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Itcmfsa  Stewart 


* 


ROBERT  AND   LOUISA  STEWART 


ptrmistian,  Jrotn  a  photograph  by  G.  M.  7\iit,  Highbury. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  and  Mrs.  Ahok. 


ROBERT    AND    LOUISA 
STEWART 

3n  life  anJ>  in  2>eatb 


"  They  were  lovely  and  pleasant  in 
their  lives,  and  in  their  death  they  were 
not  divided."— 2  SAM.  i.  23 


BY 

MARY    E.    WATSON 

Sister  of  Mrs.  Stewart) 

WITH   A   CHAPTER   BY 

•MR.    EUGENE    STOCK 


WITH  SIX   ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  A  MAP. 


FOURTH  EDITION. 


Xon&on 

MARSHALL    BROTHERS 
KESWICK    HOUSE,    PATERNOSTER   ROW,    E.G. 

MDCCCXCV 


MtCROFORMED  3Y 


OCT23  1993. 


\  /' 


541 1 


PREFACE 

HAVING  been  asked  to  write  a  brief  memoir  of  our 
dear  brother  and  sister,  and  to  give  some  details  of 
their  life-work,  I  have  complied  with  the  request. 

As  a  first  effort  by  one  who  makes  no  claim  to 
literary  gifts,  I  must  ask  a  generous  forgiveness  for 
all  faults  of  style. 

If  any  one  is  encouraged  by  reading  the  story  to 
"  go  and  do  likewise"  in  the  great  Mission  Field,  my 
reward  will  be  ample. 

M.  E.  W. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I.  PAGE 

SOME  REMINISCENCES  OF  ROBERT  STEWART     .        .        .3 

CHAPTER  II. 
AMBASSADORS  FOR  CHRIST   .       .       ...       .        .        -15 

CHAPTER  III. 
THE  WHIRLWIND  .        . .    • -37 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  JOYFUL  SOUND •        •      73 

CHAPTER  V. 
NATIVE  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  AT  SCHOOL         .        .        .        .109 

CHAPTER  VI. 
CHRIST  MAGNIFIED       .       .       .       .       .       .        ...     141 

CHAPTER  VII. 
"POSSESSIONS"       .  .       .       .  .       .        .165 


x  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE 

HANDS  CLASPED 

-   .    •        •       .        .197 


CHAPTER  IX. 

STRONG  CONSOLATION  . 

CHAPTER  X. 
"CALLED,  AND  CHOSEN,  AND  FAITHFUL" 


219 


235 


CHAPTER    I 

SOME    REMINISCENCES    OF   ROBERT    STEWART 

the  fields>  for  they  are  wllite  already  to 


CHAPTER  I 

SOME    REMINISCENCES    OF   ROBERT  STEWART 
(Bv  MR.  EUGENE  STOCK) 

Lord,  her  watch  Thy  Church  is  keeping  ; 

When  shall  earth  Thy  rule  obey  ? 
When  shall  end  the  night  of  weeping, 

When  shall  break  the  promised  day  ? 
See  the  whitening  harvest  languish, 

Waiting  still  the  labourers'  toil  ; 
Was  it  vain — Thy  Son's  deep  anguish  ? 

Shall  the  strong  retain  the  spoil  ? 

Tidings  sent  to  every  creature. 

Millions  yet  have  never  heard  ; 
Can  they  hear  without  a  preacher  ? 

Lord  Almighty,  give  the  word. 
Give  the  word  ;  in  every  nation 

Let  the  Gospel  trumpet  sound, 
Witnessing  a  world's  salvation, 

To  the  earth's  remotest  bound. 

Then  the  end  :  Thy  Church  completed, 

All  Thy  chosen  gathered  in, 
With  their  King  in  glory  seated, 

Satan  bound,  and  banished  sin  : 
Gone  for  ever,  parting,  weeping, 

Hunger,  sorrow,  death,  and  pain  ;  — 
Lo  !  her  watch  Thy  Church  is  keeping, 

Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  to  reign. 

HAD   not   known  Robert   Stewart  well   prior    to 
our    going  together  to  Australia,  though  I  per- 


i 


4  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

fectly  remember  his  ordination  and  departure  for 
China  nineteen  years  ago.  But  when  the  C.M.S. 
Committee  directed  me  to  be  their  representative  to 
respond  to  the  invitation  that  had  come  from  the 
Primate  of  Australia  and  other  friends  there,  and  I 
was  asked  to  name  a  clergyman  and  missionary  to 
accompany  me,  I  gave  Mr.  Wigram  three  names,  of 
which  Stewart's  was  one.  "  Well,  which  of  the  three 
shall  I  ask  first?"  "  Ask  Stewart,"  I  replied;  for 
there  were  only  a  few  days  left  before  we  were  to 
sail,  and  I  was  sure  of  this,  that  he  was  a  man  ready 
to  go  anywhere  at  a  moment's  notice  in  the  service 
of  the  King.  Next  day  came  his  answer  from  Bed 
ford,  "Yes";  and  a  most  kind  letter  followed  from 
Mrs.  Stewart,  expressing  her  readiness  that  he  should 
go.  On  March  18,  1892,  we  sailed  in  the  P.  and  O. 
s.s.  Britannia.  Neither  of  us  was  strong.  Stewart 
had  suffered  severely  from  dysentery  in  China,  and 
the  doctors  in  England  shook  their  heads  about  his 
returning  thither  at  all.  I  was  still  very  weak  after 
being  prostrate  for  a  month  with  influenza.  But  the 
voyage,  through  God's  goodness,  set  us  both  up  for 
the  work  to  which  we  were  commissioned. 

Stewart  was  the  only  clergyman  on  board  (except 
a  young  S.P.G.  missionary  for  part  of  the  way),  and 
he  conducted  the  Sunday  services.  These  were  all 
that  he  considered  it  possible  to  arrange,  except  that 
we  had  daily  prayers  in  Holy  Week*  services  on  Good 
Friday,  and  Holy  Communion  on  Easter  Day.  There 
were  scarcely  any  sympathisers  with  spiritual  religion 


SOME   REMINISCENCES    OF   ROBERT   STEWART    5 

on  board,  and  no  one  cared  to  attend  a  Bible-reading ; 
but  we  two  daily  met  for  an  hour  at  noon  for  read 
ing,  conversation,  and  prayer ;  and  in  a  quiet  way 
Christian  influence  was  exercised.  Stewart's  bright 
ness  and  bonhomie  made  him  popular  with  the 
worldly  men,  and  a  very  real  affection  was  mani 
fested  to  him  by  some.  One,  who  was  a  leader  in 
the  theatricals,  sweepstakes,  etc.,  seemed  to  feel  a 
personal  sorrow  because  Stewart  did  not  attend  when 
a  couple  of  farces  were  acted ;  but  to  his  question, 
"My  dear  fellow,  why  didn't  you  come?"  the  un 
answerable  answer  was  returned  in  another  question, 
"  My  dear  fellow,  why  didn't  you  come  to  my  service 
on  Sunday?"  On  the  last  day  of  our  long  voyage, 
one  of  the  chief  officers  came  to  me  and  said,  u  I 
don't  think  your  friend  Mr.  Stewart  has  the  least 
idea  how  the  whole  ship  admires  him.  He  has  quite 
altered  my  opinion  of  parsons.  We've  had  a  good 
many  at  different  times,  but  either  they  were  so 
stuck  up  one  could  not  speak  to  them,  or  else  their 
talk  in  the  smoking-room  was  worse  than  that  of  the 
fast  men ;  but  Mr.  Stewart  is  always  pleasant,  and 
yet  we  all  know  what  he's  driving  at  "--which  was, 
that  other  men  might  know  the  happiness  he  had 
himself  found  in  the  Lord's  service.  (Of  course  I  in 
no  way  endorse  this  officer's  opinion  of  "  parsons"  ;  I 
only  record  what  he  said.)  Of  more  private  work 
on  that  and  subsequent  voyages,  of  souls  striven  for 
and  prayed  for  and  won,  I  will  not  write ;  I  am  sure 
Stewart  would  prefer  that  I  made  no  allusion  to  them. 


6  ROBERT   AND  LOUISA    STEWART 

It  was  not  by  resting  that  he  regained  health  in 
Australia  !  In  less  than  seven  months  we  took  more 
than  three  hundred  meetings  and  services ;  and 
Stewart  took  quite  half  the  speaking,  and  more  than 
half  the  knocking  about.  In  Victoria  especially, 
he  went  long  and  untiring  journeys  by  slow  trains, 
or  on  rough  roads,  to  address  small  gatherings  in 
remote  towns,  while  I  was  chiefly  occupied  at  cities 
like  Melbourne  and  Ballarat.  His  indomitable  energy, 
his  never-failing  unselfishness,  his  humility  and 
simple  dependence  on  God,  the  earnestness  and 
simplicity  of  his  addresses,  accomplished  great  things  ; 
and  wherever  he  went,  he  won  the  love  of  all  who 
came  in  contact  with  him.  I  have  mentioned  worldly 
men ;  let  me  also  mention  children.  They  all  clung 
to  him.  One  little  boy,  a  clergyman's  son,  declared 
that  he  "should  pray  for  Mr.  Stewart  every  night,1' 
and  began  by  doing  so  regularly;  but  one  night, 
being  very  tired  after  an  excursion,  the  little  fellow 
got  into  bed  too  quickly — when  his  little  sister  ran 
up  to  him  and  tried  to  pull  him  out,  crying  "  Oh  you 
naughty  boy :  you've  forgotten  to  pray  for  Mr. 
Stewart !  "  Let  me  parenthetically  acknowledge  that 
when  Stewart  afterwards  told  this  story  at  a  meeting 
in  my  hearing,  he  modified  it  by  saying  that  the  boy 
was  to  pray  "  for  China."  It  was  an  excusable  mis- 
statement !— but  I  happen  to  know  that  my  version  is 
the  correct  one. 

Stewart's  speeches  were  often  very  moving.  Again 
and  again  I  know  of  hearts  very  deeply  touched  by 


SOME   REMINISCENCES    OF   ROBERT   STEWART    7 

his  words  on  "  I  am  a  debtor,"  a  subject  he  took  re 
peatedly  ;  and  I  am  sure  some  Sydney  friends  must 
remember  his  stirring  address  on  "  Now  I  know  that 
thou  fearest  God,  seeing  thou  hast  not  withheld  thy 
son,  thine  only  son."  But  he  never  had  a  thought  of 
"  making  a  good  sermon  or  speech."  He  aimed  at 
definite  results.  We  used  whenever  possible  to  get 
five  minutes  to  pray  together  alone  before  going  to 
a  meeting ;  and  his  prayer  often  was  this,  "  Lord,  if 
Thou  hast  a  message  for  any  one  whom  Thou  art 
bringing  to  this  meeting,  give  us  that  message  to 
deliver."  Naturally,  therefore,  he  believed  in  prayer 
for  a  speaker  as  a  real  thing.  I  remember  that  at  a 
meeting  at  Bendigo,  I  was  quietly  writing  letters 
to  England  on  my  lap  while  he  was  speaking,  as  they 
had  to  be  posted  that  night.  After  the  meeting  he 
gave  me  a  gentle  reproach  :  "  While  you  were  speak 
ing,  I  was  praying."  I  never  wrote  letters  during 
his  speeches  again !  But  while  he  was  intensely 
spiritual  in  his  whole  view  of  a  missionary  meeting, 
he  was  intensely  practical  too.  It  was  he  who 
pushed  the  Gleaners'  Union,  inviting  people  to  come 
to  the  platform  then  and  there  and  be  enrolled  ;  which 
procedure  has  done  more  than  anything  else  to  per 
petuate  the  missionary  spirit  in  the  Australian 
parishes.  He  sold  hundreds  of  Mr.  Horsburgh's 
booklet,  Do  Not  Say ;  he  distributed,  only  to  applicants, 
thousands  of  the  C.M.S.  Cycle  of  Prayer;  he  got 
missionary  boxes  made,  and  placed  more  than  a 
thousand  of  them  out  himself — in  this  also  doing  a 


ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

work  which  has  lasted,  and  has  been  most  fruitful. 
These  boxes  he  had  labelled  "New  South  Wales"  or 
"Victoria"  C.M.  Association;  but  when  we  went  to 
New  Zealand,  there  was  no  Association  there,  nor 
did  we  know  whether  there  could  be  one.  Never 
theless,  no  sooner  had  his  more  cautious  qolleague 
left  him  at  Auckland  and  gone  on  to  Gisborne,  than 
he  got  some  scores  of  boxes  made  quickly,  and  put  a 
label  on  them,  "  New  Zealand  C.M.  Association  "  ;  and 
when  we  met  again  at  Napier,  and  I  shook  my  head  at 
this  pre-matureness,  he  only  said,  "  Well,  you  see  there 
must  be  an  Association  now  \  "  And  so  there  was 
presently ;  but  not  until  he  had  already  distributed 
most  of  his  boxes. 

I  will  venture  to  give  one  instance  of  his  readiness 
to  sink  everything — even  reputation  with  those 
whose  good  opinion  he  would  most  desire — if  only  he 
could  get  an  undistracted  hearing  for  his  message. 
Some  may  think  he  did  wrong  on  this  occasion;  I 
offer  no  opinion  ;  but  I  honour  his  motive,  and  I  think 
God  used  the  opportunity.  At  one  church,  where  he 
was  to  preach,  he  took  his  surplice,  scarf,  and  hood 
out  of  his  bag  in  the  vestry,  and  was  suddenly 
startled  by  the  Incumbent's  exclamation  on  seeing 
the  plain  black  scarf:  ''Whatever  is  that  thing?" 
"That?  It's  only  my  scarf."  " Oh,  you  can't  wear 
that :  the  congregation  would  stare  at  it  all  the  time, 
and  wonder  what  it  meant."  "All  right,"  said 
Stewart;  "I  don't  mind;  I'll  preach  without  one." 
"Oh,  that  will  never  do :  look  here,  you  had  better  wear 


SOME   REMINISCENCES    OF   ROBERT    STEWART    9 

this  one,  and  then  people  won't  see  anything  unusual, 
and  will  listen  to  what  you  say."  And  with  these 
words  the  Incumbent  produced  an  embroidered  white 
silk  stole.  "I  had  never  worn  such  a  thing  before," 
said  Stewart  to  me  afterwards,  "  and  I  didn't  like  it ; 
but  I  thought,  never  mind  what  I  like — I  want  to  get 
the  people's  ears — so  I  put  it  on."  I  will  only  add 
that  to  this  day  there  are  people  who  were  in  that 
church  that  morning,  and  received  a  message  from 
God  into  their  hearts  then  and  there. 

Of  course  one  object  before  him  in  all  his  sermons 
and  speeches  was  to  set  forth  the  Lord's  claim  upon 
His  people  for  their  personal  service.  Missionary 
meetings,  he  thought,  should  produce  missionaries. 
Some  of  the  Australasian  men  and  women  who  have 
gone  out  lately  into  the  mission  field  were  the  direct 
fruit  of  his  addresses.  His  very  first  sermon,  on  the 
evening  of  the  very  day  we  landed  at  Melbourne, 
elicited  the  offer  of  those  two  dear  sisters  Saunders 
who  afterwards  joined  him  in  China  and  laid  down 
their  lives  with  him.  In  England  and  Ireland,  also, 
as  many  readers  of  this  book  know,  he  and  Mrs. 
Stewart  were  especially  used  to  call  forth  offers  of 
service,  and  it  was  mainly  through  their  influence 
that  the  noble  band  of  women  went  to  Fuh-kien  in 
connection  with  the  Church  of  England  Zenana 
Missionary  Society.  Mrs.  Stewart,  indeed,  was  even 
more  powerful  as  a  speaker  than  her  husband.  I 
have  been  with  her  at  a  drawing-room  meeting, 
appointed  to  speak  after  her,  and  when  she  sat  down, 


10  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

I  have  felt  that  any  other  address  would  only  mar  the 
effect  of  her  loving,  moving",  burning  words ;  and  I 
have  risen  and  simply  said,  "  I  will  not  add  a  syllable; 
let  us  pray  over  what  we  have  heard." 

Robert  Stewart  firmly  believed  that  when  the  Lord 
Christ  told  His  people  to  go  into  all  the  world,  and  to 
every  creature,  He  rrmnt  what  He  said.  Why  should 
dangers  or  trials  be  considered  ?  African  mangrove- 
swamps  might  be  deadly — Chinese  mobs  might  be 
merciless  ;  but  how  could  such  things  affect  our  plain 
duty  ?  Often  did  we  talk  of  these  matters  ;  and  often 
did  he  say,  "  One  can  only  die  once :  what  does  it 
signify  when  or  where  ?  Let  us  do  what  God  tells  us, 
and  let  Him  do  what  seemeth  Him  good."  He  was 
the  very  man  to  die  at  his  post ;  and  at  his  post  he 
died.  And  Mrs.  Stewart  felt  precisely  the  same.  No 
one,  after  hearing  one  of  her  speeches,  would  have 
dared  to  put  personal  safety  as  the  chief  object  of 
concern.  As  to  the  children,  they  were  dedicated  to 
China ;  and  the  more  they  saw  of  China  in  their 
earlier  years  the  better — so,  at  least,  felt  their  parents. 
Robert  and  Louisa  Stewart  were  lovely  and  pleasant 
in  their  lives,  and  in  death  they  were  not  divided. 

The  deep  feeling  aroused  in  Australia  by  the 
massacre  is  a  significant  token  of  the  blessed  influence 
that  Stewart  had  exercised  there.  Melbourne,  indeed, 
might  naturally  think  especially  of  its  own  mission 
aries,  Nellie  and  uTopsy"  Saunders;  but  Sydney 
scarcely  knew  them,  and  yet  from  Sydney  came  the 
most  touching  expressions  of  love,  and  grief,  and  holy 


SOME  REMINISCENCES    OF   ROBERT  STEWART  II 

resolve  to  follow  in  the  steps  of  Robert  Stewart : 
memorial  services  in  almost  all  the  numerous 
churches,  and  in  the  cathedral ;  leading  clergymen  of 
a  very  different  school  from  Stewart  preaching 
sermons  full  of  appreciation  of  him  and  his  work ;  the 
dear  honoured  old  Dean,  in  his  eighty-eighth  year, 
presiding  over  a  crowded  prayer-meeting  three  days 
after  the  news  came,  and  bursting  into  tears  as  he 
gave  out  the  opening  hymn,  "When  I  survey  the 
wondrous  cross."  The  letters  I  have  received  from 
men  and  women,  young  and  old,  who  could  not 
refrain  from  pouring  out  their  hearts  to  Stewart's 
colleagues,  are  too  personal  to  be  quoted,  but  they  all 
breathe  the  same  spirit — not  mere  human  sorrow,  but 
sorrow  mingled  with  joy,  and  with  the  strong  expec 
tation  of  rich  blessing  for  Australia,  and  China,  and 
the  world,  from  those  precious  deaths.  At  Melbourne 
also  there  was  a  crowded  special  memorial  service  in 
the  cathedral,  Bishop  Gre  preaching  most  impres 
sively  ;  and  although  of  course  the  world  cavilled  (as 
it  did  also  at  Sydney)  at  the  wickedness  of  sending 
women  to  such  a  fate,  the  faith  of  the  children  of  God 
was  marvellously  strengthened  by  the  grace  that 
shone  forth  from  the  bereaved  widowed  mother,  Mrs. 
Saunders.  If  she  had  two  more  daughters,  she  told  an 
"  interviewing"  press  man,  they  should  go  for  Christ 
to  China ;  and  she  herself,  writes  Mrs.  Macartney, 
would  fain  go  to  Ku-cheng  and  seek  to  win  for  her 
Lord  some  of  the  murderers,  and  their  children. 

So  the  Lord  is  going   to  do  as   He  always   does, 


12  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

bring  Life  out  of  Death.  Allen  Gardiner's  death  by 
starvation  was  the  beginning  of  life  for  the  Fuegians ; 
Livingstone's  death  in  the  heart  of  Africa  brought 
light  into  the  Dark  Continent ;  Hannington,  mur 
dered  on  the  threshold  of  Uganda,  purchased,  as  he 
said,  the  road  thither  with  his  life ;  and  God  will 
make  the  Ku-cheng  massacre  an  event  to  look  back 
upon  in  eternity  as  the  starting-point  of  a  glorious 
ingathering  of  souls.  There  is  a  triumph  indeed  in 
store  for  those  who  can  say,  "  Nothing  too  precious 
for  Jesus."  "I  believe,"  writes  the  father  of  Elsie 
Marshall,  one  of  the  dear  Stewarts'  companions  in 
suffering,  "  that  I  shall  see  that  glorious  harvest  in 
China  that  is  to  spring  up  from  those  precious  buried 
grains  that  hold,  in  God's  mysterious  purpose,  the 
germs  of  eternal  life ;  and  I  know  I  shall  rejoice  in 
that  day  that  God  allowed  me  to  call  one  of  those 
grains  mine." 


CHAPTER    II 

AMBASSADORS    FOR    CHRIST 


CHAPTER   II 

AMBASSADORS    FOR    CHRIST 

"  Who  are  these  who  come  among  us 

Strangers  to  our  speech  and  ways  ? 
Passing  by  our  joys  and  treasures, 

Singing  in  the  darkest  days  ? 
Are  they  pilgrims  journeying  on 
From  a  land  we  have  not  known  ?  " 

"  We  are  come  from  a  far  country, 
From  a  land  beyond  the  sun  ; 

We  are  come  from  that  great  glory 
Round  our  God's  eternal  throne  : 

Thence  we  come  and  thither  go  ; 

Here  no  resting  place  we  know. 

"  Far  within  the  depth  of  glory, 
In  the  Father's  house  above, 
We  have  learnt  His  wondrous  secret, 
We  have  learnt  His  heart  of  love  : 
We  have  seen  and  we  have  shared 
That  bright  joy  He  hath  prepared. 

"  We  have  seen  the  golden  city 
Shining  as  the  jasper  stone  ; 
Heard  the  song  that  fills  the  heavens 

Of  the  Man  upon  the  throne  ; 
Well  that  glorious  One  we  know — 
He  hath  sent  us  here  below. 
15 


16  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"  We  have  drunk  the  living  waters. 
On  the  Tree  of  Life  have  fed  ; 
Therefore  deathless  do  we  journey 

Midst  the  dying  and  the  dead  ; 
And  unthirsting  do  we  stand 
Here  amidst  the  barren  sand. 

"  Round  us,  as  a  cloud  of  glory 

Lighting  up  the  midnight  road, 
Falls  the  light  from  that  bright  city, 

Showing  us  where  He  has  trod  ; 
All  that  here  might  please  the  sight 
Lost  in  that  eternal  light." 

"  Wherefore  are  ye  come  amongst  us 

From  the  glory  to  the  gloom  ? " 
"  Christ  in  glory  breathed  within  us 
Life,  His  Life,  and  bid  us  come. 
Here  as  living  springs  to  be — 
Fountains  of  that  life  are  we. 

"  Fountains  of  the  life  that  floweth 

Ever  downwards  from  the  throne, 
Witnesses  of  that  bright  glory 
Where,  rejected,  He  is  gone, 
Sent  to  give  the  blind  their  sight, 
Turn  the  darkness  into  light. 

"  There,  amidst  the  joy  eternal, 
Is  the  Man  who  went  above, 

Bearing  marks  of  all  the  hatred 
Of  the  world  He  sought  in  love. 

He  has  sent  us  here  to  tell 

Of  His  love  unchangeable. 

"  He  hath  sent  us,  that  in  sorrow, 

In  rejection,  toil  and  loss, 
We  may  learn  the  wondrous  sweetness, 

Learn  the  mystery  of  His  cross — 
Learn  the  depth  of  love  that  traced 
That  blest  path  across  the  waste. 


AMBASSADORS  FOR   CHRIST  17 

u  He  hath  sent  us  highest  honours 

Of  His  cross  and  shame  to  win, 
Bear  His  light  through  deepest  darkness, 

Walk  in  white  'midst  foulest  sin  ; 
Sing  amidst  the  wintry  gloom, 
Sing  the  blessed  songs  of  home. 

"  From  the  dark  and  troubled  waters 

Many  a  pearl  to  Him  we  bear  ; 
Golden  sheaves  we  bring  with  singing, 

Fulness  of  His  joy  we  share  ; 
And  our  pilgrim  journey  o'er, 
Praise  with  Him  for  evermore." 

T.  P.1 

VARIOUS  proposals  have  been  made  as  to  writing 
a  Life  of  Robert  and  Louisa  Stewart ;  but  they 
have  all  been  declined. 

Lives  so  truly  lived  in  secret  with  God  are  not  easy 
to  record.  And  even  if  the  attempt  were  successfully 
made,  is  there  not  a  danger  of  exalting  the  human  and 
losing  sight  of  the  fact  that  "  all  things  are  of  God?" 

It  has  been  thought,  therefore,  that  it  is  sufficient  for 
God's  glory,  to  print  some  letters  lately  received,  and 
supply  a  few  details  of  the  earlier  times.  Their  letters 
were  not  kept,  at  Mr.  Stewart's  earnest  request. 

Feeling  that  anything  too  personal  would  have  been 
repugnant  to  the  feelings  of  our  dear  brother  and 
sister,  we  refrain  from  writing  their  biographies  ;  but 
we  know  their  wish  would  be  that  we  should  write  and 
print  anything  that  would  awaken  love  and  sympathy 
for  China  and  the  Chinese — anything  that  would  show 
the  friends  who  have  helped  through  prayer  and  by 

1  In  "  Hymns  of  Tersteegen,  Suso  and  others,"  by  Mrs.  Bevan. 

C 


l8  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

their  gifts  that  the  need  now  is  not  less,  but  greater. 
Their  voices  seem  to  plead  with  us  from  the  glory, 
"Fill  up  the  ranks."  Who  will  be  baptized  for  the 
dead? 

They  went  out  to  Foochow  in  September,  1876,  just 
after  their  marriage. 

Learning  the  language  was  of  course  the  first  work. 

Then  Mr.  Stewart  was  given  charge  of  the  school 
for  native  catechists  belonging  to  the  Church  Mission 
ary  Society. 

Mrs.  Stewart,  after  a  time,  opened  a  school  to  train 
native  Bible- women. 

The  money  to  build  it  was  given  by  personal  friends. 

Then  came  the  pressing  need  of  English  ladies  to 
teach  and  superintend  their  Chinese  sisters. 

After  eight  years  abroad  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart 
came  home,  and  the  matter  was  taken  up  by  the 
C.E.Z.M.S.,  who  agreed  to  send  ladies  to  China, 
arranging  that  the  funds  for  India  and  China  should 
be  kept  separate. 

The  all-absorbing  thought  was,  "  How  can  the 
Gospel  be  preached  to  this  generation  of  the 
Chinese?"  And  visions  rose  of  devoted  English 
ladies  residing  in  every  one  of  the  many  cities  of 
the  Fuhkien  province,  superintending  hundreds  of 
native  Bible-women. 

These  Bible- women  cost  £6  a  year  only,  travelling 
expenses  included.  What  a  good  investment  of  £6  ! 

Dear  readers,  you  who  cannot  go  to  China  can  have 
a  substitute  there  for  this  modest  sum ;  and  I  know 


AMBASSADORS   FOR   CHRIST  ig 

not  how  many  you  may  have  "from  the  land  of 
Sinim"  to  welcome  you  to  "everlasting  habitations." 

Those  who  met  Louisa  Stewart  at  this  time  will 
remember  the  intense  interest  she  felt  and  com 
municated  to  others  on  this  subject  of  women's 
work  (English  and  Chinese)  in  China. 

How  often  she  told,  with  glowing  face,  of  her 
beloved  Chinese  women  in  the  school !  How  at  noon 
each  day  their  lessons  were  suspended  and  a  prayer- 
meeting  held.  So  real  and  earnest  were  the  petitions 
that  the  difficulty  often  was  to  stop  them  in  time  for 
dinner.  They  "  believed  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

The  history  of  one  of  these  women,  often  told  by 
Mrs.  Stewart,  was  as  follows  : — 

Mr.  Stewart  had  received  her  husband,  Ing  Soi, 
into  the  C.M.S.  school,  and  he  asked  that  his  wife 
might  be  under  Mrs.  Stewart's  care  to  learn  "  the 
doctrine,"  so  as  to  be  able  to  help  him  when  he  was 
sent  forth  to  teach. 

Ing  Soi  was  a  man  of  God.  Robert  Stewart  said  he 
loved  him  as  a  brother.  But  the  wife,  though  a 
Christian  in  name,  showed  no  sign  of  true  conversion 
to  God.  Alas !  as  her  subsequent  history  shows,  she 
was  like  many  in  our  own  country,  who  "  will  not 
come  "  at  the  voice  of  love,  and  must  experience  the 
goad  of  trouble,  which  "  it  is  hard  to  kick  against." 

Mrs.  Ing  Soi  wept  over  the  difficult  Chinese  charac 
ters,  and  said  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  learn  to 
read;  in  fact,  she  did  not  care  to  read  the  book  for 
whose  Author  she  had  no  love ;  but,  as  the  story  will 


20  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

tell,  at  a  day  not  very  far  distant  her  greatest  desire 
was  to  search  for  herself  the  written  Word,  that  she 
might  find  the  living  Word  of  God. 

The  time  having  arrived  for  her  husband  to  go 
forth,  she  left  the  school. 

It  seemed  as  if  no  seed  had  been  sown,  and  as  if 
prayer  were  left  unanswered.  We  know  that  every 
prayer  is  answered,  though  we  may  not  at  once  see 
the  answer.  "  Through  faith  and  patience  "we  "  in 
herit  the  promises." 

After  some  time  of  happy  work  in  the  far-off  city, 
Ing  Soi  went  to  see  some  converts  in  another  town. 
They  had  hitherto  visited  him,  but  now  they  begged 
for  a  visit  from  their  teacher. 

One  day  he  went.     I  believe  it  was  a  day's  journey. 

A  manifesto  from  the  mandarin  greeted  his  eyes 
soon  after  his  arrival.  The  walls  were  placarded 
with  a  notice  forbidding  any  one  to  teach  "  the  Jesus 
doctrine,"  and  threatening  confiscation  of  property, 
and  possibly  loss  of  life,  to  any  one  teaching  "  in  this 
Name." 

The  ostensible  reasons  for  these  threats  were  an 
outbreak  of  cholera  disease  among  the  cattle,  and 
tailure  in  the  crops — disasters  usual  in  China  in  the 
fall  of  the  year,  but  this  year  utilised  by  the  Chinese 
authorities  as  a  pretext  for  persecuting  the  Christians. 

As  Ing  Soi  read,  he  found  himself  seized  by  some 
men,  who,  holding  his  pigtail,  said,— 

"  Do  you  promise  not  to  speak  any  more  in  this 
Name?" 


AMBASSADORS   FOR   CHRIST  21 

"No,"  he  answered  firmly;  "I  will  preach  the 
Name  of  Jesus  while  I  have  breath.  I  live  only  to 
serve  Him." 

"  Well,  we  must  kill  you." 

They  dragged  him  off  to  an  opium  den,  where  they 
beat  him  cruelly,  and,  putting  a  knife  to  his  throat, 
threatened  instant  death  unless  he  recanted. 

"  How  did  you  feel,  Ing  Soi,  when  you  faced 
death  ? "  questioned  Mrs.  Stewart,  to  whom  he  re 
counted  this  experience  after  he  reached  Foochow. 

"Oh!  "  he  said — and  his  face,  like  Stephen's,  shone 
as  an  angel's — "I  never  thought  of  death;  my  only 
thought  was,  in  one  moment  I  shall  really  see  Jesus, 
and  I  was  so  full  of  joy  they  thought  I  was  laughing, 
for  they  said,  ( You  needn't  laugh ;  we  are  really 
going  to  kill  you.'  " 

Just  then  the  Mandarin  interfered,  lest  matters 
should  go  too  far,  and  with  some  vague  dread  of  the 
English  government. 

With  difficulty  Ing  Soi  reached  Foochow.  He 
came  to  die ;  the  injuries  he  had  received  were  so 
serious. 

For  six  weeks  he  lingered  in  the  hospital,  lovingly 
nursed  by  his  wife,  and  visited  daily  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Stewart — not,  as  they  said,  for  his  sake  alone ;  they 
found  it  good  to  be  with  him  in  the  land  of  Beulah, 
and  hear  him  speak  the  language  of  that  country. 

"  Have  you  any  fear  of  death,  Ing  Soi?  Tell  me," 
questioned  Mr.  Stewart  one  day. 

u  Living  is  death,  dying  is  life,"  was  the  answer. 


22  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

On  another  occasion  he  addressed  his  dearly-loved 
teacher,— 

"  One  thing  you  will  promise  ?  " 

"  That  your  wife  and  children  may  be  cared  for  ?  " 

"  Oh  no !  I  know  you  will  do  all  for  them.  I  trust 
you  and  God,  and  I  have  no  fear  for  them." 

"What  then?" 

"  Those  poor  people  who  injured  me.  God  has  for 
given  them.  They  did  it  in  ignorance.  I  have  asked 
the  Lord  to  send  them  a  teacher,  and  I  want  you  to 
promise  that  if  there  is  any  inquiry  you  will  not  let 
any  one  punish  them." 

The  promise  was  given.  The  likeness  to  Stephen 
was  brought  again  to  mind,  and,  indeed,  to  a  greater 
than  Stephen,  who  prayed,  "  Father,  forgive  them." 

Ing  Soi  fell  asleep  in  the  arms  of  Jesus ;  but  the 
story  does  not  end  here. 

The  seeds  in  the  wife's  heart  now  began  to  bring 
forth  fruit. 

The  Christ-like  spirit  in  her  husband  had  been  to 
her  as  the  early  and  the  latter  rain,  and  she  now 
begged  her  dear  "  sing-ang-iong  "  (teacher)  to  take 
her  again  into  the  school.  God  had  put  into  her  heart 
a  great  longing  to  be  the  messenger  of  mercy  and 
forgiveness  to  her  husband's  murderers. 

He  fulfils  "  the  desire  of  them  that  fear  Him," 
and  after  her  time  of  training  she  went — a  real  Bible- 
woman  this  time — to  reap  a  harvest  in  other  souls. 

So  it  ever  is :  the  seed  is  planted,  and  it  grows,  we 
"know  not  how,"  and  brings  forth  "  first  the  blade, 


AMBASSADORS   FOR   CHRIST  23 

then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear"  (is  this 
the  advancing  manifestation  in  John  xiv.  16,  21,  23 — 
the  Spirit,  the  Son,  the  Father?),  and  after  that  a 
harvest  in  other  souls.  Oh !  is  it  not  worth  dying  to 
all  of  the  old  self-life  that  we  may  "  share  in  the 
glory  of  the  harvest  home  "  ? 

But  we  must  return  to  the  school  with  its  twenty 
inmates. 

In  this  unique  boarding  school  for  married  women, 
some  of  them  learning  lessons  with  baby  in  arms, 
because  baby  could  not  be  left  behind,  Mrs.  Stewart 
spent  some  hours  of  every  day. 

Many  of  these  women,  with  true  heroism  known  to 
God  alone,  had  walked  weary  miles  with  their  "  poor 
little  feet,''  as  they  called  them. 

How  Mrs.  Stewart  delighted,  when  she  could  find  a 
ready  listener,  to  tell  of  these  dear  pupils  in  China  ! 

Sometimes  they  made  her  laugh  in  winter  when  it 
was  cold  (as  it  mercifully  is  in  Foochow). 

Chinese  people  think  English  fires  very  uncivilized, 
so  destructive  to  furniture,  and  so  apt  to  smoke. 
Their  way  of  getting  warm  is  to  add  jacket  over 
jacket,  and  skirt  over  skirt ;  and  when  sitting  quiet  to 
embrace  a  little  charcoal  burner,  hidden  by  the  wide 
sleeves  of  the  tunic. 

Let  us  imagine  Mrs.  Stewart  surrounded  by  her 
class  of  loving  women.  Some  one  gets  specially  in 
terested,  and  forgets  her  unseen  warm  friend.  Sud 
denly  there  is  a  cry  that  somebody  is  on  fire !  All 
hands  haste  to  the  rescue.  The  fire  is  put  out  without 


24  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

much  injury,  and  a  hearty  laugh  succeeds  the  mo 
mentary  fear. 

One  day,  early  in  the  school  experience,  the  teacher 
said  in  familiar  sisterly  converse :  "You  know  now 
that  the  things  said  about  us — such  as  that  blue  eyes 
see  through  the  ground,  and,  that  you  \vould  get  harm 
if  you  came  here — are  not  true.  I  am  sure  that  some  of 
the  things  said  about  you  are  not  true.  For  instance, 
about  killing  the  girl-babies.  I  do  not  suppose  any  of 
you  have  done  so." 

A  smile  passed  from  one  to  the  other.  Eighteen 
women  out  of  the  twenty  present  confessed  to  the 
crime,  explaining  that  it  had  to  be  done  imme 
diately,  before  the  little  one  had  won  any  love !  Poor 
babies — yet  happy  too.  Here  again  Satan  is  van 
quished.  He  suggests  these  cruel  acts,  but  He  who 
was  manifested  for  this  purpose,  that  He  might 
destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,  destroys  his  power 
here,  for  death  becomes  life  to  these  Chinese  baby- 
girls.  God  has  chosen  the  weak  and  despised  things, 
and  we  praise  Him  for  that  third  of  the  human  race 
who  die  in  infancy,  saved  through  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb. 

In  one  letter  Mrs.  Stewart  wrote  (I  quote  from 
memory,  not  having  kept  the  letter)  :— 

"  I  am  glad  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  Some  of 
the  women  seem  so  hopelessly  ignorant  and  stupid. 
They  are  brought  up  to  believe  that  they  have  no 
souls,  no  minds,  and  that  men  only  can  think. 

"  One   woman   seemed   unable   to  learn :   she  wept 


AMBASSADORS   FOR   CHRIST  25 

over  the  characters.  But  quite  suddenly  she  brightened 
up  and  learned  quickly  and  well.  I  asked  how  it  was. 

'"Did  you  not  tell  us  that  God  gives  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  those  that  ask  ? ' 

"  '  Yes.' 

" (  And  that  when  He  comes,  He  shall  teach  all 
things  ? ' 

"  <  Yes.' 

" '  That  is  how  I  learn  now.  He  teaches  me,  and 
I  "cannot  forget.'  " 

One  more  conversation  repeated  to  us  comes  to 
mind.  The  women  were  explaining  to  Mrs.  Stewart 
why  marriage,  as  a  rule,  is  regarded  with  dread  by 
Chinese  women  ;  how  they  become  drudges  to  the 
mother-in-law,  and  slaves,  if  not  beasts  of  burden,  to 
the  husband  ;  so  that  some  young  women  have  com 
mitted  suicide  rather  than  live  to  be  taken  to  the 
husband's  home. 

Exclamations  of  surprise,  if  not  of  incredulity,  arose 
when  Mrs.  Stewart  said  that  in  England  girls  who 
are  engaged  like  to  be  married. 

"Poor  Chinese  women,"  she  would  often  say,  "if 
friends  at  home  could  only  see  their  hopeless  faces, 
and  know  of  their  dark  existence,  they  would  indeed 
do  all  that  they  could  for  the  women  of  China." 

The  woman — lirst  in  the  transgression — God  told 
of  sorrow  and  of  being  under  the  rule  of  man. 

The  woman — mother  of  Jesus — last  at  His  cross, 
first  at  His  tomb.  She  died  indeed  to  all  natural 
goodness,  but  in  Christ  has  she  not  been  made  alive  ? 


26  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

As  she  has  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  shall  she 
not  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly  ?  Yes,  truly. 
And  as  she  was  used  of  God  in  Christ's  first  advent, 
she  has  assuredly  her  part  to  fill  up  before  the  mani 
festation  of  the  sons  of  God. 

And  when  they  come,  the  daughters  as  well  as  the 
sons,  from  the  East  and  West,  the  North  and  South, 
the  sacred  Book  adds :  "  And  these  from  the  land  of 
Sinim." 

"  How  can  you  say  '  poor  missionaries '  ?  said  Mr. 
Stewart  in  a  sermon  preached  when  he  was  last  at 
home.  "  I  tell  you  it  is  a  life  the  highest  archangel  in 
heaven  might  envy." 

The  touching  incidents  connected  with  the  leave- 
taking  on  their  return  to  China  in  November,  1884, 
must  be  passed  over ;  they  both  shrank  from  any 
personal  publicity.  They  loved  to  make  known  far 
and  wide  what  God  had  wrought. 

To  the  glory  of  His  grace,  one  remark  must  be 
repeated.  Mrs.  Stewart  said  to  a  relative  of  hers, 
"  No  one  seems  to  understand  but  Mr.  Hudson  Taylor. 
Every  one  else  says,  (  When  must  you  go  back  to 
China  ? ' "  (they  were  leaving  three  dearly  loved 
children  behind  them) ;  "  but  he  said,  (  When  can  you 
go  back  to  China  ? '  He  understands." 

And  when  that  leave-taking  was  over,  and  a  sister 
and  some  friends  saw  them  off  at  Gravesend,  the  faces 
of  both  showed  signs  of  passing  through  deep  waters, 
but  the  light  shining  in  the  eyes  of  both  also  said, 
louder  than  any  words,  that  He  was  with  them.  As 
they  said  themselves,  they  loved  to  go  to  China. 


AMBASSADORS   FOR   CHRIST  27 

Time  would  fail  to  tell  of  sowing  in  tears  and  reap 
ing  in  joy  for  two  years  more ;  and  then  again  they 
came  home,  across  Canada  this  time,  because  of  Mr. 
Stewart's  health. 

He  fought  bravely  on  as  long  as  the  doctor  wrould 
allow  him  to  stay.  First  a  change  to  Japan  was  tried. 

There  one  night — his  wife  told  of  it  afterwards — he 
lay  insensible.  They  had  gone  high  up  in  the  moun 
tains,  to  seek  for  him  invigorating  air. 

Even  the  Japanese  servants  did  not  sleep  in  the 
inn ;  she  was  alone — alone  with  God.  I  believe  that 
night  she  became  Israel — not  Jacob  any  longer.  God 
became  in  a  deeper  sense  all  in  all  to  her,  and  she  had 
no  fear,  even  face  to  face  with  the  possibility  that  her 
husband  might  that  night  enter  within  the  veil,  with 
out  another  word  to  her.  She  thought  of  the  little 
children  in  China,  the  three  boys  at  home,  her  mother 
and  others  in  Ireland;  and,  looking  her  unknown 
future  in  the  face,  she  praised  God,  telling  Him  she 
loved  His  will  whatever  it  might  bring  to  her.  And 
a  marvellous  calm  came  over  her  whole  being,  and  a 
joy  not  of  earth  ! 

Her  husband  was  restored  to  her  that  time ;  but  it 
was  God's  purpose  to  have  him  once  more  in  England, 
and  so  He  permitted  the  little  strength  he  had  gained 
in  Japan  to  wane  again. 

Once  more  they  turned  homewards — a  wonderful 
journey,  as  they  afterwards  said  ! 

Every  little  detail  so  lovingly  and  graciously  or 
dered  !  The  Lord  carried  His  beloved  child  in  His 


28  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 


^  halfway  round  the  world,  when,  humanly  speak 
ing,  it  seemed  as  if  he  could  not  reach  home  alive. 

At  first  Mr.  Stewart  had  to  keep  very  quiet,  but  as 
soon  as  it  was  possible  he  was  again  in  harness, 
preaching  and  holding  meetings  in  the  interest  of  his 
beloved  China  —  or  rather,  of  his  beloved  Lord.  He 
was,  indeed,  a  true  follower  of  Him  whose  meat  it 
was  to  do  His  Father's  will. 

The  children,  too,  had  a  blessed  training.  Loving 
their  father,  and  appreciating  his  society  in  a  very 
special  way,  they  were  also  taught  to  rejoice  in  the 
suffering  entailed  by  his  absence,  because  it  was  "  for 
China." 

In  1893  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  had  again  the  joy 
of  setting  off  for  China,  and  what  was  really  a  joy 
too  (though,  perhaps,  understood  by  few),  of  sacrificing 
natural  inclination  that  they  might  embrace  God's 
will. 

A  call  came  for  missionary  meetings  in  Canada. 
Who  could  be  more  suitable  than  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Stewart  —  he  to  plead  the  cause  of  Christ,  as  he  had 
done  in  Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  elsewhere  ;  she 
to  call  upon  her  sisters  in  Canada  to  hear  the  cry  of 
crushed  womanhood  in  China  ? 

Again  the  choice  to  suffer  was  put  before  them. 
They  had  faced  the  good-bye  to  the  three  boys,  now  at 
a  public  school  ;  but  what  about  the  four  wee  ones  — 
two  little  gills  and  two  baby-boys  ?  They  could  not 
be  taken  about  Canada  with  their  nurse  on  deputation. 

No  ;  they  must  take  the  other  way,  and  go  by  the 


- 


29 


AMBASSADORS   FOR   CHRIST  31 

Red  Sea,  in  company  with  some  of  the  dear  sisters 
going  out  under  the  C.E.Z.M.S.,  all  of  whom  were 
ever  cherished  as  dear  sisters,  if  not  daughters. 

So  it  was  decided,  not  grudgingly  or  of  necessity. 
God  loves  a  cheerful  giver. 

Dear  Robert  Stewart !  If  I  have  mentioned  his  wife 
— my  sister — more,  it  is  because  we  heard  her  speak 
more,  not  in  any  degree  that  we  think  less  of  him. 
Oh,  no.  Good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,  patient,  true 
servant,  he  never  sought  the  praise  of  man,  and 
always  shrank  from  any  recognition  of  his  services ; 
he  pitied  those  who  sought  such  things.  "  Verily, 
they  have  their  rewrard." 

But  he,  seeing  the  invisible,  and  intensely  devoted 
to  the  Captain  of  his  salvation,  ever  pressed  on,  an 
inspiration  to  those  who  came  in  contact  with  him, 
and  an  example  to  all  who  would  work  while  it  is  day. 

From  the  Sunday  morning  when  he,  a  young  bar 
rister,  worldly  and  full  of  ambition,  as  some  of  us 
remember  him,  turned  into  Holy  Trinity  Church, 
Richmond,  saying  to  himself  that  he  knew  his  mother 
(then  in  glory)  would  be  better  pleased  to  see  him 
there  than  boating  on  the  Thames,  as  had  been  his 
intention  when  he  left  the  house  that  morning — from 
that  day  until  the  fiery  chariot  parted  us  asunder 
on  August  i,  1895,  his  course  was  "straight  upward 
and  straight  onward  to  yonder  throne."  An  old  friend, 
alluding  to  his  conversion,  remarked,  "  I  never  saw  a 
man  so  completely  changed." 

Dear  Robert  Stewart !  we  shall  never  see  just  such 


32  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

another;  but  what  thou  wert  God  made  thee,  and  to  Him 
we  give  all  the  glory,  as  thou  wert  ever  wont  to  do. 

We  must  leave  others  to  tell  of  work  in  Canada,  and 
hasten  to  conclude  this  sketch.  Christmas  Day,  1893, 
witnessed  a  happy  re-union  of  the  four  little  ones, 
Lena  the  faithful  nurse,  the  beloved  parents,  and  some 
of  the  "  sisters,"  whose  love  in  the  Spirit  had  been 
always  a  brightness  in  the  Chinese  life. 

This  time  they  passed  through  Foochow  and  went 
on  to  Kucheng — another  answer  to  prayer,  as  their 
hearts  were  ever  going  out  to  the  regions  beyond. 
The  name  of  Hwasang,  which  has  now  become  sadly 
familiar  to  many  ears,  was  first  heard  of  as  a  sana 
torium,  where  in  the  hottest  part  of  summer  they 
retreated  with  the  children  for  refreshment  and  rest 
—rest,  not  only  after  work,  but  as  a  preparation  for  a 
fresh  campaign. 

There  on  the  mountain  top  the  native  cottage  stood 
which  they  bought  for  themselves. 

During  the  summer  of  1894  (last  Year)  the  letters 
from  Hwasang  were  full  of  descriptions  of  peaceful 
rest,  tea-picnics  with  the  children,  and  other  delights. 
In  the  month  of  June  a  new  baby  had  come  to  gladden 
the  home;  they  called  her  Hilda  Sylvia.  The  little 
life  of  thirteen  months  was  a  bright  one ;  she  lived 
surrounded  with  love. 

It  is  now  known  to  all  Christian  friends  the  wide 
world  over  how  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  passed  through 
the  golden  gates  together,  followed  by  Herbert  and  the 
baby  girl  a  little  later. 


AMBASSADORS  FOR  CHRIST  33 

I  remember  one  day  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  were  at 
home,  and  some  of  us  had  gathered,  a  little  family 
party,  by  the  seaside  in  Wales.  Herbert  had  had  a 
fall,  and  might  have  been  seriously  hurt. 

He  said  solemnly  to  his  mother  afterwards,  "  God 
went  out  to  walk  with  Her  to-day,  or  he  would  have 
been  killed." 

He  was  only  two  years  old  and  called  himself 
"  Her,"  as  Herbert  was  too  long. 

When  I  heard  what  had  happened  on  August  i 
and  the  succeeding  days,  I  remembered  his  baby 
words,  and  I  knew  that  "God  walked  with  Herbert" 
then  too,  and  with  his  father  and  mother,  the  baby 
sister,  and  the  faithful  nurse  Lena.  They  were  not 
(<  killed,"  they  were  translated.  Had  He  not  promised 
He  would  never  leave  them  nor  forsake  them  ? 

"  Some  were  tortured,  not  accepting  deliverance, 
that  they  might  obtain  a  better  resurrection." 

"  Of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy." 


CHAPTER   III 
THE    WHIRLWIND 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    WHIRLWIND 

"And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  Lord  would  take  up  Elijah  into 
heaven  by  a  whirlwind,  that  Elijah  went  with  Elisha.  .  .  . 

"And,  behold,  there  appeared  a  chariot  of  fire,  and  horses  of  fire, 
and  parted  them  both  asunder  ;  and  Elijah  went  up  by  a  whirlwind 
into  heaven." 

"  Thou  sweet  beloved  will  of  God, 

My  anchor  ground,  my  fortress  hill, 
My  spirit's  silent,  fair  abode, 
In  Thee  I  hide  me,  and  am  still. 

Oh,  will  that  wiliest  good  alone, 

Lead  Thou  the  way,  Thou  guidest  best  ; 

A  little  child,  I  follow  on, 

And,  trusting,  lean  upon  Thy  breast. 

Thy  beautiful  sweet  will,  my  God, 

Holds  fast  in  its  sublime  embrace 
My  captive  will,  a  gladsome  bird, 

Prisoned  in  such  a  realm  of  grace. 

Within  this  place  of  certain  good 
Love  evermore  expands  her  wings  ; 

Or,  nestling  in  Thy  perfect  choice, 
Abides  content  with  what  it  brings. 

Oh,  lightest  burden,  sweetest  yoke  ! 

It  lifts,  it  bears,  my  happy  soul, 
It  giveth  wings  to  this  poor  heart  ; 

My  freedom  is  Thy  grand  control. 

37 


38  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

Upon  God's  will  I  lay  me  down, 

As  child  upon  its  mother's  breast ; 
No  silken  couch,  nor  softest  bed, 

Could  ever  give  me  such  deep  rest. 

Thy  wonderful  grand  will,  my  God, 
With  triumph  now  I  make  it  mine, 

And  faith  shall  cry  a  joyous  Yes  ! 
To  every  dear  command  of  Thine." 

THE  storm  that  burst  on  August  i,  1895,  at 
Hwasang  (the  summer  resort  of  our  dear 
missionaries)  was  not  altogether  without  warning. 

The  following  letters  tell  their  own  tale.  Mrs. 
Stewart's  letter,  written  as  early  as  December  10, 
1894,  shows  that  already  there  was  earnest  need  for 
prayer.  Her  journal  letter,  and  Mr.  Stewart's  letter, 
written  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society  a  little 
later,  show  how  surely,  though  slowly,  the  clouds 
were  gathering. 

But  later  letters — some  extracts  from  which  are 
given  towards  the  end  of  this  chapter — give  us 
pictures  of  our  friends  enjoying  their  quiet  rest  at 
Hwasang,  and  looking  forward  with  joyful  hope 
and  confident  expectation  to  their  "Keswick  Week," 
which  they  kept  at  the  same  time  as  the  great  gather 
ing  by  Derwentwater. 

The  following  letter  from  Mrs.  Stewart,  dated 
December  16,  1894,  addressed  to  Mrs.  Baldwin,  for 
merly  at  Foochow  in  connection  with  the  American 
Mission,  was  inserted  in  the  letter  leaflet  of  the 
Women's  Auxiliary :— 


THE    WHIRLWIND  39 

"  MY  DEAR  MRS.  BALDWIN,— 

"  Your  kind  suggestion  that  I  should  send  you 
now  and  then  topics  for  special  prayer  has  been  in 
my  mind  much  to-day,  and  I  feel  that  I  must  write 
and  tell  you  of  our  great  need.  You  will,  of  course, 
have  guessed  that  owing  to  the  war  between  China 
and  Japan,  Chinese  people  are  in  a  state  of  great 
unrest,  and  hardly  know  what  to  expect  from  day  to 
day.  In  this  part  of  the  Fuh-kien  Province  a  new 
source  of  danger  has  arisen.  A  secret  society,  which 
has  been  slowly  growing  for  two  years,  has  suddenly 
become  very  active,  and  is  rapidly  increasing  in 
numbers ;  some  hundreds  have  joined  them  within 
the  last  few  weeks,  and  they  are  daily  growing  in 
numbers.  The  Mandarin  has  no  power  to  check 
them ;  he  made  an  attempt  a  few  weeks  ago,  and 
his  house  was  soon  surrounded  by  an  angry  mob,  who 
said  they  would  pull  it  down  if  he  did  not  agree  to 
all  their  wishes.  At  last  the  poor  man  yielded,  as  he 
was  quite  terrified,  and  actually  allowed  his  own 
secretary  to  be  beaten,  merely  because  the  mob 
demanded  it,  and  then  liberated  a  few  of  their 
number  he  had  imprisoned,  and  sent  them  home  in 
state  in  sedan  chairs.  The  victory  over  the  Mandarin 
has  made  them  very  bold,  and  they  say  quite  openly 
they  can  now  do  as  they  like.  They  have  many 
times  threatened  to  burn  down  our  houses,  and  either 
kill  us  or  drive  us  away ;  but  the  Lord  has  kept  us 
in  perfect  peace ;  we  realize  fully  that  we  are  safe  in 
His  keeping,  for  we  have  no  human  power  to  trust 


40  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

to.  The  Mandarin  can  no  longer  help  himself,  so 
there  is  no  protection  from  him,  and  the  officials  at 
Foochow  are  powerless:  such  consternation  prevails 
owing  to  the  Japanese  victories.  But  we  know  nothing 
can  hurt  us  without  our  Father's  will,  and  we  feel  quite 
content.  Our  little  girls,  aged  ten  and  twelve,  some 
times  feel  the  strain  rather,  and  when  people  begin 
talking  of  possibilities  they  feel  rather  frightened ; 
but  even  this  the  Lord  is  using  for  good,  for  it  is 
teaching  them  to  turn  to  Him  for  help  and  comfort,  as 
they  never  would  in  peaceful  days.  We  feel  most  for 
our  poor  Christians,  and  it  is  for  them  I  want  specially 
to  ask  you  to  pray.  Even  now  many  are  having  a 
time  of  severe  testing,  and  much  worse  may  come  if 
the  war  is  prolonged.  The  heathen  think  they  have 
now  a  good  chance  of  injuring  them,  as  the  Govern 
ment  is  quite  unable  to  take  their  part  at  present. 
Some  have  had  their  crops  of  rice  cut  down  and 
carried  away  before  their  eyes ;  others  have  been 
beaten ;  and  one  poor  man  had  his  shop  attacked,  and 
everything  he  had  carried  off.  We  know  that  those 
who  are  grounded  and  settled  in  the  faith  will  not  be 
moved,  but  we  feel  so  much  for  the  inquirers,  and 
those  just  lately  come  out  of  heathen  darkness.  ( God 
is  able  to  make  them  stand.'  Will  you  join  with  us 
in  asking  that  all  this  trouble  may  lead  to  great 
spiritual  blessing,  and  that  the  Christians  may  be 
given  courage  to  bear  whatever  may  be  the  Lord's 
will  to  send  them?  Will  you  also  pray  that  this 
secret  society,  which  is  doing  so  much  harm,  may  be 


THE    WHIRLWIND  41 

in  some  way  broken  up,  and  not  allowed  to  injure  the 
Lord's  work  in  this  place  ?  They  are  going  to  have 
a  great  gathering  of  some  hundreds  of  these  con 
spirators  at  this  city  in  about  a  fortnight,  and  we  are 
praying  much  that  the  Lord  will  keep  them  from 
doing  any  harm.  They  threaten  all  sorts  of  things, 
but  we  know  they  cannot  carry  them  out  unless  God 
permits  them.  The  Consul  is  anxious  we  should  all 
leave  these  inland  stations,  and  go  down  to  the  Treaty 
Port  for  safety,  for  he  thinks  that  if  Pekin  is  taken 
there  may  be  a  general  rising  of  the  people,  and  then 
the  '  foreigner '  would  be  the  first  to  suffer.  But  so 
far  we  cannot  see  that  it  is  the  Lord's  will  we  should 
leave  our  posts,  and  we  fear  it  would  much  discourage 
the  Christians  if  we  did  so.  The  Lord  will  guide  day 
by  day,  and  we  want  simply  to  follow  His  will.  Will 
you  pray  specially  for  two  dear  men,  leaders  in  the 
Church  here  at  Kucheng?  The  first  is  named  Ling 
Sing-mi ;  he  is  an  ordained  clergyman,  the  pastor  of 
our  church  in  the  city,  and  head  of  the  Kucheng 
district  work  under  my  husband.  Will  you  pray  that 
he  may  be  given  wisdom  and  strength  at  this  time  of 
trial,  that  God  may  bless  him,  that  he  may  be  a 
blessing  to  others  ?  The  other  is  a  man  named 
Li  Daik-in,  also  a  leader,  and  also  a  very  good  man. 
Will  you  ask  that  he  too  may  receive  much  blessing 
through  this  trial,  and  learn  to  trust  God  more  fully 
than  ever  before  ?  We  are  all  well  in  health,  thank 
God.  My  husband  has  had  one  attack  of  illness  since 
the  summer,  but  is  now  well  again  ;  he  is  constantly 


42  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

busy,  and,  indeed,  can  hardly  get  through  the  work 
of  these  two  great  districts.  Will  you  ask  the  Lord 
to  send  more  men — men  fitted  and  prepared  by  Him 
self  ?  Our  warmest  thanks  for  your  sympathy  in  our 
work." 

The  following  letters,  written  in  April,  1895,  by 
Robert  Stewart,  show  that  all  needful  precautions 
were  taken.  They  knew  the  angels  had  charge  to 
"  keep  them  in  all  their  ways,"  but  they  were  not 
rashly  tempting  God. 

"  Reuter's  Agency  is  informed  that  the  district  re 
ferred  to  in  the  Hongkong  telegram  as  '  nearer 
Foochow  than  Kucheng,'  contains  several  Church 
Missionary  Society  stations,  Church  of  England 
Zenana  stations,  and  American  Methodist  stations. 
The  most  important  of  these  are  Fukhieu,  Fuhning, 
Longuong,  Ningtaik,  all  to  the  north  of  Foochow,  and 
Hokchiang,  and  Hinghwa,  to  the  south  of  that  city. 
At  some  of  these  stations  there  are  male  missionaries, 
and  ladies  at  most  of  them.  The  following  letter— 
the  last  one  received — from  the  Rev.  R.  W.  Stewart, 
addressed  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  and 
communicated  by  them  to  Reuter's  Agency,  is  dated 
Kucheng,  April  8,  and  shows  that  even  then  the 
situation  was  critical. 

u  Mr.  Stewart  says  :— 

u  '  We  have  been  having  some  rather  exciting  times 
here  lately.  Ten  days  ago  I  was  called  up  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning  by  our  native  clergyman  and 


THE    WHIRLWIND  43 

other  Christians,  who  had  crossed  the  river  to  our 
house  to  bring  the  startling  news  that  the  Vegetarian 
rebels  were  expected  at  daylight  to  storm  Kucheng 
and  that  the  gateways  of  that  city  were  being  blocked 
with  timber  and  stone  as  fast  as  possible.  We  have 
for  a  considerable  time  been  aware  that  the  Vege 
tarians  were  recruiting  in  large  numbers,  and  the 
expectation  that  something  of  this  kind  might  happen 
led  the  better-class  people  to  subscribe  large  sums  for 
the  rebuilding  of  the  city  wall,  which  in  many  places 
had  fallen  down ;  the  gates,  too,  had  been  either 
broken  or  were  gone.  At  the  time  when  the  alarm 
was  given,  we  had,  with  women,  girls,  and  children, 
nearly  one  hundred  sleeping  in  our  compound.  The 
rebels  expected  in  an  hour  !  What  was  to  be  done  ? 
As  we  talked,  and  prayed,  and  planned,  the  dawn 
began  to  break ;  then  came  the  rain  in  torrents. 
What  part  this  played  in  the  matter  I  don't  know  ; 
but  as  we  saw  it  falling  heavily,  and  remembered  the 
Chinese  fear  of  getting  wet,  we  said  to  one  another, 
"The  rain  will  be  our  protection.1'  At  daylight  we 
roused  the  schools,  and,  after  a  hasty  meal,  all  left 
in  a  long,  sad  procession  to  make  their  way  across 
the  river  in  a  small  ferry-boat,  which  came  back 
wards  and  forwards  for  them,  until  at  last  the  whole 
party  had  reached  the  other  side.  It  was  a  long 
business,  all  in  the  rain,  and  then  the  wall  had  to  be 
climbed  by  a  ladder,  for  by  this  time  the  blocking  of 
the  gateways  was  complete.  Near  our  chapel  the 
wall  had  not  been  rebuilt  to  its  full  height;  and  the 


44  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

chapel  ladder,  the  only  one  to  be  obtained,  just  reached 
to  the  top.  This  was  one  of  the  many  incidents  that 
showed  us  that  the  hand  of  God  was  controlling 
everything.  The  next  day  that  part  of  the  wall  was 
built  to  its  proper  height,  and  the  ladder  would  have 
then  been  several  feet  too  short,  and  we  could  never 
have  got  the  women  with  their  cramped  feet  and  the 
children  over  the  wall. 

"  '  For  the  next  three  days  the  wall  was  guarded  by 
bands  of  citizens,  posted  at  short  intervals  from  one 
another,  and  armed  with  the  best  weapons  they  could 
find;  but,  indeed,  they  were  poor  things — old  three- 
pronged  forks,  centuries  old,  to  judge  by  their  ap 
pearance,  with  movable  rings  on  the  handles  to 
shake,  and  so  strike  terror  to  the  hearts  of  the  foe. 
Rusty,  too,  were  their  swords,  and  rarely  to  be  seen  ; 
we  watched  the  proud  possessors  washing  them  in  a 
pool  and  scraping  them  with  a  brick.  The  majority 
had  no  scabbards ;  not  that  the  "  braves  "  had  thrown 
them  away,  but  they  had  lost  them.  One  I  examined 
had  a  useful  sort  of  scabbard :  it  covered  all  but  the 
last  couple  of  inches  of  the  blade,  so  you  could  stick 
your  enemy  without  the  bother  of  pulling  it  out — a 
good  thing  if  you  were  in  a  hurry.  Those  three  days 
whilst  the  city  was  straitly  shut  up  were  anxious 
ones.  Then  the  gates  were  opened.  What  took  place 
between  the  Mandarin  and  the  Vegetarian  leaders  we 
do  not  know ;  but  no  one  believes  that  we  have  seen 
the  end  of  the  matter.  Such  a  serious  affair  cannot  be 
so  easily  patched  up;  probably  we  have  as  yet  had 


THE    WHIRLWIND  45 

but  the  beginning.  Much  depends  upon  the  course 
that  the  war  takes.  If  a  treaty  is  arranged  during  the 
present  armistice  of  three  weeks,  I  think  perhaps  all 
will  be  quiet.  Soldiers  can  be  spared  from  Foochow, 
and  some  arrests  of  the  ringleaders  can  bs  effected, 
and  that  will  quell  it;  but  if  not,  the  rebels  will  have 
recruited  in  sufficient  numbers  to  make  a  rising  a 
success. 

u  'Our  girls'  and  women's  schools  have,  of  course, 
been  disbanded,  and  your  ladies  have  left  for  Foo 
chow,  I  need  hardly  say  very  sorely  against  their 
will.  It  was  hard  for  them  to  leave  their  loved  work 
and  their  many  friends  amongst  the  Chinese  ;  but 
they  saw  clearly  it  was  best,  for  they  could  not  help 
them  in  the  event  of  a  disturbance,  and  might  rather 
hinder  their  flight  and  make  concealment  more  diffi 
cult.  Our  Consul  wrote,  strongly  urging  this  step 
should  be  taken,  and  the  American  Consul  wrote  to 
his  people  in  the  same  strain  ;  so  the  ladies  have  gone 
very  obediently,  but  very  sadly,  all  of  them  wishing 
they  were  men,  and  so  not  obliged  to  retreat.  But  I 
think  they  see  in  all  that  is  happening  the  finger  of 
God  pointing  to  a  cessation  of  their  work  for  a  time, 
perhaps  that  they  may  leave  Him  to  work  alone. 
When  they  come  back,  they  may  be  astonished  to  find 
the  wonders  that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  done  in  their 
absence.  The  Japanese  have  taken  Tamsui,  on 
Formosa,  and  are  hovering  about  Foochow.  I  hope 
they  will  not  land.  They  have  many  well-wishers 
among  the  Chinese.  Here  eight  out  of  ten  of  the 


46  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

lower  and  middle  classes  would  rejoice  at  a  Japanese 
victory.  They  hate  their  own  Government,  and  are 
rebels  at  heart.  It  would  take  very  little  to  make 
them  so  in  fact.  But  Hezekiah's  God  is  ours.  One 
angel  slew  185,000  men,  so  with  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
of  angels  on  our  side  there  is  nought  to  fear.'  ' 

"  The  Rev.  R.  W.  Stewart  writes  in  a  more  recent 
letter  :— 

i( '  KUCHENG,  April  21. 

"  '  As  you  know,  all  the  ladies  have  been  moved  from 
here  to  the  coast,  to  see  what  the  Japanese  intend 
doing.  The  general  belief  is  that  a  treaty  is  about 
to  be  agreed  to ;  and  if  so,  we  need  expect  no  more 
trouble  here  of  a  serious  kind.  God  holds  the  key  of 
the  unknown.  Your  Lang-yong  and  Sa-yong  ladies 
have  not  moved ;  all  in  peace  there.  The  others  will 
be  back  here  soon,  I  expect.1 ' 

And  Hezekiah's  God  was  true  to  them,  as  He  ever 
is,  and  must  be  to  His  children.  For  that  time,  the 
storm  passed  by. 

When  all  danger  was  supposed  to  be  over,  they 
returned  to  Kucheng,  and  shortly  afterwards  went  to 
Hwasang,  their  summer  resort,  where,  on  August  i, 
as  already  stated,  the  storm  burst. 

Though  some  things  already  told  occur  again  in 
this  journal-letter  of  Mrs.  Stewart,  we  put  it  in  as 
it  is.  Simply  and  naturally  she  writes  to  her  own 
friends,  and  as  well  as  general  information  about  the 
"  Vegetarians,"  it  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the  happy 
family  life,  even  when  surrounded  by  danger. 


THE    WHIRLWIND  47 

She  had  learned  that  lesson,  "  In  everything  give 
thanks":  even  when  her  little  girls  were  frightened 
by  the  news  of  the  "Vegetarians,"  because  it  taught 
them  "  to  turn  to  Him  for  help  and  comfort,  as  they 
never  would  in  peaceful  days."  She  saw  as  well  as 
believed,  that  "  All  things  work  together  for  good  to 
them  that  love  God." 

MRS.  STEWART'S  JOURNAL- LETTER. 

"March  27^/7,  Evan's  birthday. — We  had  a  quiet, 
peaceful  day,  with  no  indication  of  coming  trouble. 
The  children  had  their  tea  out  of  doors  as  a  birthday 
treat,  and  the  three  sisters,  who  happened  to  bs  in 
Kucheng,  came  and  joined  us.  That  night,  about  12 
o'clock,  our  two  leading  men,  Mr.  Sing-mi  and  Mr. 
Daik-ing,  came  to  our  house  to  tell  us  the  Mandarin 
had  men  hard  at  work  all  night  barricading  the 
gates ;  the  walls  were  nearly  finished,  but  no  gates 
put  up;  however,  the  Chinese  are  equal  to  any 
emergency,  and  the  old  gates  were  quickly  put  in, 
and  huge  strong  boards  they  use  for  coffins  nailed 
behind,  also  great  pieces  of  stone ;  so  that,  from 
inside,  the  fortifications  looked  quite  formidable.  I 
think  all  the  coffin-shops  in  the  city  must  have  been 
rifled !  However,  this  was  the  startling  news  brought 
to  us  in  the  middle  of  the  night !  What  was  to  be 
done?  We  had  our  100  women  and  children  sleeping 
in  our  compound,  between  the  women's  and  girls' 
schools;  besides,  we  had  the  lady  missionaries  and 
all  our  own  children.  Clearly,  we  could  not  do 


48  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

anything  in  the  darkness.  The  road  between  us  and 
the  city  is  steep  and  difficult,  and  there  is  a  small 
river  to  cross.  Many  plans  were  discussed,  and  much 
time  was  spent  just  waiting  upon  God  to  know  His 
will.  In  a  wonderful  way  His  promise  was  fulfilled 
to  us,  '  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace  whose 
mind  is  stayed  on  Thee.'  We  felt  so  certain  God  was 
guiding,  that  we  could  go  on  watching  for  each 
indication  of  His  will.  Just  as  we  were  standing 
talking  together,  heavy  rain  began  to  fall,  and  Mr. 
Sing-mi  said  quietly,  *  There  is  one  answer  to  our 
prayers.  Even  Vegetarians  will  do  little  on  a  day  like 
this ! '  Well,  as  soon  as  light  came,  the  ku-niongs 
(young  ladies)  were  wakened  up,  and  all  the  women 
and  girls.  It  was  decided  that  all  should  move  at 
once  over  to  the  buildings  adjoining  our  city  Church, 
as  they  were  safer  inside  the  walls  than  at  our 
houses,  which  stand  outside.  It  took  some  time  to 
get  them  all  started ;  and  while  I  was  looking  after 
them,  and  helping  to  get  them  off,  Lena  packed  a  few 
necessary  articles  in  a  basket,  as  we  felt  our  houses 
would  probably  be  the  first  attacked  if  the  Vegetarians 
really  arrived.  We  had  to  make  great  speed,  for  all 
the  gates  were  by  this  time  blocked  up,  and  men  were 
busy  building  up  the  only  place  on  the  wall  still 
rather  low.  I  forgot  to  say  that  the  Mandarin  had 
sent  over  his  card  asking  us  all  to  go  over  to  the 
City,  saying  he  could  not  give  us  any  protection  out 
side  the  walls.  At  last,  the  women  and  girls  wrere 
all  safely  housed  in  the  city.  There  was  a  ladder 


THE    WHIRLWIND  49 

belonging  to  the  Church,  which  was  fortunately  just 
long  enough  to  reach  the  lowest  part  of  the  wall,  and 
up  this  all  had  to  climb.  Then  our  own  party  started, 
the  two  little  boys  in  baskets  carried  by  our  trusty 
coolie  (a  basket  on  each  end  of  a  bamboo  stick),  baby 
in  Lena's  arms,  and  the  little  girls  with  their  father. 
I  called  for  the  three  sisters  on  my  way  past  the 
'Olives,' — Hessie  Newcombe,  Miss  Weller,  and  Miss 
Wade,  who  had  been  only  just  one  week  in  Kucheng. 
At  last  the  river  was  crossed,  the  ladder  ascended,  and 
the  city  entered,  and  we  found  ourselves  at  the  house 
of  one  of  the  American  missionaries,  Mr.  Wilcox,  who 
was  away  at  Foochow  with  his  wife  and  family. 
Dr.  Gregory,  a  medical  missionary,  was  the  only 
representative  of  the  Mission,  and,  with  his  permis 
sion,  we  took  possession  of  the  empty  house.  In  a 
short  time  we  got  all  settled ;  we  found  beds  enough 
and  had  brought  bedding  with  us.  We  were  glad  we 
had  lost  no  time  in  moving,  for  by  the  afternoon  the 
wall  at  the  place  we  got  over  was  so  high  that, 
standing  on  the  top  rung,  the  person's  hands  could 
only  touch  the  top  of  the  wall,  and  they  had  to  be 
pulled  up  by  people  standing  on  the  top.  The  wall 
was  guarded  by  people  hired  by  the  Mandarin  for  the 
purpose.  We  heard  he  was  paying  them  $200  a  day, 
as  he  had  engaged  1,000  men.  I  can  almost  believe 
it,  for  we  watched  groups  of  men  passing  to  and  fro 
continually,  on  the  look-out  to  give  the  alarm  should 
the  Vegetarians  be  seen  approaching. 

u  Three  days  we  spent  in  the  city,  the  people  all  the 

E 


50  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

time  grumbling  because  the  gates  were  shut  and  they 
could  not  get  out  to  do  their  work  in  the  fields  or  gather 
brushwood  on  the  hills  to  make  fires  to  boil  their  rice. 
At  last  placards  were  posted  up  all  over  the  city,  saying 
that  *  when  the  Mandarin  oppresses  the  people  rebel/ 
and  it  was  openly  said  that  if  the  gates  were  not 
opened  they  would  force  them  open  themselves ;  and 
then,  of  course,  would  be  the  opportunity  for  the  Vege 
tarians.  Accordingly  they  held  a  council  of  war,  and 
after  much  prayer  it  was  decided  that  it  was  very  im 
portant  to  get  the  children  away  at  any  rate ;  and  that 
of  course  led  to  my  going,  as  baby  could  not  be  sent 
without  me.  Our  chief  native  helpers  strongly  advised 
sending  all  the  women  and  girls  away  as  soon  as 
possible  to  their  own  homes,  as  they  thought  they 
would  be  much  safer  than  anywhere  near  us ;  they 
also  thought  it  safer  for  the  sisters  not  to  visit  just 
then,  while  the  people  were  in  such  an  excited  state. 
It  therefore  seemed  wiser,  as  there  was  no  special 
reason  for  staying,  to  divide,  and  to  go  to  Foochow 
for  a  time  till  things  quieted  down.  I  need  not  say 
how  sad  we  felt  to  come  to  this  conclusion  ;  but  it 
made  it  almost  impossible  that  any  one  should  escape  if 
we  all  stayed,  for  chair  coolies  are  never  forthcoming 
in  times  of  great  excitement,  and  Cui-kan,  where  we 
take  boat  for  Foochow  is  30  miles  from  Kucheng  ! 
So  not  many  amongst  us  could  walk  it !  No  sooner 
said  than  done.  The  packing  at  once  began,  chairs  were 
ordered,  and  after  dinner  we  started.  We  heard  that 
one  gate  was  supposed  to  be  opened  that  afternoon,  so 


THE    WHIRLWIND  51 

the  long  procession  proceeded  along  the  top  of  the 
great  wide  wall,  till  near  the  gate  we  descended  to  the 
streets,  only  to  find  the  gate  barred  and  barricaded 
and  no  signs  of  opening  whatever.  We  turned  away 
hoping  to  find  some  friendly  ladder  by  which  to  make 
our  exit,  and,  to  our  joy,  not  very  far  away  was  one 
discovered,  and  for  the  sum  of  forty  cents  the  man 
was  bribed  to  allow  us  to  use  it.  Robert  got  down 
first,  but  just  as  he  reached  the  ground  our  friend  of 
the  ladder  got  some  idea  into  his  head,  and  decided  we 
were  not  to  go !  To  our  horror,  he  began  shouting  and 
vociferating  loudly,  and  trying  to  haul  up  the  ladder ; 
Robert  held  on  to  the  lower  part,  and  it  seemed  as 
if  it  was  going  to  be  a  struggle  as  to  which  was  the 
strongest.  Robert,  however,  got  two  strong  Chinamen 
to  come  to  his  aid  by  promise  of  a  little  money,  and  at 
last  our  sturdy  ladder  man  yielded.  Now  we  had  time 
to  observe  that  the  ladder  was  all  too  short,  indeed  was 
about  four  feet  short  of  the  ground. 

"  There  was  nothing  on  which  to  prop  it  up,  but 
Robert  and  his  two  assistants  held  it  up  in  their  hands 
till  we  had  all  safely  reached  the  ground.  The  little 
ones  first,  then  all  the  ku-niongs  one  by  one.  Robert 
came  with  us  a  short  way  from  the  wall,  and  then  felt 
he  ought  to  return,  as  he  might  have  difficulty  in  getting 
back  if  he  was  late.  It  did  seem  hard  to  go  on  and 
leave  him  behind,  but  to  stay  there  with  the  little  ones 
and  baby  only  meant  additional  peril  to  him. 

u  That  night  we  only  travelled  six  miles,  and  reached 
one  of  our  chapels  at  a  place  called  Co-tong.  We  got 


52  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

there  about  dark,  and  our  little  washerman  began 
bustling  about  to  get  us  some  supper.  The  cook 
stayed  in  the  city  with  Robert,  but  the  Chinese  can  be 
4  Jack  of  all  trades,'  so  the  washerman  turns  cook 
when  there  is  any  need.  After  tea,  the  next  thing 
was  to  find  beds  for  such  a  large  party,  but  the 
catechist  was  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  produced  a  lot 
of  forms  and  bed-boards,  which  are  all  a  Chinese  bed 
consists  of ;  we  had  our  own  wadded  quilts  and  blan 
kets  in  our  baskets.  So  we  were  soon  all  in  bed. 

"  At  daylight  the  coolies  were  all  astir,  and  made  such 
a  noise  we  could  not  go  on  sleeping ;  so  we  got  up  and 
dressed,  and  then  found  our  good  little  man  had  got 
breakfast  ready  for  us.  We  started  in  our  chairs  about 
seven  o'clock.  Baby  rode  with  me,  Herbert  and 
Kathleen  in  a  chair  together,  Mildred  with  Evan,  Lena 
in  a  chair  to  herself ;  and  five  ku-niongs  made  up  our 
procession.  Cui-kan  was  reached  about  five  o'clock. 
A  man  who  had  been  sent  on  before  us  got  two 
boats,  so  we  went  at  once  and  took  possession.  They 
were  native  boats  with  covering  of  matting.  There 
was  a  long  delay  about  paying  our  chair  coolies,  and 
waiting  for  some  of  our  baskets  that  had  not  arrived, 
and  at  last  we  began  to  feel  very  impatient  to  start. 
However,  as  we  found  afterwards,  these  very  delays 
were  being  ordered  by  the  Lord,  and  Robert  was  at 
that  very  time  praying  in  Kucheng  that  ( the  wheels 
of  our  chariots  might  be  taken  off!  '  Just  as  we  were 
persuading  the  boatman  he  ought  really  to  push  off,  a 
man  rushed  up  and  put  a  piece  of  paper  into  my  hand ; 


THE    WHIRLWIND  53 

it  was  a  scrap  written  in  great  haste  by  Robert,  saying 
the  Mandarin  had  made  peace  with  the  Vegetarians, 
that  the  city  gates  were  opened,  and  that  we  might 
return  safely ;  only  he  thought  the  children  had  better 
go  on  with  Lena  to  Foochow  for  a  little  time. 

i(  We  were  indeed  glad  and  thankful,  but  sorry  for 
the  disappointment  of  the  little  ones,  for  they  had  so 
looked  forward  to  having  us  all  with  them ;  but  I  must  ! 
say  they  behaved  beautifully.  They  looked  a  little  sad 
of  course,  but  they  never  said  one  grumbling  word, 
and  seemed  trying  to  make  it  easy  for  me.  We  quickly 
put  all  they  would  need  in  the  smallest  of  the  boats, 
gave  them  their  supper,  and  food  enough  for  breakfast, 
sent  one  of  our  two  menservants  with  them,  and  saw 
them  off  floating  down  the  lovely  river  Min  towards 
Foochow.  (I  might  say  here  they  arrived  next 
morning  about  twelve  o'clock,  and  were  taken  into  the 
4  Olives '  by  kind  Miss  Stevens,  who  made  them  very 
happy.) 

"  After  their  departure  we  proceeded  to  have  our 
own  supper,  and  then  prepared  for  the  night.  We 
spread  our  wadded  coverlets  on  the  deck,  all  in  a  row, 
and  had  a  fairly  good  night.  Baby  rather  disturbed 
some  of  the  party,  I  fear,  but  Hessie  Newcombe  ex 
claimed  next  morning, (  Oh,  you  little  darling,  you  slept 
all  the  night  through ! ' — which  showed  us  that  Hessie 
herself  had,  at  any  rate,  slept  well.  Next  morning 
we  started  back.  It  rained  the  early  part  ot  the  day, 
so  the  coolies  would  not  start,  and  we  only  got  half 
way  by  dusk.  That  night,  therefore,  we  had  to  enjoy 


54  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

the  luxuries  of  a  Chinese  hotel.  It  is  not  a  treat,  I 
must  confess.  We  were  shown  into  a  small,  dark 
room,  the  walls  of  which  were  lined  with  the  usual 
Chinese  wooden  beds.  Just  space  enough  was  left  in 
the  middle  for  a  square  table,  where  we  had  our  meals. 
Six  of  us,  not  including  baby,  had  to  sleep  in  the  same 
room ;  or  rather  try  to  rest,  for  we  did  not  sleep  much. 
"  Next  day  we  finished  our  journey  to  Kucheng, 
arriving  about  three  o'clock.  As  our  chairs  passed  the 
city,  it  was  nice  to  see  the  gates  open,  but  we  noticed 
men  were  still  working  vigorously  at  the  wall.  Robert 
met  us  at  the  ferry,  and  poor  little  tired  baby  was 
glad  to  go  to  him  and  be  carried  to  the  house. 
Leu-luk,  the  Chinese  girl  who  assists  me,  soon  came 
to  help,  so  I  was  able  to  begin  to  put  the  house  in 
order,  which  was  rather  upset  by  our  sudden  flight. 
However,  we  found,  soon  after  our  arrival,  that  things 
were  not  going  on  as  satisfactorily  as  had  been  at  first 
expected.  Rumours  kept  flying  about  of  gatherings  of 
Vegetarians  at  certain  places,  and  all  sorts  of  threats 
were  used  as  to  what  they  were  going  to  do,  to 
Christians  and  heathens  alike  who  were  possessed  of 
any  property.  We  had  a  prayer  meeting  at  eight 
o'clock  each  morning  with  the  Christians,  which 
was  a  source  of  great  comfort  to  us  all.  So  a  week 
passed  away,  and  then  our  messenger  arrived  from 
Foochow,  bringing  letters.  One  was  from  our  Consul, 
telling  us  that  the  Japanese  had  come  south ;  that  they 
had  taken  a  port  in  Formosa  (which  afterwards  turned 
out  to  be  untrue)  ;  that  they  were  threatening  an 


THE    WHIRLWIND  55 

attack  on  Foochow ;  and  that  if  they  did  so,  and  all 
the  Chinese  soldiers  should  be  detained  at  Foochow, 
he  felt  sure  that  the  Vegetarians  would  make  the  most 
of  the  opportunity,  and  would  very  likely  make  an 
attack  on  the  foreigners  because  under  the  protection 
of  their  Government.  He  therefore  insisted  on  all  the 
ladies  and  children  leaving  the  district.  Again  we 
had  to  pack  up,  and  again  sorrowfully  to  leave  our 
beloved  Kucheng.  We  journeyed,  as  before,  to 
Cui-kan,  and  sent  on  a  trusty  man  to  hire  a  boat  for 
us.  When  we  reached  the  hill  overlooking  the  river, 
we  waited  to  hear  if  a  boat  had  been  found,  for,  once 
down  in  the  streets,  we  get  surrounded  with  crowds  of 
people.  At  last  the  man  came  back,  saying  there  was 
no  boat  to  be  had !  that  soldiers  were  being  sent 
down  from  cities  higher  up  the  river  to  help  defend 
Foochow,  and  every  available  boat  was  secured  by 
them.  It  seemed  sad  news.  We  could  not  go  back 
very  well  even  one  stage  to  look  for  an  inn,  our  coolies 
were  so  tired ;  and  the  inns  are  so  bad  in  Cui-kan  no 
one  likes  to  stay  in  them.  It  was  getting  dark  too, 
and  cold,  and  poor  little  baby  was  coughing  a  good 
deal,  and  I  longed  to  find  some  shelter  for  her.  I 
could  only  tell  the  man  to  try  again,  and  that  he 
might  offer  a  little  extra  money  as  the  case  was 
urgent.  Again  we  prayed  and  waited,  and  again  he 
returned  unsuccessful.  At  last  he  came  back  saying 
he  had  found  one  boat  that  would  take  us  if  we  would 
be  willing  to  share  it  with  two  soldiers  and  a  horse  ! 
He  added,  '  They  will  tie  up  the  horse,  so  you  need  not 


56  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

be  afraid.'  We  gladly  accepted,  even  though  we  had 
to  pay  more  than  we  usually  do  for  a  boat  all  to 
ourselves.  We  were  only  too  glad  to  get  any  shelter 
for  our  heads,  for  by  this  time  rain  was  beginning  to 
fall,  and  darkness  fast  approaching.  This  time  there 
was  no  friendly  letter  to  stop  us,  and  soon  our  boat 
got  off.  We  were  all  so  tired  that  as  soon  as  we  could 
get  something  to  eat  we  lay  down  and  tried  to  get 
some  sleep.  I  searched  in  vain  for  some  sheltered 
nook  for  baby  ;  the  wind  seemed  to  whistle  through 
the  frail  covering  of  our  boat,  and,  in  spite  of  shawls 
and  rugs  and  a  barricade  of  baskets,  she  caught  a 
heavy  cold  that  is  not  well  yet.  Next  day  we  reached 
Foochow,  but  not  till  two  o'clock,  as  the  wind  was 
against  us.  We  sent  at  once  for  native  chairs,  and 
all  our  party,  except  myself,  went  off  direct  to  the 
1  Olives,'  the  only  house  just  then  in  Foochow  that 
had  room  for  us.  I  was  so  anxious  about  Robert  that 
I  decided  I  would  go  at  once  to  see  the  Consul,  and 
tell  him  just  how  matters  stood  in  Kucheng.  Nellie 
Saunders  kindly  took  baby  from  me,  and  I  knew  Lena 
would  be  at  the  '  Olives  '  to  receive  her.  The  Consul 
was  most  kind ;  said  he  was  very  glad  we  had  come 
down,  for  he  felt  a  very  great  responsibility.  He 
added,  '  I  never  like  to  disturb  missionary  work  till  it 
is  absolutely  necessary.'  .  .  . 

"  After  a  few  days'  rest  we  arranged  that  we  would 
take  possession  of  the  C.E.Z.  summer  resort  up  in  the 
hills  near  Foochow,  and  wait  till  the  Lord  should 
open  the  way  for  us  to  return  to  Kucheng.  We  felt 


THE    WHIRLWIND  57 

led  to  this  decision  for  several  reasons  ;  one,  that  Foo- 
chow  is  very  unhealthy  this  time  of  year,  and  it  was 
better  for  the  children  and  those  studying  the  language 
to  be  away  from  it ;  and  also  we  are  in  Chinese  dress, 
and  we  have  at  present  no  other.  We  are  more  con 
vinced  every  day  that  the  native  dress  is  the  best  for 
the  Avork.  Even  at  Foochow  we  heard  every  one 
make  favourable  observations  on  us.  '  How  much 
nicer  that  dress  is  than  the  foreign  ! '  is  a  very  common 
remark ;  and  some  women  call  out,  ( Do  look !  her 
petticoat  is  just  like  ours,  and  her  jacket  too  ;  her  hair 
is  done  the  same  way,  and  her  shoes  do  look  nice.  If 
it  were  not  for  the  eyes,  she  would  look  just  like  us ! 
And  some  even  say  these  are  the  *  Cing-cing  hunggau,' 
the  true  Christians.  ...  I  am  writing  now  in  the 
Kuliang  *  Olives,'  and  have  with  me,  besides  the 
children,  L.  Wade,  the  two  Saunders,  Elsie  Marshall, 
and  Annie  Gordon.  .  .  .  Robert  writes  that  all 
is  quiet  at  Kucheng,  waiting  to  see  how  the  war 
gets  on.  .  .  .  He  has  arranged  that  all  the  Chris 
tians  throughout  our  district  shall  meet  together  at 
7  o'clock  every  morning  to  pray,  trusting  in  God 
alone  to  protect  them.  We  believe  it  will  bring 
great  blessing." 

A  very  interesting  letter  appeared  in  The  Newcastle 
Daily  Chronicle  of  August  13,  from  Dr.  W.  P.  Mears, 
dated  Teignmouth  Artillery  Camp,  Redcar.  He 
writes  from  experience  gained  by  some  years'  travel 
and  residence  in  the  disturbed  district. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  his  letter.     He 


58  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

describes  not  only  the  mutterings  of  the  storm,  as  the 
missionaries'  own  letters  do,  but  the  great  whirlwind 
that  took  them  from  our  sight.  .  .  . 

"  Knowing  intimately,  as  I  did,  the  late  Rev.  R. 
Stewart,  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  he  would  be  the 
last  man  to  do  anything  to  excite  the  animosity  of 
any  of  the  natives.  When  I  reached  China  he  had 
been  for  some  time  invalided  at  home.  Yet  every 
where  the  people — not  one  or  two,  but  scores — spoke 
of  him  with  a  loving  respect,  and  a  most  genuine 
desire  for  his  return.  In  Kucheng,  round  him  he 
had  upwards  of  two  thousand  native  Christians  and 
over  500  regular  communicants,  all  these  last  being 
men  who  had  been  well  tested  by  at  least  two  years' 
probation.  The  Vegetarians  dared  not  attack  him 
there.  They  waited  till  he  had  left  the  city,  as  he 
would  do  at  the  beginning  of  August  on  account  of 
the  heat,  and  had  gone  with  the  majority  of  the 
Europeans  to  the  little  sanatorium  of  the  Kucheng 
missionaries,  four  hours'  journey  off,  among  the  hills. 
Hardly  had  he  taken  possession  of  one  of  the  two  or 
three  small  bungalows  there,  where  he  and  the  others 
were  far  remote  from  any  assistance  except  that  of  a 
few  terrified  villagers,  when  the  assassins  crept  up  in 
the  darkness,  just  before  dawn,  fired  the  house, 
prodded  their  victims  as  they  rushed  out,  and 
promptly  scattered,  not  waiting  to  complete  their 
devilish  work,  or  to  attack  the  other  bungalows  a  few 
hundred  yards  farther  off,  where  the  few  foreigners 
were  already  aroused.  Mr.  Stewart  was  in  every 


THE    WHIRLWIND  59 

way  a  thorough  man,  whom  to  meet  was  to  respect 
and  love — a  man  without  fear,  and  without  fanaticism. 
Such  men — men  like  Livingstone,  Mackay  of  Uganda, 
and  others — are  the  pioneers  who  clear  the  way  for 
British  influence,  civilization,  and  religion,  whose 
lives  are  examples  to  every  man,  whose  deaths  are 
losses  to  the  nation." 

His  expression  "  devilish  work,"  when  speaking  of 
the  assassins,  is  not  too  strong. 

"  Thou  couldest  have  no  power  at  all  against  Me, 
except  it  were  given  thee  from  above,"  said  Jesus. 

This  is  equally  true  of  every  member  of  His 
body. 

God  could  have  sent  legions  of  angels  to  deliver 
them,  had  that  been  His  will ;  but  when  He  would 
"  take  them  up  into  heaven  by  a  whirlwind,  .  .  . 
behold,  there  appeared  a  chariot  of  fire,  and  horses  of 
fire,  and  parted  them  asunder."  Those  who  are  left 
represent  to  us  Elisha.  God  grant  to  them  a  double 
portion  of  His  Holy  Spirit !  We  pray  Him  to  work 
miracles  of  grace  through  them,  as  He  did  through 
Elisha 

The  following  extract  is  from  a  letter  from  Miss 
Codrington,  dated  Hwasang,  July  20,  1895,  received 
September  9 : 

"  We  are  having  a  very  happy,  restful  time  up 
here.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  are  looking  less  tired 
than  they  did ;  the  girls  and  boys  look  well,  the  baby 
improving. 

"  Next  week  we  hope  to  have  our  'Keswick  Meet- 


60  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

ings,1  and  are  believing  and  praying  for  much  bless 
ing." 

How  beautifully  God  arranges  everything ;  their 
last  week  on  earth  specially  filled  with  waiting  upon 
Him  in  praise  and  prayer  ! 

Miss  Tolley's  letter  of  an  earlier  date  mentions  the 
other  workers,  and  tells  in  the  natural  style  of  a 
"  home  letter,"  how  God  chose  those  who  were  to 
wear  the  martyr's  crown  and  how  others  were 
spared. 

Has  not  God  specially  called  these  to  blessed  work 
for  Him  ?  And  we  know  He  will  fill  their  lives  with 
praise. 

"  Not  for  the  lips  of  praise  alone,  or  e'en  the  praising  heart  I 

ask  ; 
But  for  a  life  made  up  of  praise  in  every  part." 

God  asks  us  to  let  Him  make  us  channels  of  bless 
ing,  through  believing  prayer,  to  those  who  have  been 
left  behind.  Their  names  and  special  work  will  be 
found  in  chapter  iv.,  which  is  devoted  to  "  Foreign 
Women." 

Here,  let  us  record  the  names  of  our  happy  dead,  or 
rather  of  those  who  went  from  their  "  Keswick  Week  " 
to  join  "  the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the  First 
born, "and  the  ''innumerable  company  of  angels." 

We  too  "  are  come  "  to  that  "  city  "  (Heb.  xii.  22) ; 
and  so  these  dear  ones,  whose  names  we  give,  have 
not  left  us.  For  are  they  not  "  in  God,"  who  "  is  not 
far  from  any  one  of  us  "  ? 


THE    WHIRLWIND  6 1 


"TWUtb  Cbrist." 

Robert  Warren  Stewart. 

Louisa  K.  Stewart. 

Hessie  Newcombe. 

Elsie  Marshall. 

Flora  Lucy  Stewart. 

Mary  Ann  Christina  Gordon. 

Harriette  Elinor  Saunders. 

Elizabeth  Maud  Saunders. 

Herbert  Stewart  (aged  5). 

Hilda  Sylvia  Stewart  (i  year). 

Helena  Yellop  (the  faithful  nurse). 


Left  behind:  Florence  Codrington ;  Mildred,  Kathleen 
and  Evan  Stewart,  aged  respectively,  twelve,  ten,  and 
three. 

Let  us  not  forget  Mrs.  Stewart's  request  for  prayer, 
for  their  dear  native  Christians,  always  so  near  their 
hearts. 

Robert  and  Louisa  Stewart  knew  no  class  distinc 
tion,  they  cherished  no  race  prejudice. 

They  believed  that  "  God  has  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men." 

The  following  extracts  from  Miss  Annie  Tolley's 
journal-letter  give  us  some  bright  homely  glimpses  of 
the  C.E.Z.M.S.  ladies,  working  and  resting : 


62  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"May  i$th. — Lucy  went  to  Dangiong  for  me,  to 
teach  the  women  for  me.  The  Bible- woman  went  to 
Uongbah,  for  the  class  there,  instead  of  Flora,  and 
then  Hessie  read  to  Flora  and  me,  while  I  lay  on  my 
bed.  We  had  a  very  nice  afternoon.  You  know  I  was 
not  well  from  fever  then.  The  next  day  I  went  my 
self  in  a  chair  to  Hokdong  and  took  the  class  there, 
speaking  on  ( the  pearl  of  great  price.'  Flora  and 
one  of  the  girls  from  the  station  class  went  to  Seng- 
sang  for  the  class  there. 

"  The  next  day  (Friday  afternoon)  Hessie  and  I 
spoke  to  the  women  at  the  Friday  afternoon  prayer 
meeting.  We  had  such  a  nice  time. 

"  In  the  evening,  there  was  the  prayer  meeting, 
when  the  catechists  and  all  the  men  and  boys  gather 
together  in  our  hall,  we  sitting  with  the  women 
behind  a  red  screen. 

"  May  2 1st,  Tuesday. — Made  medicine  for  a  boy. 
Taught  five  children  in  school.  Read  with  teacher 
(studying  Chinese),  till  a  man  came,  saying  Mr. 
Stewart  was  on  his  way  to  us. 

"  Flora  and  I  got  a  room  ready  for  him,  and  in  the 
afternoon  he  arrived. 

"  We  were  delighted  to  see  him,  and  we  talked  all 
about  the  doings  in  Kucheng,  etc.  In  the  evening 
he  took  prayers  for  us,  and  saw  the  women  in  the 
school.1 

"  We  went  late  to  bed. 

1  The  school  is  for  training  native  Bible-women. 


THE    WHIRLWIND  63 

"  The  next  day  (May  22nd)  it  pelted  with  rain. 
After  breakfast  Mr.  Stewart  spoke  to  us  on  Isaiah  ix. 
1-7,  and  i  Corinthians  iii.  10-15,  telling  us  that 
there  are  two  ways  of  working :  one  the  fleshly  way, 
using  our  own  power  and  armour  and  influence.  The 
other,  '  Unto  us  a  Child  is  born.'  All  our  working- 
will  be  tried  by  fire.  He  prayed  so  beautifully  with 
us,  and  his  visit  so  refreshed  us.  He  left  in  pelting 
rain  for  Kucheng. 

"Monday,  May  27 th. — Hessie  started  .  .  for 
Kucheng. 

11  It  was  so  hot  that  day,  and,  in  time  for  dinner, 
Maud  and  Fanny  arrived  from  Sangiong,  meaning 
to  stay  with  us  till  Wednesday,  and  then  to  leave 
lor  Kucheng,  Foochow  and  Kuliang.1  They  had  kept 
writing,  asking  me  if  I  were  not  coming  to  Kuliang 
this  summer,  and  saying,  if  so,  I  had  better  come  with 
them  and  not  wait  to  travel  a  month  later  by  myself. 
I  could  not  make  up  my  mind  what  to  do — whether 
to  go  to  Hwasang  with  Flora  and  the  others  from 
Kucheng,  or  to  come  down  to  Kuliang  and  have  a 
perfect  change.  The  more  Hessie  and  Lucy  prayed 
about  it,  the  more  they  felt  I  should  come  to  Kuliang. 

"  However,  that  afternoon,  as  I  was  sitting  in  my 
study,  feeling  very  dull,  I  heard  Maud's  step.  You 
know  the  rest :  that  she  told  me  I  was  to  come  with 
them  down  to  Kuliang,  and  that  I  had  better  begin  to 
pack  at  once. 

1  Kuliang  is  the  summer  resort  on  the  hills  above  Foochow,  as 
Hwasang  is  above  Kucheng. 


64  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"  All  the  next  day  I  packed,  dear  little  Lucy  helping 
me  so.1 

u  That  evening  Fanny's  teacher  spoke  so  beautifully 
on  ( Looking  unto  Jesus.'  One  time  the  disciples 
were  looking  at  the  grandeur  of  the  temple  buildings. 
Another  time  their  eyes  were  heavy  with  sleep  and 
they  could  not  look  up  to  watch  and  pray. 

"  The  devil  tempts  us  to  look  at  anything  but  Jesus. 
There  was  Stephen,  who  was  looking  up,  and  the 
devil  was  so  angry,  he  did  his  best  to  get  Stephen  to 
look  down,  making  the  people  wild  until  they  stoned 
him.  But  nothing  could  make  Stephen  get  his  eyes 
down. 

"  Then  when  Jesus  went  up  into  heaven,  the  dis 
ciples'  eyes  were  up.  They  were  not  looking  at  grand 
buildings  then,  they  were  not  heavy  with  sleep,  they 
were  looking  steadfastly  up.  So  we  must  be  looking 
ever  unto  Jesus. 

u  On  Wednesday,  May  29,  we  started.  .  .  . 
Maud  took  all  the  responsibility.  Fanny  and  I  just 
looked  on,  and  were  taken  in  and  done  for.  .  .  . 
Flora  and  Lucy  were  there,  and  the  servants  to  help 
in  the  start,  so  it  did  all  seem  exciting. 

"  Finally  I  got  in  my  chair  and  started,  and  Fanny 
came  next,  and  Maud  last,  for  she  would  always  have 
us  on  in  front. 

"  We  got  into  Kucheng  at  7.30  p.m.,  and  found,  of 

1  Little  did  any  one  think  what  the  decision  might  have  meant, 
if  she  had  gone  to  Hwasang  to  be  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart,  as 
Hessie  Newcombe  did,  and  shared  their  martyrdom, 


THE    WHIRLWIND  65 

course,  only  Hessie  there  to  welcome  us  (to  the  ladies' 
house  this  means),  the  other  sisters,  you  remember, 
being  down  in  Foochow. 

"  Mrs.  Stewart  came  in  to  see  us  that  evening. 

"  Thursday,  -May  30.  We  rested,  and  the  dear 
little  Stewarts  all  came  in  to  see  us,  and  I  gave 
Herbert  a  dog  and  Evan  a  horse.  You  know  those 
cardboard  animals  that  -  -  sent  me  one  time. 

"  In  the  afternoon  we  all  went  up  to  the  Stewarts' 
for  a  prayer  meeting.  The  American  missionaries 
always  come  over  for  it  if  they  are  in  Kucheng. 

"  We  were  all  invited  to  the  Stewarts'  for  supper. 
It  was  most  nice,  and  Mrs.  Stewart  was  sweet  to  me, 
calling  me  Annie. 

"Friday,  May  31.  I  took  a  quiet  time.  Nellie 
Saunders  came  in  to  see  me.  In  the  afternoon  .  .  . 
Mrs.  Stewart  came  in  to  tea.  Chinese  visitors  came 
too,  and  I  helped  to  talk  to  them. 

"  We  had  a  walk  on  the  hill,  and  in  the  evening 
Fanny's  teacher  preached  again. 

"  Saturday,  June  i.  Talked  over  my  second  exam 
ination  with  Nellie  Saunders,  and  then  I  went  up  to 
see  Topsy,  who  was  ill. 

"  Sunday,  June  2.  Fanny  and  I  went  to  Sunday 
school  and  taught  some  women. 

"  Fanny's  teacher  preached  on  the  Holy  Spirit.  It 
was  Whit-Sunday.  It  was  just  a  wonderful  sermon. 
He  said,  God  gave  to  us  the  Holy  Spirit  without 
limit,  that  it  was  we  who  said,  Stop,  I  have  enough. 

"  After  dinner  we  went  up  to  the  Stewarts'  (Mr.  S. 

F 


66  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA   STEWART 

was  away  itinerating).  We  sat  in  the  garden  and 
sang  hymns. 

u  In  the  evening  Fanny's  teacher  preached  again. 
'  Take,  take  the  Holy  Spirit ;  receive  as  much  as  ye 
will.' 

"  Hessie  had  said  to  me  early  in  the  morning, 
'  What  a  lovely  day  Wrhit-Sunday  is  ;  it  is  just  re 
ceiving,  opening  our  mouths  wide  and  taking  ! 

"  Monday,  June  3.  Up  at  5  a.m.  .  .  .  prepar 
ing  for  the  long  chair  ride  to  the  boat ;  but  though  the 
coolies  arrived,  they  all  refused  to  carry  our  baskets, 
saying  they-  were  too  heavy,  and,  as  it  was  hopeless, 
we  had  to  send  away  the  chair  coolies  too,  for  we 
could  not  start  without  our  loads. 

u  After  dinner  Hessie  started  on  a  three  weeks' 
itinerating  tour. 

"  We  went  up  and  said  good-bye  to  the  Stewarts, 
and  saw  Mr.  Stewart,  who  had  just  come  back  from 
his  itinerating,  so  tired  and  hot.  It  was  so  sweet  to 
see  Mrs.  Stewart's  face,  as  she  saw  him  coming  in  at 
the  door  so  unexpectedly,  and  the  little  ones'  joy  and 
his  joy  in  his  children.  .  .  . 

"  Maud,  Fanny,  and  I  returned  to  our  house  .  ,  . 
To  our  joy  the  coolies  returned,  saying  they  would 
start  with  us.  It  being  4.30,  we  were  making  up 
our  minds  not  to  start  till  the  next  day.  And  the 
Stewarts  had  asked  us  in  there  to  supper. 

"However,  we  quickly  locked  up  the  house  and 
started,  leaving  it  quite  empty,  and  sending  the  key 
to  the  Stewarts." 


THE    WHIRLWIND  67 

One  or  two  more  extracts  I  must  give,  omitting 
the  journey  (interesting  and  amusing  as  it  is)  to 
Foochow,  where  they  stayed  a  few  days,  and  the 
further  travelling  to  Kuliang. 

"  Kuliang,  Thursday,  June  13.  Splendid  time  in 
evening  over  Chinese  prayers.  We  read  round,  and 
then  all  spoke  on  any  verses  that  struck  us  .  . 
Our  servants  and  teachers  are  all  Christians  this 
year,  so  we  do  have  such  nice  times  over  the  Bible 
every  evening — not  just  one  person  preaching,  but 
all  speaking  and  praying,  as  we  like.  .  .  . 

"  Flo  Lloyd  and  Mabel  Withe rby  arrived  from 
Hing-hwa,  very  bright  and  sweet,  but  needing  rest 
from  all  the  heat  they  had  come  through." 

Miss  Alice  Hankin  writes  from  Dangseng  Hing- 
hwa  (the  district  south  of  Foochow)  :— 

"  May  18,  1895.  I  must  not  forget  to  tell  you  we 
had  such  a  delightful  little  visit  from  Mr.  Stewart 
a  fortnight  ago.  He  was  with  us  from  Friday  to 
Monday,  and  it  was  a  real  blessing  to  us  and  to  our 
people. 

"He  preached  on  Sunday  on  Lore,  and  it  is  nice  to 
see  how  well  the  people  have  remembered  his  sermon.1' 

"He  being  dead  yet  speaketh." 

I  cannot  close  this  chapter  better  than  by  copying 
some  verses  from  "  Daily  Light,"  which  were  brought 
to  the  minds  of  both  Robert  and  Louisa  Stewart  in  a 
remarkable  way. 

September  7,  1876,  the  day  of  their  marriage,  the 
texts  were : — 


68  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"  We  must  through  much  tribulation  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God."  "  Whosoever  doth  not  bear  his 
cross  and  come  after  Me  cannot  be  My  disciple." 

"No  man  should  be  moved  by  these  afflictions:  for 
yourselves  know  that  ye  are  appointed  thereunto." 

The  following  evening,  September  8  :— 

"  Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and 
die,  it  abideth  alone  ;  but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth 
much  fruit." 

Again,  on  September  16,  1876,  the  day  they  left 
London  on  the  first  journey  to  China  :— 

"  No  man  should  be  moved  by  these  afflictions,  for 
yourselves  know  that  we  are  appointed  thereunto,  for 
verily,  when  we  were  with  you  before  we  told  you  that 
we  should  suffer  persecution." 

December  27,  1885,  they  left  us  again  for  China, 
and  the  texts  again  spoke  of  suffering  and  glory  :— 

"  Our  light  affliction  .  .  .  the  exceeding  weight 
of  glory." 

"  The  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy 
to  be  compared  to  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in 
us." 

September  i,  1893,  they  left  us  to  goto  China  for 
the  last  time.  They  had  meetings  in  Canada  on  the 
way.  The  same  thoughts  occur  in  the  texts— suffer 
ing,  glory.  Robert  often  dwelt  on  the  words,  "  To 
you  it  is  given  .  .  .  to  suffer." 

"  If  any  man  will  come  after  Me,  let  him  deny  him 
self,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  Me." 

"  Unto  you  it  is  given  in  the  behalf  of  Christ  not 
only  to  believe,  but  also  to  suffer  for  His  sake." 


THE    WHIRLWIND  69 

"  If  we  suffer,  we  shall  also  reign  with  Him." 

We  had  read  these  texts  together,  and  applied  them 
to  the  "  trials  of  the  way  " — separation  from  children, 
etc.  Now  they  seem  prophetic. 

We  turned  to  " Daily  Light"  to  see  what  verses 
they  had  last  read  ("Daily  Light 1f  was  a  daily  com 
panion),  and  we  found  the  same  message  and  encour 
agement. 

July  31  :— 

"  Endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ." 

"  It  became  Him  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  by 
whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto 
glory,  to  make  the  Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect 
through  sufferings." 

"  We  must  through  much  tribulation  enter  the  king 
dom  of  God." 

"  The  God  of  all  grace,  who  hath  called  us  unto  His 
eternal  glory  by  Christ  Jesus,  after  that  ye  have  suf 
fered  awhile,  make  you  perfect,  stablish,  strengthen, 
settle  you." 

And  on  August  i  in  the  evening,  after  the  tele 
gram,  we  turned  again  to  "  Daily  Light,"  and  the  Lord 
spoke  to  us — of  them,  still  in  the  same  tender  keep 
ing.  The  prophecy  fulfilled,  the  suffering,  thank  God, 
over.  The  eternal  glory  begun,  and  to  us,  of  "  His 
pitiful,  tender  mercy  " 

"  The  Lord  is  very  pitiful,  and  of  tender  mercy." 

u  He  that  keepcth  thee  will  not  slumber." 

"  Behold  He  that  keepeth  Israel  shall  neither  slum 
ber  nor  sleep." 


70  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"His  compassions  fail  not;  they  are  new  every 
morning." 

"  Truly  His  doctrine  drops  as  the  rain,  His  speech 
distils  as  the  dew,  as  the  small  rain  upon  the  tender 
herb,  and  as  the  showers  upon  the  grass/' 

"  His  compassions  fail  not." 

"Goo  is  LOVE." 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  JOYFUL    SOUND 
11  How  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher  ?  "—ROM.  x.  14 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  JOYFUL  SOUND 
i  COR.  i.  23,  24. 

O,  that  Thy  Name  may  be  sounded 

Afar  over  earth  and  sea, 
Till  the  dead  awaken  and  praise  Thee 

And  the  dumb  lips  sing  to  Thee  ! 
Sound  forth  as  a  song  of  triumph 
Wherever  man's  foot  has  trod, 
The  despised,  the  derided  message, 

The  foolishness  of  God. 
Jesus,  dishonoured  and  dying, 

A  felon  on  either  side — 
Jesus,  the  song  of  the  drunkards, 
Jesus  the  crucified  ! 
Name  of  God;s  tender  comfort, 
Name  of  His  glorious  power, 
Name  that  is  song  and  sweetness, 
The  strong  everlasting  tower. 
Jesus  the  Lamb  accepted, 
Jesus  the  Priest  on  His  throne- 
Jesus  the  King  who  is  coining  — 
Jesus,  Thy  Name  alone  ! 

C.  P.  C.1 

HAVE  tried   to   divide   the   work   of  the   native 

Bible-women    and     the    English    ladies    of    the 

C.E.Z.M.S.      "  Foreign   women,"  enquirers  call   them 

In  "  Hymns  of  Tersteegen,  Suso  and  others,"  by  Mrs.  Bevan. 

73 


74  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

— "  dear  ku-niongs  "  is  the  Christian  name  for  them ; 
but  among  the  heathen  they  are  known  and  feared  as 
"  foreign  devils." 

BuJ  God  has  so  joined  together  these  two  agencies, 
that  in  telling  the  story  of  His  work  among  the 
women  of  China  they  cannot  be  "  put  asunder/' 

In  the  foregoing  chapter  about  the  native  Bible- 
women,  much  has  been  told  in  Mrs.  Stewart's  own 
w^ords,  of  the  need — and  how  that  need  has  been 
partially  supplied — of  English  sisters  who  will  come 
and  work  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  their  less-favoured 
sisters  in  China. 

But,  oh,  how  she  longed  for  reinforcements !  Mrs. 
Ahok  used  to  wonder  why  all  the  <(  ku-niongs  "  (un 
married  women)  could  not  go  to  China.  I  have  heard 
her  question  a  young  lady  : 

"  You  love  Jesus  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"You  go  China?  " — with  an  eager,  longing  look, 
followed  by  one  of  disappointed  hope,  when  a  shake  of 
the  head  gave  a  decided  refusal.  Alas !  Mrs.  Ahok 
did  not  understand  that  all  the  "  ku-niongs"  in 
England  who  think  they  love  Jesus  have  not  sought 
and  obtained  the  promised  power  to  make  them 
witnesses,  first  "  in  Jerusalem,"  and  then  in  ever- 
widening  circles,  "  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  " 
(Acts  i.  8). 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  prayed  often  .and  earnestly, 
not  only  for  missionaries,  but  that  those  only  who  were 
really  called,  and  specially  prepared  by  God,  might  go. 


THE   JOYFUL    SOUND  75 

Not  quantity,  but  quality.  "  Not  by  might " 
(margin,  army)  "  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit, 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts." 

MRS.  AHOK'S  STORY.     BY  MRS.  STEWART. 

1890.  When  first  Miss  Foster  began  to  visit  the 
family  of  Mr.  Ahok,  a  rich  Chinese  merchant  at 
Foochow,  there  seemed  little  hope  that  the  good  seed 
would  ever  find  an  entrance  into  their  hearts.  Mrs. 
Ahok  herself,  her  mother,  mother-in-law,  two  daugh 
ters-in-law,  and  step-daughters,  were  all  worshipping 
idols,  and  quite  satisfied  with  them,  and,  as  they  say 
now,  without  any  desire  for  God.  Mr.  Ahok  alone 
was  seeking  for  light,  and  was  anxious  that  his  family 
should  have  some  teaching.  English  was  the  only 
thing  his  wife  had  any  wish  to  learn,  and  she  con 
sented,  for  the  sake  of  this,  to  read  the  Bible  with  Miss 
Foster,  and  to  permit  her  to  have  a  Bible-class  at  her 
house  once  a  week  for  the  other  members  of  the 
family. 

Long  and  patiently  Miss  Foster  laboured,  sowing 
the  seed,  but  with  apparently  little  result,  till  at  last 
illness  visited  the  family ;  one  little  child  died — a 
grandson  of  Mr.  Ahok's — and  little  Charlie,  Mr. 
Ahok's  adopted  son,  was  so  ill  that  the  Chinese 
doctor  said  there  was  no  hope  of  saving  his  life.  Miss 
Foster  went  to  the  house  and  offered  to  stay  and  nurse 
the  child  herself.  They  were  unwilling  at  first,  but 
at  last  consented,  thinking  it  would  not  make  much 
difference  what  the  foreign  lady  did,  as  the  child  must 


76  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

die  in  any  case.  However,  it  pleased  God  to  spare  the 
life  of  the  little  one,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  family,  and 
from  that  time  a  decided  change  took  place :  much  of 
their  former  bitterness  and  opposition  passed  away, 
and  Miss  Foster  was  looked  upon  as  a  real  friend. 

Still  some  time  elapsed  before  any  signs  appeared 
that  the  seed  had  fallen  into  good  ground.  In  answer 
to  prayer,  a  little  son  was  given  to  Mrs.  Ahok,  as  told 
in  the  little  book  called  a  "  Remarkable  Answer  to 
Prayer,"  and  from  his  birth  he  was  given  to  God  and 
called  the  "  Christian  child."  Not  long  afterwards 
Mr.  Ahok  was  himself  baptized,  then  his  wife  and 
daughter,  and  one  daughter-in-law ;  and  later  on  Mrs. 
Ahok's  own  mother,  who,  of  all  the  family,  had  been 
the  most  bitterly  opposed  to  Christianity,  became  a 
true  and  earnest  believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
showed  even  in  her  face  the  great  change  that  had 
taken  place  within. 

I  wTish  I  could  give  you,  in  Mrs.  Ahok's  own  words, 
her  account  of  this  great  change  in  her  life,  as  she 
told  it  to  a  small  gathering  of  Chinese  women  to  cheer 
and  encourage  them.  What  I  remember  of  it  is  as 
follows  :— 

"I  never  thought  of  God,  nor  had  any  desire  after 
Him,  but  in  His  great  love  and  mercy  He  had  com 
passion  on  me,  and  sent  one  of  His  servants  to  me  to 
my  own  home.  It  was  Miss  Foster. 

<4  At  first  I  could  not  understand  her  message,  and 
my  heart  was  all  in  darkness,  but  by-and-by  the  light 
began  to  shine :  it  was,  as  you  have  often  seen  at 


THE   JOYFUL   SOUND  77 

sunrise,  first  a  faint  light  when  nothing  is  seen  dis 
tinctly,  then  the  sun  itself  appears,  and  in  a  flood  of 
light  all  is  clear. 

"  So  it  was  in  my  heart  when  Christ  came  in.  All 
my  doubts  and  fears  vanished,  and  I  found  a  joy  and 
peace  I  never  knew  before.  But  my  difficulty  then  was 
to  confess  that  I  was  a  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  a 
member  of  the  despised  band  of  Christians.  I  felt  I 
would  rather  die  than  acknowledge  it,  and  was 
tempted  to  think  I  might  worship  Christ  in  secret. 

"  But  this  also  I  took  to  the  Saviour,  and  told  Him 
my  weakness  and  fear  of  confessing  I  was  His  ser 
vant  ;  and  "—she  concluded,  her  face  beaming  with 
joy — u  He  took  it  all  away,  and  I  now  feel  neither  fear 
nor  shame,  and  it  is  my  greatest  joy  to  go  to  the 
houses  of  my  rich  friends,  and  plead  with  them  to  give 
up  their  idols,  and  find  the  same  peace  that  I  have 
found  in  serving  Christ." 

Mr.  Ahok  was  the  first  to  manifest  his  anxiety 
about  their  rich  friends  in  the  city  of  Foochow,  and 
he  invited  Miss  F.  to  go  with  him  to  visit  the  ladies. 
She  did  so,  and  was  kindly  received  in  many  houses, 
and  begged  to  come  again  and  tell  them  about  the 
Saviour  of  whom  they  had  never  before  heard.  But 
she  was  not  able  to  make  much  use  of  the  opportunities 
thus  offered  her,  for  she  was  soon  obliged  to  leave 
China  on  account  of  ill-health.  She  had  seen  enough, 
however,  to  convince  her  that  the  ground  was  ready 
for  the  seed,  if  only  there  were  sowers  ready  to  go 
forth. 


78  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

The  C.E.Z.M.S.  were  then  entreated  to  extend 
their  pity  to  the  women  of  China  as  they  had  done  to 
"  India's  Women,"  and  their  answer  was  to  send  out  a 
lady  (Miss  Gough),  who  quickly  learned  the  language, 
and  began  to  visit  the  ladies  in  the  city  with  great 
energy.  Mrs.  Ahok  accompanied  her  in  these  visits, 
and  introduced  her  to  many  families  of  high  rank  and 
position.  Owing  to  Miss  Cough's  teaching  and  in 
fluence,  Mrs.  Ahok  herself  also  rapidly  advanced  in 
knowledge,  and  became  as  earnest  as  her  husband 
in  seeking  to  bring  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  to 
her  friends  and  neighbours. 

Miss  Gough,  however,  was  not  permitted  to  see 
much  result  of  her  "  seed-sowing  "  in  Foochow.  She 
was  called  away  before  long  to  another  field  of  labour, 
and  now,  as  Mrs.  Hoare,  she  is  working  as  earnestly 
for  the  women  at  Ningpo  as  she  formerly  did  at 
Foochow. 

The  C.E.Z.M.S.,  however,  did  not  give  up  China, 
and  soon  sent  out  two  ladies  (the  Misses  Newcombe) 
to  fill  Miss  Cough's  place ;  and,  about  a  year  later, 
they  were  followed  by  two  more  (Miss  Bradshaw  and 
Miss  Da  vies). 

The  Misses  Newcombe 's  special  work  is  in  the 
country,  in  the  Kucheng  district,  about  120  miles 
from  Foochow,  where  they  have  more  on  their  hands 
than  they  can  possibly  accomplish,  and  Miss  Brad 
shaw  and  Miss  Da  vies  have  been  obliged,  up  to  the 
present,  to  give  most  of  their  time  to  the  study  of  the 
language;  still  they  have  done  what  they  could  to 


THE   JOYFUL    SOUND  79 

keep  up  the  visiting  among  the  ladies  in  the  city, 
accompanied  by  Mrs.  Ahok.  Miss  Davies  hopes  to 
take  up  these  Chinese  ladies  as  her  special  work,  and 
Miss  Bradshaw  writes  encouragingly  of  the  openings 
they  are  having.  She  says :  "  When  in  the  city  on 
Saturday  we  had  many  invitations  to  large  houses, 
which  we  had  been  definitely  praying  for,  as  Mr 
Ahok  said  we  must  wait  to  be  asked  before  going  to 
large  houses.  One  very  rich  family  had  heard  of  us, 
and  asked  to  be  allowed  to  come  to  our  house  to  see  us. 
On  Monday  \ve  were  invaded  by  seven  very  grand 
city  ladies,  escorted  by  gentlemen  on  horseback. 
They  stayed  all  day;  they  had  never  heard  'The 
Old,  Old  Story,'  and  never  seen  foreigners.  Mrs. 
Ahok  was  greatly  cheered  at  such  a  perfectly  new 
door  being  opened ;  she  and  Chitnio  talked  turn  about, 
and  we  had  plenty  of  singing." 

Mrs.  Ahok  also  writes  to  the  same  effect : — "  My 
mother-in-law  died  last  year  in  August,  as  you  have 
heard,  and  while  I  was  in  mourning  Chinese  custom 
would  not  allow  me  to  go  among  the  higher  class 
of  people  in  the  city  ;  they  would  not  like  it,  and  it 
would  hurt  their  feelings ;  but  I  have  been  once  into 
the  city  with  Miss  Davies  to  see  the  ladies  you  used  to 
call  upon  with  me.  Their  tribe  is  Ling  ;  they  were 
enquiring  about  you ;  I  hope  soon  to  go  among  these 
people  again  in  the  city.  I  often  go  to  the  houses  near 
my  house.  Yesterday  Mrs.  Ling  (Chitnio)  and  I  went 
to  visit  some  people ;  they  were  very  nice,  and  quite 
interested  in  what  we  told  them  about  this  doctrine. 


80  ROBERT   AND    LOUISA    STEWART 

vSeveral  of  them  asked  us  to  come  again,  so  we  are 
going  this  afternoon.  Once  a  week  I  have  Prayer 
Meetings  at  the  Hospital  with  the  sick  women  there. 
We  pray  God  to  bless  the  words  that  have  been  spoken, 
that  they  may  bring  forth  fruit  to  His  glory.  My 
mother  is  quite  happy  since  she  became  a  Christian ; 
she  lives  next  door  to  me,  and  it  is  easy  for  her  to 
come  to  me  when  she  likes.  My  nephew's  family  also 
know  the  doctrine  very  well,  only  they  have  not  come 
out,  but  some  of  them  come  to  the  Prayer  Meetings 
very  often.  I  hope  that  before  long  they  may  come 
out  and  confess  Christ  before  all  men." 

As  we  trace  the  story  of  Mrs.  Ahok  from  the 
beginning,  ought  we  not  to  praise  God,  and  take 
courage  for  the  future  ?  Paul  may  plant  and  Apollos 
water,  but  it  is  God  alone  who  gives  the  increase,  and 
in  answer  to  prayer  He  can  and  will  bless  these 
ladies  in  Foochow  city,  and  make  them  chosen  instru 
ments  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  His  Truth. 

Mrs.  Ling  writes  :  "  I  know  you  are  all  praying  for 
China,  but  please  pray  specially  for  Foochow  city ; 
though  the  walls  are  great  and  the  people  strong,  we 
have  a  King  who  is  stronger  than  they ;  He  can 
break  down  those  great  walls;  we  must  only  have 
great  faith  in  God.  He  can  do  it.  There  is  nothing 
too  hard  for  Him.  "  Not  by  might  nor  by  power,  but 
by  My  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts." 

So  far  we  have  been  only  thinking  of  the  work 
among  the  rich  Chinese,  but  God  is  also  working 
among  the  poorer  classes ;  indeed  in  China,  as  else- 


THE   JOYFUL    SOUND  8 1 

where,  we  see  how  true  are  the  words  of  the  Apostle, 
uttered  long  ago,  "  Hath  not  God  chosen  the  poor  of 
this  world,  rich  in  faith."  The  seed  sown,  though 
apparently  in  hopelessly  dull  and  hard  hearts,  He  has 
caused  to  spring  up  and  bear  fruit.  The  School  for 
Women  at  Foochow  and  the  Boarding  School  for 
Girls  have  been  the  means  of  sowing  the  seed.  At 
Kucheng,  too,  there  is  now  a  school  for  both  women 
and  girls.  During  Mrs.  Banister's  absence  in  Eng 
land  the  elder  Miss  Newcombe  takes  charge  of  the 
women,  and  the  younger  the  girls.  They  also  visit 
-the  Bible- women  at  the  country  stations,  occasionally 
spending  a  few  days  or  a  week  in  one  of  the  villages, 
where  they  have  splendid  opportunities  of  giving 
instruction  to  the  Christians,  and  of  talking  to  the 
heathen  women  who  come  in  crowds  to  see  the 
foreign  ladies. 

Let  me  give  you  some  instances  of  the  results  of 
this  "  seed-sowing."  From  our  Foochow  School 
already  sixty  women  have  gone  back  to  their  heathen 
villages,  carrying  with  them  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth :  sixteen  of  these  are  Bible- women,  giving  up 
their  whole  time  to  work  among  their  heathen  sisters, 
others  are  wives  of  the  Catechists  at  the  mission 
stations,  and  others,  again,  are  wives  of  the  ordinary 
Christian  men  in  the  country  congregations,  who  are 
glad  to  come  for  a  time  to  learn  a  little  of  God's  Word, 
and  many  of  these  have  been  the  means  of  great 
blessing  on  their  return  to  their  own  villages.  I 
should  like  to  tell  you  of  one  of  these  dear  women 

G 


82  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

who  has  now  passed  away  to  be  with  the  Master  she 
so  faithfully  served. 

Many  years  ago  a  woman  came  to  us  from  a  dis 
tant  country  village.  She  had  heard  of  the  doctrine, 
but  knew  nothing  very  clearly  about  it.  She  longed 
to  learn  more,  so  she  begged  her  friends  to  allow  her 
to  go  to  Foochow  to  be  taught.  They  tried  to  shake 
her  resolution  by  frightening  her  in  every  way  they 
could,  but,  finding  her  determined,  at  last  consented 
to  let  her  go.  A  short  time  after  her  arrival  some 
men  and  boys  came  from  her  village  to  pay  her  a 
visit  to  see  if  anything  dreadful  had  happened  to  her, 
but,  finding  her  well  and  happy,  they  returned  home 
a  good  deal  re-assured. 

The  dear  old  woman  spent  some  time  in  our  school, 
learning  most  diligently  the  difficult  Chinese  charac 
ters,  and  when  she  had  finished  her  time,  she  went 
out  as  a  Bible- woman.  She  worked  at  first  in  the 
Ning-taik  district,  and  afterwards  became  matron  of 
the  Women's  School  at  Fuh-ning,  superintended  by 
Mrs.  Martin,  and  she  was  there  remarkable  for  her 
earnestness  about  the  souls  of  all  the  women  with 
whom  she  came  in  contact.  Some  little  time  ago  she 
was  taken  ill,  and  after  a  time  of  great  bodily  suffer 
ing,  went  in  to  "  see  the  King."  Mrs.  Martin  writes 
of  her :  "  Perhaps  you  have  heard  of  our  great  loss  in 
the  death  of  Mrs.  Ling  Ming  Ching.  I  may  say  I 
daily  miss  her  ;  it  is  just  six  weeks  since  we  laid 
her  to  rest  in  our  hill  Cemetery  looking  over  the  sea 
.  .  .  She  suffered  excessively,  but  always  said, 


THE   JOYFUL    SOUND  83 

Sing-ta  cheng  k'i-k'wi,  sing-tie  ping-ang,'  <  the  body 
is  very  miserable  ;  the  heart  is  peace.'  " 

One  other  case  I  might  mention.  A  young  woman 
came  to  the  school  by  the  wish  of  her  husband,  who 
was  then  a  student  in  the  college.  She  was  a  heathen, 
and  was  very  angry  with  him  for  becoming  a  Chris 
tian,  and  was  bitterly  opposed  to  Christianity.  Mrs. 
Ling  writes  of  her  in  a  letter  recently  received  :  "  The 
Siu-gie  huoi-sing  is  wonderfully  earnest.  Do  you  re 
member  when  she  came  to  the  Women's  School  she 
was  unconverted,  and  not  willing  to  learn ;  wanted 
to  go  home  very  much;  and  then  her  little  boy  got 
very  ill,  and  Miss  Gough  sent  for  Dr.  Corey  to  see 
him  ?  She  was  very  sad  for  her  child,  and  we  prayed 
with  her  in  her  room  that  God  would  spare  his  life, 
and  that  his  mother  might  give  her  heart  to  Christ, 
and  train  him  up  for  God.  He  did  answer  those 
prayers ;  the  child  is  quite  well,  and  the  mother  is 
much  nicer,  cheered,  and  brighter,  growing  in  grace 
every  day.  She  asked  for  baptism,  and  was  baptized, 
and  now  she  is  very  earnest,  and  likes  to  go  out  when 
ever  the  Bible- woman  goes. 

"  She  has  two  children  ;  sometimes  she  leaves  them 
at  home,  and  sometimes  she  takes  one  with  her.  In 
the  evening  she  helps  her  husband  in  the  subjects  for 
examination  at  the  Conference." 

Our  Annual  Meetings  for  the  Native  Female 
Workers,  who  come  from  the  country  stations,  where 
they  are  working  often  amid  difficulties  and  discour 
agement,  are  times  of  refreshment  and  blessing  to  all. 


84  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

Of  one  of  these  meetings,  Mrs.  Lloyd,  now  in  charge 
of  the  Foochow  Women's  School,  writes:  "  Our  Con 
ference  is  just  over,  and  you  will  be  glad  to  know  that 
we  had  some  happy  meetings  with  the  women.  .  .  . 
Fourteen  women  came  from  the  country,  besides 
Lydia,  and  one  or  two  more  from  the  city.  Mrs. 
Chung  Seng  came ;  we  thought  it  would  be  \vell  for 
her  to  do  so,  as  she  has  the  Women's  School  at  Hing- 
hwa.  It  was  very  cheering  to  see  so  many  of  the  old 
faces  again,  and  I  think  they  all  enjoyed  being  to 
gether." 

Mrs.  Ling  also  sends  an  account  of  some  of  the 
meetings.  She  says:  "We  en  joyed  the  meetings  very 
much,  and  I  think  they  have  done  us  all  good,  and 
quite  refreshed  us  for  work  again.  All  the  Bible- 
women  up  in  the  country  have  done  their  best ;  they 
all  gave  accounts  of  their  work  this  year.  In  some 
places  they  have  had  very  nice  opportunities ;  some 
women  have  been  brought  to  Christ,  but  in  others  the 
heathen  said  many  bad  things  to  them.  Do  you  re 
member  Ong-ai?  She  is  the  best  of  all.  She  has 
visited  many  places,  and  has  had  a  very  good  time, 
and  several  women  have  become  Christians,  and  are 
willing  to  unbind  their  feet.  I  am  very  thankful  to 
see  her  so  earnest.  She  used  to  go  with  Miss  New- 
combe,  Mrs.  Seng-mi,  and  two  Christian  women,  to 
visit." 

Thank  God  the  "  good  seed  "  is  being  sown,  and 
God  is  blessing  the  sowers,  and  is  sending  forth  more 
of  His  children  to  join  in  this  great  work.  Two  new 


THE  JOYFUL   SOUND  85 

workers  were  added  to  the  number  last  autumn — 
Miss  Apperson,  who  has  had  two  years'  experience 
of  work  in  Ireland  in  connection  with  the  Irish  Church 
Missions,  and  Miss  Johnson,  whose  three  years'  train 
ing  as  a  nurse  will  make  her  help  specially  valuable 
in  opening  up  new  work.  She  was,  therefore,  chosen 
to  work  in  the  Kiong-ning  district,  in  the  north-west 
of  the  Fuhkien  province,  a  large  tract  of  country 
containing  several  million  inhabitants,  but  where  as 
yet  the  C.M.S.  have  only  two  missionaries. 

One  other  lady,  Miss  Nesbit,  has  joined  the  band 
of  workers,  sent  to  China  by  friends  in  Australia,  in 
connection  with  the  C.E.Z.M.S.,  making  the  number 
seven,  or  rather  did  make  seven,  for  since  I  began 
to  write  this  paper  a  telegram  has  come  from  China, 
saying  Miss  Bradshaw  is  even  now  on  her  way  home, 
as  she  had  been  suffering  in  her  health  for  some  time. 
Six  ladies !  And  what  is  the  extent  of  the  work 
before  them?  Foochow  city,  with  its  half-million 
inhabitants,  would  seem  in  itself  more  than  enough. 
We  should  not  think  six  lady  workers  too  many  for 
one  of  our  great  cities  at  home,  with  all  the  other 
countless  agencies  at  work  in  them ;  but  besides  the 
city  there  are  villages  innumerable  within  easy  reach, 
and  beyond,  on  the  north  and  south,  three  large 
districts,  Lieng-kong,  Lo-nguong,  and  Hok-chiang, 
where  the  women  are  longing  for  teachers.  Then 
toward  the  north-west  the  immense  district  of  Ku- 
cheng,  with  its  large  city,  and  numerous  towns  and 
villages ;  Ping-nang  district,  almost  equal  to  it  in  size ; 


86  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

and  beyond  these  again  the  great  Kiong-ning  Pre 
fecture,  with  its  seven  counties,  almost  all  still  in  utter 
heathen  darkness. 

Can  only  six  be  spared  from  home  to  bring  the 
Gospel  to  these  millions  of  Chinese  women  ?  Must 
hundreds  of  thousands  pass  into  eternity,  and  never 
hear  of  our  Saviour's  great  love  in  dying  for  them, 
because  the  followers  of  Christ  are  not  willing  to  take 
up  the  Cross  and  follow  in  His  footsteps?  The  path 
He  trod  led  down  step  by  step  from  the  Father's  throne 
to  the  place  of  a  servant,  and  at  last  to  "death,  even 
the  death  of  the  Cross,"  and  thus  He  brought  salvation 
to  the  world,  and  we  cannot  faithfully  follow  Him 
without  sacrifice  of  some  kind. 

May  some  at  least  who  read  this  paper  willingly 
offer  themselves  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  our 
Blessed  Master,  and  give  themselves,  their  lives,  if 
need  be,  for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen.  The  Lord 
is  still  pleading,  "  Whom  shall  I  send,  and  who  will 
go  for  us?  "  Will  you  not  joyfully  accept  the  invita 
tion,  saying,  "  Here  am  I ;  send  me  "  ?  looking  forward 
with  hope  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  glorious  promise, 
"  He  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious 
seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again  with  rejoicing,  bring 
ing  his  sheaves  with  him." 

Some  extracts  from  letters  written  by  Mrs.  Stewart 
in  1894  and  early  in  1895,  show  very  clearly  what 
she  felt  about  the  dear  missionary  sisters  already  in 
the  field,  and  her  earnest  desire  that  others  might  join 
them. 


THE   JOYFUL    SOUND  87 

"  KUCHENG,  February  16,  1894. 

"  Benjamina  -Newcombe  and  L.  Bryer  left  us  yes 
terday ;  Miss  Codrington  and  Miss  Tolley  started 
this  morning  for  Sa-iong.  I  wonder  if  I  told  you 
about  A.  Tolley  going  there. 

"  Sa-iong  is  a  town  about  a  day's  journey  from  here. 
About  a  year  ago  it  was  opened  as  a  Z.M.S.  station. 
Miss  Codrington,  R  Burroughs,  and  Maude  New- 
combe,  went  to  live  there. 

"  The  people  were  most  friendly,  and  the  openings 
for  work  excellent. 

u  Miss  Codrington  is  just  beginning  a  girls'  day 
school,  and  a  class  for  women. 

"  Maude  Newcombe,  however,  moved  on  to  a  large 
town  called  Sang-iong,  half  a  day's  journey.  She 
found  such  readiness  to  hear,  that  she  has  spent 
some  months  there  alone. 

"  Now  she  wants  F.  Burroughs  to  go  and  live  there 
with  her ;  R.  has  consented  to  their  working  there  for 
one  year,  and  then  they  must  move  on  to  a  more 
destitute  place !  We  have  so  few  ladies  we  cannot 
afford  to  let  them  live  within  half  a  day's  journey 
of  each  other ! 

"Miss  Weller  has  the  girls'  school  .  .  .  and 
visiting  in  the  villages  around. 

"  A.  Nesbit  has  the  babies — eighteen  of  them — and 
one  section  of  the  district  to  visit,  which  means  about 
twelve  stations  where  there  are  catechists,  and  each 
of  these  centres  for  other  towns  and  villages  simply 
endless. 


88  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"  Lucy  Stewart  has  another  section  about  equal  in 
size,  Elsie  Marshall  another. 

"  Leaving  only  Annie  Gordon  for  the  whole  of  Ping- 
nang  !  Besides  all  this  there  are  women  to  be  taught 
here,  and  R.  much  wants  help  in  teaching  in  the 
boys'  school.  Twenty-five  boarders  we  expect  next 
term,  and  each  boy  is  to  pay  $6  a  year.  So  we  are 
coming  on  in  self-support,  are  we  not  ? 

"  The  girls  too  are  making  a  beginning :  they  are  to 
give  $i  a  term.  So  people  cannot  say  they  become 
Christians  for  what  they  get !  " 

In  another  letter  dated  April  30,  1894,  also  from 
Kucheng,  she  tells  again  to  another  friend  about  Sa- 
iong,  telling  how  Miss  Codrington  has  been  living 
there  for  a  year. 

"  The  opportunities  for  work  there  are  also  most 
encouraging. 

"  She  has  a  day  school  for  children,  and  is  welcomed 
in  almost  every  house  in  the  place.  In  five  villages 
round  good  work  is  springing  up,  and  she  has  lately 
had  a  very  good  '  Station  Class.'  .  .  .  She  gathers 
women  anxious  to  be  taught  and  keeps  them  three 
months,  giving  them  their  food  only.  She  began  with 
six  women,  and  she  says  all  these  six  have  expressed 
their  desire  to  follow  Jesus,  and  have  witnessed 
bravely  in  their  homes.  Two  have  already  unbound 
their  feet  and  two  more  are  preparing  to  do  so. 

"  Annie  Gordon  (a  really  first-rate  little  missionary 
—  we  like  her  greatly)  has  just  come  back  from 
spending  a  month  in  the  Ping-nang  district. 


THE   JOYFUL    SOUND  91 

"  At  Dong-gio  a  most  interesting  work  is  going  on, 

"  About  fifty  women  come  regularly  to  the  services. 
We  have  had  a  Bible-woman  there  who  has  taught 
them  a  good  deal,  but  you  can  fancy  what  such  women 
must  need — '  line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept.' 

"  Annie  Gordon  had  a  most  happy  time  there.  Nine 
women  came  daily  to  be  taught,  and  she  had  more 
invitations  than  she  could  accept  to  go  to  their  houses 
to  see  them.  Dong-gio  is  about  a  day's  journey  from 
here  northward.  A  day  further  on,  still  going  north, 
is  another  town  called  Dong-kau.  Robert  spent  a 
Sunday  there,  and  found  the  people  so  open  for  the 
message  that  he  asked  Miss  Gordon  to  go  on  there  for 
a  few  days,  which  she  did,  accompanied  by  a  Bible- 
woman,  and  they  had  a  splendid  time.  We  are  going 
to  send  the  Bible- woman  there  for  a  month,  and  then 
Miss  Gordon  will  go  again  and  make  a  longer  stay. 

"We  have  twenty-four  boys  in  the  school,  who  pay 
$6  a  year.  I  take  the  head  class  every  morning  for  an 
hour  and  a  half.  Such  nice  lads  they  are.  I  do  enjoy 
teaching  them. 

"  We  have  no  women's  school  this  term.1 

"  A  number  of  women  come  to  Sunday-school  and 
church,  and  from  the  villages  all  round  invitations 
come — more  than  can  be  attended  to.  In  the  city  (Ku- 
cheng)  the  openings  seem  endless." 

From  another  letter,  dated  Hwasang,  August  n, 
1894,  we  give  an  extract  :— 

1  A  house  was  built  soon  after.  The  money  having  been  sent 
by  friends,  through  her  mother,  Mrs.  Smyly. 


92  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"  We  are  so  looking  forward  to  dear  Hessie  New- 
combe  coming  back  in  the  autumn.  Every  one  loves 
her,  and  she  is  a  good  influence  wherever  she  goes, 
Do  pray  that  the  Lord  may  send  more  workers.  .  ... 
We  simply  don't  know  how  to  plan  the  work  for  next 
winter  with  our  small  numbers." 

In  a  letter  dated  Kucheng,  January  2,  1895,  she 
again  pleads  for  more  workers  to  a  friend  greatly 
interested.  Mentioning  again  about  the  ladies  and 
their  districts,  she  says  :— 

"  We  have  two  at  Sang-iong,  quite  out  of  reach ; 
two  more  a  long  day's  journey  from  us. 

"Then  we  have  four  who  make  Kucheng  their 
headquarters,  but  they  are  seldom  here  more  than  a 
few  days  at  a  time — at  least,  three  of  them;  the  fourth, 
Miss  Weller,  has  the  boarding  school,  with  fifty-four 
girls,  and  the  babies  too,  now  Miss  Nesbit  has  gone  on 
furlough.  Each  of  these  girls  has  an  area  of  about 
300  square  miles!  Annie  Gordon,  indeed,  far  more; 
she  is  the  only  lady-worker  in  Ping-nang. 

"  Next  term  we  hope  to  have  the  women's  school 
open,  with  about  twenty  women  to  be  taught,  and  I 
have  the  boys'  school  to  a  great  extent  on  my  hands, 
as  Robert  is  so  constantly  away.  So  you  see  we  have 
plenty  of  room  for  more  workers,  and  we  are  con 
tinually  laying  the  matter  before  the  Lord." 

The  home  for  babies  mentioned  in  the  letters  was 
begun  by  Miss  Hessie  Newcombe,  and  supported 
mainly,  I  believe,  by  her  friends. 

The   inmates  are   the   little   girl -babies  doomed  to 


THE   JOYFUL   SOUND  93 

death  by  their  parents,  who  think  they  are  of  no  value. 
But  He  who  said,  "  suffer  the  little  children  to  come," 
put  it  into  the  hearts  of  some  of  the  "ku-niongs"  to 
receive  the  rejected  mites,  and  bring  them  up  to  love 
the  Saviour  who  was  despised  and  rejected  for  our 
sakes. 

Mr.  Simpson,  that  sweet  singer  of  New  York,  when 
travelling  in  China,  saw  the  body  of  a  little  baby-girl 
floating  face  downwards  in  a  canal.  I  venture  to 
quote  some  of  his  stanzas. 

May  God  write  the  touching  appeal  on  all  our 
hearts. 

"  Only  a  little  baby  girl 

Dead  by  the  river  side  ; 
Only  a  little  Chinese  child 
Drowned  in  the  floating  tide. 

If  she  had  only  been  a  boy, 
They  would  have  heard  her  cry ; 

But  she  was  just  a  baby-girl, 
And  she  was  left  to  die. 

So  they  have  left  her  little  form 

floating  upon  the  wave  : 
She  was  too  young  to  have  a  soul, 

Why  should  she  have  a  grave  ? 

Yes,  and  there's  many  another  lamb 

Perishing  every  day, 
Thrown  by  the  road  or  the  river  side, 

Flung  to  the  beasts  of  prey. 

Is  there  a  mother's  heart  to-night 

Clasping  her  darling  child, 
Willing  to  leave  these  helpless  lambs 

Out  on  the  desert  wild  ? 


94  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

Is  there  a  little  Christian  girl, 

Happy  in  love  and  home, 
Living  in  selfish  ease,  while  they 

Out  on  the  mountains  roam  ? 

Think  as  you  lie  on  your  little  cot, 

Smoothed  by  a  mother's  hand  ; 
Think  of  the  little  baby-girls 

Over  in  China's  land. 

Ask  if  there  is  not  something  more 

Even  a  child  can  do, 
And  if  perhaps  in  China's  land 

Jesus  has  need  of  you. 

Only  a  little  baby-girl 

Dead  by  the  river  side  ; 
Only  a  little  Chinese  child 

Drowned  in  the  floating  tide. 

But  it  has  brought  a  vision  yast, 

Dark  as  a  nation's  woe  ; 
Oh  !  has  it  left  some  willing  heart 

Answering  *  I  will  go  '  ?  " 

LETTER  FROM  CHINA  BY  REV.  R.  W.  STEWART. 

"Kucheng,  Foochow,  China, 

"November  20,  1894. 

"  I  have  been  wishing  to  tell  you  something  of  the 
work  of  your  ladies  in  the  Fuhkien  province,  which 
I  have  myself  seen  in  the  past  year. 

"  My  wife  and  I  reached  Foochow  from  Canada  just 
a  year  ago,  and  before  coming  up  to  our  inland  station 
we  spent  a  week  at  the  Treaty  Port  of  Foochow. 

"  Here  we  found  five  of  your  ladies  hard  at  work, 
three  of  them  living  at  the  Z.M.S.  (  Olives  '-  —  Miss 


THE   JOYFUL    SOUND  95 

Mead,  Miss  Strong,  and  Miss  Stevens.  To  the  first- 
named  is  committed  the  work  among  women  in  the 
city  of  Foochow.  There  are  in  the  city  about  half 
a  million  people,  and  she  is  the  only  one  of  your  ladies 
that  can  be  spared.  She  has  rented  a  small  house  in 
one  of  the  main  thoroughfares ;  in  the  lower  part  of 
it  she  has  a  Girls'  Day  School,  and  in  the  upper  part 
she  spends  four  days  out  of  each  week,  returning  to 
the  '  Olives '  for  the  other  three  days.  In  the  city 
she  finds  a  great  number  of  houses  open  to  her,  more 
than  she  is  able  to  visit.  The  women  receive  her 
very  gladly,  but  their  husbands  too  often,  on  finding 
their  wives  being  really  influenced,  take  fright,  and 
forbid  further  visits.  There  are  great  possibilities  in 
this  work,  but  it  has  peculiar  difficulties,  and  calls 
for  your  prayers. 

u  Miss  Strong's  sphere  of  work  has  been  the  Women's 
Training  School  in  Foochow.  She  has  had  generally 
as  many  as  twenty  women,  almost  all  from  the  Hok- 
chiang  district,  the  other  more  distant  districts  having 
their  own  institutions. 

"  No  work  is  more  important  than  this  of  training 
women — fitting  them  to  be  themselves  teachers — and 
Miss  Strong  has  devoted  herself  to  it  with  the  greatest 
energy,  and,  I  may  say,  courage  ;  for,  owing  to  her 
failing  eyesight,  she  has  often  been  tempted  to  give 
it  up,  but  has  yet  bravely  held  on  till,  alas  !  the  doctor 
would  allow  her  to  stay  no  longer  in  the  country,  and 
she  has  returned  home,  every  one  in  the  Mission 
hoping  it  may  be  but  for  a  time. 


96  ROBERT   AND    LOUISA    STEWART 

11  The  third  inmate  of  the  (  Olives,'  Miss  Stevens, 
sent  out  by  the  Tasmanian  Y.W.C.A.— Mrs.  Fagg, 
formerly  one  of  our  missionaries  here,  being  one  of 
the  leading  spirits  in  that  association ;  unable  to  return 
to  the  work  she  loved  so  much,  she  has  sent  out 
already  two  substitutes,  and  we  are  grateful.  Miss 
Stevens  divides  her  time  between  village  work  on  the 
Nantai  Island,  and  attending  to  the  needs  of  the  up- 
country  sisters,  who  now  number  more  than  twenty, 
and  who  get  all  their  home  correspondence,  stores, 
etc.,  etc.,  through  her.  What  time  she  has  left  from 
these  she  gives  to  visiting  in  the  large  Foochow 
hospital. 

(t  In  Foochow  you  have  also  a  Girls'  Boarding 
School,  rapidly  increasing  in  number,  under  the 
charge  of  Miss  Leslie,  with  whom  Miss  Lee  is  living 
while  learning  the  language.  This  little  school  is 
intended  to  reach  the  upper-class  children  whom  Miss 
Mead  is  able  to  influence  in  the  city,  and  some  do 
belong  to  this  class,  though  not  all.  The  rule  is 
for  them  to  pay  the  greater  portion  of  the  expense 
of  their  food  and  clothes,  but  Miss  Leslie  is  sometimes 
obliged  to  relax  a  little.  From  about  twenty  children 
last  year,  it  has  increased  to  nearly  double  that  num 
ber  now,  and  who  can  tell  what  good  may  come  from 
the  messages  these  children  will  bring  back  to  their 
homes,  dark  heathen  homes,  in  that  most  sinful  city, 
Foochow  ? 

"  You  have  two  more  workers  in  Foochow  who 
must  not  be  forgotten,  Miss  Barr  and  Miss  Chambers. 


THE  JOYFUL  SOUND  97 

They  are  stationed  in  the  native  hospital,  which  is 
under  the  care  of  Dr.  Rennie.  Although  it  is  not 
a  Mission  Hospital,  Dr.  Rennie  gives  the  ladies  full 
scope  for  influencing  the  patients.  Were  it*  actually 
a  Mission  Hospital,  they  could  not  have  more  freedom 
in  speaking  to  and  teaching  the  inmates.  Although 
they  only  reached  Foochow  last  March,  they  are 
able  to  make  their  ideas  known  in  Chinese  very  fairly, 
and  when  I  saw  them  the  other  day  they  told  me  how 
happy  they  were,  and  what  a  splendid  sphere  of  work 
they  found  theirs  to  be.  On  their  arrival,  at  Dr. 
Rennie's  suggestion,  a  Sunday  service  was  commenced, 
and  now  so  many  come  it  is  often  hard  to  find  room 
for  them.  On  Tuesday,  too,  there  is  a  service,  now 
conducted  by  Mr.  Bannister  ;  and  our  old  friend,  Mrs. 
Ahok,  holds  a  weekly  meeting  for  the  women  patients 
in  the  room  where  her  good  husband  used  to  get  the 
men  together.  I  ought  to  have  said  that  I  found 
Mrs.  Ahok  giving  much  assistance  to  Miss  Leslie. 
Her  house  is  close  by  the  school,  and  every  day  she 
takes  a  class  of  the  girls,  and  is  also  instrumental  in 
bringing  the  greater  number  of  them  to  the  school. 

"The  next  district,  north  of  Foochow,  where  you 
have  ladies  working,  is  Lo-ngnong.  Here  your  new 
house,  at  a  village  called  Uong-buang,  is  just  com 
pleted,  and  I  think  will  be  one  of  the  most  suitable  in 
the  Mission  for  the  purpose.  It  is  entirely  native  in 
its  external  appearance,  while  within  it  is  slightly 
altered  from  the  ordinary  Chinese  building.  It  will 
take  in  three  ladies  easily,  and  the  entire  cost,  includ- 

H 


98  ROBERT  AND  LOUISA  STEWART 

ing  furniture,  will  not  exceed  £80.  Miss  Hook  and 
Miss  Cooper  are  just  about  moving  in,  and  it  is  in 
tended  that  your  new  lady,  Miss  Wedderspoon,  should 
join  them.  Miss  Hook  has  already  been  itinerating 
frequently  through  the  district,  and  speaks  of  it  as 
very  happy  work,  and  full  of  opportunities  for  useful 
ness.  Up  to  the  present  there  has  practically  been 
no  itinerating  by  ladies  in  that  important  district. 
There  are  a  good  number  of  new  converts,  but  the 
women  have  had  nothing  done  for  them.  Mrs.  Martin, 
whose  death  the  whole  Mission  so  deeply  regret,  had 
a  Women's  School.  This  was  an  excellent  institution, 
but  beyond  this  there  was  nothing,  for  there  were  no 
ladies  to  take  up  the  work  till  your  Society  came  to 
its  aid  two  years  ago. 

"  Travelling  south  from  Foochow,  between  two  and 
three  days'  journey,  you  reach  Hing-hwa.  In  this 
district  you  have  two  stations,  the  one  at  Dang-seng, 
and  the  other,  a  day  and  a  half  distant,  at  Sieng-iu. 
This  district  is  unique  among  all  the  districts  of  the 
Mission,  for  it  is  practically  self-supporting,  there 
only  being  at  present  one  catechist  paid  from  Mission 
Funds,  the  other  catechists  being  supported  by  the 
Christians  themselves,  who  have  put  up  their  own 
places  of  worship,  and  who  flock  to  them  on  Sundays 
in  large  numbers.  The  opportunities  for  work  among 
the  women  at  these  two  stations  of  yours  is  quite 
wonderful.  Miss  Hankin  has  written  telling  you  of 
it.  She,  with  Miss  Witherby,  at  Dang-seng,  have 
given  most  of  their  time  that  they  could  spare  from 


THE   JOYFUL    SOUND  99 

learning  the  language  to  itinerations  through  the 
surrounding  country,  and  holding  weekly  classes  for 
instruction.  Now  they  are  about  to  start  a  Women's 
School,  where  Christian  women  will  be  trained,  and 
then  sent  back  to  their  own  villages  to  work  among 
their  countrywomen,  in  the  first  place  entirely  un 
paid  :  possibly  later  on  one  or  two  may  be  selected  as 
specially  fitted  for  the  post  of  Bible-woman.  The 
Society  has  excellent  premises  here,  and  recently  Miss 
Hankin's  friends  have  provided  funds  for  the  building 
of  the  Women's  School. 

"  Your  other  station  in  the  Hing-hwa  district,  Sieng- 
iu,  is  occupied  by  Miss  Lloyd  and  Miss  Tabberer, 
both  from  the  town  of  Leicester,  and  here,  too,  a 
Women's  School  has  been  started  in  a  small  way. 
Next  year  it  is  to  be  enlarged,  and  the  expense  will  be 
borne  by  a  good  friend  in  the  cause  in  Leicester. 

"  Three  days'  journey  west  from  Foochow  is  our 
station  of  Kucheng,  to  which  is  joined  the  district 
of  Ping-nang,  the  two  together  covering  an  area  equal 
to  about  half  the  size  of  Wales,  and  as  populous  as  the 
rest  of  China.  In  this  region  you  have  now  two  fixed 
stations,  Kucheng  and  Sa-iong,  a  long  day's  journey 
separating  them  and  two  other  stations,  which  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  year  have  ladies  in  them. 

"  Kucheng. — Here  Miss  Nisbet  is  in  charge  of  the 
Foundling  Institution,  which  takes  in  poor  little  girl- 
babies  cast  off  by  their  parents.  The  numbers  have 
increased,  till  we  had  to  give  notice  no  more  could  be 
taken  in.  Miss  Nisbet  gives  nearly  all  her  time  to 


100  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

mothering  these  little  things.  There  are  in  all  about 
thirty,  some  of  them  out  at  nurse. 

"  There  is  also  a  large  district  allotted  to  Miss  Nisbet, 
covering  some  200  square  miles,  with  little  bands  of 
Christians  dotted  here  and  there  through  it,  the  women 
sorely  needing  looking  up  and  teaching,  but  they  can 
get  very  little.  Another  institution  here  is  the  Girls' 
Boarding  School,  in  charge  of  Miss  Weller.  This,  too, 
has  so  increased  that,  though  the  school  was  enlarged 
considerably  last  year,  it  is  now  again  quite  full,  and 
this,  too,  in  spite  of  a  new  rule  by  which  they  must 
each  pay  a  fixed  portion  of  the  expenses,  and  also 
must  all  of  them  unbind  their  feet.  There  are  now 
close  on  sixty  of  these  girls,  and  if  they  fulfil  the 
hopes  of  their  teachers,  they  will  do  much  towards 
elevating  and  Christianizing  the  country. 

"  I  ought  to  say  that  the  Foundling  Institution  was 
built  at  the  expense  of  an  Irish  clergyman,  and  is 
being  supported  entirely  by  individual  friends.  And 
so  this  Girls'  School  was  erected,  and  is  supported  in 
a  similar  manner,  neither  institution  drawing  any 
thing  from  the  Society's  funds. 

"  The  three  other  ladies  who  regard  Kucheng  as 
their  headquarters  are  Miss  Gordon,  Miss  Marshall, 
and  Miss  Stewart.  The  last-named  is  still  working 
for  her  examinations,  and  when  she  has  got  through 
them,  her  work  will  be  in  the  country,  in  the  western 
section  of  the  district.  Miss  Gordon's  station,  where 
she  spends  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  is  Dong-gio, 
the  Mission  chief  centre  for  the  Ping-nang  district. 


THE  JOYfUL   SOUND  IOI 

This  great  district,  or,  as  we  would  say  in  England, 
county,  has  no  other  lady  worker  but  this  one,  and  1 
need  not  say  that  though  she  works  ever  so  hard,  she 
can  but  barely  touch  what  is  waiting  to  be  done.  At 
that  one  station  of  Dong-gio  there  is  a  usual  attend 
ance  of  eighty  or  ninety  women  at  the  Sunday  ser 
vices.  We  have  to  thank  Rev.  H.  B.  Macartney  for 
this  valuable  missionary.  I  only  hope  he  will  be  able 
to  send  us  some  more  like  her. 

"  Miss  Marshall's  work  is  also  in  the  country,  only 
returning  now  and  then  to  Kucheng  as  headquar 
ters.  Her  section  lies  north  of  Kucheng,  and  covers 
more  than  300  square  miles.  She  has  several  centres 
in  this  region,  where  she  stops  for  a  few  weeks  or  two 
months  at  a  time,  collecting  the  women  together, 
and  visiting  from  house  to  house.  The  plan  is  for 
the  sisters  to  travel  in  twos,  accompanied  by  a  Bible- 
woman  and  a  Christian  servant,  and  to  put  up  at 
chapels  where  there  is  stationed  a  married  catechist. 
Just  now  she  is  at  a  place  called  Sek-ce-du  (with 
Miss  Saunders,  of  the  Australian  C.M.A.,  who  is 
stationed  with  us  while  learning  the  language),  and  a 
letter  has  come  in  to-day  from  her,  telling  of  the 
great  encouragement  they  are  having  in  that  place, 
which  hitherto  has  been  utterly  dead,  although  we 
have  again  and  again  endeavoured  to  arouse  an  in 
terest.  Thank  God  for  these  dear  sisters !  Wherever 
they  go  God  gives  His  blessing. 

"Their  secret  is  quiet  unwavering  trust  in  the 
Saviour  by  their  side,  and  He  does  not  fail  them. 


102  ROBERT   AND    LOUISA    STEWART 

tk  Your  other  fixed  station  in  this  Kucheng  district 
is  Sa-long,  where  Miss  Codrington  and  Miss  Tolley 
are  located,  the  latter  still  learning  the  language,  but 
at  the  same  time  doing  many  useful  little  bits  of  work. 
I  took  the  Bishop  here  on  his  recent  confirmation 
tour,  and  he  seemed  specially  impressed  by  the  good 
work  he  saw  doing. 

"  The  chief  feature  in  Miss  Codrington's  work  is 
her  '  Station  Class.'  This  is  a  new  departure  in  our 
Mission,  and  she  is  the  first  to  try  it.  The  idea  is  to 
gather  a  class  of  women  from  neighbouring  villages, 
and  keep  them  for  three  months  at  a  time  with  her  in 
her  house,  teaching  them  day  by  day,  assisted  by  a 
well-instructed  Bible-woman,  the  great  fundamental 
truths  of  Christianity,  and  the  chief  incidents  of  the 
Bible,  and  then  sending  them  back  to  their  homes,  to 
be  voluntary  workers  among  their  people. 

"  It  was  thought  by  many  that  three  months'  teach 
ing  would  be  of  little  use  for  these  ignorant  minds,  but 
experience  has  shown  quite  the  reverse.  I  examined 
one  of  her  three  months'  classes,  and  was  delighted  at 
their  answering,  so  utterly  different  from  the  ordin 
ary  untaught  women.  They  had  learned  not  only  a 
number  of  facts,  but  they  had  learned  to  think,  and  it 
was  a  delightful  surprise  to  find  how  thoroughly  they 
understood  the  truth,  and  how  intelligently  they  were 
able  to  answer. 

"Then  besides  the  'Station  Class,'  Miss  Codrington 
visits  regularly  the  surrounding  villages  within  a 
radius  of  six  or  eight  miles,  sometimes  travelling  even 


THE   JOYFUL    SOUND  103 

further,  and  holding  little  classes  in  these  places,  and 
thus  Sa-long,  from  being  so  hopeless  a  station  that  we 
had  actually  withdrawn  our  catechist  from  it,  has 
now  a  congregation  of  from  fifty  to  a  hundred,  and 
the  interest  is  steadily  increasing.  There  is  a  little 
Girls'  Day  School  here  too,  daily  taught  by  Miss 
Tolley,  and  they  answered  well  at  their  examination. 

"  Ten  miles  still  further  east,  across  the  mountains, 
lies  the  town  of  Sang-long,  and  here  Miss  Maud  New- 
combe  and  Miss  Burroughs  have  been  working  for  a 
year.  Here,  too,  have  '  Station  Classes '  been  held,  a 
Girls'  School  established,  and  villages  visited,  just  as 
I  have  described  at  Sa-long,  and  visible  and  wonder 
ful  success  has  in  the  same  way  followed.  The  work 
is  really  done  in  their  little  room  upstairs,  where  the 
two  sisters  kneel  together  so  many  times  a  day. 

"  Miss  Newcombe's  furlough  is  due,  and  she  has  not 
been  very  strong,  and  many  think  she  should  take  a 
rest ;  but  the  Christians  hearing  of  it,  have  drawn  up 
petitions,  one  of  which  they  laid  before  the  Bishop, 
begging  that  she  might  stay  on  among  them  yet 
another  year,  and  I  rather  think  she  is  going  to  yield. 
I  trust  it  may  not  be  at  the  expense  of  her  health. 
So  far  from  European  intercourse,  one  would  sup 
pose  their  lot  must  be  a  sad  one,  and  yet,  like  the 
other  sisters,  they  firmly  maintain  that  they  never, 
even  in  the  dear  home-lands,  had  before  such  happy 
work.  '  Go  .  .  .  and  lo,  I  AM  WITH  YOU  always,' 
accounts  for  this  otherwise  inexplicable  fact. 

"  There  only  remains  to  speak  of  the  far  North- West, 


104  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

where  Nang-ua  is  the  Mission  centre  for  your  ladies. 
It  is  four  days'  journey  over  high  mountains  from  Ku- 
cheng.  I  visited  them  at  the  beginning  of  the  year, 
and  found  there  Miss  Johnson,  Miss  B.  Newcombe, 
Miss  Rodd,  Miss  Bryer,  Miss  Fleming ;  they  have  also 
among  them  a  Miss  Sinclair,  who  has  come  from 
England  independently,  and  is  making  herself  useful 
in  various  ways.  These  devoted  ladies  are  living  as 
nearly  like  the  native  women  as  possible ;  no  knives 
or  forks  are  seen  in  the  house.  I  am  told  there  is  one 
knife  kept  for  any  unhappy  guest  who  cannot  manage 
with  chop  sticks,  and  though  the  locality  is  far  from 
a  healthy  one,  and  our  C.M.S.  missionaries  have  one 
after  another  felt  the  effects  of  the  malaria,  your  ladies 
have  wonderfully  maintained  their  strength.  You 
know  the  kind  of  life  they  lead,  visiting  from  village 
to  village,  sometimes  at  long  distances  from  home, 
putting  up,  not  at  chapels  or  Christians'  houses,  for 
alas !  there  are  none,  but  in  the  native  inn,  or  the 
house  of  some  hospitable  heathen  woman ;  and  God  is 
using  them.  It  is  truly  invigorating  to  the  soul  to  sit 
down  and  listen  to  these  devoted  ladies  telling  of  the 
spiritual  work  they  have  themselves  witnessed. 

"Oh,  for  more  of  these  '  women  that  publish  the 
tidings.'  They  have,  too,  a  little  hospital  here  in 
Miss  Johnson's  charge,  and  they  have  also  been  able 
to  start  a  small  '  Station  Class,'  though  in  doing  so 
they  had  to  face  difficulties  which  were  not  met  with 
in  the  older  districts. 

"  And  now,  in  drawing  this  long  letter  to  a  conclu- 


THE   JOYFUL    SOUND  105 

sion,  I  must  say  that  with  all  these  ladies  are  doing 
before  one's  eyes,  and  the  utter  devotion  of  their  lives, 
it  was  a  disappointment  to  observe  in  the  Annual 
Report  that  your  'China  Fund'  was  at  so  low  an 
ebb,  the  receipts  last  year  being  less  than  the  ex 
penditure  by  £900,  so  that  the  balance  in  hand  is 
almost  gone.  What  is  Fuhkien  to  do  this  coming 
year?  Unless  funds  come  in  quite  unexpectedly, 
there  will  be  a  great  deficit. 

"  Do  your  readers  know  that  China  only  gets  money 
sent  in  specially  marked  as  for  China  ?  If  they  did, 
I  don't  believe  they  could  leave  the  '  China  Fund  '  to 
languish  like  this.  These  dear  sisters,  who,  as  you 
know,  are  all  of  them  on  the  reduced  rate  of  salary, 
wrote  to  me  on  observing  this  in  your  Report,  that 
they  felt  they  must  themselves  try  to  help  still  further. 
One  said,  '  I  will  pay  our  Mission  messenger  my 
self.'  Another  said,  '  I  will  pay  my  teacher.'  Two 
others,  '  We  will  pay  the  rent  of  our  Mission  House,' 
etc.  They  will  not  lose  by  it.  '  There  is  that  scat- 
tereth  and  yet  increaseth.'  *  The  Lord  loveth  a  cheer 
ful  giver.' 

"  One  good  result  is  this,  your  *  China  Fund  '  is  now 
being  remembered  in  prayer  as  never  before,  and  He 
who  has  the  silver  and  the  gold  will  certainly  give 
what  is  needed. 

u  ROBERT  W.  STEWART." 

Mr.  Stewart's  letter  to  the  Committee  of  the 
C.E.Z.M.S.  will  be  read  with  interest.  He  describes 


106  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

the  "foreign  women"  no  longer  "strangers  and 
foreigners,"  but  at  home  in  the  hearts  of  the  Chinese 
women. 

And  are  not  his  closing  words  as  "  a  voice  out  of 
the  cloud "  to  us  now,  pleading  that  lack  of  funds 
should  not  be  a  reason  why  missionaries  must  not  be 
sent  to  China  ? 

Is  it  true  that — as  a  living  writer  has  said — we 
Christians  have  been  "  electro-plated  with  avarice  "- 
taking  care  of  ourselves,  providing  for  our  own  fami 
lies,  taking  thought  what  we  shall  eat  and  what  we 
shall  drink,  and  wherewithal  we  shall  be  clothed,  and 
turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  bitter  cry  of  millions  who 
are  starving  for  the  Bread  of  Life  ? 

Jesus  Christ  died  for  them  as  much  as  for  us. 

He  has  already  told  us  to  go  and  preach  this  good 
news  to  every  creature. 

If  we  neglect  to  do  this,  will  He  not  say  to  us,— 

"  Thou  oughtest  therefore  to  have  put  My  money 
to  the  exchangers,  and  then  at  My  coming  I  should 
have  received  Mine  own  with  usury?  " 

Oh !  may  no  one  who  reads  this  book  have  the 
solemn  words  that  follow  addressed  to  them, — "  Take 
therefore  the  talent  from  him  .  .  ,  and  cast  ye  the 
unprofitable  servant  into  outer  darkness." 

"  Wherefore  He  saith,  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest, 
and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee 
light.  .  .  .  And  be  not  drunk  with  wine,  wherein 
is  excess ;  but  BE  FILLED  WITH  THE  SPIRIT." 


CHAPTER   V 

NATIVE  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  AT  SCHOOL 

"  Esaias  is  very  bold,  and  saith,  I  was  found  of  them  that  sought 
Me  not."— ROM.  x.  20 


107 


CHAPTER   V 

NATIVE  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  AT  SCHOOL 

From  the  glory  and  the  gladness, 

From  His  secret  place  ; 
From  the  rapture  of  His  presence, 

From  the  radiance  of  His  Face- 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  hath  sent  me 

Through  the  midnight  lands  ; 
Mine  the  mighty  ordination 

Of  the  pierced  Hands. 

Mine  the  message  grand  and  glorious, 
Strange  unsealed  surprise, — 

That  the  goal  is  God's  beloved, 
Christ  in  Paradise. 

Hear  me,  weary  men  and  women, 

Sinners  dead  in  sin  ; 
I  am  come  from  heaven  to  tell  you 

Of  the  love  within. 


There,  as  knit  unto  the  body, 

Every  joint  and  limb, 
We,  His  ransomed,  His  beloved, 

We  are  one  with  Him. 


On  into  the  depths  eternal 

Of  the  love  and  song, 
Where  in  God  the  Father's  glory 

Christ  has  waited  long  ; 

109 


110  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

There  to  find  that  none  beside  Him 

God's  delight  can  be — 
Not  beside  Him,  nay,  but  in  Him, 

O  beloved,  are  we.1 

I  WANT  to  write  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  to 
boys  and  girls.  All  the  young  ones  were  great 
favourites  with  Mr.  Stewart. 

He  was  so  glad  when  he  found  the  boys  and  girls 
taking  an  interest  in  God's  work  among  the  heathen. 
He  used  to  say  that  "  C.M.S."  stood  not  only  for 
"  Church  Missionary  Society,"  but  that  it  meant,  too, 
"Come,  Master,  Soon,"  as  he  felt  this  to  be  the  true 
way  of  hastening  His  coming  and  kingdom. 

He  used  to  say  that  the  right  way  to  get  new  mis 
sionaries  must  be  the  way  Christ  Himself  taught  us. 
He  said,  "Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  He 
may  send  forth  labourers  into  His  harvest."  This,  he 
said,  was  as  much  the  Lord's  prayer  as  the  prayer 
that  is  usually  called  by  that  name,  and  yet  how  few 
pray  the  first  "Pray  ye"  compared  to  the  number 
who  say  "  Our  Father." 

How  glad  he  will  be  if  he  hears  (and  I  think  Christ 
will  tell  him— don't  you?)  that  some  boys  and  girls  in 
the  United  Kingdom  and  in  the  Colonies  have  begun  to 
pray  for,  and  to  help,  the  boys  and  girls  in  China,  for 
whom  he  prayed  so  earnestly  and  worked  so  diligently ! 

Do  not  say  in  a  hurry  "  I  can  do  nothing." 

God  works  in  those  who  let  Him,  "  to  will  and  do 
of  His  good  pleasure." 

1  From  "  Hymns  of  Tersteegen  and  Others,"  by  Mrs.  Bevan. 


NATIVE   BOYS   AND   GIRLS  AT  SCHOOL        III 

Let  me  tell  you  what  some  children  have  done. 

They  belong  to  a  Bible  Class,  and  the  teacher  told 
them — what  I  want  the  children  who  read  this  chapter 
to  know — that  they  could  have  a  school  of  their  own 
in  China  for  £4  a  year. 

I  suppose  some  of  them  thought  it  would  be  nicer 
to  help  to  send  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  to  China  than 
to  buy  all  the  sweets  they  had  been  accustomed  tc ; 
but  be  that  as  it  may,  they  gave  their  pennies,  and  tl  e 
kind  teacher  sent  £4.  I  hope  after  some  time  a  letter 
will  come  from  China  telling  them  where  their  school 
is,  and  describing  the  village,  the  teacher,  and  the 
scholars,  so  that  they  can  pray  as  well  as  send  pennies. 

If  eighteen  boys  or  girls  would  band  themselves 
together,  each  giving  one  penny  every  week,  they 
could  send  £4  os.  8d. — enough  for  a  school,  and  the 
Sd.  over  would  pay  for  postage. 

They  could  choose  one  to  be  secretary  and  another 
for  treasurer,  and  so  have  a  little  Missionary  Society 
of  their  own. 

I  am  sure  they  would  soon  feel  the  need  of  prayer ; 
and  they  would  ask  God  to  fill  the  Chinese  school 
master  with  His  Holy  Spirit,  that  he  might  teach  the 
children  and  their  parents  when  he  visits  them  all 
that  God  wants  them  to  know. 

So  that  it  would  come  to  be  the  missionary  chil 
dren's  village,  not  only  their  school. 

I  remember  a  story  Mr.  Stewart  told  about  a 
Chinese  boy  he  met. 

It  happened  in  this  way.     Mr.  Stewart  came  to  a 


112  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

village  where,  he  was  told,  there  were  no  Christians 
except  one  boy.  He  asked  at  a  door  for  a  drink  of 
water ;  he  was  weary  and  thirsty.  It  was  only  water 
that  he  asked  for ;  he  got  some  information  that  re 
freshed  his  heart. 

"Have  you  ever  heard  of  Jesus  Christ?"  he  asked 
the  woman  who  came  to  the  door. 

"  Oh,  yes.  My  boy  of  twelve  years  old  is  always 
talking  about  Him.  He  wants  me  to  give  up  the  idols 
and  burn  them,  but  I  dare  not  do  that." 

Mr.  Stewart  started  again  on  his  journey,  walking 
in  the  dust  and  heat  as  his  Master  did,  having  learned 
from  the  mother  that  the  boy  had  gone  up  the  moun 
tain  on  some  errand. 

I  forgot  to  mention  one  important  thing  the  mother 
said.  After  saying  she  feared  to  burn  the  idols,  she 
added :  "  I  sometimes  think  my  son  must  be  right ;  he 
is  so  changed.  He  used  to  be  selfish  and  bad-tempered ; 
now  he  is  unselfish  and  patient,  and  he  says  it  is 
Jesus  Christ  has  made  the  change." 

Mr.  Stewart  had  to  go  across  the  mountain,  and  I 
know  not  how  many  steps  he  had  to  climb  to  reach 
the  summit — like  a  steep  flight  of  stairs. 

About  half  way  up  he  saw  a  boy  coming  towards 
him,  descending  as  he  ascended.  As  he  approached 
Mr.  Stewart  felt  no  doubt  that  this  was  the  one 
Christian  in  the  village  ;  he  recognised  in  the  bright 
face  and  fearless  eye  a  brother  in  Christ. 

Great  was  the  joy  of  the  youthful  disciple  to  meet 
the  foreign  Singang  (teacher). 


NATIVE   BOYS   AND   GIRLS  AT   SCHOOL       113 

I  cannot  tell  you  all  the  conversation,  but  this  I  do 
remember  :  the  boy  told  Mr.  Stewart  that  he  had  only 
once  heard  of  Jesus — "  the  One,"  as  he  said,  "who 
loved  me  enough  to  die  for  me.  And  I  could  not  help 
loving  Him  with  all  my  heart  as  soon  as  ever  I  heard 
of  Him.  I  feel  now  that  I  could  die  for  Him. 

"  I  had  gone  to  the  wedding  feast  of  my  cousin,  a 
long  journey  over  the  mountain,  and  there  was  one 
Christian  there.  I  heard  he  had  some  strange  new 
doctrine  he  had  learned  from  ( foreign  devils.' 

"  I  felt  a  great  desire  to  hear,  and  he  told  me  some 
thing  better  than  new  doctrine.  He  told  me  of  my 
Saviour,  my  Friend,  my  Lord." 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  more  God  taught  that 
dear  boy  through  Mr.  Stewart,  sitting  on  the  moun 
tain  side;  and  I  do  not  quite  remember  if  a  little 
school  was  started  in  that  village — I  think  so.  But  I 
know  that  some  time  after  Mrs.  Stewart  was  visiting 
at  Kucheng  (where  she  afterwards  resided).  She 
examined  the  women  in  the  school  there— the  Train 
ing  School  for  Bible-women — and  noticing  one  woman 
with  a  spiritual  perception  far  beyond  the  others,  she 
spoke  to  her  personally  after  the  Bible  lesson.  The 
woman  told  her  where  she  came  from  and  her  name, 
and  she  was  identified  as  the  mother  of  this  boy. 

Mr.  Stewart  longed  to  have  schools  for  boys  and 
girls  in  all  the  villages. 

The  following  accounts  were  written  by  Mr. 
Stewart  as  "  Reports  "  for  those  who  contributed  to 
the  Day  School  Fund.  We  reprint  them  here,  that 
they  may  have  a  wider  circulation. 

i 


114  ROBERT   AND    LOUISA    STEWART 

REPORT  OF  THE  FUH-KIEN  DAY  SCHOOLS. 

August,  1893. 
DEAR  FRIENDS, — 

Through  absence  in  the  Colonies1  last  year,  I 
was  unable  to  send  a  Report  at  the  usual  time,  and 
am  now  reprinting  my  article  on  the  School  from  this 
month's  Gleaner.  I  am  returning  (D.V.)  to  Fuh- 
kien  the  beginning  of  September,  and  my  sister,  Miss 
Smyly,  35,  Fitzwilliam  Street,  Dublin,  has  most 
kindly  promised  to  receive  contributions,  and  give 
information. 

Some  fourteen  years  ago  we  in  Fuh-kien  felt  that 
an  attempt  should  be  made  to  establish  Christian 
schools  throughout  the  country,  and  on  a  more 
distinctly  self-supporting  basis  than  had  yet  been 
attempted. 

We  had  then  about  half-a-dozen  little  schools ;  but 
on  our  stating  our  intention  to  in  future  confine  our 
pecuniary  assistance  to  £4  per  school  per  annum,  all 
above  this  for  all  purposes  connected  with  the  school, 
or  the  salary  of  the  teacher,  to  be  found  by  the 
scholars  themselves,  several  of  these  teachers  sent 
in  their  resignation. 

However,  we  persevered  in  our  determination,  and 
made  it  a  constant  matter  of  prayer,  both  in  public 
with  the  Chinese  converts  and  among  ourselves,  that 
if  it  were  God's  will  He  would  bless  these  little 
schools ;  and  the  result  was  that,  to  our  great  delight, 

1  Mr.  Stewart  visited  the  Colonies  in  company  with  Mr.  Eugene 
Stock. 


NATIVE   BOYS   AND   GIRLS   AT   SCHOOL        115 

the  demand  for  them  increased,  and  the  number 
gradually  mounted  from  those  first  three  or  four  up  to 
ninety-six  last  year.  Our  other  rules  regarding  them 
were,  that  the  teachers  should  all  of  them  be  converts, 
and  that  the  scholars  should  learn  our  Christian 
books,  written  in  the  simplest  and  most  direct 
language  by  ourselves,  treating  of  the  vital  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  and  also  of  course  the  Bible,  and  give 
half  their  school-time  each  day  of  the  week  to  the 
study  of  them. 

The  annual  examination  of  these  schools  was 
perhaps  the  happiest  part  of  my  work,  and  they 
proved  themselves  to  be  an  evangelistic  agency 
beyond  our  expectation ;  for  not  only  was  light 
brought  into  many  dark  homes  by  means  of  the 
children,  but  also  many  adults  came  to  the  school 
masters  to  be  taught  in  the  evenings  when  their 
day's  work  was  done.  Also  at  our  examinations 
crowds  of  the  heathen  thronged  the  room,  listening 
attentively  as  we  catechised  the  children  on  the  great 
fundamental  doctrines  of  the  true  Faith.  Of  course 
we  took  care  that  these  listeners  should  understand 
the  questions  and  the  answers,  and  thus  we  preached 
to  them  in  perhaps  the  most  effective  of  all  ways. 

These  ninety-six  schools  are  distributed  over  an 
immense  tract  of  country,  often  five  or  ten  miles,  or 
even  more,  from  one  another.  Sometimes  you  find 
one  in  a  far  outlying  district,  the  only  centre  of 
Christian  light  in  a  wide  area  of  heathenism ;  and 
there  are  places  in  the  Province  now,  where  the 


Il6  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

thriving  little  church  that  exists  there  owes  its  origin 
to  the  establishment  of  one  of  those  tiny  schools. 

Mr.  Lloyd,  writing  some  time  ago  from  the  district 
of  Hing-hwa,  gave  a  striking  illustration  of  this.  A 
request  came  to  him  to  establish  a  Christian  school  in 
the  village;  he  did  so,  and  through  the  instrumen 
tality  of  the  schoolmaster,  who  was  "  a  very  earnest 
man,  with  a  good  influence  outside  the  school,"  an 
interest  began  at  once  to  spring  up ;  this  steadily 
increased,  till  in  the  short  space  of  two  years  the 
number  of  converts  had  grown  to  150.  He  added 
that  the  converts  had  proved  the  reality  of  their  faith 
by  subscribing  liberally  towards  the  erection  of  a 
much-needed  church,  schoolroom,  and  catechist's 
house,  having  given  ninety  dollars  in  money,  and 
about  1,500  days'  labour,  and  various  gifts  of  tiles, 
etc.  "  It  is  built,"  he  writes,  "  of  red  brick,  entirely 
in  the  native  style  of  architecture,  and  as  I  came  in 
sight  of  it  I  could  have  cried  with  joy  at  what  God 
had  wrought  by  His  grace  in  that  village.  What  a 
joy  it  was  to  examine  a  school  in  that  nice  building, 
knowing  as  I  did,  that  only  two  years  before  the 
Christians  could  have  been  counted  on  the  fingers 
of  one  hand,  and  that,  humanly  speaking,  but  for 
our  little  school  all  would  still  be  in  heathen  dark 
ness  ! ' ' 

A  good  illustration  of  the  usefulness  of  one  of  these 
little  day  schools  in  a  far  outlying  district,  and  the 
way  in  which  it  becomes  a  centre  of  Christian  in 
struction  to  those  seeking  it,  is  given  by  Mr.  Collins. 


NATIVE   BOYS  AND   GIRLS  AT   SCHOOL        119 

His  experience,  too,  shows  how  much  good  may  be 
done  on  the  journey  to  the  school ;  he  writes  :— 

"  *  There  is  a  great  interest  awakened  in  A-cai,1 
said  the  native  clergyman  to  me.  '  I  went  there  and 
stayed  two  nights  and  all  the  village  came  to  listen.' 
'  Where  is  A-cai  ? '  I  asked,  as  the  name  was  un 
familiar.  '  Down  by  the  sea — it  is  the  village  to 
which  the  school  was  moved  this  year,'  he  answered. 
Directly  he  said  that,  I  remembered  that  the  school 
master  was  a  very  earnest  man,  a  true  Christian,  and 
a  keen  student  of  his  Bible,  and  I  had  been  expecting 
to  hear  iurther  news  of  him.  I  had  heard  that  he 
had  twelve  scholars  coming  to  his  school  every  day, 
and  sixteen  at  night— boys  whose  work  prevented 
them  coming  at  any  other  time — so  I  was  heartily 
glad  when  I  found  myself  seated  in  a  large  boat  that 
sails  daily  down  to  the  sea-coast  villages.  There  was 
no  limit  to  the  number  this  boat  could  contain  ap 
parently — to-day  it  was  particularly  crowded.  As 
soon  as  I  got  on  board  I  was  greeted  at  once  by  a 
cheery  *  Ping  ang '  ('  Peace  to  you  ')  from  two  men, 
and  found  that  there  were  two  or  three  Christians  on 
board.  The  people  crowded  round  me,  and  I  resigned 
myself  to  my  fate.  I  knew  what  was  coming,  and 
gave  myself  up  at  once  to  silent  prayer,  for  it  is  a 
very  real  trial  for  me  to  be  overhauled  and  mauled 
by  a  crowd  on  a  hot  June  morning,  and  to  answer 
with  perfect  equanimity  a  thousand  questions,  each 
more  extraordinary  than  the  one  before ;  to  have 
every  garment  pierced  and  felt  by  every  hand  that 


120  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

can  reach  it,  and  to  be  catechised  on  the  state  of  the 
tea-market,  and  the  value  of  a  dollar  in  England. 
Presently  an  old  man  came  and  sat  down  near  me, 
and  in  answer  to  a  question  as  to  where  he  was 
going,  said,  '  To  A-cai.'  So  at  once  we  struck  up  a 
friendly  talk.  He  had  heard  the  Gospel  from  the 
schoolmaster,  Mr.  Ding,  and  at  once,  to  my  complete 
surprise,  asked  me  to  read  some  of  it  to  him,  (  As  Mr. 
D.  does  every  evening.'  Out  came  my  Testament, 
and  the  fire  of  questions  ceased  as  I  read  St.  John 
iii.  i-iS.  I  thought  this  old  man  promised  well  for 
A-cai. 

"  A  crowd  of  coolies  with  their  loads  joined  us  from 
another  boat,  and  the  noise  and  confusion  preventing 
conversation,  I  opened  my  ink-bottle  and  letter-case 
to  write.  *  What's  he  got  there — is  he  eating  opium  ? ' 
shouted  a  man  who  was  too  far  off  to  see,  and  took 
the  pen  for  a  pipe-stem.  That  gave  me  an  opening, 
and  they  carried  away  a  very  distinct  idea  of  what 
English  Christians  out  here  think  of  the  opium 
question.  I  overhead  one  man  say  reflectively  to 
his  friend,  some  time  after,  *  He  says  what  they  hate 
most  is  opium.' 

"  Shortly  after,  another  man  took  the  ink  for 
morphia;  for  some  reason  it  was  connected  with 
opium  in  his  mind.  They  then  conversed  about 
foreigners  in  general,  and  some  of  their  ideas  were 
new  to  me.  I  gathered  that  there  was  a  race  of 
foreigners  who  were  all  women,  no  men  !  that  there 
was  one  kingdom  which  no  ship  built  with  iron  nails 


NATIVE  BOYS   AND   GIRLS   AT   SCHOOL       121 

could  ever  get  to,  and  so  on.  At  length  I  made  a 
last  effort,  and  quoting  St.  John  iii.  12,  caught  their 
attention,  and  with  the  help  of  the  little  '  wordless 
book,'  had  a  capital  time  with  them. 

"A  welcome  mid-day  rest  was  obtained  in  the  little 
church  at  A-ling,  and  in  the  afternoon  I  started  for 
A-cai  with  the  A-ling  catechist.  He  told  me  how 
some  new  enquirers  had  come  over  to  him,  influenced 
by  the  A-cai  schoolmaster. 

"  Leaving  the  coast,  we  began  slowly  to  ascend  the 
steep  little  range  of  hills.  Once  at  the  top,  we  saw 
before  us  a  narrow  glen,  with  steep  rocky  sides  that 
even  these  industrious  Chinese  could  not  cultivate, 
and  beyond  it  another  range  of  hills,  bare,  rocky,  and 
precipitous,  with  scarcely  a  tree  to  be  seen.  One, 
indeed,  there  was,  at  the  hill  foot  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  glen,  a  tree  that  has  a  history  of  its  own. 
Further  along  the  shore  is  a  farm-house,  owned  by  a 
man  who  has  been  long  a  Christian.  He  held  to  his 
faith  stoutly  in  spite  of  bitter  persecution,  and  Sunday 
by  Sunday  came  along  this  lonely  glen  on  his  way  to 
church.  One  Sunday  a  party  of  opium  smokers  lay 
in  wait  for  him,  caught  him  and  tied  him  to  this  tree, 
and  cruelly  beating  him,  left  him  there.  But  the 
beating  had  not  the  desired  effect,  for  he  still  con 
tinued  to  go  to  church.  Then  his  heathen  neighbours 
seized  some  of  his  land  and  the  trees  planted  on  it. 
Having  full  proof  of  legal  possession,  he  took  the  case 
to  the  law  court ;  but  the  mandarin  was  no  friend  to 
the  Christians,  and  gave  the  man  his  choice  between 


,122  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

imprisonment  and  freedom,  but  the  latter  only  on 
condition  that  he  burnt  incense  before  an  idol.  This 
he  refused  to  do,  and  chose  the  prison. 

"  As  we  passed  round  the  corner  of  the  cliff'  that 
shuts  in  the  glen,  there  opened  to  our  view  a  beautiful 
little  cove,  that  reminded  one  of  Devonshire,  and  the 
likeness  increased  as  the  tide  came  in  and  covered  the 
mud  flats.  Skirting  the  foot  of  the  hills,  we  followed 
the  path  to  the  right  of  the  little  bay,  and  turning 
another  corner  came  suddenly  on  the  place  we  sought, 
the  village  of  A-cai. 

"  This  was  the  first  time  a  foreigner  had  been  there, 
and  the  news  soon  spread.  The  first  old  man  we  met, 
holding  up  both  hands  in  astonishment,  exclaimed, 
'  Why,  some  of  them  arrive  at  the  age  of  fifty  or  sixty 
years,  do  they  ? '  This  was  a  compliment  to  my  sup 
posed  grey  hair  !  He  was  more  dumbfounded  still  to 
hear  I  was  only  thirty.  The  villagers  treated  us  with 
marked  courtesy,  and  not  once  did  one  hear  an  ob 
jectionable  expression.  Politeness  like  this  is  not 
unusual  in  remote  places  away  from  the  high  roads. 

"  The  sun  was  setting  behind  the  mountains,  and 
the  cool  sea  breeze  which  the  incoming  tide  brought 
with  it  made  a  welcome  change  after  the  hot  day. 
The  little  schoolroom,  evidently  once  a  shop,  was 
densely  crowded,  so  they  placed  a  table  outside  the 
house,  with  a  lantern  on  it,  and  the  preaching  began. 
It  was  a  thoroughly  Chinese  scene,  the  audience  sat 
on  doorsteps,  window-sills,  benches  and  chairs,  and 
on  the  low  wall  that  bounded  the  little  terrace  were 


NATIVE   BOYS   AND   GIRLS   AT   SCHOOL       123 

sixteen  children,  evidently  the  night-school.  The  sky 
was  dark,  and  only  the  stars  lighted  the  scene,  if 
we  except  our  flickering  candle.  I  began  with  a  few 
words,  but  gave  way  to  the  schoolmaster.  He  spoke 
well  and  to  the  point,  the  audience  interrupting  freely 
with  questions,  some  showing  earnest  thought,  and 
none  of  the  flippant  mocking  questions  so  usual  in 
street  preaching.  Only  half-a-dozen  of  the  foremost 
men  could  be  seen  in  the  light,  but  every  now  and 
then  a  voice  would  come  out  of  the  gloom,  or  a  smart 
discussion  would  spring  up  resembling  a  duel,  and 
sounding  not  unlike  a  quarrel  to  unaccustomed  ears. 
Then  the  preacher  would  go  back  to  his  subject  and 
silence  would  reign. 

"  As  the  catechist  preached,  suddenly  two  men 
shouted  out,  '  Then  the  worship  of  idols  is  useless,'  and 
a  tumult  of  voices  arose  which  ceased  as  suddenly, 
while  he  gave  a  clear  and  decided  answer. 

"  Meanwhile  the  schoolmaster  was  not  idle.  He  had 
gone  into  the  schoolroom,  which  was  full  of  people 
who  preferred  a  seat  in  the  light,  with  a  pipe  and  a 
cup  of  tea,  and  there  was  holding  an  animated  dis 
cussion  on  some  subject  of  which  I  could  catch  only 
a  word  now  and  then. 

''Looking  in  from  the  darkness,  one  could  only 
judge  from  the  shadows  on  the  mud  wall  thrown  by 
the  light  that  the  argument  was  a  hot  one,  it  looked 
once  or  twice  as  if  more  than  moral  persuasion  was 
being  resorted  to,  but  it  was  all  perfectly  good- 
natured. 


124  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"  The  catechist's  voice  failing,  my  load-bearer,  a 
fine  old  Christian,  came  to  the  rescue,  and  his  rough 
voice  broke  the  silence,  evidently  making  some  telling 
points,  which  the  audience  much  appreciated.  The 
old  charges  that  the  missionaries  take  people's  eyes 
and  knee-caps  to  make  medicine  of  were  brought  for 
ward,  and  talking  continued  for  over  three  hours.  It 
must  have  been  quite  eleven  o'clock  before  the  last 
man  went  off  and  the  Christians  had  prayers. 

"  To  me  this  was  the  most  interesting  evening  I  had 
spent  since  landing  in  China.  The  courtesy  of  the 
people  and  their  earnestness,  with  the  evident  spirit  of 
real  inquiry  that  they  showed,  made  me  most  hopeful 
for  the  future.  The  schoolmaster's  humility  and 
reality  mark  him  as  a  man  whom  God  the  Holy  Ghost 
can  use. 

"  I  talked  to  the  children  at  prayers  the  next  day, 
and  found  them  very  bright  and  intelligent,  and  well 
up  in  the  main  facts  of  the  Gospel  story.  Surely  it  is 
a  cause  of  great  thankfulness  that  thirty  little  ones 
should  be  learning  something  of  the  way  of  life  at 
that  little  country  day  school.  It  is  our  best  school  in 
that  district,  but  what  one  is  all  may  be  in  time,  and 
they  will  prove  no  mean  instruments  in  freeing  this 
enslaved  people  from  the  bondage  of  Satan." 

Of  the  schools  in  the  wide  district  south  of  Foochow, 
far  removed  from  the  district  just  spoken  of,  Mr.  Lloyd 
gives  some  very  interesting  particulars  :— 

"  Chia-yang. — At  the  beginning  of  the  year  we 
started  a  school  in  this  village  at  the  request  of  a  man 


NATIVE   BOYS  AND   GIRLS   AT   SCHOOL        125 

who  had  heard  the  Gospel  at  Sieng-iu,  and  had  walked 
ten  miles  to  Sunday  service  for  some  months.  He  had 
induced  some  eight  or  ten  of  his  neighbours  to  join 
him  in  petitioning  us  to  send  them  a  teacher,  and 
assured  us  that  numbers  of  the  people  were  anxious  to 
hear  about  the  '  Religion  of  Jesus.'  The  result  has 
surpassed  our  most  sanguine  expectations.  I  visited 
the  village  some  weeks  since,  and  was  both  pleased 
and  surprised  to  find  some  eighty  persons  assembled 
to  meet  me  with  every  token  of  respect,  all  of  whom 
had  enrolled  their  names  as  desirous  to  serve  Christ 
and  forsake  their  idols.  Two  old  men  especially 
attracted  my  attention.  One  of  them,  a  village  elder, 
very  old  and  feeble,  hobbled  to  the  school,  and  was 
with  great  difficulty  prevented  kneeling  down  to  me ; 
he  insisted  that  he  wished  thus  to  honour  me  as  the 
representative  of  Christ,  and  was  a  little  displeased 
when  we  pointed  out  that  it  must  not  be.  Will  not 
the  supporters  of  our  day  schools  sometimes  think  of 
this  little  company  of  disciples  in  this  remote  moun 
tain  village,  nestling  among  the  hills  3,000  feet  above 
the  sea  level,  and  pray  that  the  little  school  may  be 
a  centre  of  light  to  the  whole  neighbourhood  ? 

"  Eng-tan-kiang. — Our  attempt  to  open  a  school  at 
this  village  two  years  ago  met  with  such  violent  oppo 
sition  that  we  were  obliged,  perforce,  to  close  it.  Two 
of  our  'voluntary  exhorters,' who  went  thither  and 
endeavoured  to  quell  the  disturbance,  were  bespattered 
with  unmentionable  filth,  and  sent  whence  they  came. 
This  year  the  attitude  of  the  people  has  quite  changed 


126  ROBERT   AND    LOUISA    STEWART 

and  sixty  or  seventy  of  them  are  attending  the  Sun 
day  services.  The  schoolmaster  is  allowed  to  carry 
on  his  work  unmolested,  and  we  are  deeply  thankful 
that  animosity  has  given  way  to  glad  acceptance  on 
the  part  of  many." 

Here  is  one  other  illustration  of  the  good  work  these 
little  schools  are  doing,  also  from  Mr.  Lloyd  :— 

"  Leng-tie. — This  village  is  situated  in  the  Sieng-iu 
plain,  about  three  miles  from  the  city.  I  am  glad  to 
say  that  the  establishment  of  the  school  has  led  to  an 
increased  interest  in  Christianity,  and  some  ten  of  the 
villagers  have  joined  us.  One  man  among  these 
recent  converts  attracted  my  attention  at  once,  as 
being  evidently  in  good  circumstances,  and  quite 
above  the  majority  of  the  people.  I  had  a  long  con 
versation  with  him,  and  we  read  the  New  Testament 
together.  He  seems  really  sincere,  and  I  do  trust  his 
influence  may  be  felt." 

These  cases  show,  I  think,  what  valuable  work  these 
day  schools  are  doing,  not  only  in  reaching  the  chil 
dren,  but  bringing  the  Gospel  message  to  their  adult 
friends  as  well,  and  the  faster  we  can  scatter  them 
through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  country,  the 
sooner  will  it  be  evangelized.  The  small  amount  of 
help,  too,  that  comes  from  outside  sources  for  their 
maintenance,  £4  per  annum,  as  I  mentioned  above, 
tends  to  foster  a  spirit  of  independence  and  self- 
support.  Why  the  heathen  priests  and  literati  allow 
the  children — for  most  of  them  are  from  heathen 
homes — to  attend  and  learn  our  Christian  books,  it 


NATIVE   BOYS   AND    GIRLS   AT   SCHOOL       I2J 

is  hard  to  understand,  except  that,  in  answer  to  the 
prayers  of  those  supporting  these  little  schools,  God  is 
graciously  protecting  them  and  blessing  them.  Out 
of  the  ninety- six  only  fourteen  are  paid  from  the 
C.M.S.  general  funds ;  the  rest  are  supported  privately, 
and  this  means  a  good  number  of  true  friends  specially 
interested  in  this  work,  and  whose  prayers  are  being 
abundantly  answered. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

ROBERT  W.  STEWART. 

The  Rev.  R.  W.  Stewart  writes  from  Kucheng : — 
"  At  the  beginning  of  the  year,  at  our  native  Con 
ference,  when  the  leading  native  Christians  from  all 
parts  of  my  two  districts  of  Kucheng  and  Ping- 
nang  came  together  for  four  days'  consultation  and 
Christian  intercourse,  requests  were  handed  in  from 
twenty-eight  new  places  for  schools.  Each  applica 
tion  gave  the  names  of  those  who  would  attend  the 
school,  and  the  amount  they  were  willing  to  subscribe 
to  add  to  our  £4  for  the  teacher's  salary.  I  believe 
so  thoroughly  in  these  little  schools  that  I  could  not 
refuse  them,  and  so  they  were  allowed,  and  I  am 
trusting  for  the  needful  funds.  These  28  new  schools 
in  my  own  district,  added  to  some  new  ones  in  other 
districts,  bring  up  the  number  to  over  90.  So  you 
will  believe  that  some  new  subscribers'  names  on 
your  list  was  a  pleasant  sight,  and  if  the  old  friends 
will  stand  firm,  we  shall  get  along  without  coming 
into  the  bankruptcy  court.  I  have  not  the  least  fear 


128  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

of  this,  for  if  it  be  of  God,  it  will  riot  fail,  and  if  it 
be  not  of  God,  I  hope  it  will  fail." 

"The  good  point  about  these  country  schools  is  that 
they  are  distinctly  4  Evangelistic '  in  character.  I 
have  examined  them  once  this  year,  and  find  that 
6  or  7  out  of  every  10  come  from  heathen  homes, 
utterly  heathen,  the  adult  members  of  the  house  never 
going  near  church  or  chapel.  The  children,  however, 
come,  and  every  day  read  our  Christian  books.  I 
examined  them  in  nothing  else,  and  I  am  sure  that 
what  they  learn  in  that  way,  and  learn  thoroughly, 
will  bring  forth  fruit  one  day.  But  it  is  bringing 
forth  fruit  already  here  and  there.  In  more  than  one 
place,  where  there  is  now  a  native  church,  a  few 
years  ago  there  was  only  one  of  these  schools,  and 
the  work  began  from  that,  so  that  friends  at  home 
who  are  making  it  possible  to  carry  on  these  little 
schools  are  as  really  *  Evangelizing  China  '  as  any  of 
us  out  here." 

The  following  is  a  translation  of  a  letter  written 
by  Li  Daih-ching,  who  is  the  teacher  at  the  school  at 
Dong-kio,  to  the  Rev.  T.  M'Clelland  :— 

"  Teacher  M'Clelland,  peace!  I  have  been  appointed 
to  Dong-kio.  I  have  myself  no  good  method  of  ac 
complishing  my  work,  and  hope  you  will  always  by 
prayer  help  me.  I  hope  God  will  give  me  His  Holy 
Spirit,  and  show  me  the  right  way  to  teach  my 
scholars,  that  they  may  know  God.  At  Dong-kio  at 
present  60  or  70  regularly  come  to  worship  on  Sun 
day.  Sometimes  many  more  come.  There  are  some 


NATIVE   BOYS   AND   GIRLS   AT   SCHOOL        129 

whose  faith  is  *  great,'  and  some  whose  faith  is 
'small.'  My  school  is  as  far  from  the  chapel  as  the 
Foochow  boys'  school  is  from  the  college.  More  I 
cannot  write.  Greeting  to  the  Teacher's  Lady." 

"  KUCHENG,  FOOCHOW,  January  23,  1895. 
"  DEAR  FRIENDS, — 

"  I  am  extremely  grateful  to  you  for  helping  us 
again  this  year,  by  providing  so  large  a  number  of 
Christian  Day  Schools  throughout  the  country. 

"  On  returning  to  China  after  my  furlough,  a  year 
ago,  I  found  I  had  been  appointed  to  take  charge  of 
the  two  inland  districts,  or,  as  we  would  call  them 
in  England,  <  counties,'  of  Kucheng  and  Ping-nang, 
covering  an  area  equal  to  about  half  the  size  of 
Wales. 

"At  our  first  native  Conference,  which  was  held 
the  beginning  of  February,  applications  came  in  from 
all  directions  for  these  Christian  Day  Schools.  Each 
application  gave  the  number  of  scholars  promising  to 
attend,  and  the  amount  of  money  they  would  sub 
scribe,  the  assistance  from  foreign  sources  being,  as 
you  know,  limited  to  £4  per  annum  for  everything 
connected  with  the  school. 

"  On  reckoning  up  the  number  applied  for,  and 
finding  that  it  meant  an  increase  of  28  over  the  pre 
vious  year,  I  hesitated,  wondering  if  funds  would 
come  in  sufficient,  but  the  hesitation  was  not  very 
long.  If  they  were  of  God,  He  would  send  the  funds  ; 
if  they  were  not,  then  we  would  take  that  as  a  sign. 

K 


130  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

We  prayed  about  it,  and  gave  consent.  Sufficient 
funds  have  come  in,  and  we  regard  it  as  a  proof  that 
they  have  God's  approval,  and  heartily  thank  those 
through  whom  He  has  sent  it. 

"  I  have  just  returned  from  a  long  school-inspecting 
tour  through  my  two  great  districts,  and  have  been 
surprised  at  the  improvement  everywhere  visible, 
over  the  last  time  I  went  round,  before  going  home 
to  England.  Not  only  were  the  Christian  books 
learned  thoroughly  by  heart,  so  that  again  and  again 
nine  children  out  of  ten  got  full  marks,  but  also,  what 
I  felt  still  more  glad  about,  there  was  a  clear  grasp 
of  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity  and  the  way 
of  salvation. 

"  Crowds  of  heathen  came  in  to  listen,  and  stood 
perfectly  still  for  sometimes  two  hours,  and  even  on 
to  three  hours,  while  I  catechised  the  children  on 
the  entrance  of  sin  into  the  world,  the  need  for  a 
Saviour,  His  love  and  death  for  us,  and  our  life  of 
service  for  Him  now.  This  is,  I  feel  sure,  the  most 
effective  kind  of  preaching  to  the  heathen,  and  would 
be  worth  all  the  trouble  and  expense,  even  if  it  were 
no  gain  at  all  to  the  children.  It  is  the  most  power 
ful  agency  for  evangelising  the  country  that  we  have. 

"  You  may  ask,  (  What  signs  are  there  of  this  ? '  I 
am  glad  to  say  there  are  many.  In  place  after  place, 
I  found  that  the  adults  joining  the  church  were  pre 
ceded  by  their  children  joining  the  school.  Out  of  the 
58  schools  in  my  districts,  31  are  in  places  where 
there  are  no  other  Christian  teachers,  and  in  a  good 


NATIVE   BOYS  AND   GIRLS  AT  SCHOOL       131 

number  of  these  I  found  great  interest  excited  in  the 
village,  and  a  small  congregation  on  Sunday  minis 
tered  to  by  the  schoolmaster  ;  indeed,  I  felt  that  the 
interest  circling  round  the  schools  was  as  great  as 
where  catechists  were  placed. 

"  The  individual  instances  of  adult  friends  being 
brought  in  by  the  children  were  very  encouraging, 
and  far  too  many  to  enter  here.  One  little  girl  was 
the  means  of  leading  seven  members  of  her  house  to 
worship ;  another  had  brought  in  her  father,  mother, 
and  grandfather,  etc.,  etc. 

"  One  of  our  C.E.Z.M.S.  sisters  tells  me  of  a  case 
she  came  on  in  the  western  part  of  this  district.  '  At 
the  beginning  of  1894,  there  was  a  Day  School  started 
at  Siong-ngiang,  and  one  of  the  first  scholars  was 
a  little  girl  called  Geng-sai.  She  eagerly  learned, 
going  home  and  telling  as  much  as  she  could  about 
the  Jesus  she  loved.  Her  home  people  seeing  how 
earnest  and  real  she  was,  began  to  think  it  would  be 
a  good  thing  for  them  if  they  went  to  church  ;  and 
so  began  to  go  and  worship  God,  and  hear  for  them 
selves.  Now  the  whole  household  worships  God,  and 
in  October  they  invited  the  catechist,  and  other  Chris 
tians,  to  come  to  their  house,  when  they  collected  all 
the  idols  together  and  burned  them  (seven  or  eight  in 
number),  putting  up  in  their  place  the  Ten  Command- 


"  The  same  lady   tells  of  another  place   where   a 
woman  specially  attracted  her  attention  by  her  know- 


132  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

ledge  of  the  true  God,  and  her  desire  to  know  more. 
This  was  through  "her  little  boy,  for  '  in  this  place 
there  is  no  one  to  teach  the  women,'  and  so  this 
woman  only  knows  what  the  little  boy  has  come  home 
and  told  her.  She  eagerly  learned  a  little  prayer  to 
repeat  every  day,  and  said  she  would  worship  God. 

"  So  far  I  have  only  spoken  of  my  own  two  districts 
in  the  centre  of 'the  Province,  but  your  schools  are 
scattered  over  a  still  wider  region.  From  the  far 
North-East,  in  the  Fuh-ning  Prefecture,  Mr.  Eyton 
Jones  writes,  (On  behalf  of  our  Fuh-ning  Church, 
I  must  send  through  you  to  the  friends  at  home  sin 
cere  thanks  for  your  assistance  in  starting  four  Day 
Schools.  The  school  at  Sing-sang  fishing  hamlet  has 
been  useful,  not  only  in  getting  a  few  little  ones  to 
gether,  but  for  the  strengthening  of  the  adults,  whom 
the  teacher  assembles  for  evening  prayers.  One  of 
the  little  lads  has  been  the  means  of  bringing  in  his 
father.' 

"  South  of  the  last-named  Prefecture  lie  the  districts 
of  Ning-taik  and  Lo-nguong,  and  scattered  through 
these  you  have  the  goodly  number  of  twenty-three 
schools.  Mr.  Martin,  the  missionary  in  charge, 
writes :  '  These  schools  have  given  us  more  satisfac 
tion  the  last  two  years ;  they  are  better  attended,  and 
in  some  villages  the  schoolmasters  teach  also  cate 
chumens  and  Christians,  and  in  all  the  villages  where 
we  have  schools  these  masters  preach  Jesus,  and  are 
lights  in  centres  of  gross  darkness.  I  have  had  ap 
plications  from  heathen  to  open  schools,  and  to  send 


NATIVE  BOYS  AND   GIRLS  AT  SCHOOL       133 

Christian  teachers,  the  reason  given  being,  in  your 
schools  you  teach  the  children  to  -speak  the  truth,  to 
obey  their  parents,  and  to  give  up  bad  habits ! ' 

"  South  of  Foochow  and  the  river  Min,  you  have, 
through  the  districts  of  Hok-chiang,  Hing-hwa,  and 
Sieng-iu,  over  thirty  schools.  The  missionaries  in 
charge  give  good  reports  of  them  all.  A  C.E.Z.  lady 
gives  interesting  particulars  of  those  round  her  station 
of  Dang-seng  :— 

"  '  Although  my  work  is  not  among  the  little  boys 
of  our  day  schools,  I  should  like  to  say  what  a  very 
great  help  these  schools  are  to  the  evangelistic  work 
carried  on  in  our  district. 

" '  I  am  stationed  at  Dang-seng,  and  within  about 
eight  miles  radius  we  have  had  ten  boys'  day  schools 
open  during  the  past  year.  The  attendance  varies  of 
course,  but  generally  we  have  twenty-five  children; 
in  our  largest  schools,  thirty-five  and  more. 

" '  In  visiting  a  village  I  generally  go  first  to  the 
school ;  after  a  little  talk  there,  we  go  outside  the 
building,  and  find  the  news  has  spread,  and  quite  a 
good  number  are  waiting  to  hear  the  Gospel  message. 
In  this  way  the  school  becomes  an  introduction  for  an 
open-air  meeting.  If  many  follow  me  into  the  build 
ing,  I  take  one  of  the  school-books,  and  question  the 
children  on  the  important  truths  of  our  religion—  the 
Creation,  the  work  of  our  Saviour,  His  blessed  coming 
again,  the  folly  of  idols,  and  so  on ;  watching  our 
hearers  to  see  what  they  can  understand,  and  explain 
ing  the  meaning  of  our  questions. 


134  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"  '  Then  again,  it  is  a  great  joy  to  me  to  see  progress 
in  the  teachers  themselves.  There  are  three  men  now 
teaching,  who  two  years  ago  were  dark  heathen ; 
they  attended  our  services,  learned  the  way  of  salva 
tion,  and  when  it  was  seen  the  work  was  real,  were 
put  into  their  posts.  In  some  cases,  particularly,  I 
can  see  how  they  ate  growing  in  the  knowledge  of 
our  Saviour.  Three  weeks  ago,  I  heard  one  of  these 
preach  at  Dang-seng,  on  Sunday  morning.  He  was 
very  nervous,  and  preached  a  short  sermon;  but  it 
was  earnest  and  thoughtful,  and  one  could  see  how  by 
constant  teaching  he  had  really  grasped  the  truths  he 
sought  to  teach  the  little  boys. 

"  '  Then  again,  a  fortnight  ago,  we  were  asking  who 
wished  to  be  prepared  for  baptism,  and  amongst 
others  was  one  of  our  former  scholars,  a  lad  of  sixteen 
or  seventeen  years.  He  used  to  come  to  our  little 
school  at  Dang-seng,  then  went  to  work  in  the  fields, 
but  came  to  evening  prayers  and  the  Sunday  ser 
vices  ;  now  we  find  him  wanting  to  take  a  stand  and 
publicly  confess  Christ  by  baptism. 

" ( Another  younger  lad,  also  a  former  scholar,  is 
asking  for  baptism  at  the  new  year.  The  seed  has 
been  sown  in  early  childhood,  and  being  the  good  seed 
of  the  Word  of  God,  it  will  certainly  spring  up,  and 
bring  forth  fruit. 

" '  In  four  of  our  village  schools,  there  is  a  regular 
Sunday  morning  service  at  which  Christian  men  and 
women,  from  that  and  neighbouring  villages,  gather 
to  worship  God.  One  must  not  limit  the  influence  of 


NATIVE  BOYS  AND   GIRLS  AT  SCHOOL        135 

these  schools ;  each  one  can  be,  and  by  the  power  of 
God  shall  I  believe  be,  a  light  in  a  dark  place,  and  the 
means  of  bringing  many  little  ones  to  the  feet  of  our 
Saviour. 

"  '  I  forgot  to  say  that,  during  the  past  year,  I  had  a 
weekly  Bible-class  with  the  teachers  of  our  schools. 
We  study  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  for  two  hours  each 
Wednesday.  I  gave  them  written  papers  to  take 
home  and  answer,  and  found  that  in  this  way  our 
lesson  was  well  remembered.' 

V'  Let  me  in  conclusion  repeat  the  three  fundamental 
rules  which  guide  us  :— 

"  (i)  The  scholars  must  all  read  daily  our  Christian 
books,  and  pass  examinations  in  them  several  times  in 
the  year. 

"  (2)  The  teachers  must  all  be  baptized  converts. 

"  (3)  The  amount  of  foreign  aid  towards  the  entire 
support  of  the  school,  renting  the  room,  books,  and 
furniture,  as  well  as  the  teacher's  salary,  must  not 
exceed  £4  per  annum. 

"  On  the  sum  you  put  into  my  hands  last  year,  we 
had  119  schools,  an  increase  of  more  than  30  on  the 
previous  year.  In  this  coming  year  I  hope  we  shall 
be  able  to  keep  up  at  least  as  many,  and  perhaps  add 
a  few. 

u  Let  me  beg  of  you  to  remember  these  little  schools 
in  your  prayers  as  often  as  you  can.  The  success  that 
has  so  far  attended  them  is,  I  firmly  believe,  due  more 
to  that  than  to  any  other  cause. 

"  Yours  very  sincerely, 

"ROBERT  W.  STEWART." 


136  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"Since  writing  the  above,  Mr.  Shaw,  who  is  in 
charge  of  Hing-hwa,  the  most  southerly  of  our  dis 
tricts,  writes :  '  I  wonder  if  you  could  let  us  open 
three  more  schools  down  here.  I  am  thankful  to 
say  there  are  wonderful  openings,  and  it  would  be 
such  a  blessing  if  we  could  get  these  schools.' ' 

"  To  this  I  have  at  once  replied,  (  Yes.' ' 

Mrs.  Stewart  wrote  to  the  lady  who  is  head  of  the 
Missionary  House  in  Dublin  for  the  Agents  of  the 
Irish  Church  Missions  arid  Dublin  Visiting  Mission  :— 

"I  hear  the  inhabitants  of  your  House  have  sub 
scribed  £4  for  one  of  our  day  schools  in  this  province. 
Will  you  please  convey  to  them  our  warmest  thanks  ? 
But  we  trust  that  something  far  better  than  thanks 
will  be  their  reward,  if  they  will  help  by  prayer  also- 
even  boys  and  girls  saved  from  the  power  of  sin  and 
Satan  to  be  their  crown  of  rejoicing  by-and-by. 

u  We  feel  more  and  more  convinced  since  our  return 
to  China  this  time  that  these  schools  are  perhaps  the 
best  means  of  (  evangelizing  '  the  country. 

UA  schoolmaster  in  China  is  always  acceptable; 
and  a  school  can  be  started  in  some  new  place  wher, 
a  catechist  would  not  be  allowed  to  enter,  and  a 
foreigner  would  not  be  listened  to. 

"  In  these  two  districts  there  are  now  fifty  day 
schools, — twice  as  many  as  last  year. 

"  We  felt  sure  when  these  new  schools  were  asked 
for,  that  it  must  be  the  Lord's  will  .  .  .  And 
though  we  had  not  got  the  needed  money,  Mr.  Stewart 


NATIVE   BOYS  AND   GIRLS  AT   SCHOOL       137 

gave  leave  to  open  them,  for  we  had  asked  the  Lord 
to  send  the  money.  .  .  . 

"  Your  House  will  now  be  the  means  of  supporting 
one  of  these  schools,  and  we  have  heard  of  several 
others  being  undertaken. 

"  Mr.  Stewart  was  much  pleased  with  the  way  the 
children  answered  the  last  time  he  examined  some  of 
the  schools.  They  are  scattered  over  a  wide  district. 
The  two  districts  of  Kucheng  and  Ping-nang  are 
larger  than  half  of  Wales,  with  a  greater  popula 
tion. 

"  You  can  imagine  the  difficulty  of  .superintending 
such  a  work,  with  no  railways,  or  even  carriages !  " 

And  now  the  schools  and  schoolmasters  have  lost 
their  superintendent.  God  has  another  way  for  him 
to  work  now. 

But  we  trust  that  the  little  schools  will  go  on.  The 
Chinese  schoolmasters  will  be  called  to  greater  earnest 
ness  and  diligence  through  the  trial  which  has  come 
to  them.  The  friends  who  have  prayed  for  the  chil 
dren,  and  given  the  necessary  £4  a  year  for  each 
school,  will  have  a  chastened  joy  now  in  seeing  to  it 
that  the  work  shall  not  be  left  to  languish  for  want  of 
supplies  from  the  home-land. 

If  God  has  touched  hearts  through  the  recital  of 
China's  needs,  let  us  be  practical.  When  God  so 
loved  the  world  He  proved  it  by  giving  His  only  Son. 

If  we  love  God,  and  love  to  spread  the  knowledge 
that  "  Jesus  saves,"  let  us  ask  ourselves — may  God 


138  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA   STEWART 

ask  us — if  we  are  letting  Him  use  us,  use  our  money, 
all  we  have  and  all  we  are,  just  as  He  pleases,  that 
God  in  all  things  may  be  glorified  through  Jesus 
Christ. 


CHAPTER  VI 
CHRIST  MAGNIFIED 


"According  to  my  earnest  expectation  and  my  hope,  that  .  .  . 
Christ  shall  be  magnified  in  my  body,  whether  it  be  by  life  or  by 
death."— PHIL.  i.  20. 


139 


CHAPTER    VI 

CHRIST  MAGNIFIED 
2  SAM.  xv.  19-22.     JOHN  xii.  26. 

"  Wherefore  goest  thou  with  Me  ?" 

Said  the  King  disowned — 
Said  the  King  despised,  rejected, 
Disenthroned. 

"  As  the  Lord  lives  and  the  King, 

Ever  Lord  to  me, 

Where  in  death  or  life  He  dwelleth 
I  will  be." 

"  Go— pass  over,"  spake  the  King  ; 

Then  passed  Ittai  o'er  ; 

Passed  into  the  place  of  exile 

From  the  shore. 

"  Go — pass  over"  ;  words  of  grace, 

Spoken,  Lord,  to  me, 
That,  in  death  or  life,  where  Thou  art 
I  might  be. 

Hidden  there  with  Christ  in  God, 

That  blest  life  I  share  : 
Christ  it  is  who  liveth  in  me — 
Liveth  there. 

"  He  who  serves  me,"  spake  His  lips, 

"  Let  him  follow  Me  ; 
And  where  I  am  shall  My  servant 
Ever  be." 


[42  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

Follow,  where  His  steps  lead  on, 

Through  the  golden  street  ; 
Far  into  the  depths  of  glory 
Track  His  feet. 

Till  unto  the  throne  of  God, 

Of  the  Lamb  I  come  ; 
There  to  share  the  blessed  welcome, 
Welcome  home  ! 

There  with  Him  whom  man  rejected, 

In  the  light  above, 

Those  whom  God,  His  Father,  honours, 
Such  His  love. 

P.  G.1 

T)HILIPPIANS  i.  20,  was  the  text  Louisa  Stewart 
wrote  in  a  copy  of  "  Daily  Light  "  given  by  her 
to  a  sister  before  her  first  journey  to  China,  in  1876. 
A  friend  writes : — 

"  When  I  first  read  the  telegram,  words  that  I  had 
heard  Mrs.  Stewart  say  at  a  meeting  came  rushing 
into  my  mind  with  such  force,  something  like  this, — 
( If  it  should  ever  be  that  we  meet  our  deaths  by 
violence,  let  no  one  think  that  God  has  in  any  way 
failed  us.  We  are  nowhere  promised  that  His  servants 
may  not  be  called  upon  to  suffer,  even  to  die  for  His 
sake,  who  died  for  us. 

"  What  we  are  promised  is  that,  living  or  dying,  we 
cannot  be  separated  from  Him;  and  that  under  all 
circumstances  He  will  be  sufficient." 

Yes,  that  was  indeed  the  deep  undertone  of  both 
their  lives — living  or  dying,  they  were  the  Lord's. 

"  The  sting  of  death  is  sin."     And  our  Saviour  Jesus 

1  In  "Hymns  of  Tersteegen  and  Others,"  by  Frances  Bevan. 


CHRIST   MAGNIFIED  143 

Christ  "  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself." 
He  has  "  abolished  death,  and  brought  life  and  immor 
tality  to  light  through  the  Gospel." 

An  old  friend  writes,  one  who  knew  Louisa  Stewart 
from  her  early  childhood  :— 

"  I  well  remember  dear  Louisa's  remark  to  me  when 
I  regretfully  bid  her  farewell  before  her  marriage,  as 
I  was  leaving  home. 

"  She  said  she  had  some  time  before  given  herself  to 
God,  that  He  might  use  her  in  whatever  way  or  place 
He  pleased.  Therefore  she  felt  sure  His  Hand  was 
guiding  her,  and  her  sole  desire  was  that  His  Will 
should  be  done  in  and  by  her,  and  that  Christ  should 
be  magnified  in  her  body,  whether  by  life  or  death. 

"  Her  beautiful  simplicity  of  character,  her  self- 
forgetfulness  and  unobtrusiveness  were  remarkable, 
even  in  early  years. 

"  Many  took  notice  of  the  extreme  simplicity  and 
earnestness  with  which  she  spoke  at  the  enormous 
meeting  at  the  Pavilion,  Brighton,  four  years  ago, 
when  Mrs.  Ahok  was  with  her. 

"  The  interpretation  was  so  clearly  spoken,  and  in 
her  usual  quiet  voice,  yet  she  was  heard  at  the  farthest 
end.  Many  remarked  afterwards  with  what  ease  she 
interpreted  each  sentence  as  Mrs.  Ahok  spoke.  She  is 
still  remembered  in  Brighton. 

"One  loves  to  think  of  her,  and  to  praise  God  for 
what  He  accomplished  through  her,  weak  in  herself, 
yet  strong  in  the  LORD" 

I  hesitated  as  to  reprinting  some  of  the  loving  words 
knowing  how  they  both  shrank  from  being  praised. 


144  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

One  of  the  children  said,  when  shown  a  letter  in 
which  his  father  was  highly  spoken  of,  "  Father  never 
liked  to  be  praised  "  ;  and  this  was  equally  true  of  his 
wife.  They  had  been  baptized  into  the  same  Spirit— 
the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ.  Wherever  we  find  His 
spirit,  in  man,  woman,  or  child,  it  is  ever  humble  and 
teachable— the  spirit  of  the  little  child. 

A  story  is  told  of  the  early  English  Church,  when 
first  the  Bishop  of  Rome  sent  a  legate  to  this  country. 
Those  who  had  been  appointed  as  the  deputation  to 
receive  him  went  to  seek  advice  of  a  "  saint,"  who 
lived  apart  with  God. 

"  How  shall  we  know,"  they  questioned,  "  if  he  is  a 
true  servant  of  God,  and  sent  by  Him  ?  " 

The  saint  answered  :  "  My  children,  if  you  find  him 
humble,  meek  and  lowly,  like  Jesus  Christ,  then  know 
that  he  has  indeed  come  among  us  a  true  messenger 
from  God. 

"  But  if  you  find  him  proud  and  self-conceited,  if 
he  proudly  keeps  his  seat,  and  does  not  rise  to  his  feet 
to  receive  you,  then  know  that  he  is  no  true  servant  of 
God.  For  '  The  proud  He  knoweth  afar  off.'  " 

If  the  Chinese  had  known  of  this  simple  test,  I  think 
they  would  have  judged  that  Robert  and  Louisa 
Stewart  were  true  followers  of  Jesus  Christ.  Not  their 
own  humility,  but  that  of  the  Christ  who  lived  in  them. 
They  had  both  learned  that  simple  yet  deep  theology- 
revealed  by  God  Himself  to  the  babes  ;  hidden  (solemn 
word !)  by  God  the  Father  from  the  wise  and  prudent- 
contained  in  the  Apostle  Paul's  simple  testimony,  "  Not 
I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me." 


CHRIST    MAGNIFIED  145 

Not  only — though  that  they  also  said — "  I  laboured 
.  .  .  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  God  was  with  me," 
but,  in  true  humility,  ascribing  the  very  life  to  Him, 
so  that  in  all  things,  great  and  small,  it  is  "Not 'I, 
but  Christ"  Simple  creed,  contained  in  four  words  ! 
Beautiful  life,  dependent  on  the  "  root  and  fatness  "  of 
the  tree ;  for  if  the  root  be  holy,  so  are  the  branches ! 

"  I  am  the  Vine,  ye  are  the  branches,"  said  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

u  Abide  in  Me,  and  I  in  you." 

Oh,  wonderful  love,  that  cannot  be  satisfied  until 
those  who  once  were  lost  in  sin  are  not  only  made 
nigh  through  the  blood  of  Christ,  but  brought  into 
such  union  that  they  share  His  very  Life. 

Only  one  Life,  and  that  Christ's  Life. 

"  I  no  longer  live,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me  "  (Gal.  ii. 
20,  R.V.,  margin). 

Dr.  Van  Someren  Taylor's  account  of  Robert  and 
Louisa  Stewart,  published  in  The  Life  of  Faith ;  and  in 
the  same  paper  (a  week  later) :  "  Some  Recollections  of 
Mrs.  Stewart,"  we  feel  ought  to  be  preserved.  Dr. 
Taylor  was  an  intimate  friend,  and  he  and  Mrs.  Taylor 
were  fellow-labourers  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart. 

ROBERT  WARREN  STEWART  AND  LOUISA  STEWART. 

To  the  readers  of  The  Life  of  Faith,  the  names  of 
Robert  and  Louisa  Stewart  must  be  well  known,  and 
now  that  God  has  called  them  home  to  Himself,  and 
their  names  are  added  to  u  the  noble  army  of  martyrs," 
a  few  lines  from  one  who  knew  them  so  well  may  be 
welcome.  L 


146  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

To  some  it  is  given  to  follow  Christ  through  the 
quiet  pasture-field,  where  all  is  smooth  and  pleasant. 
To  others  it  is  given  to  follow  the  path  which  lies  over 
the  rugged  rock,  covered  with  briars  and  brambles :  it 
was  to  such  a  life  God  called  those  who  have  laid 
down  their  lives  for  Him. 

As  an  honour  man  of  T.C.D.,  Robert  Stewart  had 
every  prospect  of  making  a  name  and  position  in  the 
world.  But  this,  together  with  a  luxurious  home,  he 
gave  up  to  become  a  poor  missionary. 

I  remember  he  told  me  that  a  Chinaman  once  said 
to  him,  "  I  know  why  you  have  become  a  missionary/' 
"  Why  ?  "  asked  Stewart.  The  Chinaman's  reply  was 
significant.  Forming  one  hand  into  the  shape  of  a 
bowl  of  rice,  with  the  other  he  worked  as  if  he  were 
holding  chop-sticks  and  cramming  rice  into  his  mouth, 
meaning  thereby,  "  To  obtain  food  to  eat."  How  well 
do  I  remember  Stewart's  comment  to  me  on  it ;  it  was, 
"  He  little  knew."  Years  afterwards,  as  I  saw  him  at 
his  father's  beautiful  house  in  Ireland,  I  well  under 
stood  what,  from  an  earthly  point  of  view,  it  must 
have  cost  Stewart  to  go  to  a  foreign  field  ;  but  never 
did  I  hear  him  speak  of  "giving  up"  or  "hardship." 
To  him  a  missionary's  calling  was  the  noblest  calling 
on  earth,  and  he  regarded  it  as  a  privilege  and  an 
honour  to  be  engaged  in  it. 

Soon  after  he  arrived  in  China  he  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  educational  work  of  the  Mission,  and 
it  was  as  an  educational  missionary  I  knew  him. 
Through  his  efforts  funds  were  raised  for  a  college 
(which  was  afterwards  burnt  by  a  Chinese  mob),  and 


CHRIST   MAGNIFIED  147 

his  whole  time  was  given  up  to  his  students  and 
scholars. 

It  was  his  wish  that  they  should  find  in  him  their 
friend.  He  was  no  distant  head,  a  great  personage  far 
above  them.  No ;  as  their  equal  he  strove  to  know 
each  one  personally  and  individually.  He  endeavoured 
to  find  out  what  was  the  real  spiritual  life  of  each  one 
—what  really  was  their  aim  in  becoming  theological 
students.  Was  it  really  love  to  Christ  and  to  their 
fellow-countrymen ;  or  was  it  merely  to  get  so  many 
dollars  out  of  the  Church  ?  When  he  felt  a  man  was 
not  fitted  for  the  work  he  did  not  hesitate  to  say  so, 
though  by  so  doing  he  knew  he  was  drawing  down 
upon  himself  odium  from  others.  How  often  have 
I  heard  him  say,  "  One  bad  man  may  do  an  amount  of 
harm  that  three  good  ones  cannot  counteract."  He 
was  most  anxious  that  only  fit  and  proper  men  should 
go  out  as  Christian  workers  amongst  their  country 
men.  On  him  the  glory  of  large  numbers  had  no 
power.  "  Better  no  men  than  bad  men,"  "  Better  a 
few  good  true  men  than  many  bad,"  was  always 
before  him. 

Another  thing  that  was  characteristic  of  him  was, 
that  he  was  always  ready  to  listen  to  the  Chinaman, 
whether  he  were  a  student  or  a  poor  village  Christian. 
No  matter  what  he  was  doing,  no  matter  how  tired  he 
was,  he  would  lay  down  his  pen  or  book,  invite  his 
guest  to  be  seated,  and  give  himself  up  to  him.  No 
wonder  that  by  so  doing  he  won  his  way  to  many 
a  heart,  and  got  to  know  the  Chinese  character  well. 
And  know  it  well  he  did ;  and  this  the  Chinamen 


148  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

knew  too.  They  were  perfectly  aware  that  he  was 
not  a  man  to  be  deceived. 

Another  point  about  him  was  the  great  sacredness 
with  which  he  regarded  foreign  money.  He  knew 
with  what  self-denial  such  money  was  given  at  home, 
and  therefore  he  was  most  careful  in  the  expenditure 
of  foreign  funds ;  and  the  more  so  because  he  felt  that, 
if  a  true  native  church  was  to  be  founded,  it  was  not  to 
be  founded  on  foreign  money.  He  was  all  the  more  care 
ful  of  this  lest  men  should  be  led  to  offer  for  Christian 
work  with  the  hope  of  getting  money  from  the  foreigner. 

He  realized  most  fully  that,  as  a  Christian  mission 
ary,  his  life  as  well  as  his  mouth  must  speak  ;  that 
what  he  had  to  say  to  others  was  "  Come,"  not  "  Go." 
He  never  instructed  a  Chinaman  to  do  what  he  was 
not  prepared  to  do  himself;  and  I  know  that  one 
reason  why  he  stuck  to  his  post  to  the  last  was,  that 
he  might  by  his  presence  and  example  cheer  and  sup 
port  the  Christians  in  their  hour  of  persecution,  and 
be  found  standing  at  their  side  ready  to  bear  with 
them  whatever  might  befall ;  and  "  he  has  laid  down 
his  life  for  his  sheep." 

How  well  do  I  remember  how  his  heart's  wish  was 
"to  be  used  of  God."  How  he  used  to  end  up  the  grace 
before  his  meals  (which  grace  was  no  mere  form,  but 
a  real  prayer)  with  these  words,  "  And  use  us."  To 
be  a  "  vessel  fit  for  his  Master's  use  "  was  his  longing. 

Any  one  who  came  in  contact  with  Robert  Stewart 
will  have  experienced  that  strong  personal  power 
that  he  had  over  others — a  power  that  arose  from  his 
strong  yet  humble  character.  One  was  conscious  that 


CHRIST   MAGNIFIED  149 

he  was  side  by  side  with  a  man  wholly  given  up  to 
God ;  and  as  he  grew  in  years  he  grew  in  grace,  and 
in  greater  likeness  to  Jesus  Christ. 

By  many  a  chastisement  from  a  Father's  loving 
hand,  by  the  bitter  fire  of  affliction — how  bitter  some 
who  knew  him  intimately  were  aware — he  was  purified. 
And  now  that  Master,  whom  he  loved  so  much  and 
longed  so  much  to  see,  has  taken  him  home  to  Himself. 
He  has  given  him  what  he  longed  for,  a  martyr's  crown. 

SOME   RECOLLECTIONS   OF   MRS.  STEWART. 

Though  almost  seventeen  years  have  elapsed  since 
first  I  met  Mrs.  Stewart,  it  seems  but  as  yesterday. 
It  was  late  at  night.  Following  Mr.  Stewart,  I  had 
walked  from  the  Foreign  Settlement  into  the  city  of 
Foochow.  All  was  new  to  me.  I  was  tired,  and  won 
dering  wherever  I  was  being  taken  to  All  I  could 
do  was  to  follow  the  form  of  Stewart  in  front  of  me. 

Suddenly  he  stopped  and  knocked ;  quickly  the  door 
was  opened.  The  darkness  was  broken  by  a  flood  of 
light,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  light,  surrounded  by  the 
doorway  as  a  frame,  stood  Mrs.  Stewart,  her  baby  on 
her  arm,  holding  out  her  hand  to  welcome  us,  her 
face  beaming  with  kindness. 

Though  we  were  perfect  strangers,  she  took  us  to 
her  home  and  to  her  heart,  ever  binding  us  to  her  and 
to  her  husband  by  ties  of  kindness  upon  kindness. 
We  were  always  welcome,  never  in  the  way.  To  us 
always  her  house  was  our  home  when  in  Foochow, 
and  it  always  had  a  home-like  feel  about  it. 

All  her  life  she  had  been  subject  to  fearful  head- 


150  ROBERT  AND  LOUISA    STEWART 

aches,  which  might  have  debarred  her  from  taking 
up  mission  work  in  an  energetic  manner ;  but  it  by  no 
means  did  so.  She  threw  all  her  energy  into  acquiring 
the  language  and  spoke  it  beautifully,  like  a  native. 

Her  first  object  was  to  gather  around  her  a  few 
native  women,  whom  she  might  teach  to  be  teachers 
of  their  fellow-countrywomen,  teaching  them  to  read 
and  understand  their  Bibles  But  Mrs.  Stewart  by  no 
means  confined  her  attention  to  those  who  were  to  be 
paid  teachers.  She  welcomed  any  women  who  were 
willing  to  come  (provided  she  was  satisfied  that  they 
were  fit  for  admission),  and  taught  them,  though  in 
all  probability  they  would  simply  return  to  their  own 
homes,  there  to  be  unpaid  centres  of  light.  She  began 
with  three,  though  the  number  afterwards  increased. 

It  has  been  my  wife's  privilege  to  have  had  asso 
ciated  with  her  one  of  these  women,  and  we  can 
testify  to  the  thoroughness  of  her  training.  How 
often  has  she  told  us,  "  Mrs.  Stewart  said  so-and-so." 

How  well  can  I  recall  Mrs.  Stewart's  patience,  for 
bearance,  and  tact  with  these  women !  How  patiently 
she  would  sit  down  and  listen  to  their  little  grievances, 
sympathizing  with  them,  or  kindly  rebuking  where 
necessary !  Calmly  and  quietly,  never  losing  her 
temper,  she  would  talk  with  the  distressed  till  their 
angry  or  ruffled  look  would  vanish,  and  they  would 
go  away  comforted  and  quieted. 

This  women's  work  always  was  regarded  as  Mrs. 
Stewart's  special  work.  The  funds  for  it  came 
chiefly,  if  not  almost  entirely,  from  her  friends,  and 
through  her  letters  home. 


CHRIST    MAGNIFIED  15! 

A  Bible-women's  house  was  erected,  and  the  num 
ber  of  Bible- women  greatly  increased.  Other  ladies 
were  sent  out  from  England,  and  now  at  Foochow, 
Kucheng,  Hing-hwa,  Sieng-iu,  Lo-nguong,  we  have 
Bible-women's  Training  Homes,  sending  out  Bible- 
women  into  the  surrounding  districts.  They  are 
worked  by  foreign  ladies  of  the  C.E.Z.M.S  and  C.M.S. 

Mrs.  Stewart  fully  realized  that  in  training  these 
Bible-women  one  great  obstacle  was  the  Chinese 
written  character.  It  was  a  great  task  for  these 
poor,  uneducated  women  to  be  taught  to  learn  off 
page  after  page  of  Chinese  characters,  which  on  their 
return  home  they  might  possibly  forget.  She  there 
fore  adopted  the  plan  of  teaching  them  the  system 
of  "  Romanized  Colloquial,"  in  which  Roman  letters 
are  used  to  represent  the  Chinese  sounds.  And  not 
merely  was  this  found  useful  for  teaching  them  to 
read,  but  also  to  write ;  so  that  when  the  women 
had  been  trained  they  might  themselves  be  able  to 
correspond  with  Mrs.  Stewart. 

And  now  we  have  (thanks  to  the  kind  help  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society)  the  whole  of  the 
New  Testament  in  Romanized  Colloquial ;  and  I  know 
much  of  the  work  of  seeing  it  through  the  press  in 
England  fell  on  Mrs.  Stewart. 

Those  who  knew  her  knew  how  she  had  always 
something  on  hand  to  extend  work  amongst  the 
women.  Her  aim  was,  as  she  once  wrote  to  me,  and 
often  said,  "  We  must  not  rest  satisfied  till  every 
village  in  China  has  a  Bible-woman  in  it." 

Energetic  as  she  was  as  a  Christian  worker,  she 


152  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

never  forgot  she  was  a  wife,  a  mother,  a  hostess. 
Always  at  the  side  of  her  husband,  she  helped  him  in 
everything.  She  used  often  to  write  letters,  and,  I  think, 
sermons,  at  his  dictation ;  and  many  a  weary  hour 
she  saved  her  husband  by  answering  letters  for  him. 

How  vividly  one  can  recall  that  fond,  proud  look 
with  which  she  regarded  him ;  and  how  she  under 
stood  his  every  look !  How  her  own  face  would 
cloud  when  she  saw  him  perplexed!  And  as  a 
mother  how  tenderly  she  looked  after  her  little  ones, 
nursing  them  through  more  than  one  serious  illness ! 
With  what  pride  she  spoke  of  her  sons  at  home !  And 
as  a  hostess,  too,  she  was  most  kind,  always  looking 
after  every  little  comfort  for  those  who  were  her  guests. 

I  cannot  finish  this  short  sketch  without  emphasiz 
ing  how  real  was  the  coming  of  Christ  to  her,  and 
that  He  was  to  come  soon.  It  seemed  always  in  her 
thoughts,  her  calculations — "  He  is  coming  very  soon." 
Whilst  it  stimulated  her  to  greater  energy,  it  yet 
caused  a  peaceful  calm,  a  freedom  from  anxiety,  to 
run  through  all.  Like  a  true  hero,  she  has  fallen  at 
her  post,  and  the  call  comes  to  us  all  to  carry  on  the 
work  that  she  has  left.  May  each  one  put  to  herself 
the  question,  "  Does  God  call  me  ?  " 

B.  VAN  SOMEREN  TAYLOR,  M.B 


One  subject  touched  upon  by  Dr.  Taylor,  and  more 
fully  brought  out  in  the  following  letters  from  Dr. 
Wright  (of  the  Bible  Society),  and  Mr.  Stewart's 
letter  addressed  to  him,  is  the  new  method  of  printing 


CHRIST   MAGNIFIED  153 

the  Bible  in  Chinese,  called  the  "  Romanized  "  version 
of  the  Bible. 

Perhaps  I  shall  be  only  explaining  what  everybody 
knows,  in  saying  that  the  great  difficulty  in  the  way 
of  the  Chinese  people  learning  to  read  their  own 
language  is  the  Chinese  character. 

To  those  who  do  not  already  know,  let  me  say,  a 
character  in  Chinese  does  not  mean  a  letter,  but  each 
character  stands  for  a  word. 

Originally  these  characters  were  pictures,  and  some 
of  them  were  amusing. 

I  remember  being  told  that  the  Chinese  way  of 
representing  "  peace,"  is  by  a  picture  of  a  woman 
being  extinguished  ! 

But  these  pictures,  amusing  or  instructive  as  the 
case  may  have  been,  are  now  mere  signs,  so  like  each 
other,  and  yet  different  in  some  small  particular,  that 
it  is  very  difficult  to  carry  the  difference  in  the 
memory.  Yet  each  one  represents  a  different  word, 
so  that  to  read  a  book,  the  Bible  for  example,  in 
Chinese,  means  that  you  know  every  character  used 
in  the  book.  Of  course,  the  same  word  recurring, 
you  have  the  same  sign,  but  for  each  different  word 
there  is  a  different  sign. 

Now  let  us  fancy  these  women,  who,  before  com 
ing  to  the  foreign  Singsang  long  (Singsang  means 
teacher,  long  his  wife),  had  never  learnt  anything 
but  to  beautify  their  persons  and  embroider  their  tiny 
shoes.  Imagine  them  having  to  learn  these  mysterious 
signs  !  No  wonder  their  teachers  had  to  tell  of  sighs 
and  tears  of  discouragement. 


154  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

A  friend  has  sent  me  an  old  letter,  written  by  dear 
Louisa  soon  after  her  arrival  in  China  : 

"Mr.  -  -  is  getting  on  so  fast  learning  the  char 
acters  ;  he  has  such  a  good  memory. 

"Learning  the  characters  seems  to  depend  purely 
on  memory,  Even  the  characters  that  I  think  I  know 
as  well  as  possible  I  quite  forget,  unless  I  keep  going 
over  them  continually.  It  is  very  monotonous  work 
too,  and  it  is  hard  sometimes  not  to  feel  quite  tired  of 
it.  The  servants  begin  to  understand  me,  but  some 
times  the  man-cook  looks  surprised  and  amused,  and 
then  I  discover  that  I  have  been  telling  him  to  put 
carrots  in  the  pudding  when  I  thought  I  was  saying 
raisins.  And  another  day,  I  thought  I  was  assuring 
him  that  in  England  we  put  sugar  in  our  puddings, 
and  found  out  I  had  said  soap  instead  of  sugar.  The 
word  is  the  same ;  the  tone  you  say  it  in  makes  the 
difference.  Every  syllable  has  seven  tones." 

This  letter  was  written  eighteen  years  ago. 

But  the  tones  were  a  difficulty  to  bj  overcome  by 
the  foreigner. 

The  characters  were  a  real  difficulty  to  their  dear 
native  pupils. 

The  following  letters  will  further  explain  the  im 
portance  of  the  introduction  of  the  Romanized  system 
of  writing  Chinese. 

As  Dr.  Wright  says  : — 

''Through  Mr.  Stewart's  labours  and  enthusiasm 
the  New  Testament  was  published  in  Roman  char 
acter  in  the  Foochow  vernacular." 

The  practical  difference  is  that  now  their  pupils  (men 


CHRIST   MAGNIFIED  155 

or  women)  learn  to  read  the  New  Testament  in  three 
months,  instead  of  the  tedious  business  of  former  days. 
We  have  received  the  following  correspondence  from 
the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society : 

To  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  DAILY  NEWS. 

146,  Queen  Victoria  Street,  London,  E.G., 

SIR,—  August  6,  1895. 

The  first  letter  I  opened  this  morning  was  from 
the  murdered  missionary,  the  Rev.  R.  W.  Stewart, 
and  as  it  shows  him  peacefully  at  work  for  the  good 
of  his  murderers,  it  will  be  read  with  deep  interest 
by  many.  Through  Mr.  Stewart's  labours  and  enthu 
siasm  the  New  Testament  was  published  in  Roman 
character  in  the  Foochow  vernacular.  The  version 
was  to  a  certain  extent  tentative,  but  its  usefulness  is 
now  fully  established,  and  Mr.  Stewart  in  his  letter 
pleads  for  the  publication  of  a  similar  version  in 
another  vernacular.  Your  readers  will  notice  how 
earnestly  he  pleads — and  I  am  sure  that  my  Com 
mittee  will  publish  the  version  as  the  most  effective 
weapon  against  such  awful  outbreaks  as  that  which 
has  now  brought  sorrow  to  so  many  homes.  Mr. 
Stewart  was  one  of  the  strong  men  in  China,  but  he 
was  gentle  and  compassionate  as  well  as  strong. 
He  was  surrounded  by  a  band  of  gentle  and  devoted 
ladies.  On  them  the  blow  has  fallen.  It  will  be  the 
duty  of  our  Government  to  take  measures  against 
such  barbarous  outbreaks, — but  it  is  for  us  to  remem 
ber  that  these  misguided  Chinamen  never  knew  a  God 
who  was  not  as  cru^l  as  themselves,  and  to  redouble 


156  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

our  efforts  that  the  Gospel  of  Love  may  be  made  a 
power  among  them. 

I  am,  Sir,  yours  faithfully, 

W.  WRIGHT,  D.D. 

KUCHENG,  FOOCHOW,  June  24,  1895. 
MY  DEAR  DR.  WRIGHT, — 

You  are  exceedingly  kind  offering  to  print  more 
for  us  in  Foochovv.  Romanized  Colloquial  has  not 
been  acknowledged  sooner  because  I  was  waiting  for 
particulars  to  enable  me  to  make  another  request  on 
behalf  of  another  of  our  dialects,  that  spoken  through 
a  large  portion  of  the  great  North  West  Prefecture  of 
Kiong-ning.  But,  before  making  my  petition,  I  must 
say  a  word  on  the  success  of  the  system  in  this  dialect. 
I  always  believed  in  it,  and  sixteen  years  ago  stood 
pretty  well  alone  in  the  matter,  and  yet  I  can  truly 
say  that  the  success  that  we  are  now  seeing  surpasses 
my  expectations.  The  enclosed  memo,  has  this  mo 
ment  been  handed  to  me  by  a  Z.M.S.  lady,  who  has 
just  come  in  from  the  country  station  of  Sa-long,  and 
as  I  myself  examined  that  very  class  a  month  ago,  I 
can  corroborate  what  she  says.  My  wife  yesterday 
had  in  her  Sunday  class  one  of  these  women,  naturally 
distinctly  stupid,  who  for  three  months  had,  with  the 
others,  learned  this  system.  My  wife  had  not  seen  her 
for  three  or  four  months  ;  she  then  could  not  read 
a  word  of  her  Bible,  but  now  she  held  aloft  one  of 
your  New  Testaments,  and  cried,  "  I  can  read  it  all.  1 
can  read  it  all.  I  am  so  happy."  You  have  been  out 
here  yourself,  and  know  something  of  the  difficulty  of 
the  Chinese  characters,  and  so  can  understand  what 


157 


CHRIST   MAGNIFIED  159 

a  wonderful  thing  this  is.  I  know  it  has  cost  your 
Society  a  great  deal  of  money,  but  I  truly  believe  it  is 
well  spent.  Well,  now,  instead  of  printing  more  just 
now  in  our  Foochow  dialect — for  we  have  a  good 
quantity  still  in  stock — I  want  to  beg  on  behalf  of 
Kiong-ning.  They  are  even  worse  off  than  we  were, 
for  they  have  no  colloquial  character,  and  the  Z.M.S. 
five  ladies  now  in  the  district  have,  in  consultation 
with  our  C.M.S.  men,  drawn  up  a  system,  as  near  as 
the  dialect  will  allow,  to  that  adopted  by  us.  They 
(two  of  them)  have  also  given  the  last  twelve  months 
up  to  translating  the  New  Testament  into  tHs  Roman 
ized  Colloquial.  This  means  tremendous  '.abour,  for 
they  had  not,  as  we  had,  a  character  colloquial  for 
guide.  They  have  spared  no  pains,  keeping  a  special 
Chinese  teacher  for  the  purpose,  and  testing  his  collo 
quial  by  trying  it  with  the  native  women.  Fortun 
ately  too,  one  of  these  ladies,  Miss  Bryer,  is  peculiarly 
gifted  in  language,  and  speaks  herself  peculiarly  well, 
so  that  I  think  you  may  without  fear  accept  what  she 
has  done.  The  manuscript  is  now  almost  completed, 
and  Miss  B.  Newcombe,  of  the  C.E.Z.M.S.,  who  has  just 
returned  Home,  could  give  you  further  particulars, 
and  could  well  be  trusted  to  revise  the  proof.  I  have 
to  ask  you  then  if  you  will  comply  with  their  urgent 
request.  I  trust  you  will  say  "  Yes."  They  have  had 
a  sale  of  work  for  the  purpose,  which  realized  some 
thing  over  300  dols.,  and  this  will  go  to  you  with  some 
other  little  money  given  themselves.  I  know  of 
course  this  will  go  but  a  very  short  way  in  such  an 
undertaking,  but  it  may  perhaps  do  something  to- 


l6o  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

wards  proving  the  reality  of  their  belief  in  its  being  a 
good  work.  The  number  of  copies  wanted  bound  at 
once  would  not  be  large,  for  the  ladies  themselves  must 
do  all  the  teaching.  I  think  these  numbers  would  be 
about  right:  St.  John's  Gospel,  200  copies;  four 
Gospels  and  Acts  together,  fifty  copies;  entire  New 
Testaments,  TOO  copies,  and  perhaps  about  the  same 
numbers  printed  but  not  bound.  Perhaps  you  might 
think  these  latter  numbers  too  small.  It  is  hard  to 
prophesy  what  the  demand  will  actually  be ;  it  may 
catch  hold  of  the  people,  and  such  a  number  as  I  have 
given  be  fa  a  couple  of  years  exhausted.  Miss  B. 
Newcombe's  address  is  12,  Peafield  Terrace,  Black- 
rock,  Dublin.  Thanking  you  again  with  all  my  heart 
for  what  you  have  done  for  us, 

Believe  me,  very  sincerely  yours, 

ROBERT  W.  STEWART. 

The  Fuh-kien  Province  is  as  large  as  England  (not 
including  Wales),  and  far  more  populous. 

We  have  told  of  native  Bible-women  and  catechists, 
of  English  ladies  and  missionaries,  of  schools  for  chil 
dren  ;  but  what  are  they  among  so  many  ? 

From  Dublin  a  friend  writes  on  behalf  of  the 
friends  of  the  Irish  Church  Missions,  the  Society  in 
connection  with  which  Mrs.  Stewart  worked  in  her 
youth,  and  received  the  training  and  teaching  for 
which  her  husband  often  said  he  felt  most  grateful. 

The  Mission  workers  and  friends  had  subscribed  a 
considerable  sum  and  wished  to  have  a  memorial  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart.  They  proposed  that  the  money 


CHRIST  MAGNIFIED  l6l 

should  be  given  to  the  Bible  Society,  for  printing  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John  in  the  Roman  letters.  They  knew 
this  was  very  near  the  hearts  of  the  friends  whose 
work  they  wished  to  help  forward. 

They  communicated  with  the  Society,  and  got  for 
answer  that  they  would  go  forward  in  the  good  work 
of  printing  the  New  Testament  in  the  Kiong-ning 
dialect,  without  waiting  for  funds. 

The  Dublin  Mission  friends  hope  to  send  sufficient 
money  for  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  The  friend  who 
writes  on  bahalf  of  the  others  says :  "  For  myself  I 
should  love  to  think  that  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  was 
being  scattered  on  the  hills  where  little  Herbert 
picked  his  birthday  flowers." 

A  letter  comes  to  hand  to-day  where  the  writer  says, 
u  When  I  close  my  eyes,  I  can  see  Mr.  Stewart  giving 
his  interesting  descriptions,  so  earnestly  and  quietly. 

"  I  heard  him  ten  years  ago,  but  I  shall  never  forget 
that  meeting. 

"  I  took  some  notes.  Here  is  one  thing  he  said  ;  '  If 
the  Chinese  held  hands,  they  would  make  seven  circles 
round  the  earth  as  great  as  the  equator.' 

"  Again,  '  If  they  began  to  pass  a  certain  point  two 
abreast,  it  would  take  seventeen  and  a  half  years  for 
them  all  to  pass.' ' 

Mr.  Stewart  believed  in  the  necessity  of  the  mis 
sionary  being  filled  with  God's  Holy  Spirit. 

He  did  not  lightly  despise  heathenism  as  powerless, 
or  idol  worship  as  a  mere  adoring  of  stocks  and  stones. 

Through  personal  observation  and  matured  thought, 

u 


1 62  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

he  believed  the  Chinese  worshipped  devils,  and  he 
knew  that  when  the  strong  man  armed  keeps  his 
house  no  one  but  the  stronger  than  he,  the  Almighty 
One,  can  cast  him  out. 

"  It  was  for  this  that  Jesus  died 
On  the  Cross  of  Calvary." 

"He  was  manifested  to  destroy  the  works  of  the 
devil." 

His  way  of  accomplishing  this  design  is  through 
His  own  people. 

When  the  disciples  asked,  "  Lord,  wilt  Thou  at  this 
time  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel?"  His  answer 
seems  to  me  to  be  as  if  He  said,  "  I  have  finished  My 
part.  The  victory  I  have  gained  must  be  manifested 
through  you — through  you,  when  you  are  filled  with 
the  Spirit.  You  shall  receive  power." 

May  God  raise  up  a  band  of  God-possessed  men 
and  women  to  preach  the  good  tidings — to  live  the 
Christ-life  in  China. 

A  standard  bearer  has  fallen;  who  will  take  up  the 
colours  and  carry  them  on  to  victory  ? 

Robert  Stewart  speaks  to  us  from  the  glory,  "  Fill 
up  the  ranks." 

Louisa  Stewart's  life  says  to  us,  "  Live  Christ,  and 
others  must  be  blessed."  The  Chinese  Christians 
from  Kucheng  call  to  us : 

u  Send  us  teachers.  We  have  lost  our  spiritual 
father  and'  mother." 

And  God  says,  "Whom  shall  We  send,  and  who  will 
go  for  Us?" 

Who  will  say,  "  Here  am  I,  send  me,  send  me  "  ? 


CHAPTER    VII 

"  POSSESSSONS" 


'63 


CHAPTER   VII 

"POSSESSIONS"  : 

I  cannot  see,  with  my  small  human  sight, 
Why  God  should  lead  this  way  or  that  for  me  ; 
I  only  know  He  saith,  "  Child,  follow  Me  "  ;— 
But  I  can  trust. 

I  know  not  why  my  path  should  be  at  times 
So  straitly  hedged,  so  strangely  barred  before  ; 
I  only  know  God  could  keep  wide  the  door  ; — 
But  I  can  trust. 

I  often  wonder  as,  with  trembling  hand, 
I  cast  the  seed  along  the  furrowed  ground, 
If  ripened  fruit  for  God  will  there  be  found  ; — 
But  I  can  trust. 

I  cannot  know  why  suddenly  the  storm 
Should  rage  so  fiercely  round  me  in  its  wrath  ; 
But  this  I  know,  God  watches  all  my  path ; — 
And  I  can  trust. 

I  may  not  draw  aside  the  mystic  veil 
That  hides  the  unknown  future  from  my  sight  ; 
Nor  know  if  for  me  waits  the  dark  or  light  ; — 
But  I  can  trust. 

"The  house  of  Jacob  shall  possess  their  Possessions." — OBADIAII  17. 

POSSESSIONS  in  China  !     Yes. 
Let    me   tell    you    how    a   lady   in    England 
became  heir  to  a  whole  village  in  China. 

1  A  favourite  hymn  of  Mrs.  Stewart's  in   1893,  before  her  last 
journey  to  China. 

165 


166  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

And  she  is  only  a  specimen  of  many  others  who 
have  "  interest  "  in  that  country. 

There  was  a  missionary  meeting  in  the  village 
where  she  lived — a  lecture  on  China,  illustrated  by 
lime-light  views. 

Her  heart  was  specially  touched  when  she  heard 
about  the  Bible- women.  Then  and  there  she  decided 
to  give  £6  a  year  for  one  of  them  to  be  her  own 
representative  in  the  foreign  field.  She  would  learn 
her  name  and  all  she  could  about  her  work.  She 
would  pray  for  her  and  take  an  interest  in  her,  and 
help  in  every  way  she  could. 

How  good  it  is  not  to  let  the  interest  excited  at  a 
missionary  meeting  die  away !  Something  practical 
should  follow. 

Mrs.  Ahok  said  at  a  large  meeting,  when  she  saw 
interested  faces  and  sympathetic  tears,  "I  am  glad  you 
feel  for  my  people  who  are  without  God ;  but  that  is 
not  enough.  Think  before  you  leave  your  seats  what 
you  will  do  for  China.  We  have  a  Chinese  proverb — 

"  'When  the  stove  is  hot 
Put  in  the  cakes.' " 

A  letter  soon  went  to  China  carrying  the  good 
news,  and  an  answer  was  received  after  some  months 
from  Mrs.  Stewart,  saying  there  was  a  young  woman 
who  had  finished  her  training,  and  she  could  go  out 
to  teach  school  and  visit  in  after  hours :  she  was  too 
young  to  travel  about  as  the  Bible-women  do. 

Mrs.  Stewart  suggested  in  this  first  letter,  that  our 
friend,  instead  of  having  a  Bible-woman  only,  should 


"POSSESSIONS"  167 

have  a  whole  village  of  her  own  to  care  for  and  pray 
for. 

Great  was  her  joy. 

The  time  arrived  for  sending  the  £6  for  another 
year.  Circumstances  made  it  more  convenient  to 
send  £4.  What  could  our  friend  do  ?  Must  she  let 
some  one  help  with  her  village?  She  had  so  loved 
to  think  that  she  had  a  whole  village  in  China  to 
be  interested  in  and  to  pray  for. 

Before  she  had  come  to  any  conclusion,  she  received 
the  following  letter  from  Mrs.  Stewart,  who  had 
heard  nothing  about  the  matter  : 

KUCHENG,  January  15,  1895. 

DEAR  Miss  

Many  thanks  for  your  kind  letter  and  enclosure 
for  the  woman  you  so  kindly  support.  The  one  I 
have  chosen  for  you,  as  I  explained  to  my  sister,  is 
practically  the  same  as  a  Bible-woman,  but  we  do  not 
call  her  so,  for  she  is  too  young  yet,  according  to 
Chinese  ideas  of  propriety,  to  travel  about  as  much 
as  the  regular  Bible- women  do.  However,  she  is 
doing  quite  as  useful  work  to  my  mind,  and  we  are 
truly  grateful  for  your  kind  help. 

The  £6  you  send  is,  however,  too  much  ;  £4  is  all 
that  is  needed  for  the  women  who  teach,  as  the 
travelling  expenses  are  saved ;  however,  if  you  still 
like  to  send  the  £6,  you  will  like  to  feel  you  are  half 
supporting  another  teacher ! 

Your  woman's  name  I  cannot  remember  just  now, 


168  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

for  we  generally  call  the  women  by  the  name  of  the 
village  they  come  from  (one  of  the  curious  customs 
in  our  part  of  China).  Cluk-po  is  the  name  of  your 
friend's  village,  and  therefore  she  often  goes  by  that 
title !  I  have  written  to  one  of  our  dear  lady  workers 
who  lives  at  Sa-iong,  the  place  where  your  woman  is 
now  working,  asking  her  to  kindly  write  and  give 
you  some  account  of  her  and  her  work,  as  she  will 
know  more  about  it  than  I  do. 

Sa-iong  is  a  town  about  a  day's  journey  from  this, 
and  for  some  years  there  seemed  little  hope  of  the 
people  ever  becoming  Christians. 

A  chapel  was  opened,  but  so  little  interest  was 
shown,  that  after  a  time,  the  missionary  removed  the 
catechist  to  a  more  encouraging  place ;  and  Sa-iong 
was  left  without  any  one  to  speak  to  the  poor  people 
of  the  Saviour. 

Time  passed  on,  and  about  eighteen  months  ago 
some  of  the  inhabitants  began  to  wish  for  some  one  to 
tell  them  of  the  true  God. 

They  heard  that  in  other  places  people  were 
learning  to  worship  Him,  and  at  last  a  few  of  them 
came  to  Mr.  Banister,  the  missionary,  who  preceded 
Mr.  Stewart,  asking  for  a  teacher. 

A  catechist  was  sent ;  and  two  of  our  lady 
workers  volunteered  to  go.  They  have  lived  there 
now  over  a  year,  and  God  is  wonderfully  blessing 
their  labours. 

One  of  them  opened  a  day  school  for  girls,  and  your 
woman  was  invited  to  teach  them,  and  she  has  done 


"  POSSESSI ONS"  169 

so  most  faithfully.  These  little  girls  are  not  only 
learning  to  love  the  Saviour  themselves,  but  act  as 
little  guides  to  the  missionary  ladies,  leading  them  to 
visit  their  friends  and  relatives. 

One  of  these  workers  tells  me  there  are  few  houses 
now^  in  Sa-iong  where  she  does  not  find  a  welcome, 
and  many  have  really  giren  their  hearts  to  God, 
as  far  as  we  can  judge. 

One  remarkable  instance  occurred  at  Sa-iong  last 
autumn  of  the  way  God  honours  simple  faith. 

There  was  a  terrible  fire  in  the  town,  and  a  large 
number  of  houses  were  burned  to  the  ground,  leaving 
the  poor  families  homeless. 

The  people  were  greatly  terrified,  seeing  the  flames 
advancing  and  no  means  apparently  of  arresting  their 
progress. 

In  one  house,  right  in  their  path,  was  an  old  Chris 
tian  woman.  She  climbed  on  the  roof,  and  stretching 
her  arms  out  towards  the  sky,  she  cried  aloud  to  Jesus 
to  save  her. 

Next  day  it  was  discovered  that  though  the  houses 
all  round  were  burned,  hers  was  untouched. 

This  event  has  much  impressed  even  the  heathen, 
and  has  led  the  Christians  to  have  more  simple  faith 
in  God. 

One  more  incident  I  must  relate  about  Sa-iong, 
for  I  trust  it  will  lead  you  to  pray  even  more  earnestly 
for  the  poor  women  of  China. 

Miss  Codrington  (one  of  the  missionary  ladies)  has 
a  class  of  women  at  her  own  house. 


170  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

She  takes  eight  or  ten  at  a  time  and  teaches  them 
for  three  months. 

They  then  return  to  their  homes.  She  has  good 
hopes  that  nearly  all  she  has  had  were  really  saved. 

Well,  one  poor  young  thing  had  come  from  a 
distance.  Her  husband  was  an  opium-smoker.  She 
was  staying  with  her  father  at  the  time  she  applied 
for  admission  to  the  school. 

She  was  very  bright  and  intelligent,  and  Miss 
Codrington  quite  loved  her. 

Suddenly  we  heard  to  our  sorrow  that  her  wretched 
husband  was  looking  for  her,  and  wanted  to  sell 
her! 

He  found  her,  and  appeared  at  Sa-iong  with  ten 
men  to  carry  her  off.  Miss  Codrington,  of  course,  had 
no  power  to  refuse,  but  she  made  him  wait  till  she 
sent  for  the  girl's  father ;  and  very  sadly  she  had  to 
give  her  up  to  him. 

The  poor  girl  seemed  broken-hearted,  but  after 
prayer  with  Miss  Codrington  she  seemed  com 
forted. 

They  spent  that  night  in  an  inn,  and  next  day 
some  of  the  Christians  saw  the  poor  girl  sitting  in 
a  sedan-chair,  bound  hand  and  foot  with  ropes. 

She  was  taken  to  a  village  about  half-a-day's 
journey  off,  and  there  sold,  just  as  you  might  sell 
an  animal !  Poor  young  thing  !  Can  you  picture  her 
misery  ? 

Oh !  do  pray  for  the  women  and  girls  of  China. 
Sad  things  like  this  occur  constantly. 


"POSSESSIONS"  171 

Women  are  simply  bought  and  sold  as  the  men 
please. 

Yours,  with  grateful  thanks, 

LOUISA  STEWART. 

The  £4  was  given  to  the  friend  who  showed  the 
limelight  views,  to  be  sent  through  his  "  Missionary 
Fund." 

He  added  £2,  and  so  £6  was  the  sum  again  sent. 

On  Monday,  August  5,  he  received  the  letter  given 
below. 

The  same  morning  he  read  in  the  newspaper  the 
telegraphic  news  of  the  translation  at  Hwasang. 

Here  is  Mrs.  Stewart's  letter  : 

KUCHENG,  June  19,  1895. 

DEAR  MR.  BLUNDELL, 

The  cheque  you  so  kindly  sent  for  £6  has  safely 
reached  us,  and  we  are  very  grateful  for  it.  £4  from 
Miss  -  -  for  her  native  teacher,  and  £2  from  your 
Missionary  Fund. 

You  do  not  state  what  branch  of  the  work  you 
wish  the  £2  given  to  specially,  but  I  presume  it  may 
also  go  to  the  schools. 

We  are  glad  to  have  any  help  just  now  for  these 
schools,  for  we  feel  more  and  more  that  they  are 
perhaps  the  very  best  means  of  evangelizing  these 
great  dark  regions,  where  there  is  absolutely  no 
light. 

Mr.   Stewart    has    just    come    back    from    a    trip 


172  ROBERT  AND  LOUISA    STEWART 

through  this  large  district  of  Kucheng,  and  he  is 
quite  delighted  with  the  evident  tokens  of  God's 
blessing  on  the  schools. 

He  examined  the  children  on  all  the  leading  truths 
of  Christianity,  and  says  they  answered  beautifully, 
better  than  many  Sunday  schools  at  home ! 

Most  of  these  children  have  heathen  homes,  and  we 
have  heard  of  many  instances  through  the  year  in 
which  the  parents  and  friends  have  been  influenced  by 
what  the  children  tell  them  of  what  they  learn  at 
school. 

One  of  our  lady  missionaries  was  invited  to  a 
house  a  few  months  ago  in  a  village  a  long  distance 
from  here. 

She  found  the  idols  had  all  been  put  away,  ancl 
the  whole  family  were  attending  the  Christian  ser 
vices. 

On  asking  what  had  led  to  their  becoming  Chris 
tians,  they  said  that  a  little  girl  had  gone  to  a  day 
school  in  their  village,  and  every  day  when  she  came 
home  she  repeated  the  hymns  and  verses  she  had 
learned  at  school. 

At  first  they  all  laughed  at  her,  but  at  last  became 
interested,  and  finally  learned  to  trust  in  the  Saviour 
for  themselves. 

This  is  only  one  of  many  similar  instances.  These 
schools  are  gradually  spreading  the  knowledge  of 
the  Saviour  in  a  more  successful  way  than  even 
preaching. 

Whenever    my   husband    examines  a   school,    the 


"POSSESSIONS"  173 

room  is  packed  as  full  as  it  can  hold  with  men  and 
boys,  listening  intently  all  the  time,  sometimes  for  two 
or  three  hours,  and  they  learn  a  great  deal  in  this 
way. 

We  are  so  glad  to  hear  of  the  success  of  the 
lantern  work,  and  hope  that  God  will  richly  bless  it. 
We  must  try  and  get  some  new  slides  for  you. 

With  many  thanks  for  all  your  kindness  and  help, 
and  hoping  you  will  continually  remember  this 
Province  in  prayer, 

Believe  me  to  be, 

Yours  in  the  Master's  Service, 

LOUISA  STEWART. 

Some  people  who  cannot  themselves  go  to  China 
in  the  body,  can  go  in  spirit  through  the  wonderful 
power  of  believing  prayer. 

Is  not  this  the  way  in  which  Ezekiel  went  to  that 
valley  where  the  bones  were  "  very  many  "  and  "  very 
dry  " — a  very  hard  case? 

He  says,  "  The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  me,  and 
He  carried  me  out  in  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  and  set 
me  down  in  the  midst  of  the  valley  which  was  full 
of  bones." 

This  work  of  intercessory  prayer  is  not  to  be  taken 
up,  as  our  natural  wishes  might  dictate,  or  our  own 
minds  decide. 

"  Can  these  bones  live  ? " 

"  O  Lord,  Thou  knowest." 

Ezekiel  confesses  his  own  ignorance. 


174  ROBERT   AND    LOUISA    STEWART 

We  know  not  what  to  pray  for  as  we  ought. 

"  Prophesy."  "  Say  to  them,  Hear  the  Word  of  the 
Lord." 

"  So  I  prophesied  as  I  was  commanded." 

The  bones  came  together,  but  there  was  no  breath. 

"  Come  O  breath,  breathe  upon  these  slain  that  they 
may  live." 

Ezekiel  had  simply  said  what  God's  Spirit  spoke  in 
him. 

I  am  sure  he  did  not  understand. 

Now  God  tells  him,  he  had  asked  and  obtained 
blessing  upon  "  the  whole  house  of  Israel." 

The  Spirit  Himself  helps  our  infirmities  and  makes 
intercession  for  us. 

"  Whosoever  shall  say  to  this  mountain  be  removed 
.  .  .  and  shall  not  doubt  in  his  heart,  but  believes 
that  what  he  saith  cometh  to  pass,  he  shall  have  what 
soever  he  saith" 

"  Thou  shalt  decree  a  thing  and  it  shall  come  to 
pass." 

These  promises  are  all  made  "  to  him  that  believes." 

Another  extract  from  one  of  Mrs.  Stewart's  letters 
cannot  be  omitted: 

"  Sometimes  R.  meets  with  such  interesting 
characters  as  he  goes  round  the  station. 

"  One  old  man  lately  asked  him  to  send  them  soon 
a  catechist. 

"'But,'  he  said,  '  Singang,  we  don't  want  a  fine 
stuck-up  young  man,  whose  voice  can't  be  heard  be 
yond  the  third  seat,  though  he  may  be  full  of  wisdom 


11  POSSESSIONS"  175 

inside.  We  want  a  man  who  goes  about  like  the  night 
watchman.  He  makes  only  two  sounds :  Pok,  pok  ! 
Pok,  pok ! '  (And  the  old  man  got  up  and  went 
marching  round  the  room  imitating  the  way  in  which 
the  watchman  strikes  his  bamboo  at  night  to  warn 
the  thieves).  We  want  a  man  to  go  through  the 
villages  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  '  Jesus  can  save  ! 
Jesus  can  save  ! ' 

"  Another  old  fellow  said,  when  R.  asked  him  how 
long  he  had  been  a  Christian,  ( I  have  known  the 
doctrine  eight  years,  but  I  have  known  Jesus  for  six 
years  only.' 

"  Another,  when  asked  how  he  would  tell  a  heathen 
the  way  to  heaven,  said,  '  I  would  lead  him  to  Jesus. 
Jesus  is  the  ladder  to  Heaven.'  " 

Dear  Hessie  Newcombe,  who  was  bound  up  in  the 
bundle  of  life  with  Robert  and  Louisa  Stewart,  gives 
a  graphic  picture  of  how  she  went  campaigning,  ac 
companied  by  her  sister,  to  "  take  "  Chinese  villages 
for  Jesus. 

"  For  He  must  reign  till  He  has  put  all  enemies 
under  His  feet." 

A  VISIT  TO  A  MOUNTAIN  VILLAGE. 

The  many  friends  at  home  who  have  followed  with 
prayerful  interest  the  history  of  the  Fuhkien  Mission, 
must  have  been  painfully  struck  with  the  fact,  that 
while  many  of  the  men  had  turned  from  idols  to 
God,  the  women,  as  a  body,  were  almost  untouched. 

This  state  of  things  is  the  result  of  the  peculiar 


176  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

customs  and  habits  of  the  Chinese,  which  make  it  an 
imperative  necessity  for  women  to  be  reached  by 
women. 

But  now  that  the  country  has  been  opened  up  by  the 
missionaries  and  catechist,  there  is  an  open  field  for 
the  ladies  to  go  in  and  sow  seed  ;  yea,  even  to  gather 
grain  to  lay  at  the  Master's  feet. 

Perhaps  a  short  account  of  a  recent  visit,  which  my 
sister  and  I  paid  to  one  little  lonely  spot,  will  best 
illustrate  the  truth  of  this  statement. 

It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  place  more  picturesquely 
situated,  more  utterly  out  of  the  world,  than  the  little 
village  of  Du-ling  (Bamboo  forest),  about  fourteen 
miles  from  this  city  (Kucheng),  which  we  visited  for 
the  first  time  on  November  2.  The  path  leading  to 
it  wound  round  and  round  the  mountain  side ;  far 
beneath  us  the  river  meandered  in  and  out  through 
the  wide  plain,  where  many  of  the  fields  were  still 
laden  with  golden  grain,  though  some  had  already 
been  shorn  of  their  beauty. 

All  around  us  we  were  surrounded  by  the  luxuriant 
vegetation  of  a  tropical  climate.  Groves  of  graceful 
bamboos,  contrasting  with  the  dark  pines  towering 
above  them.  Trees  of  every  shade,  from  deepest 
crimson  to  the  palest  golden  tinge,  lovely  clinging 
mosses,  ferns  and  wild  flowers,  combine  to  form  a 
picture  of  rare  beauty  and  delight. 

For  utter  loneliness  and  wildness,  it  reminded  us 
most  of  the  walk  from  Keswick  to  Wastwater,  where, 
just  as  here,  we  seemed  utterly  hemmed  in  by  the 
mountains. 


"POSSESSIONS"  177 

We  arrived  at  the  village  (built  right  on  the 
mountain  side)  about  i  p.m. ;  and  as  there  was  no 
catechist  living  there,  nor  any  chapel,  the  coolies  put 
down  our  chairs  just  outside  the  village. 

The  first  time  a  thing  like  this  occurs,  you  do  feel 
rather  a  peculiar  sensation,  that  is,  at  least  if  you  are 
possessed  of  those  troublesome  things  called  nerves. 
Here  you  are  in  a  strange  place,  not  knowing  exactly 
what  to  do,  or  where  to  go.  You  cannot  ask  for  one 
particular  person  by  his  surname,  as  probably  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  same  locality  have  the  same  sur 
name  ;  and  in  the  meantime  an  inquisitive  crowd 
gathers  closely  round  you. 

However,  by  this  time  we  have  got  accustomed  to 
this  sort  of  thing,  and  we  just  ask  to  be  brought  to 
some  Christian's  house. 

One  of  the  women  immediately  constituted  herself 
our  guide,  and  led  us  at  once  to  the  house,  a  room  in 
which  was  used  for  a  chapel  on  Sundays. 

Here  the  women  soon  gathered  in  numbers ;  and 
after  dinner,  while  Inie  and  the  Bible- woman  remained 
outside  with  the  greater  number,  I  took  a  few  into  our 
little  u  Prophet's  Chamber,"  the  furniture  of  which 
was  as  follows :  a  bed,  consisting  of  boards  laid  on  two 
forms,  and  covered  with  straw ;  a  table,  and  one  form 
fastened  to  the  wall.  I  expect  Elisha's  room  had  the 
additional  attraction  of  cleanliness,  which  this  cer 
tainly  lacked. 

But  these  things  made  little  impression  on  me  at  the 
time.  That  hour  was  one  of  the  happiest  in  my  life, 

N 


178  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

for  there  were  seeking  souls  hungry  for  the  u  Bread 
of  Life."  They  did  not  stop  me  to  ask  a  single  one  of 
the  usual  questions  as  to  age,  family,  etc. 

All  they  knew,  even  the  most  enlightened  among 
them,  of  the  Christian  doctrine  amounted  simply  to 
this :  that  there  was  one  great  God,  who  made  them 
and  heaven  and  earth  and  all  things,  and  who  wanted 
them  to  worship  Him  instead  of  the  idols,  which  could 
not  help  them.  But,  poor  people,  they  were  so  eager  to 
learn  more.  I  can  scarcely  describe  the  awe  that 
comes  over  one  at  such  a  time ;  you  feel  that  God  Him 
self  is  in  the  midst.  I  kept  praying  all  the  time  for  the 
right  words  to  be  given,  and  from  the  first,  I  think,  they 
understood  almost  every  word,  repeating  it  after  me. 

How  earnestly  and  attentively  they  listened,  as  by 
the  help  of  the  little  black,  red  and  white  card,  I  tried 
to  teach  them  something  of  sin,  and  the  Saviour  who 
came  to  save  them,  and  make  them  holy !  Just  as  I 
thought  they  must  be  getting  tired,  Inie  knocked  at  the 
door,  asking  me  to  come  out  and  play  the  concertina, 
saying  that  in  the  outer  room  the  women  had  been 
just  as  eager  to  listen.  I  played  and  sang  "  Jesus 
loves  me  "  over  and  over  again,  and  they  soon  joined 
in.  Then  Inie  asked  them  a  few  simple  questions,  and 
their  ready  answers  showed  how  the  previous  lessons 
had  been  taken  in  and  understood.  That  evening  four 
or  five  of  them  learnt  Miss  Marsh's  prayer  printed  on 
the  back  of  Mrs.  Grimke's  cards. 

Next  morning  (Saturday),  as  our  house  was  up 
above  the  village,  we  went  down  to  one  of  the  houses 


"POSSESSIONS"  179 

below.  Here  the  women  gathered  in  such  numbers 
that  we  had  no  opportunity  for  individual  talking. 
The  noise  was  sometimes  almost  deafening,  but  the 
concertina  generally  created  a  lull.  It  is  sometimes 
hard  to  remember  that  it  is  from  such  sowing  times 
are  gathered  the  few  earnest  ones,  who  afterwards 
come  one  by  one  to  learn  more. 

One  thing  which  greatly  pleased  us  was  the  readi 
ness  with  which  those  who  knew  a  little  themselves 
tried  to  teach  others. 

In  the  afternoon  some  of  the  women  came  again, 
asking  us  to  teach  them,  and  it  certainly  is  true  that 
God  does  open  their  understanding.  They  asked  me 
to  teach  them  the  Creed,  and  I  was  perfectly  amazed 
how  they  took  in  its  meaning.  Even  when  we  came 
to  the  "  Communion  of  Saints,"  they  seemed  to  see  at 
once  that  as  Christians  we  became  as  sisters,  having 
the  one  great  Father  and  the  one  Saviour  to  talk  to 
each  other  about. 

That  evening  we  had  a  prayer-meeting  in  Martha's 
house,  as  I  surnamed  her.  She  certainly  was  a 
character  !  A  middle-aged  woman,  with  a  fat,  good- 
humoured  face,  possessed  of  ceaseless  energy,  both  of 
hands  and  tongue.  The  former  she  fortunately  used 
in  the  unusual  business  of  keeping  her  house  clean,  as 
well  as  in  dragging  women  by  main  force  to  listen, 
and  then  preparing  all  kinds  of  dainties,  which  she 
heaped  upon  both  willing  and  unwilling  guests.  Her 
words  poured  forth  like  torrents.  We  always  felt 
thankful  if  we  could  just  catch  the  drift  of  the  long 


l8o  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

oration.  Yet  she  was  so  eager  to  learn,  and  "to  get 
others  to  learn :  we  felt  she  was,  indeed,  a  friend,  and 
yet  one  of  those  who  give  you  a  slightly  uneasy  feel 
ing,  as  you  are  not  quite  sure  what  extraordinary 
thing  she  may  do  next. 

But  this  village  has  also  its  Mary.  How  we  were 
drawn  together  those  few  days !  A  quiet,  grave  young 
woman,  so  gentle  and  earnest,  who  seemed  to  drink  in 
every  word,  and  think  it  all  over  in  her  own  mind.  I 
expect  much  from  her  influence  in  the  future. 

On  Sunday  a  great  many  came  over  from  the  ad 
joining  village,  where,  as  yet,  there  are  neither 
Christians  nor  enquirers.  But  we  are  praying  that 
the  light  which  cannot  be  hid  may  soon  spread  to 
them  also.  One  woman  listened  very  attentively,  and 
said  she  would  come  again.  We  visited  the  village  in 
the  afternoon.  At  first  it  seemed  useless  to  try  and 
talk  to  such  a  crowd  as  had  assembled,  but  Inie  at  last 
gained  the  attention  of  a  few.  She  noticed  the  fixed 
gaze  of  one  young  opium-smoker  in  the  background, 
and  it  was  very  interesting  to  find  the  same  young 
man  coming  and  spending  the  whole  of  the  next  morn 
ing  with  one  of  the  Christians. 

On  Monday  afternoon  I  went  dowTn  with  the  Bible- 
woman  to  Martha's  house.  At  this  time  of  the  year 
the  women  are  very  busy  drying  and  sunning  their 
rice,  so  that  it  is  hard  to  get  them  together,  but  Mary 
and  one  or  two  others  came  up.  Martha  did  not  at 
first  appear,  and  I  soon  found  to  my  cost  that  she  was 
on  hospitality  intent,  as  in  about  half  an  hour  she 


"POSSESSIONS"  l8l 

appeared,  triumphantly  carrying  some  soft,  red  cakes, 
that  looked  like  soap,  but  were  really  made  of  rice 
cooked  in  oil.  Out  of  common  politeness,  of  course,  I 
had  to  eat  a  little. 

That  hour  I  did  enjoy  so  much.  The  Bible- woman 
read  and  expounded  from  our  little  catechism  on  the 
"  Life  of  our  Lord,"  and  I  found  out  the  references  in 
the  Bible,  Mary  reading  them  after  me.  When  we 
came  to  the  history  of  our  Lord's  sufferings  I  read  it 
straight  from  the  Bible.  Never  before  had  it  all 
seemed  so  real  to  myself  as  then,  when  I  saw  how  they 
felt  it.  Mary  shuddered  all  over  when  it  came  to  the 
crown  of  thorns,  the  spitting  and  the  scourging,  and 
she  said  over  and  over  again,  "  And  He  suffered  it  all 
willingly  for  us !  Truly  we  should  love  Him  and  try 
to  please  Him." 

When  I  asked  her  would  she  not  try  and  tell  others 
the  good  news,  she  said  so  earnestly  that  indeed  she 
would. 

Now,  dear  friends,  why  have  I  written  all  this? 
First  of  all,  because  I  do  want  you  so  much  to  pray 
earnestly,  perseveringly,  believingly,  for  these  young 
Du-ling  Christians. 

You  can  have  no  idea  of  the  awful  temptations  and 
difficulties  by  which  they  are  surrounded.  Satan's 
power  is  tremendous  in  this  land,  but  our  God  is  strong 
to  deliver.  Oh,  do  pray  for  them.  "  Satan  to  Jesus 
must  bow." 

Then  I  do  want  you  to  pray  that  the  eagerness  to 
learn  may  soon  be  the  rule,  not,  as  now,  the  exception. 
This  is  the  Holy  Spirit's  work. 


182  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"  Pray  louder,  pray  longer,  for  the  great  gift  of  fire 
To  come  down  on  these  hearts  with  its  whirlwinds  of  grace." 

The  Master  came  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost.  Dear 
sisters,  ask  yourselves,  are  you,  as  He  was,  seeking 
the  lost  ?  Surely  if  any  are  the  lost  ones  it  is  these 
poor  women,  led  captive  by  Satan  at  his  will. 

Oh !  for  hearts  laid  low  at  the  Master's  feet !  Oh, 
for  burnt  lips  which  will  only  cry,  "  Lord,  what  wilt 
Thou  have  me  to  do!  "  Then  soon,  very  soon,  our 
King,  Jesus,  would  reign  triumphantly  in  this  land. 

HESSIE  NEWCOMBE. 

In  a  later  letter  Miss  Newcombe  writes  :— 

u  .  .  .  The  time  at  Du-ling  was  most  remarkable. 
I  think  there  is  quite  a  revival  there.  One  felt  so 
completely  in  the  hands  of  the  Spirit,  so  utterly  taken 
out  of  oneself,  only  a  mere  instrument.  .  .  ." 

The  following  extracts  from  the  journals  of  Miss 
Newcombe  and  Miss  Clara  Bradshaw  (now  Mrs.  E.  C. 
Millard)  give  interesting  descriptions  of  travelling  in 
China,  and  bring  before  our  minds  in  a  forcible  manner 
the  great  need  of  workers  in  this  vineyard  of  the 
Lord  :- 

"  We  left  Foochow  early  on  Tuesday  morning,  and  in 
about  four  hours  we  reached  Kuang-tau,  and  climbing 
over  the  side  of  the  launch,  found  ourselves  in  a 
sanpan  which  took  us  to  shore.  Our  cook  hired  native 
chairs  for  us,  made  as  light  as  possible  for  mountain 
climbing,  with  bamboo  seats  and  poles,  and  a  covering 
of  matting. 


><  POSSESSIONS"  183 

"  We  only  stopped  once  on  the  road  to  Leing-kong 
city,  and  arrived  there  towards  evening.  It  is  a  lovely 
place,  and  from  the  little  room  we  slept  in  we  could 
get  on  to  the  roof  outside,  looking  over  the  river  and 
long  bridge  made  of  such  huge  pieces  of  granite 
stone,  some  little  houses  stuck  up  on  the  end  of  it,  and 
grand  ranges  of  mountains  with  such  jagged  edges  on 
the  opposite  side. 

"  We  rested  for  a  while,  and  then  thought  we  would 
go  out  and  look  about.  We  found  ourselves  in  a  street, 
and  stopping  to  ask  some  women  had  they  '  eaten  their 
rice  yet?'  conversation  commenced ;  we  soon  had  quite 
a  crowd,  and  I  believe  some  were  really  listening,  and 
trying  to  take  in  what  seems  so  hard  for  them  to  un 
derstand,  how  Jesus  loves  them,  and  wants  to  save  them. 

u  We  came  in  and  enjoyed  our  meal  of  fish  and  rice, 
and  being  tired,  thought  of  going  to  bed,  when  the 
door  opened,  and  in  came  a  number  of  women  to  be 
talked  to.  They  remained  till  quite  late,  but  we  were 
very  glad  of  the  opportunity,  and  hope  to  stay  some 
nights  there  when  on  our  way  back  to  FoochowT. 

"  Next  morning  on  we  went,  through  most  lovely 
scenery,  and  in  the  evening  reached  Lo-nguong. 

u  Next  day  and  the  day  following  were  very  wet,  such 
rain  as  I  think  I  never  saw  at  home.  We  had  time  for 
rest,  and  waiting  on  Him  to  renew  our  strength  and 
give  us  wisdom  in  all  things. 

"  As  I  was  writing,  in  came  a  message  to  say  some 
one  had  come  to  lead  us  to  a  house  where  they  wanted 
to  hear  '  the  Doctrine.1  So  we  went,  and  there  stayed 


184  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

till  the  evening  with  such  crowds  ;  they  listened  won 
derfully  well,  and  five  or  six  women  seemed  to  take  in 
the  message. 

"  On  Saturday  morning  the  weather  cleared  a  little, 
and  we  went  to  a  village  where  there  are  some  Christian 
women;  we  had  our  midday  meal  in  one  of  their 
houses,  and  such  a  feast  was  prepared  for  us  !  But  we 
could  not  satisfy  them,  however  much  we  swallowed. 
They  having  fed  our  bodies,  it  was  time  for  us  to  feed 
their  souls,  and  yet  it  scarcely  seemed  like  '  feeding ' 
their  souls,  for  oh  !  the  black  darkness  of  those  minds  ! 
Poor  people  !  I  do  think  if  you  in  England  could  only 
realize  the  need  of  workers,  surely  more  would  come. 

"  I  remember  at  home  parishioners  were  not  satisfied 
if  a  clergyman's  visit  was  not  paid  at  each  house  at 
least  once  a  year  ;  I  wonder  how  they  would  like 
instead  to  have  the  city  of  Dublin  only  receive  one  visit 
in  the  year  ?  So  it  is  with  many  of  the  places  here, 
where  there  are  a  few  Christians ;  the  Missionary  can 
only  pay  one  visit  to  the  place  and  have  a  general 
meeting,  sometimes  not  as  often  as  once  a  year.  And 
then  think  of  the  numbers  of  heathen  cities  and  villages 
that  as  yet  have  never  been  visited. 

"  From  the  little  window  of  our  room  here  we  see  a 
very  high  hill ;  a  long  steep  path  of  stone  steps  goes 
right  over  the  mountain,  and  since  we  arrived  I  have 
not  seen  the  long  line  of  people  passing  up  and  down 
those  steps  cease.  It  seems  an  endless  stream  of  im 
mortal  souls.  Nearly  all  of  them  are  burden-bearers 
carrying  loads,  and  as  I  see  them  I  think  of  the  way 


"POSSESSIONS"  185 

their  bodies  and  souls  are  weighed  down,  the  slaves  of 
Satan ;  my  heart  goes  out  in  prayer  for  them,  and  I 
plead  with  the  King  to  send  forth— no,  '  thrust  forth  ' 
—some  of  His  soldiers  to  free  those  slaves  of  Satan 
fast  bound  in  misery  and  iron.  They  pass  before  our 
eyes,  and  we  know  we  shall  never  see  them  again 
until  they  pass  by  the  Great  White  Throne.  Can  you 
imagine  how  we  pray  for  them  ? 

"  Sunday  was  another  pouring  wet  day.  That  night 
we  had  special  prayer  to  know  how  to  get  better  at  the 
people,  and  I  think  the  prayer  was  speedily  answered. 
Next  day  we  went  out  visiting  quite  early  in  the 
morning,  but  could  not  move  beyond  one  house,  for 
there  we  had  such  numbers  to  speak  to.  It  is  difficult 
to  know  what  to  do  with  the  men,  for  if  they  come  the 
women  won't,  so  in  this  house  we  had  them  all  turned 
out.  In  a  few  minutes  I  looked  up  arid  saw  the  same 
congregation  of  men  assembled  on  the  top  of  the  roof 
of  the  next  house,  looking  right  in  on  us. 

"  One  dear  old  woman  with  white  hair  seemed  greatly 
impressed,  but  Satan  was  as  busy  as  ever,  and  when 
we  pressed  her  to  leave  her  idols  and  come  to  God,  she 
vanished  in  a  second  out  of  the  room.  Satan  so  often 
seems  to  do  that;  sometimes  the  whole  crowd  of 
listeners  suddenly  jump  up,  and  in  a  moment  disappear, 
and  one  cannot  get  them  back  again. 

"  We  returned  to  the  city  for  our  midday  meal,  and 
then  started  again  to  a  house  at  some  distance,  where 
they  'received  us  gladly.'  Here  I  counted  fifty 
women  listening,  and  the  large  doorway  was  quite 


186  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

crowded  up  by  men,  so  that  soon  we  wondered  where 
we  should  get  air  to  breathe,  much  less  room  to  move. 
A  woman  and  a  girl  beside  me  were  so  interested,  and 
asked  me  to  repeat  anything  they  did  not  understand. 

"  Next  day  we  started  early  for  a  village  a  good  way 
off,  and  walked  there.  Such  numbers  of  villages  we 
passed  by,  where  the  people  all  came  out  to  look  at 
us !  How  we  longed  to  stop  at  all  these  places,  but 
we  knew  we  must  not;  at  some  we  promised  to  go 
another  time.  At  last  we  reached  the  village  we 
were  seeking ;  there  we  found  a  Christian  woman, 
and  in  her  tiny  hut  sat  down  on  stools;  very  soon 
this  little  house  was  quite  too  full,  and  we  had  to 
disperse  the  crowd,  which  not  only  filled  the  house, 
but  the  narrow  street  outside,  by  promising  them 
we  would  meet  them  in  a  larger  place  (the  Bible- 
woman  explaining  to  them  where),  and  tell  them  the 
'  Doctrine.'  As  we  were  doing  this  tea  was  brought, 
and  also  eggs  and  chopsticks,  which  we  ate,  and  then 
continued  talking,  But  I  don't  feel  I  can  give  you  any 
idea  of  the  crowd,  or  how  they  pressed  on  us,  not  to 
mention  pigs,  etc.  We  went  on  as  long  as  we  could, 
and  then  had  to  push  our  way  through  for  fresh  air. 

"  We  spent  the  night  in  the  house  of  a  Christian 
widow — such  a  nice  bright  little  woman.  She  had 
been  the  wife  of  a  catechist,  and  could  read  St. 
Matthew  and  St.  Mark,  so  every  morning  and  evening 
she  holds  prayers  in  her  house  for  the  villagers,  a 
most  remarkable  thing  for  a  woman  in  China  to  do, 
but  as  she  could  only  read  these  two  Gospels,  the 
people  never  heard  any  of  the  rest  of  the  Bible.'1 


"POSSESSIONS"  187 

From  Lo-nguong  city  Miss  Newcombe  and  Miss 
Bradshaw,  accompanied  by  Seng-lai,  the  wife  of  the 
Chinese  clergyman,  made  a  tour  round  the  Mission 
Stations  to  the  west  of  the  city,  which  they  thus 
describe : — 

"  Monday. — Started  from  Lo-nguong  early,  in  chairs. 
Got  along  slowly ;  roads  bad  after  rain.  Went  nine 
miles  by  eleven  o'clock,  which  brought  us  to  the  vil 
lage  of  Heng-long.  While  the  people  of  the  house 
were  cooking  rice  for  us,  we  had  a  splendid  oppor 
tunity  of  delivering  our  message.  First  we  invited  the 
women  into  our  little  bedroom,  but  it  was  soon  filled 
to  suffocation,  and  there  were  more  coming,  so  the 
catechist  suggested  the  little  chapel,  which  was  airy 
and  large,  and  opened  on  to  the  street.  We  went  in, 
and  in  two  minutes  it  was  packed.  There  must  have 
been  considerably  over  100  people,  men  and  women, 
in  it.  We  got  on  the  raised  platform,  and  had  a  good 
talk  with  them  about  John  iii.  16,  finding  out  by  ques 
tions  that  some  were  following  what  was  said. 

"  After  dinner  we  started  for  O-iong  in  pours  of  rain. 
It  was  nine  miles  all  uphill,  and  at  times  so  steep  that 
we  got  out  and  walked,  to  ease  the  burden  for  the  poor 
coolies.  We  reached  our  destination  a  little  after  four 
o'clock,  the  rain  still  pouring,  in  spite  of  which  the 
little  upstairs  room  we  were  shown  into  soon  was 
densely  packed  with  women. 

"  Only  one  European  lady  had  ever  passed  through 
this  part  of  the  country  before,  so  our  arrival  every 
where  created  intense  excitement.  We  could  do  but 


l88  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

little  talking,  as  we  were  so  tired,  and  the  people 
so  packed,  that  they  were  continually  getting  on  the 
top  of  each  other,  or,  worse  still,  on  the  top  of  some 
poor  little  three  or  four-year-old,  too  small  to  be  seen, 
this  causing  a  serious  commotion.  We  tried  singing 
'  Jesus  loves  me '  to  quiet  them  down,  and  were  rather 
surprised  at  its  effect ;  they  were  evidently  frightened, 
for  they  made  a  rush  for  the  door,  tumbling  over  each 
other  in  their  hurry  to  get  out,  and  we  had  some 
difficulty  in  persuading  them  that  there  was  nothing 
to  fear. 

"  Tuesday. — Before  we  were  up  this  morning,  from 
sounds  going  on  downstairs  we  knew  people  were 
waiting  to  see  us,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  we 
kept  our  room  free  from  visitors  till  our  dressing  was 
finished.  Breakfast  over,  we  came  out  into  the  hall, 
and  did  our  best  to  speak  to  the  people.  I  never  saw 
such  a  sight,  a  great  mass  of  people  swaying  back 
wards  and  forwards.  We  tried  again  and  again  to 
get  a  hearing,  but  it  seemed  hopeless,  so  we  made  for 
a  door  at  the  back  of  the  hall,  and,  standing  there,  let 
none  but  women  pass;  in  they  filed,  till  every  inch  was 
filled,  and  they  were  standing  out  in  the  yard  beyond. 
We  had  a  really  good  time,  some  women  listening 
most  attentively  as  we  went  through  the  '  Wordless 
Book,'  and  showing  by  tfreir  answers  they  had  taken 
in  what  we  were  saying.  By  twelve  o'clock  we  were 
nearly  exhausted,  and  fortunately  the  women  wanted 
to  go  home  to  dinner,  so  we  escaped  by  a  back  way, 
and  got  to  our  room  unnoticed,  barred  the  door,  and 
had  a  good  rest. 


"POSSESSIONS"  189 

"  We  had  determined  after  dinner  to  have  first  a 
quiet  time  with  the  Christian  women  before  meeting 
the  crowds  again.  They  lived  at  some  distance,  and  it 
was  a  pouring  wet  day,  which  accounted  for  the  fact 
that,  while  we  had  crowds  of  heathen  from  the  village, 
we  had  not  seen  the  Christians  before.  There  were 
seven  or  eight  baptized  women,  and  one  woman  and 
her  daughter  wishing  for  baptism.  We  began  by 
asking  them  each  how  long  they  had  been  Christians, 
what  they  had  worshipped  before;  and  then,  which 
was  best,  the  idols,  or  God  ;  and  why  God  was  best. 

"  They  did  not  seem  to  understand  this  way  of 
putting  the  question,  so  we  asked,  (  All  the  years  you 
worshipped  idols,  what  did  you  get  from  them  ?  '  They 
confessed,  *  Nothing  at  all.'  '  And  all  the  years  you 
have  worshipped  God,  what  have  you  had  from 
Him  ?  '  We  got  some  nice  answers  ;  one  woman  said, 
she  day  by  day  received  the  Holy  Spirit's  help,  both 
for  what  she  did,  and  for  what  she  said.  Another 
said,  the  Holy  Spirit  daily  helped  her  to  do  right.  A 
third  said,  she  had  obtained  forgiveness.  We  then 
had  a  little  talk  about  prayer,  and  tried  to  encourage 
those  who  were  still  but  beginning  to  worship  to  pray 
in  their  own  words  to  God,  words  they  themselves 
understood,  for  what  they  really  wanted.  We  closed 
with  a  pra}7er-meeting,  in  which  all  joined,  prayers 
short  and  to  the  point,  and  we  felt  thankful  for  this 
evidence  that  the  message  had  been  received.  Some 
had  evidently  prayed  aloud  for  the  first  time. 

"Our  little   meeting  over,  we  arranged   with  the 


190  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

catechist's  wife,  who  had  been  at  the  Foochow 
Women's  School  for  nearly  two  years,  to  have  a 
special  meeting  for  the  women,  before  the  ordinary 
Church  Service  on  Sunday.  After  a  short  rest,  we 
had  to  go  down  once  more,  to  find  another  crowd  of 
men  and  women  waiting  for  us.  But  this  time  we 
had  a  really  good  opportunity.  The  Spirit  was 
evidently  present  in  power,  compelling  them  to  listen, 
and  convincing  them.  Several  were  solemnized,  who 
at  first  had  lightly  said  that  they  knew  the  ( Doctrine,' 
and  had  heard  it  all  before.  At  last,  when  we  went 
upstairs,  after  a  few  closing  words  entreating  them 
not  to  despise  God's  message,  there  was  evidently  a 
prolonged  conversation  with  the  catechist  before  some 
of  them  returned  home. 

"  Wednesday. — Early  after  breakfast  we  started  for 
Cai-tau,  a  village  three  miles  off,  where  we  heard 
there  were  six  or  seven  Christian  women.  On  getting 
there,  however,  we  found  not  one  of  them  had  been 
baptized,  or  indeed  knew  anything  about  God  or  Christ 
at  all.  It  was  very  sad ;  they  called  themselves 
Christians,  and  were  so,  just  in  so  far  as  they  did  not 
worship  idols,  but  no  further.  We  asked  the  reason, 
and  were  told,  that  being  three  or  four  miles  from  the 
nearest  Church,  they  could  not  possibly,  on  their 
bound  feet,  walk  there  over  that  rough  hilly  road; 
and  we  felt  this  was  true,  as  with  our 'large  feet  and 
good  sound  boots,  we  had  felt  quite  tired  out,  after 
walking  over  that  morning. 

"  One  of  these  women  is  a  catechist's   wife.     We 


11  POSSESSIONS"  191 

spoke  to  him  and  asked  him  how  it  was.  He  said, 
(  She  is  a  woman ;  women  are  too  stupid  and  dull  to 
take  in  anything !  '  You  may  feel  inclined  to  blame 
///;;/,  but  I  feel  inclined  to  blame  ourselves,  their 
Christian  sisters  at  home  and  abroad,  who  have  done 
so  little  towards  bringing  them  that  Gospel  of  Salva 
tion,  which  we  ourselves  prize  so  dearly  ! 

"  That  night  was  spent  at  Ching-kang,  and  the  next 
morning  in  talking  with  heathen  women,  who  came 
en  masse'  They  had  '  never  before  seen  a  foreign 
lady,  or  heard  the  Doctrine.'  / 

"  Thursday. — long-tau.  We  had  a  very  hot  time 
in  the  sun.  The  path  was  one  long  ascent;  I  don't 
think  I  had  ever  been  up  such  a  perpendicularly  steep 
ascent.  We  arrived  about  two  o'clock  feeling  very 
tired  and  very  hot.  .  .  .  It  is  now  evening  ;  we 
have  had  the  people  pressing  round  us  the  whole 
afternoon,  and  now  I  am  afraid  I  sympathize  with  the 
disciples,  when  they  asked  for  the  multitudes  to  be 
sent  away. 

"  Friday. — Lau-iong.  Last  night  we  had  the  most 
tremendous  thunderstorm  I  ever  heard.  The  lightning 
followed,  flash  after  flash  in  quick  succession,  and  the 
peals  of  thunder,  rolling  and  roaring  on  the  top  of 
each  other  incessantly,  sounded  exactly  as  if  great 
rocks  were  being  smashed  in  pieces.  Then  the  rain 
commenced,  and  went  on  getting  heavier  and  heavier. 
I  could  not  have  imagined  rain  falling  could  have 
made  such  a  noise. 

"  After  breakfast  we  started  in  chairs,  which  we  were 


192  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

thankful  to  obtain,  for  we  were  tired.  We  had  thought 
yesterday  that  we  had  gone  as  high  as  roads  could 
carry  us,  but  we  still  found  ourselves  going  up  step  by 
step,  till  at  last  valleys  and  depths  were  quite  lost  to 
sight,  and  nothing  was  to  be  seen  around  us  but  a  wavy 
billowy  sea  of  mountain  tops.  It  was  bitterly  cold, 
and  the  rain  poured,  but  we  reached  this  in  good  time, 
and  have  had  a  really  delightful  time  downstairs,  the 
people  listening  splendidly  ;  and  though  the  room  was 
full,  and  a  large  crowd  of  men  were  standing  at  the 
door,  there  was  perfect  quiet,  while  we  told  the  Story 
of  the  Cross  from  the  '  Wordless  Book.'  We  were  so 
very  thankful  for  the  women  who  had  never  heard 
before.  At  first  they  seemed  unable  to  take  in  any 
thing,  but  before  we  left  some  had  certainly  got  hold 
of  the  main  points.  Oh  !  when  will  our  English  sisters 
take  compassion  on  these  lost  sheep,  and  come  to  seek 
and  save  them?  " 

Saturday  and  Sunday  were  spent  at  A-chia,  where 
there  was  not  much  to  encourage,  and  on  Monday  they 
travelled  through  magnificent  scenery  to  Uongpuang, 
which  was  reached  about  midday.  They  write  :— 

"  The  crowds  here  were  gathered  to  meet  us,  and  we 
are  in  a  nice  clean  little  loft,  outside  the  house,  with  a 
ladder  to  get  up  to  it.  We  had  a  little  gathering  of 
Christians  this  afternoon.  It  was  very  fine.  They  told 
us  how  they  had  become  Christians,  and  what  two 
said  struck  me  very  much.  They  had  heard  of  out- 
God,  but  had  not  believed,  until  one  had  got  very  ill, 
and  prayed  our  God  to  make  her  well,  which  He  did, 


"  POSSESSIONS"  193 

and  both  women  believed  on  Him,  and  have  wor 
shipped  Him  ever  since.  Afterwards  we  went  to  the 
heathen,  and  tried  to  tell  them  the  way  of  salvation. 

"  We  left  Uong-puang  early  next  morning  as  soon  as 
our  last  entreaties  to  the  people  to  believe  in  Jesus 
were  ended,  and  reached  Sioh-piek  about  noon." 

A  day,  fully  occupied  up  to  twelve  o'clock  at  night, 
was  spent  at  Sioh-piek,  and  the  following  day  the 
ladies  returned  to  their  starting  point,  the  city  of  Lo- 
nguong.  They  write  :— 

"  We  came  back  here  with  hearts  overflowing  to 
God,  with  thanks  for  all  His  mercies  and  goodness  to 
us,  in  this  our  first  tour  in  this  district.  How  won 
derfully  He  has  kept  us,  and  has,  I  believe,  given  us 
confidence  and  faith,  to  expect  the  '  greater  things,' 
throughout  this  whole  vast  Province. 

"  On  coming  back  here,  the  first  news  we  heard  at 
the  gate  was,  that  in  one  of  the  houses  we  had  been 
visiting,  the  old  woman  with  whom  we  had  pleaded 
so  especially,  but  who  had  run  away  when  pressed  to 
decide,  had  passed  into  eternity.  Oh !  time  is  short, 
soon  the  chance  of  writing  home  and  asking  you  to 
come  and  help,  in  prayer  and  every  way  you  can,  will 
be  over.  The  fields  here  are  truly  white  unto  harvest, 
the  labourers  are  few.  '  Pray  ye,'  '  Come  ye,'  and 
share  with  us  in  the  glory  of  the  Harvest  Home. 

"  For  your  Father's  sake,  who  loves  these  lost  ones, 
for  Jesus'  sake,  who  died  for  them,  be  up  and  doing. 
Come ;  souls  are  dying  without  having  heard  of  life. 
Is  it  your  fault?  Why  are  you  not  out  among  the 

o 


194  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

heathen,  telling  them  the  good  news  that  has  flooded 
your  own  soul  with  light  and  joy  ? 

"When  I  hear,  as  I  do  in  letters  from  the  Homeland, 
of  Gospel  meetings,  at  one  of  which  there  are  three  or 
four  Christian  workers  if  it  is  a  small  meeting,  and 
far  more  if  a  large  one,  I  do  feel  jealous.  Did  Christ 
not  die  for  China  ?  Are  these  Chinese  sisters  less  dear 
to  Christ  than  our  English  or  Irish  ones,  that  for 
one  who  will  go  to  the  heathen,  there  are  hundreds  to 
speak  to  the  people  at  home  ?  If  you  but  offer  to  the 
Lord  that  which  costs  you  nothing,  think  you  He  will 
accept  it  at  your  hand  ?  Your  staying  at  home  is 
withholding  blessing,  alike  on  the  work  you  cling  to 
so  closely,  as  well  as  on  the  neglected  field  you  are 
leaving  untilled. 

"  God  is  with  us  for  our  Captain.  '  Come  ye  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty.'  " 

On  their  return  to  headquarters  they  write  :— 

"Back  again  in  civilization,  knives,  forks,  spoons, 
etc.,  and  wishing  to  be  out  of  it,  and  back  again  to 
the  chopsticks  of  these  last  happy  weeks. 

"  Our  first  visit  to  Lo-nguong  is  over,  and  with  it 
our  first  attempt  for  any  lengthened  period  to  live  on 
native  food,  and  we  have  seldom  felt  in  better  health. 
We  mention  this,  as  it  seems  God's  seal  of  approval 
on  this  effort  to  bridge  over  the  chasm  between  us 
and  the  people.  Anything  that  brings  us  nearer  to 
them,  and  makes  us  more  like  one  of  themselves,  is 
well  worth  doing  for  Jesus'  sake,  who,  when  He  came 
to  save  us,  became  of  one  bone  and  flesh  with  us, 
and  was  '  not  ashamed  to  call  us  brethren.' " 


CHAPTER  VIII 

HANDS    CLASPED 

"I  the  Lord  thy  God  will  hold   thy  right    hand,  saying  unto 
thee,  Fear  not ;  I  will  help  thee."—  ISAIAH  xli.  13. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

HANDS  CLASPED 

Hold  Thou  my  hand  !  so  weak  I  am  and  helpless, 
I  dare  not  take  one  step  without  Thy  aid  ; 

Hold  Thou  my  hand  !  for  then,  O  loving  Saviour, 
No  dread  of  ill  shall  make  my  soul  afraid. 

Hold  Thou  my  hand  !  and  closer,  closer  draw  me 
To  Thy  dear  self — my  hope,  my  joy,  my  all  ; 

Hold  Thou  my  hand,  lest  haply  I  should  wander  ; 
And,  missing  Thee,  my  trembling  feet  should  fall. 

Hold  Thou  my  hand  !  the  way  is  dark  before  me 

Without  the  sunlight  of  Thy  face  divine  ; 
But  when  by  faith  I  catch  its  radiant  glory, 

What  heights  of  joy,  what  rapturous  songs  are  mine  ! 

Hold  Thou  my  hand  !  that  when  I  reach  the  margin 
Of  that  lone  river  Thou  didst  cross  for  me, 

A  heavenly  light  may  flash  along  its  waters, 
And  every  wave  like  crystal  bright  shall  be. 

IT  seemed  touching  to  receive  letters  from  them  in 
September,  written   in  July  when  they  were  so 
peacefully  resting  in  their  mountain  retreat  from  the 
heat  of  the  plains. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart,  with  five  children,  and  Lena, 
the  nurse  (whose  history  forms  the  last  chapter  of 
this  book) ;  Miss  Nellie  and  Miss  Maud  Saunders 


198  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

(called  Topsy  for  a  pet  name)  staying  with  them, 
occupying  what  last  year  was  the  nursery,  a  new 
nursery  having  been  added  to  the  cottage  this  year, 
"  made  of  clay  which  had  hardened  in  the  sun." 

These  dear  girls,  Nellie  and  Topsy  Saunders,  were 
quite  young,  not  much  over  twenty  years  of  age 
either  of  them. 

Mr.  Eugene  Stock  writes  in  the  Gleaner  of  Sep 
tember,  1895:— 

"  Of  my  dear  young  friends,  Harriette  Elinor  Saun 
ders  (Nellie),  and  Elizabeth  Maud  Saunders  (Topsy), 
I  must  speak  personally.  They  were  the  firstfruits 
of  our  Australian  visit. 

"  They  had  given  themselves  wholly  to  the  Lord 
for  His  service  during  Mr.  George  Grubb's  mission 
some  months  before,  and  on  the  very  evening  of  our 
landing,  Sunday,  April  24,  1892,  they  responded  to 
Mr.  Stewart's  first  sermon  by  an  enquiry  about  going 
to  China.  They  were  the  two  children  of  a  widowed 
mother,  and  the  plan  was  that  all  three  should  go 
together.  .  .  .  They  proposed  to  go  as  honorary 
missionaries.  .  .  .  Financial  failures  took  away 
almost  all  their  property,  and  when  the  Victoria 
Association  (of  the  C.M.S.)  proposed  to  send  all  three 
out  upon  its  funds,  the  dear  mother  said  her  girls 
should  go,  but  she  would  stop  until  she  could  realize 
what  was  left,  and  then  follow  at  her  own  charges. 

"  But  the  two  years  that  have  since  elapsed  have 
not  brought  the  necessary  means  to  her ;  and 
now—!" 


HANDS   CLASPED  199 

Some  weeks  passed  by,  and  in  a  private  letter  Mr. 
Stock  again  mentions  Mrs.  Saunders. 

"  I  have  heard  from  Australia.  All  Melbourne  went 
into  mourning ;  services  were  held  in  the  churches. 
Mrs.  Saunders  is  triumphant." 

If  she  did  not  "  realize  "  the  money  she  expected, 
she  realized  in  the  hour  of  need  what  strong  consola 
tion  God  is  to  them  who  put  their  trust  in  Him. 

When  we  read  the  words,  "  Mrs.  Saunders  is 
triumphant,"  how  we  praise  God — her  God  and  our 
God! 

There  is  no  separation  to  those  who  dwell  in  God ; 
and  so  we  in  this  hemisphere  clasped  her  hand  in 
that  hemisphere ;  and  though  the  natural  mother's 
heart  in  Nellie  and  Topsy  Saunders'  mother,  and  in 
Louisa  Stewart's  mother,  must  have  been  pierced,  yet 
together  their  voices  ascended  in  praise  to  Him  who 
doeth  all  things  well: 

No  murmuring  spoiled  the  melody,  no  useless  re 
grets  dimmed  the  glory  of  the  martyr's  crown. 

Annie  Gordon  too  was  among  the  firstfruits  of 
Australia  unto  God,  willingly  obeying  the  call  to  a 
missionary's  life. 

Elsie  Marshall  and  Lucy  Stewart  had  gone  from 
happy  English  homes;  both,  I  think,  had  heard  the 
call  to  China  through  Mr.  Stewart's  preaching. 

Last,  but  not  least,  of  this  "  noble  army  of  martyrs," 
comes  dear  Hessie  Newcombe. 

She  and  her  elder  sister  were  the  pioneer  mission 
aries  in  this  woman's  work  for  women  in  China. 


200  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

Slight  and  delicate-looking,  she  endured  hardship 
as  a  good  servant  of  Jesus  Christ.  She  really  "took 
pleasure  "  in  what,  naturally  speaking,  would  have 
been  great  trials. 

Many  entries  in  her  journal  show  how  lightly  she 
esteemed  her  own  discomfort. 

When  travelling  with  a  native  Bible-woman,  her 
self  in  Chinese  dress,  sleeping  sometimes  in  a  temple, 
sometimes  in  an  inn,  one  night  she  did  not  get 
continuous  sleep.  The  rats  running  over  her  face 
woke  her  up,  but  she  soon  went  to  sleep  again. 

Robert  Stewart  has  more  than  once  said  of  her  and 
her  sister  missionaries : 

"  You  could  not  find  more  devoted  and  successful 
missionaries,  I  feel  sure,  anywhere."  And  he  was 
not  a  man  who  spoke  carelessly  or  at  random.  He 
meant  what  he  said. 

Words  are  poor  and  cold,  when  we  try  to  tell  of 
such  lives,  truly  lived  in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most 
High. 

From  personal  acquaintanceship  with  dear  Hessie 
I  can  say,  she  lived  the  Christ-life.  He  lived  in  her, 
He  filled  her  being,  He  looked  through  her  eyes,  He 
spoke  in  and  through  her..  Not  only  in  China  has  she 
been  used  of  God,  but  in  her  own  native  Ireland 
many  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed.  In  England  her 
life  and  words  have  left  a  sweet  savour  of  Christ 
wherever  she  has  been. 

Mrs.  Stewart's  letters  tell  of  the  two  houses,  and 
how  Nellie  and  Topsy  Saunders  were  under  their 


HANDS   CLASPED  2OI 

own  roof,  and  next  door  those  already  mentioned, 
with  Miss  Codrington  (the  " Flora"  of  Miss  Tolley's 
journal),  the  Elisha  who  remains  to  us  (together 
with  Mr.  Stewart's  three  children)  to  carry  on  the 
work  in  the  spirit  of  Elijah,  or  rather  to  show  that 
the  "Lord  God  of  Elijah"  is  still  on  earth,— that 
He  still  dwells  with  "  him  who  is  of  a  contrite  and 
humble  spirit." 

Rev.  W.  H.  S.  Phillips,  a  brother  missionary  and  a 
brother  beloved  in  the  Lord,  "  sleeping  in  a  house 
five  minutes  walk  off,  though  spending  most  of  the 
day  with  the  Stewarts  "  (I  quote  from  his  own  letter), 
also  left  behind,  completes  the  list  of  this  happy 
family  ot  missionaries.  The  mountains  round  Ku- 
cheng  having  become  literally  to  some  of  them  u  the 
land  of  Beulah." 

Mr.  Stewart,  writing  to  one  of  his  relations  not  long 
before  his  last  leave-taking,  said:  "  It  seems  like  a  kind 
of  dying,  this  going  away ;  but  He  holds  our  hands, 
and  the  hands  of  the  loved  ones  we  leave  behind,  and 
so  it  is  all  well. 

" '  God  holds  the  key  of  all  unknown,  and  I  am  glad  : 
If  other  hands  should  hold  the  key,  or  if  He  trusted  it  to  me, 

I  might  be  sad.'  " 

"  He  holds  our  hands  "  is  an  allusion  to  the  hymn 
at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  a  great  favourite 
with  him. 

He  sang  it  with  his  children  every  morning  at 
prayers  that  last  summer  he  had  them  all  round  him 
for  a  bright,  brief  holiday  in  North  Wales. 


202  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

But  let  no  one  think  he  went  sadly.  No,  he  (and 
she  too)  "  loved  "  to  be  with  the  children,  when  that 
was  "  His  sweet  will";  and  equally  loved  to  go  to 
China  when  His  voice  called  them ;  the  secret  being 
this:  they  loved  God,  and  knew  He  loved  them, 
with  a  real,  tender,  sympathizing  love  ;  and  so  they 
knew  His  will  could  be  nothing  but  good  to  them, 
their  children,  and  every  one  concerned. 

"  111  that  He  blesses  is  our  good, 

And  unblest  good  is  ill  : 
And  all  is  right  that  seems  most  wrong, 
If  it  be  His  sweet  will." 

I  believe  both  Robert  and  Louisa  Stewart  had 
passed  through  real  death — death  to  the  self-life. 

When  God  through  the  Spirit  spoke  those  words  in 
their  inmost  hearts,  "Ye  are  dead,"  they  believed 
God,  and  they  passed  through  the  experience  de 
scribed  in  Hebrews  iv.  12,  the  dividing  of  soul  and 
spirit — a  very  real  death. 

I  remember  how  she  spoke  to  me  about  this  subject 
when  I  stayed  with  her  in  Bedford — too  sacred  to 
repeat  even  now. 

"  A  sword  shall  pass  through  thine  own  soul 
also." 

"My  soul  is  even  as  a  weaned  child."  "Knowing 
this,  that  our  old  man  (self)  was  crucified  with  Him." 
These,  and  other  precious  words  given  by  God,  were 
passed  on  by  her  to  me.  She  said  she  found  trials 
were  so  different  now  to  what  they  had  been,  because 
now  there  was  no  rebellion,  no  questioning.  She  had 


HANDS   CLASPED  203 

learned  to  count  it  all  joy,  when  she  fell  into  divers 
trials. 

I  remember  how  she  said,  her  face  all  aglow,  as  it 
always  was  when  she  spoke  of  China,  "  I  do  not  quite 
understand,  but  I  believe  our  death  means  life  to  the 
Chinese." 

I  said,  "  Is  not  that  what  the  Apostle  Paul  meant 
when  he  said,  *  death  worketh  in  us  and  life  in 
you  ? ' " 

She  said,  with  her  accustomed  humility,  "  I  will  ask 
God  to  teach  me." 

We  knelt  and  prayed,  asking  for  that  teaching,  or 
rather  that  Teacher,  who  is  never  asked  for  in  vain. 
I  remembered  afterwards  that  she  had  pleaded  this 
verse  in  prayer,  asking  that  death  in  them  bringing 
life  to  the  Chinese  might  be  made  by  God  a  practical 
experience  in  herself  and  her  husband.  He  was  then 
in  Australia  on  a  missionary  tour  with  Mr.  Stock. 

After  his  return  I  was  at  Bedford  again.  One  of 
the  first  things  he  said  to  me  was,  that  while  he  was 
far  away  that  verse  had  come  to  him  with  great 
power  and  new  light ;  and  he  remarked,  "  It  makes 
one  love  the  thought  of  death,  now  that  we  know  it 
means  life  to  the  Chinese." 

Yes :  "  If  it  die,"  said  the  Master,  "  it  bringeth 
forth  much  fruit." 

Words  spoken  first  of  Himself,  and  then  of  every 
one  of  His  true  followers.  True  to-day.  This  "  fruit," 
though  possibly  found  "after  many  days,"  is  certain ; 
it  cannot  fail. 


204  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

He  passed  through  the  experience  first,  He  asks  us 
to  follow. 

He  knew  that  if  we  would  wear  the  crown,  we 
must  take  up  the  cross  (death  to  the  self-life)  and 
follow  Him. 

"  And  "  (rich  reward)  "  where  I  am  there  shall  also 
My  servant  be." 

"  Whosoever  liveth  and  belie veth  in  Me  shall  never 
die.  Belie  vest  thou  this  ?  " 

"  Yea,  Lord,"  we  answer.  And  so  we  know  our 
•loved  ones  did  not  see  death.  They  entered  into  the 
life  that  is  life  indeed. 

William  Dell,  preaching  before  Oliver  Cromwell, 
said : — 

"  This  crucified  flesh  only  is  able  to  endure  the  will 
of  God  and  to  suffer  for  His  Name.  For  till  the  flesh 
be  crucified  with  Christ,  and  killed  by  the  Word,  it 
will  suffer  nothing  for  God,  but  will  by  all  possible 
means  avoid  the  cross ;  but  when  it  is  truly  crucified, 
it  will  endure  the  greatest  evils  that  can  be  inflicted 
on  it,  either  by  men  or  devils,  or  by  the  Lord  Himself, 
and  that  with  much  willingness  and  cheerfulness. 
.  .  .  And  as  this  crucified  flesh  will  suffer  any 
thing  for  God,  so  it  will  suffer  it  aright  .  .  .  first, 
in  obedience  to  God ;  .  .  .  secondly,  in  meekness 
and  patience  as  Christ ;  .  .  .  and  thirdly,  in  love, 
and  that  to  the  very  persecutors,  so  as  to  pity  them 
and  pray  for  them.  This  is  a  glorious  suffering  in 
deed,  and  no  flesh  can  suffer  thus  but  this  crucified 
flesh  .  .  .  As  it  is  able  to  suffer  all  things,  so 


HANDS   CLASPED  205 

also  it  is  able  to  overcome  all  things  .  .  .  It  is 
quickened  with  Christ  to  overcome  all  things.  .  .  . 

"  That  flesh  which  is  crucified  by  the  Word  and  the 
Spirit  is  thereby  made  superior  to  all  things  in  that 
exaltation  and  might  which  the  Word  and  Spirit  com 
municate  to  it." 

The  following  letters  from  Louisa  Stewart,  dated 
July  6  and  July  19,  1895,  both  written  from  Hwasang, 
and  received  by  us  at  Peel,  the  first  on  August 
30,  the  second  on  September  6, — spoke  to  us  of  trust 
and  peace  and  earthly  quiet.  They  seemed  to  say 
to  us  too,  "  We  are  happier  now  than  you  can  picture ; 
the  veil  of  the  flesh  has  been  manifestly  rent,  from  top 
to  bottom.  Do  you  wish  us  back  again  ?  " 

The  description  in  the  first  of  these  letters  of  the 
walk  up  the  hill,  in  the  night,  was  used  by  God 
greatly  to  comfort  Mrs.  Stewart's  mother. 

At  night,  before  she  slept,  yet  not  fully  awake, 
came  the  words  with  heavenly  sweetness,  "  He  set 
His  face  as  a  flint  to  go  to  Jerusalem."  And  these 
thoughts  came  unbidden.  "  This  was  repeated  in  that 
walk  to  Hwasang.  It  was  the  Christ  Himself  who 
once  more  set  His  face  as  a  flint  to  'go  up '  to  the 
place  of  suffering.  He  knew,  though  they  did  not, 
what  lay  before  them.  And  knowing  it  all,  He  upheld 
them  by  the  right  hand  of  His  righteousness,  He  held 
their  right  hands,  as  He  had  promised,  and  He  guided 
them.  He  carried  them  to  the  cottage  home  at  Hwa 
sang. 

"Once  more  He  rejoiced  in  His  Father's  will,  even 


206  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

though  it  meant  suffering  to  His  precious  children, 
even  as  He  had  said,  '  Not  My  will,  but  Thine  be  done,1 
when  it  meant  for  Him  the  cross  and  the  grave." 

One,  to  whom  she  told  of  the  comfort  "  wherewith 
she  had  been  comforted  of  God,"  gave  her  a  copy  of 
the  following  beautiful  lines  by  Christina  Rossetti : — 

"  Up  Thy  hill  of  sorrows, 

Thou,  all  alone, 
Jesus,  man's  Redeemer, 

Climbing  to  a  throne. 
Through  the  world  triumphant, 

Through  the  Church  in  pain, 
Who  think  to  look  upon  Thee 

No  more  again. 

Upon  my  hill  of  sorrows, 

I,  Lord,  with  Thee, 
Cheered,  upheld,  yea  carried, 

If  a  need  should  be. 
Cheered,  upheld,  yea,  carried, 

Never  left  alone, 
Carried  in  Thy  heart  of  hearts 

To  a  throne." 

Extract  from  Mrs.  Stewart's  letter,  received  by  us 
August  30  :— 

"HWASANG,  July  6. 

"  You  will  see  by  the  heading  of  my  letter  that  we 
are  again  established  in  our  summer  quarters.  The 
children  and  Lena  went  up  about  a  fortnight  before 
we  did,  as  the  heat  was  very  great  at  Kucheng,  and 
we  could  not  leave  till  the  work  closed  for  the 
summer. 

"  Monday,  Topsy  Saunders  came  from  her  country 


HANDS   CLASPED  2OJ 

station.  Tuesday  we  packed  up,  and  in  the  afternoon 
she  and  I  went  to  pay  Dr.  Gregory  a  visit.  .  .  . 

"Next  day,  Wednesday,  we  got  up  early  to  send 
off  our  loads  before  the  sun  got  very  hot,  and  we 
arranged  that  our  chair-coolies  should  come  for  us 
after  dinner,  as  we  should  then  reach  the  mountains 
in  the  cool  of  the  day.  We  had  our  dinner,  and  then 
the  cook  with  the  few  remaining  things  started  off, 
and  we  patiently  waited  for  the  coolies.  No  one 
appeared.  We  sent  a  man  to  inquire.  The  answer 
came  back  that  they  could  not  go  that  day,  but  would 
arrive  at  '  day  dawn.'  What  was  to  be  done  ?  .  .  . 
We  held  a  council  of  war,  and  decided  to  walk  all  the 
way,  twelve  miles.  We  could  not  start  till  the  day 
began  to  cool,  but  as  there  was  a  moon  it  did  not 
matter.  The  first  part  of  our  walk  was  very  flat,  and 
led  along  by  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  just  as  it  was 
getting  dusk,  we  reached  the  foot  of  the  mountain. 
.  .  .  The  moon  soon  rose,  and  we  had  quite  light 
enough  to  see  our  way,  and  it  was  so  beautifully  cool 
and  the  mountain  air  so  fresh  we  did  not  get  very 
tired.  The  last  piece  is  a  very  steep  pull,  and  we  sat 
down  to  rest  before  attempting  it.  We  were  met  there 
by  a  man  with  a  lantern,  who  had  come  from  the 
house  to  meet  us.  We  got  in  about  ten  o'clock  and 
found  the  little  girls  still  up  watching  for  us.  Hessie 
Newcombe  and  Lucy  Stewart  were  also  looking  out 
for  us,  so  we  had  a  good  welcome.  .  .  . 

"  It  has  been  rather  wet  since  we  came  up,  so  we 
have  not  been  able  to  go  out  much,  but  it  is  such  a 


208  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

change  from  Kucheng ;  we  can  actually  have  a 
blanket  on  at  night  and  enjoy  it !  We  had  a  new 
room  built  on  to  the  house  this  year,  which  is  a  great 
improvement.  It  makes  a  fine  big  nursery,  and  the 
former  little  nursery  we  have  given  to  Nellie  and 
Topsy  Saunders,  so  we  have  a  large  family ! 

"  In  the  Z.M.S.  house  next  door  we  have  Hessie 
Newcombe,  Flora  Codrington,  Lucy  Stewart ;  and  two 
others  are  coming  shortly,  Elsie  Marshall  and  Annie 
Gordon.  We  hope  to  have  some  good  times  together, 
specially  during  Keswick  week."  (Then  come  many 
interesting  little  details,  stories  of  the  children, 
etc.) 

"  This  letter  seems  all  family  news :  holiday  time  is 
not  so  good  for  writing  about  work.  But  one  joyful 
thing  I  must  tell  you — Flora  Codrington  was  able  to 
carry  on  her  Station  Class,  though  we  had  to  close 
ours  when  we  went  to  Foochow,  and  as  an  experi 
ment  she  taught  four  women  to  read  in  Roman 
character.  She  had  them  just  three  months  and  a 
fortnight,  and  when  the  time  came  for  them  to  go  all 
four  could  read  quite  well  and  find  all  their  places  in 
the  New  Testament  quite  quickly.  We  hope  great 
things  from  these  Station  Classes  now  we  find  the 
women  can  learn  in  three  months.  We  hope  to  have 
your  house l  full  again  early  in  September,  so  please  tc 
remember  to  pray  for  the  women." 

1  This  refers  to  the  house  built  at  Kucheng  for  native  Bible- 
women  by  many  friends  at  home,  who  sent  their  gifts  through 
Mrs.  Smyly. 


HANDS   CLASPED  209 

EXTRACTS  FROM  MRS.  STEWART'S  LAST  LETTER, 
RECEIVED  SEPT.  6. 

"  Hwasang,  July  19. 

"  Your  letter  last  mail  told  us  that  you  had  just 
heard  of  our  flight  into  the  city  for  fear  of  the 
Vegetarians.  God  is  indeed  good  in  keeping  you  free 
from  anxiety.  We  had  special  prayer  in  the  boat 
going  down  to  Foochow,  that  God  would  keep  all  the 
dear  ones  at  home  '  in  perfect  peace,'  and  He  did 
answer  certainly. 

"  It  was  a  most  strange  affair  altogether,  but  it  was 
really  the  Japanese  coming  south  and  threatening  to 
bombard  Foochow  that  gave  the  Vegetarians  courage 
to  threaten  an  attack  on  Kucheng.  They  are  really 
rebels  against  their  own  Government,  but  they  have 
small  chance  of  doing  any  mischief  except  in  times  of 
trouble  from  an  outside  foe.  The  present  Government 
is  so  hated  by  the  people  that  there  would  certainly  be 
a  rebellion  if  there  seemed  any  hope  of  success.  God 
has  wonderfully  answered  prayer,  however,  and  re 
stored  peace,  and  already  we  see  signs  that  God  is 
going  to  bring  good  out  of  all  the  evil.  In  many 
places  there  is  a  greater  spirit  of  enquiry  than  ever 
before,  and  some  ot  the  Christians  say  they  have 
learned  to  trust  in  prayer  as  never  before. 

"  We  are  feeling  much  the  better  for  our  change  to 
this  cool  place — not  one  ill.  Is  not  that  cause  for  great 
thankfulness  to  God?  .  .  It  is  such  a  pretty  place 
too.  We  spend  our  days  very  quietly ;  we  have  to  stay 
indoors  till  5  o'clock,  and  we  spend  the  time  at  lessons, 

p 


210  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

reading  aloud,  writing  letters,  and  looking  after  the 
children.  From  5  o'clock  to  7  o'clock  all  who  are 
inclined  go  for  a  walk,  and  the  sisters  from  the  other 
house  join  us.  Some  days  they  go  to  the  village  and 
talk  to  the  women,  and  twice  a  week  come  here  for 
prayer  and  Bible-reading.  Sunday  Robert  and  I  go 
to  the  village  and  have  a  sort  of  informal  service  for 
the  heathen.  Sometimes  a  good  many  come,  some 
times  only  a  few,  but  we  find  by  experience  that  more 
come  when  there  are  not  too  many  of  us  (  foreigners ' 
together.  One  old  man  seemed  really  interested.  He 
has  come  several  times,  and  last  Sunday  he  turned  to 
the  rest  of  the  congregation  and  said,  '  Truly  the 
words  are  good.  They  say  our  sins  can  be  forgiven, 
and  that  the  Saviour  died  for  us,  and  will  allow  us  to 
go  to  His  home  in  Heaven.'  He  gave  them  a  second 
edition  of  what  we  had  been  saying.  We  were  very 
glad,  for  it  showed  us  he  had  taken  it  all  in  himself. 

"  Linda  Wade  is  spending  the  holidays  at  Kuliang, 
also  Annie  Tolley,  Fanny  Burroughs,  and  Maude 
Newcombe.  The  house  here  can  only  take  in  six,  so 
they  take  it  in  turn  to  go  to  Kuliang. 

"  The  two  little  boys  are  very  well  just  now.  Her 
bert  is  growing  much  stronger  than  he  was ;  just  at 
this  moment  they  are  together  in  a  swing  we  had  put 
up  in  the  verandah.  Evan  sits  in  the  middle  of  the 
seat  and  Herbert  stands  with  one  foot  on  each  side  of 
him,  and  works  the  swing  up  ever  so  high.  They 
scream  so  loudly  with  delight  that  Lena  has  to  rush 


HANDS   CLASPED  211 

out  to  hush  them  every  now  and  then,  to  let  baby 
sleep.  Baby  is  looking  better,  and  is  growing  very 
amusing." 

Her  last  description  of  her  Chinese  life,  quiet  and 
happy,  her  ears  filled  with  the  laughter  of  her  little 
boys,  her  heart  full  of  love  and  longing  for  the 
heathen,  and  of  care  for  the  dear  missionary  sisters 
and  for  her  own  family  ! 

The  week  after  was  their  "  Keswick  week,"  given 
up  more  especially  to  praise  and  prayer,  study  of 
God's  Word  and  exhorting  one  another. 

Mr.  Phillips'  letter,  written  after  all  was  over,  tells 
a  little  of  this  quiet  week,  their  "  retreat "  among  the 
hills : 

"  It  seemed  as  if  God  were  specially  preparing  all 
for  His  own  presence. 

"  The  week  before  had  been  a  specially  helpful  time, 
our  '  Keswick  week.'  Every  one  seemed  to  get  some 
thing  from  the  Master  Himself  for  mutual  food. 

"  Dear  Mr.  Stewart  was  very  full,  and  dear  Mrs. 
Stewart  gave  us  a  wonderful  Bible  -  reading  on  2 
Chronicles  xx. 

"She  was  such  a  mother  in  the  Mission;  all  who 
knew  her  thanked  God  for  knowing  her.  I  never 
heard  a  native  say  a  word  except  of  love  and  rever 
ence  for  her. 

"  On  the  day  before  the  riot  (Wednesday)  we  had  a 
Bible-reading  on  the  Transfiguration,  little  thinking 
that  the  immediate  glory  was  so  near  for  some. 


212  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"  On  the  Thursday  we  were  to  have  had  a  picnic 
to  keep  Herbie's  birthday,  and  the  poor  little  fellow 
could  not  sleep  on  Wednesday  night  for  excitement." 

On  Thursday  morning  early  another  letter  tells  us 
little  Herbert  went  out  with  his  sisters  to  gather 
flowers,  and  then  came  the  end — no,  not  the  end,  the 
sudden  entrance  into  glory,  the  beginning  of  life. 

The  assassins  took  the  sheets  from  the  beds  to  make 
banners.  On  one  they  wrote  :— 

"The  Dragon  will  conquer  the  foreigners'  GOD." 

"  '  The  Son  of  God  goes  forth  to  war '  also,  and  we 
know  He  is  Victor.  To  Him  every  knee  shall  bow, 
every  tongue  confess  that  He  is  Lord.  Poor,  blinded 
Vegetarians,  followers,  as  they  themselves  confess,  of 
the  Dragon,  fighting  under  his  banner !  *  The  Dragon 
fought  and  his  angels,  and  prevailed  not,  neither  was 
their  presence  found  any  more  in  heaven.' 

"  Stephen  prayed  for  his  murderers,  a  maddened 
crowd  who  stoned  him,  and  for  Saul,  who  was  con 
senting  unto  his  death. 

"  God  answered  that  prayer  in  the  case  of  Saul  be 
coming  the  Apostle  Paul. 

"May  there  not  be  a  Paul  among  these  blinded, 
deluded,  we  believe  devil-possessed  men  ?  These  devils 
can  come  forth  by  nothing  but  prayer.  Oh !  that 
God's  Holy  Spirit  may  cause  such  a  mighty,  united 
prayer  to  go  up  to  God  for  China,  for  the  heathen, 
for  these  special  haters  of  the  *  foreigners'  God,'  that 
many  may  become  obedient  to  the  faith.  With  God 
all  things  are  possible." 


2I3 


HANDS   CLASPED 

Mr.  Banister,  another  missionary,  writes  :•— 

"  The  only  adult  survivor  of  our  party,  Miss  Cod- 
rington,  there  is  hope  of,  though  she  has  some  very 
bad  wounds. 

"  The  blood  of  the  martyrs  has  ever  been  the  seed 
of  the  Church,  and  that  mountain  top  has  been  con 
secrated  by  the  outpoured  blood  of  these  beloved 
saints,  that  Kucheng  and  the  whole  of  China  may  be 
saved.  Quick  and  short  for  them  was  the  way  to 
glory  and  the  eternal  crown.  Our  hearts  are  torn 
with  the  agony  of  this  bitter  trial,  but  for  them  there 
is  now  the  eternal  joy  and  the  eternal  rest." 

One  of  the  "  Sisters "  writes:— 

"Do  pray  much  for  China  just  now,  and  for  Ku 
cheng.  It  must,  I  fear,  stop  the  work  there  for  a 
time ;  but  they  loved  it,  and  God  loves  it,  and  we  do 
want  to  go  back. 

"To  those  of  us  who  knew  them  well,  their  lives 
cannot  but  be  an  inspiration. 

"  On  the  way  down  a  woman  came  to  Miss  Codring- 
ton  and  said,  '  Don't  think  your  work  is  over ;  we  are 
all  in  tears  for  this  thing  that  has  happened.' 

"  Miss  Codrington  was  taken  to  the  Foochow  Hos 
pital  to  be  tenderly  nursed  by  the  dear  sisters  who 
have  addicted  themselves  to  this  ministry  ;  along 
with  the  four  remaining  children,  little  Herbert  hav 
ing  '  fallen  asleep '  on  the  journey.  The  baby  soon 
followed.  '  Safe  in  the  arms  of  Jesus,1  the  sisters 
wrote  on  the  little  white  coflin." 


2l6  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

One  of  them  says  (what  we  should  have  known  if 
she  had  not  written  it)  :•— 

"If  love  and  kindness  could  have  saved  her,  she 
would  have  lived." 

Miss  Codrington's  nurse  sent  this  beautiful  message 
from  her  patient,  too  weak  to  write  herself:  — 

"Though  she  received  many  wounds,  she  says  she 
felt  no  pain,  and  she  is  sure  the  others  did  not ;  she 
felt  only  a  thrill  of  joy  to  think  they  would  all  soon 
be  in  glory  together." 

And  now  my  task  is  well-nigh  over.  The  remain 
ing  chapters  are  mainly  from  other  pens. 

One  word  let  me  say  to  my  readers.  If  you  would 
follow  these  blessed  martyrs,  as  they  followed  Christ, 
the  steps  are  easy.  Seek  their  Saviour.  Admit  His 
Holy  Spirit  to  fill  your  being.  Accept  God's  sentence 
of  death  upon  all  the  self-life— upon  what  seems  good, 
as  well  as  upon  what  is  manifestly  bad ;  so  that  you 
may  testify,  as  they  did,  both  in  life  and  death,  "  Not 
I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me." 


CHAPTER  IX 

STRONG  CONSOLATION 

"  Let  them  praise  His  Name  in  the  dance  :  let  them  sing  praises 
unto  Him  with  the  timbrel  and  harp." — PSALM  cxlix.  3. 


CHAPTER  IX 

STRONG  CONSOLATION 
PSALM  cxlix.  3. 

Lord,  Thou  hast  loved  me,  and  henceforth  to  me 

Earth's  noonday  is  but  gloom  ; 
My  soul  sails  forth  on  the  eternal  sea, 

And  leaves  the  shore  of  doom. 

I  pass  within  the  glory  even  now, 

Where  shapes  and  words  are  not, 
For  joy  that  passeth  words,  O  Lord,  art  Thou, 

A  bliss  that  passeth  thought. 

I  enter  there,  for  Thou  hast  borne  away 

The  burden  of  my  sin  ; 
With  conscience  clear  as  heaven's  unclouded  day 

Thy  courts  I  enter  in. 

Heaven  now  for  me — for  ever  Christ  and  heaven — 

The  endless  NOW  begun— 
No  promise — but  a  gift  eternal  given, 

Because  the  work  is  done. 

H.  SUSO.1 

WHILE    all    this  was  happening   in  China,  Mrs. 
Stewart's  mother  and  sisters,  two  of  her  sons, 
and  other  relatives,  were  enjoying  the  sea  breezes  at 
Peel,  Isle  of  Man. 

There  they  received  the  telegram  that  told  of  sudden 
glory  and  a  martyr's  crown. 

1  In  "  Hymns  of  Tersteegen,  Suso  and  Others." 
219 


220  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

From  the  very  first  God  so  comforted,  by  giving 
such  vivid  realization  of  the  joy  and  glory  of  those 
He  had  taken,  the  survivors  could  not  grieve. 

"Thou  wilt  show  me  the  path  of  life.  In  Thy 
presence  is  fulness  of  joy,  and  at  Thy  right  hand  there 
are  pleasures  for  evermore,"  was  given  by  God  to 
one  of  them. 

"  Of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy,"  was 
whispered  by  God's  Spirit  to  the  hearts  of  two  of  the 
company  about  the  same  time,  and  other  messages 
equally  beautiful  but  too  many  to  enumerate  here. 

How  blessed  is  it,  in  times  like  these,  to  have  learnt 
to  hear  the  Shepherd's  voice  ! 

Well  might  David  pray,  "  Be  not  silent  to  me,  lest  if 
Thou  be  silent  to  me  I  become  like  those  that  go  down 
to  the  pit." 

And  He  has  many  ways  in  which  this  "  mother- 
comforting  "  comes.  The  angels,  we  are  told,  are  "  all 
ministering  spirits  sent  forth  to  minister  on  behalf  of 
those  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation." 

Elisha  saw  the  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  round 
about  him,  therefore  he  could  not  fear,  though  a  host 
of  mortal  men  had  encamped  against  him. 

When  John  fell  down  to  worship  at  the  feet  of  the 
angel  he  refused  divine  honours,  telling  him  he  was 
his  fellow-rservant,  and  one  of  those  that  had  the  testi 
mony  of  Jesus. 

And  a  second  time  when  John  again  tried  to 
worship,  he  was  told,  "  I  am  thy  fellow-servant,  and 
of  thy  brethren  the  prophets,  and  of  them  which  keep 
the  sayings  of  this  book  :  worship  God." 


STRONG   CONSOLATION  221 

And  God  hath  other  ways— how  many  and  how 
varied  we  know  not. 

He  comes  through  angel  messengers  who  still  abide 
in  houses  of  clay,  and  through  them  He  sends  sweet 
messages  of  love  and  cheer.  We  quote  some  extracts 
from  the  many  loving  helpful  letters  received. 

"  Mr.  Williams  was  with  us  yesterday  (son  of  the 
martyr  John  Williams).  He  was  touched  in  reading 
the  news  from  China.  He  said  he  was  at  school  in 
England  when  the  dreadful  news  came  to  him,  and 
he  could  recall  something  of  what  his  feelings  were." 

"  How  wonderful  it  seems,  in  God's  providence,  that 
they  who  were  so  trusted  and  so  needed  should  be  the 
ones  to  be  called  like  this  !  " 

"  Truly  they  were  His  chosen  ones  to  suffer  in  such 
a  way  as  He  honours  few  by  asking,  and  what  glory 
is  theirs  too." 

"  Your  hearts  must  be  bleeding  indeed,  and  every 
heart  is  touched  and  deeply  affected." 

"  You  will  have  the  consolation  that  not  only  our 
dear  Lord  is  bearing  your  sorrow,  but  that  all 
Christian  people,  the  wide  world  over,  are  sharing  in 
it,  and  praying  for  you  and  for  those  others  who  have 
lost  friends  in  this  awful  riot." 

"Ten  thousand  hearts  are  bleeding  for  you  and 
yours  to-day.  But  I  know  the  Saviour  is  pouring  in 
His  loving  sympathy  and  tender  consolation." 

"  My  eyes  seem  to  rest  on  dear  Mrs.  Stewart's  face, 
so  full  of  Heaven  as  we  last  saw  it — how  full  of 
heaven  will  it  be  when  we  see  it  again  !  " 


222  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"  My  heart  has  just  been  full  of  you  one  and  all. 
Even  for  myself  it  has  been  a  greater  sorrow  and  loss 
than  I  can  tell  you  ;  few  I  loved  and  valued  and 
admired  so  well  as  Robert  and  Louisa ;  very  few  I 
prayed  for  so  constantly.  I  had  such  a  precious  half- 
hour  with  him  at  our  C.M.S.  anniversary,  April, 
1893,  and  I  do  feel  it  an  honour  to  have  dear  cousin 
among  ( the  Noble  Army  of  Martyrs.' v 

"  Is  not  John  xii.  24  very  precious  just  now?  We 
may  watch  with  certainty  for  the  much  fruit." 

From  Switzerland:— 

"  We  well  remember  Mr.  Stewart's  visit  to  Torquay 
in  1884,  when  he  stayed  at  -  -  and  spoke  at  the  C.M.S. 
meeting.  What  specially  impressed  us  about  him  at 
that  meeting  was  the  utter  absence  of  self.  He  never 
even  alluded  to  the  danger  and  persecutions  through 
which  they  had  passed,  and  spoke  at  table  with  such 
genuine  love  and  devotion  to  his  work." 

"  Dear  -  -  was  so  fond  of  your  dear  sister,  and 
used  to  speak  of  her  unworldly,  saintly  character. 

"  May  we  not  pray  and  hope  and  believe  that  even 
these  things  may  fall  out  rather  unto  the  furtherance 
of  the  Gospel,  for  which  they  have  indeed  laid  down 
their  lives? " 

"The  blood  of  the  martyrs  may  be  the  seed  of  a 
glorious  harvest,  to  rejoice  their  hearts  and  yours  in 
the  day  of  His  appearing." 

"  Your  precious  ones  are  crowned  with  '  the  ruby 
crown  ' ;  the  noble  army  of  martyrs  praise  Thee." 

"  Think  of  them  there." 


STRONG   CONSOLATION  223 

"  For  them  sudden  glory  and  a  martyr's  crown  and 
great  eternal  reward." 

"  They  can  say  with  a  smile  (  Fear  not  them  which 
kill  the  body,  and  after  that  have  no  more  that  they 
can  do.'  .  .  .  The  Lord  knows  whom  He  can  trust 
with  the  heaviest  trials.  He  knows  whose  faith  will 
stand  it,  and  He  puts  a  high  honour  upon  you  in 
sending  you  this." 

"  I  loved  dear  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  very  much,  and 
looked  forward  to  meeting  them  below,  but  now  it 
must  be  above.  Have  they  not  been  faithful  unto 
death,  and  theirs  is  the  crown  of  life  ?  " 

"  They  must  have  been  preaching  the  Gospel  in 
power  so  to  have  roused  the  devil." 

"  They  will  have  their  reward  in  the  glory  which 
shall  be  revealed  in  them,  and  in  seeing  China  really 
opened  to  the  Gospel." 

"  What  a  difference  it  makes  to  one's  life  to  be 
connected  with  those  who  have  been  sent  the  martyr's 
crown — the  highest  of  the  heavenly  awards !  " 

"  It  takes  us  right  back  to  the  days  of  the  early 
persecutions,  and  forward  into  the  glory-land  at  a 
stroke!  " 

"  How  they  must  rejoice !  and  now  also,  as  minister 
ing  angels,  must  they  not  be  engaged  in  comforting  us 
with  the  comfort  wherewith  they  themselves  are  com 
forted  of  God  ?" 

u  I  am  certain  God  and  China  will  have  great  vic 
tory  out  of  this  tremendous  sorrow." 

44  One  cannot  realize  that  those  saintly  Stewarts  are 


224  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

no  longer  in  the  fight,  but  in  the  very  presence  of  our 
Lord.  Their  very  name  is  a  blessing  .  .  ." 

"  Now  they  have  leisure  to  talk  together  of  all  that 
has  happened  on  the  way." 

"  Perfect  divine  love  must  have  its  own  perfect 
reasons  for  not  interfering  and  preventing.  .  .  . 
Let  our  tears  be  praises,  and  let  our  sighs  and  moans 
turn  into  triumphant  songs  of  victory  before  the  Lamb 
of  God,  who  was  slain  and  was  the  self-sacrifice,  and 
who  by  this  has  overcome.  .  .  .  Let  us  comfort 
one  another  with  the  thought  'The  Lord  is  at  hand.' 
Let  us  be  patient.  Stablish  our  hearts,  for  the  coming 
of  the  Lord  draweth  near." 

"  It  was  not  what  it  seems  to  us !  There  was  a 
presence  with  them  so  bright,  so  encircling  that  they 
were  shielded  from  so  much  we  see  ;  and,  or  ever  they 
were  aware,  the  glory  burst  upon  them." 

"  He  redeemeth  their  soul  from  deceit  and  violence, 
and  precious  shall  their  blood  be  in  His  sight." 

"  Surely  a  blessing  must  follow,  and  the  name  of 
Jesus  will  be  glorified.  They  are  among  the  great 
'  cloud  of  witnesses.'  " 

From  Bedford,  where  they  lived  for  a  short  time:— 

"  Dear  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart !  we  truly  loved  them, 
as  did  every  one  who  knew  them.  We  all  feel  their 
martyrdom  as  a  real  personal  sorrow.  To  know  them 
was  to  love  them.  They  were  indeed  saints  on  earth, 
ready  ever  to  do  and  suffer  God's  will.  The  last  con 
versation  I  think  I  ever  had  with  your  dear  sister  here 
in  this  drawing-room  was  on  the  subject  of  God's  will. 


STRONG   CONSOLATION  225 

I  was  so  struck  with  the  bright  way  she  spoke !  I 
wish  I  could  remember  what  she  said,  but  she  spoke  of 
loving  it. 

"  She  said,  If  we  continually  brought  ourselves  to 
say  to  Him,  '  I  love  Thy  will,  O  Lord,'  we  would  come 
really  to  love  it.  Now  they  have  been  counted  worthy 
to  suffer  for  the  Saviour's  sake. 

"  I  so  often  think  of  her  words ;  and  we  may  be  sure 
that  He  was  with  them  in  their  short  passage  from 
this  world." 

"  Miss  W.  wrote  (from  China)  that  my  niece  (Miss 
Codrington)  said  she  felt  no  pain  from  her  dreadful 
wounds  that  awful  day.  ...  It  comforts  us  in 
thinking  of  the  others." 

"It  is  very  touching  to  hear  of  the  four  who  lived 
together,  locking  their  bedroom  door  and  praying 
together,  led  by  Hessie  Newcombe,  just  before  the  men 
entered  their  room." 

From  Canada  :— 

"  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  were  ideal  missionaries,  so 
very  lovely  in  their  lives  and  characters,  so  wholly 
given  up  to  the  Holy  Spirit's  guiding,  and  so  used  of 
God.  The  very  brightness  of  their  faces  brought 
glory  to  God.  And  though  their  great  love  for  each 
other  was  so  apparent,  arid  their  love  for  their  children 
and  for  all  of  you  so  intense,  the  first  thought  was 
always  the  Master's  will  and  the  Master's  work.  The 
good  they  did  out  here  will  never  be  known  in  this 
life.  Surely  the  Lord  has  some  very  good  thing  in 
store  for  them,  when  He  called  them  so  quickly  above, 

9. 


226  ROBERT   AND    LOUISA    STEWART 

and  gave  to  them  the  honour  of  following  so  closely  in 
His  footsteps/1 

From  Japan : — - 

"  The  news  of  the  awful  events  of  last  week  will 
have  reached  you  before  they  reached  us,  and  all  the 
world  over  Christian  people  will  be  holding  the 
bereaved  ones  in  prayerful  sympathy  before  God." 

"  When  I  told  my  teacher  the  cause  of  my  sorrow7, 
he  immediately  said,  '  Let  us  pray ' ;  and  when  a  few 
nights  after  I  was  talking  to  one  of  our  catechists  and 
his  wife  about  the  dear  children,  he  also  said,  '  Let  us 
pray  for  them.'  Surely  this  seed  will  bring  forth 
a  hundredfold." 

,  "  God  has  chosen  thy  children  for  the  rare  dis 
tinction  of  martyrdom,  for  the  crown  that  but  few  of 
our  generation  shall  ever  wear." 

A  prelate  of  the  Church  of  Ireland  writes  :  — 

44 1  was  preaching  in  a  country  church  yesterday  on 
John  xiv.  15,  and  at  the  close  I  alluded  to  Mark  xvi. 
15  as  an  instance  of  a  commandment,  and  to  the  death 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart.  If  Mrs.  Smyly  had  seen 
the  tears  of  the  rough  farmers  present,  she  would  have 
felt  at  all  events  that  there  is  deep  sympathy,  and  I 
trust  there  is  also  much  prayer." 

Another  writes  :— 

"  Oh  !  God  is  getting  great  glory  out  of  all  this,  and 
we  do  praise  Him.  May  we  be  taught  just  now  to 
pray  for  you  all,  and  for  those  '  afar  off  in  the  widest 
sense  of  that  expression." 

'4  A  friend  had  this  text  given  for  us  the  night  before 


STRONG   CONSOLATION  22J 

he  heard  the  news — '  Why  seek  ye  the  living  among 
the  dead  ? '  " 

"  It  almost  seems  an  intrusion  to  write  just  now,  and 
yet  I  must,  just  to  tell  you  how  our  prayers  are  with 
you..  .  .  .  God  knew  when  His  servants  had 
finished  His  work ;  and  if  He  took  them  home  by  a 
shorter  way  than  they  expected,  the  rest  and  joy  of 
home  will  more  than  make  up  for  the  roughness  of  the 
way. 

"  May  I  tell  you  a  little  scrap  from  Mr.  Stewart's 
address  at  our  C.M.S.  meeting  in  1891  ?  He  was 
speaking  of  suffering  for  Christ's  sake,  and  telling  of 
the  persecution  of  two  native  converts.  '  Remember,' 
he  said,  '  we  must  be  ready  to  die.  .  .  .  Think  of 
Jesus.  Keep  your  eye  on  Him.  How  He  suffered  on 
the  Cross  for  us.  Though  no  human  hand  may  be 
there  to  close  your  eyes,  there  will  be  One  there 
always  "  all  the  days."  "  Unto  me,  who  am  less  than 
the  least  of  all  saints,  is  this  grace  given,  that  I  should 
preach  among  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ."  ' 

u  'If  those  words  are  yours,  your  end  is  to  be 
envied.'" 

"  We  have  prayed  much  for  you  all,  and  feel  quite 
sure  that  in  the  midst  of  it  all  you  are  praising  God. 

"  He  never  makes  a  mistake." 

u  Truly  it  is  when  we  are  passing  through  the 
waters  that  we  really  understand  the  Presence  and 
the  wondrous  upholding." 

"  '  Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and 


228  ROBERT   AND    LOUISA    STEWART 

die.  ;  .  .  If  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit,' 
which  is  even  already  showing  in  the  quickened 
interest  in  Missions  everywhere  showing  itself  through 
their  suffering." 

"  God  will  lift  you  up  far,  very  far  above  earth  and 
all  earthly  things  to  where  Christ  crowns  His  pecu 
liarly  honoured  servants  and  handmaids.  May  such 
an  excess  of  faith  be  yours  as  shall  enable  you  to  see 
your  beloved  one  clearly  in  her  new  martyr  joy  and 
glory." 

Mrs.  E.  C.  Millard  tells  of  a  letter  from  Australia : 
that  many  friends  there  said  they  had  seen  in  Mr. 
Stewart's  life  the  reality  of  what  they  had  heard  about 
in  meetings  and  services  held  the  year  before  by  Rev. 
George  Grubb  and  his  Mission  party. 

From  India  :— 

"  Who  ever  heard  her  plead  for  China  that  was  not 
touched  by  her  spirit  and  enthusiasm  ?  That,  whether 
by  life  or  death,  to  witness  for  Christ  amongst  the 
heathen  was  the  highest  privilege  in  the  world?  And 
now  the  joy  of  the  Lord  is  theirs  for  evermore." 

From  Ceylon  :— 

"  I  shrank  from  putting  first  my  first  thought,  which 
was  of  the  heartiest  congratulations  that  the  precious 
Saviour  should  so  honour  you  and  yours  as  to  enable 
them  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  ( the  sufferings  of  Christ 
for  His  body's  sake  ' — the  poor  Chinese  who  shall 
believe  on  Him  through  their  life's  testimony !  He 
must  love  those  poor  cruel  people  very  much  when  He 
allows  such  a  precious  sacrifice  ( to  be  offered  on  the 


STRONG   CONSOLATION  22<) 

service  of  their  faith.'  I  keep  thinking  God  so  loved 
the  people  of  Kucheng  that  He  gave  His  own  loved 
ones  to  prove  by  their  lives  the  sincerity  of  their 
faith.  Since  the  first  telegram,  which  I  hardly 
believed,  I  have  been  praying,  '  Father,  forgive  them,' 
for  the  poor  Chinese  '  know  not  what  they  do.'  " 

From  Australia  :— 

u  We  are  deeply  interested  in  the  work,  as  Mrs. 
Saunders'  daughters  were  from  Kew.  At  first  it 
seemed  hard  to  think  of  so  many  useful  lives  sacri 
ficed,  but  already  it  seems  as  if  the  fruit  is  appearing. 
God's  ways  are  not  our  ways,  but  they  are  best,  for  He 
knows  all  things.  There  are  a  great  many  Chinese  in 
Melbourne,  and  those  who  attend  classes  and  meetings 
are  in  a  very  softened  state  and  much  impressed  by 
this  sad  news.  Christians  are  busy  working  among 
them,  and  the  Chinese  profess  to  be  very  much 
ashamed  of  their  countrymen. 

"  A  lady  who  went  to  see  Mrs.  Saunders  found  her 
seated  between  two  Chinese  ladies,  and  she  was  com 
forting  them,  so  great  was  their  grief.  Some  of  the 
Chinese  students  attending  a  class  held  in  connection 
with  Kew  Church,  sent  a  message  that  they  were  too 
ashamed  and  distressed  to  come,  but  Mrs.  Saunders 
sent  back  a  message  begging  them  to  come  as  usual, 
as  her  daughters  loved  their  people,  and  had  given 
their  lives  for  them. 

"  I  believe  what  has  happened  will  spread  world 
wide,  and  cause  a  great  revival.  We  attended  the 
memorial  service  held  at  St.  Hilary's,  to  which  the 


230  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

Misses  Saunders  belonged.  It  was  a  very  solemn  time, 
but  it  was  a  time  too  of  rejoicing.  The  service  was  a 
very  impressive  one,  but  full  of  deep  calm  joy. 

"  (  Faithful  unto  death,'  was  written  in  white  llowers 
and  palms.  Great  beautiful  ones  waved  gently  in  the 
light  breeze  coming  in  at  the  open  windows,  symbols 
of  victory  and  triumph. 

"  *  Faithful  unto  death/  in  white  flowers  and  palms 
in  Australia. 

"  '  Faithful  unto  death,'  on  ( Lena's  '  coffin  in  China. 
Yes,  and  the  Lord  has  fulfilled  His  promise.  '  I  will 
give  thee  the  crown  of  life.' 

" ' Through   faith   they    obtained    promises     .     . 
they,   out   of  weakness,   were    made    strong,   waxed 
valiant  in   light,  turned   to   flight  the  armies  of  the 
aliens.' 

11  To  the  eye  of  faith,  this  was  no  mere  attack  of 
Chinese  people  upon  English  missionaries. 

"  But  the  great  war  that  is  being  waged  all  over 
this  earth  is  in  reality  in  the  spiritual  kingdom.  The 
victories  are  spiritual,  the  enemies — '  hosts  of  wicked 
spirits  '  (Eph.  6),  sometimes  in  human  beings. 

"The  members  of  this  fanatical  sect  have  taken 
ascetic  vows  of  abstinence  from  liquors,  opium, 
tobacco,  and  flesh  meat;  hence  they  are  sometimes 
called  '  Vegetarians.' 

u  They  have  vowed  to  stamp  out  the  name  and 
religion  of  Jesus  from  China,  and  to  exterminate  those 
who  worship  Him.  On  their  banner  they  wrote,  '  The 
Dragon  will  conquer  the  foreigners'  God.' 


STRONG  CONSOLATION  231 

"  In  this  holy  war  these  pioneer  missionaries  fell, 
and  yet  they  conquered. 

"God's  greatest  victories  look  to  the  natural  eye 
like  defeat. 

"  When  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  was  left,  deserted 
by  His  disciples,  seemingly  forsaken  by  God  ;  when 
He  cried  that  bitter  cry,  '  Why  hast  Thou  forsaken 
me  ? '  and  at  last  poured  out  His  soul  unto  death,  did 
it  not  seem  to  common  sense  as  if  He  had  been  de 
feated,  as  if  the  devil  had  gained  the  day? 

u  But  our  defeats  are  God's  victories.  And  as  the 
Cross  of  Jesus  will  ever  stand,  the  centre  of  all  time, 
the  example  of  pure,  unselfish  love,  so  is  it  the  greatest 
example  of  God's  triumph,  in  and  through  weakness. 

"  The  One  who  knew  no  sin,  was  made  sin  for  us 
that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
Him. 

"  We  know  God  has  gained  a  great  victory  in 
China,  that  from  these  precious  lives  laid  down  will 
spring  up  an  innumerable  company  in  China,  who, 
together  with  these  blessed  martyrs,  will  praise  the 
Lamb.  Can  we  not  say,  with  John,  l  And  I  beheld, 
and  I  heard  the  voice  of  many  angels  round  about  the 
throne  and  the  living  creatures  and  the  elders : 

"  *  And  the  number  of  them  was  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of  thousands  : 

" (  Saying  with  a  loud  voice,  Worthy  is  the  Lamb 
that  was  slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  wis 
dom,  and  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and 
blessing. 


232  ROBERT  AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

"  '  And  every  creature  which  is  in  heaven,  and  on 
the  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  and  such  as  are  in  the 
sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them,  heard  I  saying,  Blessing 
and  honour  and  glory  and  power  be  unto  Him  that 
sitteth  upon  the  Throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  for  ever 
and  ever. 

•u  '  And  the  four  living  creatures  said,  Amen.  And 
the  four  and  twenty  elders  fell  down  and  worshipped 
Him  that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever.'  " 


CHAPTER   X 

"CALLED,   AND   CHOSEN,   AND  FAITHFUL 
REV.  xvii.  14. 


233 


CHAPTER    X 

CALLED,   AND    CHOSEN,   AND   FAITH*  UL 

THE    GOLDEN    CITY 
REV.  xxi.  ii. 

I  have  seen  this  golden  city 

Shining  as  the  noonday  clear, 
Seen  the  glory  that  surrounds  it 

As  of  sunset  drawing  near, 
And  my  soul  hath  caught  an  echo 

Of  the  music  that  resounds 
Through  all  its  woods  and  meadows  :— 
"  In  this  city  Love  abounds, 

Love  abounds." 

There  is  no  night  in  this  city, 

Here  the  Sun  goes  down  no  more, 

For  the  Lord  Himself  unveileth 

His  own  Light  from  shore  to  shore  ; 

Where  the  stillness  is  so  perfect 
In  its  harmony  of  sounds 

That  the  soul  hears  but  one  utterance — 

"  In  this  city  Love  abounds, 

Love  abounds." 

Christ  alone  is  King  of  glory, 

He — The  Lamb  who  once  was  slain  ! 

And  this  wondrous  living  city 
Is  the  outcome  of  His  pain  : 

'Tis  His  own  all-glorious  body, 
Hence  we  hear  the  joyful  sounds 
235 


236  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

That  for  ever  echo  through  it  : — 
"  In  this  city  Love  abounds, 

Love  abounds." 

THE  STORY  OF  LENA  THE  IRISH  NURSE. 

LENA  was  called  by  God  when  quite  a  child  in  one 
of  the  Dublin  Mission  Homes.  She  heard  the 
call  and  recognised  the  Voice. 

She  was  chosen  of  Him  that  she  should  be  holy  and 
without  blemish,  and  to  her  also  was  this  grace  given 
that  she  should  preach  by  word  and  life  among  the 
heathen  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

She  was  faithful  even  unto  death.  She  lost  her  life 
in  seeking  to  save  another. 

When  Lena  was  eleven  years  old,  she  knew  very 
distinctly  that  Christ  had  taken  possession  of  her  as 
His  temple,  to  fill  with  grace  and  glory,  and  thence  to 
bless  others. 

She  was  a  bright,  clever  girl,  and  her  friends 
thought  she  would  make  a  good  teacher  in  one  of  the 
Mission  schools.  But  Lena  herself  had  other  views 
in  her  little  mind. 

In  the  world  outside  the  Elliott  Home  changes 
had  been  taking  place.  Miss  Louisa  Smyly,  a  great 
favourite  among  the  Mission  school  children,  had  been 
married,  and  had  become  Mrs.  Robert  Stewart.  She 
had  gone  out  to  China  with  her  husband,  followed  to 
her  far  foreign  home  by  the  love  and  interest  of  many 
to  whom  she  had  been  helpful  in  Dublin.  But  in  one 
little  Elliott  Home  girl's  heart  there  was  a  special 
link  of  sympathy, — a  God-given  link. 


"CALLED,  AND   CHOSEN,  AND   FAITHFUL"     237 

The  wise  little  maiden  felt  that  if  she  could  help 
forward  God's  w^ork  by  helping  Mrs.  Stewart  and 
setting  her  free  to  teach  the  Chinese  women,  her  great 
wish  would  be  fulfilled. 

Some  years  passed  by,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart 
returned  from  China  with  a  family  of  little  children. 
In  the  summer  holidays  they  went  to  Wales  to  be 
near  the  sea.  Mrs.  Stewart  wanted  a  girl  to  help  her 
in  the  care  of  her  children.  And  though  Lena's 
desires  were  locked  up  in  her  own  little  heart,  the 
matron  of  the  Home  had  her  ideas  on  the  same  subject, 
feeling  that  her  capable  trustworthy  pupil  might  be 
a  real  help  to  Mrs.  Stewart,  and  she  gladly  recom 
mended  her  for  the  vacant  place.  And  Lena  found 
herself  promoted,  for  the  time  at  least,  to  the  work  she 
had  so  desired. 

She  proved  herself  so  faithful  and  useful  during  the 
temporary  engagement,  that  the  next  proposal  was,  to 
her  unbounded  delight,  that  she  should  be  permanently 
installed  as  nurse  and  go  back  to  China  with  the 
family  on  their  return.  I  need  hardly  say  the  offer 
was  accepted,  even  with  tears  of  joy.  And  from  that 
time  (Avith  one  interval  of  a  year,  when  she  went  to 
stay  with  her  mother,  who  had  emigrated  to  America) 
the  little  voices  that  called  on  "Ena"  for  help  and 
counsel  in  their  daily  joys  and  sorrows  and  occupa 
tions  filled  her  life  with  happy,  useful  work. 

Not  without  its  trials  ;  such  as  the  long  hours  when 
Mrs.  Stewart  was  out  among  her  Chinese  women,  and 
the  bright  young  Irish  girl — she  was  only  seventeen 


238  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

when  she  went  out — was  left  alone  with  her  little 
charges,  no  other  English-speaking  person  within 
reach.  It  was  well  that  her  life-path  had  not  been 
lightly  chosen  ;  and  better  still,  that  she  had  learned 
to  know  Him  who  says,  "  I  will  never  leave  thee." 

When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  had  to  come  home  in 
1888,  as  already  stated,  to  recruit  his  health,  Lena,  of 
course,  came  with  them.  She  proved  to  be  a  great 
comfort,  not  only  through  her  watchful  care  of  the 
children,  but  by  her  ready  thoughtfulness  and  Chris 
tian  sympathy. 

The  love  she  bore  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  was 
God's  own  love  shed  abroad  in  her  heart  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.  This  was  proved  by  her  unselfishness. 
Merely  human  love  is  an  outcome  of  the  self-life,  and 
is  never  quite  free  from  selfishness.  God's  love  alone 
is  like  the  sunshine — all  give  and  no  take. 

We  all  counted  Lena  as  a  friend,  no  longer  a  servant 
merely  (hallowed  as  that  name  and  position  is  through 
our  Saviour's  life  of  humble  service),  but  also  a  sister 
beloved  in  the  Lord. 

During  the  short  happy  time  that  they  called 
Bedford  home,  I  used  to  see  Lena  occasionally,  and 
not  the  least  important  part  of  a  few  days'  visit  to  my 
sister  was  the  little  time  with  Lena  in  the  nursery. 

One  day  baby  would  not,  sleep.  And  Lena  had 
something  on  her  heart  to  say,  but  even  the  hearts  of 
babies  are  in  the  Lord's  hand,  and  He  turns  them 
whithersoever  He  will.  Baby  slept,  and  Lena  could 
tell  her  request  for  prayer.  It  was  for  blessing  deep 


14  CALLED,   AND   CHOSEN,  AND   FAITHFUL"     239 

and  lasting  on  the  Y.W.C.A.  in  Bedford,  and  for 
special  meetings  about  to  be  held. 

Lena  was  a  Y.W.C.A.  member,  and  deeply  in 
terested  in  the  Association. 

Mrs.  Stewart  was  made  President  of  the  Bedford 
Association  Avhile  she  was  resident  in  that  town. 
Lena  and  her  mistress  were  always  one  in  spirit, 
and  they  both  loved  the  Y.W.C.A. ;  and  I  am  sure 
they  both  prayed  God  to  bless  it  as  long  as  they 
lived. 

To  this  union  of  spirit  between  mother  and  nurse 
we  attribute  much  of  the  blessing  which,  through 
God's  mercy,  has  been  given  to  the  children. 

In  all  the  little  difficulties  which  always  arise  with 
a  family  of  seven  or  eight  children  the  one  resource 
with  Mrs.  Stewart  and  Lena  was  prayer. 

They  clung  to  that  promise,  "  If  two  of  you  shall 
agree  as  touching  anything  that  they  shall  ask,  it 
s/in/l  be  clone."  And  the  promise,  or  rather  the 
Promiser,  it  is  needless  to  say,  never  failed  them. 

Lena  never  forsook  her  old  love  for  the  new. 
China,  the  land  of  her  adoption,  was  the  new  love, 
Ireland  and  her  people,  and  specially  "  The  Elliott 
Home,"  her  own  home,  was  the  old.  Every  year 
the  savings  from  her  wages  were  sent  to  its  funds. 
Earnestly  and  fervently  she  prayed  for  the  children, 
and  heartily  did  she  thank  God  for  the  Dublin  Mission 
Homes  and  Schools. 

The  arrangement  made  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart 
were  returning  to  China,  in  1893,  showed  how  highly 


240  ROBERT   AND    LOUISA    STEWART 

they  valued  Lena's  capability  and  trustworthiness. 
It  was,  of  course,  impossible  to  take  little  children  on 
a  missionary  tour  in  Canada,  so  they  were  left  to 
make  the  long  journey  to  Foochow,  in  their  faithful 
nurse's  care. 

How  vividly  we  remember  the  start  that  October 
evening,  the  little  travellers  well  wrapped  up  for 
their  night  journey,  dear  little  four-year-old  Herbert 
clinging  to  a  stuffed  calico  "pussy";  and  Lena 
moving  about  among  them,  so  -quiet  and  self-possessed, 
seeming  to  know  everything,  and  to  remember  every 
thing  that  was  necessary. 

The  journey  was  safely  accomplished,  and  we 
heard  with  joy  of  the  happy  meeting  in  China. 

vSince  then  Lena's  letters  have  been  interesting,  full 
of  nursery  news,  well  written  and  well  expressed. 

In  spare  evenings  Mrs.  Stewart  taught  Lena 
Chinese,  so  that  when  she  went  out  with  the  children 
she  could  give  a  simple  message  to  the  Chinese  women 
who  came  in  her  way. 

She  soon  learned  to  say,  <(  Jesus  loves  you,  and 
died  to  save  you." 

One  of  Lena's  last  letters,  written  in  May,  1895, 
tells  about  the  flight  from  Kucheng  at  the  first  alarm 
of  the  Vegetarians;  how  she  packed  blankets  and 
clothes  in  baskets  for  Mrs.  Stewart  and  the  chil 
dren. 

She  gives  beautiful  glimpses  of  the  confidence  and 
oneness  of  spirit  between  the  workers  whom  God 
had  joined  in  such  close  union  in  His  work,  and 


"CALLED,  AND   CHOSEN,  AND   FAITHFUL'       24! 

whom  He  was  so  soon  going  to  gather  up  together 
into  the  unseen  glory. 

Then  the  letter  goes  back  to  nursery  details,  very 
touching  to  read  now ;  how  baby  caught  cold  on  the 
journey,  and  how  her  teeth  were  troubling  her;  but 
finally  the  careful  nurse  says,  "  She  is  quite  bright 
again,"  and  goes  on  to  tell  of  more  little  plays  and 
sayings. 

Sweet,  happy  home-life,  not  ended,  only  carried 
within  the  veil  by  that  wild  outbreak  of  fanatical 
fury.  We  know  how  the  faithful  nurse  went  home 
by  that  rough  path  with  two  of  her  nurslings. 

We  do  not  want  to  dwell  in  thought  on  the  rough 
path — the  earthly  side.  It  seemed  as  if  God  drew  our 
hearts  up,  and  taught  us  to  say,  "  Lord,  they  are 
with  Thee";  the  little  ones  "  quite  bright  again." 
Ah !  how  bright  in  the  sunshine  of  Thy  presence,  all 
that  band  rejoicing  now  in  the  presence  of  the  King. 

"  Safe  gathered  home  around  Thy  blessed  feet, 

Come  home  by  different  roads  from  near  and  far  ; 
Whether  by  whirlwind  or  by  flaming  car, 
From  pangs  or  sleep,  safe  folded  round  Thy  seat." 

And  so  we  close  this  sketch  of  what  God  was 
pleased  to  do  in  living  temples,  where  He  had  come 
to  dwell.  "  For  God  hath  said,  I  will  dwell  in  them 
and  walk  in  them." 

No  less  in  the  faithful  young  nurse  (missionary  and 
martyr)  than  in  the  devoted  mother,  Louisa  Stewart, 
—mother,  not  only  of  her  own  children,  but  of  many 
in  China  and  elsewhere,  who  loved  to  call  her  Mission 

R 


242  ROBERT   AND   LOUISA    STEWART 

Mother,  and  Robert  Stewart,  father,  Mission  Father, 
beloved  brother,  patient  humble  worker,  happy,  blessed 
martyr. 

Their  lives  still  speak  to  us,  and  this  is  what  they 
say  : 

"  Wherefore  come  out  from  among  them,  and  be 
ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean 
thing ;  and  I  will  receive  you. 

"  And  will  be  a  Father  unto  you  ;  and  ye  shall  be 
my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty." 


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Watson,  Mary  E. 

3427      Robert  and  Louisa  Stewart 
S8W3 
1895 


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