professor and
his salary increased from 500 to 1,000 rupees per
month, he wrote to Mr. Fuller in England, ** this
will be a great help to the mission."

In March, 1807, Mr. Carey received the honor-
ary title of Doctor of Divinity from Brown Uni-
versity, U. S. A., an illustration of the interest
just awakening among the Baptists of America
even before the establishment of a regular mis-
sionary society.

Not long after the establishment of the mission A
at Serampore, Lady Rumohr, only child of Chev- \
alier de Rumohr, a woman of wealth and educa- !
tion came to India in the hope that the climate
would give relief after years of invalidism. The
Danish ship in which she sailed brought her to
Serampore and there she decided to remain. She
built a house near the mission families and soon
became deeply interested in their work. In the^^
summer of 1808 she became the wife of Dr. Carey 1
and until her death, thirteen years later, he had '
a true home and a congenial companion. •'

In July, 1807, Lord Minto succeeded Sir George
Barlow as Governor-General. He was at first
inclined to follow the anti-missionary policy of
his predecessor, but on personal acquaintance
with the missionaries he treated them with both

86 Men of Might in India Missions

consideration and esteem and before he left India
in 1813 paid a generous and public tribute to their
personal worth and exalted labours.

Not long after the establishment of the mission
in Serampore, through the efforts of the European
residents, a church was erected in which to hold
English services. The missionaries were invited
to hold divine service in it and here for more than
forty years, Dr. Carey, his colleagues and their
successors preached the Gospel '' without fee or
reward."

In June, 181 1, Brown University followed its
compliment to Dr. Carey by conferring upon Mr.
Marshman the honorary degree of Doctor of Di-
vinity. The cold season of this year was sadly
memorable, for death entered the home of each
of the mission families. In March, 1812, the
printing house was destroyed by fire. The fire
was discovered at six o'clock in the evening,
before Mr. Ward had left the office, and every
effort was made to check the progress of the
flames, but at midnight the roof fell in. The value
of the property destroyed was. estimated at £7,000,
but the loss of the great number of copies of the
Scriptures and of valuable manuscripts far out-
weighed the monetary loss. Early on the morn-
ing following the fire, Dr. Marshman went to Cal-
cutta to break to Dr. Carey as gently as he could,
the news of the great disaster. When the two
returned to Serampore on the evening of the same
day, they were rejoiced to learn from Mr. Ward

Carey, Marshman and Ward 87

that the printing-press had been saved and that
the punches and matrices were uninjured ; and
this discovery led the undaunted missionaries to
attempt an early renewal of their labours in this
department.

A building on the premises more spacious than
the one that had been destroyed had just been
vacated and this they resolved to occupy as their
printing-house. The melted lead gathered from
the ruins was turned over to the type-casters who
worked in relays night and day, and at the end
of thirty days, two editions of the New Testa-
ment wxre put to press. At the end of a year the
printing establishment was in a more efficient
state than at any former period. Christian friends
in India manifested their sympathy by prompt and
generous contributions, and when the news of the
disaster reached England, so generous was the
response that the entire monetary loss was made
up in sixty days.

In May, 181 5, the cause of missions sustained
a great loss in the death of the Rev. Andrew
Fuller, Secretary of the Baptist Missionary So-
ciety in England. To the Serampore band his
loss seemed irreparable, but its full significance ap-
peared later in the train of circumstances that
eventually resulted in their entire separation from
the Society.

In the summer of 18 18 an English monthly
periodical was begun by Dr. Marshman, to which
he gave the name of the ** Friend of India." The

88 Men of Might in India Missions

very first issue of this new periodical contained
an essay on the burning of widows, and it was
urgent for every reform. ' No class of sufferers
^ appealed more to Dr. Carey's sympathies than
the lepers. In 1812 he had witnessed at Cutwa,
the burning alive of one of these unfortunates.
His soul was filled with horror, and he did not
rest until through his influence and exertions a
leper hospital had been established in Calcutta. ,

For many years the missionaries had felt the
need of an institution in which a higher and more
complete education could be given to the native
students, and in July, 1818, they issued the pros-
I pectus of a college " for the instruction of Asiatic
' Christians and other youth, in Eastern literature
and European science." A suitable edifice was to
be erected and properly equipped, the three mis-
; sionaries offering to subscribe from their own re-
v^jources the sum of £2,500 for the purpose. The
college eventually cost a much larger sum but
the whole expense was borne by the three mis-
sionaries. The same year Mr. Ward paid a visit
to England because of seriously impaired health,
but as soon as he was able to labour, his services
were in requisition on the platform and in the
pulpit, and he succeeded in raising in England
and Scotland, £3,000 ($15,000), for the support
of the college. This was followed by a visit to
America where $10,000 more were raised for the
same purpose.

In the beginning of 1820, Mrs. Marshman,

Carey, Marshman and Ward 89

much shattered in health, was obliged to return
to England. For twenty years she had toiled in-
cessantly, allowing herself no respite from exact-
ing cares and duties. In one of the letters sent
to Mrs. Marshman while in England, Dr. Marsh-
man wrote, " in a recent examination of our af-
fairs, we found that we had been able to con^
tribute more than £40,000 (nearly $200,000), to
the work of the Serampore mission, besides sup^
porting our families. This filled me with joy."

While at home, Mr. Ward secured as professor
for the Serampore College, Mr. John Mack, a
graduate of the University of Edinburgh, a man
of earnest piety, brilliant in intellect and distiur
guished for his eloquence. In 1821, Mr. Ward,
Mrs. Marshman and Mr. Mack returned to India
to find on their arrival, that Dr. Carey had been
deprived by death of his second wife.

Meanwhile, the college, a fine edifice in the
Grecian style of architecture, had been completed,
and Mr. Mack entered with great enthusiasm on
the discharge of his duties in connection with it
and soon became a brother beloved. Mr. Ward
assumed charge of the printing establishment, and
the business department of the mission, but gave
his chief attention to the training for missionary
duties, of the advanced youth in the college.

Not long after Mr. Ward's return from Eng-
land, Serfojee, the Rajah of Tan j ore, paid a visit
to Serampore. He was received on his arrival
by Dr. Carey and Dr. Marshman and conducted

90 Men of Might in India Missions

through the college and the printing-establish-
ment. The Prince, still a young man, manifested
much interest in all departments of labour. With
his hand in the hand of Dr. Carey, Serfojee talked
with reverent enthusiasm of the work and virtues
of the great missionary Schwartz to whom he felt
that he was deeply indebted.

In March, 1823, sixteen months after his re-
turn to India, Mr. Ward was stricken with chol-
era and died after an illness of thirty-six hours.
After his death Dr. Marshman wrote, " This is to
me, a most awful and tremendous stroke and I
have no way left but that of looking upward for
help. I feel the loss of Mr. Ward as a counsellor
beyond everything."

In 1823, Dr. Carey accepted the post of trans-
lator to Government, in the Bengali language,
. because of the increased means which he would
I thus be able to devote to the carrying on of the
mission work in Serampore and its out-stations.
During this year the river Damooda overflowed
its embankments and the whole country between
it and the Hugh was inundated. The embank-
ment in front of the mission premises gave way
and the river came in like a flood. Dr. Carey
was ill at the time. He was removed from his
dwelling-house and carried to one of the houses
on the college premises just before his own house
was swept away.

In the beginning of 1826, Dr. Marshman made

Carey, Marshman and Ward 91

his first and only visit to England. He reached
his native village on the morning of the Sabbath
and made his way at once to the old meeting-
house, feeling almost a boy again when he heard
himself addressed as Joshua. The anniversary of
the Baptist Missionary Society was held in Lon-
don not long after his arrival. This was the first
meeting of the kind which he had ever attended
and he mentally compared the great gathering on
this occasion with the very humble beginnings of
this Society. In the interests of the Mission cause,
Dr. Marshman visited the principal cities of Eng-
land and Scotland and was everywhere cordially
received; but he was homesick for India and re-
joiced when his health was in such a measure
restored as to permit him to return. He em-
barked for India on the 19th of February, 1829,
and reached Serampore on the 19th of May,
taking three months for a journey now made in a
few weeks.

The year 1829 is a memorable one in India as)
it marked the abolition of suttee, or widow-j
burning in Bengal. The subject had for the first
time been brought officially to the notice of Gov-
ernment at the close of Lord Wellesley's adminis-
tration, but Lord Amherst before his retirement
from office put on record " That while the dimi-
nution of the rite was desirable, to prohibit it en-
tirely, was inexpedient at the time." He was suc-
ceeded in office by Lord William Bentinck, who,

92 Men of Might in India Missions

twenty years before, had been Governor of
Madras, and was therefore not a novice in In-
dian affairs. He brought with him to his exalted
office a firm determination that this horrid rite
should cease absolutely and immediately. The
regulation prohibiting suttee in the Bengal Presi-
dency, was passed on the 4th of December, 1829.
The Secretary to Government sent the order to
Dr. Carey at Serampore on the afternoon of
Saturday. The paper came into his hands on the
morning of the Sabbath. Knowing that every
day's delay might cost the lives of two or three
victims, he sent at once for his pundit and com-
pleted the translation before the sun went down.
The year 1830 brought heavy financial troubles
to the missionaries. Great commercial firms
failed for large amounts, and as the support of
many of the children in the schools conducted by
Dr. and Mrs. Marshman, was derived from funds
deposited with these firms, the schools suffered
in consequence. It was about this time proposed
in the interests of economy, to abolish the pro-
fessorships in the college of Fort William, and
to appoint examiners on a reduced salary. Dr.
Carey received in consequence, 500 instead of 1000
rupees per month. The office of Government
translator was also abolished, thus further reduc-
ing his income. This he regretted only because
he was deprived of the privilege of contributing
to the mission cause as before. The number of

Carey, Marshman and Ward 93

outstations had increased to thirteen, and Euro-
pean, Eurasian and Hindustani labourers to the
number of thirty-two, looked to the missionaries
for support. There were widows and orphans
connected with the mission for whose support
they had made themselves responsible, and they
had found it necessary to aid in the support of
the college. An appeal was sent to Christian
friends in England, and this met with a cheerful
and liberal response. " No succour was ever more
seasonable," wrote the missionaries in response.
The eighth edition of the Bengali New Testa-
ment appeared in 1832. As Dr. Carey corrected
the last sheet of this edition, he said : '' My work
is done. I have nothing more to do but to wait
the will of God." The Old Testament in Bengali
had passed through the fifth edition, each edition
of which Dr. Carey had himself revised. When
in the summer of 1832 he presided at the ordina-
tion of Mr. Mack, as co-pastor with Dr. Marsh-
man and himself over the Bengali congregation
in Serampore, he took with him into the pulpit
the first copy of the sacred volume which came
from the hands of the printer, and addressed the
converts and their children from the words of
Simeon:** Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant de-
part in peace, — for mine eyes have seen Thy salva-
tion." The veteran saint did not, however, relin-
quish the labours until compelled to take to his
couch. During the months of gradually failing

94 Men of Might in India Missions

strength, many distinguished visitors sought the
chamber of the dying missionary. The Bishop of
Calcutta paid him several visits, and on one of
his last visits craved his benediction. Alexander
Duff, recently arrived in India, found his way to
the chamber where the good and great man was
spending his last earthly days, and received from
him much wise counsel.

On the morning of the 9th of June, 1834, the
aged saintrentered into rest. On the morning of
the following day, he was carried to his burial.
Rain was falling heavily, and this intensified the
general gloom. The Danish Governor and his
wife, and the members of the Council joined the
long procession of mourners, and the Danish flag
hung at half mast, as on the occasion of the death
of a Governor. The road was lined with poor
Hindus and Mohammedans who felt that they
had lost a true friend. When the cemetery was
reached, and a halt was made at the open grave,
the sun burst forth in splendour. A resurrection
hymn was sung and the mortal remains were laid
to rest.

Dr. Carey died possessed of little worldly
wealth, but he had contributed to the work of
evangelisation and civilisation in India, £46,000.
The three mission families from their earnings
had contributed the munificent sum of £90,000.
His valuable museum was bequeathed to the col-
lege, together with his collection of Bibles, and

Carey, Marshman and Ward 95

he directed that his only memorial should be the
following inscription, cut on the stone above the
grave of his second wife:

William Carey,

Born August 17, 1761 ;

Died — June 9, 1834.

A wretched, poor, and helpless worm,

On Thy kind arms I fall.

The death of his beloved colleague was a
heavy blow to Dr. Marshman, who about this
time was visited with another heavy afflic-
tion. His youngest daughter had married Lieu-
tenant Havelock, who became afterwards the
well-known Sir Henry Havelock. Mrs. Have-
lock was with her children in the hill-station of
Landour, when the bungalow she occupied took
fire in the night. Mrs. Havelock and her two
older children were with difficulty rescued, from
the burning building, but the youngest perished
in the flames. For a few days little hope was
entertained that Mrs. Havelock would survive the
shock. The news of the awful disaster, so af-
fected Dr. Marshman in his enfeebled condition,
that he was seldom afterward seen to smile and
his feebleness from this time continued to in-
crease.

A few days before his death he requested his
bearers to carry him in his chair to the chapel,
at the hour of the weekly prayer-meeting and to
place him in the midst of the congregation. He

96 Men of Might in India Missions

then gave out in a firm voice the hymn that had
often been used by his colleagues and himself in
seasons of trial and difficulty.

O! Lord our God, arise;

The cause of truth maintain,
And wide o'er all the peopled world.

Extend Thy blessed reign.

Dr. Marshman passed away on the morning of
the fifth of December, 1837, and nine years later
Mr. Mack's career was suddenly cut short by
cholera after twenty-three years of splendid serv-
ice. Another year and Mrs. Marshman was
removed by death in March, 1847, at the ad-
vanced age of eighty. The first in the army of
noble women who have consecrated their lives to
the work of the Lord in India, she has perhaps
had no superior and few equals. Both were buried
in that consecrated acre in Serampore which en-
closes the mortal remains of that devoted band
who have made that Station famous in the an-
nals of Missions. It is said that on one occasion
one of the dignitaries of the Church of England
remarked that there had been but few men at
Serampore but they were all giants.

IV

HENRY MARTYN

1806-1812

A CENTURY or two ago, Cornwall, the Land's
End of England, was, we are told, sometimes
called " West Barbary," because of the rude
manners of its inhabitants. But through the
blessing of the Lord upon the Gospel message,
carried to this region, in a measure shut out from
civilising influences, by such notable preachers as
Whitefield and Wesley, the morals and manners
of the inhabitants had greatly improved before
the end of the eighteenth century.

This wild region was the birthplace of not a
few, who, in manhood became famous, but rtb one
of these is held in more reverent memory than
Henry Martyn, who was born in Truro, the me-
tropolis of Cornwall, on the i8th of February, ■
1781. He was descended, so runs the record,
from an ancient, humble family of skilled miners.
His father, when quite a young man was made
accountant in Wheal Virgin Mine and eventu-
ally rose to the position of cashier. Of the mother
little is known, save that she was of a consump-
97

98 Men of Might in India Missions

tive habit and transmitted this disease to her
children.

Henry was the third child, and was left moth-
erless when very young. Self-trained and self-
educated, the father valued education as did few
men of his rank, and he determined that Henry,
who, at a very early age, evinced a taste for
learning should have such educational advantages
as would fit him for a high station in life. When
seven years old the boy was placed in the ex-
cellent grammar-school of Truro. Delicate in
constitution, very reserved and at the same time
passionate, he received rough treatment from the
older boys. Dr. Cardew, the head-master, com-
mitted the shy, new pupil to the guardianship
of one of the older scholars, a chivalrous youth
named Kempthorpe. He remained in Dr. Car-
dew's school in Truro until sixteen years of age
when he entered St. John's College, Cambridge.
Kempthorpe, the champion of his early school-
days, had just graduated senior wrangler from
the college, and proved just such a friend as
the young student needed in the beginning of
his university career, for Henry still manifested
a tendency to be governed by impulse rather than
duty and as in his boyish days, indulged in bursts
of passion. On one occasion when roused to vio-
lent anger, he hurled an open knife at the offender
who just escaped the weapon which was left
quivering in the wall.

At the close of 1799, Henry came out first in

Henry Martyn 99

his examinations to the great delight of his
father. Though he had sprung from " a family
of calculators," and though the father was in-
debted to his mathematical ability for his rise in
life, yet until his entrance upon his university
career the son had developed little taste for this
department of learning, and it is said that he
began his mathematical studies by attempting to
commit to memory the propositions of Euclid. ^

'In January, 1800, Henry Martyn received tid-
ing of the sudden death of his father. His friend
Kempthorpe urged him in this time of sorrow to
turn his thoughts to the consideration of Divine
things. He began now to read the Bible with
an interest never before felt. In attendance upon
the college chapel service, while thus awakened,
" I saw," wrote Martyn, '' with surprise at my
former inattention, that in the Magnificat, there
was a great degree of joy expressed at the com-
ing of Christ." i The opening of the new century
had opened to him a new world.

The Rev. Charles Simeon from the pulpit of
Trinity Church, as well as by his personal influ-
ence, had been quietly transforming university
life; and chiefly through his efforts and influence
the society now known as the Church Mission-
ary Society was founded in April, 1799.

Mr. Martyn had expected to devote himself
to the legal profession, because " he could not
consent to be poor for Christ's sake." Now, how-
ever, he was willing to be used as seemed good

lOO Men of Might in India Missions

to his Heavenly Master. Impelled by a new and
holy motive he worked so incessantly that the
student who had been an idler in the Truro
grammar school, now became known as the man
who never lost an hour.

At the time to which he had so long looked
forward, when he entered the Senate house in
company with his competitors, there came vividly
to his mind this passage from God's Holy Word :
" And seekest thou great things for thyself ?
Seek them not." This he felt was God's mes-
sage to him for the hour, and his mind was
immediately at rest.

r'*^At the close of the contest, to Mr. Martyn was

^awarded the highest honour which the university

J could bestow, that of senior wrangler of his year.

" I obtained my highest wishes," he said, referring

to this event, " but was surprised to find that I

Ijiad grasped a shadow." The following year he
was made Fellow of his college and won the first
university prize for a Latin essay.

Not long after his decision to devote himself
to the Gospel ministry, he heard Mr. Simeon
speak in glowing terms of Dr. Carey and the

. life of self-denial he was leading, in connection
with the work of making Christ known in idola-

Vtrous India. The life of David Brainerd about
this time came into his hands, and the burning
zeal of this servant of the Lord made a powerful

j impression on his mind. With the promptness
' which was a distinguishing characteristic, he at

Henry Martyn loi

once offered himself to the missionary society i
which had recently come into existence. /

On the 22nd of October, 1803, Mr. Martyn
was ordained a deacon of the Church of Eng-
land and soon after entered upon his duties as
curate to Mr. Simeon in Trinity Church, Cam-
bridge. He was also made classical examiner of
his college.

In the beginning of 1804 a disaster in Corn-
wall deprived Mr. Martyn and his sisters of the
patrimony which had accrued to them on the
death of their father, making it necessary that
he should provide for the maintenance of an un-
married sister. This was a blow to the young
curate, as he felt that the position in which he
was now placed would materially interfere with
his cherished plan of devoting his life to mission-
service in a foreign field. Friends in London
whose advice he sought in this emergency, pro-
posed that he should accept a chaplaincy abroad.
The pecuniary advantages of such a position
would enable him to provide for his sister, and
would at the same time afford excellent oppor-
tunities for missionary work among the unevan-
gelised.

Through Mr. Simeon, Mr. Martyn was intro-
duced to William Wilberforce and Charles Grant,
both members of the House of Commons. Mr.
Grant also belonged to the Board of Directors
of the East India Company. These gentlemen at
once interested themselves on Mr. Martyn's be-

I02 Men of Might in India Missions

half. Chaplains to the British troops and their
civil servants in India, were, they felt, a necessity
and Mr. Grant was authorised to bestow upon
Mr. Martyn such an appointment. He was at
this time under twenty-four years of age, and
could not legally receive full ordination in the
Church of England. After his return to Cam-
bridge, he resumed his duties as curate to Mr.
Simeon.

On the i8th of February, 1805, Mr. Martyn
completed his twenty-fourth year, and in the fol-
lowing March, in the Chapel Royal of St. James,
London, he received ordination as a clergyman
of the Church of England, after which the de-
gree of B.D., was conferred upon him. He de-
livered his farewell discourse in Trinity Church
on the second of April and on the following day
left Cambridge for London to prepare for his
embarkation.

Though never for a moment regretting the
choice he had made, Mr. Martyn's sensitive and
affectionate nature made the trial of leaving his
native land, his relatives and his many friends,
very great. He had also become deeply attached
to a young lady in Cornwall, Miss Lydia Gren-
fell. After paying a farewell visit to this lady,
he wrote in his journal, " Parted with Lydia for-
ever in this life, with a sort of uncertain pain
which I knew would increase to violence."!

Passage had been arranged for the young chap-
lain in the '* Union," one of the ships of a large

Henry Marty n 103

fleet which sailed from Portsmouth on the 17th of
July. After two days a casualty occurred which
made it necessary that the whole fleet should put
into Falmouth, where it remained for three weeks,
and Mr. Martyn had an opportunity to visit again
the friends from whom he thought that he had
parted forever. On the loth of August the signal
was given for the ships to sail, but two days after
weighing anchor, the '' Union " still lingered on
the coast. While Cornwall was in sight, with his
glass in his hand and often with eyes dimmed
by tears, he gazed upon the beloved scenes slowly
fading from his view.

The captain of the '' Union " gave an unwill-
ing consent to the holding of one religious serv-
ice on the Sabbath. During the week, between
the decks, Mr. Martyn gathered about him all
who were willing thus to assemble and held an
informal service; but he was pained and dis-
mayed not only at the inattention but at the open
hostility manifested from time to time, although
he tried to gain the good will of the cadets by
offering to assist them in their mathematical
studies.

The Sabbath service was regarded as an in-
fliction by the majority of the passengers, who
resented the chaplain's faithful presentation of
the truth, and he was warned to desist from such
plain speaking. His answer to this was a dis-
course on the text : " The wicked shall be turned
into hell, and all the nations that forget God."

I04 Men of Might in India Missions

Such was the solemnity, the earnestness and the
tenderness with which the message was deHvered
that some of the young cadets were moved to
tears.

A pleasant month was spent in Cape Town,
for here, the lonely young chaplain found some
congenial friends among the Cape clergy. On
the 19th of April, nine months after the fleet
had sailed from Portsmouth, Ceylon came into
view, and two days later he obtained his first
sight of the mainland of India at the Danish
settlement of Tranquebar. At sunrise on April
22nd the vessel anchored at Madras Roads.

*' There is everything here to depress the
spirits," wrote Mr. Martyn in his journal. ** What
surprises me is my change of views. In Eng-
land, my heart expanded with hope and joy at
the prospect of the speedy conversion of the
heathen; but here the apparent impossibility of
this requires a strong faith to support the
spirits." Many a modem missionary has passed
through a like experience.

After a detention of a fortnight off Madras,
the '* Union " once more set sail and reached Cal-
cutta on the morning of May i6th. Mr. Mar-
tyn went ashore at daybreak, sought out Dr.
Carey, then in Calcutta in connection with the
work of the College of Fort William, breakfasted
with him and joined him in worship.

A little band of those whose hearts the Lord
had touched had been accustomed to meet once

Henry Martyn 105

a week in Calcutta to pray the Lord of the har-
vest to send to India a man filled with the spirit
of Christ and with a desire to make Him known
to those who were perishing around them. It
was felt by the members of this praying band
that Mr. Martyn had been sent in answer to their
petitions.

Dr. Carey wrote, '' A chaplain has recently
come to Calcutta, Mr. Martyn, who seems to pos-
sess a truly missionary spirit."

One of the first to welcome to his heart and
his home the youthful chaplain, was the Rev.
David Brown, Provost of the College of Fort
William. Mr. Brown lived at Aldeen House,
Serampore, and but a short distance from the
residence of the missionaries. Three days after
his arrival, Mr. Martyn wrote, " In the cool of
the evening we walked to the mission house, a
few hundred yards off, and I at last saw the
place about which I have so long read with
pleasure."

On the bank of the river Hugli and near Mr.
Brown's own residence was an ancient pagoda
from which the idol had been removed because
of the encroachments of the river. This, by Mr.
Brown's directions, underwent such repairs and
alterations as made it not unsuitable for a resi-
dence, and here Mr. Martyn took up his abode,
rejoicing " that the place where once devils were
worshipped, was now become a Christian ora-
tory." Of his unique home, he wrote, " I like

io6 Men of Might in India Missions

my dwelling much. It is retired and free from
noise and has so many recesses and cells that I
can hardly find my way in or out."

During the five months spent in this pagoda
home, Mr. Martyn held much pleasant inter-
course with the missionaries who formed the
famous " Serampore Brotherhood.'' A strong
bond of sympathy drew him into close fellowship
wath Dr. Marshman and they were often seen
walking arm in arm for hours together between
Aldeen House and the mission-house.

Mr. Martyn had been commissioned to go out
to India to preach to the English people resident
there but, to have been prevented from making
Christ known to the heathen would, to use his
own language, " have broken his heart." " Now
let me burn out for God," he had written two
days after his arrival in Calcutta, and with this
spirit of entire consecration, he began his work
for the Master in the new field to which he had
been called.

The office of chaplain \vhich he held placed
him under the control of the military authorities,
and while waiting at Aldeen for his appointment
to 5 military station, he preached every Sabbath
in Calcutta, and with such acceptance that he
was urged to become the minister of the mission,
or " old church," with a chaplain's salary.

The 13th of the September following his ar-
rival brought to Mr. Martyn the tidings of his
appointment to Dinapore, and of the arrival at

A GROUP OF VETERAN'S

Isidor Lowenthai Major Conran Henry Martyn

John Wilson John Scudder

Henry Martyn 107

Madras as military chaplains of Messrs. Corrie
and Parsons, his well beloved friends. On the
loth of October, preparations for his departure
having been completed, a party of friends, in-
cluding the Serampore missionaries, met to com-
mit him and the work he was about to enter, to
God for His blessing. When he left Aldeen,he was
accompanied to the buderon, or house-boat, in
which he was to make the passage up the river,
by his friends Messrs. Corrie, Parsons and
Brown. As the boat passed the Serampore mis-
sion-house. Dr. Marshman joined the party and
after a season of prayer, returned to Serampore.
The other friends remained until the following
day. After spending the entire morning in read-
ing the Scriptures, in prayer and in singing the
praises of Zion, the three friends stepped into the
boat which was to convey them back to Seram-
pore, and Mr. Martyn was left alone for the
first time with none but natives of the country.
The six weeks occupied in this journey to
Dinapore were spent in the study of Hindustani
and Sanskrit, and in the reading of the Holy
Scriptures in Greek and Hebrew as well as Eng-
lish. Morning and evening as the boat ap-
proached the shore, and in the bazaars of the
towns where a halt was made, the young chap-
lain tried to make Christ known to the crowds
which gathered about him, and he often left
behind copies of the New Testament to be read
at leisure.

io8 Men of Might in India Missions

On the 26th of November, Dinapore was
reached. Patna, the Mohammedan city, Banki-
pore, the British civil station and Dinapore, the
British mihtary station, stretch along the right
bank of the Ganges for a distance of fourteen
miles. The chaplain's work was primarily the
spiritual care of the two European regiments
stationed at Dinapore, but he felt that it was also
his duty to do all in his power for the spiritual
enlightenment of the Hindustani population.
Accordingly he opened schools for the children
and held earnest conversations with the learned
men on religious topics whenever opportunity of-
fered.

There was no church edifice in Dinapore, and
the chaplain at first read prayers to the soldiers
at the barracks from the drum-head, and as no
seats were provided, he was requested to omit
the sermon. A room was at length secured and
properly seated, but his audience, composed both
of civilians and soldiers, objected to extempore
preaching, and to evangelistic work among the
native inhabitants. *' I stand alone," he wrote to
the friends at Aldeen, " not one voice is heard
saying * I wish you success in the name of the
Lord.' " In one of his letters to England Mr.
Martyn wrote, " I fag as hard here as ever we
did for our degrees at Cambridge. The heat is
terrible, often at 98°, the nights insupportable."

The opening of the year 1807 was a time of
renewed consecration. Mr. Martyn was engaged

Henry Martyn 109

in the work of translating the Scriptures of the
New Testament into Hindustani, and he was at
the same time preparing a book on the Parables of
our Lord, and a translation of the Book of Com-
mon Prayer. He held almost daily discussions
with Hindus and Mohammedans, and gave such
attention as he could to the vernacular schools
he had organised, and which were supported from
his own purse. In addition to these duties, his
special duties as chaplain to the English troops
and the civilians, were faithfully performed.

Not long after his arrival in India, Mr. Mar-
tyn wrote to Miss Grenfell urging her to join
him, as the salary which he received as chaplain
was, he felt, sufficiently liberal to justify him
in such a request.

In October, 1807, he received from Miss Gren-
fell a letter, written the previous July, in which
she declined to come to India, because her mother
withheld her consent. Referring to this decision,
Mr. Martyn wrote to his friends in Aldeen, '* my
new house and pleasant garden without the per-
son I expected to share them with me, excite
disgust." Henceforth he lived solely for the
work to which all his powers were consecrated.
He began now to devote himself to the study
of Arabic and Persian, as well as Hindustani and
Sanskrit.

It had been arranged with the Serampore mis-
sionaries that the Persian translation of the New
Testament should be committed to Mr. Martyn,

no Men of Might in India Missions

and to assist him in this work, Sabat, an Arab,
who had been baptised in Madras and who had
been employed by the Serampore missionaries in
the work of Scripture translation, was sent to
Dinapore. He remained with Mr. Martyn for
several years, but was so haughty and passionate
as to be a severe trial. On one occasion Mr.
Martyn wrote, " Sabat has been tolerably quiet
this week, but think of the keeper of a lunatic
asylum and you see me."

Without congenial Christian companionship at
Dinapore, Mr. Martyn received with peculiar
pleasure a letter from his friend, Mr. Parsons,
chaplain at Berhampore, introducing to him Mr.
and Mrs. Sherwood. When the regiment to
which Mr. Sherwood was attached as pay-
master, was ordered to Cawnpore, on its way up
the Ganges, it halted at Dinapore and Mr. Mar-
tyn extended to Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood a cordial
invitation to spend the time of their sojourn in
Dinapore, at his bungalow, an invitation which
they gladly accepted. This was the beginning of
a friendship which added much brightness to
his life during the remainder of his residence in
India.

In March, 1808, the Hindustani translation of
the New Testament was completed. While carry-
ing on this work, Mr. Martyn had diligently
studied Arabic, that he might be prepared to
work with Sabat on a version of the New Testa-
ment in that language. He was also engaged with

Henry Martyn iii

Sabat in the Persian translation of the New Tes-
tament. In connection with his duties as chap-
lain, he was deeply interested in the provision of
a suitable place of worship. On the 12th of
March, the new edifice which had for some time
been under construction, was opened for Divine
service; but the faithful chaplain was not long
left to enjoy that for which he had so earnestly
laboured, for a month later, he was commissioned
to leave Dinapore to take the chaplaincy of the
troops at Cawnpore.

The journey thither during the hottest season
of the year was hazardous, but feeling that duty
called, Mr. Martyn made no delay. After his
arrival in Cawnpore he wrote to the friends in
Aldeen, '' I transported myself with such rapidity
to this place, that I nearly translated myself out
of the world. From Allahabad to Cawnpore, how
shall I describe what 1 suffered? Two days and
two nights was I travelling without intermis-
sion, the wind blowing flames. Thus I lay in
my palanquin more dead than alive."

Mr. Martyn was received on his arrival by
Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood. Of his arrival Mrs.
Sherwood wrote, *' The desert winds were blow-
ing like fire without, when we heard the steps
of many bearers. Mr. Sherwood ran out and the
next moment led in Mr. Martyn, who, a moment
after fell down in a fainting-fit. He was very
ill for a day or two, unable to lift his head from
the couch."

112 Men of Might in India Missions '

As soon as able in any degree to exert him-
self, he gladly made the acquaintance of some
of the Christian soldiers of the regiment and with
the consent of his host, invited them to meet in
his own apartment for religious instruction. The
house which was afterwards purchased by him
for his residence, still stands. Of his absorbing
devotion to his work, Mrs. Sherwood wrote,
" Little was spoken of at Mr. Martyn's table but
various plans for advancing the triumphs of
Christianity."

In Cawnpore, as in Dinapore, Mr. Martyn
established schools for children from the lower
castes, though his duties as chaplain were oner-
ous. In Cawnpore, as in his former field of
labour he found no church edifice in which to
hold religious services.

The rainy season proved peculiarly trying.
" My strength for public preaching is almost
gone," he wrote during this season, " but to
translate the word of God is a work of more last-
ing benefit than my preaching would be." In
the cool season, as his strength somewhat re-
vived, Mr. Martyn began in front of his bunga-
low, his first public ministrations in the vernacu-
lar, his congregation consisting of a crowd of
mendicants, the blind, the maimed, the halt, the
diseased, the impostor and the really needy. To
such an audience he tried to tell the story of the
Gospel in such simple language that all could
understand; and at the close of the service he

Henry Martyn 113

assisted in the distribution of alms. For eighteen
months, and until his departure from Cawnpore,
Mr. Martyn continued this Sabbath service to the
beggars, though there was little outward encour-
agement. Yet seed was then sown which bore
fruit unto life eternal. On the wall which inclosed
his compound, was a kiosk from which some
Mussulman idlers used to look down, often
with scorn for the preacher, his message and his
audience. But one of this number, ere long,
ceased to scoff. Without the knowledge of Mr.
Martyn, this young man had been employed by
Sabat to copy for him the Persian manuscript of
the New Testament. As he read, he became con-
vinced that Jesus was truly the Son of God and
the only Saviour for sinful men. When Mr.
Martyn left Cawnpore for Calcutta, this man ac-
companied him and was baptised by the Rev.
David Brown, who gave him the name of Abdul
Masih, servant of Christ. After spending some
time in Calcutta, he was sent to Meerut, a city
in the Punjab and was instrumental in leading to
Christ the chief physician of the Rajah of Bhurt-
pore. Others, through his labours and the ex-
ample of his holy life, were led to accept Christ
as their Saviour ; and these in their turn, became
** fishers of men." This earnest disciple received
ordination at the hands of Bishop Heber in the
Cathedral at Calcutta. He was faithful unto
death.

Chaplain Corrie, Mr. Martyn's friend, having

114 Men of Might in India Missions

been transferred from Chunar to Agra, was di-
rected to tarry in Cawnpore, on his journey to
his new station and assist Mr. Martyn. This
visit was a great refreshment to the invalid, but
as his strength continued to decline, a sea-voyage
was proposed, or a return for a short time to
England. The choice was decided by informa-
tion received from Calcutta, concerning the
Persian version of the New Testament. By those
who were regarded as competent judges, the
language used was thought to be above the com-
prehension of the mass of the people. It also
contained a large proportion of Arabic idioms.
After committing the matter to the Lord in
prayer, and conferring with friends, Mr. Mar-
tyn decided to make his way into Arabia and
Persia, that by intercourse with learned natives
of those countries, he might be better fitted to
revise the Persian version, and, to carry forward
to a successful completion, the Arabic version
upon which he was then engaged.

On the last Sabbath of September, 1810, Mr.
Martyn took leave of his European congregation
in Cawnpore. It was a day both of sorrow and
of joy. He felt sincere regret in taking leave of
the members of his flock, and he rejoiced that he
was leaving to his successor a suitable house of
worship which was dedicated to the worship of
God on that very day. The church edifice at this
time opened for Divine service, continued to be

Henry Martyn 115

the Military Church of Cawnpore until 1857 when
it was destroyed by the mutineers.

On the day following, Mr. Martyn embarked
on the Ganges for Calcutta, and a month later
received a joyful welcome to the hospitable Al-
deen home. Four years have elapsed since his
departure and his friends were shocked and
grieved to find him so enfeebled. He remained
at Aldeen until the beginning of January, and
during this period, with one exception, he preached
every Sabbath in Calcutta.

Mr. Martyn left Calcutta to begin his long
journey, in great physical weakness and without
even an attendant. The captain of the vessel in
which he embarked had been a former pupil of
Schwartz, and from him Mr. Martyn learned
much of interest, relating to the life and labours
of the great missionary. On the i8th of Febru-
ary, he wrote from Bombay, " Thus far I have
been brought in safety. This day I finished the
thirtieth year of my unprofitable life, the age at
which David Brainerd finished his course."

Calling on the Governor on the following day,
he was kindly received and invited to remain as
guest at Government House, while he tarried in
Bombay. Sir John Malcolm, also a guest at
Government House, had recently returned from
his second mission to Persia and with him Mr.
Martyn held much pleasant and profitable inter-
course. Having completed his preparations, he

Ii6 Men of Might in India Missions

left Bombay on the 25th of March. On the 4th
of April the Persian coast came into view and
on the 2 1 St the ship anchored at Muscat. Bushire
was reached on May 22nd, when the heat was at
its height. He had been furnished by Sir John
Malcolm with an introduction to the Governor, and
this insured for him some kind attentions. On
the Sabbath Mr. Martyn conducted a religious
service for the Europeans, at the Residency. On
the 30th of May, the lonely traveller began his
journey to Shiraz, mounted on a pony and fol-
lowed by an Armenian servant on a mule. An
English officer on his way to the camp of
the British Ambassador at Shiraz, joined the
party. As the travellers advanced, the heat
continued to increase, until the mercury reached
126° in the tent and such was Mr. Martyn's dis-
tress that he felt he could not survive.

As far as possible, the marches were taken at
night, and long halts made in the day. Mr. Mar-
tyn suffered much from fever which greatly re-
duced his strength. When a higher altitude was
reached above the arid region, the weary travel-
lers were refreshed by the sight of clear streams,
green valleys and purer air. Still ascending, the
air at night was sometimes so piercing that the
travellers could not sufficiently protect themselves
against it.

On the morning of the 9th of June, the plain
of Shiraz was reached. Mr. Martyn was kindly
received by Jaffir Ali Khan, a Persian gentleman..

Henry Martyn 117

to whom he had brought letters of introduction.
He Hved sometimes in the house of his host, and
sometimes in a summer-liouse in a garden outside
the city.

On the 17th of June, he entered with enthusi-
asm upon the work which had brought him to
that remote land. In this important work, he
found an able and willing assistant in Mirza Said
Ali Khan, the brother-in-law of his host. The
work was not, however, allowed to proceed with-
out many interruptions. Mullahs and students
sought interviews with Mr. Martyn in order to
reason and to discuss. Visitors came, at length
in such numbers that Mr. Martyn was obliged to
decline to receive them, or relinquish his work
of Scripture translation. So universal a spirit of
inquiry had been awakened, that the Preceptor of
all the Mullahs manifested no little uneasiness
and to counteract the growing interest in the
subject of research into the Christian religion, he
prepared a defence of the Mohammedan faith.
To this work, Mr. Martyn sent forth an able
refutation. His intercourse with the people deep-
ened his conviction that the Bible in the language
of the people was the weapon which would most
effectually reach the heart.

In the beginning of January, 18 12, Mr. Mar-
tyn wrote, '' Spared by mercy to see the opening
of another year. To all appearance, the present
year will be more perilous than any I have seen,
but if I live to complete the Persian New Testa-

Ii8 Men of Might in India Missions

ment, my life, after that, will be of less impor-
tance/' This important work was completed the
following February. It had been carried on
amidst public disputations and private confer-
ences,— in great loneliness also, and while his in-
herited disease, pulmonary consumption, was
sapping the springs of life. On February i8th,
1812, he made this record in his journal, " This
is my birthday, on which I complete my thirty-
fjrst year. The Persian New Testament has been
begun, I may say, finished, in it, as only the last
eight chapters of the Revelation remains. Such
a painful year I have never passed, owing to the
privations I have been called to, on the one hand,
and the spectacle before me of human depravity
on the other."

A week later in great physical weakness, Mr.
Martyn corrected the last page of the New Testa-
ment in Persian. Three months longer were
spent in Shiraz in the preparation of two copies
of the New Testament, one intended for presen-
tation to the Shah of Persia and the other to his
son Prince Abbas Mirza. These copies were
beautifully transcribed and afterward carefully
corrected by Mr. Martyn's own hand. He was
at the same time engaged in a work in which he
took great delight, a version of the Psalms of
David into Persian, from the original Hebrew.

Desiring to present in person the copies of
the New Testament which had been transcribed

Henry Martyn 119

for the Shah and the Prince, on the nth of May,
eleven months after his arrival in Shiraz, Mr.
Martyn left the city for Tabriz. This journey
occupied about two months, and proved one of
great hardship. On the 8th of June, Teheran,
where the Shah was encamped, was reached.
Four days later, Mr. Martyn attended the Vizier's
levee, and two Mullahs, very bold and discourte-
ous, pressed forward to argue with him, trying
only to entangle him. '' What have I done? " he
wrote in his journal after retiring to his tent,
" to merit all this scorru"

On the evening of this day, Mr. Martyn learned
that an interview with the Shah could only be
arranged through the English ambassador. He
therefore determined to leave Teheran without
further delay. The journey to Tabriz, the resi-
dence of the Ambassador, was a very painful one,
as Mr. Martyn was so ill that he could with diffi-
culty keep his seat in the saddle. On his arrival,
the invalid received from Sir Gore and Lady
Ouseley, such kindness and care as his enfeebled
condition demanded.

As soon as sufficiently recovered to travel, he
decided to try to make his way to Constantinople,
and from thence, if possible, to England. The
manuscript copy of the Persian New Testament,
designed for the Shah, Mr. Martyn left with the
British Ambassador, to be by him presented to
his Persian majesty in the name of the British

I20 Men of Might in India Missions

and Foreign Bible Society. He also directed
that a manuscript copy of his translation of the
Persian New Testament be sent to Calcutta.

Mr. Martyn left Tabriz for Constantinople on
the evening of September 2nd. Sir Gore Ouseley
had provided him with letters to the Governors
of Erivan, Kars and Erzroum and for the Am-
bassador at Constantinople. Two Armenian serv-
ants accompanied him. For forty-five days of
untold suffering, the unconquerable spirit
sustained the frail body. The first stations or
stages of the journey were from twenty to twen-
ty-five miles apart, the horses furnished were
usually indifferent, the heat during the day fre-
quently oppressive, and the place of rest at night
was sometimes a stable.

On the 2 1 St of September, Kars was reached.
The Governor, on receipt of the letter from Sir
Gore Ouseley, directed that lodgings should be
assigned to the traveller, and furnished a guard
of ten men for the forward journey. One only
was provided, " the merciless Hassan," who was
not disposed to allow any loitering, and in conse-
quence, Mr. Martyn, with scarcely strength to sit
up, was often compelled to keep the saddle from
seven o'clock in the morning until eight o'clock
at night. It has been said that since Chrysos-
tom's journey over the same region, the Church
of Christ has seen no torture of a saint like this.

As Mr. Martyn continued his journey he
learned with dismay that the plague was raging

Henry Martyn lai

in Constantinople, and that the inhabitants of
Tocat were flying from that city to escape the
dreaded pestilence. The sorely-tried saint made
at this time the following entry in his journal:
" Thus I am inevitably passing into immediate
danger. O Lord ! Thy will be done. Living or
dying, remember me."

October 5th he wrote, " Preserving Mercy
made me see the light of another morning. Sleep
had refreshed me, but I was feeble and shaken,
yet the merciless Hassan hurried me off."

The last record from Mr. Martyn's pen bears
the date of October 6th. '' No horses being to be
had, I had an unexpected repose. I sat in the
orchard and thought with sweet comfort and
peace of my God, in solitude my Company, my
Friend and Comforter. Oh! when shall time
give place to eternity! When shall appear that
new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness ! There, there shall in no wise
enter in anything that defileth : none of that
wickedness which has made men worse than wild
beasts, none of those corruptions which add still
more to the miseries of mortality, shall be seen
or heard of any more."

What happened when the pen fell from the
grasp of the dying saint, will never be known,
nor how he reached Tocat. Here he died on the
1 6th of October, 1812. His two Armenian serv-
ants were with him to minister to his wants.
His body was laid to rest in the Armenian ceme-

122 Men of Might in India Missions

tery, and a report is current that he was carried
to the grave with the honours of an Armenian
Archbishop. The grave was made at the foot of
slaty rocks down whose sides washed the snows
of winter and the rains of summer. James Clau-
dius Rich, Esq., English Resident at Bagdad,
visiting the place several years after the death of
Mr. Martyn, placed above the grave a limestone
slab on which he caused an appropriate inscrip-
tion to be engraved in Latin. In 1830 two mis-
sionaries of the American Board, the Rev.
Messrs. Eli Smith and H. G. O. Dwight, visited
Tocat and sought out the sacred spot. In 1844
another missionary of the same society, the Rev.
Henry Van Lennep, D.D., had great difficulty in
identifying the grave. Two years later this gen-
tleman was again in Tocat. Soon after his ar-
rival, with a little company of friends, he visited
the Armenian cemetery, and guided by recollec-
tion and a drawing made on the spot during his
previous visit, the place was soon found. Two
feet below the surface the slab bearing the in-
scription was reached. The grave was put in
order, but the following spring the spot was again
covered as before, with the soil washed down
from the sides of the mountain.

Through correspondence with interested
friends in London a grant was made by the late
East India Company's Board of Directors for the
purpose of erecting a suitable monument to the
memory of Henry Martyn, to be placed with the

Henry Martyn 123

remains in the burying-ground of the recently
estabhshed American Mission.

The monument was cut out of the native marble
and prepared by native workmen in Tocat. The
remains were removed under the direction of the
missionary physician and placed in the mission
cemetery, the first grave there made and over
the grave the monument was erected. It stands
on a broad, high terrace overlooking the city.

In the mission church in Calcutta, where
Henry Martyn so faithfully preached the Gospel,
a memorial tablet has been placed which bears
the following inscription:

To the Memory of the

Rev. Henry Martyn,

Chaplain of the Bengal Establishment.

He was a burning and a shining light.

He died at Tocat, in Armenia, on the i6th of

October, 1812.

Aged only thirty-two.

In the market-place, Cambridge, near the
church in which for so long a period, the Rev.
Charles Simeon ministered, has been erected the
Henry Martyn Memorial Hall, which was dedi-
cated on the 1 8th of October, 1887. Here the
university prayer-meeting is held and here from
time to time meet the members of the various
Religious Societies. In the Cathedral Church
of the county in which Henry Martyn was born,
the life and work of her gifted son, held now in

124 M^^ o^ Might in India Missions

reverent memory, are made the subject of yearly
mention and yearly meditation.

When the news of the death of Henry Martyn
reached England, " Parliament was discussing the
missionary clauses of the East India Company's
Charter and the tidings became the means of
opening to India an unrestricted preaching of
the Gospel."

i The seed planted by Henry Martyn on heathen
soil has borne a rich harvest. " Where he pointed
the way, the great missionary societies df the
United States of America and of England and
the Free Church of Scotland have sent their
noblest men and women.".

V

GORDON HALL

1812-1826

" There are no contrasts like those of Chris-
tianity," said Dr. Mark Hopkins in the opening
of his discourse on the occasion of the celebra-
tion of the completion of the first half century of
the existence of the A. B. C. F. M. This meet-
ing was held in Tremont Temple, Boston, and as
the speaker looked upon his audience numbering
between three and four thousand, eager, expec-
tant and enthusiastic, he thought of the five young
men from the two lower classes of an infant col-
lege, who were accustomed to meet at stated
times to pray for the unevangelised in heathen
lands.

These young men were Samuel J. Mills, Jr.,
James Richards, Francis L. Robbins, Harvey
Loomis, and Byron Green. ''On one occasion,
driven by an approaching thunder-storm from
the grove where the meeting had usually been
held, the young men took shelter behind a neigh-
bouring haystack, and there, in the language of
one who was present, " Mills proposed we should
125

126 Men of Might in India Missions

send the Gospel to heathen India and said we
could do it, if we would." After the discussion,
as the storm was passing away. Mills said, " Let
us make it a subject of prayer under this hay-
stack, while the dark clouds are going by and
the clear sky is coming."

At Williamstown, Mass., on the spot where
now stands the famous Haystack Monument,
these young men consecrated themselves to the
work of Foreign Missions. In 1806, in conjunc-
tion with a few others of like mind, they
formed themselves into a society '' to effect in the
person of its members, a mission, or missions to
the heathen." When they left Williams College
to enter Andover Theological Seminary these ar-
dent young disciples continued the society formed
at college. To this society the names of Adoni-
ram Judson, Samuel Newell and Samuel Nott
were ere long added. Judson was a graduate of
Brown University, Nott of Union College,
Newell of Harvard and Mills of Williams.

For a time the young men kept their society a
secret, under the apprehension that the idea of a
foreign mission would be unpopular in the
churches. But the time came when they felt that
they must make known their desire and their
purpose. This they did in a memorial which led
to the formation of the American Board. The
names appended to this important memorial were :
Adoniram Judson, Samuel Nott, Samuel J. Mills,
Jr., Samuel Newell, James Richards and Luther

Gordon Hall 127

Rice. The two latter names were, however struck
off before the presentation of the memorial, lest
the Association should be alarmed at the number.

Gordon Hall, the pioneer of American Protes-
tant missions on the Western coast of India, was
born in the town of Tolland, formerly Granville,
Mass., April 8th, 1784. His parents, Nathan
and Elizabeth Hall were natives of Ellington,
Conn. They were among the first settlers in the
little town of Tolland and were held in high
esteem. The boy Gordon very early manifested
traits of character which made him a great
favourite among his young companions. His
versatility of genius was remarkable. He gave
loyal assistance to his father in the labours of the
farm and in his times of relaxation found recre-
ation in mechanical pursuits. When fourteen
years of age reading a description of a balloon,
he forthwith proceeded to fashion one. He was
passionately fond of reading and very early
evinced a talent for putting his thoughts into
vigourous prose. He had ready wit and could be
keenly sarcastic.

Mr. Harrison, the village pastor, occupied a
part of Mr. Hall's dwelling-house and became
deeply interested in young Gordon, whose love
of learning increased with his years. When the
youth was nineteen years of age Mr. Harrison
one day in a conversation with the father said,
" your son Gordon should have the benefit of a
college education.'*

128 Men of Might in India Missions

" His assistance on the farm is so vakiable,
that 1 cannot well spare him," replied the father ;
but finding that the course suggested by Mr.
Harrison was greatly desired by his son, Mr.
Hall at length gave his consent and Mr. Harri-
son kindly agreed to assist the youth in his prepa-
ration for entering college, which he did in 1805
at the age of twenty-one.

At the close of the examination of Mr. Hall
before the faculty of Williams College, the Presi-
dent said, '* That young man has not studied the
languages like a parrot, but has got hold of their
very radix." This element of thoroughness char- ■
acterised Mr. Hall not only through his college
course, but was a prominent trait through life.

During his first year at college, Gordon Hall
openly espoused the cause of his Master, and
from this time began his fellowship with Samuel
J. Mills, who soon communicated to Mr. Hall
his purpose to devote his life to missionary work
in some foreign land. Young Hall's whole soul
was soon enlisted in this cause. So zealous did
he become in the cause of missions, that Mr.
Mills declared that " Hall was evidently ordained
and stamped a missionary by the sovereign hand
of God."

Mr. Hall left Williams College in 1808, and
began the study of Theology under the direction
of the Rev. Dr. Porter, of Andover. In the
autumn of 1809, he was licensed to preach, and
received immediately after licensure, a pressing

Gordon Hall 129

invitation to minister to the Congregational
Church, of Woodbury, Conn. This invitation
he consented to accept, on the condition that
such acceptance impHed no obHgation on his part
to remain with the congregation ; for with the
other members of the praying band in WilUams
College, he had pledged himself not to enter into
any engagement which might prove a hindrance
to his going abroad as a missionary.

Mr. Hall remained at Woodbury until June,
1810, and soon after entered the Theological
Seminary at Andover. It was during the sum-
mer of this year that the young men with whom
he had been associated in Williams College, to-
gether with Adoniram Judson, Samuel Nott and
Samuel Newell, resolved to make known to the
General Association of Massachusetts, their pur-
pose to labour in heathen lands, and to ask the
aid of the Association in this momentous enter-
prise. The memorial was drawn up by Mr.
Judson. Mr. Hall, though among the first to
consecrate himself to the work of missions, did
not enter the Seminary in time to take part in
these preliminary measures, but he was soon
recognised as among the leaders.

One of the venerable men present at the semi-
centennial held in Boston, in October, i860, the
Rev. John Keep, related before the vast assembly
there congregated, his recollections of the meet-
ing which led to the formation of the A. B. C.
F. M. He was on his wav to a meetinsr of the

130 Men of Might in India Missions

General Association in Bradford, in June, 1810,
when in Andover he met a former classmate,
Jeremiah Evarts, who invited him to be present
at a gathering in the house of Professor Stuart,
for a conference with the young men who had set
their hearts upon a foreign mission, and whose
memorial on the subject was to be offered for the
consideration and decision of the Association.

The result of this meeting was the appointment
of a Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis-
sions. The young men were advised to put them-
selves under the direction of this Board and to
pursue their studies until the means for embark-
ing on such an enterprise were provided.

Eager to enter upon a work whose claims
pressed more and more upon their hearts, these
zealous young men at length decided that Mr.
Judson should pay a visit to England to ascertain
if the Directors of the London Missionary Society
would lend their aid. This society expressed a
willingness to take the missionaries under its
exclusive direction, but wisely decided that two
controlling powers so widely separated, could not
act, with unity and decision.
' About this time the congregation in Woodbury,
Conn., to which Mr. Hall had for a few months
ministered, extended to him a call to become its
pastor. This flattering call, Mr. Hall promptly
declined.

** No," was his answer. " I must not settle
in any parish in Christendom. Others will be

Gordon Hall 131

left whose health, or engagements require them /
to stay at home, but I can sleep on the ground, I
can endure hunger and hardship; God calls me/
to the heathen ; woe to me if I preach not the/
Gospel to the heathen, whose destitute stat(
presses more and more on my mind." /

In the autumn of 181 1, Messrs. Hall and Newell
went to Philadelphia for the purpose of pursuing
medical studies for a time, believing that even a
moderate degree of medical knowledge, would be
useful.

In January, 1812, it was decided to send abroad
the young men who had volunteered for work
among the heathen, as soon as a suitable oppor-
tunity offered. Circulars and appeals for funds
in aid of the enterprise were immediately sent out
to different parts of New England and to these
appeals there was a prompt and generous re-
sponse. At this time the first subscription paper
circulated among the women friends of missions
in America was sent forth. At the head of the list
of contributors was the name of Elizabeth Bart-
lett, with a donation of $100. The whole amount
subscribed by the Christian women of Salem,
Mass., was $271.25. A legacy of $30,000 had
been bequeathed to the infant society by Mrs.
Mary Norris, but no part of this was available
until four years later. It is pleasant to be able
to record that in the very infancy of American
missions, woman's heart was responsive and her
purse open to further the sacred cause.

132 Men of Might in India Missions

On the 6th of February, 1812, Gordon Hall,
Adoniram Judson, Samuel Newell, Samuel Nott
and Luther Rice, were ordained as foreign mis-
sionaries in the Tabernacle Church, Salem, Mass.
Within three weeks after this important event,
the contributions in aid of the mission cause ex-
ceeded the sum of $6,000.

On the 19th of February, 1812, Messrs. Judson
and Newell with their wives, embarked from
Salem, in the big " Caravan " for India. Messrs.
Hall and Rice and Mr. and Mrs. Nott set sail
from Philadelphia in the ship " Harmony " on
the 28th of February for the same destination,
the churches of " the City of Brotherly Love,"
contributing nearly $1,000 in aid of the enter-
prise. Two of the young men who at this
time went forth to spend their lives in heathen
lands, had graduated from college with the
highest honours, Gordon Hall from Williams
College and Adoniram Judson from Brown Uni-
versity.

Messrs. Newell and Judson arrived in Calcutta
on the 1 8th of June, and Messrs. Hall, Nott and
Rice, on the 8th of August. Christians of differ-
ent denominations gave to the newly arrived mis-
sionaries a kind and courteous reception. The
Rev. Drs. Carey and Marshman and the Rev.
Wm. Ward, '' the triumvirate of heroes," wel-
comed them to Serampore and for a time this
Danish town was a haven of refuge for the
strangers. Twenty years before, the House of

Gordon Hall 133

Commons had empowered the East India Court
of Directors to close India against the Gospel and
in consequence, in the territory over which the
Directors claimed jurisdiction, the missionaries
were not allowed to settle. The first party on ar-
rival, were ordered to return by the '* Caravan,''
which had brought them to India ; but this order
was afterward so modified that permission was
granted them to seek a place of residence outside
the jurisdiction of the Company.

Learning that the Governor of the Isle of
France was desirous of having missionaries settle
in his dominions, they resolved to sail for the
Mauritius at the first opportunity. On the 4th
of August, Mr. and Mrs. Newell embarked for
the Isle of France in a vessel that afforded ac-
commodation for only two passengers. Four days
after their departure the ** Harmony " arrived
bringing Messrs. Hall, Nott and Rice. As had
been the case with their brethren who had pre-
ceded them, they met with a hostile reception from
Government and took refuge for a time under
the Danish flag at Serampore.

On the voyage from America to India, the
views of Mr. and Mrs. Judson on the subject of
baptism had changed and on communicating this
change in their views to the missionaries at Ser-
ampore, at their own request they were baptised
by immersion. Mr. Rice, not long after his ar-
rival made a like request and received baptism by
immersion.

134 Men of Might in India Missions

After an unavoidable and most vexatious delay,
Mr. and Mrs. Judson and Mr. Rice set sail for
the Isle of France. They arrived at Port Louis
on the 17th of January and learned with deep
sorrow that Mrs. Newell had been removed by
death on the 30th of November.

A month after the arrival of the party, Mr.
Newell embarked for Ceylon. While at the Isle
of France, it was decided that Mr. Rice should
return to the United States to try to enlist the
interest of the Baptist Churches of America in the
cause of foreign missions. Mr. and Mrs. Judson
took passage in a ship sailing to Madras and
from thence made their way to Rangoon where
they became the founders of the Burmah mis-
sion.

Messrs. Hall and Nott applied to Government
for leave to go to Ceylon, but their application
was not favourably received. Learning that a
new Governor, Sir Evan Nepean had arrived in
Bombay, and being further informed that he was
one of the Vice-presidents of the British and
Foreign Bible Society and entertained friendly
sentiments in reference to the establishment of
Christian missions in India, they decided, after
prayerful deliberation to make an attempt to
reach Bombay, hoping there to establish a
mission.

The way to the accomplishment of this desire
seemed opening before them, when they were
ordered to take passage in one of the ships of

Gordon Hall 13 J

the fleet about to proceed to England. To do so,
they felt, would close the door against mission
work in India for a long time to come. As a
last resort, they appealed to the captain of the
" Commerce " bound for Bombay, for permission
to go on board his ship and await results. This
was granted and though the Captain reported
them as passengers, they were not disturbed ; and
great was their joy when they saw the homeward
bound fleet weigh anchor and put to sea.

Mr. Hall and Mr. and Mrs. Nott reached Bom-
bay on the nth of February, 1813, after a passage
of eleven weeks. Before the arrival of the mis-
sionaries, news had reached Bombay that war
had been declared between the United States and
Great Britain greatly increasing the embarrass-
ment of the situation. Sir Evan Nepean had re-
ceived intimation that it was the will of the Su-
preme Government that the missionaries should
be returned to England, but receiving from them
the assurance that their sole object in coming to
India was the promotion of Christian knowledge,
he was reluctant to enforce the order of Govern-
ment and therefore sanctioned a delay.

In September the missionaries received a letter
from Mr. Newell, who had settled in Ceylon after
the death of Mrs. Newell in the Isle of France,
urging them to join him. This they made an
attempt to do, but were compelled by an order
from the Governor to return to Bombay. On the
1 6th of December the much-tried missionaries re-

136 Men of Might in India Missions

ceived official intimation from Sir Evan Nepean
that he was under positive orders to return them
to England, and on the 20th, they were notified
that passages had been provided for them on a
vessel which was to sail two days later. The mis-
sionaries felt that this was a most critical time
and, after earnest prayer for help and guidance
a final appeal was made to the Governor, not in
his official capacity only, but to him as a man
and a Christian. In impassioned language they
entreated him not to send away those commis-
sioned by the Church in the name of the Lord to
preach the Gospel among the heathen.

The reply to this appeal was an official notifica-
tion from Sir Evan, that he would await further
instructions from Calcutta. The Governor, in
the meanwhile was making earnest efforts on
behalf of the missionaries. When finally, official
notice was received from the Court of Directors,
that the missionaries would be allowed to remain,
should the Governor so approve, he lost no time
in communicating this decision to those who had
so long waited and prayed for an open door for
the entrance of the Gospel. To the official noti-
fication. Sir Evan added, " and I heartily wish you
success in your work." This favourable decision
had been brought about through the efforts of
the venerable Charles Grant, Chairman of the
Court of Directors, who had prepared an able
defence of the conduct of the missionaries.

Nearly two years had elapsed since the arrival

Gordon Hall 137

of the missionaries and they now for the first
time had a feeling of permanence. The time,
however, had not been lost. Mr. Hall had ap-
plied himself with great diligence to the study
of the language and had made such progress that
soon after formal sanction to remain had been
granted, he began a translation of the Gospel of
Matthew into Marathi, the vernacular of that part
of India, and also a Harmony of the Gospels into
the same language. Of these early attempts at
translation Mr. Hall wrote, " We know that they
are very imperfect, but they are prepared for
daily use in instructing the people. We hand the
translations round in manuscript and read them to
the people in our excursions and in this way we
are able to detect errors and to ascertain whether
or not our version is intelligible and idiomatic."
Mr. Hall was soon able to speak to the people
in their own vernacular, though, of course, with a
stammering tongue. With his fellow-labourer,
Mr. Nott, he sought the people as they resorted
to their temples, in the market-places, in the vil-
lages, and wherever hearers could be found. Near
the close of his second year in Bombay, Mr. Hall
wrote in his diary, " I have spoken in six different
places and to more than one hundred persons to-
day " ; and again ; " in the course of the past week
have spoken to more than eight hundred persons.
Some listened attentively, some mocked, and tried
to divert attention from the preacher, or else to
make his message contemptible to those assem-

138 Men of Might in India Missions

bled." But the heroic toiler was never moved
from his steadfast purpose to make Christ known,
whether men would hear, or whether they would
forbear. " It is a part of a missionary's trials,"
he wrote, *' rightly to bear the impatience and
contradictions, insolence and reproaches of men
who are sunk to the lowest degradation both nien-
tal and moral."

Not long after formal sanction had been given
to the missionaries to remain in India, Mr. Nott's
health became so seriously impaired that his phy-
sicians advised an early return to America, as the
only hope of restoration. This decision was a sore
trial not only to Mr. and Mrs. Nott, but to Mr.
Hall also. He was not, however, left alone after
the departure of Mr. Nott, as Mr. Newell joined
him from Ceylon.

To assist the missionaries in their work, a pass
was obtained from Calcutta and this was made
available by the arrival in Bombay in November,
1816, of the Rev. Horatio Bardwell from America,
who had a practical knowledge of printing. In
any work undertaken, Mr. Hall manifested that
spirit of perseverance and determination which is
so essential to the successful conduct of every im-
portant enterprise. When the printing-press ar-
rived from Calcutta, several parts were wanting,
others were untrimmed and alterations were found
necessary ; but all difficulties were at length over-
come. Of this Mr. Hall wrote, " After so many
discouragements as our mission has experienced,

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Gordon Hall 139

you will, no doubt rejoice with us in our being
able, through Divine Goodness, to commence the
deHghtful work of printing the Word of God in
the language of a numerous people."

The Gospel of Matthew was at once put to
press. In 1817, besides a Harmony of the Gos-
pels, the missionaries had translated the Gospels,
the Acts of the Apostles, and several of the Epis-
tles. They had also prepared several tracts and
as soon as possible, these were printed.

In December, 1816, Mr. Hall was united iuj
marriage to Miss Margaret Lewis, an English]
lady who had spent several years in Bombay and
was familiar with the language of the people. He
now had a help-meet in the work which daily
grew in extent and importance. Besides preach-
ing to the heathen wherever and whenever oppor-
tunity offered, the missionaries did not neglect to
minister to those who though not ranking as
heathen were yet sadly in need of Christian in-
struction. On the morning of each Sabbath a
religious service was held for poor Europeans and
half-castes. They held also at their own dwelling
a service in English on the Sabbath and once a
month the Lord's Supper was administered.

Realising the great importance of bringing
under wholesome influences, the youth around
them, as soon as they felt secure in their position,
the missionaries established schools. At the close
of 1816 they had under their care an English
school of about forty pupils, and in their vernac-

140 Men of Might in India Missions

ular schools about three hundred children were
gathered. In one of these schools there were
more than twenty Jewish children. In these chil-
dren the missionaries felt a deep interest and as
there was in Bombay a colony of Jews, they re-
solved to establish a separate school for Jewish
children. A Jew well acquainted with the Marathi
language was secured, and the pupils were taught
to read and write both Hebrew and Marathi. The
portions of Old Testament history contained in
the school-books which had been prepared by the
missionaries were full of interest to both teacher
and pupils as they related to the history of their
own people, to the patriarchs and prophets held
in veneration by the whole Jewish people.

The schools established by the mission eventu-
ally extended in a line about sixty miles along
the coast. Each school-room was in eflfect a
chapel where the missionaries preached the Gos-
pel to the whole neighbourhood, as the people
usually assembled whenever the missionaries
visited the schools. The parents manifested a
warm interest in the schools in which their chil-
dren received instruction and thus the mission ac-
quired an influence which could in no other way
have been secured.

Mr. Bardwell who had rendered valuable assis-
tance in connection with the establishment of the
printing-press suffered so seriously from the cli-
mate that in 1821, by the advice of his physicians,

Gordon Hall 141

he returned to America, greatly to the regret of
his missionary associates.

Soon after the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Bard-
well for America, Mr. Garrett, a practical printer,
was transferred from Ceylon to Bombay and the
work of the press was not, therefore, long sus-
pended. This same year brought a great sorrow
to the mission in the death from cholera of the
beloved Mr. Newell. He was held in the highest
esteem and his death was regarded as a public
loss.

In 1822 a house for public worship was erected
in the city of Bombay for the use of the mission.
This building consisted of two stories, the upper
one being used as a chapel and the lower one for
the press, while the verandas were utilised for
schools.

The translation of the whole New Testament
into Marathi had now been completed, the print-
ing establishment had been enriched with new
and improved type and the British and Foreign
Bible Society had presented one hundred reams
of paper to the mission to be used in printing
the Marathi edition of the New Testament. To
improve the service of song in Divine worship
the missionaries had adapted the most appropriate
native tunes to hymns in the vernacular which
they had themselves prepared.

In November, 1824, Mr. Hall undertook a
fatiguing tour to the highlands East of Bombay,

142 Men of Might in India Missions

for the double purpose of preaching the Gospel
and ascertaining if a place might not be found on
the mountains to be used as a convalescent station
for disabled missionaries and their families. The
place he had in view was Mahabaleshwar, on the
Ghauts, 4,500 feet above the sea and distant from
Bombay about one hundred and forty miles; and
at this place he found excellent water and a fine
climate. Thirty years after this preliminary visit
of Mr. Hall, the mission made Mahabaleshwar
a sanitary station and the place is now a favourite
retreat for the European residents of Bombay in
the hot weather and after the rains.

In July, 1825, Mr. Hall felt constrained for
reasons of health to send Mrs. Hall and their two
boys to America. Passages were engaged for the
party on the brig " Ann." The day before she
expected to sail, Mrs. Hall wrote, " I entreated
my dear husband to accompany us. His reply
together with the affectionate and solemn expres-
sion of his countenance I can never forget. My
dear Margaret, he said, do you know what you
ask? I am in good health. I am able to preach
Christ to the perishing souls around me. Do
you think I should leave my Master's work and
go with you to America ? Go, then, with our sick
boys. I will remain and pray for you all and
here labour in my Master's cause."

Mrs. Hall embarked with her children on the
31st of July, 1825. Mr. Hall accompanied them
out of the harbour and returned in the pilot boat.

Gordon Hall 143

Two months after the departure of Mrs. Hall,
a meeting was held composed of delegates from
the following missions, named in the order in
which they were established : of the American
Board in Bombay, of the London Society in
Surat, of the Church Missionary Society in Bom-
bay, of the London Society in Belgaum, and of
the Scottish Missionary Society in the Southern
Konkan. This meeting was held for the pur-
pose of forming a missionary Union. Mr. Hall
delivered the opening sermon from Romans i. 16.
The sessions were held in the American Mission
chapel. " What a contrast," wrote Mr. Hall,
" was this glad occasion to my situation in 1813-14
when I was practically a prisoner and under sen-
tence of transportation from the land, when not
a single mission in this part of India had been
established. I was now a patriarch among the
missionary brotherhood, none so old in years and
missionary labours."

Mrs. Hall and her youngest son arrived in
Salem, Mass., on the i8th of November; but the
mother was sad of heart for on the 25th of Oc-
tober the body of the elder son had been com-
mitted to the deep. The heavy tidings of the death
of this beloved child did not reach the father to
cause grief to his already over-burdened heart,
for before letters arrived from America bearing
the sorrowful news, Mr. Hall had been laid in his
grave.

In 1823, the Rev. Edmond and Mrs. Frost sailed

144 Men of Might in India Missions

from America to join the missionary workers in
Bombay. The brethren felt that Mr. Frost was
indeed a man sent from God and they trusted
that when fully equipped for work he would be a
tower of strength; but in two years after his ar-
rival, he was removed by death. In a letter to
Mrs. Hall, referring to this event, Mr. Hall wrote,
" I never before was permitted to witness so much
of the support of religion and the preciousness
of a Saviour to a dying Christian." Again he
wrote, " Since the death of brother Frost our
mission engagements have pressed upon me with
uncommon severity and all are suffering more or
less for want of more help."

On the 1st of February, 1826, Mr. Hall pre-
pared a circular letter which was printed at the
mission press, to be forwarded to Christian friends
in various parts of America, and which reached
his native land with the tidings of his death. It
was an impassioned plea for more labourers.
After speaking of the needs of the great peninsula
of India, he pleaded eloquently and forcibly for
the 12,000,000 souls, around them. ** It is
enough," he said, '* to know that they are your
brethren, that they are idolaters and in ignorance
of their Maker and Redeemer, and that you can,
if you will, send them the Gospel. * * What
will you do ? I will endeavour as God shall enable
me, so to labour here on the spot, that the blood
of these souls shall not be found in my skirts.
* * I will endeavour as a watchman at my post,

Gordon Hall 145

faithfully to report what I see. Woe Is me if I
proclaim not the wants of this people."

A month after this appeal was written, Mr.
Hall entered upon his last missionary tour. He
was anxious at this time to visit two populous and
important cities a hundred miles or more from
Bombay, Treembukeshwar and Nasick.

Two Christian lads who had for some time
lived in the mission famiHes in Bombay, accom-
panied Mr. Hall. On the tenth day after leaving
Bombay, Treembukeshwar was reached ; Mr. Hall
found the people in great consternation on ac-
count of the appearance of cholera in their midst.
He remained three or four days with the terror-
stricken people administering medicines to the
sick, distributing books and preaching the Gospel
wherever he could find any willing to listen to his
message. He then went on to Nasick and here
too he found the cholera raging, more than two
hundred dying on the day following his arrival.
Among the distressed inhabitants, the patient,
sympathetic missionary moved like an angel of
mercy until he had nearly exhausted his supply
of medicines, his books and his strength for
preaching the Gospel. On the morning of the 8th
of March, weary and sore of heart, Mr. Hall
turned his face toward Bombay. About 10 o'clock
in the evening he reached Doorlee-D'hapoon,
thirty miles from Nasick. There was no hos-
pitably open door to receive the weary traveller
and no friendly voice to welcome him, but he was

146 Men of Might in India Missions

glad to reach a place where he might rest. He
spread his mat in the veranda of a heathen temple
by the wayside and covering himself with a
blanket tried to sleep. Chilled by the wind, he
rose and sought a less exposed resting-place. In
this he succeeded, but as the place was occupied
by two sick men, one of whom soon died, Mr. Hall
returned to the temple veranda.

About four o'clock on the following morning,
unrefreshed, Mr. Hall roused the two lads who
had been his companions and began making ar-
rangements for continuing the journey, when he
was seized with cholera. So sudden and so vio-
lent were the spasms that the stricken man fell
helpless to the ground. The terrified lads laid
their loved friend and teacher on his mat. Mr.
Hall then prepared and attempted to swallow a
small quantity of medicine which he had put
aside in case of need, but this was immediately
rejected. He then told his attendants that he
should not recover and with surprising calmness
proceeded to give directions to the lads concern-
ing his watch and other things in his possession
and also as to the disposition of his body. He
assured the weeping lads that he should soon be
with Christ. He exhorted the heathen who had
gathered about him to forsake the idols in which
they trusted and to put all their trust, in Jesus,
the only Saviour. He then prayed very fervently
for the dear absent ones of his own household,
for his missionary associates and for the heathen

Gordon Hall 147

around him. This prayer ended, the sufferer
thrice repeated " Glory to Thee, O God ! " and
yielded up his spirit.

His illness had lasted only eight hours. The
lads at once began to carry out the instructions
they had received concerning the burial. With
much difficulty they procured a place for a grave.
Into this, when prepared, wrapped in his blanket
and coffinless, with blinding tears and trembling
hands the boys lowered the body. The grave was
then filled and in his lonely resting-place, the loved
teacher was left.

" Strange olive brows with tears were wet.

As a lone grave was made
And there, 'mid Asia's arid sands,

Salvation's herald laid. —
But bright that shroudless clay shall burst

From its uncoffined bed,
When the Archangel's awful trump

Convokes the righteous dead." *

Though so early taken, for at the time of his
death Mr. Hall was but forty-two years of age,
he had done a great work, since to him more than
to any other one individual, was due the establish-
ment of the first Protestant mission on the western
coast of India. For such a work he was eminently
fitted. A combination of good qualities made him
a superior man. His piety was fervid and burned
with a steady flame. He had persevering indus-

* L. H. Sigourney.

r

148 Men of Might in India Missions

try, sobriety of judgment and great decision of
character.

As we see from the earnest and eloquent appeal
to Christians in America on behalf of the un-
evangelised in heathen lands which Mr. Hall
wrote but a short time before his death, in the
infancy of missions as now| the Christian people
at home expected of their representatives abroad
a degree of self-sacrificing devotion which they
• were unwilling to apply to themselves. From this
\ appeal the following is quoted : *' The churches
\ now as in all former ages, deem it right and
highly commendable for some of Christ's disciples
to renounce all prospects of worldly emolument
and ease, to commit themselves and their families
i if they have any, under Providence, into the hands
{ of charity, — to forego the comforts and endear-
I ments of civilised society and Christian friends,
I to brave every danger, whether from the raging
I billows of the ocean, the sickly climate, or the
I sanguinary barbarian and to meet death in what-
I ever time, place or form it may be allotted them,
I — and all this for the sake of preaching Christ to
\ the heathen, ;if By approving and, as is the fact,
requiring tlii^ of their missionaries, they do virtu-
ally bind themselves to make corresponding sacri-
fices and exertions to the same end. I am not
pleading that missionaries should be eased of their
burdens or alleviated in their sacrifices. No, I
plead with Christians that they would act con-
sistently. I entreat them to behold in what they

Gordon Hall 149

require of their missionaries, the measure of their
own duty to Christ and to the heathen. Until a
principle of action more commensurate with other
duty enjoined, is adopted and the work of evan-
gelising the heathen is more equally shared
among Christians generally, as was the fact in
the first ages of the church, we have no good
reason to expect that the world will be con-
verted."

In reference to the powerful appeals sent to
Christian lands by Mr. Hall and his colleagues, an
English writer says, '' They served to keep alive
and extend in America and even in England, the
principle and spirit of missions to the heathen,
which led in a few years to the diffusion of the
Gospel from the Western world to all parts of
the globe and gave promise of abounding more
and more until the whole world shall be full of
the knowledge and glory of the Lord. Through
these eloquent and forcible appeals, those early
labourers though dead, yet speak to us. The
manifold blessings from above which rested on the
several branches of their operations, tended to en-
courage others to enter upon the same field of
labour and in some measure prepared their way."

VI

CHARLES T. E. RHENIUS
1814-1838

Outside of India the name of Rhenius is not
widely known, yet he was a missionary of great
eminence. Of him, the late Bishop Caldwell, him-
self in the front rank of modern missionaries,
wrote, '' He occupied the foremost position among
missionaries, not only in Tinnevelly where he
laboured from 1820 to 1838, but in Southern India
during the whole of his Indian life, and the ques-
tion is, whether his name is not entitled to oc-
cupy the principal place in the list of the various
Societies since the time of Schwartz ; that is, dur-
ing the whole of the present century/ He was
one of the ablest, most clear-sighted, practical
and zealous missionaries that India has ever seen.
He was a man of great administrative power, fer-
vent missionary zeal, an excellent preacher and
speaker in the vernacular, as well as a writer of
unusual merit, and one of the hardest and most
continuous workers with which India has been
blest."/

ISO

Charles T. E. Rhenius 151

Charles Theophilus Ewald Rhenius was born j
on the 5th of November, 1790, at the fortress
Graudens, in the province of West Prussia. His
father, an officer in the Prussian army, died when
this son was six years old. Until his fourteenth
year, Charles remained at home in the care of his
mother. Three years were then spent in the office
of an uncle who held a civil appointment under
Government. When seventeen years of age, the
youth went to reside with a childless uncle. " I
was received with the love of a father and enjoyed
the rights of a son," wrote the young man of his
reception and residence with this relative. The
year in which Charles entered the home of this
uncle was memorable as being that in which he
was directed to a knowledge of divine things.
From this time, it became his earnest desire to
follow the leadings of the Master.

The perusal of missionary publications turned \
his thoughts to the work of a missionary abroad, I
and in his uncle he found a sympathetic friend
and a wise counsellor. In 1810, Mr. Rhenius en-
tered a seminary in Berlin which had but a short
time before been established for preparing young
men for entering upon missionary work. Paying
a visit to his mother on his way to Berlin, he told
her that he was going to study theology, but said
nothing of his desire to become a foreign mission-
ary. The mother-heart, however, took alarm for
when the time for parting came, she said with
tears, ** Charles, only do not go over the sea."

152 Men of Might in India Missions

" But what, dear mother, am I to do, should the
Lord so order it," was his reply.

His course of preparatory study completed, Mr.
Rhenius was ordained at Berlin as a minister of
the Established Church of Prussia, the Lutheran
Church, on August 12th, 1812. More than a
year was then spent in England, a part of this
time under the roof of the Rev. Thomas Scott,
a further preparation for the work upon which
he expected to enter.

On the 4th of February, 1814, in company with
Mr. Schnarre, also under appointment as a mis-
sionary, Mr. Rhenius left London for Portsmouth
en route for India. Madras was reached on the
fourth of the following July. On the 20th of the
same month the two missionaries left Madras for
Tranquebar. Here Mr. Rhenius remained until
January of the following year, engaged in the
study of the language. He then returned to
Madras, as the Church Missionary Society, under
whose auspices he was labouring, desired to estab-
lish a mission at the Capital of Southern India.

On his settlement in Madras, Mr. Rhenius be-
gan to make use of the knowledge he had acquired
in the vernacular, while at the same time con-
tinuing his studies. He found his first field of
labour in the garden in which his dwelling-house
was situated, as within the inclosure was a place
of heathen worship, to which persons in the
vicinity resorted. He soon opened a school for
boys, as he regarded the instruction of the young

Charles T. E. Rhenius 153

as a very important department of missionary-
work. He introduced portions of Scripture as
reading-lessons, and required the pupils to com-
mit to memory the ten commandments.

When Mr. Rhenius had been less than two years ,
in the country, he was asked to undertake the re- ;
vision of the Tamil Scriptures. Though evincing!
great talent in the acquisition of the language, he
was by no means fully equipped for such a work,,
and it was twelve years before his version of the
New Testament, which was in reality a new trans-
lation, rather than a revision, issued from the;
press. At his death, after a residence of twenty- i
four years in India, the Old Testament was left
unfinished.

In 1817 a church was organised. The number
of schools had increased, and from the pupils in
these schools, the most promising were selected
and received special training, with the view of
fitting them to become teachers. Mr. Rhenius
in the first instance prepared his Tamil grammar
for use in these normal schools.

In the summer of 1817, Government sanctioned
the erection of a church in the city of Madras
for the worship of the Tamil congregation, but
some of the more bigoted Hindus, alarmed at the
progress Christianity was making, presented a
petition, praying the Government to withdraw
the permission granted for the building of a
church in the city. Fearing the consequences of
a conflict with the people, the English authorities

154 Men of Might in India Missions

returned a favourable answer to this petition.
Though greatly disappointed, Mr. Rhenius was
not cast down by the turn affairs had taken, and
continued to labour with his accustomed zeal. To
his other engagements he added touring in the
district, in order to reach those who might not
otherwise be made acquainted with the Gospel
message, and also to visit the schools which had
been established among the rural population. He
began also a regular system of instruction for the
teachers, assigning to each a portion of Scripture
which he was expected to study and upon which
he was required to pass an examination.

In the autumn of 1818 a society was organised
by Mr. Rhenius, comprising Christians of all
classes, Europeans and natives of the country,
and called the Religious Tract Society of Madras.
This was the beginning of a very important en-
terprise, the usefulness of which has increased
from year to year.

The Roman Catholic missionaries of South
India claimed a large number of adherents, and
these were not required to renounce caste. The
first Protestant missionaries to India did not toler-
ate caste, but their successors in the Danish Tran-
quebar Mission, while protesting against caste as
an unhallowed institution and opposed to the spirit
of Christianity, did not require their converts at
once and utterly to renounce caste, trusting that
when imbued with the spirit of the Gospel they

Charles T. E. Rhenius 155

would voluntarily relinquish it. But unhappily
these hopes had not been realised. Mr. Rhenius
resolved therefore in the beginning of his career
as a missionary to set his face steadfastly against
this giant foe to the advancement of the Re-
deemer's kingdom.

During the year 1 8 19, he and his fellow-labour-
ers had much cause for gratitude in the fact that
the hostile feeling in the minds of some of the
influential natives of Madras had so far abated
that the objections hitherto raised against the
erection of a Christian church in the city, were
withdrawn, and on the 30th of June the corner-
stone of the house of prayer was publicly laid,
and the work went forward unopposed.

After six fruitful years spent in Madras, Mr.
Rhenius was appointed to a new field, the province
of Tinnevelly, four hundred miles south of
Madras, and here he was to do a great work for
India.

Palamcotta, the headquarters of the Govern-
ment of this province, had been visited by Mr.
Schwartz in 1778, and he had baptised the widow
of a Brahmin, who had been one of the servants
of the Rajah of Tan j ore. This woman had applied
for baptism while living in Tanjore, but on ac-
count of her manner of life at the time, the mis-
sionary felt that he could not administer the rite.
Now she seemed a true disciple of the Lord. This
woman's subsequent life adorned her profession,

156 Men of Might in India Missions

and of her own means she contributed largely
toward the erection of the first Christian church
in Palamcotta. Two years after this visit of Mr.
Schwartz, a church of forty members was organ-
ised. Schwartz paid a second visit to Palamcotta
in 1785, remaining several weeks and preaching
twice and sometimes thrice daily. When he re-
turned to his labours in Tanjore he left to shep-
herd the church, then numbering eighty persons,
his faithful catechist Satthianadhan. European
missionaries were sent to Tinnevelly from time
to time, but none remained for a very long period.
In 18 16 there was sent to Palamcotta as garri-
son chaplain to the European troops, the Rev.
James Hough, a man " who like Henry Martyn,
united to the official duties of a chaplain, a volun-
tary devotion to the duties of a missionary." Mr.
Hough found at this time in the province of Tin-
nevelly over three thousand persons bearing the
Christian name. These Christians had been under
the superintendence of the missionaries in Tan-
jore, and were connected with the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel. When Mr. Rhenius
was transferred from Madras to Tinnevelly, he
was requested by the missionaries of Tanjore, to
undertake the superintendence of these sheep
without a shepherd, in connection with his work
for his own society. The new mission soon out-
stripped the old, and at the close of his connec-
tion with the Church Missionary Society, after
sixteen years of labour, the number of those gath-

Charles T. E. Rhenius 157

ered out from the heathen and enrolled under his
pastoral care was above 10,000.

He reached the field where he was to labour
with such signal success, on the 7th of July, 1820,
and in the October following he was joined by his
friend and co-labourer in Madras, the Rev. B.
Schmid. The two ardent missionaries, full of
faith, entered upon a most energetic crusade
against the powers of evil. To the heathen the
Gospel was preached, not only in the large towns
of Tinnevelly and Palamcotta, but in the sur-
rounding villages ; and schools were established.

Though engaged in a multiplicity of labours,
Mr. Rhenius continued the work of translating
the Scriptures into Tamil. He also prepared a
Harmony of the Gospels, a work which has been
extensively used in South India. Mrs. Sher-
wood's " Indian Pilgrim," which had been trans-
lated from English into Tamil was carefully re-
vised by Mr. Rhenius. He found time, in the
midst of an exceptionally busy life, to prepare
several tracts, in English and in the vernaculars.
A training school was established for the more
thorough education of those who gave promise
of being useful among their fellow-countrymen as
teachers or catechists. As converts multiplied
from among the heathen and congregations were
formed, all, even those receiving the smallest in-
come were taught to contribute toward the build-
ing and the repairs of the house of worship, oil
for the lamps and other congregational expenses.

158 Men of Might in India Missions

At Tinnevelly, as in Madras, a Religious Tract
Association was formed, and the results were
highly encouraging.

During the Christmas season of 1823, one hun-
dred and forty persons arrived in Palamcotta from
out-lying villages, some of them distant twenty-
five or thirty miles from the central station, ap-
parently with the single desire to hear the Word
of the Lord, having brought with them a four
days' supply of food, that they might be charge-
able to no one.

X During the tour undertaken early in the year
1825, Mr. Rhenius baptised twenty persons in one
village who had previously been under instruc-
tion. In an adjoining village visited on the same
day in which these baptisms had taken place, al-
most all the inhabitants of the village were found
assembled before the village temple. They ex-
pressed a desire to place themselves under Chris-
tian instruction, and in proof of their sincerity
agreed to break down the wall in the middle of
their temple and provide the room thus enlarged
with windows, to serve as a place for Christian
worship. Nor was this an isolated instance.

During the summer of this year Mr. Rhenius
made a list of the villages in which there were
Christians. In ninety villages there were 838
families under Christian instruction, comprising
more than 3,000 souls. Of the responsibility en-
tailed by such an ingathering, he wrote, " The
instruction of these souls is of paramount im-

Charles T. E. Rhenius 159

portance. Those who have embraced Christianity
have received no favour, unless it be a favour
to be regarded and protected as well as the heathen
community."

On the 3rd of January, 1826, the foundation-
stone of a house of worship was laid in Palam-
cotta. The work was rapidly pushed forward and
on the 26th of the following June, the completed
edifice was solemnly dedicated to the worship of
God. The work in the district continued to grow,
and at the end of 1829 there were more than
6,000 under Christian instruction. The number
of schools had increased to 43. With the opening
of each year a dedicatory service was held when
the people from the villages, near and remote, as-
sembled at Palamcotta. The mercies of the year
just closed were gratefully acknowledged, and
fervent prayers were offered for a continuance of
these mercies for the coming year.

There was thus maintained a bond of union
between the parent church and the converts from
the out-lying villages. Differences were adjusted
on these occasions, the timid were encouraged
and the perverse and the careless were, in many
instances, led to turn from the error of their ways
and to walk in newness of life.

The year 1832 was one long remembered in
Tinnevelly because of the severe drought' and
consequent famine, as well as for the ravages of
cholera To foster the spirit of self-help, a poor
fund had been established, in connection with the

i6o Men of Might in India Missions

Christian congregations. In this time of distress
the amount raised for this fund, by the people of
the country, was augmented by liberal gifts from
the European residents of Palamcotta. Among
the famine and cholera stricken people, Mr.
Rhenius moved like an angel of mercy. We find
him in the midst of his trying labours at this
time preparing a tract on cholera. " The heathen
in this awful time are mad with their idols," wrote
Mr. Rhenius. Accordingly a tract on idolatry
which had just come from the press was widely
circulated both in Tinnevelly and in the district.

In the year 1833, the Rev. Joseph Wolff, the
celebrated missionary to the Jews, visited Palam-
cotta, and in his volume entitled *' Researches and
Missionary Labours,'' thus alludes to this visit:
The congregation from among the heathen at
Tinnevelly, amounted to 10,694 souls, comprised
in 3,075 families, living in 238 villages and in-
structed in the Word of God by 109 catechists.
Of this number, 2,086 are baptised, the rest are
candidates for baptism. There are iii schools.
In these schools all the pupils receive Christian
instruction.

Of Mr. Rhenius, Mr. Wolff says, " The great-
est missionary, I believe, who has ever appeared
since the times of the Apostles, more enterpris-
ing, more bold and more talented than even
Schwartz himself."

The majority of the people in the rural dis-
tricts, on becoming Christians, remained in the

Charles T. E. Rhenius i6i

same villages where they had lived as heathens;
but when the band was small or at so remote a
distance from the central station, that it was
difficult properly to instruct the converts, or to
exercise Christian discipline, separate Christian
communities were formed in more convenient lo-
calities. For this purpose land was purchased,
generally at a very trifling cost, and those who
forsook idolatry, were formed into a Christian
community, a catechist was appointed, a school
opened and a little chapel or house of prayer
erected, usually jointly by the people and the
society. At an early hour in the morning, the
villagers were assembled for prayer, after which
they went forth to their daily labour. In the
evening they again assembled for instruction.
Prayer was offered, a hymn of praise sung, and
they then returned to their homes.

As the number of Christian villages increased,
an Association was formed under the title of the
Native Philanthropic Society, having for its ob-
ject primarily the rendering of assistance to the
poorer Christian natives in their temporal affairs,
such as the acquisition of land, the building of
school and prayer-houses, and thus reHeving the
foreign missionary from such cares.

A Friend-in-Need Society was established and
each district was expected to care for its own
poor. There was also a Widows' Fund Society,
for relieving needy widows of catechists and
school-masters.

1 62 Men of Might in India Missions

In 1835 a Native Missionary Society was or-
ganised for the maintenance of catechists who
might be sent outside the bounds of the province.
The missionary prayer-meeting was full of life
and interest. In these meetings not only the work
in which the people themselves were engaged,
was remembered, but prayer was offered for
Christian work in all lands, and with the aid of
a map before the audience, a definite idea was
given of the work in progress throughout the
world, as well as of the regions yet untouched by
the Gospel. *' Almost every social meeting, " wrote
Mr. Rhenius, ** becomes a missionary meeting,
when missionary matters are communicated, dis-
cussed and consulted about."

The great activity of Mr. Rhenius, inspired by
an ardent love for souls and zeal for the Master's
service, accompanied by a marvellous power of
influencing others, together with the self-denying
labours of several like-minded coadjutors, had
been greatly blessed of God. Great numbers of
the people of the country, through these labours,
had been led to embrace Christianity. A large
body of native teachers, chiefly trained by Mr.
Rhenius and labouring under the direction and
control of himself and his brother missiona;-ies,
were helping forward the work. Several of the
catechists, in the judgment of the missionaries,
were worthy of ordination. Though labouring in
connection with the Church Missionary Society,
Mr. Rhenius, as a Lutheran clergyman, naturally

Charles T. E. Rhenius 163

desired to ordain the men he had trained accord-
ing to the order of the Lutheran Church, plead-
ing as a precedent the practice of the missionaries
working under the auspices of the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel in Tan j ore, who
had themselves ordained native catechists. But
to such a course the Church Missionary Society
declined to give consent, calling attention to the
fact that the ordinations which had been sanc-
tioned in connection with the work in Tan j ore,
had taken place before the establishment of the
Episcopate in India, while there was at this time
a Bishop of their own church in the country.

In consequence of these diflferences, in May,
1835, Mr. Rhenius decided, for the sake of peace
to leave the field where his labours had been so
greatly blessed, and establish an independent mis-
sion elsewhere. With a heavy heart he left his
beloved Tinnevelly. But he was not long in de-
ciding that he had acted unadvisedly in withdraw-
ing, and at the earnest solicitation of many who
had been led to Christ through his instrumentality,
he decided to return. The property which had
been acquired, he felt belonged properly to the
Church Missionary Society, but the people gath-
ered from among the heathen through the bless-
ing of the Lord upon his labours, and the labours
of his missionary associates, had, he was con-
vinced, a peculiar claim upon him.

When he decided to leave Tinnevelly, his mis-
sionary colleagues, sympathizing with his views

164 Men of Might in India Missions

also severed their connection with the Society.
On the return of their leader to his former field,
these brethren rallied around him, and a large
company of those who had been led to Christ
through their instrumentality, threw in their lot
with their beloved spiritual fathers. A separate
mission was then formed, known as the German
Evangelical Mission.

The new Society provided for their use other
places of worship, and so great was the personal
influence of Mr. Rhenius, and so highly was he
held in esteem as a man of God and a labourer
of almost unexampled zeal and devotion, that he
was able to carry on every department of the mis-
sion, involving the pecuniary support of his three
European colleagues, as well as his own, as con-
tributions flowed into the treasury from European
friends in every part of India, and from various
parts of the world, America not excepted.

During this period, which was in some respects,
exceedingly trying, he continued his literary la-
bours finding peculiar pleasure in the translation
of the Sacred Scriptures into Tamil. His Tamil
grammar, a work upon which he had long been
engaged, was also completed and put to press.
In his evangelistic labours, as hitherto, the Lord
greatly blessed him causing his heart to rejoice
as multitudes *' turned from the worship of dumb
idols, to serve the living God."

But the man hitherto so strong to labour began
now to manifest unmistakable signs of physical

Charles T. E. Rhenius 165

weakness. His cares during the whole of his
missionary career had been heavy and his labours
unremitting. Since he entered India as a mis-
sionary, in the summer of 1814, he had not left
the country even for a day, nor had he taken ad-
vantage of a change to the cooler and more salu-
brious climate of the mountains, doubtless a mis-
take, as with some degree of relaxation his valu-
able life might probably have been much pro-
longed.

On the 9th of May, 1838, he wrote in his
journal, "This evening had the Lord's Supper.
1 am not well. The heat is very great." This
was the last entry made. A letter to a friend
in Europe was begun three days later, but was
left unfinished. His active work for the Master
was ended, and on the 5th of June, he passed
away. His sun went down while it was yet day,
for at the time of his death he had not completed
his forty-eighth year. Twenty-four years of his
life had been spent in India. He was carried to
his grave amid great lamentation. His body rests
in a quiet spot not far from the church which he
built in Palamcotta and in which a large Chris-
tian congregation still meets on each Lord's day
for divine worship. '' He rests from his labours,
but his works do follow him." His Tamil writ-
ings may be looked upon as a legacy of no mean
value, to the Christian Church of South India.

In no part of the great Indian peninsula, is
missionary work in a more advanced state than

1 66 Men of Might in India Missions

in Tinnevelly, and the work in this most interest-
ing field is still carried on, on the lines laid down
by Mr. Rhenius, more than half a century ago.
The Tinnevelly missions are in a great measure
indebted to this wise master-builder for the pro-
gressive element apparent in their history. ^"^ The
practice he introduced, of assembling the people
of every Christian village morning and evening
for united prayer, in the church or prayer-house,
a practice which prevails to this day throughout
the missionary congregations of the Church of
England in Tinnevelly and which has gradually
extended to other missions in South India, and
the various societies which he organised which
still continue to bind together the congregations
and to lead them to care for the needy and to
labour for the extension of the Redeemer's King-
dom, are memorials of his wise policy and saga-
cious forethought.

VII

JOHN SCUDDER

1819-1855

A CENTURY ago a small boy, destined in after
life to become famous in the annals of missions
in India, might frequently have been seen run-
ning along the streets of Freehold, New Jersey,
a look of great seriousness on his baby face, as
he was bent on some errand of mercy. From a
merry game he would turn with alacrity to help
any one in distress. The little fellow was one
day seen drawing a heavy rail along the street.
" John what are you going to do with that ? "
asked a gentleman who knew the boy.

" I am taking it to Miss Becky, who has no
fire," answered the child, as he hurried forward
on his benevolent errand. The boy who thus
early manifested an interest in the welfare of the
needy and distressed, was John Scudder. He
was born in Freehold, New Jersey, on the 3rd
of September, 1793, and by his pious parents was
dedicated to God at his birth. The boy was
amiable and obedient, and had a conscientious re-
gard for truth.

167

1 68 Men of Might in India Missions

" John seemed always possessed of a Christian
temper," said his mother, when reference was
made to the beginning of his Christian hfe.

DiHgent in study, the youth was early prepared
to enter college. Princeton was the choice made
for him by his parents, and he entered with zest
upon his college work. Among the students he
found few who sympathized with him in his re-
ligious aspirations, but this only served to make
him more faithful in trying to lead his fellow-
students to Christ.

A young man who entered Princeton college
but four months before young Scudder's gradua-
tion, in a letter to Mr. Scudder's father, gave this
account of his first interview with his son. He
was sitting one evening, soon after he entered the
college, in a room with some of his classmates,
when a young man called who was introduced to
him as Mr. Scudder. He tarried only a moment,
but before leaving turned to the stranger, and in
a most cordial manner, said, " V\\ be happy to see
you at No. 47."

Returning to his lonely room the young stran-
ger thought of Mr. Scudder's hearty invitation,
and with the conviction that the companionship
of such a man would be a benediction, he turned
his steps at once toward No. 47. Pie found Mr.
Scudder surrounded by his books, and at once
frankly told him why he had so promptly ac-
cepted his invitation. He was not religious, he
said, but he desired to form the acquaintance of

John Scudder 169

those who were professedly so. Instantly Mr.
Scudder arose, his fine face aglow, and grasping
the hand of his visitor said, " That's right. Stand
by that and you will never regret it." This was
the beginning of a warm friendship, through
which the young student was led to decide for
Christ.

At the completion of his college course, Mr.
Scudder's thoughts were turned toward the sacred
ministry ; but finding that his father did not cor-
dially acquiesce in this choice, he relinquished his
desire in favour of the profession of medicine,
feeling that, as a Christian physician, he could
serve his Master not less truly, than as a minister
of the Gospel.

He graduated at the Medical College in New
York in May, 181 5. Being prepared now to
enter upon the practice of his profession, he made
his location a subject of earnest prayer. The
Eastern section of the city was suggested to him
as a suitable field, by a friend in whom he had
confidence, and this same friend kindly offered to
introduce him to a family in which he would find
not only an agreeable circle, but a comfortable
home.

The ardent young physician, watching for op-
portunities of usefulness, was soon well and
favourably known. The family which had received
Dr. Scudder, consisted of a widow with two un-
married daughters and two sons at home. It
was a cultured and refined household, but not a

lyo Men of Might in India Missions

professedly religious one. During the first year
of his residence in this family there was much
religious interest in the church which they at-
tended, and all came under its influence. The
elder son, about this time was drowned at sea,
and the hearts of the remaining members of the
family were solemnized and softened. Ere long
the mother, the two daughters and the son ac-
knowledged themselves as on the Lord's side.
The elder of the two daughters, lovely in person
and gentle in spirit, afterward became the wife
of Dr. Scudder, and proved a noble help-meet in a
most self-sacrificing life.

T" When Dr. Scudder decided to devote his life
/to the profession of medicine, he resolved, by the
I help of God, to be, not only a physician to the
j bodies, but a minister, as far as possible, to the
souls of his patients, and this end he kept con-
stantly in view.

He prospered greatly in his profession, but
while his prospects of worldly advancement were
daily brightening, an incident occurred which
changed the whole current of his life. When
visiting a patient, he took up from a table in the
ante-room a tract entitled " The Claims of Six
Hundred Millions, and the Ability and Duty of
the Churches Respecting Them."

Struck by the title he asked to be allowed to
take the little book home with him. He read
and re-read it with an ever-deepening conviction
that this was the call of God to him. In this

John Scudder 171

momentous crisis of his life he besought Heavenly-
guidance. Soon he was ready for himself to say,
"Jesus, I go in obedience to Thy last command
to preach the Gospel to those who have it not."

When Miss Waterbury consented to become
the wife of Dr. Scudder, it was with no thought
that she would be asked to leave her friends, and
her native land, for a life of self-denial among
the heathen. How now would she regard such
a step, the husband asked himself again and
again. Could he ask her to take their fair and
frail little daughter, two years of age, to a dis-
tant heathen land ? After importunate prayer, he
laid the whole matter before Mrs. Scudder, tell-
ing her that God had made him not only willing
but anxious to serve Him as a missionary abroad ;
but he added that if her heart was not in sym-
pathy with his heart in this matter, his duty for
the present, at least, was at home.

With a consecration as whole-hearted as his
own, Mrs. Scudder decided for the life of a mis-
sionary, and from this decision she never
wavered.

' When Dr. Scudder made public the change in
his life-plans, he was called to encounter strenu-
ous opposition, even from his Christian friends.
" Why," they asked, " should a man with such
brilliant prospects at home, go among the
heathen? Others less useful might properly en-
gage in such a service," — 'a sentim.ent that even
in these days finds frequent expression^

172 Men of Might in India Missions

Dr. Scudder was a member of the Dutch Re-
formed Church, but in connection with this
church of his choice there seemed no immediate
prospect of being sent abroad as a missionary.
While waiting for the Lord to lead him, he saw
in one of the religious papers of the city, a notice
that a Christian physician was needed, to go to
India in connection with the American Board of
Missions, at Boston, and he at once offered him-
self for the post, expressing his readiness to go
at once, should this be desired. His offer was
promptly accepted, and with all the expedition
possible he prepared to leave New York for Bos-
ton, from whence, with his family, he would em-
bark for India.

On the day of their departure, Fulton street
dock was a scene of unusual excitement. Dr.
Scudder moved among the friends assembled to
bid them God-speed, with kindling eye and radi-
ant countenance. " Only give us your prayers —
that is all I ask," he left as his parting message,
when the vessel swung loose from her moorings.

Dr. and Mrs. Scudder sailed from Boston in
the brig " Indus," on the 8th of June, 1819, with
a party sent out by the American Board, consist-
ing of the Rev. Messrs. Winslow, Spaulding,
Woodward and their wives. The Captain of the
" Indus " was a Christian, and in full sympathy
with the missionaries. Not only did he seek by
every means in his power to promote their phy-
sical comfort, but put the whole ship at their dis-

John Scudder 173

posal as a " floating Bethel." Religious services
were held both in the cabin and the forecastle,
resulting in a remarkable spiritual awakening,
embracing the greater part of the ship's crew.

Calcutta was reached after a voyage of four
months. After a short interval, Messrs. Winslow
and Spaulding, with their wives, took passage
for Ceylon. Mr. and Mrs. Woodward were de-
tained by illness, and Dr. and Mrs. Scudder re-
mained with them. While they tarried in Cal-
cutta, the missionary party received much kind-
ness from Dr. Carey and his colleagues at Ser-
ampore, a kindness greatly appreciated, as at this
time there came to Dr. and Mrs. Scudder their
first great sorrow. Their little Maria, after an
illness of only three days, went home to her
Saviour. Three months after the death of their
beloved first-born, a second child was given them,
who, " after breathing the tainted air for one
week, closed her eyes forever and took her flight
to join her baby sister." But though so sorely
stricken, the bereaved parents did not entertain
even a momentary regret at the decision they had
made.

Dr. Scudder was assigned to the Jaffna Dis-
trict, in the northern part of the island of Ceylon.
He had applied himself most assiduously to the
study of the language from the time of his ar-
rival in India, and with such good result that on
the 9th of July, he recorded in his journal the
fact that he had that day preached for the first

1 74 Men of Might in India Missions

time in his new station. A month later, ''after
having undergone such examinations upon the-
ology as the brethren thought proper," he was
licensed to preach the Gospel.

Every morning at an early hour, he prescribed
for the sick who came to him, first praying with
and for them, and giving them such Christian
instruction as his limited knowledge of the lan-
guage permitted. A hospital was soon opened,
which attracted large numbers. But he did not al-
low his medical work to prevent him from labour-
ing among the people as an ambassador for
Christ. We find him not only lifting up his voice
in the sanctuary and among his patients in the
hospital, but in the highways, in the villages, and
wherever he could find listeners. Schools were
established, both day-schools and a boarding-
school. In the beginning of his missionary
career, he commenced the distribution of portions
of the Sacred Scriptures, and of religious tracts.
These he could send when he might not go, and
the printed page would be pondered, while the
spoken word might be forgotten.

As his work increased in interest and magni-
tude, the enthusiastic missionary sent to Chris-
tian friends in America impassioned appeals for
funds to aid the work in which he and his asso-
ciates were engaged.

Mrs. Scudder proved a most efficient help-meet
on the mission field. She had charge of the
" domestic concerns " of the boarding-school.

John Scudder 175

taught classes in the same school, had charge of
a sewing-class for women, supervised the day-
schools when Dr. Scudder was absent from the
station, and at the same time looked well to the
ways of her own household.

As soon as his knowledge of the language en-
abled him to do so, Dr. Scudder began the prep-
aration of tracts in the vernacular. But his
manifold labours, which made constant and ex-
cessive drafts upon both his physical and mental
energies, proved at length a burden too heavy to
be borne. His missionary brethren decided that
rest and change were imperatively demanded, and
it was accordingly arranged that he should leave
Ceylon for a time and go first to Madras, and
from thence to Bangalore. This change was of
essential benefit to Dr. Scudder's health, and also
served another important purpose in opening the
way for the establishment of an American mis-
sion in Madras. In the year 1836, after commu-
nicating with the Board at home, Dr. Scudder
and the Rev. Myron Winslow were appointed to
Madras. This transfer to a wider field was very
acceptable to a man of such intense mental ac-
tivity. He at once began to make plans for the
establishment of a printing-press. This depart-
ment of labour was to be placed, by mutual ar-
rangement, under the superintendence of Mr.
Winslow, leaving Dr. Scudder free to go among
the teeming population of the surrounding coun-
try to proclaim the Gospel, and to leave with all

176 Men of Might in India Missions

who could read, portions of Scripture and tracts
in the vernaculars of the people. On these tours
he was sometimes absent for several consecutive
months. Occasionally he had no other shelter
than the palanquin in which he was carried, but
he usually occupied native rest-houses. Very
comfortless were these shelters, but the disciple
remembered the low estate of his Master and
was content. Sometimes he was able to avail
himself of more comfortable government bunga-
lows provided for travellers, and there he could
find refuge, when the work of the morning was
over, from the consuming heat, which sorely tried
him. Dr. Scudder tells us in his journal how
unremitting were sometimes his labours.

At Vellore, on one occasion, he took up a posi-
tion in a public place, at seven o'clock in the
morning, and did not leave it until six o'clock in
the evening, not pausing in his work even to eat.
When exhausted, coffee was brought him. It had
become known that books would be distributed,
and through the entire day the throng pressed
upon him. His helpers tried to ascertain who
among the great numbers clamouring for books
and tracts could read, and to such tickets were
given, and each possessor of a ticket, received
from the hand of Dr. Scudder a portion of Scrip-
Nture, or a tract.

While absent on his tours into the interior. Dr.
Scudder was frequently beyond the reach of postal
facihties, in which case, the wife at home.

John Scudder 177

bravely bearing the double burden of caring for
her own family and doing all in her power to
forward the interests of the mission, was often
much concerned lest her husband should fall a
victim to his zeal. In one^ of his letters to his
wife, Dr. Scudder wroteC *' I am doing a most
blessed work, and shall be back just when the
Lord sees best. For your comfort and joy think
of the number of precious souls who will prob-
ably hear of Jesus from my mouth while absent
from you. Put yourself, my love, in their places.
Suppose you had never heard His name, would
you not wish some husband to leave his wife and
come and tell you of Him and put in your hands
His word ? 'V

" I must travel as comfortably as possible," he
wrote in another letter. '* I could go in a com-
mon cart, but it is too hard for my head." Re-
ferring to his suffering from violent sick-head-
aches caused by fatigue and exposure to the sun,
he wrote : *' It was such exposure, together
with the fatigue accompanying it, which shat-
tered my constitution in 182 1. I shall never look
back upon that long tour I took on foot, without
regret." From such experiences in the early
years of his missionary life, he had learned as he
afterwards said, that- Health is too important
to be sacrificed for a few rupees ; " a lesson which
many a modern missionary learns too late, j

With deep solicitude, Mrs:-Sxiudder noted the
increasing weariness induced by her husband's

lyS Men of Might in India Missions

trying exposures and unremitting labours, and
begged him to desist ; urging that the tours made
into the interior when he was frequently long ab-
sent from home with insufficient provision for his
comfort, were wearing him out and herself as
well. In response to this he wrote. " We must
not think of wearing out this thirty years while
so much land remains to be possessed."

On one of his tours he paid a visit to Tranque-
bar. On the Sabbath spent in this historic place
he preached to the native congregation in the fine
church built by Ziegenbalg. He also preached in
English in the same church to an interested au-
dience.

Congenial in some respects as was this itiner-
ant life to Dr. Scudder, yet he would not have
chosen to spend so large a portion of his time in
this manner, had he not felt in a measure im-
pelled to such a course. " I find no one," he
wrote on one occasion, " who is willing to en-
gage in this great work of the general distribu-
tion of the Scriptures and tracts. The conse-
quence is that much falls on me. Winslow pre-
pares. I distribute."

On one of his tours he crossed the Peninsula
of India from Eastern coast to Western. He
was on this occasion exposed in an unusual de-
gree to the malaria which hangs like a death-pall
over some parts of the country. On his return
journey he was seized with jungle fever. Prov-
identially he was at this time within reach of

John Scudder 179

medical aid. Little hope was entertained of his
recovery, and with all possible speed a messenger
was sent with the sad tidings to Mrs. Scudder.
When the tidings reached her, she at once pre-
pared to go to her husband. A kind friend pro-
vided her with a small tent and arranged for a
palanquin and bearers as well as a necessary
supply of food. Then this heroic woman accom-
panied only by her little son, set out on her
mournful journey. When in the heart of the
jungle and just as darkness was coming on, the
palanquin bearers hearing the roar of wild beasts
dropped their burden and fled, leaving Mrs.
Scudder and her child with no earthly protection.
Clasping her boy in her arms, the anxious mother
spent the long night in prayer. She heard the
tread of wild elephants and the awful roar of the
tiger. Sometimes they seemed approaching, then
with speechless gratitude she heard the sound of
their retreating footsteps. In the early dawn
the bearers returned, and lifting up the palan-
quin continued their journey. y
Mrs. Scudder found her husband convalescing,
but months elapsed before he was restored to
health, and the shock to his constitution was felt
to the end of his life. The exacting and unre-
mitting labours of this man of God at length broke
down a constitution almost herculean. In season
and out of season, amid drenching rains and
torrid suns he continued the work to which he
felt especially called. His appetite failed, one

i8o Men of Might in India Missions

arm became partially paralysed, and he was forced
at last to admit that he must have a season of
relaxation or die. " My doctor," he wrote in one
of his letters, " has ordered me to sea, and ad-
vises a visit to America, but still I am somewhat
strong to labourjlLl

When Dr. Scudder left America in 1820, he
expected not only to labour in India, but to die
there, and the thought of turning his back upon
his adopted country seemed in some sense like a
retreat before the enemy. Yet there were strong
ties drawing him to America. Many of the
friends he had known and loved in his young
manhood still survived. Above all, the sons who
had been sent to the home land to be educated,
longed once more to behold the faces of their
beloved parents.

Still Dr. Scudder lingered in India, loath to
leave its shores ; but as he did not rally he was
impelled to accept the verdict of his physician
and friends that the only hope of restoration to
health lay in a return to his native land.

On the voyage, the invalid began to improve
and before he reached America, he had partially
regained the use of the arm which had so long
hung helpless by his side. Notwithstanding this
improvement in his physical condition, his friends
were deeply concerned to note the changes that
disease and toil had wrought.

Dr. Scudder had no thought of resting, though

John Scudder i8i

so far from robust. His soul yearned over the
millions of idolaters in India, and failing to
arouse in adult Christians a sense of the respon-
sibility resting upon them to give the Gospel to
the unevangelised, he turned to the children,
trusting that with the blessing of God, a genera-
tion might be raised up to feel as their fathers
did not, a desire to consecrate themselves, and the
means given them by God to the blessed work
of making Christ known. For three years this
consecrated man, with the burden of souls ever
resting upon him, traversed the American conti-
nent from Georgia to Maine, and from East to
West, until he had addressed over a hundred thou-
sand children and youth. Everywhere he was
joyfully received, fascinating all with whom he
came in contact by the charm of his manner, and
everywhere finding his way to the heart by his
tender appeals. " Jesus loves you,*' he would say,
" and He loves the heathen also, for He tasted
de^th for every man."

-Dr. Scudder came to be regarded as pre-
eminently the friend of the children, and very
touching were many of the letters addressed to
him. Some conveyed gifts of money, hoarded
stores which were now gladly relinquished to aid
in sending the Gospel to India. Not a few of the
children and youth who listened to his impas-
sioned appeals assured him that if spared to be-
come men and women, they hoped that God

1 82 Men of Might in India Missions

would call diem to India. Missionary Societies
were organised, and wherever he went, a bless-
ing attended the labours of this zealous servant.

The impression made by Dr. Scudder's appeals
to the children and youth were in many cases
permanent. One of the secretaries of the Board
of Missions in Boston afterwards said that when
candidates for missionary appointment had been
asked what first turned their thoughts to the sub-
ject of missions among the heathen, the reply in
some instances had been, '' Dr. Scudder^s ad-
dresses and appeals heard when a child." Among
the missionaries of marked devotion now labour-
ing in India, is one, who, when a child listened
to the fervid appeals of Dr. Scudder, and then
formed the determination, which never faltered,
to give herself to missionary work among the
people of India.

While Dr. and Mrs. Scudder were in America
they had the joy of seeing Henry, their eldest son
ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry.
Soon after his ordination the young man left
America to engage in missionary work in India.
Born in Ceylon, and having spoken the Tamil
language in his boyhood, on his return it came
back to him like a forgotten dream, and in five
months after his arrival he was able to use the
language with surprising fluency in preaching to
the people.

In the autumn of 1846, Dr. and Mrs. Scudder
prepared to return to India. During his sojourn

John Scudder 183

in the home land he had often said, " There is no
place like India. It is nearer heaven than Amer-
ica." Yet there was much sorrow in the leave-
taking, for all felt that this was a final farewell.
On their arrival in India in March, 1847, Dr.
Scudder entered upon his labours with renewed
interest and zeal. In addition to the work in
which he had formerly been engaged, in
order to keep alive the interest in missions which
his visit had awakened, he sent as frequently as
was consistent with the discharge of his more
pressing duties, contributions to religious papers
in America, and at the same time he maintained
an extensive correspondence with Christian
friends in his native land.

Not long after his return, it was thought ex-
pedient that he should for a time take up his
residence in Madura, in order that the younger
brethren there might have the benefit, not only
of his rich and ripe experience as a missionary,
but of his eminent skill as a physician. After his
temporary transfer to Madura, Dr. Scudder be-
gan in his new field the work to which he had
hitherto devoted so much time and strength, —
that of touring through the district for the double
purpose of preaching the Gospel and distribut-
ing portions of Scripture and tracts. Wherever
he went, as soon as it became known that a for-
eign doctor had arrived, crowds followed him as
they did the Saviour when He was upon the
earth, the halt, the maimed, the leper and the

184 Men of Might in India Missions

blind. Many successful surgical operations were
performed. By the removal of cataract, eyesight
was in many cases restored and in his treatment
of cholera Dr. Scudder was eminently success-
ful. So many persons flocked to him for treat-
ment and went away benefited that the native
doctors of Madura took alarm, crying out that
the hope of their gains was gone. They finally
resolved to resort to witchcraft to try to rid
themselves of their hated rival; but failing in
their object decided that a white skin must be
impervious to witchcraft.

Early in the year 1849 he returned with his
family to Madras. At once he opened a medical
department in connection with the more direct
work of preaching the Gospel, and in the medical
work as well as in the evangelistic, he received
most valuable assistance from his son Henry.

In the midst of his manifold labours as a phy-
sician to both the body and the soul, he prepared
tracts and booklets which were issued by the
American Tract Society. Among these may be
mentioned " The Redeemer's Last Command,"
" An Address to Christian Mothers," and " Tales
About the Heathen." At length his eyesight
began to fail, and total blindness was feared. Yet
even in the anticipation of so great an affliction
he sought to find some ray of comfort. " My
voice is good," he said, '' and should my eyesight
fail, I could still preach the everlasting Gospel."

A stalwart man both physically and intellectu-

John Scudder 185

ally, Dr. Scudder had, however, next to his God,
turned to his devoted wife for help and comfort
in times of anxiety and sorrow. He "should be
the first to pass over Jordan, he had always felt.
But when such a blow was least expected, Mrs.
Scudder was stricken down and in a few short
hours was brought face to face with death. She
was taken ill on Thursday and passed away on
the night of the following Monday. To one
whose life had been spent for Christ, death had
no terrors. It had been Mrs. Scudder's custom
to devote the birthday of each of her children
to special prayer for that child. On the birthday
of her son Silas, the mother had sent him a letter
breathing the tenderest love and deepest solici-
tude for his spiritual welfare. When giving her
dying messages to the children gathered around
her bedside and for the absent children, she said,
" Tell Silas that I have written to him in my last
letter all that I should wish to say to him. I
spent half of his last birthday in prayer for
him." When asked if she wished all her sons
to become missionaries, she replied, " Yes, it has
been my constant prayer that they might all come
to this land to preach the Gospel. I do not
desire that they should come unless they are pre-
pared, but I wish them to be fitted for this work."

Just before the end came, she opened her eyes,
and with peculiar energy, exclaimed, " Glorious
salvation ! Glorious heaven ! "

*' We shall not long be separated," Dr. Scudder

1 86 Men of Might in India Missions

had said to his wife just before her departure.
Thirty years had these two walked side by side
in Hfe's pathway, and to the survivor, lonely
seemed the way leading onward to the end. An-
other blow was soon, alas ! to fall upon the stricken
mourner. His son Samuel, a young man of bril-
liant intellect, after graduating with the highest
honours of his class, entered the Theological Sem-
inary in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and hoped
at the end of his course to join his father and
brothers in India. In a letter to a friend an-
nouncing his decision to go out to India as a
missionary, he said, *' I hear the voices of my
father and my brothers calling me from my native
land, * Come over and help us ' and I must hasten
to obey." He was stricken with mortal sickness
and was called home three days before his mother
passed into the skies.

On a heart so sensitive as was Dr. Scudder's,
these terrible blows fell with almost crushing
power. But though from this time his physical
strength steadily waned, his zeal for souls was
unquenched, and each new morning found him
ready to do battle against the great enemy of
souls. Unable because of physical infirmity to
make tours in the interior, he usually preached
twice daily in the city of Madras. When he
learned that his son Samuel, to whose return he
had looked forward with delightful anticipations,
had been called to his heavenly home, he resolved
to help in making up this loss on the mission

John Scudder 187

field by extra work on his own part; and he ac-
cordingly began to preach thrice daily. But he
was not long able to endure his excessive labours.
As the conviction was forced upon him that he
must soon be laid aside, his heart was filled with
rejoicing that all his sons had decided not only
to give themselves to the Gospel ministry, but
to return to their native land as missionaries.
" They have been prayed into the Kingdom by
their mother," said Dr. Scudder on one occasion.

Feeling that rest and change might prolong
the precious life, the friends of the veteran mis-
sionary urged him to take a sea-voyage. " 1
wish to die in India and to be laid by the side
of my beloved wife," was his invariable answer
to these appeals. He would not go again to
America, but in the summer of 1854 he was pre-
vailed upon to try the effect of a voyage to the
Cape of Good Hope. His son Joseph, who had
joined his father and brothers in missionary work
in India, accompanied him.

From the beginning of his Christian life Dr.
Scudder had been a diligent student of the Bible.
This Holy Book had been his guide, his counsel-
lor, his staff on which he leaned, and more to
him than his daily food. His zeal was caught
from the Bible, and this too was the source of
steadfast cheerfulness which was so marked a
trait of his character. iWith his mind stayed on
the promises of God, he was never cast down.
When asked in America what were the discour-

1 88 Men of Might in India Missions

agements in the missionary work, he answered,
" I do not know the word. I long ago erased it
_from my vocabulary."

The quiet days of this voyage to the Cape fur-
nished a delightful opportunity for digging deep
into the inexhaustible mine of Scripture ; and
when the " desired haven " was reached Dr. Scud-
der was not only greatly refreshed in body, but
his mind and heart seemed strong to labour. With
the zeal which had characterised his more vigour-
ous days, he began at once a service in English
for the residents ; and not for adults only but for
the children also. Crowds flocked to hear the
eloquent preacher. Two and sometimes three
services were held on the Sabbath. The soul of
the veteran warrior seemed on fire, and he re-
joiced that the Lord was once more using him
in so blessed a service.

After two months spent at the Cape, feeling
that he was ready for duty in India, he engaged'
his return passage, but his earthly voyages were
over. A church service had been announced for
him, and in order that he might be the better
fitted for his duties, he laid himself down for a
brief rest. Soon he fell into a deep sleep. From
that sleep he passed into the presence of his
Maker. Thus ended a life which had been un-
reservedly consecrated to the Master's service.
He passed away on the 13th of January, 1855, in
the sixty-second year of his age, and the thirty-
sixth year of his missionary life.

John Scudder 1S9

After the death of the veteran missionary the
young people and children in America who had
listened to his fervid appeals, in grateful remem-
brance of his labours among them, contributed
the means for the erection of the beautiful marble
monument which stands in the grounds of the
Theological Seminary of the Dutch Reformed
Church in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

We cannot more appropriately close this sketch
of the life of a good and a great man than by quot-
ing the words of his son the Rev. Henry Martyn
Scudder, D.D., now himself passed into the skies ;
*' He is gone, but he will never be forgotten. On
the records of our Indian Zion his name stands
registered as a faithful evangelist, an energetic
pioneer. In the sky of India's night I see his
name shining forth like a lustrous star, not lone
and solitary, but associated with kindred lumin-
aries, such as Ziegenbalg, Schwartz, Rhenius and
Poor. He has left behind him a memory more
precious than thousands of gold and silver. He
was a great man and a good man. May our
gracious Lord raise up many like him in faith
and zeal and labours until every stronghold of
Satan in this land shall be laid low in the dust
and the temple of Emmanuel shall be erected in
such spacious proportions and attractive glory
that the tribes of India shall be gathered as de-
vout and happy worshippers within its solemn
aisles."

VIII

JOHN WILSON

1829-1875

In a farm-house in Lauder, Berwickshire,
Scotland, on the nth of December, 1804, was
born to Andrew and Janet Wilson a son, who
as soon as his infant feet could carry him stepped
out from the sphere of life into which he was
born. He was the eldest of four sons and though
his associations were all connected with rural
life, yet he very early developed a bent of mind
opposed to all his ancestral traditions. At four
years of age he was sent to school, and at five
his progress in knowledge was regarded as re-
markable. He was from the first a diligent stu-
dent, was never in a quarrel, and was noted for
his absolute truthfulness.

In his fourteenth year the precocious boy en-
tered the Edinburgh University and began a
course of linguistic, philosophical and theological
training. At the close of the first session he
found employment as a teacher, thus not only
earning the means with which to help in providing
190

John Wilson 191

the education which he was determined to secure,
but laying the foundation for that educational
experience which fitted him for the place he was
afterwards to occupy as vernacular missionary.
Principal of an English College and Vice-Chan-
cellor of the University of Bombay.

At the end of the second session at the Uni-
versity, the young student entered into an en-
gagement as tutor to the sons and nephews of
the Rev. Dr. Cormack of Stow. To his residence
of four years as tutor, in the family of Dr. Cor-
mack may be traced the determination early
formed by Mr. Wilson of devoting his life to the
peoples of India.

The nephews of Dr. Cormack, resident at this
time in his household, were the sons of Colonel
Rose, an officer on duty in India, who had sent
his children to the home land to be educated.
When he began his duties in the manse at Stow
at the age of sixteen, one of the first surprises
of the young tutor was caused by hearing the
Hindustani spoken by the children from India.
From this time he was more or less in an Indian
atmosphere.

From General Walker, a retired officer living
near Stow, Mr. Wilson caught the inspiration
which in later years enabled him to labour so
effectively in the suppression of female infanti-
cide, as this officer while in India had been in
political charge of the great native State of Ba-
roda, and had been distinguished for the active

192 Men of Might in India Missions

part he had taken in the suppression of female
infanticide among the Jadeja Rajpoots.

On his twenty-first birthday Mr. Wilson wrote,
" This day I have completed my twentieth year.
The Lord teach me to improve the fleeting mo-
ments of my existence. The Memoirs of David
Brainerd and Henry Martyn give me peculiar
pleasure."

Two months later when paying a visit to his
friends at Lauder, he made known to them his
purpose of offering himself as a missionary can-
didate to the Scottish Missionary Society, and
was much grieved to find that his mother felt she
could not bear the separation which the choice
of such a life would involve. His father said
little, but to him also the announcement of his
son's decision came as a heavy stroke. Mr. Wil-
son comforted his parents by assuring them that
he would not leave them unless the Lord should
make the path of duty very plain.

Not long after this interview with his parents,
Mr. Wilson being fully persuaded that he was
following the leadings of the Master, offered him-
self to the Scottish Missionary Society and was
accepted. He was then received into the family
of the Secretary of the society, the Rev. W.
Brown, M.D., where he spent the three succeed-
ing years before his departure for India.

Himself full of zeal in respect to the cause of
missions, Mr. Wilson sought to inspire others
with this spirit. He was the chief agent in found-

John Wilson 193

ing the Edinburgh Association of Theological
Students in aid of the Diffusion of Christian
Knowledge. Of this society he was made the
Secretary. He collected a library and began a
correspondence with the great missionary societies
then in existence, in order that the students might
have the latest missionary intelligence.

When in the university, Mr. Wilson had taken
a high place in the classes of physical and natural
science, and in order that he might be more use-
ful in the mission field, he passed through classes
of anatomy, surgery and the practice of physic.

The summer of 1828 was a memorable one to
the missionary-elect, for on the 24th of June he
was ordained to the office of the Gospel min-
istry, and on the i8th of August was married
to Miss Margaret Bayne of Greenock, a daughter
of the manse, a lady not only highly accomplished
and of rare intellectual attainments, but with a
zeal for souls equal to his own.

On the 30th of August Mr. and Mrs. Wilson
began the long voyage to India. Cape Comorin,
the Land's End of India, was sighted on the first
of the following February, and Bombay was
reached on the 14th. This great Western sea-
port at that time contained only 250,000 inhabi-
tants, but before the death of the distinguished
missionary, its population had increased to
650,000.

Soon after his arrival, in a letter to his parents
Mr. Wilson said, " Figure to yourselves a clear

194 Men of Might in India Missions

sky, a burning sun, a parched soil, gigantic
shrubs, numerous palm trees, a populous city with
inhabitants belonging to every country under
heaven, crowded, dirty streets, thousands of
Hindus, Mohammedans, Parsis, Buddhists, Jews
and Portuguese; perpetual marriage processions,
barbarous music, etc. etc. ; and you will have some
idea of what I observe at present."

Before the end of a month Mr. and Mrs. Wil-
son left Bombay for a rural town, that they might
in the midst of the people lay the foundation for
a thorough knowledge of the Marathi, the lan-
guage of Western India. Mr. Wilson made com-
mendable progress, preaching to edification in the
vernacular seven months after his arrival.

The Jewish population of Bombay had from
the first a peculiar interest for the young mis-
sionary, and though he brought with him to India
a knowledge of Hebrew superior to that of the
ordinary student, to the study of the Indian ver-
naculars he soon began to add an hour's daily
study of the Hebrew, in order that by greater
familiarity with this language he might be more
useful to the Jewish population.

From the first, as a missionary, Mr. Wilson
had claimed for himself independence of judg-
ment and of action, and at the end of the first
year we find him drawing up a " plan of opera-
tions which I intend to pursue in the island of
Bombay," accompanying it with detailed regula-
tions for the pupil teachers, the masters and the

John Wilson 195

Christian inspectors of the schools which had been
established. He had at this time a weekly serv-
ice with the Beni-lsrael. He preached in the
Marathi language, and occasionally in English in
the Scotch Church in Bombay. As soon as able
to speak with some degree of fluency he began a
service for beggars. A small portion of rice was
given to each, and the Word of God was pro-
claimed.

In March, 1832, the school which eventually
became the General Assembly's Institution, was
established in connection with the Scottish Mis-
sion. This school was under his immediate
superintendence. It might have been said of him,
as of Henry Martyn at Cambridge, that he was
a man who never lost an hour; and if his power
of application was marvellous, no less so were the
results of his severe application. He not only
rapidly acquired a knowledge of the Marathi,
but also of Gujarati and to these, he soon added
Hindustani and Persian.

Ere long he began the preparation of a Hebrew
and Marathi grammar for the Jews. As soon as
his schools, his preaching and translation work
were well organised, the zealous missionary be-
gan a series of discussions, in the first instance
with leading Hindus who had asked for such dis-
cussion, hoping thereby to strengthen their cause,
— then with the Mohammedans, and last with
representatives of the Parsi community. The dis-
cussion with the Hindus was oral and with the

196 Men of Might in India Missions

two last named classes through the vernacular
newspapers. When Christianity and Hinduism
were contrasted great crowds assembled day after
day. Among the opponents and the listeners
were many learned Brahmins, and those were the
first to ask for quarter. Two editions of the re-
port were quickly exhausted, and a spirit of in-
quiry was awakened. When his opponents felt
that they were being worsted in the contest they
proposed asking Government to silence their
powerful antagonist. One of the results of this
discussion was the preparation and publication by
Mr. Wilson of his first '' Exposure of the Hindu
Religion,'* quickly followed by his ** Second Ex-
posure." After his discussion with the Moham-
medans he published a " Refutation of Mohamme-
danism." One of the stoutest of his opponents
during the Mohammedan controversy afterward
accepted Christianity and received baptism at the
hands of the missionary.

** The business of the missionary is with' men,"
was a saying of Dr. Chambers, which Mr. Wilson
was fond of quoting and he made this the key-
note of his missionary life. Next to making him-
self familiar with the vernaculars of the people,
it was his object to mingle in a friendly way with
the people who spoke them. He was therefore
found in the market-place, the narrow street, the
garden, the village and on the country roads.

He made his first extensive tour in the cold
season of 1831, going as far as Nasik, 250 miles

John Wilson 197

from Bombay. Wherever he went he not only
preached the Gospel, but gathered rich stores of
information, and made collections of objects of
natural history, archeology and sometimes of
valuable oriental manuscripts. On this tour to
Nasik he met for the first time people belonging
to those aboriginal tribes of the jungle, in whose
elevation and evangelisation he was permitted to
bear so distinguished a part.

In 1843 he paid a visit to Mahabeleshwar, in
the mountains. This place had been visited by
Gordon Hall ten years before with the express
object of ascertaining if it would be a suitable
place for a sanitarium for Europeans on the
Western coast of India. In 1829 a tract of land
including this spot had been ceded to the British
Government by the Rajah of Satara in exchange
for other lands. Some time after Mr. Wilson's
first visit, one of his friends in Bombay presented
him with a cottage in Mahabeleshwar, and there,
when more advanced in years he used to recruit
his exhausted energies during the college vaca-
tion in the great heat of May and June. But he
was not idle even then. As the place began to
be frequented by native gentlemen, he delivered
lectures, preached in the vernaculars, examined
schools, engaged in literary work and prosecuted
his evangelistic work among the hill tribes as far
as Poona.

In the cold season of 1834, Mr. Wilson made
an extensive tour into Kathiawar and Cutch.

198 Men of Might in India Missions

Now for the first time he came face to face with
female infanticide, and he began at once to wage
war against the monstrous practice. As he jour-
neyed, the ever active missionary preached both
morning and evening in the streets and bazaars
of the cities visited, as well as to groups by the
wayside. He was ever ready to receive visitors,
and was diligent in putting into circulation books
and tracts in the vernacular.

On his return to Bombay after an absence of
more than three months, Mr. Wilson found Mrs.
Wilson in declining health, and on the 19th of
the following April she passed away. Though
she had spent but six years in India, she left an
abiding impression for good, for to her is due,
in a large measure, the rapid spread of female
education in Bombay. Early in 1836 Mr. Wilson
sent to Scotland an earnest request to the two
sisters of Mrs. Wilson, the Misses Anna and
Hay Bayne to come out to India and take up
as a sacred inheritance the work which Mrs. Wil-
son had laid down. The following year the two
sisters arrived and without charge to the mission
or society, began to labour among the women and
children of Bombay.

In May, 1836, the honourary degree of Doctor
of Divinity was conferred upon Mr. Wilson, an
honour most worthily bestowed.

The Parsis resident in Bombay, at that time
as now, though numerically a small part of the
community, were yet an influential body, noted

John Wilson 199

for their intelligence and honesty. The name
they bear is given to a remnant of the followers
of the ancient Persian religion as reformed by
Zerdusht, or Zoroaster. The Zoroastrian creed
flourished at the time of Alexander the Great.
After his death it gradually lost ground, and
rapidly declined under his successors. It was
afterward resuscitated and flourished until 651
A. D., when the Persian army at the great battle
of Nehavend was routed by the Calif Omar.
Many of the people preferring exile to a Hfe on
the ancient soil of their race, subject to the end-
less annoyances and exactions imposed upon them
by the conquering race, found a haven on the
Western coast of India, chiefly at Turat, Bom-
bay and Ahmedabad. When Bombay came under
the dominion of the British, the Parsis were the
first of all the communities of Western India to
place themselves under the protection of the new
Government. A third of all the Parsis under
British rule are found in Bombay.

From the first Dr. Wilson had felt a deep in-
terest in the Parsi community. In 183 1, in a letter
sent to Scotland he wrote, *' I intend, God will-
ing, to comply with the wishes of my friends, by
preparing a work embracing an analysis of all
the sacred books of the Parsis, a particular view
of their religious history, so far as it can be as-
certained, and a description of their manners and
customs." When compelled by illness to return
to Scotland at the close of 1842, he left completed

200 Men of Might in India Missions

his greatest work, '* The Parsi ReHgion as con-
tained in the Zend-Avesta, and propounded and
defended by the Zoroastrians of India and Persia,
unfolded, Refuted and Contrasted with Christi-
anity."

With regard to the conversion of a Parsi to
Christianity it had been said, " you cannot even
dream of such an event because even a Parsi babe
crying in the cradle is firmly confident in the
venerable Zerdusht;" but in 1839 three Parsi
students of the college who had received religious
instruction from Dr. Wilson, renounced their an-
cestral faith and accepted Christianity. These
young men belonged to the most influential fami-
lies in the Parsi community, and were among
the most intelligent students in the college. Their
conversion to Christianity created a great panic
among the Parsi inhabitants, and for a time the
lives of the converts were in danger. The num-
bers in attendance at the college greatly dimin-
ished and for a long time after this event the
Parsis continued to hold aloof.

Near the end of 1838 Dr. Wilson's heart was
gladdened by the arrival of the Rev. Murray
Mitchell (the well-known scholar and educator),
who was to be his colleague in Bombay.
Two years after his arrival Mr. Mitchell ac-
companied Dr. Wilson on a tour into Rajpu-
tana. The distance traversed was over 1,500
miles and the missionaries did not return to Bom-
bay until the middle of June. This long, and

John Wilson aoi

in some respects trying tour bore fruit later in the
establishment, in this hitherto unevangelised part
of India, of a flourishing mission.

The first of Dr. Wilson's tours to pave the
way for the opening of a region of country to
missionary labour by a missionary body other
than his own, was his exploration of Gujrat and
Kathiawar in 1835. The interest awakened by
this tour, in conjunction with the eloquence of
Dr. Duff, led the three hundred Presbyterian
congregations of the Synod of Ulster to establish
a mission in India. Near the close of February,
1 84 1, two missionaries sent out by the Synod of
Ulster to begin work in this new field arrived in
Bombay. The cool season was nearly over, but
Dr. Wilson resolved to accompany the two breth-
ren to their proposed field of labour. . One of
these missionaries was soon cut down by jungle
fever, and Dr. Wilson was also prostrated by the
same disease. On his return to Bombay with
greatly shattered health his friends urged upon
him the duty of taking furlough to Scotland after
so long a period of ceaseless activity in the ex-
hausting climate of India. Though at this time
less than forty years of age, the work he had ac-
complished had made him the most prominent
public man in Western India. He had set in
motion spiritual forces whose influences could not
be measured. He had grappled with Brahmin-
ism, Mohammedanism and Parsiism, on their own
ground, had prepared the means of evangelising

202 Men of Might in India Missions

the Jews, and the Arabs, the Armenians and the
Nestorians and other races round the Arabian
Sea. Now, for this man of affairs, rest was
imperative.

He left India on his first furlough, on the 20th
of January, 1845. He had arranged on his jour-
ney to Scotland to visit Egypt, Syria and Eastern
Europe, not merely for the purpose of biblical
research, but to report to the Church on the con-
dition of the Jews, the Samaritans and the East-
ern Christians. The expedition undertaken and
planned by Dr. Wilson and his companions was
intended by his Church to complete the inquiry
inaugurated a few years before by the Rev.
Messrs. Keith and Black, Bonar and McCheyne.

London was reached on the 23rd of September,
and Edinburgh on the 4th of November. For
more than two months Dr. Wilson had been with-
out tidings from the home land. " Any news
about the Church of Scotland?" had been his
first question to the boatman who rowed him
ashore at Dover. " They're all out, sir," was the
reply. He had anticipated this separation, and in
July had written to Scotland intimating his with-
drawal as a minister and missionary of the Estab-
lished Church, and his decision in favour of the
Free Church. In this decision every missionary
of the Church of Scotland in Madras, Calcutta
and Bombay united.

The English school which Dr. Wilson had
established in Bombay had developed into a col-

John Wilson 203

lege. The premises until this time occupied, had
not only been unsuitable, but furnished inade-
quate accommodation. Funds for a new college
building had been raised, chiefly by friends in
India. The building was ready for occupancy
at the time of the Disruption, but this fine edifice,
with its valuable library, mathematical, astro-
nomical and other apparatus passed into the hands
of the Established Church.

On his return to his native land, Dr. Wilson
was soon absorbed in preaching and in address-
ing large and deeply interested audiences, his fre-
quent theme being the claims of India upon the
people of Britain. In his tour through Egypt
and the Holy Land, he had taken copious notes
and while at home, he devoted every hour which
he could spare from the engagements which
pressed upon him, to the preparation of an
elaborate work to which was given the title of
*' The Lands of the Bible." The reputation which
he had achieved among the learned men of Europe
by his erudite work on the Parsi Religion was
enhanced when his '* Lands of the Bible " ap-
peared.

In September, 1846, he was married to Isa-
bella, second d'aughter of James and Mary Den-
niston. She proved not only a devoted wife, but
a most efficient and self-sacrificing missionary.
One year after their marriage, Dr. and Mrs. Wil-
son left Scotland for India.

During the absence of the veteran missionary

204 Men of Might in India Missions

from the country, the Province of Sindh had been
added to the possessions of the EngHsh in India,
as the result of the Afghan campaign. Dr. Wil-
son had not been long in Bombay before he
turned his eyes northward to the new province,
in the hope of taking possession of it for Christ.
A tour was soon planned with Sindh as the ob-
jective point, and to this zealous missionary was
given the privilege of being the first to deliver the
Divine message in the newly acquired province.
Two native converts accompanied him, and at
Karachi, en route to Sindh, they were pleased
and encouraged to find converts and students
from the Christian College of Dr. Duff in Cal-
cutta occupying the highest positions and influ-
encing all around them for good. The word
preached at this time in Sindh bore fruit in the
conversion to Christianity of a young Beluchi
who afterward received baptism.

After his return from furlough with Mrs.
Wilson, when the college and schools had been
reorganised, Dr. Wilson, ably seconded by his
accomplished wife, gave much labour to the work
of Oriental research. For the Asiatic Society
and the Government he prepared, '' A Memoir on
the Cave temples and Monasteries and other Bud-
dhist, Brahminical and Jain remains in Western
India." This was followed in 1852 by a '* Second
Memoir," recording new discoveries.

Year by year, the work of the missionary and
his able colleagues expanded. In 1853 the schools

John Wilson 405

in connection with the Free Church in Western
India embraced 2,159 students. Not until 1855,
twelve years after they had buih the first college
only to hand it over to others before occupying
it, were they able to take possession of the present
noble buildings erected to accommodate eight
hundred students. In the work of bringing out
a revision of the Gujarati New Testament, Dr.
Wilson received efficient aid from his two
scholarly Parsi converts, with whom he felt it a
joy to work.

During the year 1853 the railway system was
introduced into India and of this important event
he wrote, "It is certainly calculated to promote
the interests of civilisation, but its desecration of
the Sabbath is a sad drawback."

*' The History of the Suppression of Infanti-
cide in Western India under the Government of
Bombay, including Notices of the Provinces and
Tribes in which the Practice has prevailed," was
published early in 1855, and obtained a wide cir-
culation. From the beginning of his life as a mis-
sionary. Dr. Wilson had been confronted with
that foe not only to Christianity, but to all prog-
ress, moral, social and material — caste, — and he
had early set himself to the mastery of its origin,
and the secret of its power, and an elaborate
work on this subject was contemplated. In 1857
he put to press the fi'rst volume, but to his regret,
he found that he could not command the leisure
to carry out his original design.

2o6 Men of Might In India Missions

In 1857 the political and military unrest which
culminated in the mutiny, swept over a large part
of India, but it left the Western Province peace-
able and loyal. " Incipient mutiny," wrote Dr.
Wilson of the condition of affairs in the province,
at this critical time, " was early discovered and
readily crushed."

On the 1 8th of July, 1857, the darkest time in
this sadly memorable year, the University of
Bombay received its charter and Dr. Wilson was
appointed Vice-Chancellor by the Government.

In October, 1859, ^he Rev. Messrs. Schoolbred
and Steel, sent out by the United Presbyterian
Church of Scotland for work in Rajputana, ar-
rived in Bombay. They had been commended to
Dr. Wilson for advice and help, and he decided
to accompany the two brethren to their new field.
Mrs. Wilson also accompanied the party. There
were no railroads in the region to be traversed,
and the long journey from Surat to Beawar in
Rajputana, a distance of seven hundred miles,
was made partly on horseback, and partly by bul-
lock-cart. Aside from its physical discomforts,
the journey had its sad and depressing experi-
ences. Mr. Steel fell ill, and though all was done
for him that could be done, the new field, as in
not a few other instances was taken possession of
by a grave. Dr. and Mrs. Wilson did not leave
Mr. Schoolbred until mission work in Beawar
had been inaugurated. By this time the cool
season was over, and during the return journey

John Wilson doy

the heat was very trying, the mercury during the
day rising to 95° and even 104° with a high,
scorching wind, blowing up the dust in thick
clouds, and '* making us as black as sweeps,"
wrote Mrs. Wilson. Under such circumstances
was begun a mission which to-day is one of the
most efficient in India.

In May, i860, Bombay lost the services of its
excellent Governor, Lord Elphinstone. In refer-
ence to his relations with Dr. Wilson, the Gov-
ernor said that '' To no other man was he so in-
debted personally, for public and private services,
but he could not prevail on him to accept so much
as the value of a shoe latchet."

One of Dr. Wilson's Indian friends who had
risen to a position of influence, thus wrote of the
veteran missionary : " Since his arrival in India,
no less than eighteen Governors have ruled over
the Western Presidency, but Dr. Wilson did more
for the Presidency of Bombay in the way of
educating the people, composing books suited to
their wants in the various languages, inducing
them to be loyal subjects of the British Crown,
collecting ancient manuscripts and histories of the
country, etc. etc., than all the eighteen Governors
together."

Narain Sheshadri, afterward the Rev. Narain
Sheshadri, honoured alike in India, England and
America, was the first educated Brahmin baptised
in Bombay and was the direct fruit of the higher
Christian education. On the 30th anniversary

2oS Men of Might in India Missions

of the landing of Dr. Wilson in India, the Chris-
tian community of Bombay presented him with
an appreciative address and a copy of the Hexa-
pla. The address was signed in their name by
the representative Parsi and Brahmin, both then
ordained ministers of the Gospel, the Rev. Dhan-
jeebhoy Nourajee and the Rev. Narain Sheshadri.
For the first thirty years of his residence in
Bombay, Dr. Wilson had occupied a rented house
in close proximity to the native population, that
he might be easily accessible to the people among
whom he delighted to labour. After the meeting
the rise in prices led to a large increase in the
rent of the '' Ambrolie " house ; and greatly to
his regret. Dr. Wilson was forced to leave this
residence and from this time " The Cliff " on
Malabar Hill, the most desirable residence part
of Bombay, became his home. This pleasant cot-
tage had been presented to him several years be-
fore by one of his devoted English friends, but
he had occupied it only when the state of his
health made a change to a region of purer air
necessary. To this cottage was now added a guest
chamber, and open house was kept at The Cliff
as at Ambrolie for European and Indian friends.
After the meeting, Bombay became the port of
arrival and departure for Anglo-Indians, and the
flow of guests through The Cliff steadily in-
creased ; for the hospitable owner was in great
request, as " guide, philosopher and friend." Here

John Wilson aop

in June, 1864, came Dr. Livingstone, the distin-
guished missionary and explorer. " No one knew I
he was coming," wrote Miss Taylor, Dr. Wilson's I
niece. " He landed with no one to meet him and /
found his way in a deluge of rain in an old shi- I
gram to Dr. Wilson's." During the last seven f
years of Dr. Livingstone's Hfe he wrote to no?
one so frequently as to Dr. Wilson. *

In September, 1867, for the second time the
shadows of heavy bereavement fell across the life
of the veteran missionary. Isabella Wilson, who
for twenty years had shared the trials and the
triumphs of her distinguished husband, was called
home. She was missed not only in the home
which her presence had brightened and adorned,
but by all sections of the community. Hence-
forth, to the end of his earthly pilgrimage, he
was cared for by his niece, Miss Taylor.

In February, 1869, the leaders of the various
communities in Bombay, European and Asiatic,
made arrangements to celebrate in an appropriate
manner the fortieth anniversary of the arrival of
Dr. Wilson in Bombay. The long roll included
the signatures in many languages of the repre-
sentatives of all ranks, races and creeds. On a
beautiful silver salver, wrought by native artists,
and bearing a suitable inscription in Sanskrit, the
sum of i2,iio was presented to the man they
delighted to honour. He consented to use the
interest of this handsome sum to aid in his

aio Men of Might in India Missions

philanthropic and literary labours, and expressed
his desire that the principal should be used to aid
the youth of Bombay in the prosecution of the
higher branches of education, and in a form which
would be agreeable alike to European and native
friends.

In 1870 Dr. Wilson was summoned to his
native land to fill the highest office which his
church could bestow, that of Moderator of the
General Assembly. In obedience to this call, the
veteran missionary made his second and last visit
to Scotland. During the meeting of the Assembly
when the report on Foreign Missions was read,
he left the Moderator's chair and told the story
of his life-work In words which concluded with
the declaration that notwithstanding the forty
years already spent in India, If he lived to the
age of Methuselah, he should esteem it a high
privilege to devote his fife to the regeneration of
the peoples of this great Eastern Empire. The
year spent In Scotland was a season of constant
activity. On the 4th of October, 1871, he took
a final leave of the beloved friends at Lauder and
once more turned his face toward the Orient.
Bombay was reached on the 9th of December.

*' Mission objects are pressing upon me the
more that the enterprise expands," he wrote after
his return. But his powers of endurance had be-
gun to fall. Repeated attacks of fever culminated
in the autumn of 1875 In alarming weakness of

John Wilson 211

the heart. At a farewell meeting held by the be-
loved evangelist, the late Dr. Somervillc of Scot-
land, in April, 1875, ^^' Wilson appeared among
the non-Christian natives of Bombay for the last
time. He gathered his children in the faith about
him for the last time on the i8th of the following
August, when he opened the " Day-school for
Indian and other Asiatic females " which he had
erected in memory of Isabella Wilson, " from a
bequest by herself for any one evangelistic object
of his choice.'*

On the evening of the first of December, 1875,
the man greatly beloved entered into rest. When
he was carried to his grave, his bier was fol-
lowed by men of all ranks and creeds, and from
the highest to the lowest, each felt that he had
lost a personal friend.

Major-General and Mrs. Ballard were long Dr.
Wilson's neighbours on Malabar Hill. Mrs. Bal-
lard writes thus beautifully of a visit paid to The
Cliff, where the body of the great missionary lay
before being conveyed to its last resting-place.

** I stole into the silent bungalow to lay a
wreath on his coffin. The sun was rising over
the distant hills and tinging the bay with gold.
No sound broke the stillness but the rustle of the
wind in the dry palm leaves and the dash of the
distant wave, until I entered the little study.
There a voice of bitter weeping met my ear in
the verandah — the native Christians sorrowing

212 Men of Might in India Missions

most of all that they should see his face no more.
' We are so glad,' said a native Christian once
to me, ' that Dr. Wilson will never go home.
You all go and leave us ; we know you are always
looking longingly to England; but Dr. Wilson
will never go home.' Ah ! he had gone home
now."

IX

ALEXANDER DUFF
1830- 1863

Sometime during the year 1796, the Rev.
Charles Simeon, the eminent evangeHcal preacher
of Cambridge, made his first tour through Scot-
land. At Dunkeld his horses were at the door
to take him to the Pass of Killiecrankie. From
thence he intended to turn back and hurry on to
Glasgow, but feeling " poorly " the horses were
sent back and the excursion was made on the fol-
lowing day. At Moulin, a village four miles
from the Pass, Mr. Simeon made a call on the
parish minister, a Mr. Stewart, who said to his
visitor during the interview, " why not return to
the manse on Saturday evening, spend the Sab-
bath and assist in the services " ; to which pro-
posal Mr. Simeon gave ready assent. Suffering
somewhat from physical indisposition, he preached
what, at the time, he regarded as a barren and
dull sermon ; but God abundantly blessed the mes-
sage.

Among the listeners in the rural congregation
on that day, were James Duff and Jean Rattray,
213

214 Men of Might in India Missions

both under seventeen years of age. The truth
reached their hearts and that day was to both
of them the beginning of a new Hfe. Mr. Stewart
too was deeply impressed and from that time he
preached a new Gospel, or the old Gospel with
new power. In due time James Duff married
Jean Rattray and took her to the farm of Auch-
nahyle. There Alexander Duff was born on the
25th of April, 1806. Later on, the family re-
moved to a home nearer Moulin, and in a pic-
turesque cottage on the estate of Balnakeilly the
boy's childhood and early youth were sj)ent.

The father of Alexander was truly a man of
God. In prayer he was mighty, and his zeal for
souls was unresting. '* His Catholic spirit re-
joiced in tracing the triumphs of the Gospel in
different lands and in connection with the differ-
ent branches of the Christian Church."

At the age of eight Alexander was sent from
home that he might have such educational advan-
tages as could not be secured in the locality in
which he lived. He made rapid progress and
after three years was placed in a more advanced
school. His 14th year was spent in Perth Gram-
mar School which he left a year later, the dux
of the school. When he entered the University
of St. Andrew's, his father presented him with
i20, and no further aid was received to the close
of his university career. In the spring of 1823
Dr. Chalmers was elected to the chair of Moral
Philosophy in St. Andrew's and Alexander Duff

Alexander Duff 215

was one of the students who sat at the feet of
this distinguished professor.

There had followed Duff to St. Andrew's a
school-fellow from Perth, John Urquhart. The
two were of like spirit and shared the same lodg-
ings. Urquhart had made the acquaintance of
the great missionary, Dr. Morrison of China,
One day, on his return from London, wherie he^
had gone to pay a visit to this missionary, he
startled his companions by announcing that he
had resolved to devote his Hfe to missionary
work abroad. His friend Duff was profoundly
impressed by this announcement. As from time
to time he returned to his home in the Grampians,
young Duff was wont to rehearse to his parents
his university experiences and in these John Ur-
quhart was always intimately associated. Coming
home at the end of the session in the year 1827,
his parents noted with surprise that no mention
was made of his loved companion.

" But what of your friend Urquhart? " at last
exclaimed his father.

" Urquhart is no more," was the answer given
with great effort at self-control : then after a mo-
ment of impressive silence, he said, " What if your
son should take up his cloak? You approved the
motive that directed the choice of Urquhart, —
you commended his high purpose, — the cloak is
taken up." Thus did he make known to his par-
ents his decision to be a missionary.

In the spring of 1829, Mr. Duff was licensed to

2i6 Men of Might in India Missions

preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of St. An-
drews, and soon after he was asked to go out to
Calcutta as a missionary of the General Assembly
of the Church of Scotland. He received ordina-
tion on the 1 2th of August in St. George's; Dr.
Chalmers taking a leading part in the impressive
services. The occasion was peculiarly interest-
ing from the circumstance that immediately pre-
ceding the ordination, Dr. Chalmers united the
young candidate in marriage to Anne Scott Drys-
dale.

Two months after his ordination and marriage,
Mr. Duff with his wife left London for Ports-
mouth, where they embarked on the " Lady Hol-
land " for India. When the island of Madeira was
reached early in November, Mr. and Mrs. Duff
went on shore, as it was expected that the ship
would remain a week in port. Westerly gales
sprang up and the " Lady Holland " with many
other vessels was driven out to sea and she did
not leave Madeira until the 3rd of December. The
captain had arranged to call at the Cape of Good
Hope and as the ship neared the coast there was
much excitement on board because of the antici-
pated break in the long and tempestuous voyage,
but at ten o'clock on the night of the 13th of
February the ship struck on a reef over which
the waves broke with great violence, and at once
her back was broken. After midnight the wind
began to abate and at daylight a landing was ef-
fected, not a life being lost. The island on which

Alexander DufF a 17

the shipwrecked party had been cast was unin-
habited, but the myriads of penguins found there
had attracted two Dutchmen from. Cape Town
who were at this time engaged in collecting the
eggs of these birds.

Not long after the landing of the rescued party,
a sailor walking along the beach, noticed a small
object which had been cast ashore. This proved
to be a copy of a Bagster's Bible and a Scotch
psalm-book. Mr. Duff's name was written in
both the books which were carefully wrapped in
chamois skin, and the sailor carried them at once
to the owner. These two volumes were the only
things saved from the wreck. Led by Mr. Duff,
the pasengers reverently knelt while he poured
out his heart in a prayer of thanksgiving that not
only had the lives of all been preserved, but that
God's own precious word had been returned to
them by the sea.

Dassen Island, on whose inhospitable shores
they had been cast, was only ten miles from the
mainland of Africa, and forty miles N. N. W. of
Cape Town. The Dutchmen's skiff was placed
at their disposal in which to cross the strait, the
ship's surgeon setting out alone. Four days after
his departure the whole party was rescued by a
brig of war sent by the Governor for the purpose.
They were most hospitably received on their ar-
rival at Cape Town, where they were sometime
detained. Mr. and Mrs. Duff secured passage in
the '' Moira," the last ship of the season. For

\

21 8 Men of Might in India Missions

several weeks strong westerly winds were en^
countered, culminating at length in a hurricane
in which the vessel barely escaped foundering.
It was near the end of May before the sorely-r
tried voyagers approached the shores of India.
The vessel had just been brought to her moorings
off Saugor Island, when a cyclone burst upon
them, and in spite of three anchors thrown out,
the " Moira " was lifted by the wind and the
storm-wave and cast on the shore. The passen-
gers were landed up to the waist in water. None
of the villagers would receive them and they were
compelled to seek refuge in a temple, where they
remained for twenty-four hours before boats ar-
rived to convey them to Calcutta, which place
they reached on the 27th of May.

When the Calcutta papers rehearsed the story
of these repeated shipwrecks some of the natives
said, " Surely this man is' a favourite of the gods
who must have some notable work for him to do
in India."

The letters of introduction with which friends
had provided Mr. Duff, and which he had pre-
served on his person through two shipwrecks, he
presented soon after his arrival. He was at this
time twenty-four years of age, of commanding
presence and the very personification of boundless
energy. When the young missionary accepted his
commission to go out to India, he expressly stipu-
lated that he was not to be hampered by condi-
tions. He was therefore sent out with the single

Alexander DufF 219

instruction that the Institution which the Society
proposed to found and place under his care, was
not to be established in Calcutta. After an ex-
amination of the schools already established, in-
cluding the College at Serampore, and Bishop
Middleton's College, far down the right bank of
the Hugh, Mr. Duff was convinced that if he
would lay wise foundations for the work upon
which he was about to enter, he must begin his
career by disregarding the one injunction he had
received. In reference to his decision that Cal-
cutta must be the scene of his principal efforts,
and that the English language must be the me-
dium through which all higher instructions should
be conveyed, he found one only who sympathised
with his views. This was the aged Carey, then
nearing the close of his unique career. Mr. Duff
reached Serampore and Dr. Carey's study one
sweltering July day. When his visitor was an-
nounced the venerable missionary tottered up to
him with outstretched hands and solemnly blessed
him ; and he left the presence of Dr. Carey carry-
ing with him his warm approval of his proposed
scheme for a College, both as to location and the
manner in which he designed to conduct it.

There was then living in Calcutta, Rajah
Rammohun Roy, a man of great influence. The
study of the English language had introduced him
to the English Bible, and in order the more fully
to understand the Christian Veda, he began the
study of both Hebrew and Greek. Mr. Duff was

220 Men of Might in India Missions

advised by one of the gentlemen to whom he had
brought letters of introduction, to make the ac-
quaintance of the Rajah, feeling assured that he
would take the deepest interest in his educational
schemes. After having listened to Mr. Duff's
statement of his objects and plans, Rammohun
expressed approval. '* The Bible as a book of
religious and moral instruction stands un-
equalled," said the Rajah ; and added, that '' hav-
ing studied the Vedas, the Koran and the Tripita-
kas of the Buddhists, he nowhere found a prayer
so brief and all-comprehensive as that which the
Christians called the Lord's Prayer." The advice
and sympathy of so intelligent a native greatly
cheered the young missionary, and he at once
made an effort to secure a suitable hall in a central
location for his proposed enterprise. His new
friend helped in obtaining what was desired, and
also used his influence in securing pupils. The
school was formally opened on the 13th of July,
1830, Rammohun Roy being present. Mr. Duif,
who had begun the study of the language soon
after his arrival, and had made commendable
progress, repeated the Lord's Prayer in Bengal*.
He then put into the hands of each pupil who
could read, a copy of the Gospels. One of the
number, a leader among his fellows, said, ** This
is the Christian Master. We are not Christians.
How then can we read it?" "Christians have
read the Hindu Shasters," said Rammohun Roy,
stepping forward, " And have not become Hindus.

Alexander DufF 221

I have read the Koran again and again and that
has not made me a Mohammedan. I have studied
the whole Bible, and you know that I am not a
Christian. Read the book and judge for your-
selves."

Daily for nearly a month did the Hindu re-
former continue to visit the school for the morn-
ing Bible lesson, and frequently thereafter until
he left for England, after which his eldest son
continued for some time to visit the school, thus
encouraging both the teacher and his pupils.

Mr. Duff had passed out of St. Andrews' Uni-
versity as its first scholar and most brilliant es-
sayist, but now with the assistance of only an un-
trained Eurasian lad, this man of splendid mental
gifts spent willingly, six hours daily in teaching
Bengali youths the English alphabet; and when
the duties of the day were over, he often worked
far into the night in the preparation of a series of
graduated school-books. The school soon be-
came so popular that increased accommodation
was found to be absolutely essential. It w'as at
length announced that none would be permitted
to learn English who did not read with ease their
own vernacular. Thus a purely Bengali depart-
ment was created.

At the end of the first twelve months a public
examination was held, and the pupils acquitted
themselves most creditably. The favourable im-
pression produced at this time so influenced the
leaders of the native community, that in the

Q.22 Men of Might in India Missions

second year hundreds were refused admittance
for lack of accommodation. Mr. DufT was at this
time asked by an influential family to open a simi-
lar school in a town forty miles from Calcutta.
This was done, and a vigourous mission school
was established outside the capital. An hour a day
was devoted to Bible study, and still the Institu-
tion in Calcutta grew in popularity, for not a few
had learned to recognise in the teaching of the
Sacred Scriptures an up-lifting influence which
their own Shasters did not possess. ** Love your
enemies ; bless them that curse you. How beauti-
ful ! how divine ! Surely those Scriptures contain
the truth," exclaimed one of the students one
morning during the Bible hour. As such expres-
sions began more frequently to be heard, the cry
was raised that " Hinduism was in danger,'' and
one morning, out of the three hundred students
enrolled, only half a dozen appeared. Mr. Duff,
however, went calmly on and ere long the classes
were more crowded than ever. He then deter-
mined to take a step in advance. Having secured
the co-operation of three friends in sympathy with
the movement, he arranged for a course of lec-
tures to educated Bengali gentlemen on the sub-
ject of natural and revealed religion. A room in
his own house was fitted up for the lectures, as
the location was a central one.

At the introductory lecture twenty students, all
young men of influence, were present. Next
morning the whole city was in a state of excite-

Alexander Duff 223

ment, and the college again almost emptied of
students. After conference with some of the
leaders of the community, interested in the wel-
fare of the college, it was decided, for the present
to discontinue the lectures. A spirit of inquiry
had, however, been aroused, and after a time, at
the request of the more influential among the stu-
dents, the lectures were resumed, and some of
those in attendance, became sincere seekers after
truth. One such sent his own brother to Mr.
Duff with the message, " If you can make a
Christian of him, you will have a valuable one."
The man who thus commended his brother to
Mr. Duff, himself received Christian baptism not
long after. Krishna Mohun Banner] ee, who af-
terward became the Rev. K. M. Bannerjee, LL.D.,
was the next to declare himself on the Lord's
side, and he received the ordinance of baptism in
Mr. Duff's house in the presence of some of his
Hindu associates.

At the same place, two months later, Gopi Nath
Nundi renounced Hinduism and embraced Chris-
tianity. He afterwards was ordained to the Gos-
pel ministry in connection with the American
Presbyterian Mission. He was stationed at Fa-
tehpore during the mutiny of 1857, and showed a
martyr's faith and courage, declaring himself
ready to face death rather than deny his Lord.

The fourth among the students who openly re-
nounced his ancestral faith in favour of Christian-
ity was the youth whose heart had been touched

224 Men of Might in India Missions

by the subHme teaching of the Sermon on the
Mount. He belonged to a wealthy and influential
family, and his public profession of faith in Christ
produced a profound impression. For these young
disciples and others who wished to receive instruc-
tion, Mr. Duff opened a week-day class for the
study of the Scriptures. He erected a bamboo
chapel for vernacular preaching and held an Eng-
lish service every Sabbath evening. He carried
on a course of lectures largely attended, in which
Christianity was contrasted with Hinduism and
Mohammedanism.

Thus four years passed in which the unresting
toiler continued his labours for the Master. Dur-
ing the cold season of 1833-34, being anxious to
inspect a branch-school at Takee, seventy miles
east of Calcutta, he engaged a native boat, and
with his family set off on this undertaking. The
forests were clothed with a wealth of luxurious
foliage, but the air was charged with poisonous
malaria ; and soon after his return to Calcutta he
was prostrated with jungle fever. A short sea-
trip sufficiently restored him to enable him
once more to engage in his duties, but in
the following April the fever again returned.
Recovering from this attack he paid a visit to
Takee to inspect the work there. On his arrival,
the physician, alarmed at his appearance, ordered
his immediate return. Dysentery followed fever,
and the four physicians in attendance unani-

Alexander Duff 225

mously agreed that his only hope of restoration
lay in an immediate return to his native land.

His situation was still critical when in great
feebleness he was carried on shipboard, but
though the voyage was tempestuous he soon began
to rally. The ship entered the Firth of Clyde on
Christmas day. The first personal friend on
whom Mr. Duff called, was Dr. Chalmers, from
whom he received an enthusiastic welcome.

One of Mr. Duff's friends who had watched
his career in India with the keenest interest, in-
vited him to make an address on behalf of Bengal
Missions, in Falkirk. The ardent missionary
pleaded so eloquently for the cause so dear to his
own heart, that the whole community was aroused.
He then addressed a drawing-room audience at
Carbrook, awakening a profound interest in his
subject. The Foreign Missions Committee soon
after those meetings communicated to Mr. Duff
their formal desire that he should work entirely
under their direction, the more especially as '* the
times were unsettled ; " but to this he would not
consent, stipulating that as an ordained minister
of the Gospel he must be left free to work as the
Master might indicate, if he retained his connec-
tion with the Society. Such an issue had not been
anticipated, and the Committee wisely decided to
leave their " agent " untrammelled by official in-
structions. From this time the resolute mission-
ary was actively engaged in presenting the cause

226 Men of Might in India Missions

of missions, and under the magic of his burning
eloquence, his auditors sat spellbound.

Early in 1835, Mr. Duff was again prostrated
by malarial fever, but as soon as able to travel, in-
sisted upon going up to Edinburgh for the Gen-
eral Assembly. Monday, the 25th of May, was
the date assigned for the presentation of the re-
port of the Bengal Mission. When Mr. Duff
came forward enfeebled and emaciated, many in
the audience feared that he would fall to the floor,
but, absorbed in his subject, he soon lost all sense
of physical weakness and poured out " his elo-
quent peroration with an almost superhuman ef-
fect, and subsided drenched with perspiration, as
if he had been dragged through the Atlantic."
Under his burning words, many of his audience,
men unused to weep, were bathed in tears. The
young missionary was in constant demand, almost
every parish sending in a request for a visit from
him. Nor were his services in request only by the
churches of his own denomination, but he received
what at that time had never before been extended,
an invitation from the directors of the Church
Missionary Society to address its annual meeting
in May. This meeting was held in London, and
on the platform Mr. Duff found himself between
the Bishops of Chester and Winchester. At the
conclusion of the address delivered on this occa-
sion, the speaker sat down amid a tempest of ap-
plause.

Alexander DufF 2(27

He received, at this time an invitation to visit
the University of Cambridge, which he gladly ac-
cepted. One interesting feature connected with
this visit was the meeting for the first and last
time of the aged Charles Simeon, and the young
missionary, whose parents had been led to Christ
through the words spoken by Mr. Simeon, on
that memorable Sabbath spent in Moulin.

In the autumn of 1835, Marischal College,
Aberdeen, " honoured itself and surprised the
young divine, still under thirty, by presenting
him with the diploma of Doctor of Divinity."

During the two and a half years after his re-
turn to Scotland, Dr. Duff, notwithstanding fre-
quent attacks of malarial fever, visited and ad-
dressed seventy-one Presbyteries and Synods,
and hundreds of congregations all over Scotland,
and at that time " the canal boat, the stage-coach
and the post-carriage were the most rapid means
of conveyance." The most fruitful result of the
interest aroused by his burning words was in lead-
ing men to desire to devote themselves to Mission
work in India. Among those whose hearts were
thus enlisted, though he was not permitted to en-
gage in this work, was the saintly McCheyne.
After his acquaintance with Dr. Duff, he wrote in
his journal, " I am now made willing, should God
open the way, to go to India." In May, 1837,
Dr. Duff went to London to take part in the an-
niversary of the Church of Scotland's Foreign

aa8 Men of Might in India Missions

Missions, held in Exeter Hall, and on this occa-
sion delivered what critics have pronounced by
far the most eloquent of all his addresses.

He was forbidden by his physicians to attend
the General Assembly of 1838, and a lengthened
period of perfect rest was enjoined. During this
time of enforced inaction, he exchanged his voice
for the pen. His lectures on India and India Mis-
sions, which he at this time prepared, would be
ready, he rejoiced to think, to do this work at
home, when he returned to India.

In the autumn of 1839 Dr. and Mrs. Duff a
second time set sail for India. After an over-
land journey of much interest, early in February,
1846, the Suez steamer, in which they had taken
passage, entered the harbour of Bombay, and the
travellers found Dr. John Wilson waiting to wel-
come them. Thus the two great educational mis-
sionaries of Eastern and Western India met for
the first time.

The only communication at this time between
Calcutta and Bombay was by sailing vessel around
the Peninsula. On this voyage between the two
capitals, Dr. and Mrs. Duff were the only pas-
sengers. Five days were spent in Madras. The
Rev. Messrs. Anderson and Johnson, fruit of his
address before the General Assembly of 1835,
had opened a school which became later, the great
Christian College of South India. With the work
so auspiciously begun, he was profoundly im-
pressed.

Alexander DufF 229

On his arrival in Calcutta, Dr. Duff was
amazed at the evidences of progress on every side.
He saw signs bearing Hindu names as surgeons
and druggists, where less than six years before, it
had been asserted that no Hindu could be found
to study the healing art through anatomy. A
handsome Christian church had been erected for
the Bengali congregation and near it was a pleas-
ant manse. The pastor of the congregation was
the Rev. Krishna Mohun Bannerjee, one of the
first converts of the Scotch Mission. A new col-
lege building had been erected as well as a mis-
sion house. For this fine college building Dr.
Duff had been instrumental in raising the funds
while at home, and he had himself contributed
toward this object a handsome sum which had
been presented to him as a personal gift for his
family. The colleagues in charge of the work
during the absence of the founder of the mission,
had laboured with great zeal and efficiency, and
Dr. Duff was rejoiced to find six or seven hun-
dred students waiting to welcome him on his
arrival.

With his accustomed zeal he entered at once
upon the discharge of his responsible duties in
connection with the college. A Sabbath class was
begun by him, for the study of the Scriptures by
thoughtful Bengalis who, during the week were
occupied in offices and thus without leisure. For
another class a weekly lecture was held in Dr.
Duff's own house. And for older men who de-

ajo Men of Might in India Missions

sired to renew their investigations an evening
lecture was begun in one of the rooms of the col-
lege. The number of college students continued
to increase and converts were gathered who be-
came a help and a joy.

But a time of trial was near. In May, 1843,
Dr. Duff wrote, " We are now laid under the
necessity openly to avow our sentiments. There
is high probability, or rather moral certainty that
separation from the Establishment must be fol-
lowed by the evacuation of the present missionary
premises, but there is no hesitation whatever as to
the course to be pursued." On the loth of Au-
gust, the five Bengal missionaries of the Church
of Scotland united in a despatch in which they
set forth their reasons for casting in their lot
with the Free Church. They soon learned that
they did not stand alone. On the 24th of August,
when a public meeting was called, it was found
that nearly the whole of the elders and a majority
of the members of St. Andrew's Kirk had thrown
in their lot with the houseless missionaries. The
society thus separated, began at once to collect
funds for the erection of a house of worship, but
when the building was ready for occupancy, it
suddenly collapsed. With a zeal undaunted by
this catastrophe, means were collected with which
to erect a second edifice ; and the congregation of
the " Free Church " in Calcutta still worships in
the building then erected.

Dr. Duff had proposed to the committee of the

Alexander Duff 231

Established Church that the missionaries in India
be peiTnitted to purchase at a fair equivalent the ,
whole of the buildings which they had erected, '
but this proposal did not meet with a favourable
response. The college vacation of this memorable
year was therefore spent in anxious search
through the native city for a temporary home.
A house sufficiently commodious for the use of
the college was found at a moderate rental, and
was first occupied on the 4th of March, 1844.
There were the same missionaries, the same staff
of teachers, and more than one thousand students.
During this year, spontaneous gifts, amounting to
more than £3,400, were received, and the mission-
aries were greatly encouraged.
" With his college established, Dr. Duff's next
care was for the branch schools in the rural dis-
tricts, since he regarded those as a very impor-
tant evangelising agency. His heart was soon
rejoiced by the conversion and baptism of several
young men of ability and high social position.
Baptisms followed in such rapid succession that
the Brahminical community of Calcutta became
alarmed. When at length four Kulin Brahmins
received the ordinance of baptism, the more
bigoted and vicious among the Hindu community
resolved to try to get rid of Dr. Duff, the cause,
they asserted, of all this unrest. He was warned
that violence to his person was intended, but, ap-
parently unmoved, he went quietly on wath his
duties. As the converts increased it became neces-

232 Men of Might in India Missions

sary to make some provision for those who were
cast out by their friends. In 1846 the resident
converts had increased to thirteen and two of
this number were married.

In July, 1847, news reached India of the death
of Dr. Chalmers, and Dr. Duff was urged to come
home as his successor. To this appeal he sent a
negative reply. He must remain in India, he said,
— must die as he had lived, — the missionary.
When his decision was communicated to the Gen-
eral Assembly, that body urged his temporary re-
turn, that he might do for the Free Church, what
he had done for the missionary organisation be-
fore the Disruption, during his visit to Scotland.
To this call from home, his medical advisers urged
him to respond, as his incessant labours since his
return to India had left him with little physical
strength to resist disease. When this necessity
was urged he yielded, but stipulated that before
returning to Scotland time should be given him
in which to visit the mission fields of Ceylon as
well as those of North and South India, since
his knowledge of mission work and methods
would thereby be greatly enhanced.

In April, 1850, Dr. and Mrs. Duff left Calcutta
for Scotland. They reached Edinburgh near the
end of May, and Dr. Duff hurried on to the Gen-
eral Assembly and delivered five addresses before
that body. The years succeeding this Assembly,
until the beginning of 1854, were spent by
him in going from Synod to Synod. He tried

Alexander DufF 223

to reach every congregation however small, or
difficult of access. Ireland, England and Wales
were visited, as well as Scotland. He was en-
gaged not only in addressing congregations, but
in seeking and sending out new missionaries, in
lecturing to young men, and in helping to ad-
vance the cause of the British and Foreign Bible
Society.

In 1 85 1 he was made Moderator of the Free
Church Assembly. He was chosen by acclama-
tion, and discharged his high duties with his
wonted tact and fervour. Among the American
visitors present at this Assembly was George H.
Stuart, Esq., of Philadelphia. The eloquent en-
thusiasm of the missionary-moderator had pro-
foundly interested him, and he determined to in-
vite him to pay a visit to America. This he
urged with great earnestness, but Dr. Duff felt
that he was first pledged to his own people. Mr.
Stuart was glad to receive an assurance that the
proposition would receive consideration should
the invitation in the future be renewed. Mr.
Stuart kept the matter in mind and wrote again
and again, and not a few ecclesiastical bodies did
the same. A formal request for a visit came also
from Canada. At the beginning of 1854, Dr.
Duff felt that the time had come when he could
visit the churches of the Western world. He em-
barked from Liverpool on Saturday, the 28th of
January, and after a very stormy passage reached
New York on the 15th of February. A period of

234 Men of Might In India Missions

most engrossing labour now began. Breakfasts
were given at which the distinguished visitor was
expected to make speeches, evening receptions
were tendered after days of uninterrupted visits
and addresses, with the result that the much-feted
man sometimes did not find his way to his room
until one o'clock in the morning.

At the first meeting in Philadelphia, held in
the largest hall in the city, between three and
four thousand persons were in attendance, while
thousands were turned away after the hall was
filled to overflowing. When Dr. Duff was intro-
duced, rounds of applause, repeated again and
again, greeted him. *' The kindness of the people
here is absolutely oppressive," he wrote, '' and
their importunity for addresses so autocratic, that
I am driven in spite of myself to do more than
I am physically able to do." His chief strength
was spent in New York and Philadelphia, but he
also paid a visit to Washington, and to some of
the cities of the West, on his way to Canada,
where he was also most enthusiastically received.

He left New York for Liverpool on the morn-
ing of the 13th of May. Both the wharf and the
steamer on which he had taken passage were
crowded with clergymen and others who had come
to bid him farewell. " No such man has visited
America since the days of Whitefield," was fre-
quently said. He had nowhere plead for money,
but when his friends bade him good bye on leav-
ing New York a letter containing £3,000 was

Alexander DufF 235

put into his hands. Canada also made a contri-
bution to forward his work, and during his ab-
sence, Glasgow had raised a generous sum. Thus
were the means provided for a new college build-
ing in Calcutta.

He reached Edinburgh in time to be present at
the General Assembly of his own Church and to
give some account of his experiences in the
United States and in Canada.

With his heart still in India, he had hoped to
return to the land of his adoption in the autumn
of 1854, but the labours and excitement of his
tour on the Western Continent, had left him in
such a state of mental prostration that his phy-
sicians insisted on a lengthened period of absolute
rest in the South of Europe.

On the 13th of October, 1855, Dr. and Mrs.
Duff for the third time left Scotland for India.
Calcutta was reached in February. His first serv-
ice after his arrival was preaching on the Sab-
bath in the Free Church, " amid a mighty rush
and conflict of emotions to an overflowing audi-
ence."

On the last day of February, 1856, Lord Can-
ning, the recently inducted Governor-General took
the oaths of office, little dreaming how fierce a
storm would in a few months sweep over the
Empire. It was the eve of the terrible mutiny,
the darkest time in the whole history of India
under British rule. Calcutta was exempt from
actual outbreak, but there was constant alarm

2^6 Men of Might in India Missions

and panic. Sometime during the summer of this
sadly memorable year, Dr. Duff wrote, '* I have
a confident persuasion that our work in India is
not accomplished, and that until it be accomp-
lished, our tenure of Empire is secure."

The work in Calcutta under his superintendence
had never been so prosperous as during this year
of trial. The new college building was now ready
for occupancy, and there were 1,200 students in
attendance.

In July, 1863, Dr. Duff's old enemy, dysentery
again laid him low. To save his life, the phy-
sicians in attendance, hurried him away on a sea-
voyage to China. Not rallying as he had hoped to
do, on his return to Calcutta, he began prepara-
tions for taking a final leave of India. When his
decision became known, all classes of the com-
munity united to do him honour. Scholarships
bearing his name were endowed in the university.
The Bethune Society and the Doveton College,
both of which institutions had been greatly bene-
fited by his labours, procured oil paintings of
their benefactor. His own students, Christian and
non-Christian, placed his marble bust in the Hall,
where so many young men had sat at his feet.
Some of the Scottish merchants of India, Singa-
pore and China, presented him with the sum of
ii,ioo. He consented to accept the interest of
this amount. The capital he desired should be
used to aid in the support of the invalided mis-
sionaries of his own church.

Alexander Duff 237

On Saturday, the 20th of December, 1863, at-
tended by a great company of sorrowing friends
the invalid missionary embarked on the " Hot-
spur," for his native land. Though never again
robust in health, he was spared for fourteen years
to labour and to pray for the cause to which he
had devoted his life. A fund of iio,ooo was
raised with which to endow a Missionary Pro-
fessorship and to this chair Dr. Duff was unani-
mously called by his Church. Not only did he
prepare lectures, but delivered these every winter
in the Colleges of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glas-
gow. He refused all emoluments connected with
this professorship, as well as any income from
his office as Convener of the Foreign Missions'
Committee, contenting himself with the interest
of the Duff Missionary Fund ; and no small pro-
portion of this was spent in systematic bene-
ficence. When Mr. Duff declined to accept more
than the interest of the handsome sum offered
him by private friends, and this only in lieu of
any remuneration connected with the offices he
held, these same friends purchased and presented
him with a house in Edinburgh, and this house,
after his return to Scotland, became his home.
The light and joy of this home was the devoted
wife, who, during all the years of his missionary
life in India, had been his comfort and his in-
spiration. In the beginning of 1865 this dear
companion was removed by death. Though to the
end of his pilgrimage cared for with filial devo-

1238 Men of Might in India Missions

tion and friendly affection, Dr. Duff from this
time felt in a peculiar sense alone. He neglected
none of his duties, but he spent much time in the
study of God's Word, finding there the truest
solace for a wounded heart.

In 1873, the veteran missionary was a second
time made Moderator of the General Assembly
of the Free Church of Scotland. He had now
completed his seventieth year and his physical
strength had begun visibly to abate, but he con-
tinued his preparations for trying once more, dur-
ing the sessions of the General Assembly to arouse
the church to its duty in respect to Foreign Mis-
sions.

A year later his feebleness had so increased
that he was unable to be present at the sessions
of the General Assembly, but he continued to use
his pen with all his former power. In 1878 he
wrote letters resigning all the offices he held, in
order that he might devote all his remaining
powers to a renewed advocacy of the duty of the
church more faithfully to carry out the last com-
mand of the world's Redeemer.

As alarming symptoms increased, the invalid's
second son was summoned from Calcutta and
reached Scotland just a month before his father
passed away. The aged sufferer said to his son
on his arrival, '* I am in God's hands to go or
stay. If He has need for me. He will raise me
up; if otherwise, it is far better." A few days

Alexander Duff 239

/later, he said, "I am very low, and cannot say
/much, but I am living daily, habitually in Hirnil
~ When his daughter repeated to him the first
line of John Newton's beautiful hymn,

" How sweet the name of Jesus sounds,"

he responded with peculiar emphasis, "unspeak-
able/' I

He lingered until th^ 12th of February, 1878,/
when in perfect peace he passed away. His re-
mains were conveyed from Sidmouth, where he
died, to Edinburgh, and around his bier Chris-
tians of all confessions met. The professors and
students of the universities with which he had
been associated, joined the great procession. Peer
and citizen, missionary and minister bore the pall
and laid the precious dust in the grave. The
great missionary societies were all represented.

*' His coffin should be covered with palm-
branches/' said one. " His work on earth was
crowned with the blessing of the Master, and in
His presence, as one who turned many to righte-
ousness, he shall shine as the stars forever and
ever."

X

JOHN ANDERSON
1837-1855

At the close of the address made by Dr. Duff
before the General Assembly of the Church of
Scotland in May, 1835, the venerable Dr. Stewart
of Erskine rose and said, '' It has been my privi-
lege to hear both Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt in the
House of Commons when in the zenith of their
glory as statesmen and orators, but the speech to
which we have just listened excels in its lofty
tone, its close argumentative force, its transcen-
dent eloquence and overpowering impressiveness,
anything which I ever heard from their Hps."

Reports of that marvellous address were sent
through the length and breadth of Scotland. An
abridged report came into the hands of a young
man temporarily laid aside by illness in a quiet
retreat on the banks of the Nith, near Dumfries.
" It kindled a spirit," wrote this young man, '* that
raised us up from our bed and pointed as with the
finger of God to India as the field of our future
labours, should it please God to open the way."

That young man was John Anderson, born in
Galloway in the parish of Kilpatrick-Durham, on
240

John Anderson 241

the 23rd of May, 1805. The eldest son of a family
of nine children, and with a totally blind father,
who was the possessor of little worldly wealth,
the boy was made to bear the yoke in his youth.
His mother was a woman marvellously brave of
spirit, as well as very tender of heart, so there
was much sunshine mingled with -the dark mists
and rough winds that swept around and into this
humble Scottish home. As might be expected
from one reared amid rugged hills, the boy was
bold and adventurous. He was also fond of
reading and showed a decided preference for
works of history. An aged woman in the neigh-
bourhood of his home had a little library, from
whose shelves John was permitted to carry home
for his hours of leisure such books as pleased his
fancy.

'" You have now read all my books but one,"
said this kind friend as John was one day turn-
ing over the volumes. " That book is the Bible."

" But I cannot read that," replied the youth
with some impatience.

" Why not, John ? " was quietly asked.

" It is the corrupt nature that will not let me.
I like history and such books," was the frank
answer.

The elements of learning were acquired at the
parish school, and the study of Latin was com-
menced with Mr. Stevenson, a gentleman who
felt a deep interest in the lad because convinced
that he possessed a mind well worth cultivatincr.

2^2 Men of Might in India Missions

Mr. Anderson entered the Edinburgh University
in his twenty-second year. So well had he im-
proved his opportunities under Mr. Stevenson's
tuition that he took high rank in the university
as a Latin scholar, and at the end of the first
session won a prize for a Latin poem and a second
prize for diligence in private study. The follow-
ing winter Mr. Anderson joined the senior class
in Latin, and received a beautiful copy of the
whole of Cicero's works for a spirited poem on
Hannibal's march against Rome. The next ses-
sion he gained a prize as a student of moral phi-
losophy. The fourth session completed his course
at the university, his vigourous intellect and in-
tense application having won for him the high
regard of his instructors.

We are told that Mr. Anderson's blind father
could repeat from memory almost the entire
Bible, but the boy's religious impressions were
received, as he himself testifies, in the Rev. Mr.
McWhirr's Sabbath School. Having resolved to
devote himself to the Gospel ministry, Mr. Ander-
son entered the Divinity Hall of Edinburgh in
the winter of 1 830-1 and enjoyed the inestimable
advantage of sitting at the feet of Drs. Chalmers
and Welsh, the professors of Theology and
Church History. Four years were spent in theo-
logical study; and only a man possessed of ster-
ling elements of character would so cheerfully
have overcome all obstacles in order to prosecute
his studies. After his classes in the university were

John Anderson 243

over Mr. Anderson would walk two or three miles
in storm as well as sunshine to teach in the Mar-
iner's School, returning to Edinburgh at eight
or nine o'clock in the evening, and then by rush-
light he would prepare his lessons for the follow-
ing morning.

No wonder that toward the close of his course
in Divinity, his naturally fine constitution showed
signs of giving way. For nearly two years he
was laid aside, and it was not until the early
part of 1835 that his health began to improve. He
was in a very despondent frame of mind when in
June of this year fragments of the address de-
livered by Dr. Duff before the General Assembly
in May, found their way to his quiet retreat, and
through the stirring words of the great mission-
ary his spirit received an irresistible touch which
decided his future course," To India he would
go, should the Lord open the way.

In so important a matter Mr. Anderson re-
solved to consult Dr. Gordon, from whom he had
received much kindness and who had given him
much excellent counsel when he had made known
to him his desire to become a minister of the
Gospel. After an interview with Dr. Gordon,
several months passed before the subject was
again introduced. On the 29th of April, 1836,
Dr. Gordon wrote to Mr. Anderson, saying, " Tell
me, by return of post, how your health is, when
you can be licensed and whether you have the
same desire as before to go to India."

244 Men of Might in India Missions

Mr. Anderson replied at once and favourably.
On the 3rd of the following May he was licensed
to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Dum-
fries and a few days later was summoned to
Edinburgh to meet the Committee on Foreign
Missions. On the 28th of June he received his
appointment to Madras as a missionary of the
Church of Scotland. His ordination took place
in St. George's Church, Edinburgh, on the 13th
of July. During the following week Mr. Ander-
son bade adieu to his relatives ; among whom was
his aged and blind father, and the parting was
a sore trial to both father and son.

Paying a visit to London, the missionary-elect
made the acquaintance of Dr. Duff, from whom
he received much kindness and encouragement.
On the 13th of August Mr. Anderson left Ports-
mouth in the " Scotia." The voyage around the
Cape to Calcutta was tedious, but the young mis-
sionary made many friends among his fellow-
voyagers, who in token of their appreciation of
his efforts for their spiritual good, presented him
at parting with a handsome Bible.

The Missionary Committee had deemed it ad-
visable that Mr. Anderson before proceeding to
Madras should visit the Missionary Institution at
Calcutta, which during the absence in Scotland of
Dr. Duff, the founder, was ably superintended
by the Rev. Messrs. Mackay and Ewart.

The '' Scotia " reached Calcutta a day or two
earlier than she was expected, and in consequence

John Anderson 245

on his arrival on the 12th of December, Mr. An-
derson found no one to meet him. He, however
made his way at once to the mission-house ; and,
Mr. Ewart wrote, ** We seemed to get acquainted
with our new colleague almost immediately."

Full of zeal, the new missionary was anxious
without delay to continue his journey to Madras,
but no vessel was available until the beginning of
February. Madras was reached on the 22nd of
the same month. His health had been materially
benefited by the long sea-voyage, and his spirit
had been refreshed and his faith strengthened by
what he had seen and heard in Calcutta in con-
nection with the mission work in progress there.
" I feel as if I were a new man," he wrote to
a friend soon after his arrival in Madras.

Two years before Mr. Anderson's arrival, two
Scotch chaplains had opened the *' St. Andrew's
School," and after collecting funds in India for
this object, had applied to the Church of Scotland
for a missionary, with a view to the establish-
ment of an institution like that founded in Cal-
cutta by Dr. Dufif. This school was made over to
Mr. Anderson. A suitable building was rented
in a central location, and on the 3rd of April,
1837, the school was formally opened with fifty-
nine Hindu boys and young men. In the pros-
pectus sent out before entering upon his educa-
tional work in Madras, Mr. Anderson frankly an-
nounced that ** the ultimate object was a normal
seminary in which native teachers and preachers

1246 Men of Might in India Missions

may be trained up to convey to their benighted
countrymen the benefit of a sound education and
the blessings of the Gospel of Christ." In two
and a half months the number of pupils had in-
creased to 180.

In communicating religious truth, Mr. Ander-
son " had the rare sagacity," wrote one of his
pupils in later years, '' to know how far to go,
and when to stop without sacrificing principle,
or wounding unnecessarily the feelings of others,
while his happy mixture of firmness and kindness
won the affections of his pupils."

The first public examination took place nine
months after the opening of the school. The
occasion brought together not only many promi-
nent European citizens, but a large company of
influential natives, and all carried away most
favourable impressions of the results achieved.

Special instruction was given by Mr. Ander-
son to a class of monitors, and these in their turn
communicated to the junior classes the knowl-
edge they had acquired. By this method a class
of teachers was trained whose services became
most valuable. " The pupils are taught," wrote
the missionary to a friend, " every truth I would
teach in my native land. The school ought to be
our desk, our pulpit and our professor's chair."

As the work mcreased Mr. Anderson felt the
need of an associate, and he was consequently de-
lighted when the tidings reached him from home
that the man whom before all others he himself

John Anderson 247

would have chosen, his dearest friend, the Rev.
Robert Johnson, would soon be sent to his as-
sistance. The school which Mr. Anderson had
founded was intended primarily for children and
youths from the higher castes. The admission of
low-caste pupils, he felt convinced would frustrate
his great aim, " the Christianising of the un-
touched masses of the caste-bound population ; "
but on the 19th of October, 1838, three pariah
boys found admission into the school under false
colours, having on their foreheads the usual idol-
atrous marks of caste. As soon as their true
status in the Hindu community was discovered,
there was much excitement and indignant feeling
in the school, and the missionary was asked to
expel the intruders. This he firmly declined to
do. He had not introduced these pupils. They
had applied for admission and had been received.
To expel them would be to countenance caste.
Such a step he could not therefore take. Another
school in the city opened its doors to receive such
students as were unwilling to be associated with
boys of a low caste, and one hundred pupils at
once left the school. This was a sore trial to
Mr. Anderson.

The opportune arrival of his new colleague, the
Rev. Robert Johnson on the morning of January
24th, 1839, imparted new strength and courage
to the solitary worker in this time of perplexity,
and the two friends were soon wholly absorbed
in the work of " making Christ known to some,

1248 Men of Might in India Missions

that these might become the instruments of mak-
ing Him known to many." Mr. Anderson wisely
reasoned that if the Gospel were first preached in
the great cities, from these centres the light would
be carried to the villages and hamlets. From the
first he had entertained the idea of expansion in
the direction of branch schools. The arrival of
Mr. Johnson made such an advance possible. The
first branch school was opened at Conjeveram,
forty-iive miles from Madras. This city is re-
garded by the Hindus in South India as ranking
first in antiquity and sacredness. Its temples are
magnificent, and at the great annual festival in
May, 100,000 worshippers assemble from all
parts of India.

Leaving the school in Madras for a time in Mr.
Johnson's charge, Mr. Anderson himself went to
Conjeveram to begin a school there taking with
him four of his trained monitors. The school was
opened on the 29th of May in the midst of the
great Hindu festival, and during the hottest sea-
son of the year, when the hot winds were like a
blast from a furnace. There was much to dis-
courage in the outset, but the school proved
eventually a most successful enterprise. Three
other important branch schools were ere long
opened, and each one became a centre of light
intellectually and spiritually.

On the 20th of April, 1840, Dr. and Mrs. Duff
arrived from Bombay en route to Calcutta. They
remained five days in Madras, and brought much

John Anderson 249

refreshment to all. On the day of his arrival,
Dr. Duff spent several hours in the institution,
'' setting the pupils on fire by the truths he pre-
sented in his own inimitable way."

Early in 1841 the Rev. John Braid wood and
Mrs. Braidwood arrived in Madras. Referring to
this reinforcement to the mission, Mr. Anderson
said, " It is hardly four years since I crossed the
surf from Calcutta alone, with no one on the
shore to bid me welcome:, now I have many
friends and tokens manifold of God's goodness
to me."

In 1838 the Rev. Robert Caldwell, afterward
Bishop of Tinnevelly, arrived in Madras, where
he spent two years chiefly in the study of the
Tamil language. In his " Reminiscences," in the
chapter devoted to the men whose acquaintance he
made in Madras during his residence there, he
thus speaks of Mr. Anderson, " One of the most
prominent figures in the missionary world of
Madras at that time was that of Mr. Anderson,
best known as John Anderson, of the Scotch
Presbyterian Mission, the Dr. Duff of Madras,
by whom the first great English school for Hindu
youths was established, and the first systematic
effort made to use English education as a means
of spreading Christianity among the higher classes
and castes. John Anderson was my greatest
friend in Madras at that time. He was one of the
ablest and most zealous and devoted missionaries
I have ever met, and was certainly the most en-

1250 Men of Might in India Missions

thusiastic. Enthusiasm, however, was one of the
most marked characteristics of his nature, and
showed itself, not only in his missionary work,
but in everything he did and said. He was one
of the mightiest talkers I have ever met. I have
often stood listening to him at night in the streets
for hours after we had been supposed to bid one
another good-bye, and one night we never slept
at all, but sat, or lay awake the whole night, I
listening, and he pouring out upon me the floods
of his fluent, enthusiastic talk. One of his chief
characteristics was his almost womanly tender-
ness and affection towards his students, which
was one of the things that conduced to the great
number of conversions of educated young men
with which his work was marked. Throughout
the Presidency of Madras for many years the
name of John Anderson, and the fame and influ-
ence of what was called Anderson's School — now
developed into the Christian College — were like
household words."

One of the ends which Mr. Anderson kept con-
stantly in view, the training of teachers from
among the students, was producing most satis-
factory results. Within four years after the be-
ginning of his work in Madras eighteen students
had received so thorough a training as to make
them well fitted to impart secular instruction, and
all were saturated with the truths of the Bible.
y' Our greatest trial now is," wrote Mr. Anderson,
* " that we do not see the souls over whom we

John Anderson 251

yearn converted to God. Our hearts begin to
yearn for the first ripe fruits." /

At length some hearts were stirred. On Satur-
day of each week all the pupils under instruction
were arranged, in three divisions, each in charge
of a missionary, and four or five hours were spent
in repeating the portions of Scripture learned
during the week, and in careful Biblical instruc-
tion. It was one of the passages of Scripture
thus learned that proved the Sword of the Spirit
to one of the pupils. This youth with another
from the highest class, both lads of superior in-
telligence, renounced Hinduism in favour of
Christianity, and on Sabbath evening, June 20th,
1841, received the ordinance of baptism. Cast
out by their friends because of the step they had
taken, they were received into the home of the
missionaries. This event made no small stir
among the caste people of the city and reduced
the number of students in attendance from four
hundred to seventy. The friends of the young
men after doing all in their power to induce the
converts to renounce the faith they had espoused
made an appeal to the magistrate, who after an
examination in the presence of witnesses, ruled
that the young men were of full age and capable
of deciding for themselves in matters religious.
They were therefore, in accordance with their ex-
pressed wish, returned to the care of the mission-
aries.

On the bench with the European Magistrate

2^2 Men of Might in India Missions

was a sagacious Brahmin. The father of one of
the youths bitterly upbraided him for acquiescing
in the decision of the EngHsh Magistrate. His
reply was significant. " Mr. Anderson is an hon-
est man. He told you from the beginning that
conversion was his object, and I warned you, but
you did not listen to me, and placed your sons
under his instruction."

A few weeks later there was another baptism
from among the students, but the event passed
without tumult and without legal proceedings,
though the feeling roused by the two first baptisms
had in no degree abated, and the institution con-
tinued to be shunned like a hospital filled with
plague-stricken patients.

At this time when there was much to discour-
age, a beginning was made in a very important
work. Mr. and Mrs. Braidwood removed from
the building which until then had been the home
of the entire mission household, to another resi-
dence. Here Mrs. Braidwood opened a school
for girls. A Tamil teacher was found who was
willing to give Mrs. Braidwood instruction in
the language, and at the same time to teach his
own sister and a few other little girls whom he
brought daily to the mission house. In this small
beginning of a very interesting and most impor-
tant work, Mrs. Braidwood took the deepest in-
terest.

Mr. Anderson, ever ready to seize or to make
an opportunity for helping forward the work of

John Anderson 253

evangelisation, conceived the plan of beginning a
periodical in English in order to reach and benefit
the youths who had formerly been under his in-
struction, but were now widely scattered because
of the baptisms which had taken place in con-
nection with the institution. The first number
of the " Native Herald " appeared on the 2nd of
October, 1841, and the subscription list soon num-
bered over two hundred.

At the sixth annual examination of Mr. Ander-
son's School the Marquis of Tweeddale, Gover-
nor of Madras, presided, and his words of warm
commendation encouraged the hearts of all. Dur-
ing the six years since the opening of the parent in-
stitution and the subsequent opening of the branch
schools, nearly two thousand pupils had received
instruction and all had learned much Bible truth.
The three students who had received baptism and
who had remained steadfast, showed not only
great aptitude for teaching, but an earnest desire
to be trained for the work of making Chris(
known to their fellow-men.

It was not until the beginning of July, 1843,
that it was certainly known in Madras that the
Disruption of the Church of Scotland had become
an accomplished fact in the previous May. The
missionaries did not hesitate to cast in their lot
with the Protesting party, and their decision was
promptly communicated to Dr. Brunton, the Mis-
sion Convener. Occupying united premises both
for the collecre and the residence of the mission-

254 Men of Might in India Missions

aries, when the Disruption came there were no
buildings to lose fn Madras. In the straitened
condition of the finances caused by the Disrup-
tion it was decided to make an appeal for funds
to such of their friends in India as were in sym-
pathy with the work they were trying to do and
with the step they had taken in separating them-
selves from the Established Church. This appeal
was sent out by Mr. Anderson as senior mission-
ary and Secretary, and in a few days brought
more than nine thousand rupees into the mission
treasury.

During the year following the Disruptfon the
confidence reposed in the missionaries, and the
high regard in which their work was held, were
manifested in a very practical manner, as during
the year the contributions made in India for the
work of the mission reached the sum of 17,370
rupees.

The school had in a measure recovered from
the panic and consequent desertions occasioned by
the first baptisms among the students, when a
Brahmin youth, nineteen years of age proclaimed
himself a Christian and received the rite of bap-
tism. Before taking this decisive step he was
visited by his father who tried by persuasion and
threats to dissuade him from his purpose, but the
youth remained firm. On the morning of his
baptism his mother, accompanied by other female
relatives arrived, but the young man declined to
see them. " I have told my father all," he said.

John Anderson 255

" My feelings are unchanged." He was baptised
in the Hall of the institution in the presence of his
fellow-students. On the following day more than
three hundred pupils absented themselves from
the classes; and when the news reached the
branch schools the numbers there were also
greatly diminished. After several months the
younger pupils began to return, but the older
pupils were not again permitted to place them-
selves under the instruction of the missionaries.

The first examination of the girls in the caste-
schools which had been established was private.
The second examination of these schools was held
in the Hall of the institution and was public. Over
four hundred girls were present, all of whom had
received careful religious instruction.

After the Disruption, a Free Church Presby-
tery was formed in Madras, and in March, 1846,
the first three converts who had been under in-
struction from the time of their baptism were
licensed to preach the Gospel by this Presbytery,
the services were conducted with great solemnity
and impressiveness, in the presence of a large
assembly of Europeans and the people of the
land.

To give the element of stability to the mission,
a permanent location seemed desirable, and it was
at length decided to try to raise in India a sum
for the purchase of premises for the institution.
The amount asked for in the circular issued was
25,000 rupees, and in a few weeks over twenty

2^6 Men of Might in India Missions

thousand rupees had been subscribed. A large
house admirably suited for their purposes was at
this time offered for sale for the sum of 25,000
rupees, and this was at once secured. The school
was transferred to the new premises in Decem-
ber, 1846.

On the 29th of January, 1847, ^^r. Anderson
was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Locher,
of Zurich, Switzerland, who had come to Madras
two years before to engage in work among the
women. Miss Locher was a lady of devoted
piety, generous impulses and full of zeal for the
work of the Lord. Not long after Mr. Ander-
son's marriage five girls from the first class in
the caste-school in Madras made known their
desire to become Christians. These girls had all
reached the age of discretion and could not there-
fore be forcibly removed by their friends. After
they had placed themselves under the care of the
missionaries, the parents of the other girls in the
school took alarm and in two or three days the
entire school was swept away. The branch schools
also suffered. Three other girls ere long joined
the first five girls who had renounced Hinduism,
and all these became the special care of Mrs. An-
derson.

At the time of Mr. Anderson's marriage, ten
young men who had been the joint care of the
two senior missionaries since their baptism, were
placed under the special care of Mr. Johnson, and
with him occupied rooms at one end of the insti-

John Anderson 257

tutlon, while Mr. and Mrs. Anderson and the
girls in their care had rooms at the opposite end
of the building.

When the premises purchased for the institu-
tion were occupied, it was with the expectation
that it would ere long be possible to make much
needed enlargements and improvements ; but as
funds were not forthcoming for this purpose from
Scotland and as the money raised in India was
required to maintain the work, nothing could
be done; while the mission family was increased
from time to time by the addition of converts cast
off by their friends. *' My colleagues and my-
self," wrote Mr. Anderson to the committee at
home, " have special cause for gratitude that we
have been so long spared to labour together in
this work without being obliged to have any
change for the benefit of our health. It is my
duty however to tell you that I am considerably
broken, and neither of my colleagues has any
strength to spare. I hope, therefore, that you
will be able without delay to send us some money
for the enlargement of our mission premises, as
confined air is dangerous to the health and life of
a missionary."

Still the help did not come. Mr. Anderson's
physician at length declared that for him to re-
main any longer in the premises in their con-
gested condition, would not only be highly im-
prudent, but criminal. A house in the suburbs
was accordingly rented, a part being occupied by

258 Men of Might in India Missions

Mr. and Mrs. Anderson and the female converts,
and the other part by Mr. Johnson and the young
men in his care. This change was beneficial to
all and prevented Mr. Anderson from altogether
breaking down. In the meantime, ladies in Scot-
land interested in the work in Madras raised the
sum of iioo for enlarging the mission premises,
and friends in India contributed £300 for the
same purpose.

The first day of 1849 was marked by many
tokens of the Lord's goodness. Among these
was a gift of 1,000 rupees sent as a thank-offer-
ing to the mission by one who had received
spiritual benefit from the ministrations of the two
senior missionaries. On the evening of the first
Sabbath of this new year three native women,
who had for some time been under instruction,
received the ordinance of baptism. The new
year brought its trials as well as its joys. The
health of Mr. Anderson continued to decline, and
early in February the three missionaries waited
on a physician of experience, for medical advice.
Looking in turn at each of the worn toilers, the
physician declared that while all needed a change,
for Mr. Anderson this was imperative. It was
accordingly arranged that he should leave India
by the first steamer in April. In order that the
work might suffer little as possible, Mrs. Ander-
son decided to remain behind to care for the
female converts, and the girls in the boarding-

John Anderson 259

school, while Rajahgopaul, one of the first con-
verts, should accompany Mr. Anderson.

Before his departure a deputation of the teach-
ers, converts and pupils of the institution and
branch schools waited upon him and presented
him with an address and a sum of nearly 1,000
rupees raised chiefly among themselves to pro-
cure his portrait for the Hall of the institution.
Very early on the morning of the 15th of April
Dr. Duff arrived from Calcutta, and never was
friend more cordially welcomed. At four o'clock
in the afternoon of the same day Mr. Anderson
left Madras for Scotland, and the presence of Dr.
Duff at this time imparted courage and comfort
to all.

Edinburgh was reached on the 2nd of June,
and both the missionary and his companion were
most hospitably received. " Tell Mrs. Anderson,"
wrote Rajahgopaul, '* that Dr. Foulis and Lady
Foulis are watching over Mr. Anderson as if he
were their own son."

In India, Mr. Johnson toiled on with uncom-
plaining fortitude, though his physical strength
continued to wane, while the work at the same
time increased in magnitude and responsibility.

As soon as Mr. Anderson had sufficiently re-
covered to be able to present the cause of mis-
sions, he told the people of his church for their
encouragement what were some of the visible
results of the labours of the missionaries they

!26o Men of Might in India Missions

had sent to Madras: fifty superior teachers had
been trained for the work, 7,000 Hindus and a
large number of Mohammedans had been in-
structed in the truths of the Bible, and 1,000 girls
had been gathered into their schools. There had
been thirty-six converts from heathenism, and
from among these, three had been licensed to
preach the Gospel, while five other students were
pursuing their studies with the Christian ministry
in view. While devoting their strength primarily
to the people of the land, they had, as opportunity
offered, preached the Gospel to their own country-
men, and over one hundred of these had borne
testimony to the fact that the missionaries were
the instruments used by God in bringing them to
the Saviour. The prompt liberality with which
the people in India had responded to the appeals
made on behalf of the mission was also cause for
encouragement. To carry on the work in Madras
since the Disruption, £1,200 had been contributed
in India, and for the purchase of premises for
the mission British residents in India had given
i3,ooo.

Mr. Anderson's labours in Scotland contributed
greatly toward deepening interest in the work in
India, while Rajahgopaul everywhere made a
favourable impression by his gentleness, his hu-
mility and his manly Christian bearing.

On December i, 1850, the vessel bearing
back to India Mr. Anderson and his faithful com-
panion, and bringing for the first time Miss Eliza

John Anderson 261

Lecher, Mrs. Anderson's sister, for work among
the women, arrived at Madras. In the midst of a
raging surf and a drenching rain the party
reached the shore. The voice of joy and thanks-
giving was everywhere heard, but with this was
mingled a note of sadness, caused by the seriously
impaired health of Mr. Johnson.

" My son Rajah and myself have arrived at a
critical time," wrote Mr. Anderson. " Mr. John-
son is quite broken down and laid aside, and Mr.
Braidwood's health is giving way, while the work
has gone on increasing." Three months after the
arrival of Mr. Anderson, Mr. Johnson who had
toiled without intermission for over twelve years,
left for England, being carried in a state of ex-
treme feebleness on board the steamer ** Devon-
shire." He was a man greatly beloved, and his
departure under circumstances so afflictive caused
much sorrow. There was no time for a farewell
address, but his pupils, present and former, col-
lected a sum for his portrait for the Institution.

Another blow was about to fall on the mission.
On the night of the 5th of April Miss Locher
was taken seriously ill and on the morning of the
7th she passed away. During the short time in
which she had been a member of the mission
family she had won the esteem and the love of all.

Mr. Johnson reached England early in June,
and not long after his arrival he was received
into the hospitable home of Dr. and Lady Foulis,
where everything possible was done for his com-

262 Men of Might in India Missions

fort and his restoration to health. News received
from India from time to time interested him
deeply. On the 26th of November, the three first
converts were ordained to the Gospel ministry
in the presence of a large company of Christians,
Hindus and Mohammedans. There was an im-
mense throng of spectators at the fifteenth annual
examination of the institution and the branch
schools. The whole number under instruction at
this time was 2,245, ^"d the one hundred and
twenty teachers employed had all been trained by
the mission.

The work was steadily growing, but the lack of
labourers was depressing. Mr. Braidwood with
his family left Madras for Scotland early in 1852,
ordered thence by his physicians, and Mr. Ander-
son was left with no European colleague. The
church at home had not anticipated such a crisis,
and an earnest effort was made to secure both
men and money. Mr. Johnson in a letter to the
young men who had been ordained to the work
of the ministry, charged them to do all in their
power to relieve Mr. Anderson, their spiritual
father.

Two missionaries sent out by the Church of
Scotland for work in Madras, the Rev. Messrs.
Blyth and Campbell, arrived near the end of No-
vember, 1852, and their coming brought hope and
comfort to the care-burdened father of the mis-
sion ; but Mr. Johnson, though receiving the most
skilful medical attention and the most tender care,

John Anderson 26^

continued to fail and on the 22nd of March, 1853,
he passed away. To Mr. Anderson the blow was
a very heavy one. When no longer able to en-
tertain any hope of the recovery of his " true
yoke-fellow," he had prayed daily that he might
be prepared for the tidings of his translation.

" 1 am fading," wrote Mr. Anderson in the be-
ginning of the June following the death of Mr.
Johnson, and he longed for the return of Mr.
and Mrs. Braidwood, as the newly arrived mis-
sionaries could not be charged with heavy re-
sponsibilities. In a letter to Mr. Braidwood, he
said : " Your letter telling me that the state of
your health would detain you sometime longer in
Scotland, gives me, and I may add to the mission
also, a sharp and heavy blow, and sore discourage-
ment. The cares of the mission are doubled since
you left. My strength is failing, but I will not
leave the helm unless forced from it."

After the public examination of the students of
the Institution in Madras, in the cold season of
1855, Mr. Anderson set out, accompanied by sev-
eral of his faithful helpers to visit the branch
schools. This was the last tour he ever made.
At the anniversary of the Bible Society, held after
his return to Madras from this visitation, he
made his last public address, commending the
word of God with a fervour and power that
touched the hearts of his auditors. Two days
later he v/as taken ill. but insisted upon being
present at the evening service on the Sabbath

264 Men of Might in India Missions

when the Rev. Rajahgopaul preached and ad-
ministered the rite of baptism to seven persons.
This was the last time he appeared in the Lord's
house.

Dr. Lorrimer, one of the physicians in attend-
ance, conveyed to the friends in Scotland the
tidings of his serious illness, and a fortnight later
a letter from the same hand carried the sorrowful
tidings that the sickness had been unto death.

When convinced that recovery was hopeless the
physician felt it his duty to acquaint the sufferer
with his condition. Mr. Anderson's reply was,
" The Lord's will be done : If to live longer and
work for Christ, I am wilHng; if not. His holy
will be done."

Messages of love were sent by the dying mis-
sionary to all his children in the faith, charging
them to be faithful. When the end was near,
John Newton's hymn, " How sweet the name of
Jesus sounds," was sung, and the dying saint
joined his feeble voice with the voices of the
watchers beside his couch. He fell asleep in Jesus
on Sabbath morning the 25th of March, 1855.
His mortal remains were laid to rest on the even-
ing of the same day. Never before in Madras
had so vast a concourse of people assembled on a
funeral occasion.

" I have never before witnessed such a death
as his," said one of the physicians in attendance:
Said another, " His constitution should have
borne other twenty years of labour, but he was

John Anderson 265

broken with the weight of heavy responsibilities
and exhausting toil without respite, while practis-
ing the most rigid self-denial, that in every way
the work might be advanced."

The Rev. Stephen Hislop of the Free Church
Mission, Nagpur Central Provinces, said of the
work and the workers of the Free Church Mis-
sion in Madras : " No other mission in Madras
was so much blessed as that for which John An-
derson and Robert Johnson sacrificed their lives
and Braidwood shattered his constitution."

To perpetuate the memory of Mr. Anderson a
fine hall was built in Madras, bearing his name ;
but his truest memorial is found in the multitudes
of those who, from his lips learned of a Saviour,
and through his labours were led to ** turn from
idols to serve the living God."

XI

ROBERT T. NOBLE
1841-1865

In the middle of the last century an annual
gathering for athletic sports was held on the
borders of the three northern counties of England
— Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancaster.
Among the deeply interested spectators at one of
these contests was John Noble, a student of St.
Bees from County Cumberland. With him were
several of his fellow-students and the second
master of the school.

To the spectators it soon became evident that
the Cumberland contestants were not likely to
win. Unwilling that the victory should be
wrested from them, a party from Cumberland
urged John Noble to enter the arena and secure
for them the victory. It was contrary to the rules
of the school for the students to take part in
these exhibitions, but urged by his companions
and encouraged by the second master, John Noble
yielded and carried off the prize. This brief tri-
umph had for the young student unexpected con-
sequences. He was expelled from the college and
266

Robert T. Noble 267

only permitted to return a year later by making
a solemn promise never again to violate the known
rules of the school.

His parents too were highly displeased, and in
consequence young Noble decided to leave home
for a time and seek employment as a teacher.
While thus engaged he lived with a farmer, a
pious Quaker, who not only formed a warm
friendship for the young man, but also felt the
deepest interest in his spiritual welfare.

Learning that Mr. Noble's parents expected
him on the completion of his studies to enter upon
the work of the ministry, his new friend frankly
told him that if he would become a true and
efficient minister of the Gospel, he must himself
be made a partaker of Divine grace. The teach-
ing of this faithful friend was blessed, and John
Noble became indeed a new creature, with a new
and holy purpose in life. When his years of
preparation were over, and he entered upon the
work of the ministry, he proved a faithful shep-
herd, watching unceasingly for souls.

It was perhaps a happy circumstance that the
wife of his choice was in many respects the re-
verse of her husband. She was an earnest Chris-
tian, full of energy and versatility and looked well
to the ways of her household. Persevering and
undaunted by adverse circumstances, she made
the modest stipend received by her husband do
wonders.

Such were the parents of Robert Turlington

26S Men of Might in India Missions

Noble, who was born early in the year 1809. He
was the fourth and youngest son. Two sisters
blessed this home. It was the desire of the mother
that her children should receive the best possible
educational advantages. She urged them forward
in the race of honour, averring that religion
taught those who embraced it to excel in every-
thing. In her laudable efforts on behalf of her
sons the mother was ably seconded by the elder
daughter, who, as soon as prepared for such a
work, opened a school in her father's house
which proved so successful financially that she
aided in sending two of her brothers to the uni-
versity.

To this sister Robert gratefully acknowledged
that he owed in a large measure the preparation
he received for his usefulness in Hfe. After he
had chosen the life of a missionary, this sister,
with the cordial co-operation of her husband, for
twenty-four years helped her brother in his work
with a liberality both constant and generous.

To his second sister Anne, Mr. Noble was not
less deeply indebted, though her life was cut
short in her early womanhood. Anne Noble was
married in 1822, at the age of nineteen to the
Rev. H. Palmer and with him went to Sierra
Leone to labour among the " poor Africans."
Robert was at the time of his sister's marriage
in school at Oakham. Passing through this town
on her journey to her distant field of labour, Mrs.
Palmer felt that she must once more look upon

Robert T. Noble 269

the face of her brother. The coach in which she
and her husband were travelling reached Oak-
ham at an early hour in the morning and only a
few moments could be spared for the interview.
Obtaining permission to enter her brother's room,
she urged him in most affectionate terms to de-
cide at once to accept Christ. She won from
him a promise to read his Bible daily, and ex-
pressed a hope that he might one day follow her
into the mission field. This was a turning-point
in his life, and the words so impressively spoken
by this beloved sister received added weight and
sacredness from the melancholy tidings which so
soon followed the departure of these consecrated
workers. They reached their destination in
March, 1823, and shortly after their arrival Mr.
Palmer was stricken with African fever to which
he succumbed on the 8th of May, and on the
first of June Mrs. Palmer followed him to the
grave.

" May I be prepared to follow in the footsteps
of this beloved sister," was the prayer of Robert
Noble from this time. He remained five years
in the grammar-school at Oakham, and was most
industrious as a student, yet he was fond of
cricket, football and all manly and athletic games.
Among the students, he was noted for his critical
knowledge of the Greek text of the New Testa-
ment. When asked by what means he had at-
tained such proficiency, he replied that he not
only read his Greek Testament regularly, but

ayo Men of Might in India Missions

that a part of each Sabbath was usually spent in
translating portions of the English version into
Greek.

Mr. Noble was advised by his friends to enter
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where it was
believed that he would have a comparatively easy
task in winning the college prizes and obtaining
a fellowship. The young student girded himself
for the race with all the enthusiasm and self-
denial which had marked his school career. On
account of his incessant application and the
neglect of the physical exercise to which he had
been accustomed, his health altogether gave way
during his last term. Just as worldly honour
seemed within his grasp, he left the university in
a state of utter prostration both of mind and body.
His private tutor had expressed the opinion that
he would not be lower than third in the classical
tripos. The disappointment was borne with true
Christian fortitude.

It was only at the end of two years that Mr.
Noble was so far recovered as to be again capable
of such mental and physical activity as had for-
merly characterised him. In the course of his
reading during this time of enforced inaction he
had noted the fact that some good men both in the
early days of Christianity as well as in more re-
cent times had held the opinion that as our Lord
and John the Baptist did not enter upon their
public ministry until thirty years of age, an ex-
ample had been left that might wisely be followed.

Robert T. Noble 271

His exalted ideas of the duties and the difficul-
ties of the calHng of an ambassador for Christ,
together with a deep sense of his own unworthi-
ness, led him to feel that he required a degree of
preparation which he could not attain before he
had reached his thirtieth year.

He accordingly began with zeal a course of
reading and study having special reference to the
work upon which in due time he hoped to enter.
His eldest brother had chosen the medical pro-
fession and Robert spent several months under
his tuition in order to learn the use of drugs for
cases of ordinary sickness that he might be more
useful as a missionary.

In the year 1833 he was providentially guided
into the family of a Christian Baronet, Sir T.
Bloomfield of Brighton, under whose roof as pri-
vate tutor to his sons, for six years he enjoyed a
friendship and society entirely congenial. Of his
life at this time he said in a letter to a friend
" No Fellow of any College is half so well off as
1 — in the healthiest climate in all England and
in the midst of outward advantages which neither
Oxford nor Cambridge could afford. Who ever
had such dear, such constant, such pious and in-
structive friends? " It was during the latter part
of his residence at Brighton that the neglected
state, as regards Christian education and enlight-
enment, of the population of the foreign country
in South India was brought to his notice. But
his time to enter upon the work of a missionary

27'^ Men of Might in India Missions

abroad, he felt had not yet come. His father was
in his eightieth year, and was in a state of ex-
treme bodily weakness ; and implored Robert, the
Benjamin of his household, not to leave him.

It was accordingly decided that Mr. Noble
should take a curacy at home for a time, and a
field of labour was found within a few miles of
the home of his parents. The young curate
threw his whole soul into his new duties. After
having made the acquaintance and won the re-
spect and affection of some of the people of his
parish who lived three miles from the church,
he began a Sabbath evening service in one of the
farm houses in that neighbourhood.

The room was soon crowded and many were
obliged to stand. The result of this small begin-
ning was that a few years later there was in this
isolated neighbourhood a neat chapel and an at-
tentive congregation with a stated minister. An
interest in mission work had also been awakened
and the people though poor, contributed in sup-
port of this cause more than £20 a year. Mr.
Noble entered upon his duties as curate of Old
Dalby, in the autumn of 1839 ; and his aged father
passed away in August of the following year.

He received ordination as a clergyman of the
Church of England soon after the death of his
father, and early in 1841 took his final leave of
his native land.

After he had fully decided to go to India as
a missionary, should the Lord open the way, the

Robert T. Noble 273

question whether he should go out unmarried
was presented to his mind. He resolved to con-
sult the Rev. Charles Simeon of Cambridge on
this subject. He had not married, and Mr. Noble
ventured to ask him if he regretted his decision.
'' As a Fellow of King's College," said Mr.
Simeon, " my Divine Master has made me useful
in the university to an extent I miglit not per-
haps have attained in any other position. Had I
married I must have resigned my Fellowship and
with it probably my usefulness. I remained there-
fore unmarried for the sake of my Lord's work.
I have felt it a great sacrifice, but I have never
regretted it."

The Rev. T. Jones of Creaton was an aged
bachelor for whom Mr. Noble entertained feel-
ings of profound respect and he resolved to ask
him how now he regarded the decision made in
his younger days. His reply was not anticipated.
f"lt is true I never married, from peculiar cir-
cumstances, but 1 say that the man who can get
a good wife and does not avail himself of the
privilege is a most unwise man/l,i Mr. Noble,
however, decided to go out to India unmarried
and he never regretted it.

The Rev. W. H. Fox, a man of consecrated
spirit and in every respect congenial as a com-
panion, had been appointed by the Church Mis-
sionary Society to accompany Mr. Noble to In-
dia. The field to which they had been assigned
v/as the Telugu country. The region thus desig-

ii74 Men of Might in India Missions

nated stretched along the eastern side of the
Madras Presidency for nearly seven hundred miles
and contained twelve millions of people.

On the 8th of March, 1841, in the ship " Ro-
barts," bound for Madras, in company with the
Rev. W. H. and Mrs. Fox, Mr. Noble left Eng-
land. During the voyage of four months the
missionaries were treated with the greatest kind-
ness and consideration by the captain and officers
of the ship, who gave them every facility for hold-
ing religious services both among the passengers
and the crew. They reached their destination on
July 4th and received from the Madras mission-
aries a most cordial reception.

Mr. Noble remained in Madras two months
and during this time learned much which he
felt would be helpful to him in inaugurating
work in Masulipatam. His first work he rightly
judged would be the learning of the language,
and immediately on his arrival in Madras he en-
gaged a competent teacher and began the study of
the Telugu language. He reached his new field
of labour near the end of October. Masulipatam,
the chief city of the District, had at that time a
population of 50,000 or 60,000. The town is
situated about two miles from the sea-coast, and
there being no harbour, ships stood out in the
open roadstead as now, communication being car-
ried on with the shore by boats. The country is
a dead level for many miles and the soil soft and
sandy.

Robert T. Noble 275

The country had for more than two generations
been under the EngHsh Government, but up to
that time Httle had been done for the spiritual or
intellectual uplifting of these millions. Godly
men both in the civil and military service in India
had begun to feel in some degree their individual
responsibility for the spiritual welfare of these
unevangelised multitudes and a fund of nearly
£2,000 had been subscribed to support an educa-
tional institution in Masulipatam, and every en-
couragement was offered to anyone duly qualified
who would undertake so important and promising
a mission. These friends had appealed to the
Committee of the Church Missionary Society to
take charge of this field ; but the Committee hav-
ing regard to the deficiency both in men and means
at that time existing and shall we say with too
little faith in the Divine power to supply those
needs, felt constrained to decline to enter upon
the proposed field. But Christian friends deeply
interested in the movement determined to go for-
ward. Mr. Noble was asked to take the presi-
dency of the proposed Institution in Masulipa-
tam with a salary of iSoo per annum. The propo-
sition was favourably received. Just at this time
the Rev. John Tucker returned from India where
he had been labouring as a missionary, and with
great earnestness urged the Committee to recon-
sider their former decision and assume the re-
sponsibility of the new mission. The financial
outlook had brightened and the Committee re-

276 Men of Might in India Missions

sponded favourably. Mr. Noble and Mr. Fox
were then invited to transfer their services to the
Church Missionary Society. To this they readily
consented, though in the case of Mr. Noble this
meant a very material decrease of salary.

Among the officers of the English garrison Mr.
Noble was delighted to find some earnest Chris-
tians and the small European community, both
civil and military manifested their interest in the
mission about to be established, by contributing
toward its support £22. monthly. The missionaries
did not suffer themselves to be drawn into much
work among the English population, feeling that
their special mission was to the people of the
land, and their first duty to prepare themselves
for their appointed work, but an informal meet-
ing for prayer and study of the Scriptures was
held on Friday evening of each week. The larger
part of each day was spent in the study of the
language. The heat of the summer they found
peculiarly trying. Of his experience in this re-
^^pect, Mr. Noble wrote to one of his brothers:
' " It is like the heat around the mouths of the
glass furnaces at Burslem. It is like creeping
flames. The mind grows dull. The body all en-
feebled seems to be a dead weight on the mind;
the spirit droops; prayer, how hard! exertion,
how wearying ! "

The health of Mr. Fox gave way, and he was
obliged to retreat to the Neilgherry mountains
where the climate was cool and bracing. Fear-

Robert T. Noble 277

ing the enervating effect of the climate and the
consequent indisposition to mental exertion, as a
stimulus to diligence the missionaries had asked
for themselves a public examination by the
Madras Committee, and on the first of July, 1843,
two years after their arrival, Mr. Noble began the
journey to Madras, a distance of 322 miles on
horseback. Mr. Fox was unable to take the
journey because of continued ill health. The ex-
amination to which Mr. Noble had so long looked
forward, took place soon after his arrival in Ma-
dras, and the result filled him with profound
gratitude. He was pronounced an excellent
Telugu scholar and well qualified to begin mis-
sionary work.

To assist him in his labours, Mr. Noble secured
while in Madras the services of Mr. Sharkey who
had been brought up in the country and who was
an earnest Christian and a fine Telugu scholar.
On his return to Masulipatam Mr. Noble gave
public notice that he expected to open a school
for the education of the upper classes, and un-
folded the plan to be pursued. Christianity would
be taught, but no sinister arts would be employed
to induce the students to embrace it.

The school was opened on the 21st of Novem-
ber. Writing to a friend on the previous day,
he said, " To-morrow morning we begin to drop
into the ground the little mustard seed." How
his heart would have rejoiced could his eye have
penetrated the future and could he have seen into

2jS Men of Might in India Missions

how great and beautiful a tree this seed planted
in faith and prayer was destined to grow ! When
the day so long anticipated arrived, two pupils
only presented themselves, but the missionary was
not discouraged. The school soon grew in
favour. Many of the students were twenty years
of age, and a few were thirty. " They are very
inquisitive and full of objections," wrote Mr.
Noble. " I see now," he wrote in another letter,
" why I was led to read my Bible so much in
England. My class appears quite to enjoy their
Scripture lesson which they commit to memory.
We have a great many Brahmins and they are
very diligent. I avoid assailing their religion,
desiring first to let them see what ours is. I
have fully and repeatedly told them, however, my
object, vis.: to make known our religion to them
as the only plan of salvation."

After Mr. Noble had so successfully passed his
first examination, he wrote to one of his home
friends, " We hope at the end of two years more
to pass a further examination in Sanskrit and
Telugu and in our acquaintance with the religion
of the people. Thus you see we have no leisure
now, nor any in prospect, till we reach the rest
above."

How full were the days of this earnest mis-
sionary we learn from this account given by one
who was for many years associated with him:
" Mr. Noble generally rose at four o'clock in the
morning, partook of a little refreshment, tea and

Robert T. Noble 1279

toast at 5 130 ; commenced school at 6 o'clock, or
6 130, according to the season of the year ; re-
turned home at 10 o'clock, or 10:30; breakfasted
at 1 1 ; prayers with his servants at 11:30; received
native visitors, and sometimes Europeans, from
12 to I o'clock ; dinner at i or i :30 ; school
again from 2 :30 to 6 :30, making eight hours a
day in school in the trying climate of India ; then
a constitutional ride or walk of two or three
miles, or instead, paying visits in the town to
the parents or friends of the students for an hour ;
tea at 7:30; prayers and instruction to his serv-
ants or converts until 9 130.'*

For twenty-two years did Mr. Noble labour
thus unceasingly. His work was varied at times,
but was never less arduous. Of his school he
said, " It will, I hope, prove a training seminary
for school-masters, catechists and ministers of the
Gospel. I think there is a good work going on
among the sixty boys in our school, and some
have expressed a desire for baptism." As there
was no reason to doubt the sincerity of the youths
who had expressed a desire openly to acknowl-
edge themselves Christians, the rite of baptism
was administered. The parents of the students
in attendance on the school took alarm, and about
half of the pupils were removed. This was a
grief to the teachers, but they did not regret the
step taken, as it was with the express object of
trying to win the students under their care to
accept Christ as tlieir Saviour, that the school

a8o Men of Might in India Missions

existed. Some of the students returned to the
school when the excitement had in a measure
abated and new pupils continued to present them-
selves. One hour daily was allotted to the Scrip-
ture lesson, but this was made so full of interest
by the earnest and enthusiastic missionary, that
not infrequently, at the request of the pupils,
more than two hours were spent on the lesson
itself, or questions suggested by it.

When Mr. Noble left England in 1841 he re-
joiced greatly that so congenial a co-labourer as
Mr. Fox was to accompany him to India. But
his health began to decline soon after his arrival.
He was obliged to return to England, and in
October, 1848, he was removed by death, — a
heavy loss to the mission and a great personal
bereavement to Mr. Noble.

Mr. Sharkey who had proved his fitness for
mission service was ordained to the work of the
Gospel ministry, and Mr. Noble found him a
worthy co-adjutor. Mrs. Sharkey entered heartily
into the work of the mission and made herself
greatly useful in establishing and teaching a
school for girls. A boarding-school under Mrs.
Sharkey's superintendence was eventually estab-
lished. Of work among the sisters of the stu-
dents in his school Mr. Noble wrote, '' We sadly
want some ladies of piety and education from
England for this interesting work." To his
sister he said, '' You tell me to let you know
before you send another box what I want. I

Robert T. Noble 281

want Lettie and Ellen (the eldest daughters of
the families of his brother and sister.") What
do you say to that? We have nobody to speak
of Jesus to the nice young Hindu girls who grow
up in the midst of utter ignorance and supersti-
tion."

In the beginning of 1849 ^ school for the chil-
dren of the lower castes was opened and this
speedily became popular, its teachers being drawn
from the parent school. The High School con-
tinued to grow in favour and the public examin-
ations were honoured by the presence of the prin-
cipal European residents of the station, as well as
by a large number of influential native gentle-
men. On these occasions, the Scripture examina-
tions always proved an interesting feature.

Converts having increased, a church was or-
ganized in Masulipatam and an encouraging
evangelistic work was begun in the surrounding
villages. In July, 1852, two high caste youths
nineteen years of age, from the High School,
where for five years they had been under instruc-
tion, came to Mr. Noble declaring their earnest
wish to be enrolled as Christians. They had for-
saken the idolatrous faith in which they had
been reared. Persecution they felt assured would
follow a public avowal of their faith in Christ,
and they craved the protection of the missionary.
The baptism of these two young men caused
great excitement throughout the city. The par-
ents and friends tried to remove them by force.

282 Men of Might in India Missions

The matter was at length brought before the
magistrate, who after an examination gave this
decision : '' The young men are of full age, are in
their right minds, and voluntary agents. They
must therefore be left to choose not only their
religious faith but their guardians." Knowing
well that with their friends there was no safety,
the young men placed themselves under Mr.
Noble's care. It was for him a time of great
anxiety, and fearing violence, for nine nights his
clothes were not removed. In consequence of
these baptisms the numbers in the school were
reduced to thirteen. The two young men con-
tinued to reside with Mr. Noble and remained
steadfast. Both became ordained ministers of
the Gospel and were faithful and diligent in the
discharge of their duties.

In March, 1855, two intelligent young Brah-
mins and a young Mohammedan, students from
the High School, received Christian baptism.
There was at this time less general excitement
than on the occasion previousl}^ mentioned, but
there was not less mourning on the part of the
relatives. The grief of the aged mother of one
of the converts was touching in the extreme, and
no less so, the sorrow of the father bowed down
with the weight of more than eighty years. *' I
felt ill for several hours after the interview of
the young man with his parents," wrote Mr.
Noble. Three more were by these baptisms added
to the household of the missionary, as their rela-

Robert T. Noble 283

tives refused to receive them. One of these three
converts became a distinguished scholar and as-
sisted Mr. Noble in the High School.

When the mission had been strengthened by
two European missionaries from home, Mr.
Noble's friends urged his return to his native land
for a season, but to all such appeals he returned
the same answer — he would remain at his post
until he could see the mission and schools well
supplied with educated teachers of humble, earn-
est piety, then he would come home, or die in
India, whichever the Lord should please.

The work in the schools of Masulipatam had a
good report in all the region round about. Sir
Charles Trevelyan, when Governor of Madras,
in a minute dated October, 1859, said, *' I had
not been on shore a day at Masulipatam before
1 became sensible of the great benefits which Mr.
Noble, the manager of the Church Mission
schools, has conferred upon the Northern Circars
by preparing so many intelligent and well-
educated natives for the public service. Masulip-
atam bids fair to become to the Northern Circars
more than Oxford and Cambridge have been to
the United Kingdom." In an address before the
pupils of the High School, the Governor con-
gratulated the students on the advantages they
enjoyed in being under the tuition of a man of
such character and attainments as Mr. Noble
whose influence on the rising generation he began
to feel as soon as he landed at Coconada.

a84 Men of Might in India Missions

While labouring for the spiritual up-lifting of
the higher classes, Mr. Noble desired to do all in
his power to lift to a higher plane, socially,
morally and spiritually, the depressed classes.
** Our young Brahmins," he wrote, " after they
have embraced Christianity observe no caste, and
caste is not observed in our Christian community."

In September, i860, two young Brahmins,
among the most intelligent and promising pupils
in the school, renounced Hinduism and embraced
Christianity. Two others joined these and were
baptised. In consequence the numbers in atten-
dance on the High School were greatly reduced.
Steadily the number of those claiming Mr. Noble's
care and protection increased. In a letter to one
of his brothers, he said, " I should like to show
you my sons. Two are preparing for ordination
in February. These aid in our schools. Four
more are diligent students. You would like to
have taken a peep at us on Saturday evening.
They, their wives and their children all take their
evening meal with me. One of our first converts
has had lately the happiness of welcoming his
widowed mother and his uncle into the fold of
the Good Shepherd."

In 1863 Mr. Noble wrote to a friend, " For
twenty-two years I have longed in vain to see a
Zenana Mission commenced for the sisters and
relatives of our boys. Perhaps I am not wrong
in saying that the heart of Satan's influence and
power is in the bosom of the Hindu family."

THE PIONEERS
William Carey Christian F. Schwartz

Auguste Francke

Bartholomew Ziegenbalg

Robert T. Noble 285

On the night of November ist, 1864, the city
of MasuHpatam and the adjacent country were
visited by a terrible hurricane. The sea rose and
swept more than twelve feet deep over the high-
est springtide. Between 35,000 and 40,000
perished during the awful visitation, and cattle
and other living creatures innumerable were de-
stroyed. In MasuHpatam alone 15,000 people
perished, while four-fifths of the houses in the
city were swept away. The day from the early
morning had been windy, and before five o'clock
in the afternoon, as it was too dark to continue
the lessons, the teachers and pupils of the mission
schools returned to their homes. The wind con-
tinued to increase in violence as the darkness
deepened, and the rain descended in torrents.
About eleven o'clock at night the terrible truth
was forced upon the terror-stricken inhabitants
that the sea was rushing upon them. Mr. Noble
in his house, surrounded by his sons in the faith
and their families, did all in his power to reassure
them, but when there seemed little hope that they
could be saved, as the water within the house
rose rapidly, though all the outer doors had been
secured by bolts and bars, he offered a short
prayer, shook hands with all and calmly awaited
the result. After midnight the water began to
recede. The dawn revealed a scene of almost
unparalleled desolation not only as regarded
property but human life. From Mrs. Sharkey's
boarding-school, thirty-three children were miss-

286 Men of Might in India Missions

ing. As they were swept away by the in-rushing
sea which had burst open doors and windows,
their voices were heard in prayer. There was
scarcely a Christian family that was not mourn-
ing die loss of those carried away by the sea on
that awful night. Except a spot here and there,
all the country was under water. The hurricane
had spread its ravages over sixty miles of open
country and left ruin and desolation in its track.
The missionaries escaped with their lives, but the
pecuniary losses vv'ere great, and the school-build-
ing was a wreck.

From the shock of this terrible visitation the
veteran missionary never recovered. On the 13th
of the following December he wrote to one of his
colleagues, " We reopen, please God, our school
to-morrow. I am not strong enough to be there.
Jesus will. I have greatly enjoyed being laid
aside for a few days. How good it is to be laid
aside ! How good it is to be separated from our
ordinary work and duty! How sweet God's
Word ! "

During this interval when unable to be en-
gaged in his accustomed duties, he decided " to
take a holiday " — not from the place, but only
that he might review and assort his papers which
had accumulated for years. Perhaps he had even
then heard the voice of his Master calling him
away. Masulipatam had by this time become very
unhealthy. " No spot in the town is free from
infected air and scarcely any house from sick-

Robert T. Noble 287

ness," wrote one of the pupils of the High School.
" Dear Mr. Noble's health, I am afraid, is very
much shattered, but the good old father of the
mission never thinks of going away for a
change."

One of Mr. Noble's European friends hearing
of his enfeebled condition wrote urging him to
come up to the Neilgherry hills where the air was
delightfully cool and salubrious, but he declined
the tempting invitation. *' The natives are very
full of fears," he wrote. " A good deal of sick-
ness has prevailed in the town, and as my dear
young native converts, forsaking home and friends
have come to me, I feel I cannot desert them in
this time of fear and danger and perplexity."

A letter was sent to one of his brothers four
months after the cyclone giving further particu-
lars of the great disaster. One other letter fol-
lowed this, and it was perhaps the last he ever
wrote. It related chiefly to work among the
women of Masulipatam. " More than twenty-
four years have now passed," he wrote, " with-
out anything being done in this department, yet,
dearest brother, I hope you will use your utmost
exertions to have agents sent."

This last appeal was followed in October by a
cablegram from India, *' Noble is dead." A letter
from Mr. Sharkey, who had laboured with Mr.
Noble from the beginning, written on the i8th
of October, 1865, the day following his decease,
said, " Our medium of union is gone. The mis-

288 Men of Might in India Missions

sion has lost, as it were, its crown, its man of
prayer, of faith and patience. The father of the
mission has gone."

The funeral was attended by all the European
residents of the place and by thousands of natives,
for all mourned the loss of the excellent mission-
ary. The heathen regarded him as a man of great
sanctity, and he was held in the highest esteem
by his own countrymen.

The native gentlemen of Masulipatam called a
meeting to raise a memorial to their departed
friend. This was attended by a large number
and the addresses made were eloquent with the
praises of the man whose memory they wished to
honour. " His name," said one, " was significant.
He was Noble by name, noble in mind, noble in
action, noble in purpose, endowed with noble
faculties — he was altogether noble. This man
gave himself body and soul to the people among
whom he had come to live and to labour. He has
left behind him a glorious name and an imperish-
able fame ; and if you seek for a monument look
around. There are living monuments, the re-
sults of his labour." It was proposed to perpetu-
ate his memory by founding scholarships called
after his name, and at this meeting 1,290 rupees
were subscribed toward this object.

Though Mr. Noble felt that he was commis-
sioned especially to make known the Gospel to the
unevangelised in India, he was ready to do good
to all as he had opportunity. One single instance

Robert T. Noble 289

may suffice. On his first journey from Madras
to Masulipatam, he fell in with a native who was
very ill and he felt that it was his duty to act the
part of the good Samaritan to his suffering
brother. He accordingly made a halt in his jour-
ney to administer medicine and to watch its ef-
fects. This delay made a change in his plans
necessary. He had intended to spend the Sab-
bath with Christian friends in Ongole, but was
obliged instead to spend it in the jungle, and
this was a great disappointment. On arrival at
the little rest-house provided for travellers he
learned from the man in charge that a young
European officer was expected and the thought at
once came to him, that the Lord had work for
him to do there in the wilderness; and so it
proved. The young man was the son of godly
parents, but in a heathen land he had wandered
far from the right way. During the hours of that
quiet Sabbath Mr. Noble won the confidence of
the young officer and before the sun went down
he had resolved, with the help of God, to begin
a new life. Before they parted on the following
morning, Mr. Noble again urged the young man
to follow Christ fully. This was the beginning
of a new career for the repentant prodigal who
from this time set his face heavenward. To Mr.
Noble this was cause for unspeakable thankful-
ness, the more especially as while still a very
young man this officer was stricken with cholera
while on a tour and died after an illness of only

290 Men of Might in India Missions

six hours. To a Christian friend, who was with
him he said, '' All is well. In health I gave my
heart to Christ." Of his interest in his young
countrymen, exposed to peculiar temptations in
India, Mr. Noble said at one time, " I can hardly
look upon a young man without tears."

Stimulated by the movement among the native
gentlemen of Masulipatam and in accordance with
the wishes of many Europeans, the Correspond-
ing Committee of the Church Missionary Society
at Madras issued an appeal on behalf of a
memorial to the man whose loss all so deeply de-
plored. It was felt that as a missionary, Mr.
Noble stood in the foremost rank. Before he
began his great work, there was scarcely a well-
educated native in the Masulipatam District.
When he passed away there were hundreds, and
Government officials of high rank bore testimony
to the character for truthfulness and courtesy and
the high tone of morality which characterised the
subordinate officials of Government who had re-
ceived their education in this school. The Insti-
tution at Masulipatam had not inappropriately
been called '* the Cambridge of South India."
Through the instrumentality of this school Chris-
tian school-masters had been raised up and a
body of native clergymen sent forth to preach the
Gospel.

It had been Mr. Noble's desire to erect a more
commodious and more suitable building for his
school, and with this object in view he had begun

Robert T. Noble 291

to collect materials, but these were all swept away
by the cyclone. It was proposed in the appeal
sent forth by the European friends of Mr. Noble
to raise funds for the erection of a fine building
to be called the Noble College, and to found in
connection with it two Noble masterships, and
also to build a house for the accommodation of
such converts to Christianity from the College as
should be thrust out from their homes by their
relatives.

Among those missionaries in India w^ho have
left behind them noble records because of the
work they have done in the cause of Christian
education, Alexander Duff, of Calcutta, John
Wilson, of Bombay, and John Anderson, of
Madras, stand pre-eminent. Beside these master-
workmen Robert Noble, of Masulipatam, may
fittingly find a place.

XII

ISIDOR LOEWENTHAL

1855-1864

Late in the afternoon of a November day
in 1846, when rain was falHng drearily, a
stranger came to the house of the late
Rev. S. M. Gayley, living near Wilmington,
Delaware. He was a young man of diminutive
stature and carried on one arm a basket con-
taining thread, needles and other small articles
which he offered for sale. Very forlorn he
looked, drenched with rain, insufficiently clad and
shivering with cold. To help one who seemed
in dire need, a part of his small stock was pur-
chased. Then silently the young man covered
the remaining articles to shield them from injury
by the storm and turned slowly toward the door.
But he had come to a household where hearts
beat kindly. Mr. Gayley entered the room just
as the stranger was about to pass out. and gave
him a cordial invitation to spend the night under
his roof, an invitation which was most gratefully
accepted.

Engaging his guest in conversation during the

292

Isldor Loewenthal 293

evening, Mr. Gayley found that he possessed
more than ordinary abihty and was an accom-
plished Hnguist, that he had not only a good
knowledge of Hebrew, but was acquainted with
several of the modem languages. It was cer-
tainly a pity, he reflected, that a man of such at-
tainments, should be engaged as a peddler. He
accordingly invited him to remain for a time in
his house, while he would try to secure for him
a position as a teacher.

The young man who had been brought provi-
dentially to this Christian home was Isidor Loew-
enthal, the son of Jewish parents, and born in
the city of Posen, in Prussian Poland, in the
year 1827. He was the eldest of a family of
eight children. While the father had little regard
for Judaism, though observing its principal rites
and ceremonies, his mother adhered strictly to
the traditions of the Rabbis, and instructed her
children carefully in the tenets of the Jewish
faith.

At a very early age Isidor was placed in a
Jewish school, where he acquired the rudiments
of science, learned to read the Hebrew text, and
to repeat prayers which he did not understand.
The boy made rapid strides in learning and gave
evidence of the possession of unusual mental
gifts. While still very young he entered the
Gymnasium of his native city, where he studied
the ancient classics, natural science, metaphysics,
mathematics, music, Hebrew, and several of the

294 Men of Might in India Missions

modern languages. At the age of seventeen Isi-
dor had passed successfully through the entire
course of study usually taught at such institu-
tions.

His father felt that having bestowed upon his
son a liberal education he should now put to
practical use the knowledge he had acquired, and
accordingly made arrangements to place him as
a clerk in a mercantile house in Posen. But the
young man showed little aptitude for business,
much to the disappointment of his father. All
his leisure hours were devoted to his favourite
studies. He greatly desired to enter one of the
German universities and arrangements for this
were completed when an event occurred which
changed the whole course of his life and made
him henceforth an exile from his native land.

He had found associations with educated young
men who had imbibed liberal political sentiments.
Young Loewenthal was in full sympathy with
such views and was not careful to conceal his
opinions. An original poem containing senti-
ments adverse to Government appeared in one of
the public journals. It was traced to Loewenthal,
with the result that he was brought under the
notice of the police. Finding that he was in
danger of arrest he fled from home and with
difficulty escaped to Hamburg, from whence he
took passage on board an English ship for New
York, where he arrived in the autumn of 1846.
He was now safe from pursuit, but he was alone

Isidor Loewenthal 295

in a strange land, almost destitute of means, and
ignorant of the English language.

He tried to find employment in New York, but
not meeting with success he went to Philadelphia,
but here, too, he found every door closed against
him. If there was no employment for him in the
cities, surely he could find work in the country,
he reasoned. From one farm-house to another
he wearily made his way, offering his services
for such wages as the farmers might choose to
give him. Looking at his small stature, and find-
ing that he was quite unacquainted with farm-
work, no one was willing even to give him a
trial.

His purse was now very light and his heart
very heavy. As a last resort he invested his little
all in a small stock of thread, needles, buttons,
etc., and with his basket on his arm set out as a
pedlar. Happily his experience in this field was
brief and a brighter career opened before the deso-
late stranger. Mr. Gayley was able to secure
for him the position of teacher of French and
German in Lafayette College. Mr. Loewenthal
entered upon his congenial duties in the begin-
ning of 1847. He had by this time acquired
some knowledge of the English language, but
not content with his attainments, with untiring
industry, he addressed himself to study, and at
the close of the session could both speak and
write English with classical purity, and in a
short time he had acquired a considerable knowl-

2g6 Men of Might in India Missions

edge of English literature. Not only were his
hours of leisure from college duty devoted to
study, but long hours of the night and sometimes
whole nights were spent over his books. One of
Mr. Loewenthal's characteristics was an iron will
which enabled him to bend all his energies to the
accomplishment of whatever he undertook. An-
other distinguishing feature of his strongly
marked character was a marvellously retentive
memory which held for practical use whatever
knowledge he in any way acquired.

When he began life in a strange land Mr.
Loewenthal resolved not to disclose his lineage.
Accordingly during the time spent in Mr. Gay-
ley's home that gentleman received no intimation
that the stranger under his roof was a son of
Abraham. This fact he first learned through a
letter from Mr. Loewenthal some time afterward.
To Mr. Gayley he owed more than a home when
he was homeless, and kindly interest when he had
not a friend in the new world. Under his roof
he received his first religious impressions and
became convinced of the truth of Christianity.
This good news he communicated to his bene-
factor in a letter written in July, 1847. In that
letter he told him how as his guest he had felt
that he could not without rudeness absent him-
self from the morning and evening devotions of
the family; how the word of God read on these
occasions and the earnest supplications offered

Isidor Loewenthal 297

led him to feel that he had an immortal soul, a
soul in danger ; how, although he did not then
disclose his feelings to his host, he began to read
his Bible and to pray; how finally, God had re-
moved the evil from his heart and had revealed
to him Jesus as his Saviour.

In the autumn of 1847, while on a visit to Mr.
Gayley, during a vacation in the College, Mr.
Loewenthal made a public profession of his faith
in Christ as the true Messiah, was baptised and
received into the Rockland Presbyterian Church
to which Mr. Gayley then ministered. Soon after
this event he entered the senior class of Lafay-
ette College and graduated with honour. He then
acted for some time as tutor in the College and
later as teacher of languages at Mount Holly,
devoting his leisure hours to philological studies
in which he made notable progress. In the au-
tumn of 1852 he resigned his situation at Mount
Holly and entered Princeton Theological Semi-
nary. In theological study he took the keenest
interest, but while maintaining a high rank in
this department, he still pursued his philological
studies, and as he wielded a facile and powerful
pen, was a valued contributor to the " Biblical
Repertor>^"

The Society of Inquiry in the Seminary elected
him as their essayist at the commencement exer-
cises of the class in which he graduated. He chose
for his subject ** India as a Field of Labour."

298 Men of Might in India Missions

It was a masterly production, evincing great
ability and a comprehensive knowledge of the
subject.

Having completed his course at the seminary,
Mr. Loewenthal acted for a time as tutor in
Princeton College and filled his position with
marked ability. But his heart was set on India
as the field of his future labours. He was licensed
to preach the Gospel in 1855 by the Presbytery of
New York, and in August of that year sailed for
India, where he arrived in the following No-
vember.

When, in 1834, Mission work was begun in
India by the Presbyterian Church of America,
work among the Afghans was contemplated, but
as both the men and the money sent out from
America were required for the evangelisation of
more accessible parts of the country no attempt
was then made to reach the Afghan population
Not long before Mr. Loewenthal's appointment
to India, the Executive Committee in America
had been led to consider the subject of beginning
work among the Afghans by the offer of $7,500
from a Christian military officer, Captain H.
Conran, whose duties in Attock, Peshawar and
other far northern cities had led him to feel a
deep interest in the spiritual welfare of the Af-
ghans. For the contemplated Mission it was felt
that Mr. Loewenthal's linguistic talents especially
fitted him. Although missionaries would not be

Isidor Loewenthal 299

allowed to reside in Afghanistan, yet as many of
the people came down from this northern country
to Peshawar, num.bers could thus be reached
with the Gospel, their language learned and the
Scriptures translated, so that when a door should
be opened into this closed land, there might be
a readiness to enter.

Mr. Loewenthal's first year in India was spent
in Rawal Pindi, a city two hundred miles north
of Lahore. The year was devoted to the study of
the language and rapid progress was made. Near
the end of 1856, the annual meeting of the mis-
sion was held in the station of Dehra. At its
close Mr. Loewenthal wrote to the Executive
Committee in New York : '' The Mission have
sent me to Peshawar, with a view of penetrating,
as soon as ever I can, and in whatever way pos-
sible, into closed up Afghanistan. I go with
great diffidence and tremblingly hope for the
manifest aid of the Lord."

Peshawar is a city on the borders of Afghan-
istan. The people of this city were at that time,
as they are still, the most turbulent, fanatical
and bigoted of all the peoples who are under
Britain's rule in India. English officials, both
civil and militar}% had therefore felt that it would
be exceedingly imprudent to permit any Christian
teaching among the Afghans. A Commissioner
stationed at Peshawar, said, when consulted on
the subject of allowing a missionary to reside in

300 Men of Might in India Missions

the city, that no missionary should cross the
Indus river while he was Commissioner of
Peshawar.

One afternoon, not many months after he had
made this emphatic declaration, the Commis-
sioner was sitting in the verandah of his bungalow
when a tall Afghan appeared and salaaming pro-
foundly presented a petition. The Commissioner
took it and began the reading. The next mo-
ment the Afghan's knife was plunged into the
heart of his unsuspecting victim. His successor
in office was Sir Herbert Edwardes, a man who
feared God and who felt that to permit the Gospel
to shed its rays in the dark places of the earth
would bring blessing and not disaster. / A meet-
ing had been appointed for the 19th of December,
1853, to consider the subject of a Christian Mis-
sion to Peshawar. It was the day of the Races,
and it was suggested that on this account the
meeting should be deferred. *' Put off the work
of God for a steeple-chase ! " exclaimed the godly
Commissioner. ''Never!" The meeting was
therefore held on the appointed day. The num-
ber in attendance was not large, but God was
present by His Spirit. Sir Herbert Edwardes took
the chair and spoke as one inspired, for he had
just come from his closet, where he had held
intercourse with the King of Kings.

It was decided at this meeting to ask the Church
Missionary Society to begin work in Peshawar
and an encouraging amount for the purpose was

Isidor Loewenthal 301

at this time subscribed. One English officer, sym-
pathising with the murdered Commissioner rather
than with his successor, when the paper asking
for subscriptions for the proposed Mission
reached him, wrote : *' One rupee towards a
Deane and Adams revolver for the first mission-
ary." The missionary, he felt, would need fire-
arms for his protection, and he said that mission-
aries coming to Peshawar could not exist without
the protection of his sepoys. This officer was
transferred to Meerut before the outbreak of the
mutiny there, and together with his wife was cut
down by his own sepoys at the very beginning of
the mutiny.

The first missionaries sent to Peshawar were
the Rev. C. G.^Pfander^ the Rev. Robert Clark,
and a devoted layman. Major Martin, who had
resigned his commission in the army to enter
upon the work of a missionary. All belonged to
the Church Missionary Society. They reached
Peshawar in January, 1855. Mr. Pfander began
at once to teach and to preach. A school for
boys was opened in May, and of this Mr. Clark
had charge. In addition to his other duties,
Major Martin organised the secular work of the
Mission, kept the Mission accounts, carried on a
large part of the correspondence and gave gen-
erous financial help to the infant enterprise,

Mr. Loewenthal therefore found Christian
workers in Peshawar on his arrival. Here he
was to pitch his tent, and be ready to move into

302 Men of Might in India Missions

the regions beyond as soon as the Lord should
open the way. Meanwhile he would be occupied
in study, in preaching to the people as soon as
able to use the language, and above all In pre-
paring a translation of the Holy Scriptures into
Pushtu, the language of the Afghans. The
languages spoken in Peshawar were the Hin-
dustani, Persian and Pushtu. The Hindustani
was spoken in the city and in the cantonments,
and was the official language of the Government.
The Persian was spoken by the higher and more-
educated classes, while the Pushtu was the lan-
guage spoken in the villages and by all the sur-
rounding tribes. A knowledge of Arabic was
also necessary, the better to secure attention in
argument as the population was almost exclu-
sively Mohammedan.

" Peshawar," wrote Mr. Loewenthal after he had
become somewhat acquainted with the city, " is
interesting as a sort of Alsace, a borderland be-
tween countries — the Gibraltar of the East, where
Jew and Gentile, exiled Europeans and refugee
Asiatics, Bengalis and cut-throat Afghans meet
and jostle each other. One sees ambassadors
from Yarkand, silk-dealers from Bokhara, long-
haired Belooches, close-shaven Moguls, adven-
turers from Herat, and scholars from Kanda-
har." The streets of the native city are irregular
and the houses are chiefly of mud, low and flat-
roofed Around the city runs a low mud v/all
intended as a protection against robbers. A

Isidor Loewenthal 303

quadrilateral fortress, whose walls rise to a great
height, dominates the city.

The European quarter is in striking contrast
to the native city, with its pleasant bungalows,
set in the midst of spacious compounds, gay with
flowering shrubs. The surrounding scenery is
full of grandeur. The valley is sixty miles in
length, bounded on the east by the Indus and
girt on every side by hills, some of which are
bare and rocky and others are clothed with vege-
tation. Rising above all, two hundred miles to
the south-west is the snow-capped peak of
Takht-i-Sulelman, or " Solomon's Throne.''

But other thoughts than of the grandeur of the
scenery filled the heart of the missionary as he
looked out over the enchanting prospect.
" Standing," he wrote, " before the wild range of
the Suleiman mountains, gazing evening after
evening as the sun is setting behind it, on the line
of savage, habitationless, precipitous crags, stand-
ing so distinct against the brilliant sky, following
morning after morning the strong sunlight of
these latitudes as it penetrates one by one the
rugged passes and the jagged clefts — forbidden
by man and nature to cross beyond, and knowing
that once beyond he might pass through this vast
cradle of nations, from the Khyber to the great
commercial entrepot of Yezd in one direction
and beyond the Oxus as far as Orenburg in the
other, and be everywhere almost the first to
announce the glad tidings of salvation through

304 Men of Might in India Missions

Jesus Christ, the missionary is apt to fancy these
mountains more and more insurmountable bar-
riers; sickness and exhaustion cause him to feel
his own weakness and littleness daily more keenly,
and he would be tempted to despair were there
not a voice crying in the wilderness, ' Prepare ye
the way of the Lord.' "

Of the inhabitants, Mr. Loewenthal wrote,
" The Afghan is fierce and bloodthirst}' and is
never without weapons. There is hardly a man
whose hands are not stained with blood. They
are faithless to public engagements, unless the
keeping of a promise would further their own
interests. Like all Mohammedans, they are ex-
cessively sensual. They are very avaricious and
this passion is the safeguard which the ruling
powers have against their religious frenzy and
uncontrollable ferocity; and yet the surface of
all Mussulman life is thoroughly religious. God,
if not in all their thoughts, is certainly in all
their words." The missionary, before he learned
that their words were by no means an index to
their thoughts, felt reproved when he observed
how constant was their verbal recognition of God
in all they did, and how continual the avowal of
their dependence on Him in all the common
affairs of life. The Afghan's morning salutation
is, " Peace to you." If you ask after his welfare,
he answers " Thanks to God." If you say a
storm is rising, he replies " God is great."

On the night of the nth of May, but a few

Isidor Loewenthal 305

months after Mr. Loewenthal's arrival, news
reached the officials in Pashawar of the mutiny of
the native troops in Meerut. Five days later Sir
Herbert Edwardes was summoned to Rawal Pindi
to attend a Council. Returning to Peshawar on
the 2 1 St he found a crisis impending, as during
his absence a succession of plots had been dis-
covered. Letters had been intercepted from Mo-
hammedan fanatics, exhorting the sepoys of the
disaffected regiments of Peshawar to follow the
example of the troops in Meerut. There were in
the valley two European regiments and six or
seven regiments of Sepoys; of the latter the
majority were disaffected. It was decided to dis-
arm a large proportion of these troops, and some
were sent out of the valley.

One Sikh Sirdar, on being asked why he
always inquired so anxiously about the safety of
Peshawar, replied by rolling up the end of his
scarf and saying, "If Peshawar goes, the whole
Punjab will be rolled up in rebellion Hke this."
But Peshawar was saved. The summer, however,
was one of painful anxiety. Mr. Loewenthal
wrote at this time, *' Things outwardly seem to
go on as usual, but everyone is aware that he is
standing on a mine, and that the train is laid. I
am, however, perfectly calm, without fear, and
feel content and happy."

Through all the uncertainties and trials of his
first year in this frontier city, Mr. Loewenthal
had diligently improved his time in the study of

3o6 Men of Might in India Missions

the languages, and could say that he had in some
small measure succeeded in acquiring the collo-
quial use of the Persian language, but had failed
as yet in making himself master of the Pushtu."
The inherent difficulties of the language, the want
of proper helps, the difficulty of access to the
people speaking it, and the excessive heat which
had prevailed for several months of the year are
some of the reasons given why his progress in
the Pushtu had been less rapid than he desired.

Unable to penetrate into the Afghan country
beyond Peshawar, Mr. Loewenthal kept con-
tinually in mind the thought of evangelising the
people of this closed land through the press, es-
pecially through the Word of God translated into
Pushtu, which is spoken from the Indus in the
East, to Herat in the West, and from the Hindu
Kush in the North, to the deserts of Beluchistan
in the South, an extent of country larger than the
whole of France.

In the beginning of the nineteenth century, Dr.
Leyden, the professor of Hindustani in the Col-
lege of Fort William, Calcutta, made the first
attempt to produce a Pushtu translation of the
Scriptures. In 1811 a translation of the Gospels
of Matthew and Mark into this language was
completed. At Dr. Leyden's death, the year
following, the translation was continued under
the superintendence of the Serampore mission-
aries, by the scribe previously employed by Dr.
Leyden. An edition of the entire New Testa-

Isidor Loewenthal 307

ment, in this language, was printed at Seram-
pore in 18 18. A few copies of this edition found
their way into European Hbraries, and some,
doubtless reached Afghanistan through Afghan
merchants who carried the fruits of Kabul as far
as Calcutta. When Lieutenant (afterwards Sir
Herbert Edwardes) was sent by the Government
to the Bannu District, in the year 1848, he found
a copy of the New Testament in Pushtu .in the
hands of an Afghan. It had been given him at
Hardwar, when as a boy he had accompanied his
relatives to the great fair held at this place, with
the injunction to take care of the Book and
neither fling it into the river or the fire, but pre-
serve it until the day when the British should be
rulers of his country. The man had kept the
Book wrapped carefully in many folds of cloth,
and perhaps had never read a page of the Sacred
Volume, or allowed any one else to do so.

When Missionary work was begun in Lodiana
by the Presbyterian Church of America in
1834 copies of the Serampore Pushtu version of
the New Testament were given to the Afghans
found there, many of whom had accompanied
their exiled King, Shah Shujah, to this place.
At the time of Mr. Loewenthal's residence in
Peshawar, very few copies of this edition ex-
isted. After careful examination it was decided
not to print this version, but instead, to prepare
a new translation.

In the year 1821 the Serampore missionaries

3o8 Men of Might in India Missions

had issued an edition of the Pentateuch in Push-
tu, and in 1832 the historical books of the Old
Testament in the same language had also been
issued, but of these portions of the Old Testament
Mr. Loewenthal was unable to procure even a
single copy.

As soon as he felt himself sufficiently familiar
with the language he began a translation of the
New Testament Scriptures into Pushtu. Prog-
ress was necessarily slow in the beginning of
such an enterprise, but the diligent missionary
was not discouraged. Nor was he faint of heart
because there seemed no immediate prospect of
penetrating into Afghanistan. In reference to
this he said : ^' Though at this moment, Afghan-
...istan seems closed, events which may take the
most sagacious statesmen and diplomatists by
surprise may furnish the key and suddenly the
gates may burst open. At that moment let the
Church be ready to go in and possess. Though
like Achaean warriors we may have been lying
;ten years before the impregnable city, every mo-
i ment of that time may have been needed to fit us

I for the final conquest. The representatives of
the world, the merchant and the soldier, will be
ready for the juncture ; the philanthropist and the
political economist will offer to this people their

; civilisation. But what is civilisation without the

' Gospel?"

Life on the borders of a wild countr}^ like
Afghanistan, even in peaceful times, was not

Isidor Loewenthal 309

without its excitement. Writing to his friends in
America in February, 1858, Mr. Loewenthal
said : *' After my recovery from a severe attack
of fever, I had planned an expedition into the
Yusufzoy country when a sudden attack of the
Afghans upon an Assistant Commissioner's camp,
in which his tents were burned, five of his serv-
ants killed, some horses of his escort carried
away and he himself narrowly escaped with his
life, warned me that the time was not yet. Rob-
beries, many connected with murders, are of
nightly occurrence in the city. Some thieves,
about three weeks ago, dug into my house, ran-
sacked it and came to the bed where I enjoyed
a very sound sleep, but did no harm beyond car-
rying off what clothes they could find and some
cooking furniture. They also took out a large
and costly Persian manuscript, but not being of a
literary turn, they left it outside, where I found
it in the morning, together with the trunks they
had emptied. They might have done much more
mischief, and it is hard to tell why they did not.
The Lord is very good."

The year 1859 passed tranquilly. Mr. Loew-
enthal was occupied in preaching and in trans-
lating the Scriptures into Pushtu. This latter
branch of labour was most congenial to him, and
as he gained in experience, his conviction of the
supreme importance of his work, deepened. A
Pushtu translation of the Holy Scriptures would
reach a larger proportion of the Afghans than

3IO Men of Might in India Missions

would a translation of the Scriptures into the
Persian language, as only the more highly edu-
cated among them were acquainted with the Per-
sian. '' It is rare," observes Mr. Loewenthal,
" to receive much assistance from the Afghan
writers in the investigation of truth. There is no
cultivation of their language and literature going
on at this time, and the epoch seems propitious
for the creation of a new, a Christian litera-
ture. Reading is very much left to the women
now ; a state of things which can hardly be true
of any other part of India. The women can tell
you in rhyme and metre what twenty-five things
make a prayer nugatory, or what is meant by
saying that God has neither quiddity nor quan-
tity, etc."

' " Free-spoken are these Afghans," he wrote on
another occasion. " You priests read," they say
sometimes, " because you are paid for it. Pay
us, and we will read, too, even your Holy Book,
if you will. Nobody reads to be instructed. Why
should we read ? " Mr. Loewenthal found in his
intercourse with these stalwart men of the North
what the missionary finds in other parts of India,
the lamentable absence of a sense of sin and of
the necessity of a Saviour, the only basis of real
religion. '* Where is the standing-ground then
to be found ? " asks Mr. Loewenthal in one of
his letters, " from which to work the lever of con-
version? Theoretically and speculatively the an-
swer may be difficult; practically, it is not; men

Isidor Loewenthal 311

have been converted; this one fact outweighs
all theories and calculations to the contrary, and
the most satisfying consideration is that conver-
sion is not man's work; the missionary is sent
simply to preach the Gospel, and no nation, as-
suredly, even in a mere moral and political point
of view needs the Gospel more than the Af-
ghans."

Mr. Loewenthal preached in the city in Pushtu
when his audience consisted chiefly of people
drawn from the villages, but Persian was the lan-
guage usually employed. Frequent visits were
made to the villages in the vicinity of Peshawar.
The discussions and conversations in the bazaars
of the city and in the villages procured for the
missionary frequent visits from so-called learned
men who came rather to air their erudition and to
confound the missionary than to seek instruction.
With the desire of the missionary to be courteous
to all there was a jealousy of the precious hours
that he feared were but wasted in fruitless discus-
sions. " The Afghans are the greatest idlers imag-
inable," he wrote, " and waste many a day for the
missionary." Discussions were occasionally held
in the vicinity of some city mosque, but from those
encounters he usually returned burdened with the
conviction, that no real good had been accom-
pHshed.

From time to time professed inquirers after
the truth presented themselves, but when put to
the test of sincerity which the missionary thought

312 Men of Might in India Missions

it right and wise to apply, and which consisted
in a willingness to work for their bread, they
were frequently found wanting.

Mr. Loewenthal mentions in one of his letters
how and why an inquirer came to him to be in-
structed. The man had fallen into perils among
his own countrymen. He had been persecuted and
oppressed, and to crown all, his wife had been
carried away while he was absent from home
and the offender refused to restore her. Beside
himself with sorrow and anger the man ran
through the streets and bazaars of Kabul crying
out that religion and truth, morality and faith
had departed from Islam, that the religion of the
Mohammedans was cruelty, oppression and
wrong, and that he was going to Peshawar, where
the English ruled, and would there become a
Christian. He did not find it so easy a matter as
he had thought, to change his faith. When he
made inquiries on the subject, of either Hindu or
Mohammedan, he was told that every one must
remain in the faith in which he was born. One
day a Jew passed the shop in which the much-
perplexed man was working as a cobbler, and
this man was pointed out to Mushki, the Kabuli,
as one who had become a Christian. Accosting
the Jewish stranger he asked him who had made
him a Christian; and he was at once conducted
to Mr. Loewenthal. " A wonderful specimen of
humanity he was," said Mr. Loewenthal. " His
language was neither Persian nor Pushtu. He

Isldor Loewenthal 313

called it Kabuli, and after a good deal of close
attention I found that it was a curiously dipped
kind of Persian. But one's tongue gets to be very
loose in this Asiatic Babel, and in a few days I
could talk as bad Persian as any Kabul cockney.
The entire extent of Mushki's religious knowl-
edge consisted in this — there is one God and Mo-
hammed is his prophet. His memory was mar-
vellous. To read to Mushki the Lord's Prayer
three times was sufficient to enable him to repeat
it accurately. Doctrines until then quite new to
him, presented to him clearly once, thenceforth
became his property for aye. He was ready to
confess himself a sinner, but had no conception of
guilt. That he was inquiring concerning the
Christian religion, gave him, he maintained, a
sufficient claim to support, and he refused to
engage in any employment." Mr. Loewenthal
was eventually obliged to withdraw his support.
The man then began to wander about the country,
calling himself a Christian.

Although Mr. Loewenthal's chief employment
was the translation of the Scriptures into Pushtu,
yet he did not neglect the work of preaching.
Very frequently he preached to great crowds of
" vociferous, fanatical, gainsaying people," some
of whom came to his house for more quiet dis-
cussions.

In the summer of 1862, Mr. Loewenthal made
a tour into Kashmir. " The climate is wonder-
ful," he wrote to his friends in America, '' and the

314 Men of Might in India Missions

beauty of the valley such as to sustain the de-
scriptions of the travellers and even of poets.
Man alone, and his works are here, too, in grating
harmony with the loveliness of God's crea-
tion. I have tried to preach, but with little suc-
cess or satisfaction. Kashmiris understand only
Kashmiri, which I do not know yet. I have found
people who know Persian, but these belong to
the respectable classes who do not form the
crowds the missionary usually has to address in
bazaar preaching. Some of the latter, however,
both Hindus and Mohammedans, have been vis-
iting me in Srinagar, and thus the Gospel has
been preached to a few."

Of the hindrances to work, either in the
bazaars of the city, or in the surrounding villages
during the hot season, Mr. Loewenthal's experi-
ences coincide with the experiences of probably
every missionary on the plains of India. He
says, " I find it almost impossible to get back from
the preaching in the villages, without being ex-
posed to the sun later than I can bear it, and the
result is prostration. It is not the pain so much
which I regret, as the absolute loss of so much
time.

In the evening there is a steaming crowd in a
close bazaar with the thermometer near a hun-
dred, and not a breath of air, and loud clamour-
ing until the voice absolutely seems to refuse to
sound." But the discomfort of such experiences,

Isidor Loewenthal 315

aside from the apparent unfruitfulness, was less
trying than the conviction that he was thereby in
a great measure unfitting himself for the hterary
work which " the greatest variety of men, in
unconscious concert persisted in thrusting upon
him," so that he was often perplexed as to the
line he ought to pursue.

Mr. Loewenthal took great delight in cold
weather itinerations. On one occasion he was
travelling with the officer in charge of the Dis-
trict of Yusufoy, who moved about with a large
escort of foot and horse. He was asked by his
host not to preach in the frontier villages and
not to create any excitement. In regard to these
restrictions, he said, *' They are woful dogs, but
limping is better than not to be able to walk at
all," well knowing that only when under the
protection of so powerful an escort, would it be
possible in outlying districts, to preach the Gospel
at all. On this tour he preached in some villages
to large and attentive crowds, and in places where
he was not allowed to go to the people the people
came to him. " I am pretty well known," he
wrote, '' to many of the better classes, so as soon
as my presence was known, respectable Khans,
learned Mullahs, zealous Imams and other clean-
ly-dressed, large-turbaned Afghans crowded into
my little tent, and we had disputations all day
long. I distributed some few of the Gospels in
Pushtu and made the truth known to many."

3i6 Men of Might in India Missions

During this tour he spent the time at his com-
mand in revising and correcting his Pushtu
translation of the New Testament.

In the summer of 1862 he wrote to the Execu-
tive Committee in New York, " I hope you will
receive early next year three copies of the Push-
tu New Testament, one, as you requested, for
your Library in the Mission House, one for the
Library of Princeton Seminary, and one for the
American Oriental Society."

In the autumn of 1863 Mr. Loewenthal was
again at the front, '' accompanying a considerable
military force which it was thought would only
have a march through a hitherto unknown part
of the Afghan country and no fighting. These
circumstances Mr. Loewenthal thought favourable
to his becoming acquainted with tribes to whom
he might have access in more peaceful times, and
as a large part of the force was to consist of fron-
tier regiments, he would always have in camp
a congregation of Afghans. " I have two or
three services on Sunday in English," he wrote,
** and have also had opportunities of preaching to
the Afghans, and have even distributed some
Pushtu Gospels. I am not usually exposed to
fire; attending the wounded is one of my most
arduous duties."

Letters received in New York from India dated
the 31st of March, 1864, conveyed the tidings of
the death of the Rev. Levi Janvier, D.D., at the
hands of a Sikh fanatic. Mr. Lowenthal, after

Isidor Loewenthal 317

hearing of the death of Dr. Janvier, wrote to his
friend in England, Major H. Conran, whose gen-
erous gift had opened the way for the beginning
by the Presbyterian Church of America of a
Mission to the Afghans, *' Strange it is that such
an eminent and useful man should have been cut
off in his prime. Why was not I taken and he
spared ? " But the end of life for him also was
nearer than he dreamed. Dr. Janvier met his
death on the 24th of March. On the night of the
27th of the following April Mr. Loewenthal was
in his library deeply engrossed in study. The
hour of midnight came, but it passed unheeded.
An hour or two longer his fascinating studies
held him, then pushing aside his books, he walked
out into the cool night air, as was his custom
before seeking his couch. He was in his own
garden, with no thought of danger. There was
the sharp report of a pistol, and Mr. Loewenthal
dropped to the ground, the ball having pene-
trated his forehead. He had been shot by his
own watchman, who, it was said, took his master
for a robber. Thus passed away one of the most
remarkable men that India has ever l<Tiown. He
had spent only seven years in Peshawar, yet in
that brief period he had made himself acquainted
with the Pushtu, and had translated into this
difficult language the whole of the New Testa-
ment, and put the same through the press. He
had also nearly completed a Pushtu dictionary.
He could preach with facility in the Pushtu, Per-

3i8 Men of Might in India Missions

sian, Hindustani and Arabic languages. It has
been said that probably no other foreigner at that
time in India, had so thorough a knowledge of
Asiatic literature and so intimate an acquaintance
with the manners and customs of the people of the
land and with Oriental politics as he. He had a
thorough knowledge of the religious system of the
people, and as a disputant with Mohammedans
and other religionists he was a master. His
library, which filled the four sides of his study,
the higher shelves reached by a ladder, contained
the rarest books and most ancient manuscripts to
be found in any private library in India.

He enjoyed the friendship of men of the high-
est rank in both the civil and the military service
in India. He possessed genius in the truest
sense. His versatility was marvellous, he having
what is exceedingly rare, a seemingly equal apti-
tude for all branches of study, excelling in what-
ever he undertook. He was an accomplished mu-
sician, mathematician, metaphysician, and pre-
eminently a linguist. As a philologist he stood
in the front rank. He conducted a large corres-
pondence and was a valued contributor to British
and American quarterlies. He had fine conver-
sational powers, and in the social circle was a de-
lightful companion. As a Christian he was sin-
cere, humble, devout and zealous.

After the death of Mr. Loewenthal, Major
Conran did not lose interest in his " pet project "
of opening the way for a mission into Afghanis-

Isidor Loewenthal 319

tan. He put aside a sum of money for this pur-
pose and corresponded with the Mission Commit-
tee in New York in reference to supplying the
place of the fallen missionary. The way to this
did not seem plain. " Feeling my strength fail-
ing," wrote Major Conran to a friend in India,
" as I knew not the day of my death, I felt the re-
sponsibility of keeping the Lord's money idle,
perhaps to fall into unworthy hands, and made
it over to another society."

Afghanistan still remains a closed land, but the
wild inhabitants of the regions beyond Peshawar
have now the Gospel in their own language and
one day the missionary will enter in " to plant
the Cross and teach the Book."

Standing beside the grave in the beautiful Eng-
lish cemetery in Peshawar where rest the remains
of Isidor Loewenthal, and looking out over the
hills surrounding the valley and beyond which he
so longed to penetrate, we have thought that per-
haps God has now revealed to him the reason
why he was held back from entering Afghanistan
with the Gospel.

While not yielding to a feeling of impatience
because there are yet lands closed to the heralds
of the Cross, let us unite in the prayer contained
in the old Church litany of the Moravians, —
" Keep our doors open among the heathen, and
open those that are shut."

XIII

SAMUEL HENRY KELLOGG

1 864- 1 899

Samuel Henry Kellogg was a child of the
manse, a son of the Rev. Samuel Kellogg, a
Presbyterian minister. His mother's maiden name
was Mary P. Henry. He was born at Quiogue,
Suffolk Co., Long Island, September 6th, 1839.
At a very early age the boy evinced surprising
mental activity. A veritable interrogation point,
the precocious child asked questions which it was
difficult to answer. No priggish boy was he, but
remarkable for docility and studiousness, and at
the same time full of active interest in all the
amusements and sports for which wide-awake
boyhood is distinguished.

When quite young, he had a dangerous illness.
All hope of recovery had been relinquished, and
around the couch on which the unconscious boy
was lying, the sorrowing friends were gathered in
anticipation of the end. A devout woman, a mem-
ber of his father's congregation, gave herself to
prayer for the recovery of the child. " God has
320

Samuel Henry Kellogg 321

granted my petition," she said at length. " The
boy will live, and will yet preach the Gospel."

He was prepared for college chiefly by his par-
ents, his mother, energetic and efficient, taking no
small part in guiding and aiding her apt scholar
in his home studies. This son when grown to
manhood told with affectionate pride of the les-
sons in Latin given him by his mother as she
went about her household avocations, while he
followed her book in hand.

In 1856 he became a student of Williams Col-
lege, but ill health compelled him to leave college
after spending one session there. Two years
later he entered Princeton College and graduated
with honours in 1861.

One of his classmates, the Rev. W. J. P. Mor-
rison, a missionary at Dehra, India, in an address
delivered at the Memorial Service held in Lan-
dour, August i8th, 1899, said, " Of the one hun-
dred members of the class of 1861 in Princeton
College, there were two young men who, by the
award of the Professors, and the judgment of the
students, took easily the first rank among us in
scholarship, mental power and character. * * *
Though they were rivals for college honours, yet
theirs was an honourable rivalry, which rather
cemented than interfered with the intimacy of
their friendships. These were Samuel H. Kellogg
and Samuel S. Mitchell."

When he entered Princeton College his sim-
plicity in dress, his unassuming manners, retiring

322 Men of Might in India Missions

disposition, and deeply religious character, ex-
cited the ridicule of some of his fellow-students ;
but as he without ostentation, by unremitting
diligence and vigour of intellect, made his way
to the head of his classes, and carried off the
prizes, he commanded the respect, and won the
admiration of all.

The year of his graduation was the year of his
mother's death, and her loss was deeply felt by
this affectionate son.

He pursued his theological studies in Princeton,
completing his course in 1864. Two years before,
he had been appointed tutor of mathematics in
the college, " and had he not sacrificed brilliant
prospects at home in order that he might give his
life to India, he would no doubt have soon been
called to a Professor's chair."

From his childhood he had been a diligent stu-
dent of the Scriptures, nor were these studies in-
terrupted by his engrossing college duties. While
a student he pubHshed a tract entitled " A Living
Christ." This expressed what Christ was to him
then and all through his life.

In the quiet manse where his boyhood was
spent he became familiar with the missionary
publications of his own and other Churches. His
thoughts were turned definitely to missionary
work as a vocation, and to India as a field of
labour, through a sermon preached in the First
Presbyterian Church of Princeton, by the Rev.
Henry M. Scudder, D.D., on the eve of his re-

Samuel Henry Kellogg 2^^^

turn to India. Could the brilliant young phy-
sician, Dr. John Scudder, the father of Dr. Henry
M. Scudder, when in 1819 he reliquished pros-
pects in all respects the most flattering, for a mis-
sionary career in India, have looked forward to
that day when a sermon from his own dis-
tinguished missionary son would be used by God
in calling to India a man chosen of the Lord to
do a great work for Him, how would his heart
have been rejoiced !

On the 20th of April, 1864, Mr. Kellogg was
ordained a missionary to India by the Presbytery
of Hudson. Before leaving America he was
united in marriage to Miss Antoinette W. Hart-
well, of Montrose, Pa. In company with several
other missionaries the young couple sailed from
Boston on the 20th of the following December,
in a merchant vessel bearing a cargo of ice to
Ceylon. On the third day out they were struck
by a cyclone, in which their Christian captain was
washed overboard, and the ship barely escaped
foundering. The loss of the captain placed an
officer in command who was soon found to be en-
tirely unfitted for such a charge. On account of
his ignorance of the art of seamanship, and his
brutality, a plot was laid by the crew to rid
themselves of him as a commander. Happily
this was discovered and suppressed. As a last
resort in a dire extremity, the new commander,
having accidentally discovered that Mr. Kellogg
had studied navigation to some purpose, asked

324 Men of Might in India Missions

him to take the daily observations, doubtless feel-
ing that the vessel would be safer in the hands
of the young missionary than in his own. Thus
in less than a week after leaving Boston Mr. Kel-
logg found himself in charge of the nautical li-
brary and instruments of the late captain. He
took the necessary daily observations, and acted
as navigator until they reached Ceylon, not in
one hundred days as they had hoped to do on leav-
ing Boston but in one hundred and forty-five days.
They had made the Cape of Good Hope in fifty
days, but the nominal commander, in opposition
to the urgent representations of Mr. Kellogg, as
to the course which ought to be taken, took a
course which greatly lengthened the voyage.

They reached Calcutta in May, one of the hot-
test months of the year in India, and the journey
to their field of labour in the Northwest Provinces
was, in consequence, most trying. On their ar-
rival in Barhpur,* a station of the Furrukhabad
Mission, to which they had been appointed, Mr.
Kellogg gave himself with all the ardour of his
nature to those studies which would fit him for
the work awaiting him.

Because of the paucity of labourers, he was soon
left in sole charge of the work, assisted by a small
staflf of Hindustani helpers. " It was hard at
first,'' he wrote, " but had the good result of

* Barhpur is situated one mile from the city of Furruk-
habad, and three miles from the military cantonment of
Fatehgarh.

Samuel Henry Kellogg 325

bringing me on in the language much faster than
I should otherwise have learned it."

After a residence of six months in India, Mr.
Kellogg began to take his turn regularly in con-
ducting the vernacular church services on the
Sabbath. Work for his active brain and hand he
found on every side, and unflinchingly he tried to
grapple with it. Greatly interested in the youths
of India, he found a congenial field in the Anglo-
vernacular school in the city of Furrukhabad. He
was much interested also in evangelistic work, as
carried on in the city and surrounding villages.
During that first year he began to make notes on
the language he was studying, which rapidly
grew into an important work hereafter to be men-
tioned.

The writer first met the subject of this sketch
in the cold season of 1870-71, when in company
with her husband, she paid a visit to Fatehgarh,
and then began that acquaintance which after-
w^ard ripened into one of the warmest friendships
of our Indian life. An interesting reminiscence
of that visit is in connection with a typical inci-
dent, showing Mr. Kellogg's alertness of mind,
and his habit of painstaking in turning to account
every particle of knowledge which came in his
way. In the course of a drive with him through
the city he halted to speak to a native gentleman
of his acquaintance. When the interview was
over, Mr. Kellogg took from a side-pocket of his
coat a book and pencil, and quickly jotted down

2^6 Men of Might in India Missions

something which he wished to remember, then
looking up with a radiant face, he said, " 1 have
got a new word."

So zealous and unremitting were Mr. Kellogg's
labours, that early in 1871 his health failed, and
heeding the advice of his physician he returned
to America for a season of rest and recuperation.
After a year and a half spent in the United States,
with his family and a party of missionaries, he
left New York on his return to India. This sec-
ond journey, by the "overland route," was in
pleasant and striking contrast with his memor-
able first voyage in a sailing vessel, " where pas-
sengers were of less consequence than freight."

The party reached Allahabad in time to be pres-
ent at the General Missionary Conference held in
that city in December. The one hundred and
sixty missionaries present on this occasion, some
of whom had come from the remotest parts of
India, represented nineteen missionary Societies.
Noble veterans from these Societies were pres-
ent, including among others Dr. John Wilson of
Bombay. " We thought," wrote Mr. Kellogg,
*' as we looked over that unique assembly of for-
eign missionaries, native evangelists, pastors and
laymen, of Carey, Marshman and Ward, and of
Judson, forbidden by a Christian Government to
enter India. We looked on the dark faces of the
twenty-one native clergymen present, and thought
of Henry Martyn, who had worked in this very
part of India, and who had said that if he could

Samuel Henry Kellogg 327

see a Brahman converted, he would regard it
as the greatest miracle of which he could con-
ceive; and here were once proud Brahmans
preaching the faith which once they destroyed."

Soon after the close of this Conference, Mr.
Kellogg in company with the oldest member of
the Mission, the Rev. J. F. Ullmann, made a
long preaching tour, the remotest place reached
being the city of Jhansi, which these brethren had
been asked to visit, with the object of reporting
upon the advisabiHty, or otherwise, of its being
occupied by the mission as one of its stations.
The report of the visitors was favourable, but it
was not until thirteen years later that Jhansi be-
came one of the stations of the Furrukhabad
Mission, and a missionary was sent there to re-
side. To the close of his life, Mr. Kellogg felt
a very deep interest in this new field, watching
with ever increasing satisfaction its growth and
prosperity.

Mr. Kellogg after his return to India was sta-
tioned at Allahabad, where the American Pres-
byterian Synod of India had recently established
a Theological School, he having been appointed
an instructor, along with his fellow missionaries,
the Rev. A. Brodhead, D.D., and the Rev. T.
S. Wynkoop. His labour in connection with this
institution was, however, but a part of his work.
He engaged as he had opportunity in evangelistic
work in the city and adjacent villages, in preach-
ing in the vernacular to the native Christian con-

3^8 Men of Might in India Missions

gregations, and in occasional English preaching.
His pen too was busy. It was the careful hus-
banding of the odd moments of his every day life,
combined with the ability to concentrate his pow-
ers upon any subject that was occupying his mind,
that enabled him to accomplish such a vast
amount of literary work in the midst of other
multitudinous and pressing duties.

The year 1876 brought to Mr. Kellogg a heavy
domestic affliction. In March of this year after a
very brief illness Mrs. Kellogg was taken away
by death. She had been a true helpmeet to her
husband during the years he had spent in mis-
sionary work, and her sudden removal was to
him a very heavy stroke. Four children, two
sons and two daughters were bereft of a mother's
care, and this, in his case, necessitated the break-
ing up of his home in India and the relinquish-
ment for a time of his chosen work. Hurried
preparations were made for the sad home-coming,
and with heavy hearts we saw the father with
his motherless little ones turn away from India.
Very painful on account of the work laid aside,
as well as on account of personal associations with
beloved fellow workers was the void in the mis-
sion circle which this bereavement and this part-
ing occasioned.

Before Mr. Kellogg took his departure from
India, he saw the completion of his great work,
— his Grammar of the Hindi Language, a portly
octavo volume published by Triibner & Co., of

Samuel Henry Kellogg 329

London. That this work might be finished be-
fore he left India, he was obliged to put forth
strenuous effort at a time when his energies in
many directions were pressingly demanded. Hindi
is the language spoken by more than one-fourth
of the people of India, and the need of a scholarly
and comprehensive grammar of this language was
great. The work at once received the highest
encomiums from scholars, who pronounced it a
" masterly performance." The reputation which
this work and others which followed it secured
for the author gave him an honoured place in the
Eighth International Congress of Orientalists,
held in Stockholm in 1889, under the Presidency
of King Oscar II. This Hindi Grammar on be-
coming known to the Government of India, and
to the Council of the British Government's Secre-
tary of State for India, was prescribed as an au-
thority to be studied by all such candidates for
the India Civil Service as were required to pass
examinations in the Hindi language.

It was during this year that his Alma Mater
conferred on him the honourary degree of Doctor
of Divinity.

The story of the next fifteen years might well
be told in fuller detail than is possible or per-
haps appropriate in this volume. It was a story
of pastoral work in two large churches; the Third
Presbyterian Church in Pittsburg, and the St.
James Square Presbyterian Church in Toronto,
separated by a service of peculiar value to the

2^0 Men of Might in India Missions

Church at large as Professor of Systematic Theol-
ogy in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary
at Allegheny, Pa. This was a somewhat trying
position, following as it did the peculiarly suc-
cessful work of the Rev. A. A. Hodge, D.D., who
had been called to Princeton Theological Semi-
nary. Dr. Kellogg however took the place by
storm and soon sat on the Professorial chair as
on a throne.

His breadth and accuracy of scholarship, his
philosophical insight into the Scriptures, and
readiness in quoting passages to prove his points,
his aptness in asking questions and his cleverness
in answering them, his patience and sympathy and
tact in preaching, his missionary zeal, his loyalty
and beautiful spirit, and his ardent devotion to
the Lord Jesus Christ, quickly won his way into
the minds and hearts of his students, and made
him master of the situation. He had in a rare
degree that highest gift of a teacher, contagion.
His spirit was catching, subtle emanations radi-
ated from him that no student could escape.
Simply to be in his class-room was to be immersed
in an intellectual bath. At the same time his
faith was the central fire glowing in his heart,
lighting up his face and shining through the whole
man. Hundreds of ministers are preaching the
Gospel all over the world to-day who look back
to those years under his influence as a very pre-
cious and fruitful part of this preparation. With
all this too, there was a geniality and perfect

Samuel Henry Kellogg 331

naturalness that at times manifested itself in what
some of his associates felt to be a lack of dignity.
He was young in spirit, and it was this fact that
lent to his manners a special charm and gave him
so powerful an influence over all classes of peo-
ple, young and old.

While disassociated formally from the Board
of Missions by a resignation which was inevitable
under the circumstances, Dr. Kellogg never lost
in the slightest, his intense missionary spirit, and
both in his preaching, public speaking and writ-
ing identified hmself with the great work to which
he had consecrated his life. He was a member,
during his residence in Toronto, of the Canadian
Presbyterian Assembly's Foreign Mission Com-
mittee and Convener of the Committee on the
Palestinian Mission.

He kept up his scholarship in Oriental lan-
guages and it was during this period that he at-
tended, as an honoured member the Eighth In-
ternational Congress of Orientalists at Stockholm,
one of the largest and most influential meetings
of that body and saw the revised edition of his
Hindi Grammar through the press.

He was always very much interested in work
among the Jews and published a book, " The
Jews, or Prediction and Fulfilment, an Argument
for the Times '' which gained most favourable
notice. Another work, " The Light of Asia and
the Light of the World " appeared in 1885 and
was pronounced " critical, scholarly and brilliant."

22"^ Men of Might in India Missions

A competent critic said of it that there v/as no
other book in the English language which filled
exactly its place as a thoroughly comprehensive
and clearly discriminating comparison of the
legend, doctrines and ethics of Buddha and of
Christ.

His service in the Theological Seminary in
Allegheny, closed in 1885, the immediate occasion
being a feeling on the part of some of the Direc-
tors that his pronounced pre^millennial views were
not in harmony with the general teachings of the
Institution. There was a most cordial feeling
toward Dr. Kellogg personally, and his resigna-
tion was in no sense pressed upon him but was
offered as on the whole the best way to avoid
any possibility of clashing. His interest in edu-
cation was continued after his removal to Toronto,
by his membership in The Senate and Examin-
ing Committee of Knox Divinity College.

From year to year it seemed as if his duties
increased. He prepared the Stone lectures for
Princeton Theological Seminary, was prominent
in the General Assembly's work of the Presby-
terian Church of Canada, and at the same time
published largely. All this was made possible by
the happy home which had been reestablished by
his marriage in 1879 ^^ Miss Sara Constance
Macrum, of Pittsburg. The deep sorrow over
the loss of his son Alfred, did not prevent his
work, but rather sanctified it.

In the midst of his multitudinous activities Dr.

Samuel Henry Kellogg 233

Kellogg received a call to return to India to assist
in the revision, or rather retranslation, of the
Hindi Scriptures of the Old Testament. He was
asked to engage in this work as a representative
of the various Presbyterian Societies, British and
American, working in India. In this invitation
the North India Bible Society with headquarters
at Allahabad, and the British and Foreign Bible
Society, London, as well as his own mission in
India, and the Mission Board of his own Church
in New York, united. It was felt that he had
special qualifications for this work, as he was uni-
versally recognised as an expert in Hindi, and
was besides an accomplished Hebrew scholar.

Correspondence and negotiations in reference
to this matter extended over a period of fifteen
months. This call was one that required earnest
consideration. There was on the one hand, his
work in Toronto. It would be a severe wrench
to leave his congregation composed of people who
were devotedly attached to him ; but the work to
which he was called across the seas was in every
way attractive and congenial, and when, as he
had often said while labouring at home, his heart
was in India, is it any wonder that his heart went
out again towards a work which was his first
love? The call he felt was the call of God, and
when the path of duty was made clear, there was
no hesitation as to the course of action.

In May, 1892, he announced to his congrega-
tion his decision to resign the pastorate of the

334 Men of Might in India Missions

St. James Square Church to accept the call that
had come to him from India. The congregation
regretfully united with the Presbytery in asking
for a dissolution of the pastoral relation. On
Sabbath evening, September 13th, Dr. Kellogg
preached his farewell sermon before a very large
audience, including many representatives from
sister congregations in the city. " Thou shalt re-
member all the way which the Lord thy God led
thee," Deut. 8 : 2, was the text of his discourse.
The Tuesday evening following, there was a
largely attended farewell meeting in the church,
to testify to the high appreciation in which the
retiring pastor was held. There were present on
this occasion not only his own people, but many
others from evangelical denominations through-
out the city. Addresses were presented on be-
half of the congregation, the Sunday school and
the Society of Christian Endeavour. Practical
interest and appreciation were manifested by the
presentation of a substantial purse. On the fol-
lowing evening Dr. Kellogg took a final farewell
of his people, and soon thereafter left Toronto.

Before leaving for India Dr. Kellogg paid a
visit to Pittsburg, where he was warmly welcomed
by the many friends who held him in affectionate
remembrance. He preached a farewell sermon
in the First Presbyterian Church, the congrega-
tions of the East Liberty, and the Third Presby-
terian Churches uniting in this service.
^).^ On the 5th of October, Dr. and Mrs. Kellogg

Samuel Henry Kellogg 23S

and their four younger children left New York
for India. Bombay was reached about the middle
of December. A part of the cold season after his
arrival was spent by Dr. Kellogg, accompanied
by his family, in evangelistic work in the district
of Allahabad. Early in the spring he removed
with his family to Landour, in the northern Hima-
layas, and there with his associates, the Rev. W.
Hooper, D.D., of the Church Missionary Society,
and the Rev. J. A. Lambert of the London Mis-
sionary Society, he began the work for which he
had been called to India. A station in the moun-
tains had been selected for residence during the
summer, because the work of translation could
be more successfully prosecuted in the salubrious
air of the hills, than in the great heat of the
plains, and as it was expected that the work would
extend over a period of several years, a house
on Landour Hill, Mussoorie, called " The Firs "
was purchased by the Mission Board in New York
for the use of Dr. Kellogg and his family, and
here several of the happiest and most useful years
of Dr. Kellogg's life were spent. Seven or eight
months of each year were passed in Landour, and
during the remaining months the home of the
family was in Dehra Doon, a beautiful town at
the foot of the mountains.

As respite from his special work could be
gained in the cold season, the opportunity was
eagerly seized by Dr. Kellogg to visit cities on
the plains for the purpose of delivering lectures

2^6 Men of Might In India Missions

to students in theological schools, or to educated
non-Christian natives ; or to engage, as of old, in
evangelising the simple villagers, in some one of
the districts. In evangelistic work of this latter
description, a month was once spent most hap-
pily by Dr. Kellogg in the Jhansi district; and
during the same visit, the English speaking
gentlemen of the Hindu community in Jhansi
were privileged to listen to a number of highly
instructive lectures on religio-scientific subjects.
As a preacher, either in English or in Hindus-
tani, Dr. Kellogg was Hstened to with delight
wherever he went. During the six hot seasons
which he spent on the hills, his voice was fre-
quently heard from the pulpits of Landour and
Mussoorie, and during the successive intervals
when he resided at Dehra Doon, the English and
Hindustani churches of the mission were privi-
leged to enjoy occasionally his ministrations.
When Dr. Kellogg's rare power of elucidating the
more difficult subjects connected with the study
of the Bible became known, exceptional oppor-
tunities were afforded him for reaching and in-
fluencing for good many in the English commu-
nity who would never be seen at ordinary prayer
meetings or Bible readings. At large drawing-
room gatherings Dr. Kellogg discussed many sub-
jects connected with Apologetics, which were,
says the Rev. W. J. P. Morrison, of Dehra Doon,
" calculated to be helpful to those who have in-
tellectual difficulties through the scientific and

Samuel Henry Kellogg 337

agnostic objections raised against our Christian
faith. While holding firmly himself to the veri-
ties of revelation, he had patience and sympathy
to the uttermost with the doubting, and, granting
to the full all their reasonable positions, from
their own standpoint endeavoured to lead their
minds on to the firmer ground of assured belief."
Eschatological themes had a great attraction for
Dr. Kellogg's mind, and upon these he was often
asked to discourse. Of such discourses, fre-
quently listened to at Mussoorie and Dehra Doon,
Mr. Morrison thus speaks : " Is it not his dis-
course, his theme that will account for Dr. Kel-
logg's uplifting, helpful influence in those com-
munities? So anxious were people to hear him
on these themes, that he several times expressed
to me a regret that they pressed him to take up
such subjects so often, lest it might give a one-
sidedness to his ministry, and lest they should be
regarded as a hobby with him. It was these
themes especially that made his ministry such a
rare one amongst us."

Dr. Kellogg had felt that when the special work
for which he had been called to India should be
finished he must return to America to make ar-
rangements for the completion of the education
of his children, but as the time for leaving the
mission field drew nearer and nearer, his heart
more and more clung to India. In his last letter
to one of the Secretaries at the Mission House
in New York, he wrote : '' There is no shadow

22^ Men of Might in India Missions

on our horizon except the prospect of having to
return to America as soon as this Bible work is
done. My wife no less than myself has taken
root in India, and we shall go home, wishing from
our hearts, so far as it is right to wish for any-
thing which God's Providence makes impossible,
that our life-work might indeed be here. * * *
You will have heard that I have promised the
Princeton faculty to deliver the annual course of
lectures on Missions, the first season after my
return. I am as yet only incubating my lectures,
but think of taking some such general subject as
Hinduism in relation to Christian thought, with
special reference to the more recent developments,
such as the Arya Samaj and Brahmoism in its
various schools, dwelling more in contrast with
my little book ("A Hand-book of Comparative
Religion "), on the points of contact, than of con-
trast. In connection with the work of revising
the Hindi translation of the Old Testament Scrip-
tures, I am writing a small book in Urdu for the
help of our theological students, and our native
pastors, on the Typology of the Mosaic Law as
setting forth various aspects of our Lord's re-
demption work."

Near the end of March, 1899, Dr. Kellogg was
our guest while in attendance on a meeting of
Presbytery, held in Jhansi. " I had not thought
to come to this meeting," he said, " but reflecting
on the few opportunities that remain to me for
meeting my missionary brethren, both American

Samuel Henry Kellogg 339

and Hindustani, before going home, I resolved
to make an effort to be present." At this meet-
ing one of his former students in Allahabad re-
ceived ordination at the hands of the Presbytery,
an event in which he felt a deep interest and
much satisfaction. Never had we seen Dr. Kel-
logg in a happier mood than on this occasion.
He had a short time before received a copy of his
latest published work, " A Hand-book of Com-
parative Religion," and in his leisure moments
he turned the pages of this book, pencil in hand,
noting changes to be made in a future edition.

Dr. Kellogg had anticipated that his Bible
translation work would be finished in the sum-
mer of 1899, and that the work of final revision
would be completed in the following cold season ;
and with this consummation so near at hand, he
was arranging to return to America with his
family in the spring of 1900. But God in His
unerring wisdom had other plans for His servant.
On Sabbath evening, April 30, the last Sabbath
of his earthly life. Dr. Kellogg preached by in-
vitation in the Methodist church of Mussoorie, a
sermon from the words, " Neither shall they die
any more." Said one of his auditors on this oc-
casion, " It was the most glorious sermon on
death and eternal life to which I ever listened.
The speaker looked like one speaking from the
eternities."

For many years at the house of the Rev. Dr.
Valentine in Landour, a weekly Bible-reading

340 Men of Might in India Missions

has been held during the summer, when visitors
flock to this station. Dr. Kellogg was asked to
give the Bible-reading on the afternoon of Wed-
nesday, May third. He replied that it would be
impossible for him to be present on that day, but
if the meeting could be held on Tuesday after-
noon instead, he would be glad to come. Tues-
day was accordingly fixed upon. A large and
expectant audience greeted Dr. Kellogg when he
appeared at the appointed hour. He had selected
for his theme, " The mysteries and glories of the
end of time, and the great hereafter." His
hearers sat spellbound, for he spoke as if for him
the heavens had already been opened, and he
caught glimpses of the glories beyond. On the
conclusion of the discourse, all present seemed
awed, and at the request of Dr. Kellogg, the
hymn with which the meeting ended was, " Jeru-
salem the golden."

Before leaving the house, Dr. Kellogg, with
two or three of the company, retired to Dr. Valen-
tine's study for a short season of prayer. As
they were about to separate some one remarked
that Mr. Lambert, one of Dr. Kellogg's associates
in the work of Bible revision was that night quite
ill. " Then I will call and see him on my way
home," was the reply of Dr. Kellogg. He made
a brief call, and then hurried on to his own home,
that dear home which was to be his for only one
more night, — a night, and then for him the morn-
ing of a glorious eternity was to dawn.

Samuel Henry Kellogg 341

Dr. Kellogg enjoyed bicycling, and he was an
expert rider. His physician had recommended
this exercise, and he had found it beneficial. A
terrace on which the house he occupied in Lan-
dour is built afforded room for a short course,
and here he used frequently to take exercise from
which he came in refreshed and ready for his
literary work. He had risen early on this last
morning of his earthly Hfe, and after taking his
usual refection of toast and coffee, mounted his
wheel for a little exercise before beginning the
heavy work of the day. He had gone but a few
rods, when the wheel swerved, where there is an
unguarded fall of about twelve feet— and he was
not, for God took him. How the accident oc-
curred will never be known. No one saw that
fatal fall. The servants heard the sound and
rushed to his assistance, but life had departed.

The news of his tragic death sent a shock
through the entire community, and a message
which that day flashed over North India, and
under the seas to a distant land, carried sorrow
to many hearts. A large company of friends as-
sembled at '' The Firs " on the afternoon of the
following day for a brief service, and then joined
the sorrowful procession to the beautiful ceme-
tery on the mountain side not far distant, where
the mortal remains were laid to rest, " Until the
day break, and the shadows flee away."

As the company with heavy hearts turned
away from that new made grave, one of the num-

342 Men of Might in India Missions

ber said to a companion, '' Dr. Kellogg knew his
Bible well." " Dr. Kellogg knew everything
well," was the rejoinder of one of Dr. Kellogg's
English friends.

One of his fellow missionaries, the Rev. C. A.
R. Janvier, of Allahabad, wrote thus of Dr. Kel-
logg in the '' Indian Standard." '* The first
thing, perhaps, that would strike one about Dr.
Kellogg was the versatility of his genius: he
could turn his hand successfully to almost any-
thing— could preach a sermon or take a photo-
graph, deliver a lecture or prescribe a potion,
teach theology or steer a ship ! He was informed
on almost every conceivable subject, and could
talk intelligently on the most technical topics. It
was this in part that made him so brilliant a con-
versationalist, and secured the wonderful richness
of illustration which was so marked a feature of
his sermons. But unlike most versatile men, he
was as thorough and accurate as he was versa-
tile. He was never superficial. What he did, he
did well. What he knew, he knew thoroughly.
His careful observation, quick apprehension, and
remarkable memory, combined to make him al-
most a specialist in every department of work or
of recreation upon which he entered.

" Another striking feature of Dr. Kellogg*s
character was the clearness of his mental vision,
and his ability to pass on to others what he him-
self clearly perceived. He saw to the centre of
things, and he reproduced what he saw with a

Samuel Henry Kellogg 343

directness and incisiveness not often surpassed.
He was as simple as he was incisive. He was
simple in his language, even when the profound
subjects he often presented seemed to forbid sim-
plicity. He was simple and unpretentious in his
personal character. He was never over-bearing,
rarely sarcastic, never ostentatious. No one
would ever have guessed his extraordinary abili-
ties from anything in his general bearing. He
was a devoted husband, a loving father, and a
faithful friend.

" The greatest thing about Dr. Kellogg undoubt-
edly was his wonderful knowledge of, and love
for his Bible. He was a man of the Book. His
insight into its meaning was phenomenal, and his
ability to present its truths to others was such as
few men attain. He mastered principles and de-
tails alike in his Bible study. And it was not sim-
ply an intellectual mastery : he was clearly taught
of the Holy Spirit. He was not naturally an
emotional man, but God's truth and God's Spirit
stirred his deepest emotions; and many a heart
has thrilled, as he set forth in his simple, quiet
way the deep things of God. Any reference to
his study of the Bible would be wholly incom-
plete without an allusion to his intense convic-
tions on the subject of the second coming of our
Lord. He was a consistent Premillenarian, con-
fidently expecting the personal reign of Christ on
earth, though deprecating all attempts to fix the
time of the advent.'*

344 Men of Might in India Missions

In the church of St. James Square, Toronto,
where for six years Dr. Kellogg had been pastor,
when the news of his death reached the congre-
gation, they set aside a popular children's service,
for which elaborate preparations had been made,
draped the church in mourning, and held a me-
morial service instead. In resolutions passed by
the session of this church they say of Dr. Kellogg,
" Although only a little more than six years a
resident of Toronto, he speedily secured for him-
self a position of unusual influence throughout
Ontario, and far beyond it, as the result of his
wide and varied scholarship, and by means of his
numerous and valuable contributions to theologi-
cal literature. It is not to be wondered at that
during his ministry in St. James Square Church
the membership increased from 503 to 704, and
that all departments of the congregation's activity
enjoyed abundant prosperity."

From Resolutions passed in reference to his
death by the Foreign Missions Committee of the
Presbyterian Church in Canada, the following is
taken : " Affable in manner, ripe in scholarship,
distinguished as an author, self forgetting in serv-
ice, and unwearied in diligence, Dr. Kellogg will
always be remembered with affection by those
who were his colleagues and co-workers in the
Foreign Missions Committee of the Presbyterian
Church in Canada."

The Board of Foreign Missions of his own
Church in America, as well as his own Mission

Samuel Henry Kellogg 345

in India passed Resolutions expressive of the high
estimation in which he had been held, and of the
irreparable loss sustained by his death.

Dr. Kellogg was the recipient of well-deserved,
but unsought honours. Wooster University con-
ferred on him the honourary degree of Doctor of
Laws. He was corresponding member of the
American Society of Orientalists. He was made
a member of the International Congress of
Orientalists, and of the Victoria Institute of
England.

When Dr. Kellogg was removed by death the
question arose, How now shall the work be con-
tinued? Can the two remaining members of the
committee complete the work, or shall a third
member be elected ? To introduce a new element
at this stage of the work did not seem advisable,
and it was finally decided that Dr. Hooper and
Mr. Lambert would be competent to carry on the
work more satisfactorily than if a third member
should be added to the Committee, especially as it
was found that Dr. Kellogg had left very full
notes. In reference to the course decided upon,
it was afterwards said : " Day by day we are
more and more thankful that such a decision was
reached. As things now are, Dr. Kellogg is, so
to speak, present with us all through our meet-
ings. We can truly say that he being dead yet
speaketh. On almost every question which arises
we are pretty sure what his view would be.
When we differ between ourselves, and we recall

34^ Men of Might in India Missions

n what would have been Dr. Kellogg's view, the
one whose opinion differs from this gives way at
once. In this manner his influence in our Com-
mittee survives."

Dr. Kellogg was taken away when his life was
at its zenith. Counted by years, his was not a
long life, yet marvellously fruitful had that life
been. Though his missionary work in India was
interrupted for a number of years, yet his work
as a missionary did not cease during that en-
forced sojourn in the United States and Canada,
for then, while occupying high places in the
Church he exerted a powerful influence in promot-
ing the cause of foreign missions. As a theologi-
cal teacher, besides performing an important part
in equipping many young men for the home pul-
pits and the home mission work, he shared, it is
said, in the training of no less than thirty-six
missionaries for the foreign field. How many
through the influence of his life and words were
led to accept Christ as their Saviour, and to de-
vote themselves to the service of their Lord in
various walks of life, eternity 'alone will reveal.

INDEX

A. B. C. F. M., founding Bombay, University of, 206

of, 130
Abdul, Masih, 113
Abolition of Suttee, 91
Afghans, The, 303
Allahabad, School at, 327
Anderson, John,

British and Foreign Bible

Society, 134
Braidwood, Rev. John, 249,

262
Braidwood, Mrs., 249,

her schools. 252
birth, 240; early home Broadhead. Rev. A., 327
life, 241 ; studies, 242 ; Brown, Rev. David, 105
consults Dr. Gordon, 243 ; Breithaupt, Dr., 15
licensed to preach, 244;

influenced by Dr. Duff, Caldwell, Rev. Robert,
243; appointed to Mad- quoted, 249
ras, 244; sails on the Campbell and Blyth,
" Scotia ", 244 ; St. An- Messrs., 262
drew's School, 245 ; train- Carey, William,
ing Hindu boys, 246 ; vis- birthplace, 66 ; appren

ited by Dr. Duff, 248;
yearning for souls, 250,
251 ; discouragements,
251 ; gleams of hope, 252;
marriage, 256 ; visits
Scotland, 259 ; returns
to India, 260; breaking
up, 263; death, 264; tes-
timonies to his worth,
264-265
See also : 291

Banner] ee. Rev. Krishna

M., 229
Bardwell, Rev. H., 138,

140
Bengali New Testament,

80
Bethune Society, The, 236
Bie, Col., 65, 83
Bloomfield, Sir T., 271

ticed to shoemaker, 66;
early studies, 66; first
sermon. 67; marriage,
67; treatise on missions,
69; sermon at Notting-
ham, 69; sails for India,
72; works in indigo fac-
tory, 'J2, ; saw widow burn-
ed alive. 74; translates
New Testament, 80; ap-
pointed to College at
Fort William, 82; Paper
on Female Immolation,
84 ;_ made Doctor of Di-
vinity, 85; second mar-
riage, 85; translator to
government, 90 ; death,
94

See also: 104, 105, 132,
i73» 219, 326
Chalmers, Dr., 216, 232

347

348

Index

Church Missionary Society,
152, 156, 163, 226, 289,
300, 301
Conjeveram, school at, 248
Corrie, Chaplain, 113

Danish settlement in In-
dia, 17, 18, 20, 104

" Disruption ", The, 253,

^254

Doveton College, 236

Duff, Alexander,
birth, 214; parents, 214;
education, 215; licensed
to preach, 216; ordained
216; marriage, 216; goes
to India, 216; ship-
wrecked, 216; in a cy-
clone, 218; settles at
Calcutta, 219; visits Dr.
Carey, 219; school work,
220; reverses, 223; con-
verts, 223; jungle fever,
224; visits ^ Scotland,
225 ; his missionary ad-
dresses, 226; return to
India, 228; joins Free
Church, 230 ; beginning
over again, 231 ; returns
to Scotland to succeed
Dr. Chalmers, 232 ;
Moderator of Free
Church Assembly, 233 ;
visits America, 233 ; final
return to India, 235;
return to Scotland, 237;
last illness and death,
239

See also: 94, 201, 240,
243, 248, 259, 291

Edwardes, Sir Herbert,

300
Elphinstone, Lord, 207

Educators, Famous, 22, 78,

79, 80, 81, 84, 89, 140,

154, 159, 174, 175, 200,

204, 205, 211, 219, 221,

228, 231, 236, 245, 247,

252, 253, 256, 277, 279,

281, 283, 285, 301, 313,

Fox, Rev. W. H., 274. 277,

280
Frost, Rev. E., 143
Fuller, Rev. Andrew, dT, 68,

70, 87

German Evangelical Mis-
sion, The, 164

Gordon, Dr., 243

Green, Byron, 125

Grundler, Johann Ernst,
27;

succeeds Ziegenbalg, 35;
death of, 36

Hall, Gordon,
birth, 127; early traits,
127; education, 128; at
Hanover, 128; pastor at
Woodbury, Conn., 129 ;
studies medicine, 131 ; or-
dained a missionary, 132;
sails for India, 132;
preaching in Bombay,
137; translating gospels,
139; marriage, 139; work
among the Jews, 140;
evangelistic tour, 141 ;
sends family to America,
142 ; last missionary
tour, 145; dies of chol-
era, 146
See also: 125, 197

Hall, Newell and, 131, 133,
135, 137, 144

Havelock, Sir Henry, 95

Index

349

Haystack Meeting, The,

125
Haystack Monument, 126
Hooper, Rev. W., 335
Hough, Rev. J.. 156
Hurricane, A fatal, 285

India, Danish Settlement
in, 17

Janvier, Dr. Levi, assassi-
nated, 316

Jerusalem Church, The, 22

Johnson, Rev. Robt., 247,
263

Judson, Adonirani, 126, 132,
326

Kellogg, Samuel Henry,
birth, 320 ; precocious-
ness, 320; student life,
321 ; ordination, 323 ;
marriage, 323 ; voyage to
India, 323; arrival at
Bahrpur, 324 ; visits
America, 326; at Allaha-
bad, 327; wife's death,
328; publishes "Hindi
Grammar ", 328 ; pastor-
ates in America, 329;
at Toronto, 331 ; lectures
at Princeton, 332 ; returns
to India, 3: ;. ; at Landour,
335 ; more new books,
338; hi:: tragic death,
341 ; testimonials of
friends, 3/?; "Resolu-
tions", 344; other hon-
ors, 345 ; influence, 346

Ketterin^^-, famous meeting
at, 69, 70

Lambert, Rev. J. A., 335
Leper Hospital at Calcutta,

88
Leyden, Dr., 306

Locher, Miss, 261

Lodiana, mission at, 307

Loewenthal. Isidor,

early poverty, 292, 293;
education, 293; business
life, 294; a political ref-
ugee, 294 ; teaching in
Philadelphia, 295 ; Mr.
Gayley's aid, 296 ; conver-
sion, 297; goes to India,
298; at Peshawar, 299;
long illness, 309; preach-
ing at Pushtu 311; trans-
lating the Scriptures,
313; services in English,
316; shot by his own
watchman, 317

Loomis, Harvey, 125

Mack, Mr. John, 89, 96

Mahabeleshwar, mission at,
142, 197

Malcolm, Sir. John, 115

Marshman, Joshua,
birthplace. 66, 76; early
employment, 'j(\ ; mar-
riage, Tj; goes to India,
']'J ; opens boarding-
schools, 78 ; translates
Scriptures into Chinese,
83 ; publishes " Friend oi
India", 87; visits Eng-
land, 91 ; death, 96
See also : 132, 326

Masulipatam, mission at,
274

Martyn, Henry,
birthplace, 97 ; _ education,
98; ^ conversion, 99;
"senior wrangler", 100;
made army chaplain, 102;
ordained, 102; sails for
India, 103; arrives at
Calcutta, 104; visits Dr.
Carey, 104; appointed to
Dinapore, 106; translat-

350

Index

ing the Scriptures, 109; Palamcotta, mission at, 302

at Cawnpore, iii; returns Palmer, Rev. H., 268

to Calcutta, 115; visits Peshawar, mission at, 302

Bombay, 115; visits Per- Plutschau, Henry, 18, 25

sia, 116; completes Per- Pohle, Rev. Christian, 51
sian New Testament,

118; at Constantinople, Rammohun, Roy, 219, 220

120 ; death, 121 ; monu- Rhenius, Rev. C. T. E.,
ment, 123 birth, 151; studies, 151;

See also: 195, 326 goes to India, 152; settle-

Martyn Memorial Hall, 123 ment in Madras, 152 ; re-
Mills, Samuel J., 125 vising Tamil Scriptures,
Mitchell, Rev. M., 200 153 ; removes to Tinnevel-
Mitchell, Samuel S., 321 ly, 156; care of the poor,
Morrison, Rev. W. J. P., 160; death, 165

321, 336 See also: 189, 192

Munro, Gen., 52 Richards, James, 125

Meeting at Meerut, The, Robbins, Francis L., 125

305

Schultze, Benjamin, 36

Nepean, Sir Evan, 135, 136 Schwartz, Christian Fred-

Newell, Samuel, 126, 135, erick,

138. 141 birth, 39; early education,
Newell and Hall, Messrs., 40; visits England, 42;
131, 133, 135, I37» 144 sails for India, 43; evan-
New Jerusalem Church, gelistic tours, 45; new
The, 33, 37 mission at Trichinopoly,
Noble, Robert T., 46; preaches to English
parents, 266, 267; early soldiers, 48; mission to
influences, 267; birth, Hyder AH, 52; as a re-
268; at Cambridge, 270; former, 59; serious ill-
early work as curate, 272 ; ness, 60 ; interview with
ordained, 272; goes to Prince Serfogee, 61;
India, 274; joins Church death, 62; monument, 64
Missionary Society, 276; See also: 66, 78, 150, 155,
goes to the mountains, 156, 160, 189
276; a working day, 279; Schools for Jewish chil-
the " High School ", 281, dren, 140 ^
282; a fatal hurricane, Scottish Missionary Soci-
285 ; last years and death, ety, 192
287; memorials, 288 Scriptures, Famous trans-
Noble College, 291 lators of, 24, 29, 30, 4i»
Nott, Samuel, 126 78, 80, 83, 93, 109, 118,

137, 141, IS3, 164, 304

Ouseley, Sir Gore, 119 308, 333

Index

3JI

Scudder, Henry M., 322

Scudder, John,
birth, 167; at Princeton,
168; work among stu-
dents, 169 ; practices
medicine, 169; marriage,
171; sails for India, 172;
assigned to Ceylon, 173;
removed to Madras, 175;
gospel tours, 176; his he-
roic wife, 179; visit to
America, 180 ; missionary
addresses. 181 ; returns to
India, 183; tracts and
booklets, 184; visits Cape
of Good Hope, 187; his
death, 188; his influence,
189
See also: 323

" Serampore Brother-

hood ", The, 106

Serampore Missionaries,
The, 65, 66, 78, 81, 82,
96, 106, 133, 219, 307

Serfogee, Prince, 61, 63

Sharkev. Rev. and Mrs.,
280

Simeon, Rev. C, 99, loi,
213, 214, 227, 273

Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, 28,
46, 63

Stewart, Dr., quoted, 240

Tanjore, famine at. 56, 57
Thomas, Mr. J., 71, 79, 81
Translators of Scriptures,

24, 29, 30, 41, 78, 80, 83,

93, 109. 118, 137, 141, 153,

164, 306. 308, 333
Trevelyan, Sir Chas., 283
Trichinopoly, Mission at,

46
Tullar, Rev. A., 68, 70, 87
Tweedale, Marquis of, 253

Ullman. Rev. J. R, 204
University of Bombay, 206
Urquhart, John, 215

Valentine, Rev. Dr., 339

Ward. William,

birthplace, 75 ; edits
" Derby Mercury ", 75 ;
becomes a missionary,
76 ; book on " Religion of
the Hindus", 84; visits
England, 88; death, 90
See also: 132, 326

Wilson, John,
birth, 190 ; education,
191 ; ordination, 193 ;
marriage, 193 : voyage to
India, 193 ; work at Bom-
bay, 194; as an author,
196 ; missionary tours,
197; Mrs. Wilson's death,
198; "The Parsi Relig-
ion ", 200 ; visits Scot-
land, 202 ; " Lands of the
Bible ", 203 ; second mar-
riage, 203; return to In-
dia, 203 ; reorganizing
schools, 204; "The Sup-
pression of Infanticide ",
205; University of Bom-
bay. 206; visited by Dr.
Livingstone, 209 ; loses
second wife, 209; revisits
Scotland, 210; last re-
turn to India, 211; death,
211
See also: 228, 291, 326

Wynkoop, Rev. T. S., 327

Winslow, Rev. Myron, 175

Wolff, Rev. J., 160

Zenana Mission, A.. 284
Ziegenbalg. Bartholemew.
birth, 13; studies, 16;

352 Index

first voyage to India, i8; interview with King, 31;

early difficulties, 20; visits preaches to Danish

Tanjore and Negapatam, troops, 32; returns to In-

23 ; translates , Scriptures dia, 32 ; evangelistic

into Tamil, 24; arrested, tours, 33, 34; illness and

25; visits Madras, 28; re- death, 34

turns to Denmark, 30; See also: 78, 178, 189

Date Due