THE PIONEER
OF CHINESE Missh
THE LIBRARY
of
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY
ROBERT MORRISON
THE
lioneer of Chinese fissions
WILLIAM JOHN TOWNSEND
AL THOR OF " THH GREAT SCHOOLMEN OF THE MIDDLE AGES "
^issionnni -Srcirtn a (gbition
LONDON
S. W. PARTRIDGE & Co., 9, PATERNOSTER Row
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PRINT ELI BY
IIAZBI.I., WATSON, ANU VINKV, l.f>.,
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510
PREFACE.
THE ever-growing interest now being manifested
in the evangelisation of the Chinese Empire
has created a favourable opportunity for issuing a
brief memoir of the first Protestant missionary to
that country, and thereby extending a knowledge of
his life and character amongst the young of our
Churches and Sunday Schools.
This present enlarged edition is prepared specially
for circulation amongst the Sunday Schools and
Juvenile Missionary Associations of the London
Missionary Society, and it is hoped that the spirit
of the subject of this memoir may rest abundantly
on the youth of this generation.
The Author has collected the materials of the
book from sources too numerous to be mentioned,
but he desires to express his fervent thanks to
Mrs. Hobson, the aged and amiable surviving
6 PREFACE.
daughter of Dr. Morrison, who has kindly allowed
him to have access to and make extracts from
many letters of Dr. Morrison not hitherto published,
and to his revered friend, the Rev. J. C. Bruce, D.D.,
for a similar favour, and also for the use of an
unpublished lecture on " Morrison and Chinese
Missions," given by him in Newcastlc-upon-Tyne
in 1859.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE
CHAPTER II.
THE RELIGIONS OK CHINA
CHAPTER III.
EARLY ATTEMPTS TO EVANGELISE CHINA .
CHAPTER IV.
ROBERT MORRISON : CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH
CHAPTER V.
PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT WORK
CHAPTER VI.
INITIAL LIFE AND WORK IN CHINA
CHAPTER VII.
PERSECUTION. LONGING FOR SUCCESS
PACE
9
33
67
85
8 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
PAGE
A FELLOW-LABOURER 99
CHAPTER IX.
VISIT TO PEKIN. COLLEGE AT MALACCA . , . .112
CHAPTER X.
CHINESE BIBLE COMPLETED. DR. MILNE S DEATH . .128
CHAPTER XI.
WORK IN ENGLAND 153
CHAPTER XII.
LETTERS TO HIS CHILDREN 1/5
CHAPTER XIII.
RENEWED LABOUR . .184
CHAPTER XIV.
WHAT HE WAS AND WHAT HE DID 213
CHAPTER XV.
THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY , . , . . 2l8
CHAPTER XVI.
CONTINUANCE OF THE WORK: AMERICAN AND CONTINENTAL
SOCIETIES 2^2
CHAPTER XVII.
0>N IT NUANCE OF THE WORK: BRITISH SOCIETIES . . 24!
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE OPIUM TRADE OF CHINA . . 0-3
CHAPTER XIX.
CHINA FOR CHRIST 2 cg
ROBERT MORRISON.
CHAPTER I.
CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE.
" It is Christ alone can lead in the glorious dawn of the Chinese
renaissance, the new birth of a mighty nation to liberty and righteous
ness and an ever-expanding civilisation." G. JOHN.
CHINA is a great empire situated in Eastern Asia,
lying from 20 to 40 north latitude, and from 100
to 122 east longitude. It is a wonderfully compact
territory, its length and breadth being nearly equal. It
includes more than a million square miles, and possesses,
on the whole, an excellent climate. Two noble rivers flow
down its centre, watering and fertilising its extended plains
and beautiful valleys. The ocean, adorned with numerous
islands, washes round its eastern and southern coasts ; the
mountains of Thibet bound it upon the west, and the north
is protected by a wall thirteen hundred miles in length.
Much of this wall is now crumbling away, but it took the
united labours of the nation to build it two thousand years
ago. Beyond these mountains and this great wall are bleak
deserts and sterile wastes, forming a contrast so striking
to the general fertility of the country, that the Chinese
IO
ROBERT MORRISON.
have from remote ages called their teeming soil "The
Flowery Land." Extensive as is the surface of China its
immense population requires every inch. From the late
imperial census the number of the people is estimated at
three hundred and ninety-two millions, or more than one-
quarter of the earth s inhabitants. To accommodate such
a number every scrap of space requires to be economised,
and therefore the people are packed together in houses and
corners in a way that is astonishing to our Western ideas.
Crops are sown and gathered on tiny and almost inaccessible
CHlM-,bt HOUottOAl.
spaces, thus utilising every possible foot of the land. The
Chinese gather two crops a year from their fruitful fields ;
and that the more land may be left for cultivation the people
in large numbers live on the water, and the surface of the
great rivers presents the appearance of floating villages.
This economy is the more needful as there are large tracts
in China which cannot be cultivated. There are grand
mountain ranges lo the west, with stern lofty peaks and
frowning sides, varied with slopes covered with cedar and
pine forests. The centre provinces are hilly, interspersed
with fertile plains, where the tea plant flourishes luxuriantly ;
CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. n
whilst to the east and all round the extensive seaboard are
flourishing cities and seaports, the centres and outlets for
numberless villages and wide agricultural districts, which
give these provinces an aspect of a garden of the Lord.
China is the home of a very ancient and advanced
civilisation. Its inhabitants were clothed in their silken
and linen fabrics when our forefathers were simply staining
their skins with woad. They had their great cities when the
tribes of Britain rambled in primeval forests. They manu
factured paper nine hundred years before Europe had dis
covered the useful art. They invented printing at least
five hundred years before the Dutchman took the impres
sion of the letters he had carved upon the tree. They had
used the mariner s compass for five centuries before Marco
Polo brought it into Europe. They had an extensive
manufacture of pottery and porcelain ages before the ele
gant forms of Grecian or Etruscan pottery were moulded.
They were acquainted with abstruse philosophies and
curious sciences before the Republic of Rome had arisen.
From hoar antiquity popular education had existed in the
land, and by a system of competitive examinations every
office of the State has been thrown open even to the poorest.
Thus China, as a great and civilised nation, comes down the
stream of time side by side with the ancient empires of
Egypt, Assyria, and India. These passed away, and there
succeeded the splendid empires of Greece and Rome, and
these again have been followed by the young, fresh nations
of Europe and America. But China has not passed away,
as its early contemporaries did, but is to-day as populous,
as strong, and as promising in regard to the future as it
has ever been.
It is true that the civilisation of China has been arrested
in its growth. All progress comes from a sense of short
coming, and the Chinese long since imbibed the paralysing
notion that they had attained perfection, and styled them
selves "The Celestial Empire." This was fatal to all further
CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 13
growth, and therefore the Chinaman despises all things that
are called new, and, with his head turned the wrong way,
looks to and worships the past. Old forms and patterns are
therefore endlessly reproduced in manufactures, old customs
are jealously guarded, and the intellectual growth of the
people has long since stopped. Nor is this all ; for as the
Chinese have become simply a nation of imitators, they are
being left behind in the march of progress not only by
Western nations, but by the more progressive peoples of
the East, who welcome and cultivate modern ideas and
inventions with great advantage to their development and
prosperity.
The people are quiet, peaceful, and law-abiding ; they are
outwardly and ceremoniously polite ; they are industrious
in their habits and refined in their tone. Like all heathen
nations, they are deeply sunken in vice, but their vices take
the milder rather than the ruder forms. They are shame
fully sensual, dishonest, and untruthful, but they are not
violent or cruel ; and, unlike the warlike nations of the
West, they have generally sought to avoid war, and to live
undisturbed on their own homestead. They have culti
vated the home and family sentiment beyond all other
peoples, and yet, in common with other Eastern nations,
they have so low an estimate of women as to expose to
death in large numbers their female babies. Many of their
social habits are in strange contrast to ours. When we meet
our friends we shake their hands ; they shake their own
hands. We salute our friends by wishing them " Good-
morning " or " Good-evening ; " they salute theirs by asking
questions, " Have you eaten rice? " "Will you drink tea ? "
" Is your father living ? " " How many children have you ? "
In the presence of our superiors we uncover our heads ;
they cover theirs. We treat our women as our equals ; they
reckon them the foolish ones of the family, and relegate
them to the inner rooms of the house. Our badge of mourn
ing is black, theirs is white. They mourn for the dead by
r4 ROBERT MORRISON.
proxy ; we sorrow for ourselves. We read and write from
left to right, horizontally ; they do so from right to left, per
pendicularly. Our women pinch in their waists ; they bind
and dwarf the feet. Our place of honour is the right, theirs
is the left. Our young people select their own husbands or
wives ; their parents decide who their children shall marry.
\Ve eat with knives and forks, they with chopsticks. We
CHINESE MANDARIN IN SUMMER DRESS.
pnge our books at the top of the page, they on the margin.
We print on both sides of the page, they only on one side.
We put the title of a book on the back of the binding, they
on the margin of the leaf. We set our volumes on the edge,
they lay theirs down. We educate our girls, they put them
to service. We carry out our manufactures largely by
machinery ; they work by hand. We print by a press, and
with marvellous rapidity ; they print slowly, with wooden
blocks and a hand-brush. So it is with many other things;
i6
ROBERT MORRISON.
all showing how much they differ from, or how far they are
behind, the Western nations of the world.
Their garments are made of satin, silk, cotton, hemp, the
grass of the field, and the feathers of birds. The men wear
a long pigtail, a broad-sleeved coat, and wide trousers ; the
women wear an embroidered skirt, loose-fitting jacket, and
tiny shoes. The patterns of their clothes are uniform and
old-fashioned, but they are made for ease and convenience
LANTERN SELLER.
rather than for ornament ; and in this respect they show
more sense than we do.
The dwellings of the common people are poor and
filthy. They contain usually but one room with one
window. They are built of stone, or bricks, or mud,
according to the means of the family ; but the Chinaman
easily adapts himself to circumstances, and will sleep
soundly in any corner on land or water. Their food is
various ; but they eat fowls, fish, puppies, rats, and cats,
CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE. 17
They grow and consume rice, maize, millet, wheat, and
barley; they cultivate potatoes, turnips, tomatoes, pears,
peaches, grapes, guavas, pineapples, and pomegranates,
with many other fruits. The upper classes are rich, many
of them enormously so ; the common people are poor, so
that if the Yellow River inundates a province or a harvest
fails it means starvation and death to millions, and beggars,
reduced to skin and bone, and many sorely afflicted, swarm
in every part of the land.
The language of the Chinese is a difficult and singular one
to Englishmen. It has no conjugations or declensions, no
affixes or terminals, no syllables or alphabet. It is made up
of upwards of forty thousand symbols or characters, many of
which have the same sound, but several meanings, the differ
ence between which can only be known by observing the tone,
or emphasis, or inflexion with which it is accompanied. The
forty thousand characters are arranged in two hundred and
fourteen classes, each class being placed under a certain root,
which forms a component part of each character in its class.
This somewhat simplifies the finding of words in the dic
tionary, and helps to impress them on the memory. Although
it is an unwieldy and inconvenient language, and contains
many dialects within itself, yet the written language is the
same in all Chinese-speaking nations. Thus, in mastering it,
we have a key wherewith to reach not China only but Japan,
the Corea, Cochin China, the numerous races beyond the
Great Wall, and the millions of Chinese in Siam, Borneo,
and the inhabitants of the Straits Settlements, not to
speak of the emigrants in Australia, California, and India.
No language was ever so widely diffused or so largely
used, and probably, with the single exception of Hebrew,
it is the oldest upon the face of the earth.
The Chinese are a merry-making people, and have
numerous holidays and festivals, into which they enter with
extraordinary zest. The chief of these is the New Year
festival. It is elaborately prepared for ; and before it arrives
1 8 ROBERT MORRISON.
houses, shops, and public buildings are cleaned and decorated,
illuminations are arranged, and holiday attire provided.
When it dawns business is suspended, and there are nothing
but salutations, visits, feastings, and rejoicings, which continue
for ten days. Then there is the feast of " Welcoming the
Spring," observed by civic processions and ceremonies,
ploughing a furrow by prefects or other officials, and
offering sacrifices. The " Festival of the Tombs " is the
occasion of sacrificing to the spirits of the dead, and often
takes the form of a family excursion, by boat or road, to the
hills, where reverent services are held, followed by great
feastings. Many other popular holidays occur, prominent
among which is the "Feast of Lanterns," held in the
autumn. This is to propitiate the spirits of those who
have been drowned, and to please the water-gods of China.
Long processions of boats, each covered with rows of
lanterns, glide over the rivers, while Taoist priests, arrayed
in scarlet and embroidered robes, offer prayers and beat
gongs to secure the goodwill of the deities, and cast gilt
paper, burning, into the streams. It is a splendid scenic
effect.
A great feast is held when a son is married. Relatives
assemble at the bridegroom s house to drink and rejoice.
The bride, after elaborate preparation, is takan from her
home, shut up in a Sedan chair, and carried to her future
husband s home. When she arrives there fireworks are sent
up, and revelry commences. The bride conceals her face
from public view, holding her hands in a semicircle before
her head, and allowing the broad sleeves of her wedding
dress to hang before her features. Thus supported by two
attendants, she goes round, as tea is presented to the guests,
receiving compliments, and bowing in response. Coarse
jests pass from lip to lip, and often efforts are made to trip
up the bride as she goes about, or to pull down her wearied
arms so as to expose her face ; and if she manifest any im
patience on such occasions, it is reckoned as an augury of
20 ROBERT MORRISON.
an unhappy career, and the bridegroom is condoled with on
the prospect before him.
Theatres abound in China. Not magnificent buildings
like those we have in our cities, but. slight movable con
structions of bamboo poles, covered with sheets of matting,
painted red, and roofed with palm leaves woven together.
Stage and galleries are formed of rough boards placed on
bamboo sticks, and accommodation is often provided for a
thousand people. The plays are so long that sometimes
they will require several weeks for their presentation ; but
they can be abbreviated at the will of the manager or the
audience. It is a curious scene. The actors are dressed
in gaudy colours, with false beards, they recite their parts in
the absurdest fashion, and a deafening sounding of gongs
and cymbals fills up every interval. These travelling per
formances are immensely popular in China.
The capital city of China is Pekin, which contains the
enormous population of about two millions. It is in the
north, in the province of Chih-li. There are the Palace of
the Emperor, the seat of Government, and the Temple of
Heaven, where once a year, as the high-priest of the nation,
the Emperor offers worship and sacrifice. Here idols and
coloured glass are manufactured, and extensive printing
works are in operation. Canton is in the south, and con
tains a population of a million and a quarter. The provinces
of the south are largely cultivated for rice-growing, and also
for the growing of the mulberry plant and the breeding of
silkworms. In the city of Canton there are great manu
factories in iron, brass, and stone. Hankow, an inland city,
situated on the river Yang-tse-Kiang, is the centre of the
great tea trade. Foochow exports tea, timber, and bamboo.
Amoy manufactures porcelain and paper. Nankin was the
old capital of the empire and the centre of the silk and
nankeen manufactures ; but it is now decaying, and these
trades are migrating elsewhere. Hong Kong is an island at
the mouth of the Canton river, which was ceded to England
CHINA AND ITS PEOPLE.
21
in 1843, and from which the trade of England with China is
superintended. The great Chinese Canal is the longest in
the world, being seven hundred miles in length, and by it
the products of the north-eastern provinces are brought up
to the northern seaboard.
All over the land are great cities, which teem with life.
Rivers and canals throughout the provinces are lined with
towns and cities, many of which are failed with populations
numbering from one hundred thousand to half a million.
In the north, coal and silver mines are being opened and
vigorously worked. Here also railways, telegraphs, tele
phones, and other wonders of modern times are being
introduced, all foretelling a day of increased commercial
prosperity and importance to the old hoary land.
CHAPTER II.
THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA.
4 While a slave bewails his fetters,
While an orphan pleads in vain,
While an infant lisps his letters,
Heir of all the age s gain,
While a lip grows ripe for kissing,
While a moan from man is wrung,
Know by every want and blessing,
That the world is young."
KlNGSLEY.
IT is probable that in the early history of the Chinese
empire correct ideas of the true God were maintained,
but these were lost in the idol worship which afterwards
prevailed universally. The images and idols of China are
now innumerable. There are gods of the heavens and earth,
of the stars and planets, of the rains and winds, of the
seasons, of mountains, pastures, rivers, and lakes, of thunder
and lightning, of fire and cold, of wealth and war, of com
merce and agriculture, of every trade, profession, and calling,
and even evil spirits are worshipped, because the Chinese
say that to worship a good god is of no use, because he will
not harm you, but it is very important to keep right with the
evil one.
THE RELIGIONS OF CHI X.I. 23
While China is a nation of idolaters, there are three great
religions into which they may be distributed. These are
Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The first of these
is derived from Confucius, who lived about 550 B.C. He
was born in the province of Shantung, and was the son of a
statesman. He founded rather a system of moral philosophy
than a religion, for his teaching has no reference to a
Supreme Being who is to be worshipped, or to a soul that
needs to be saved from sin. He gave utterance chiefly to
moral maxims, some of which seem to be related to the
Proverbs of Solomon, and inculcate a lofty tone of virtue.
Confucius lost his father when three years old, and he
passed his youth in obscurity and comparative poverty. As
he grew up he gave himself to diligent study, and at the age
of twenty-four resolved to devote himself to the improve
ment of his countrymen in knowledge and virtue. With
this object he issued books expounding his views, and in
course of time he had trained three thousand pupils, some
of whom became the preachers of his doctrines throughout
the nation. He travelled throughout the land, speaking
much in the open air, and, like other sages and prophets,
drawing many lessons and illustrations from common life
and from the objects of nature.
After many years spent thus he returned to his native
province, where his house became a common resort for the
thoughtful and inquiring. Unlike Socrates, who taught
largely by asking questions of his pupils, Confucius en
couraged those who sought his instruction to question him
on all subjects of morals, politics, or literature. His pupils
were earnestly attached to him, and propagated his opinions
throughout the whole country. He was afterwards ap
pointed chief minister of State, and carried out many reforms
in the administration, giving encouragement to trade and
industry, and greatly increasing the prosperity of the people.
But jealousy and opposition arose against him, he retired
into private life, and for more than ten years happily devoted
24 ROBERT MORRISON.
himself to literature. When he felt his end was approaching
he summoned his disciples to a hill in the neighbourhood of
his dwelling, built an altar, on which he placed his books,
then, kneeling with his face towards the north, he gave
thanks that he had been able to complete the work given
him to do, and implored a blessing on his country from his
ANCIENT CHINESE TEMPLE.
labours. He died at the age of seventy-two years, 479 B.C.
He lived in a great period of the world s history, during which
the Jews returned from captivity, the second temple was
built, Greece was invaded by Xerxes, Egypt was conquered
by the Assyrians, the Persian empire was firmly established,
and within seven years of which Socrates, perhaps the only
superior to Confucius in the heathen world, was bom.
His system, both of morals and national economy, was
26 ROBERT MORRISON.
founded upon the sentiment of filial piety. From the
reverence and obedience due from the child to the parent
he educed the obligations binding upon all ages and all
classes in the State. He enforced the principles of honesty,
justice, and benevolence, but also he permitted, or incul
cated, idolatry, polygamy, and the bitterest revenge. He
became the favourite and adored sage of the empire. His
name is intensely reverenced, his sayings are household
words, his writings are text-books in every school, his prin
ciples are professedly practised by every civil official in the
bnd. He lived a noble life, and left behind him a grand
heritage to his countrymen. Temples are built everywhere,
and worship offered to his memory. His system, whilst
pure and elevating in many respects, yet leaves quite un
touched the great truths of a Deity, a future life, the real
nature of sin, or the means of human salvation. Con
fucianism is the State religion of China. It has for its
votaries nearly all the scholars, the officials, and Government
agents, many of whom, however, unite with the profession
of Confucianism the rites and observances of other religious
systems.
Buddhism is the great religion of Eastern Asia. It was
introduced into China about A.D. 60 in a curious and
interesting manner. The Emperor, prompted, it is said, by
a dream of the night, sent messengers to the West to seek
for a knowledge of the true religion. Confucius had long
before stated that in the West a great and holy sage would
arise, and such a dream might have sprung out of this
saying. The messengers proceeded on their errand as far
as India, and there met with Buddhist priests, who imparted
to them a knowledge of Buddha and his doctrines. They
concluded they had obtained what they sought, and re
turned home with a new god and a new religion for their
countrymen.
Buddhism was founded by Sakya-mouni, or the Wise
Man, who lived about seven centuries B.C. The life and
THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 2 7
history of this sage is surrounded with a haze of myth and
romance. He is said to have been an Indian prince, who
turned from the pomps and vanities of a palace, and devoted
himself to a life of meditation, of works of mercy, and of
self-inflicted privations and tortures, until he reached the
state of Buddha, or " perfect knowledge." From this he
taught that men might pass into a higher state called
" Nirvana," in which they lose personality, pass from rela
tions and intercourse with material things, and lose all
individual desires ; in short, in which human nature is
annihilated. Buddha, however, lingers on the verge of this
highest state, denying himself its repose in order to promote
human happiness and lessen the sum of-human misery.
Buddhism teaches the existence of a benevolent Deity,
surrounded with lesser ones, who seek to save men from
the practice and consequences of sin. It inculcates belief
in the transmigration of souls and the doctrine of human
merit. Flowing from these teachings there come prayers
and offerings to the numberless gods of the system, works
of penance and merit, the offering of presents for the sup
posed needs of spirits in Hades, and for their departed
friends.
Temples for the worship of Buddha are scattered all over
the land. Many of them are splendid and costly buildings.
As the system is promotive of habits of quiet meditation,
they are chiefly situated amidst the hills or in secluded
valleys, and are charming for their natural surroundings.
Idols, representing the many gods of the system, fill up these
temples, several hundreds being sometimes found in one
building. Some of the temples have pagodas connected
with them. These are graceful towers built of stone or
brick, in some special cases of porcelain, and rising from
eighty to two hundred feet in height. The idols are made
of many materials of bronze or brass, or other metals, of
stone, wood, clay, and pottery. The images of Buddha
represent a human figure with a sleepy countenance, having
28 ROBERT MORRISON.
the toes and fingers of equal length, and the ears reaching
to the shoulders. Besides the images found in the temples
and joss houses they may be found in private houses, on
doorsteps, in porticoes, or almost anywhere, thus giving sad
proof of the extent to which the minds of the Chinese are
given to idolatry.
Buddhist priests swarm in China, and in many of their
practices resemble the priests of Romanism. They shave the
head, they profess to fast, they are not permitted to marry,
they recite prayers, they receive and appropriate the offerings
presented in the temples, and they perform a service morning
and evening. They attend funerals and festivals to preach
or to tell stories, and often are engaged to officiate on such
occasions in private houses. They are daily and impor
tunate beggars, and make their own garments. Nunneries
are also prevalent in China, and in these companies of
women associate, who shave the head, pass through rounds
of religious rites, and train the novitiates who have entered
their institution.
Buddhism is by far the most popular religion in China,
and is a system which is marvellously adapted to the con
dition and circumstances of human nature. It recognises
the religious longings, the depraved habits and the distressing
miseries of the race of man ; but by diverting the religious
element in man into gross idolatry it leads the soul from
the true God, by teaching the doctrine of merit it fosters
human pride and self-sufficiency, and by teaching the
doctrine of final annihilation as an escape from misery
it plunges the mind into the darkness of despair.
Taoism, although much inferior to the preceding, both
in the weight of its influence and the number of its ad
herents, is the third great religion of China. Its founder
was Laotse, a philosopher who was born 604 B.C. He
composed a book called "A Treatise on Truth and
Virtue," which is reckoned as a leading classic in Chinese
literature. The word "Tao," meaning Truth, is derived
THE RELIGIONS O/- CHINA.
29
from the leading name in the
title of the book, and is the
subject chiefly enlarged upon.
It is said that Confucius visited
Laotse and discussed important
subjects with him. Taoism has
greatly degenerated from the sim
plicity of its early history. It
has become corrupted by super
stitions, it has absorbed many
of the vagaries of astrology and
alchemy, reading the stars, seek
ing for the elixir of life and the
philosopher s stone, and is now
a form of the grossest idolatry.
In its root it is a system of
pure materialism. It teaches
that matter is eternal, that its
grosser forms tend downwards,
and become the substance of
the earth, while its finer essences
tend upwards, and become pos
sessed of individuality and life.
The stars are some of these,
which have assumed visible
forms, and look down with in
terest upon the earth. The body
and soul of man also repre
sent the more gross and
refined essences or prin
ciples of nature.
This system declares
Laotse to have been a
living principle pervad
ing space long before the
creation of the heavens
30 ROBERT MORRISON.
and the earth. In the course of long ages this principle
developed into a Deity, called the " Holy Ruler of Won
derful Identity." After further prolonged ages this Deity
emerged as the " Holy Ruler of Wonderful Entity," and
by-and-by a third evolution produced the " Holy Ruler of
Chaotic Confusion." Beginning with this chaotic jargon,
there is taught a system of semi-pantheism. Laotse is said,
after the appearance of man upon the earth, to have lived
under the names and persons of several great sages and
prophets, and finally to have been born of a virgin. His
hair was white with old age at his birth, and his votaries
claim for him the possession of the most astounding qualities
and powers. He is now worshipped with many other gods
and deified sages, for Taoism, like Buddhism, has invented
deities for every occasion and for almost every locality.
Amongst its gods must be mentioned the dragon, whose
domain includes seas, lakes, rivers, and ponds, with all their
living creatures. All the varied phenomena of clouds and
rainfalls are also supposed to be under his control. In his
realm are said to be innumerable lesser dragons, who are his
subjects and agents. References to other gods of this religion
might be multiplied indefinitely, but space will not permit.
Taoism is preferred by the rulers of China to Buddhism,
because of its native origin. Therefore its priests and
ceremonies are employed in the State worship. Its temples
and priests are comparatively few, and women are not
attracted to its worship in crowds as they are to Buddhism.
It deals too much in mere abstruse speculation to be
generally popular, although, as if to illustrate the curious
meeting of extremes, it has long practised all the forms of
modern spiritualism, with its rappings and table turnings.
In all public places in China its mediums are to be found,
who, for a small payment, may be consulted on the future
world, or departed friends, or events which are transpiring
in other parts of the world. There are certain idolatrous
practices common to all these religions which interlink them
;. t
32 ROBERT MORRISON.
in the history and belief of the nation. The chief of these,
and the only one requiring notice at present, as being the
most deeply rooted in the religious life of China, and
forming the most formidable obstacle to the spread of
Christianity, is Ancestral Worship. Its rites are looked
upon as being an indispensable element of filial piety, and
every person in the nation has the duty enforced upon him
of observing these forms in the most positive manner. Each
family is expected to preserve ancestral tablets or paintings
for this purpose. The ancestral tablets are made of wood,
and are about twelve inches long. They are inscribed with
the names and titles of the dead, the dates of their birth
and death, and the names of their sons. The paintings are
taken after death, and seldom can be reckoned as faithful
portraits. These tablets are brought out and worshipped at
the new year and on the birthdays of the deceased. The
worship of ancestors consists of prostrations, offerings of
cooked foods, burning of incense, candles, and paper-money,
and sometimes dramatic performances are gone through.
The worship may be offered at will in the dwelling-house,
or the family temple, or at the grave.
In all the religions of China there is nothing which
efficiently restrains from the practice of evil or enables a
man to lead a holy life. The teachings of Confucius, which
ignore the existence of God and the immortality of the soul,
cannot cleanse the heart or inspire a noble and pure life.
The superstitions of Buddhism, leaving its votaries without
a guiding Providence in this life, and pointing to extinction
as the highest goal of human nature, cannot feed or fill the
cravings of the soul for endless happiness. The specula
tions of Taoism end in its magic and spirit-rapping, and
show it to be the doctrine of darkness and devils. From
such a review we turn with unspeakable relief to the pure
and purifying teachings of Christianity, and cry, with
deepest gratitude,
NONE BUT JESUS, NONE BUT JESUS.
CHAPTER III.
EARLY ATTEMPTS TO EVANGELISE CHINA.
" Hark ! the strains of music roll,
Like a tide they fill the soul ;
As they to their highest rise
We will launch our enterprise."
LYNCH.
\ RDENT longings for the conversion of China early
A\ stirred the souls of consecrated Christian workers,
and attempts to diffuse the Gospel throughout the
land were made in different periods of the history of the
Church. Nor is this to he wondered at. The tenacious
life which had prolonged itself during four thousand years,
surviving the tempests of time which have carried succes
sive leading empires of the world into utter destruction,
stamps the Chinese as being a peculiar people, and invests
them with a halo of romance well calculated to fire with
enthusiasm the adventurous spirit. Their hoary systems
of religion and philosophy, their attainments in various
sciences, their proficiency in many arts and manufactures,
the immense mineral treasures of the land, have all operated
to attract the attention of the student, the merchant, and
the statesman. But the enormous population, sunken to
34 ROBERT MORRISON.
the lowest moral depths, might well move the benevolent
impulses of the philanthropist, and rouse the zeal of every
Christian whose soul vibrates to the command, " Go ye
into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature."
One insuperable difficulty prevented for centuries Christian
effort being put forth for the conversion of the empire of
China. The nation has been rootedly and perseveringly
opposed to intercourse with foreigners, especially with such
as would attempt to proselytise from the accepted religions
of the people. Therefore it has hermetically sealed itself
at every point against the Christian propagandist. The
result was that, up to the commencement of the present
century, no evangelical teacher of truth had been able to
enter the country ; and, until the middle of the century, no
real foothold for the Gospel had been obtained.
It is true that upwards of a thousand years ago an
attempt was made to enter China by Christian missionaries.
The Nestorians, in the sixth or seventh century, sent out
messengers to China ; and an interesting relic of their
labours remains in a monument at Se-ngan Fu. This
monument contains a short history of the Nestorian sect
from the year 630 to 781, and also an abstract of the
Christian religion. Scarcely a trace remains of the work
done through this movement. When Roman Catholic
missionaries entered the country in the fourteenth century
they found the Nestorians swaying considerable influence
both amongst rich and poor ; and it may be reasonably
hoped that, through the eight centuries of their history in
this land, great numbers of the Chinese were brought
under the sanctifying power of the Gospel. The sect
eventually lost its simplicity of faith and became extinct,
any lingering remnant becoming absorbed in the Romish
Church.
During the twelfth century repeated and widespread
rumours travelled to the West, in which there may have
been some element of reality, concerning Prester John, said
EARLY ATTEMPTS TO EVANGELISE CHINA. 35
to have been a great Christian king who ruled over a
professedly Christian people in the country contiguous to
the north of China. It was rumoured that he united in his
person the offices of both king and priest, and that he had
successors ruling in a similar manner for some generations.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries there were
pioneer messengers from Europe men of devoted spirit
and great capacity, who made their way into China and
made known some of the doctrines of the Gospel. The
leader of these was a Franciscan monk, John de Monte
Corvino, concerning whom the judicious historian, Neander,
testifies that he was the pattern of a true missionary. He
penetrated to Pekin, and succeeded in gaining a high posi
tion in the Court of the Emperor. He became an adept in
the language, and translated into Chinese the New Testa
ment and the Book of Psalms. With true sagacity he
devoted himself to work among the young, and the rearing
up of native missionaries, who might disseminate the new
doctrine among their countrymen. He baptised six thousand
converts, and founded two churches in Pekin, one of which
was so close to the royal palace, that the sweet singing
of the Christian hymns was wafted on the morning breeze
into the chamber of the Emperor. Corvino overtaxed his
strength by his multiplied efforts, so that when fifty-eight
years of age he died, prematurely old, and worn out by hard
ships and privations.
Two and a half centuries rolled by, when a man having a
truly apostolic spirit made another attempt to penetrate the
great moral desert. In the year 1553 the saintly and lofty
Francis Xavier reached the island of Sancian on his way to
China. He had passed through gigantic toils in India and
Japan, but a hungry dissatisfaction rose within him until he
had declared the name of Jesus to the millions of China.
Many difficulties arose before him, but he perseveringly
strove to overcome them, and he seemed to be on the eve
of attaining his desire. From the little islet he strained his
36 ROBERT MORRISON.
eyes, and ga/ed on the rocky beach of the land he yearned
to penetrate, and waited impatiently for a junk to carry
him over the intervening waters. He meant to land under
cover of the darkness of night. He anticipated being seized
and cast into prison ; but so also were Paul and Silas at
Philippi, and a great revival arose out of that persecution.
God could still make the wrath of man to praise Him ; and
if nothing else could be done, some seed could be sown in
the hearts of Chinese prisoners which would produce a
bounteous harvest when he was laid low. But the All-wise
Ruler, who had inspired the idea, and would reward the
spirit of devotion, yet did not permit the realisation of the
purpose. While he waited for the vessel to take him over
the waters he was smitten down with raging fever. He lay
upon the beach, with the bleak winds of a bitter winter
driving around him. In his delirium his soul seemed to be
filled with his apostolic fervour, and he cried out Amplius,
amphiits, " Wider, further ! " As the fever abated his
strength failed, and he lay facing the last dread foe. His
face shone with more than earthly radiance, and he wept
with holy joy, crying out, " O Lord, in Thee have I trusted,
let me never be confounded." Thus triumphantly he passed
from the bitterness of an earthly winter to the eternal
summer of heaven.
Other kindred spirits soon resolved to attempt again to
pierce the great dark heathen continent. The Italian Jesuit
Valignano, being stayed at Macao on his way to Japan, be
held afar off the shores of China still closed to the Gospel.
He cried, " Oh, rock, rock ! when wilt thou open ? " and
being anxious to carry his aspirations to a practical issue, he
induced two of his companions both men of remarkable
character and abilities to try to storm the impregnable
fortress. The attempt succeeded, owing to the united
determination and wiliness of the agents. They disguised
themselves as Buddhist priests, and then posed as literati
of China, with the result that ere long one of them, Mathew
38 ROBERT MORRISON.
Ricci, was appointed to an important literary post in Pekin,
and became a favourite with the Emperor. However other
wise he seemed to be employed, he never failed to labour
indefatigably for the establishment and spread of his faith.
He spent twenty-seven years thus, and in 1610 he died,
deeply lamented by his fellow-labourers and by the Christian
community which had been formed under his guidance.
He left upwards of three hundred churches behind him
as monuments of his zeal and prudence. He was followed
by others of a kindred spirit, men of cautious and sagacious
habit of mind, but of fixed purpose. Chief among these
were Adam Schaal, who died 1666, and Ferdinand Ver-
biest, who died 1688. These were both skilled in science
and various knowledges, and, as learned philosophers, had
conceded to them an eminence which would have been
denied them as Christian propagandists. They arranged the
calendar of the year, they directed the casting of cannon,
they negotiated treaties with other nations ; but through all
they kept before them, as their real and sole mission, the
diffusion of Christianity. They proclaimed their message in
Pekin and the imperial court, they cast their shield over their
humbler brethren labouring in various distant provinces and
cities, and they contrived to open the gates of the country
for the stealthy admission of fresh helpers from time to time.
Persecution broke out, and raged for some years, during
which the Christian churches were closed, and the members
dispersed; but in 1671, when the tribulation had passed
by, and when the existing churches were opened, although
further attempts at extension were forbidden, not less than
twenty thousand baptisms were reported. It may be that
these baptisms were largely nominal, and that the conver
sion to which they witnessed was only on the surface ; it
may be that the doctrines disseminated were wofully de
ficient, from an evangelical standpoint ; it may be that
the poison of Popery was intermingled with their system,
so as largely to discredit their work in our eyes ; but let us
EARLY ATTEMPTS TO EVINCE USE CIIL\A. 39
be just to them, and even charitable. The tracts they
spread over the land were far superior to the miserable and
shallow productions distributed by Roman Catholics of later
days, which are largely filled with legendary nonsense. They
were clear in their statements as to the nature of sin, the
incarnation of Christ, and the reality of the atonement.
They had many genuine converts, who were ready to seal
their faith with their blood ; and whatever estimate may be
formed as to the character of the work done, let them have
the honour paid to their memories, which is their just due,
as being- the first Christian missionaries to the great centre
of heathendom, and as setting an example worthy of imita
tion to the Reformed Churches. The Roman Catholics
have maintained to this day an extensive mission in the
land. They have about two hundred churches, and two
hundred and fifty thousand professors or members. Their
interference with the civil and political life of China draws
upon them much jealousy and dislike from both the officials
and the common people, and but for this they might
progress at a much more rapid rate than they have done of
late years.
One result of the great evangelical revival of the eight
eenth century was the intense desire for the conversion of
the heathen which took possession of Protestant Christen
dom. As a result of that desire, and through the agency
of chosen instruments, modern missionary societies arose,
and the great evangelistic movement of the present century
came into being. It was impossible that, in the urgent
yearning to scatter the Gospel amongst the nations still
given up to superstition and idolatry, China could be
overlooked, or that it should fail to absorb to itself much
prayerful attention. Its antiquity, its exclusiveness, its
peculiar civilisation, its overwhelming population, made it
at once the most interesting, the most difficult, and the
most extensive field opened out for conquest by the Church
for the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostles themselves had
4 o
ROBERT MORRISON.
no grander or wider sphere opened before them, as they
went out in faith to attack the strongholds of sin in the
Roman empire. The faith, zeal, and unction required by
them in their great work were also imperatively demanded
of the men who should undertake the task of attacking
this hitherto invulnerable fastness of sin.
To briefly trace the career of the first modern apostle to
China, who, with indomitable and persevering zeal, went
forth to this giant enterprise, is the object of these pages ;
and it is earnestly hoped that the narration of this story
will fire many hearts with a generous and Divine enthusiasm
in aid of the great work for the conversion of this enormous
nation. The motto of every Christian just now should be
CHINA FOR CHRIST, AND IN THIS GENERATION.
$i
CHAPTER IV.
ROBERT MORRISON : CHILDHOOD AND YOU 111.
" Fair boy, the wanderings of thy way
It is not mine to trace,
Through buoyant youth s exulting day,
Or manhood s nobler race.
"What discipline thine heart may need,
What clouds may veil thy sun,
The eye of God alone can read,
And let His will be done."
ROBERT MORRISON was horn on January 5th, 1782,
at Bullefs Green,* in the little picturesque town of
Morpeth, Northumberland. His father, James Mor
rison, was a farm labourer, who removed, when Robert was
three years old, to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where he esta
blished a business as a last and boot-tree manufacturer in the
Groat Market. The place where he and his family resided
was long called by the name of " Morrison s Close," in
remembrance of his famous son. Here he employed several
workmen, earned a comfortable livelihood, and brought up
his family of eight children in the feaj of God.
He was a Scotchman by birth, his wife was a Northum-
* The house was in existence till March 28th, 1887, when it \vas
razed to the ground.
42 ROBERT MORRISON.
brian, and both of them were people of fervent and consist
ent piety. They became members of an old Presbyterian
church in the High Bridge, the entrance to which was
through a public-house yard. Mr. Morrison was held in
high estimation by the church, and an old lady, who knew
him and his son Robert well, and who was a member of
the same church, recently testified that the father was a
most worthy man, and that no member or officer of the
church was so highly esteemed. He was for many years a
much valued elder of the church. The minister at that
time was the Rev. John Hutton, a man faithfully devoted to
the interests of his people, and one who exercised a health
ful and powerful influence on the mind of the subject of this
memoir.
Robert was sent to a school kept by James Nicholson,
his maternal uncle a man of respectable attainments.
Here he received a sound elementary education. For some
time he showed great slowness in learning, and has been
ranked amongst the illustrious dunces of history ; but after
wards he brightened up, manifested great delight in his
studies, and made rapid and satisfactory progress.
He was also carefully trained in Scripture knowledge and
religious duties by his pastor, Mr. Hutton, who frequently
catechised him, both at home and in public, after the fashion
long in vogue in Scotland and in the North of England.
The story is a favourite tradition in Newcastle, and used
often to be told by the old lady already referred to, that
when he was twelve years of age, he repeated in the chapel
one Sabbath evening the whole of the ii9th Psalm ; and,
to further test his memory, the pastor exercised him on
different parts in various ways, the boy passing through the
ordeal without a single error.
On leaving school at the age of fourteen, he was bound
apprentice to his father, and wrought at his trade with great
diligence and industry. For a brief period he seems to have
been led into evil courses by careless companions, but at
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 43
home he manifested such dutifulness that his father rarely
had need to utter a word of rebuke. Towards his mother
he showed a loving attention that was almost chivalrous ; and
he had so keen a love of truth that never but once was he
ever known to tell a falsehood, and then, although he had
no fear of detection, he felt such qualms of conscience that
he made an open confession of his fault. In 1798 he re
linquished his bad habits, separated himself from all friends
that were evil or doubtful, and became soundly converted to
the service of God. The great change seems rather to have
been the outcome of long previous training, and of health
ful religious influences around him, than of any special
instrumentality ; but he at once sought union with the
church, and joined a meeting for prayer which assembled
in his father s workshop on Monday evenings. He also
began a course of devotional reading, chiefly of the Scrip
tures ; drew out a plan for the regulation of his time, which
he carefully observed ; and even learnt a system of short
hand to facilitate his studies. He formed an intimacy with
a young man at Shields of kindred religious fervour, and
they met almost daily for prayer and pious conversation.
They also visited together the sick poor, and engaged in
work for God in various ways as they had opportunity.
Gradually his soul became more deeply engrossed with
religious subjects. In 1800 he removed his bed into the
workshop for the sake of greater privacy, and often till
one or two o clock in the morning was engaged reading
Romaine s " Life of Faith," or Hervey s " Meditations," or
Marshall on " Sanctification," or Mosheim s " History of the
Church," but most of all searching the treasures of Matthew
Henry s incomparable " Commentary." He also strove to
perfect himself in English grammar, and carefully examined
the evidences of Christianity. The Missionary Magazine
had begun to appear from an Edinburgh publisher, and this
he borrowed regularly from a friend ; and probably from this
periodical he received the first bias of his mind towards the
44 ROBERT MORRISON.
mission field. The workshop where he studied and slept
remained till lately in much the same condition as when he
left it. In 1859 a rude attack was made in Newcastle-upon-
Tyne upon the memory of Dr. Morrison, by Rev. R. I.
Wilberforce, then a Romish pervert. This was taken up
and replied to in a lecture by Rev. J. C. Bruce, D.D.,
from which we extract the following passage :
"The shop is at present occupied by a joiner. I visited
the room last week in company with my friend, Mr. John
Fenwick. The place is in a somewhat frail state, and its
whole aspect is such as rather to depress than to excite any
noble elevation of soul. My friend, on entering, felt himself
carried back fifty years. He pointed to the bench where
he had scores of times seen Morrison at his work, and told
me that he generally found him with a book lying open
before him. In this humble workshop two of Northumber
land s greatest men must frequently have met Robert
Morrison and George Stephenson. The families of each
were mutually acquainted. Mr. Stephenson, when a young
man, filled up his spare time with making shoes. He made
his own lasts, and boasted of his performances in this way.
On one occasion Stephenson entered into competition with
a fellow-artist, and, in order to exclude the possibility of
prejudice on the part of the umpire, obtained leave from
the Morrisons to affix their stamp to his production."
Young Morrison also rented a little garden in Pandon
Dene, then a charming suburb of Newcastle, but which has
now disappeared before the march of building and commerce.
Here he often repaired for quiet meditation and prayer;
and, even when at work, the Bible or some other book was
open before him, in order that his heart and mind might be
refreshed while his hands were busily occupied. On the
Sabbath he regularly attended the services of the church,
he often conducted family worship in his father s house, he
regularly visited the sick and devoted a proportion of his
scanty earnings to their relief, and the intervals between
46 ROBERT MORRISON.
worship on the Sabbath he generally gave to the instruction
of poor children. His father had a young apprentice whom
he strove to win for Christ, and he often took him aside to
pray with him privately. His soul became intently earnest
in seeking the conversion of his kindred and friends. He
appealed to one young relative a sailor with such per
tinacity, imploring him to seek the Lord, that the young
man said his words were never out of his ears, until he was
led to come to Jesus. Thus from his earliest Christian life
he manifested those profound convictions of duty, that
intensity and fixedness of purpose, and that desire for the
salvation of souls, which characterised all his future
course.
His early Christian life is very interestingly described in
a letter he wrote to the Committee of Hoxton Academy,
when, in 1802, he offered himself for the work of the
ministry. In it he states as follows :
" In the early part of my life, having enjoyed the inestim
able privilege of godly parents (a blessing for which I ever
desire to be thankful), I was habituated to a constant and
regular attendance on the preached Gospel. My father was
ever careful to keep up the worship of God in our family,
and educated me in the principles of the Christian religion.
When farther advanced in life, I attended the public cate
chising of the Rev. John Hutton, from whose instructions I
received much advantage. By these means (under the good
hand of God) my conscience was somewhat informed and
enlightened, and I was kept from running to that excess of
riot to which many persons in an unregenerate state do, though
as yet I lived without Christ, without God, and without
hope in the world. I was a stranger to the plague of my
own heart ; and, notwithstanding that I often felt remorse
and the upbraidings of conscience, yet I flattered myself
that somehow I should have peace, though I walked in the
ways of my own heart.
" It was about five years ago that I was much awakened
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 47
to a sense of sin, though I cannot recollect any particular
circumstances that led to it, unless it was that at that time
I grew somewhat loose and profane, and more than once,
being drawn aside by wicked company (even at that early
time of life), I became intoxicated. Reflection upon my
conduct became a source of much uneasiness to me, and I
was brought to a serious concern about my soul. I felt the
dread of eternal condemnation. The fear of death com
passed me about, and I was led to cry nightly to God that
He would pardon my sin, that He would grant me an in
terest in the Saviour, and that He would renew me in the
spirit of my mind. Sin became a burden. It was then that
I experienced a change of life, and, I trust, a change of heart
too. I broke off from my former careless company, and
gave myself to reading, to meditation, and to prayer. It
pleased God to reveal His Son in me, and at that time I
experienced much of the kindness of youth and the love
of espousals ; and, though the first flash of affection wore
off, I trust my love to and knowledge of the Saviour have
increased. Since that time (soon after I joined in com
munion with the Church under the Rev. John Hutton, my
present pastor, and likewise became a member of a praying
society) the Lord has been graciously pleased to humble
and prove me ; and, though I have often experienced much
joy and peace in believing, I have likewise experienced
much opposition from the working of indwelling sin the
flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the
flesh and these being contrary the one to the other, I
could not do the thing that I would. I have gradually
discovered more of the holiness, spirituality, and extent of
the Divine law, and more of my own vileness and un-
worthiness in the sight of God, and the freeness and rich
ness of sovereign grace. I have sinned as I could ; it is
by the grace of God I am what I am. "
For some years he kept a diary, or journal, in which he
recorded his doings and experiences. The entries reveal,
48 ROBERT MORRISON.
in a natural and easy manner, the real bent of his mind.
Two or three extracts from that kept in 1800 may be given
as a specimen of many :
" February $th. Rose at five. Text, Nahum i. 7 : The
Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He
knoweth them that trust in Him. Comfortable words ! In
the evening I took a walk, and was delighted with the works
of God. The sun descending, the moon shining brightly,
the night was come, and the ocean murmured at a distance.
God is my Maker and my Saviour. This night I was alone
in the house, when I engaged in prayer to my God. Slept
five hours."
" February 2yd. Sunday. Rose at half-past six. Went
and took a walk to the Forth, very misty. Came home and
went to prayer in the shop. O blessed solitude, I love
thee ! I am not alone, for God is with me. Read a part
of Mr. Romaine s sermon on the death of Mr. Hervey.
Went to the meeting-house, and heard a lecture on Simon
Magus. After dinner I took Jem into the shop and prayed
with him, and then asked him his catechism. In the after
noon I heard a sermon on Christ Crucified. I took my
tea with my brother Thomas. C. H. and I joined in
singing, prayer, and reading the Scriptures. Text, Psalm
xlviii. 14. I was beset with vain thoughts, and when I
would do good, evil is present with me. "
"June i&th. Rose at five. After prayer I sat till six,
then went to work, and wrought till nearly 8 P.M., when
C. H. came up. We joined in singing, prayer, and reading
a sermon, after which I took a walk as far as the garden
with him. We called on Mr. Hutton. We were engaged
in serious conversation. Oh that I may watch and be
sober when my Lord cometh ! "
In 1 80 1 he began to entertain definite ideas as to entering
the Christian ministry, and prepared to study systematically
with this object before him. The following passage from
his diary indicates his state of feeling at this time :
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 49
" Friday, June iqth. This day I entered with Mr. Luidler *
to learn Latin. I paid ten shillings and sixpence (the
entrance money), and am to pay one guinea per quarter.
I know not what may be the end God only knows. It is
my desire, if He please to spare me in the world, to serve
the Gospel of Christ as He shall give me opportunity. O
Lord, my God, my whole hope is in Thee, and in Thee
alone. God be merciful to me a sinner through Christ my
Saviour, and grant Thy blessing with this attempt, if it
please Thee. Amen."
This extract plainly shows the direction of his thoughts,
and he arranged all his movements accordingly. He
wrought at his trade from six to six, save that from nine to
ten he waited on Mr. Laidler. He arranged his meals so
as to facilitate his studies, and nightly he was at work with
his books when the rest of the household had retired to
sleep. So assiduously did he cultivate knowledge that,
eighteen months afterwards, when he entered Hoxton
Academy as a student, he had not only a fair knowledge
of Latin, but had also acquired the rudiments of Greek and
Hebrew.
While he was thus earnestly devoting himself to prepara
tions for future advancement, he went for a short time to
Sunderland to gain a knowledge of another branch of his
father s business, and there became acquainted with a
young man called Wilson. This friend relates the following
incident :
" Four or five of us very young men were conversing
together about some of those things which the hoary-
headed Christian places among the secret things of God,
and which he adores in silent submission. As Mr. Morrison
was not forward in speaking, we requested him to favour us
with his mind on the subject before us. He replied, What
soever I may not know of these things, this I do know, that
I am a sinner, and that Jesus Christ is a suitable Saviour.
* A minister resident in Newcastle.
4
50 ROBERT MORRISON.
Such a remark from the youngest in the company forcibly
struck us all."
Between Robert and his mother there existed a most
tender affection. He was her favourite son, and with true
maternal instinct she soon guessed the bent his mind was
taking towards the ministry of the Church. But, as infirmi
ties increased upon her, she clung passionately to him, and
was distressed at the idea of him leaving home. His sense
of filial obedience was so strong that he promised he would
never do so as long as she lived. Such was her confidence
in him, that she looked to him for comfort and solace in the
later experiences of her life. In 1802 she was taken from
her family and from earth by death. During her illness he
assiduously attended her bedside, marking her wants, giving
her medicine, offering prayer by her side, and finally, after
receiving her last blessing, closing her eyes in death.
CHAPTER V.
PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT WORK.
"Great offices will have
Great talents, and God gives to every man
The virtues, temper, understanding, taste,
That lifts him into life and lets him fall
Just in the niche he was designed to fill."
COWPER.
AS Mr. Morrison laboured diligently in his preparations,
his purpose became more definite and settled. The
way into the ministry of the Presbyterian Church did
not open, and his thoughts were directed to the Congre
gational Theological Institution, then known as Hoxton
Academy, afterwards as Highbury College. The two
following extracts indicate the yearning of his soul both as
to progress in the Divine life, and a ministerial course :
" O blessed Jesus, long have I sought for rest to my
immortal soul, at one time in the gratification of the lusts
of the flesh, and at another of the mind. When very
young I was a companion of the drunkard, the Sabbath-
breaker, the profane person ; but in these my heart smote
me, I had no rest. Then I made learning and books my
god ; but all, all are vain. I come to Thee : Come unto
Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
52 ROBERT MORRISON.
you rest. Fatigued with unsuccessful pursuits after happi
ness, and burdened with a sense of guilt, Jesus, Thou Son
of God, I come to Thee, that I may be refreshed and my
burden removed.
" Jesus, my Lord ! Thou art possest
Of all that fills the eternal God !
Oh ! bring my weary soul to rest,
Remove my guilt, that ponderous load. "
On September 25th, 1802, he wrote thus :
"This day I wrote to desiring to know some things
respecting the Hoxton Academy. What shall I say on this
day now closing? O Lord, pardon my sins, and make me
Thine in that day when Thou makest up Thy jewels ; in
that day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus
Christ. Have faith in Jehovah with thy whole m nd : but
lean not to thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknow
ledge Him, and He will direct thy paths. Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy thought. This is the first and great com
mandment. "
On November 24th he made formal application for
admission to the Academy. His letter deals at great
length with his early religious impressions and his con
version to God, and then proceeds in the following
sentences to refer to his doctrinal sentiments and his call
to the ministry:
"As the compass of one letter will not suffer me to
enlarge with respect to my principles, it will perhaps be
sufficient to observe that, being educated in the doctrines
of the Church of Scotland, as contained in the Westminster
Confession of Faith ; so far as I have been enabled to examine
them as yet, I have espoused them from principle. Hence
also my views with respect to the ordinance of baptism will
be known.
"As to the motives that induce me to wish to be a
PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT WORK. 53
minister, they are these viz., an earnest desire of being
instrumental (under the good hand of God) in turning
sinners from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
unto God of being instrumental in building up the Church
being zealous of spiritual gifts, I seek that I may excel
to the edifying of the Church. I covet to prophesy, for he
that prophesieth speaketh to men to edification, to exhorta
tion, and to comfort ; and I would moreover observe that
these passages not only express my motives, but also con
tain what I considered a warrant for my present undertaking,
as they come from the apostle to the Church of Corinth
in the form of an exhortation, Seek that ye may excel.
Covet to prophesy.
"However, I would willingly resign myself to the
direction of my heavenly Father. He knows best, and
will choose and use what instruments He seeth meet. His
will be done."
He was immediately accepted by the Committee and
summoned to London, where he arrived on January 6th,
1803.
Hoxton Academy was then under the care of the Revs.
Dr. Simpson and W. Atkinson, and amongst the students
he found congenial spirits in men known afterwards as
Revs. H. F. Burder, D.D., of Hackney; J. Clunie, LL.I).,
of Manchester; J. Fletcher, D.I)., of Stepney; and G.
Payne, LL.I)., of Exeter; with all of whom he maintained
a firm friendship, and with the two former a close intimacy
until his death.
He had scarcely settled at the College before a trial
came which deeply moved his spirit. His father s health
had been feeble for some time, and the business had been
largely dependent on the exertions of Robert. His father
grew worse, and an urgent and affectionate summons came
for his son to return home and resume his former position.
His heart was too fixed and his enthusiasm for his new
calling too imperative to permit him to do so, and he wrote
54 ROBERT MORRISON
a reply which, whilst brimming with tenderness and filial
piety, yet expressed his unalterable purpose to pursue his
sacred calling.
li February $th, 1803.
" Honoured father, brother, and sisters, I received your
letter on the i9th ult. The account of my father s leg
growing worse and worse concerns me ; but what can I do?
I look to my God and my father s God. He doeth all
things well, and He will make all things work together for
good to those that love Him. My father, my brother, my
sisters, I resign you all and myself to His care, who I
trust careth for us. Are not our days few ? Yet I desire,
if the Lord will, that He may grant you wherewithal to
provide things honest in the sight of all men during the
few days of your pilgrimage. I trust He will ; and may
the Lord bless you with rich communications of saving
grace and knowledge. You advise me to return home.
I thank you for your kind intentions ; may the Lord bless
you for them. But I have no inclination to do so ; having
set my hand to the plough, I would not look back. It
hath pleased the Lord to prosper me so far, and grant me
favour in the eyes of this people."
His family were still not satisfied with his decision, and
it was a painful subject for him to write about ; but he
never swerved for a moment from what he firmly believed
to be a sacred duty, and both his father and brother and
sisters lived long enough to recognise that he had been led
by Divine Providence in his chosen path.
He had not been long in the Metropolis before he pre
sented himself to the Rev. Dr. Waugh, a minister of fervent
piety and affectionate spirit, who then presided over a
large church in Wells Street, Oxford Street. He was
received into membership, and shortly afterwards preached
his first sermon in St. Luke s Workhouse, and from that
time he became a frequent preacher in the villages around
London. He also found many opportunities to visit
56 ROBERT MORRISON.
the poor and sick, after the habit he had formed at
Newcastle.
He pursued his studies at Hoxton with untiring assiduity,
and his fellow-students above referred to have left glowing
testimonies as to his fervid pursuit both of mental and
spiritual attainments. Dr. Clunie sums up a very full de
scription of his college life in these words : " He was a
most exemplary student, and always aimed at distinction,
even in some branches of study for which he appeared very
little adapted. But his chief reliance to secure success
was not on any effort of his own, however diligently and
constantly exerted, but on the Divine blessing. Hence few
ever entered more fully into Luther s great axiom, To
pray well is to study well; for of him it may be very
justly said, that prayer was the element in which his soul
delighted to breathe. Though it was little apprehended
that he would so soon be called to fill one of the most
arduous and important spheres which could be conceived,
or that he would rise to such eminence in it as to com
mand the admiration of all classes of the Christian Church
and of the community in general, yet it is impossible
to reflect on his diligent and devoted course at Hoxton
without clearly recognising the incipient elements of all his
future success. Others possessed more brilliant talents, a
richer imagination, a more attractive delivery, or more
graceful manners, but I trust I may be permitted to say
that there was no one who more happily concentrated in
himself the three elements of moral greatness, the most
ardent piety, indefatigable diligence, and devoted zeal in
the best of all causes."
After he had been a short time at college a desire for
foreign missionary work, which had occasionally arisen
within him at home, became a definite and ruling purpose
of his soul. He made this known to the tutors and treasurer
of the institution. They represented to him the arduous
nature of the work, and the special opportunities he had
PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT WORK. 57
for great usefulness in the home field, and offered him the
privilege of a training at one of the Scotch universities.
They advised him to carefully pray and think about the
matter. This advice he readily adopted, with the result
that his purpose became greatly strengthened ; and on
May 27111, 1804, he wrote to the Rev. A. Waugh, then
chairman of the Committee of Examination of the London
Missionary Society, offering himself for labour in a foreign
sphere. His letter has been often referred to as a model
one. It briefly records the facts of his conversion, of his
desire to enter the ministry, and of his growing interest in
mission work. He says :
" My first wish was to engage as a Missionary. This
was the burden of my prayer. I avowed this design to my
friends. I frankly own it was the wish of my heart when I
came to Hoxton ; and had the question been asked of me
I should have professed it. I had no design to conceal it ;
but I then considered myself unfit, and believed learning
necessary. I knew nothing of a Missionary Academy. I
still cherished the desire of being a Missionary, but thought
it premature to come to a determination, and therefore
entered upon the foundation at Hoxton. Knowing that
Jesus wills that His Gospel should be preached in all the
world, and that the redeemed of the Loid are to be
gathered out of every kindred and tongue and people ;
recollecting, moreover, the command of Jesus to go into
all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature, I
conceive it my duty, as a candidate for the Holy Ministry,
to stand candidate for a station where labourers are most
wanted. My affectionate relatives in the country, and my
kind friends and patrons in town dissuade me from it, tell
me of the difficulties I shall have to encounter, and promise
me much should I stay at home. I have considered these
things, prayed to the Lord to direct me and to enable me to
count the cost, that I may not act the part of a foolish
builder. I am extremely suspicious of myself, jealous of
58 ROBERT MORRJSON.
the strength of my love to Jesus to bear me through. But
leaning on His love to me, I have now, sir, made up my
mind, if the Lord will, to forsake all and follow Him,
to spend and be spent for the elect s sake, that they may
obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal
glory."
In coming to this decision he had a painful struggle with
his home relatives, who were strongly opposed to it. He
pleaded the case most tenderly and affectionately with his
father, offering to desist from his purpose, " If my father or
other friends can give such reasons why I should not take
this step as will satisfy my mind on a dying bed." No such
reasons were forthcoming; but the struggle of mind he
endured may be imagined from these words, extracted from
a letter he addressed to his very intimate companion
Cuthbert Henderson : " My brother Thomas has sent a
letter which grieves me very much. He represents the
situation of my father s affairs in such a distressing light . .
and then charges me with wilfulness that I can help them,
and won t. Shall I see my father s house thus thrown into
confusion? I myself, my dear brother, wander from day
to day, mourning an absent Lord. I wander under the
hidings of my Father s countenance, under a sense of my
own ignorance and weakness. What can I do ? For years
past I have desired and prayed and laboured night and day
for that which the Lord has been pleased to bring about ;
and now when my wishes are gratified, my prayers are
answered, shall I turn back ? O my God, I lift my soul to
Thee. How shall I stand before Jesus in the day of
judgment, should I now forsake Him and His work when a
difficulty arises? O my friend, pray that the Lord may
remove all my sins, that He may make my way plain before
me, that He may be near to my precious and immortal soul;
pray for my brother and father, I entreat thee, my good
friend go often to see them ; and may the Lord bless thee
and keep thee through faith unto eternal salvation."
PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT WORK. 59
On Monday, May 28th, he appeared before the Missionary
Board. The interview was so satisfactory that the usual
custom of a second examination was dispensed with. He
was accepted at once, and ordered to proceed to the
Missionary Academy at Gosport, then presided over by the
venerable Dr. Bogue.
He prepared to obey the order at once. His fellow-
students affectionately commended him to "the special
grace of God," in a meeting for united prayer ; and on
the Wednesday following his acceptance, he proceeded to
Gosport, where he received a warm welcome from the
Governor of the Institution. His stay there was but a
short one, his fitness and preparedness for the work being
soon demonstrated ; and arrangements were quickly made
for his appointment to a sphere of labour. For some time
he was in uncertainty as to his destination, and writing to
his friend Mr. Clunie, on July 3151, he says :
" My future destination is altogether unknown to me.
It is in agitation to send a mission to China. Mr. Bogue
seems quite fond of it. I have had some thoughts of going
into the interior of Africa, to Timbuctoo. I give up my
concerns to the Lord. I hope He will open a door of
useful missionary labour in some part of the world, and
give me souls for my hire."
At the same time also he wrote to his sister Hannah :
"It is in agitation to send me on a mission to China;
however, it is altogether uncertain as yet. I have thought
of going to Timbuctoo, in Africa. I hope the Lord will
carry me out to some situation where He will make me
abundantly useful to the souls of men."
The references to Timbuctoo may be explained by the
fact that the brave but unfortunate traveller, Mungo Park,
was at this time contemplating the formation of an English
settlement there. It was in deliberation to send a medical
gentleman, Mr. Anderson, to Africa, and a clerical missionary
with him. Mr. Morrison seems to have been anxious to
6o ROBERT MORRISON.
go ; but the Committee of the Society designed him for
other work, and at first were disposed to send him to
Prince of Wales Island, in the Malacca Straits.
He was not left long in uncertainty as to his destination,
but was appointed to China, and directed to turn his atten
tion to gaining an elementary knowledge of the Chinese
language, with the object of qualifying himself to translate
the Bible into that tongue. Mr. Morrison ever firmly be
lieved that the appointment to China was providential. He
had made his appointment a matter of special and prolonged
prayer, and had even poured out a supplication that for
lofty self-forgetfulness was truly apostolic viz., "That God
would station him in that part of the missionary field where
the difficulties were the greatest, and, to all human appear
ance, the most insurmountable." The sequel seems to show
that this prayer was certainly answered.
The idea which was in the mind of the Committee in
making the appointment, was that the agent selected should
proceed to China, either seeking a residence in the country
itself, or finding a refuge on one of the adjacent islands, and
should there obtain a knowledge of the language, and pro
ceed with a translation of the Bible. More than this was
not contemplated just then ; when it was accomplished, the
next step was to be considered.
The design of the Committee also included the appoint
ment of two or three others to accompany Mr. Morrison ;
and a son of the celebrated Rev. Dr. John Brown, of
Haddington, was actually selected, but he declined the
invitation. Then Dr. Vanderkemp was requested to leave
Africa, and proceed to China to superintend the mission.
This also came to nothing. Evidently Providence was
directing the movements of the Society by unrecognisable
means. As we look backwards from our standpoint to-day,
it seems quite evident that if a company of agents had gone
to China, they would have drawn towards themselves the
virulent opposition of the ruling powers, and rendered all
PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT WORK. 61
efforts to obtain an introduction for the Gospel unavailing.
The appointment of Mr. Morrison therefore remained, no
companion being found to share with him the trials and
responsibilities of the enterprise.
In August 1805 he left Gosport, and proceeded to
London, that he might gain some useful knowledge in
astronomy and medicine, and also that he might gather up
as much knowledge of the Chinese language as was there
practicable. He walked St. Bartholomew s Hospital, and
attended a course of lectures on medicine given by Dr.
Blair. He went to Greenwich, and studied astronomy
under Dr. Hutton. He resided in Bishopsgate Street., and
walked to and from Greenwich, carrying his various mathe
matical and other instruments, and reading the whole of the
way. He also engaged the services of a Chinese teacher
then residing in London, called Yang-Sam-Tak. This man
was possessed of some learning, but was of a most im
petuous, passionate, and proud spirit. Mr. Morrison was
greatly tried by his fierce and domineering temper ; but he
bore with him with marvellous patience, for the sake of
attaining his great object, and also for the sake of the man
himself, whose spiritual welfare he greatly coveted. On one
occasion Mr. Morrison burnt a piece of paper on which Sam
had written some characters. He had committed them to
memory, and had no more use for them ; but such was his
teacher s indignation, that for three days he refused to con
tinue his instructions ; and to avoid similar offence, his pupil
afterwards wrote on a piece of tin, from which he could rub
out the characters when they were no longer needed. It is
gratifying to know that Sam was so far won by the kindness
and patience of his pupil, as to join him in reading the
Scriptures, and also to unite in the worship of the house
holda thing he had previously regarded with scorn. In
after life he obtained, through Mr. Morrison s influence, an
excellent situation in the warehouse of a merchant at Hon
62 ROBERT MORRISON.
In the British Museum a manuscript had been discovered
by the Rev. W. Moseley, Congregational minister of Long
Buckby, Northamptonshire, which contained the principal
portion of the New Testament translated into the Chinese
language. It was a folio volume, and by mistake had been
lettered, Evangelia Qitatuor Sinice. On a blank leaf at the
beginning of the volume is this note : " This transcript was
made at Canton in 1737 and 1738, by order of Mr. Hodg
son, who says it has been collated with great care, and found
very correct. Given to him by Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., in
1739." Mr. Moseley was incited by this discovery to pub
lish a treatise on "the importance and practicability of
translating and publishing the Holy Scriptures in the Chinese
language." After Mr. Morrison had acquired some famili
arity with Chinese characters, he commenced to transcribe
this MS., and also a MS. Latin and Chinese Dictionary,
which was possessed and lent to him by the Royal Society.
By extraordinary application, he copied these MSS. in the
few months of his residence in London, besides pursuing
with ardour the other studies previously mentioned, and
engaging in many works of practical benevolence. Speak
ing of these endeavours to prepare himself for his work,
Dr. Milne says : " What was acquired of the language
proved afterwards of trifling utility. The Dictionary and
the Harmony of the Gospels were more useful. These
were originally the work of some of the Romish missionaries
in China. By what individuals, or at what time, these
works were compiled, has not been ascertained; but Pro
vidence has preserved them to be useful, and the just
merit of their authors will doubtless one day be reckoned
to them."
During this period of preparation his mind was deeply
concerned for the salvation of his brothers and sisters, and
their children. He wrote many letters to them, overflowing
with affection and desire for their welfare. He paid a fare
well visit to them in July. His friends gathered round him.
PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT WORK. 63
and manifested such attachment to him as greatly to try his
resolution, although without in any degree shaking it. He
spent a fortnight amongst them, preaching thirteen times,
and visiting all his friends and acquaintances, going down
also to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Then he returned to
London, and prepared for his departure. On October 23rd
he wrote to his father : " I met the Directors on Tuesday
last, when it was agreed by the Committee .that I should
proceed by the first conveyance to Madras, thence pass on
to Malacca, there leave my luggage, and pay a visit to
Canton, to see whether or not I can settle there. If I can,
I will send to Malacca for my books ; and if not, I shall
return and take up my residence at Malacca, where there
are a few thousands of Chinese, and where I shall endeavour
to learn the language, and also, as soon as I can, preach the
Gospel to the Malays."
Again, on December 23rd, he wrote to his brother
Thomas : " I hoped when I wrote to you last that ere
this time I should have been on my way to China. It was
fully the intention of our friends that it should have been
so ; but, owing to the indisposition of Messrs. Hardcastle
and Cowie, the necessary steps were delayed. You must
understand that none of our missionaries can go out to
India in an English vessel, without the express leave of
the East India Company. Their leave was solicited for
the Baptist missionaries, who are now at Serampore, near
Calcutta, and they refused it. Our missionaries who are now
in India went out in foreign neutral vessels. Our Society
never asked their leave, but now think of doing it for me."
The permission, however, could not be obtained. A
passage was secured for him and two fellow-students
Messrs. Gordon and Lee, who, with their wives, were about
to proceed to other portions of the mission field in the
good ship Remittance to New York, whence he would pro
ceed to Canton direct or by way of India, as might seem
most fitting on his arrival in America.
64 ROBERT MORRISON.
His feelings at the near prospect of bidding farewell to
home and fatherland may be judged by the following words
from his journal under date January 2nd, 1807 :
"This is one of the most important periods of my life.
O Lord ! except Thy presence go with me, carry me not
up hence. May the blessing of God Almighty accompany
me. May the angel of His presence go before me. I feel
not much cast down. I endeavoured this evening to re
collect some, of the promises on which I hope. Fear not,
for I am with thee, came into my mind ; and again, Fear
not, thou worm Jacob. I hope to be enabled to lean
always and only on the arm of God ; none else can hold
me up."
He was ordained and consecrated to his sacred and
apostolic work on January 8th, 1807, in the Scotch Church,
Swallow Street, in company with the two missionaries above
named. Prayer, reading of the Scriptures, and exhortation
were conducted by the Rev. T. Townsend ; questions were
proposed to the missionaries by the Rev. G. Burder, D.D. ;
the band of missionaries made a confession of the solemn
truths they thereby undertook to teach the heathen, and
then a dedicatory prayer was offered by the venerable and
venerated pastor of Mr. Morrison, the Rev. Dr. Waugh,
accompanied by the laying on of hands ; then the Rev. Dr.
Nicol delivered an affecting charge from Acts xx. 17-27,
and the Rev. C. Buck concluded with prayer. It was a
deeply touching and impressive service, and was long
remembered by those present, not only because of the
memorable addresses and prayers of the venerable brethren,
but even more by the simple and natural statement by Mr.
Morrison of his experience and faith.
His letters to his father, his brothers, and sisters, on
bidding farewell to England, overflow with affectionate
feeling, especially regarding those who had not become
Christians. Thus he wrote to his sister Hannah : " My
dear, dear Hannah, do think of your soul now; set heaven
PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT WORK. 65
and hell and a dying Saviour before you. My hrotherly
love to your dear partner ; tell him these things from me!
Bow down together, and call upon God with tears, and for
the sake of Jesus ask for mercy. I hope to go to-morrow,
or Wednesday morning at the latest, to Gravesend, to
embark for New York. I am in good health, and am not
depressed ; I sorrow to leave you all, but I do hope and
pray (oh, God grant it I) that we shall in a little time be
brought to glory everlasting. But, dear sister Hannah, I
stand in doubt of you lest you should be in an unconverted
state. Forgive me, forgive me ; it is not in harshness but
in love for your precious soul that I speak. Come to
Jesus ; come to Jesus. There is nothing worth attending
to till that be done." The intensity of this pleading shows
the spirit of a true evangelist and missionary.
In his farewell letter to his father he gives the following
particulars as to the arrangements made for his voyage and
settlement : " I have letters of introduction to a great many
Christian friends in New York who will endeavour to obtain
for me a residence in the American Factory in Canton.
The Society puts into my hand ^150 in dollars, which I
am to keep untouched till I arrive in China, as I have my
passage paid. I have, moreover, 20 for current expenses.
They give me likewise letters of credit to the amount of
^200 on persons in Canton, Malacca, and Prince of Wales
Island. I am instructed to act very much as circumstances
may arise, and to provide either in whole or part for myself
if I possibly can. Thus you see that there is not any care
wanting, but every precaution that can be is taken."
Mr. Morrison proceeded to Gravesend, and embarked in
the ship which was to convey him across the Atlantic. His
feelings were profoundly stirred. He wrote : " I am alone;
to go alone. Oh that I may not be alone ; but that the
good hand of my God may be upon me, and the angel of
His presence go before me \ What is my object in leaving
friends and country ? My object was at first, and I trust
5
66
ROBERT MORRISON.
still is, the glory of God in the salvation of poor sinners.
Oh for faith in God ! Oh for strong confidence in the
great and precious promises ! "
On Saturday, January 3151, he went on board, and
sailed out of the river on his way to his chosen sphere and
calling.
CHAPTER VI.
INITIAL LIFE AND WORK IN CHINA.
"There is no substitute for thorough-going, ardent, and sincere
earnestness." DICKENS.
"Prayer and painstaking will accomplish everything." JOHN ELIOT.
AFTER leaving Gravesend, the ship Remittance, con
taining Mr. Morrison and his fellow-missionaries,
who were bound for the mission field in India, was
detained in the Downs waiting for a fair wind. On
February 7th, 1807, a tremendous storm raged, which
occasioned great destruction of shipping, so that a number
of vessels were sunk, and many driven on the shore. Out
of a large fleet which was anchored in the Downs, the
Remittance was the only one that was able to pursue the
voyage. It was indeed a serious time. Mr. Morrison
wrote as follows concerning it on the iQth :
" God has preserved us. Yesterday morning I hoped to
have sent this letter on shore by the pilot, but the gale
came on so suddenly that he could not leave the ship.
Before daylight our anchor snapped in two, our mizen and
fore sails split, and we scudded clown the Channel under
bare poles. The sea ran mountains high, and the atmo
sphere was so thick with snow that we could not see the
68 ROBERT MORRISON.
length of the ship around us. In the midst of our extremity,
an alarm was raised that the ship was on fire owing to the
bursting of some bottles of vitriol. The pilot and one of
the men leaped into the mizen-chains in order to jump
overboard which was to cast themselves into the arms of
death as they preferred death in that form to being burnt
to death. Happily, however, the other men had courage
enough to seize the bottles and push them overboard. My
mind, in the midst of this, was only exercised in casting my
burden upon the Lord."
After a long, tedious, and trying voyage, Mr. Morrison at
length reached New York on April 2oth, and at once took
steps to secure a passage to Canton. He obtained inter
course with several of the leading Christian ministers and
laity of the city, and then proceeded to Philadelphia, in
order to obtain, if possible, from the Government the
interest and protection of the United States Consul at
Canton. There he found friends, who used their utmost
influence at Washington, and succeeded in obtaining a
letter from Mr. Maddison, then Secretary of State, addressed
to Mr. Carrington, the Consul at Canton, requesting him to
do all he could, consistently with the interests he repre
sented, to further the designs of the mission.
He had great difficulty in procuring a passage to China.
There was only one vessel bound for India, and the
captain, apprehending difficulty with the British Government,
absolutely refused to take any passenger. Another was
bound for China, but the owners demanded one thousand
dollars for the passage. At last a gentleman, to whom he
had been introduced by Dr. Mason, a leading clergyman
of New York, arranged for him to sail in the Trident, com
manded by Captain Blakeman, who kindly offered to take
him to Canton, only charging him for the amount of his
stores.
The gentleman at whose house Mr. Morrison was enter
tained in New York communicated, many years afterwards,
INITIAL LIFE AND WORK IN CHINA. 69
a paper to the Ofisert er, which narrated many interesting
particulars in reference to this visit. A few extracts from
this paper will throw further light on the character of Mr.
Morrison, and the spirit in which he anticipated entering
upon his work. The writer says :
" I shall never forget the evening on which the Missionary
Company was brought to my house by Dr. Mason. The
appearance of a Missionary of the Cross then was a rare
thing, and that of a company of missionaries still more so.
The countenance of Morrison bore the impress of the effect
of grace on a mind and temperament naturally firm and
somewhat haughty. His manner was civil rather than
affable, serious and thoughtful, breathing a devoted piety.
The interview was solemn, but pleasant. Strangers born
on different sides of the Atlantic, there was but one bond
between us, yet the Divine nature of that mystic tie
was speedily recognised as Christian communion unlocked
the hidden treasures of the heart ; and when, at the close,
we bowed our knees in social prayer, the tears which fell
on every side were witness to that strange affection to an
unseen Being, and all who love Him, which knows nothing
of oceans or separating mountains, nothing of distance or
of time.
" In a day or two after Mr. Morrison was seized with
sudden indisposition. As I sat by his bed, he took my
hand, and, adverting to the uncertain issue of the attack,
expressed, in language which told of a mind at ease and
prepared for every event, his resignation to the Divine will.
After urging me to greater devotedness to the cause of
Christ s glory, he closed with these words, which I after
wards found were ever on his lips, Dear brother, look up,
look up !
" As the notice had been very short, he was placed for
the first night in our own chamber. By the side of his
bed stood a crib, in which slept my little child. On awaking
in the morning, she turned, as usual, to talk to her mother.
70 ROBERT MORRISON.
Seeing a stranger where she expected to have found her
parents, she roused herself with a look of alarm ; but,
fixing her eyes steadily upon his face, she inquired, Man,
do you pray to God ? Oh yes, my dear, Mr. Morrison
replied, every day. God is my best friend. At once
reassured, the little girl laid her head contentedly on the
pillow and fell fast asleep. She was a great favourite with
him ever after.
" There was nothing of pretence about Morrison. An
unfriendly critic might have said he was too proud to be
vain; a Christian would more willingly have said he was
too pious to be proud. Nothing could be more plain,
simple, and unceremonious than his manners. His fellow-
missionaries looked up to him as a father, resorted to his
room for prayer, and took his advice in all their movements.
He exhibited less of the tenderness of the Christian than
they did ; his piety had the bark on, theirs was still in the
green shoot. His mind stood firm, erect, self-determined ;
theirs clung to it for support, and gathered under its shadow
for safety. ... I will only add a brief notice of the parting
scene as he left us for his destination. On the morning
he sailed, his missionary companions assembled in his
room, and there had a most solemn interview their last
in this world. Poor Gordon was completely overwhelmed.
Morrison was composed and dignified. He reproved the
excessive grief of his brother, and conducted their parting
devotions with great firmness and self-possession. We then
set out together to the counting-house of the ship-owner,
previous to his embarkation. I cannot forget the air of
suppressed ridicule which lurked in the merchant s features
and in his speech and manner towards Morrison, whom
he appeared to pity as a deluded enthusiast, while he could
not but secretly respect his self-denial, devotion, courage-,
and enterprise. When all business matters were arranged,
he turned about from his desk, and, with a sardonic grin
addressing Morrison, whose countenance was a book wherein
INITIAL LIFE AND WORK IN CHINA. 71
men might read strange things, said, And so, Mr. Morri
son, you really expect that you will make an impression on
the idolatry of the great Chinese empire? No, sir, said
Morrison, with more than usual sternness I expect GOD
will. We soon left the man of money, and, descending
to the wharf, took our last farewell of the future apostle of
the Chinese, as he stepped into the stern-sheets of a boat
that was to carry him to the ship that lay off in the bay.
He said little, he moved less; his imposing figure and solemn
countenance were motionless as a statue. His mind was
evidently full, too full for speech : his thoughts were with
God, and he seemed regardless of all around him. By the
return of the pilot I received an affectionate note."
He sailed for his destination in the Trident about the
middle of May, and reached China in September 1807.
No incidents of special interest occurred during the voyage,
but he frequently preached on board with great earnestness,
and was unremitting both in ministering to the religious
welfare of all on board, and in pursuing his own studies.
72 ROBERT MORRISON.
He gives a very graphic account of "crossing the line,"
which illustrates the rough horseplay which was in vogue
amongst the tars of that period.
" As we passed the equinoctial line our people went
through the ceremony of ducking. Neptune and Amphitrite,
most ludicrously dressed, he having an immensely long
beard and tail, with a trident in one hand and a speaking
trumpet in the other, she clothed in a rough, shaggy skin,
presented themselves in the forecastle. The men who had
before crossed the line accompanied the god and goddess,
having their trowsers and shirt sleeves rolled up so as to
present their legs and arms bare, painted, or rather bedaubed
in a most rude manner. Neptune hailed the ship, to which
a person answered in the steerage. Advancing with the
goddess and their retinue to the quarterdeck, I under
stand, said he, in a hollow, grumbling voice, you have
some of my children here who have not before passed this
way ; bring them out that I may see them ; bear a hand !
One was immediately brought, blindfolded, by two con
ductors. Each of them laid a large cudgel on the man s
shoulder. Having dragged him before Neptune, they
seated him on a half barrel full of water. Well, my son,
said the god, I am glad to see you pass this way ; you
must now hail the line, putting the trumpet to his lips for
that purpose. He cries, Line a-ho ! at which instant a
seaman throws with violence a pail of salt water down the
trumpet into the man s mouth. Come now, barber, and
shave my son, says Neptune. The man steps forward
with a large painter s brush, and bedaubs the man s face
and neck with tar or black paint. Amphitrite gives him
a cordial viz., a glass of salt water. An old rusty hoop is
then applied to the man s face, and as the tar is scraped off
the razor is wiped between his lips. Now, says Neptune,
you must make some vows to me ; first, you must never
eat brown bread when you can get white, unless you like it
better. Yes, answers the man, between whose lips a
INITIAL LIFE AND WORK. IN CHINA. 73
tarry stick is thrust, that he may, as they say, kiss the
hook. You must never drink water when you can get
wine or porter ; you must never leave the pump till it
sucks ; you must serve as you have been all who come this
way. To each of these the man must reply, and when he
opens his lips the tarry stick is thrust into his mouth. Six
or eight buckets of water are then dashed against him, his
seat is removed, and he tumbles down in the dark, almost
suffocated, amidst the loud laughter of his shipmates."
Half of those on board were thus treated, but fortunately,
through the intervention of the captain, Mr. Morrison was
spared the ordeal."
Before reaching China he called at Macao, an island on
the coast about ninety miles from Canton, and which then
belonged to the Portuguese Government. Here the East
India Company had a Factory, and on landing he was
surprised to find there Sir George Thomas Staunton, the
President of the Select Committee of the East India Com
pany. He also met Mr. Chalmers, chief of the Factory
at Macao, and presented to him a letter of introduction he
had brought from Mr. Cowie, one of the Directors of the
Missionary Society. Mr. Chalmers welcomed him heartily,
and wished him success, but said, " The people of Europe
have no idea of the difficulty of residing here or of obtain
ing masters to teach." He told Mr. Morrison that the
Chinese were prohibited from teaching the language under
penalty of death. He also promised to talk the matter
over with Sir George and Mr. Roberts, the chief of the
English Factory at Canton. Then Mr. Morrison waited on
Sir George, and presented a letter of introduction from Sir
Joseph Banks, the President of the Royal Society. Sir
George also spoke seriously as to the difficulties of the
enterprise, stating that the East India Company forbade
any one to stay there, save on account of trade ; but
eventually he promised that he would do all in his power
to promote the object Mr. Morrison had at heart. Sir
74
ROBERT MORRISON.
George was supposed to be the only Englishman living
who had a proficient acquaintance with the Chinese lan
guage. He was a gentleman of noble spirit, and this
introduction ripened into a life-long and ardent friendship
between him and the missionary.
On his arrival at Canton Mr. Morrison sought an
interview with Mr. Carrington, the United States Consul,
VIEW OF CANTON.
and presented Mr. Maddison s letter. He received a
cordial welcome, and was offered a room in the Consul s
house, which he gratefully accepted. But as this house was
thronged with visitors, he soon removed to another, occupied
by Mr. Milnor, where he was more retired, and able also
to live at less expense. This house was part of the old
French Factory at Canton, then in charge of Mr. Milnor
and his partner Mr. Bull, as super-cargoes. He received
INITIAL LIFE AND WORK IN CHINA 75
great kindness from these gentlemen, and as an American
citizen he remained under their protection. As an English
man he dared not be known.
From Canton he wrote to Sir George Staunton, as
follows : " Sir George is most respectfully informed by
R. Morrison that he has at present an apartment in the
old French Factory at Canton. If Sir George thinks any
particular line of conduct necessary for Mr. Morrison to
pursue, in order to his being permitted quietly to reside in
Canton, to communicate it will be rendering Mr. Morrison
an essential service. Mr. Morrison will wait the arrival of
Sir George at Canton, before any attempt be made to
procure assistance in learning the language."
When Sir George came to Canton he at once introduced
Mr. Morrison to Mr. Roberts, the chief of the English
Factory, and also obtained for him a teacher. This was
Abel Yun, a Roman Catholic Chinese from Pekin; and
from this time he devoted himself with extreme diligence to
learning the language. It is scarcely possible for us to
realise the cautious prudence required from Mr. Morrison
at this point in his career. One false step must have pre
cipitately closed his career in China, but the difficulties
which gathered round him only seemed to fire his zeal and
develop the resources of his nature. In writing to the
Society he detailed his various movements at great length,
and gave utterance to the deep feeling within his breast, in
words as follows : " It is a hazardous but not a doubtful
enterprise on which we enter doubtful, I mean, whether
we be right or wrong. We shall not have to reproach
ourselves for having published the truth of the Gospel
amongst ignorant, deluded, guilty men. The missionary of
Jesus will have cause to reproach himself that he served
not his Lord more fully, but not that he was a missionary.
O Calvary, Calvary, when I view the blood of Jesus stream
ing down thy sides, I am amazed at my coldness of affection
towards the Lord, of my slothful performance of the duties
76 ROBERT MORRISON.
which the authority of God, but shall I say, which the love
of Jesus more strongly imposes upon me. Yes, O Father,
Thy love in sending Jesus, and, O my Saviour, Thy love in
giving Thyself for me, and Thine, O Holy Spirit, in apply
ing the salvation of Jesus to my guilty conscience, unitedly
overcome me, and constrain me to live not to myself but
to Thee."
He gives also an account of the opportunity opened to
him of learning the language, a work that must necessarily
precede any other step in the direction of the accomplish
ment of his great task.
" There are two Chinese who will, I hope, be useful to
me ; at present, however, they are so. The name of one is
Le Seensang. He possesses considerable knowledge of
Chinese, writes an excellent hand, and having obtained one
degree as a man of letters, is not so afraid as some of the
tradespeople are. The other person, Abel Yun, was sent
to me by Sir George. Abel is here the agent of the
Romish missionaries at Pekin, a native of Shan-si, where
the Mandarin language is generally spoken. A great part
of his life (he is about thirty years of age) has been spent
with the missionaries at Pekin. They have taught him the
Latin language, which he speaks fluently. He came to
me to-day, accompanied by another Christian. Being the
Lord s Day I could not receive instruction from him. The
Vulgate translation of the Scriptures was lying on my table.
On his looking at it we entered into conversation respecting
its contents. I turned to the fourth Commandment in
Exodus, and to the closing verse of the 58th of Isaiah.
He read them, explained them to his Chinese friend, and
if I understood him rightly, said he had hitherto erred
respecting the Sabbath. He alluded with readiness to the
discourse of our Lord respecting the Sabbath, when some
said that He profaned it by healing on that day."
Mr. Morrison s position was a trying one, because of its
isolation and uncertainty. He knew that at any moment
78 ROBERT MORRISON.
he might be ordered to leave the country, and his expenses
were very great. His rooms in the Factory cost him 350
dollars a year. His board 400 more. He had to keep a
boy, which cost 100 dollars. Then he had the expense of
a teacher, candles, furniture, books, and other necessaries,
besides which he on several occasions became a prey to the
merciless and deceitful covetousness of the natives. He
employed a Chinese to buy him a few books in the city,
and this person bribed the boy to aid him in defrauding
his master, which he succeeded in doing to the amount of
thirty dollars. His early impressions of Chinese superstition
and idolatry he described to his friend Cuthbert Henderson,
at Newcastle, thus :
"By the Lord s good hand upon me I am preserved in
health amidst very close application to the Chinese language.
I have some opportunities of saying a few things concern
ing Jesus in private conversation, but cannot make myself
understood for want of words. I find much difficulty in
speaking of God, for the Chinese have no proper idea of
one living and true God, and consequently have no words
to express such an idea. Your heart, dear Cuthbert, would
be grieved to see them falling down prostrate, or on their
knees, touching the earth with their foreheads, before large
figures in the form of men. Sometimes, instead of a graven
image, they have a painting of a man. The person worship
ping kneels, and on his knees keeps the body erect a short
time, then bends forward, and placing his hands on the
floor to support his body, brings the forehead into contact
with the stones or earth, of one or the other of which their
floors generally are. He again raises his body erect, and
again bends forward three times. He then stands up for a
short time, after which he kneels and goes over the same
number of prostrations a second and a third time. To
what a low state has sin reduced man ! Why this external
adoration of a lifeless image ? Blessed book the Bible,
which reveals to man the true God, and which reveals man
INITIAL LIFE AND WORK IN CHINA.
79
to himself. Blessed Jesus, who was in the bosom of the
Father, and who has declared Him to us."
The rooms which Mr. Morrison occupied were called in
CHINESE WORSHIP.
Canton a "go down." They were, in fact, simply a base
ment story, and had been commonly used as warehouse
rooms. In these he studied, ate, and slept. In order that
8o ROBERT MORRISON.
he might attract less attention, he adopted the dress, food,
and habits of the natives. He wore a pig-tail and loose
dress, he ate with chopsticks, he allowed his nails to grow
long. So closely did he devote himself to study, and so
little did he eat, that in a short time his health failed, and his
life was in sericus peril. Without questioning the excellence
of his intentions, the wisdom of some of these steps he
himself afterwards doubted, as the following lines from
Dr. Milne s "Retrospect of the First Ten Years of the
Chinese Mission,"* which was mainly prepared from an
account written by Mr. Morrison himself, will show :
" At first he supposed it would greatly facilitate his object
to live in the manner of the natives ; and under this idea
he supplied himself with such articles as are commonly
used by the Chinese in dress and at meals ; but he shortly
perceived that the idea was erroneous. To make himself
remarkable in external appearance would have been pro
claiming to the Chinese that he was not in circumstances
similar to those of other foreigners at Canton, and that he
had objects different from those of commerce, which is the
only one sanctioned by the local and general authorities.
Again, as religion does not consist in the form or colour of
one s dress, he not only declined assuming a native dress,
but also did not make a point of being always dressed in
black ; the white jacket and straw hat were worn, as other
Europeans do in warm climates. Whatever may be be
coming in other countries, in those places where the
Governments are averse to the diffusion of Christianity,
all external distinctions of this kind had much better be
laid aside by missionaries ; let piety towards God and
benevolence towards men be the characteristics which dis
tinguish them.
" At first, as above observed, he ate in the Chinese
manner, and dined with the person who taught him the
language. His mode of living was rigidly economical. A
* Pages 64, 65.
INITIAL LIFE AND WORK IN CHINA. 81
lamp made of earthenware supplied him with light ; and a
folio volume of Matthew Henry s Commentary, set up on
its edge, afforded a shade to prevent the wind from blowing
out the light. He did not find, however, that dining with
a native increased his knowledge of the language ; in the
time of taking a hasty meal little advantage was gained.
The same reason which led him to pare his nails, cut off
his hair, and give away his Chinese dress, induced him to
desist from being singular in his manner of eating also.
His nails were at first suffered to grow that they might be
like those of the Chinese. He had a tail (i.e., a tress of
hair) of some length, and became an adept in the use
of chop-sticks. He walked about the Hong with a Chinese
frock on, and with thick Chinese shoes. In this he meant
well ; but, as he has frequently remarked, was soon con
vinced that he had judged ill."
Soon after his settlement in Canton he attempted to hold
public worship in his rooms, and invited a few American
and English gentlemen to attend. He had much dis
couragement and disappointment in the effort. In order
to conciliate some who were members of the Church of
England, he made use of the Liturgy ; but he found, to his
sorrow, that residence in a heathen land too often fostered
indifference to Divine worship, rather than imparted a
greater desire for it.
From the commencement of his residence in China Mr.
Morrison strove to induce his native teachers and servants
to observe the Sabbath. He, of course, gave up all work on
that day, and engaged in private or public worship, as he
had opportunity, and thus set them an example which
he hoped would produce a happy result. When he could
induce them to stay with him he got them to read the
manuscript copy of the Harmony he had prepared in
London, giving exposition and application of it as he had
the opportunity. He tried also to get them to unite with
him in singing and prayer. Although he did not make
6
82
ROBERT MORRISON.
these efforts in vain they were not crowned with the
success they deserved.
As Mr. Morrison became more accustomed to his posi
tion, he removed from the small and unhealthy " go down "
which he occupied, and rented a building called "The
Factory," which had been occupied by the French, but
which was offered to him by Mr. Parry. He had here
EATING WITH CHOP-STICKS.
more room and convenience, and here he resided till he
was obliged to leave Canton by reason of failing health.
His character and pursuits began to draw towards himself
the attention and friendship of the leading foreigners in
Canton. Mr. Roberts, the chief of the English Factory,
showed increasing disposition to further both his literary
studies and missionary aims ; Mr. Ball, another leading
employe of the East India Company, also offered him con
siderable sympathy ; the Hon. J. Elphinstone sent him a
present of a Latin-Chinese Dictionary, valued at ^50 ;
INITIAL LIFE AND WORK IN CHINA. 83
and Dr. Pearson, the medical attendant of the Company,
offered to him and his family the most efficient and con
siderate attention for twenty-five years. Above all, Sir
George Staunton showed himself a friend indeed, and in
every need, as long as he lived.
The anxieties of his situation, and his unremitting appli
cation to study without sufficient air and exercise, so told
upon his strength, that he was unable to walk across the
room. His physician advised a change of air, and by the
agency of the gentlemen just referred to a residence was
obtained for him at Macao, where he removed on June ist,
in a condition of great mental depression. There is no
doubt that his desire to economise the funds of the Society
led him to exercise a measure of self-denial that must have
been injurious to the strongest constitution. But as to his
mission he maintained a firm spirit, and " bated not one jot
of heart or hope, but still held on most bravely."
He remained at Macao till the end of August 1808,
studying with his Chinese assistants, and his health im
proved so much that he was able to return to Canton.
In November political difficulties arose, which led to all
Englishmen being commanded to leave the city. He
remained for a brief period on board ship, and then
returned to Macao, where he took up his residence in his
old quarters. A few days afterwards Low Heen, one of
his teachers, ventured also to Macao, but he was in great
peril from his countrymen, who were strongly opposed to
any Chinese residing with foreigners.
A few days after Mr. Morrison s arrival at Macao, a
young gentleman called upon him to say that his father,
Dr. Morton, had a letter for him from the Rev. Mr.
Loveless, an event which had a very serious influence upon
his future. He invited Mrs. Morton and family to come
to his house, and unite with him in social prayer. On the
following Sabbath the whole family spent the day with him,
and united in Divine worship. The young man, William
84 ROBERT MORRISON.
Morton, manifested great desire for the salvation of his
soul, and Mr. Morrison entertained hopes that he might
be induced to give himself to missionary work altogether.
The loneliness of his position was greatly relieved by inter
course with this Christian family, and between Miss Morton
and himself there soon sprang up a warm attachment,
which, by-and-by, culminated in their marriage. She was
led by Mr. Morrison to give herself entirely to God s
service, and he thus became the instrument of her
salvation.
CHAPTER VII.
PERSECUTION. LONGING FOR SUCCESS.
" Some men live near to God, as my right arm
Is near to me ; and thus they walk about,
Mailed in full proof of faith, and bear a charm
That mocks at fear, and bars the door on doubt,
And dares the impossible." BLACKIE.
DIFFICULTIES as to Mr. Morrison s continued resi
dence as a missionary at Macao, or in any part of
China, increased around him so seriously that he
resolved to leave and proceed to Penang, and there con
tinue his study of the language until his way to re-enter
China was open. He made preparations for his departure,
when Providence interfered to arrest his flight. The
opposition arose from the jealousy of the Chinese and the
enmity of the Roman Catholic missionaries combined, and
in addition to this, decided opposition was displayed by
some of the chief employes of the Factories. What, there
fore, must have been his surprise when, on the very day
of his marriage to Miss Morton, February 2oth, 1809, he
received a request to become the official Translator of
Chinese for the East India Company, at a salary of ^500
per annum. If any fact could testify to his proficiency in
the language and to the prudence and consistency of his
86 ROBERT MORRISON.
character, this does so in the most ample way. This offer
decided his destiny, and to a great extent the future of
Christian missions in China. There was no need now
to embark for Penang ; Macao or Canton were both open
to him for residence and for pursuing the great enterprise
of his life.
Mr. Morrison had so far succeeded in obtaining a
knowledge of the language, that he had prepared a Chinese
Vocabulary, made considerable progress with his Anglo-
Chinese Grammar and Dictionary, besides having given
much attention to the translation of the New Testament,
which he was slowly preparing. He was, however, greatly
troubled by the capriciousness and ill-temper of his Chinese
assistants. One of them, when Mr. Morrison was alone
one evening, tore his coat from his back, and was proceed
ing to assault him, when his master called some gentlemen
in the neighbourhood to his assistance. Yang-Sam-Tak,
who had come out to China, and had been engaged to
teach him, sent away his other two helpers, and gave him
intense distress by his violent temper and his high-handed
doings. Still he did not venture to resent this ill-treatment,
or he might have been left without a teacher altogether.
On the contrary, he bore with them, prayed with them,
expounded the Word of Life to them, and yearned night
and day for their salvation. Then his house was a
miserable one. The roof fell in ; but he would still have
clung to it, only the landlord raised the rent by one-third,
because his house, he said, had been turned into a chapel.
Therefore Mr. Morrison had to seek another residence.
So afraid was he of being noticed by the people of Macao
that he never walked out, much to the injury of his health.
The first time he ventured to walk into the fields, skirting
the town, was on a moonlight night, in company with his
two teachers. Indeed, his standing in Macao was so
precarious that he was strained with continual anxiety lest
by any step he should bring about his dismissal. This
PERSECUTION. LONGING FOR SUCCESS. 87
severe mental tension occasioned a renewal of torturing
headaches, to which he was constitutionally prone, and
subjected him to other attacks of illness. His marriage
with Miss Morton also added to his other trials, as her
health began to fail shortly after their union, and she
became a permanent invalid. One more disappointment
came to try him. His brother-in-law, William Morton,
was obliged to relinquish his studies, give up the calling of
a missionary, and seek a more favourable climate by reason
of his delicate health.
The offer which came to him from the East India Com
pany was undoubtedly a great relief to his mind. In accepting
it he had the full approval of the Directors of the London
Missionary Society. There are some who have blamed him
for accepting an office of a civil character, and the functions
of which were outside of his sacred calling as a Missionary
of the Cross. But such do not seem to thoroughly grasp
the difficulties of his situation. In entering on these duties
Mr. Morrison saw at once that he would have new facilities
afforded him of becoming familiarised with the language,
that he would be able to remain in the country, and that he
would not be burdensome to the Society ; whilst he would
be able to discharge fully his duties to the Company, and
still give the major portion of his time to the work of his
life. The course of events fully justified the step taken.
By becoming an employe of a great, wealthy company, he
would be protected at once from the hostility of the natives
and the Romish emissaries.
The steps he took to make kno\vn the Gospel to the
Chinese were necessarily of the most quiet and limited
character. Indeed, to preach publicly had never been the
purpose of the Society until the conditions of things should
entirely alter in China. Still, Mr. Morrison could not rest
without doing something to make known the way of salva
tion to the heathen around him. His own teachers and
servants were his first hearers. On the Sabbath, the
88 ROBERT MORRISON.
Harmony of the Gospel in Chinese, which he had taken
out with him, was rend. The enormous difficulties to an
Englishman of learning the language made it for a long
time impossible for him to give any fair view of Christianity,
or to argue with the Chinese as to their false systems. But
the effort was made ; one or two, sometimes from four up
to ten Chinese, would be gathered in an inner apartment,
and the door securely locked ; then the opportunity would
be afforded to the missionary of declaring his message. For
a long time this was done without any cheering result to
encourage or reward his faith.
At the end of 1810 he wrote to hi? friend the Rev. John
Clunie, describing his progress and position, as follows :
" I have experienced since I wrote to you a considerable
share of affliction ; not indeed in my own person, but in the
person of my dear Mary. A nervous disease strongly agitates
body and mind ; she is, I thank the Lord, now somewhat
better, and I hope will recover her former health and peace.
Affliction in a foreign land lies doubly heavy ; no kind rela
tives to assist, no Christian friend to cheer. The mind in
perfect peace will, I know, sustain any deprivation, or merely
bodily calamity, but a wounded spirit who can bear?
My daily occupations are the same as when I last wrote to
you in the beginning of this year. I believe I was then in
Canton. I continued there till March, carrying on a dis
cussion with the Chinese Government respecting the alleged
murder of a Chinaman. I obtained great eclat by the public
examination of the witnesses ; everybody was astonished
that in two years I should be able to write the language and
converse in the Mandarin and vulgar dialects. In conse
quence of that, three of the Company s servants determined
to begin the study of the Chinese language, and I have
during the summer been a regular Chinese tutor. In addi
tion to these three, a gentleman who has been twenty years
in the country attended ; these remained two hours every
day, and my fifth pupil, a Dutch youth, remained all the
PERSECUTION. LONGING FOR SUCCESS. 8g
day. Through the summer I have had much translation to
do for the Company, and frequent conferences with the
Mandarins ; neither the one nor the other, I am sorry to
say, was amicable. The Mandarins are extremely haughty,
overbearing, and clamorous ; sometimes three or four of
them will speak at the same time, and as loud as if they
were all scolding. My tutor K6 Seen-sang yet continues
with me, and also my assistant Low Heen. I employed
him to get one thousand copies of the Acts of the Apostles
printed in Chinese, and he connived at my being charged
twenty-five or thirty pounds more than the proper price.
He told me so this evening, and confessed his fault. It
grieves me very much, as I cannot now trust him. It is
very desirable to have persons in whom we can place entire
confidence, but that is not the case with the Chinese. A
want of truth is a prevailing feature in their character ;
hence mutual distrust, low cunning, and deceit."
It was shortly after this that the translation of the Acts of
the Apostles just referred to was published. One thousand
copies were printed. The charge for printing was exorbi
tant, amounting to about half a dollar per copy, the price at
which the whole of the New Testament was afterwards printed.
But, as it was considered to be a prohibited book, some risk
was incurred by the printers, and they expected to be pro
portionately compensated, besides that the Chinese thought
themselves at liberty to impose in any way open to them
upon the foreigner. Three ambassadors from the Islands
of Lekyo, who had come with tribute to China, had copies
presented to them on their landing, and the book was
cautiously circulated at every opportunity.
Mr. Morrison next prepared a tract, called Shin-taou, or
the Divine doctrine concerning the Redemption of the
World. This was printed, and one thousand copies issued.
Then he translated the Gospel of St. Luke, which was also
printed. He also composed a Catechism to put into the hands
of inquirers. At this time the authorities of China evidently
90 ROBERT MORRISON.
began to be disturbed at the promulgation of other religious
views than those long established in the empire, and an
imperial edict was issued prohibiting the teaching of Chris
tianity, and four Roman Catholics were expelled from Pekin.
These steps rendered Mr. Morrison additionally cautious as
to his next movements.
His Chinese Grammar had been ready for some time, but
he found it difficult to obtain its publication. He submitted
it to Sir George Staunton, who wrote his most cordial
approval of it in these words :
" I return you the Chinese Grammar with many thanks
for the perusal. I am happy to congratulate you on a work
which will prove, both in regard to its plan and its execution,
a most valuable acquisition to the student of the Chinese
language. He will no longer be under the hard necessity
of working his way through the ponderous volumes of Four-
mont, Boyer, and others ; and which, after all, are often
very inaccurate and defective. I hope therefore you will
soon proceed to the press."
The Grammar was sent by Mr. Roberts to Lord Minto,
the Governor-General of India, in order that it might bi
printed. For some reason, never explained, it was kept
back nearly three years ; then it was printed at the Serampore
Press, in 1815, at the expense of the East India Company,
and was of signal service to many who hitherto had found
the acquisition of the language a task too difficult for
them.
Several important events in relation to Mr. Morrison s
domestic and family affairs transpired in the year 1812.
His good and pious father died; two of his brothers also
passed away ; and he was cheered by the birth of a daughter,
and the prospect of improved health to his afflicted partner.
As Sir George Staunton had been withdrawn from China,
Mr. Morrison s official duties became much more responsible,
and his salary was increased to a thousand pounds a year,
with allowances for teachers, a place at the public table,
PERSECUTION. LONGWG FOR SUCCESS. 91
and other privileges. His services were represented as being
of the highest value, and the Honourable Court of Directors,
when asked to sanction the appointment which had been
made by the Select Committee, gave "a kind of consent
to it." The meaning of this apparently tardy consent was
that the Directors of the East India Company, both in
England and in China, considered it a visionary enterprise
to attempt the conversion of the Chinese to Christianity,
and also feared that such efforts might be opposed to the
commercial interests of the Company. But the prudent
and unostentatious, though invaluable labours of Mr. Mor
rison, won their esteem and admiration, and led them to
treat him with great confidence.
He now gave himself with renewed enthusiasm to the
preparation of the Anglo Chinese Dictionary a formidable
undertaking, which involved an acquaintance with Chinese
classical literature such as no Englishman or European had
ever possessed.
Three copies of his translation of the Acts of the Apostles,
which he forwarded to England, aroused the deepest in
terest in the minds of the lovers of missions. The Directors
of the London Missionary Society presented one copy to
the British and Foreign Bible Society, which liberally voted
,500 towards the printing of the whole Bible in Chinese,
when the translation should be complete ; another copy was
unstitched, and its leaves distributed amongst the friends of
the Society in various parts of the United Kingdom. It
seemed to them to be the first demonstrated step towards
the eventual conquest by the Gospel of the whole heathen
empire, and they rejoiced accordingly. In the same letter
that told him of the welcome reception of his translation,
the glad tidings were communicated that at last, in response
to his frequent and earnest pleadings, a helper had been
appointed to come and share his labours. This was Mr.
William Milne, a young man of most devoted piety, and of
perfect fitness for the work to which he was designated.
92 ROBERT MORRISON.
Mr. Morrison s apprehensions were now painfully excited
by an edict against Christianity issued by the Emperor.
The following extract from his letter to the Society, dated
April 2nd, 1812, will show at once his danger and his calm
resolution :
"By the last fleet, which sailed about a month ago, I
wrote and enclosed you a copy of my translation of the
Gospel by Luke, and a Chinese tract on the Way of
Salvation, which I hoped would reach you in safety. I
now enclose you a translation of a Chinese edict, by which
you will see that to print books on the Christian religion in
Chinese is rendered a capital crime. I must go forward,
however, trusting in the Lord. We will scrupulously
obey governments so far as their decrees do not oppose
what is required by the Almighty. I will be careful
not to invite the notice of Government. I am, though
sensible of my weakness, not discouraged, but thankful
that my own most sanguine hopes have been more than
realised. In the midst of discouragement, the practica
bility of acquiring the language in no very great length
of time, of translating the Scriptures, and of having them
printed in China, has been demonstrated. I am gratefu4
to the Divine Being for having employed me in this good
work ; and should I die soon, it will afford me pleasure in
my last moments.
That there was abundant ground for grave fears for the
future of Christianity may be seen from the following para
graph from this proclamation : " From this time forward,
such European as shall privately print books and establish
preachers, in order to pervert the multitude, and the Tartars
and Chinese who, deputed by Europeans, shall propagate
their religion, bestowing names (i.e., baptising), and dis
quieting numbers shall have this to look to : the chief or
principal one shall be executed. Whoever shall spread
their religion, not making much disturbance, nor to many
men, and without giving names, shall be imprisoned waiting
PERSECUTION. LONGING FOR SUCCESS. 93
for the time of execution, and those who content themselves
with following such religion shall be exiled," etc.
The Directors of the Society, in publishing the persecuting
document, remark : " We are pleased to perceive that the
mind of our Chinese missionary is undismayed by this edict,
and that he is resolved to go on in the strength of the Lord,
to whose omnipotent care they cheerfully commit him, as
sured that the set time to favour China is approaching,
when this edict, which will act at present as a most exten
sive proclamation of the publication of the Scriptures and
thereby excite the curiosity of the millions of China to
peruse them, shall not only be revoked, but followed by
another in favour of Christianity."
Mr. Morrison was working with great diligence at his
work of translating the Scriptures and compiling his Dic
tionary. He had printed most of the Epistles, and also the
Gospel of St. Luke, already referred to ; but he found the
preparation of the Dictionary a task which severely tested
his patience and his resources. To the Grammar, which still
lay in the hands of the Company, waiting for their decision
as to printing, he added a volume of Dialogues.
He became increasingly anxious to see some visible result
of his efforts to affect the hearts of those natives to whom
he had access, and was greatly cheered by being informed
that the life of one person, a Chinese police orderly in
Canton, had been reformed through reading the tract pub
lished by him on the Way of Salvation, which tract this
person had taken up by chance from the table of a relative.
He had been a notoriously bad man too bad, in the esti
mation of the person who had distributed the tracts, to
receive one. The reform in his life was marked by many,
but did not result in his becoming a Christian.
Other faint signs of success began to brighten before his
mind. His Chinese assistants were evidently becoming
familiarised with Divine truth, and proportionately became
convinced of the sin and absurdity of idolatry. Several
94 ROBERT MORRISON.
entries in Mr. Morrison s journal seem to make this
evident :
" October \\th. Lord s day. Discoursed on the parable of
the Prodigal Son. My people, as usual, were attentive. In
the evening A-Tso read part of the tract, and explained
it in a satisfactory manner. He mistook the original right
eousness of man for the time of every one s birth. A-Fo
also read it, and attempted to express the sense in his own
language, but misunderstood its scope. He proposed to
attend on the Lord s days and at the usual times of worship.
In the evening I heard the boys repeat their catechism and
read a chapter of the Gospel by St. Luke. As usual they
were dismissed with prayer. They all appear to feel the
absurdity of idol worship. K6 Seen-sang seems ashamed
of it. The truth appears to have enlightened him in some
degree. I asked him some time ago if any of his country
men with whom he was acquainted affirmed that there is no
God. He did not give a direct answer, but said : How
can any affirm it, when the heavens and the earth and all
things were made by Him ? K5 Seen-sang is a man forty-
five years of age. His father was a Mandarin of some rank.
He is of a mild and amiable disposition, of good natural
parts, and has been accustomed all his life to teach. Low
He en is about thirty, is mild, but insincere. He writes a
good hand, and is very useful in writing for the press. Ko
Seen-sang revises what is translated. They both do their
parts without scruple."
A-Fo cheered him by apparent increasing earnestness in
his inquiries after Scripture doctrine. Ko Seen-sang mani
fested growing interest in sacred subjects ; but the young
boys gave him most pleasure and encouragement. One day
A-Fo brought him some idols to look at. He desired that
his countrymen might not be told he had brought them,
because they would be extremely angry if they knew of it.
They were greatly opposed to selling or parting with their
idols, lest they should be insulted. " For my part," said
PERSECUTION. LONGING FOR SUCCESS. 95
A-Fo, "I believe in Yay-soo (Jesus), and hearken to what
you say of the vanity of worshipping wooden, clay, and
other images." On November 8th, 1812, A-Fo inquired
about baptism, and declared his willingness to be baptised
if his brother might not know of it. Mr. Morrison endea
voured to explain to him that if his motive was a prudential
one, in order to avoid drawing the attention of the civil
authorities to himself, it was allowable ; but if he was
ashamed to be known as a Christian, it was not. He re
mained with the missionary after the others had gone for
further instruction, and for weeks repeatedly asked him to
offer prayer with him and for him. He seemed to be really
sincere in his desires for salvation.
The Roman Catholic Bishop at Macao issued an anathema
against any who had intercourse with Mr. Morrison, or
received his books, or supplied him with Chinese books;
but it had no appreciable effect on his work. He reports
as to his efforts for the conversion of the natives thus : " I
have endeavoured to communicate to a few, by oral instruc
tion, the knowledge of the truth. [Here follow the names
of eleven persons.] These have attended with the utmost
seriousness and the utmost decorum. In Macao every Sab
bath day I conducted worship with the above persons. I
began by prayer, next read a portion of the Scriptures, some
part of that which I have already printed, or some portion
translated for the occasion. These I endeavoured to explain
and enforce, and then concluded by prayer and singing a
psalm or hymn." Another evidence of growing seriousness
is afforded in the following extract :
"December i8t/i.- K6 Seen-sang, who has been at home
for several days presiding at the marriage of his son, re
turned to day. In the evening he had again to go home.
He therefore requested me that I would engage in family
prayer sooner, that he might join in it ; for he felt uncom
fortable in his mind from not having engaged for several
days. I bless God for this sign of an awakened mind.
96 ROBERT MORRISON.
O Lord ! carry it on to complete conversion, through Jesus
Christ."
It was just now that Mr. Morrison first broached to the
Directors of the Missionary Society a project he was some
years afterwards able to realise in large measure viz., the
establishment of a Missionary College at Malacca. He
says : " I wish that we had an institution in Malacca for the
training of missionaries, European and native, and designed
for all the countries beyond the Ganges. There also let
there be that powerful engine the Press. The final triumphs
of the Gospel will be by means of native missionaries and
the Bible ; the spring that gives motion to these, under
God European Christians. We want a central point for our
Asiatic missions, we want organised co-operation, we want a
press, we want a committee of missionaries. Such a com
mittee, being engaged in missionary work in heathen lands,
would have means of judging which a person in England
who had never removed from his study or his desk could
not have. They would know the heart of missionaries.
The final decision in every case would yet remain with the
body of directors."
Mr. Morrison s time was now about equally divided be
tween Canton and Macao. His wife and infant daughter
resided at the latter place, and he was under the painful
necessity of being separated from them for half of the year.
Mr. Elphinstone, the chief of the Company in China,
offered him the situation of chaplain, with a salary attached.
He did this, he said, with the object of increasing the com
fort of his position, as living at Macao was very expensive.
The offer was that Mr. Morrison should read the Church
Service, but not preach. He offered to conduct full service
on the Lord s day, but declined the salary. He could not
accept such a position unless it enabled him to preach the
Gospel of Jesus. The arrangements, therefore, were brought
to an end. Fresh opposition to the Gospel was manifested
at this time in Macao. The Government there was a
98 ROBERT MORRISON.
mixed one, partly Chinese, partly Portuguese. The Chinese
ordered that no more Europeans should be allowed to be
landed on the island to remain. The Portuguese ordered
that no such persons were to be admitted except such as
were connected with the European factories. Following
in these directions, a proclamation was announced by the
Chinese chief magistrate, prohibiting any Chinese from
adopting the Christian religion.
Under Mr. Morrison s earliest entreaty, the Society in
London had determined to establish a mission in Java, in
which there were thirty millions of inhabitants, half a million
of whom were Chinese, and amongst whom the Scriptures
which were being so rapidly translated and printed might
be freely distributed.
CHAPTER VIII.
A FELLOW-LABOURER.
"He holds no parley with unmanly fears;
Where duty bids, he confidently steers,
Faces a thousand dangers at her call,
And, trusting in his God, surmounts them all."
COWPER.
IT is impossible to adequately realise the delight of Mr.
and Mrs. Morrison when, on July 4th, 1813, being the
Sabbath, and just as they were sitting down at the
Lord s table, a note arrived with the news that Mr. Milne,
the brother missionary long promised and expected, had
arrived with his wife at Macao. A more welcome or admir
able fellow-labourer never entered the mission field. It may
be convenient at this point to state in a few sentences some
thing concerning his early days and training for the great
work.
He was born in Abercleenshire, in Scotland, in 1785.
His father died when he was six years old, and his mother
gave him such education as was common to boys in humble
life. Soon after his father s death he was put under the
guardianship of a relative, who neglected his morals, until
he became notoriously wicked, especially as a profane
swearer. But he was not long to be given up to sin. In
ioo ROBERT MORRISON.
his early years he attended a Sabbath evening school, which
was taught in the neighbourhood of his residence. Here
his knowledge of evangelical truth increased, and its value
was impressed upon his mind. Sometimes he walked home
from the school alone, about a mile over the brow of a hill,
praying all the way. At this time he began to conduct
family worship in his mother s house ; and he also held
meetings for prayer with his sisters and other children in a
barn that belonged to the premises.
When removed from his home, he was placed in a situa
tion near a very poor man who was rich in faith and holiness.
He often went to his house at the hour for family prayer,
and united in the worship. After reading the Scriptures,
this man was in the habit of expounding them for the instruc
tion of the children, and his remarks deeply interested young
Milne, and greatly helped to increase his affection for the
Bible. Religion was presented to him in this household in
such an attractive manner, that he was led to make a full
and deliberate choice of Christ as his Saviour and Friend.
The family in which he lived were not only irreligious
themselves, but derided the youth for his piety, making his
position most uncomfortable. The only place obtainable
for meditation or prayer was a sheep-cote where the flock
was kept in the winter, and here, surrounded by animals,
he often knelt in prayer, on a piece of turf kept for that
purpose. Many hours were thus spent on winter evenings,
and here he often had sweet refreshment while the members
of his master s household were contriving some fresh morti
fication for his spirit. He read some books at this time
which greatly influenced him, especially "The Cloud of
Witnesses," and Boston s " Fourfold State." He became a
member of the Congregational Church at Huntly, saying
on his reception, " What a wonder am I to myself ! Surely
the Lord hath magnified His grace to me above any of the
fallen race." Hours were spent by him every day in prayer
for the conversion of the world to Christ ; but it was not till
A FELLOW-LABOURER. loi
he was twenty years old that he consecrated himself for
mission work, and then he had many obstacles in his path.
He spent five years in hard labour to make provision foi
his widowed mother and sisters ; and when this object was
accomplished he at once offered himself to the local com
mittee of the London Missionary Society.
On his appearance before the Committee at Aberdeen, he
seemed so rustic and unpromising that a cautious member
took Dr. Philip aside, and expressed his doubts whether he
had the necessary qualifications for a missionary, but he
added that he would have no objection to recommend him
as a servant to a missionary, provided he would be willing
to engage in that capacity. " At the suggestion of my worthy
friend," says Dr. Philip, " I desired to speak with him alone.
Having stated to him the objection which had been made,
and asked him if he would consent to the proposal, he
replied without hesitation, and with the most significant
and animated expression of countenance, Yes, sir, most
certainly ; I am willing to be anything, so that I am in
the work. To be a hewer of wood and a drawer of water
is too great an honour for me when the Lord s House is
building. "
He was then accepted by the Committee, and directed
to Gosport, where he went through a regular course of
training under Dr. Bogue. He says : " I began with
scarcely any hope of success, but resolved that failure
should not be for want of application. His subsequent
course proved that he had both capacity and perseverance to
enable him to leave a permanent landmark in the cliffs of
time. He passed through his college course with great
success. In July 1812 he was ordained to the work of
the ministry, and dedicated to the service of Christ among
the heathen. Shortly afterwards he married Miss Cowie,
daughter of Charles Cowie, Esq., of Aberdeen. She was an
eminently pious and prudent woman, and contributed greatly
to his happiness and usefulness until her death, in 1819.
T02
ROBERT MORRISON.
A month after his ordination they embarked at Ports
mouth for China, and having touched at the Cape of Good
Hope and the Isle of France, were warmly welcomed at
Macao by Mr. and Mrs. Morrison Mr. Morrison says :
MR. AND MRS. MILNE.
" I went down immediately to the tavern, about ten minutes
walk from our residence. On the way I lifted up my heart
in prayer to God for His blessing and direction in all things.
After we recognised each other, Mrs. Milne was sent home
in a palanquin, and brother Milne and I called on the
A FELLOW-LABOURER. 103
Minister and Governor, according to the custom of the
place. They both received us with civility, and offered no
objection to Mr. Milne at the moment.
" The next day I called on Mr. to state that Mr.
Milne had arrived, and asked his permission to allow him
to remain. He demurred for some time, alleging that no
person is allowed to come here that the object of the
English here had been fully stated to be purely mercantile
that the Chinese would disallow a religious establishment,
etc. He finally consented to do nothing actively. He
would consider Mr. Milne a Chinese student."
The following prayer was entered in Mr. Morrison s journal:
" Thus far (blessed be the great Disposer of events) the
door has been opened. Oh that the Lord s servant may
be spared in health, may soon acquire the language of the
heathen, and be a faithful missionary of Jesus Christ ! "
When the news circulated as to Mr. and Mrs. Milne s
arrival, there was excitement both amongst the English
and Portuguese. Hostility at once broke forth. The
Roman Catholics appealed to the Governor, the Senate met,
and it was decreed in full council " that Mr. Milne should
not remain." In a few days a messenger from the Governor
waited on Mr. Morrison with a message for him to go up
to his house. When the missionary arrived, he was coolly
received. The following conversation took place : " Does
the Padre," said the Governor, "at your house purpose to
remain here ? " " Please, your Excellency, for the present,
if you please," was the answer. " It is," said the Governor,
"absolutely impossible; he must leave in eight days." Mr.
Morrison entreated him on one knee not to persist in this
order, but to at least extend the term. The Governor said
his orders were not to allow people to remain, that the
Senate and the Roman Catholic Bishop had required him
to act, that he had been appealed to against Mr. Morrison
for publishing books in Chinese at Macao, but from motives
of friendship he had forborne to act. Finally, he extended
104 ROBERT MORRISON.
his permission for Mr. Milne to remain eighteen days. All
further efforts in the same direction proved fruitless.
On July 2oth Mr. Milne left Macao in a Chinese fast
boat. He couid get no legal conveyance, and therefore
had to proceed by stealth to Whampoa, thence taking
ship to Canton. This treatment on the part of the authori
ties at Macao greatly grieved Mr. Morrison, the more so as an
intimation was given him that he ought to surrender his
mission work and devote himself exclusively to the affairs
of the Company. But they had riot properly understood
the man if they thought such a thing possible. Mr. Morrison
was missionary first and essentially ; he was a servant of the
East India Company for its convenience and his own.
A few days later he went to Canton, where he found
Mr. Milne well, busily engaged with his studies, but in very
uncomfortable quarters. Thence he returned to Macao ;
and on September 3oth again arrived at Canton, having
just finished the translation of the New Testament in
Chinese. He now devoted himself increasingly to the
Anglo-Chinese Dictionary, which severely taxed his powers
and resources. In the midst of these labours, his position
was rendered the more trying by the death of Mr. Roberts,
the chief of the English Factory, who had proved a warm
friend to him since his arrival in China.
The year 1814 opened with fresh opposition from the
Chinese authorities. The Viceroy had reported Mr. Mor
rison to the Government as becoming fully acquainted with
the language and customs of the country, and as being the
translator of all English official documents which were
received by the Government. The Government sent a
document denouncing in harsh terms all who were con
cerned in imparting to him any help in the composition of
official despatches, and the Viceroy issued an order for
their apprehension. Ko Seeng-sang and his son were
therefore dismissed and sent to a place of safety. But,
on the other hand, the New Testament was printed and
A FELLOW-LABOURER. 10-
ready for circulation, so that there was the prospect of good
being done through its finding a way into the homes of
many of the people. Two thousand copies were first
printed, which were taken from wooden blocks. From
these blocks one hundred thousand copies might have
been printed without material damage being done to them.
Mr. Morrison also issued simultaneously ten thousand
copies of a tract containing an outline of the Christian
system, and five thousand copies of a Catechism.
It was soon found that Mr. Milne would not be permitted
to remain at Canton, and that he must look out for a
residence elsewhere. Mr. Morrison therefore addressed
to him an earnest letter as to their future steps. He
says : " To the attainment of our object under the blessing
of God a free and unshackled residence in the heart of
China would be the most desirable, but that is at present
impracticable. Next to that a residence in the suburbs of
Canton or at Macao may seem desirable. Were we at
liberty to exercise our missionary functions it would be so,
but confined to a room and debarred from free intercourse
with the natives, it is not so desirable for the seat of the
mission as may at first sight appear. ... As a residence
is denied to us here it is ours to fix the Jerusalem of our
mission elsewhere. We want a headquarters at which to
meet and consult, from which to commission persons to go
out on every hand, a home to which to retire in case of
sickness or declining years. We want, if it be in the course
of Divine Providence, a school for the instruction of Native
and European youth ; for the reception and initiation of
young missionaries from Europe. It is yours to seek for
and found this important station. Perhaps, at Malacca,
or Java, an open door may be found."
It was therefore settled that Mr. Milne should go through
the chief Chinese settlements in the Malay Archipelago
with the following objects in view : first, to circulate the
New Testament and tracts just published amongst the
io6
ROBERT MORRISON.
iLC
fifi
f:
It
IE
g
u
&?.
1
tens of thousands of Chinese who lived in those islands ;
secondly, to seek a quiet and peaceful
retreat, where the chief seat of the
Chinese mission could be fixed and
its labours pursued without the harass
ing persecution of a bigoted and ex
clusive Government ; thirdly, to gather
up such information as to populations,
etc., as might afford good grounds for
deciding as to the best means of pur
suing mission work among them ; and
fourthly, to ascertain what opportuni
ties there were of printing a volume
of dialogues in Chinese and English
to assist other agents in the acquisi
tion of the language. With the pur
poses of his voyage thus defined, Mr.
Milne proceeded to visit Java, Ma
lacca, Penang, and other places.
During Mr. Milne s absence Mr.
Morrison proceeded with his work of
publication. He issued in Chinese
a pamphlet in which he traced a
concise outline of Old Testament his
tory, chiefly relating to the Creation,
Deluge, Exodus, giving of the Law,
and principal events of the kingdom
of Israel. He also translated and
printed a selection of hymns to be
used in Divine worship ; consisting
mainly of psalms rendered from the
Scotch version, and the hymns of
Watts, Cowper, and Newton, in most
general use at Jiome.
So many copies of the New Testament had been required
by Mr. Milne for distribution on his travels that a new
II
El
75
JK
4
tl
J
ft
-.
it:
13
THE LORD S PRAYER IN
CHINESE.
A FELLOW-LABOURER. 107
edition was q/ .ickly called for. The book had been printed
in large octal o form, and Mr. Morrison decided to print it
in duodecimo, as being more generally convenient. Be
sides, in the critical condition of the Mission, it was of
importance to have two sets of blocks, to be kept in different
places, so that if one fell into the hands of opponents the
other might be in reserve. New wood-blocks were therefore
prepared, at a cost of five hundred Spanish dollars,* besides
half-a-dollar each copy for printing off. But this cost was
greatly increased by the dishonest advantage afterwards
taken of Mr. Morrison by the Chinese.
The Anglo-Chinese Dictionary now approa hed comple
tion. Immense labour had been spent upon it, and its
publication became a matter of extreme anxiety to Mr.
Morrison. It would have been comparatively useless to
have remained in manuscript. The expense of transcribing
it for the use of other missionaries or the employes of the
Company would have been immense. To copy the Dic
tionary prepared previously by Romish missionaries had
cost two hundred Spanish dollars, and it was only one-sixth
the size of this prepared by Mr. Morrison. The expenses
incurred already in gathering up materials for its composition
had been very great, and the cost of its publication was
alike beyond the means of the author and of the Missionary
Society. It was, therefore, with thankfulness and a sense
of gracious relief that Mr. Morrison, after much negotiation,
obtained from the Company a promise to print it at its
expense. At once the Select Committee made arrangements,
and shortly afterwards Mr. P. P. Thorns was sent out from
England to China, with presses, types, and all requisites for
the work, to superintend its publication.
The translation of the Old Testament was then in progress,
and Mr. Morrison finished the Book of Genesis, which was
printed separately at the beginning of 1815.
In the meantime Mr. Milne returned from his travels.
* Then valued at five shillings per dollar.
io8 ROBERT MORRISON.
He had visited Java, and received much encouragement
and help in his enterprise from the enlightened and truly
Christian Governor, Sir T. Stamford Raffles. After visiting
other places he called at Malacca, and was received by
Colonel Farquhar, the Resident and Commandant, with
great cordiality. This gentleman showed much interest in
the project of the missionaries, and proved a warm friend
to them in their future operations. On Mr. Milne s return
to Canton, it was decided between Mr. Morrison and him
self that Malacca should be adopted as his future residence,
and as the base of a new mission. The reasons for this
choice were several and very weighty. Malacca was near
to China, and there was frequent and easy intercourse
between it and all the islands in the Eastern Archipelago,
where the Chinese resided in large numbers ; it lay con
venient to Cochin-China, Siam, and Penang; it was en route
between India and Canton, and ships sailing between these
places frequently called there. No other place presented
such advantages for intercourse and transmission of books,
etc. The climate was healthy, and as a mission station it
would be a desirable residence for any agents who were ill
or in failing health. Then it was a quiet place, the authori
ties were friendly, Colonel Farquhar cordially so, and here
could be established a missionary settlement which should
embrace the various and comprehensive scheme which had
been seething in Mr. Morrison s soul for many months. A
full report of Mr. Milne s expedition, and the suggestions
based upon it, were drawn up and transmitted to the Board
of Directors in London.
On April lyth he had the happiness of having a son
born to him, whom he baptised on May ist, in the name of
John Robert. His little daughter Rebecca was now about
twenty months old. They were both dedicated prayerfully
to God s service, and both were permitted to render service
to the cause of missions in China.
The year 1814 brought to Mr. Morrison what was the
A FELLOW-LABOURER. 109
greatest joy he had hitherto experienced in his arduous
work. For seven years he had hoped, prayed, scattered
the seed of the kingdom, yearning that it might fall into
good ground and bear fruit ; but time seemed to pass by
cnly to try his faith and patience more severely. But at
length he was to be refreshed by having one convert to his
prolonged ministry. This was Tsae-Ako, one of his early
teachers, and brother of A-He en, still employed by him,
who now made application for baptism, giving the following
confession of faith :
"Jesus making atonement for us is the blessed sound.
Language and thought arc both inadequate to exhaust the
gracious and admirable goodness of the intention of Jesus.
I now believe in Jesus, and rely on His merits to obtain
the remission of sin. I have sins and defects, and without
faith in Jesus for the remission of sins should be eternally
miserable. Now that we have heard of the forgiveness of
sins through Jesus, we ought, with all our hearts, to rely on
His merits. He who does not do so is not a good man.
I by no means rely on my own goodness. When I reflect
and question myself, I perceive that from childhood until
now I have had no strength, no merit, no learning. Till
this, my twenty-seventh year, I have done nothing to answer
to the goodness of God in giving me existence in this world
as a human being. I have not recompensed the kindness
of my friends, my parents, my relations. Shall I repine ?
Shall I hope in my own good deeds ? I entirely call upon
God the Father, and rely upon God for the remission of
sins ; I also call upon God to confer upon me the Holy
Spirit."
The account given by Mr. Morrison of this first convert
to Christ by Protestant missions is interesting : " Ako lost
his father when he was sixteen years of age. When he was
twenty-one, he came to my house and heard me talk of
Jesus, but says he did not understand well what I meant.
That was my first year in China. Three years after, when
no ROBERT MORRISON.
I could speak better and could write, he understood better ;
and being employed by his brother in superintending the
New Testament for the press, he says that he began to see
that the merits of Jesus were able to save all men in all
ages and nations, and hence he listened to and believed
in Him.
" His natural temper is not good. He often disagreed
with his brother and other domestics, and I thought it
better that he should retire from my service. He, however,
continued, whenever he was within a few miles, to come to
worship on the Sabbath day. He prayed earnestly morn
ing and evening, and read the Decalogue as contained in
the Catechism. He says that from the Decalogue and
instruction of friends he saw his great and manifold errors,
that his nature was wrong, that he had been unjust, and
that he had not fulfilled his duty to his friends or brothers,
or other men. His knowledge, of course, is very limited,
and his views perhaps obscure ; but I hope that his faith
in Jesus is sincere. I took for my guide what Philip said
to the eunuch If thou believest with all thine heart, thou
mayest be baptised. Oh that at the great day he may
prove to be a brand plucked from the burning ! May God
be glorified in his eternal salvation !
" He writes a tolerably good hand. His father was a
man of some property, which he lost by the wreck of a
junk in the China seas returning from Batavia. Tsae-
Ako, when at school, was often unwell, and did not make
so much progress as his brother, A-He en, who is with me.
A-He en is mild and judicious, but is, I fear, in his heart
opposed to the Gospel. His attendance to preaching on
the Lord s day is also constant. But insincerity and want
of truth are vices which cling to the Chinese character."
Tsae-Ako had long been preparing for Christian disciple-
ship. A slow, gradual work of grace had been proceeding
in his heart, and he had given many proofs of his deep
sincerity. Mr. Morrison, with his usual caution, had done
A FELLOW-LABOURER. ill
nothing to hasten the final step, save to pray for him and
to instruct him carefully in Divine things. It was with
much confidence, therefore, that his confession of faith
was received, and he was baptised into the Church of Jesus.
In his journal, under date July i6th, 1814, Mr. Morrison
thus recorded the baptism :
" At a spring of water issuing from the foot of a lofty
hill by the seaside, away from human observation, I
baptised, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
the person whose name and character have been given
above. Oh that the Lord may cleanse him from all sin
by the blood of Jesus, and purify his heart by the influences
of the Holy Spirit ! May he be the firstfruits of a great
harvest one of millions who shall come and be saved."
Tsae-Ako adhered to his profession of the Gospel until
his death, which took place from consumption in 1819.
Mr. Morrison was not with him at his death ; but he never
doubted as to his faith in the Lord Jesus at the last
moment.
CHAPTER IX.
VISIT TO PE KIN. COLLEGE AT MALACCA.
"Every great and commanding movLment in the world is the
triumph of enthusiasm." EMERSON.
r I ^HE apprehensions which Mr. Morrison had felt as to
the firmness of his position were fully justified by the
reception of a letter from the Select Committee of
the East India Company, dated October i4th, 1815, which
contained the following paragraphs :
" We feel it necessary to acquaint you that the Hon.
Court of Directors, having been informed- that you have
printed and published in China the New Testament,
together with several tracts translated into the Chinese
language, and having further understood that the circulation
of these translations has been effected in defiance of an
edict of the Emperor of China, rendering the publisher of
such works liable to capital punishment, are apprehensive
that serious mischief may possibly arise to the British trade
in China from these translations, and have in consequence
directed that your present connection with the Honourable
Company should be discontinued. The Honourable Court
remark at the same time that they nevertheless entertain
a very high respect for your talents, conduct, and character,
and are fully sensible of the benefits derived from your
1 14 ROBERT MORRISON.
services ; in consideration of which they have directed us
to present you with four thousand dollars on the occasion
of carrying the orders into effect.
" Notwithstanding the tenour of these orders, which we
have implicitly communicated to you, we are under so strong
an impression of the importance of your services to the
affairs of our honourable employers, and so well assured,
from our personal knowledge and past experience of your
prudence and discretion in forbearing to place yourself in a
situation which may be calculated to implicate the national
interests through your connection with the Factory, that we
have resolved to postpone giving effect to any part of the
above instructions until we receive further orders upon the
subject."
Explanation and vindication on Mr. Morrison s part were
offered by him in a voluminous correspondence, in which it
became apparent that the local officials of the Company
were loath to carry out the decision of the Chief Board ;
and in a few weeks such complications arose between the
Chinese Government and the Company, that an embassy,
headed by Lord Amherst as Ambassador Extraordinary,
was despatched from England to the Court at Pekin, to
accommodate and arrange the matters in dispute. Mr.
Morrison s services as secretary and translator to such an
embassy could not be dispensed with, and he was requested
to accompany the Ambassador to Pekin.
For a considerable time Mrs. Morrison s health had caused
her husband and friends much anxiety, and her medical
adviser strongly urged that she should try a sea voyage and
change of climate as means to benefit her. Her husband s
presence in China at the particular juncture of circum
stances was deemed too important to be dispensed with,
and therefore without him, but with her two children,
Mrs. Morrison embarked for England on January 2ist,
1815.
One more trial was in store, for Mr. Morrison during
VISIT TO PEKIN.- COLLEGE AT MALACCA. 115
this year. The spirit of religious intolerance was so fully
aroused, that the type cutters engaged in preparing the
blocks for the Dictionary were arrested ; and, in alarm, the
blocks which had just been completed for the fresh edition
of the New Testament and the Book of Genesis, were de
stroyed by the printers to prevent discovery. This was a
deep disappointment to the indefatigable and dauntless
labourer ; but he at once took heart of grace, and set about
the preparation of new types. Very soon the intelligence
reached him that the British and Foreign Bible Society had
made a grant, as liberal as it was timely, of one thousand
pounds, which enabled him to have blocks cut, not only for
the duodecimo edition of the Testament, but for the Book
of Psalms, the translation of which was just complete. In
writing to inform him of this grant, the Rev. J. Owen,
Secretary of the Bible Society, said :
"Should your translation be, on the whole, a faithful
image of the sacred original, and the understanding of the
Chinese be opened by its Divine Author to understand and
admire it, what an honour will be conferred on your labours,
and what blessing will you have been called upon to inherit !
Desirous of participating in that honour and that blessing,
the British and Foreign Bible Society has furnished you
from time to time with contributions of pecuniary aid,
and you may assure yourself that it will continue to assist
you in the prosecution of an undertaking so congenial
with the object of its appointment and the wishes of its
conductors."
It may be mentioned here, that a short time before this
an English merchant had died in China, and had left
Mr. Morrison one thousand pounds for the purposes of his
Mission, \\hich sum had been devoted to the printing of the
New Testament and other Christian books.
Lord Amherst and his attendant officials arrived at Canton
in the Alceste on July i3th, 1816, and took on board Sir
George Staunton r.r.d Mr. Morrison ; then the vessel pro-
Il6 ROBERT MORRISON.
ceeded on its way till, on July 28th, it anchored at the
mouth of the River Peiho. On August i3th they were
entertained in the city of Tien-tsin at a great banquet, given
by two Imperial Commissioners in the name of the Emperor.
Mr. Morrison gives an interesting description of the recep
tion and entertainment. The Imperial Commissioners and
the English Ambassadors and Commissioners sat on very
low cushions, raised about six inches from the ground, while
the suite of the Emperor sat on the ground, on which a red
cloth had been placed.
On August zoth they all arrived at Tung-chow, a day s
journey from Pekin. Here eight days were spent in dis
puting a question of ceremony. It was required of the
English Ambassador that, on being brought before the
Emperor, he should perform what is called in China " THE
CEREMONY," or San Kwei, Kew Kow, rendered in English,
" Three kneelings and nine knocks of the head." The
mode of performing is, that the person introduced to the
Emperor kneels on the ground, places his hands when
bovang forwards on the floor, and strikes his forehead
against the earth thrice ; then the person rises, and, again
kneeling down, repeats the performance ; and then, rising
once more, repeats the whole a third time. Thus it is the
Chinese worship their gods some by three knocks, others
by six, and others by nine, according to the veneration in
which they are held. Lord Amherst was not very likely to
go through such a foolish and degrading ceremony, and,
after prolonged disputes, the Chinese noblemen professed to
waive the requirement. On the 2gth the company arrived
at the Imperial Palace. The hour appointed by the Em
peror for giving audience had arrived. The Ambassador
and his suite had travelled all night, were unwashed and
unrefreshed, and ill-prepared for the interview with royalty.
His lordship therefore pleaded with the nobleman who
received him, that the fatigues of the night had been so
great that he must beg his Majesty to defer the reception
CHINESE EMPEROR.
Ii8 ROBERT MORRISON.
until the following morning. To effect this, the messengers
went into the Emperor and told him the Ambassador was
so ill that he could not stir a step. The Emperor graciously
permitted him to retire to his lodging, and sent his physician
to attend him. The physician did not find Lord Amherst
ill, and no doubt made a representation to the Emperor
that did untold harm. His Majesty thought he had been
imposed upon. A special meeting of the Cabinet was
called. No one dared to explain the real facts of the case,
and an order was issued that the Ambassador should depart
immediately. The order was obeyed. The whole party
left Pekin the same afternoon, and, after incurring a journey
of fifty thousand miles there and back, Lord Amherst had
to report a result of nothing. The Emperor afterwards dis
covered the real state of the case, and degraded the Duke,
who was brother to the Empress, from all the high offices
which he held. Three other persons were also degraded,
and an edict was issued in which the Emperor lamented that
his courtiers could be so selfishly indifferent to the public
welfare. He reproached the Duke s friends, that although
they professed great attachment to him, smiling and fawning
upon him, yet when they saw him perplexed by misrepre
sentation, they would not tell him the true state of affairs,
but simply said, " It is not my business." " Alas ! " he said,
"on what a dangerous rocky eminence does a statesman
stand. If you had no regard for the Duke, had you none
for your country ? " The Emperor s false pride would not
permit him to explain or reverse his treatment of the Am
bassador, but he ordered his officers to treat him everywhere
with politeness, and sent three presents to the King of
England. He also accepted three from the Ambassador.
With the same childish idea of his pre-eminence over all
other potentates, he called his articles sent to the king a
" donation," but those received he called "tribute."
Although the object of the Embassy had thus failed, the
journey gave Mr. Morrison a few months of relaxation which
VISIT TO PEKIN. COLLEGE AT MALACCA. 119
his health greatly craved. He was able to extend his know
ledge of the country and the people, and especially he was
able to gather up some knowledge of the various dialects of
the provinces through which he passed, which was of great
service to him afterwards.
He and the distinguished party returned to Canton through
the provinces of Chilhi and Shantung, crossing the Yellow
River and the Great Canal. They were struck with the
graceful pagodas and beautiful temples which ornamented
the scenes they passed through, but the moral and religious
phenomena most interested Mr. Morrison. He met and
conversed with a Mohammedan gentleman, who gave him
full details of the peculiarities of his religion, and its position
in China. He was surprised to find that, whereas Protestant
Christianity was not allowed a foothold, Mohammedans were
allowed the exercise of their religion, were admitted into the
service of the Government, and that they existed in some
provinces in large numbers. He also found that in Honan
there were a number of families called "Teaou Kin Keaou,"
or the sect which plucks out the sinews from the meat they
eat. They had a temple of worship, and they kept the
seventh day as a Sabbath. Some time after Dr. Morrison
was dead a deputation was sent by the Bishop of Victoria
to visit these people. They were found to be Jews, who
had lost the memory of their own history. They had a
number of Hebrew books, which none of them could read,
but which, when examined, were found to be portions of
the Old Testament, some of them beautifully written on
white sheepskin, cut and sewn together, about twenty yards
long, and rolled on sticks. Other groups of Jews have been
discovered in various provinces of China, all giving emphasis
to the Divine prediction concerning them as a "nation scat
tered and peeled, and a people meted out and trodden under
foot."
In Shantung the party passed near to the birthplace of
Confucius, and on the Po-Yang Lake they found a college
T20 ROBERT MORRISON.
at which Choo-foo-tsze, the most esteemed commentator
on the " Four Books " of the great sage, taught about six
hundred years before. The college was at the top of a glen,
through which a sparkling brook sang its quiet tune. At
the top of the glen a huge mountain lifted its black and
frowning summit, as though to shelter the " College of the
White Stag Valley " from the bitter blast. Here Choo-foo-
tsze taught, and they were shown the rock on which he
angled, and a tree still bearing flowers which he planted
with his own hand, to pluck the leaves of which was strictly
forbidden.
In crossing the dividing line between the provinces
Kiang-si and Canton, they passed through a deep mountain
cutting made through the solid rock by the liberality of a
retired statesman, a thousand years ago. His image stands
in an adjoining temple, and divine honours were offered to
it. The embassy arrived at Canton after an absence of
six months. Dining Mr. Morrison s absence a volume of
dialogues in Chinese and English, which he had prepared,
had been carried through the press at Canton, under the
superintendence of a gentleman in the British Factory.
Mr. Milne and his family had left China and taken up
their residence in Malacca, to carry out the great scheme so
long a daydream with Mr. Morrison, but which was now
about to become in great part a reality by the agency of his
faithful fellow-labourer. Mr. Milne had collected Chinese
books, printing paper, and other needful materials, secured
a teacher of the language, engaged workmen, and sailed on
April i yth, 1815, for his new home. On the voyage his
family was increased by twins ; and, after thirty-five days
sail, he reached his destination, and was cordially received by
Major Farquhar, who proved himself to be a friend indeed.
The scheme indicated previously in regard to the mis
sion at Malacca had been carefully formulated by Messrs.
Morrison and Milne, presented to the London Missionary
Society, and fully approved and sanctioned by it. The
122 ROBERT MORRISON.
programme was an ambitious one, and, whilst successful to
a degree which fully justified the outlay of its founders, it
did not realise all that their faith and enterprise merited.
According to the plan sketched out, a portion of land was
to be purchased, on which buildings could be erected
suitable for the purposes contemplated and intended. A
free school was to be established as a preparation for a
more advanced seminary, in which native ministers might
be trained and educated. A monthly magazine in Chinese
was to be issued. A printing-press was to be set up and
kept at work, for the purpose of issuing the Scriptures in
Chinese, and for the diffusion of Christian literature gene
rally. An English periodical was to be issued also, with the
view of promoting unity and co-operation among rnissionary
societies in the East. Divine services were to be held, and
places of worship to be erected as quickly as practicable.
The whole scheme was to be called " The Ultra-Ganges
Mission," as denominating the scene or area of the
enterprise.
Mr. Milne quickly began the attempt to realise the
scheme. A small house in the British compound, which
had formerly been used as a stable, was fitted up as a
school. Notices in Chinese were posted up in the town,
announcing the commencement of a school for the children
of the poor. Great unwillingness was at first shown by the
people to send their children, and when the school opened
on August 5th only five scholars had been obtained; but,
by sedulous effort and wise caution, the number increased,
until by the end of the first year the number in daily
attendance was fourteen, who received the ordinary ele
ments of Chinese education. By-and-by the Catechism
prepared by Mr. Morrison was introduced, and the children
were familiarised with the leading words of religious cha
racter, such as God, Creation, Soul, Death, and many
others. Then the teacher and children were drawn to
attend Divine worship. Great prudence was required here
VISIT TO PEKIN. COLLEGE AT MALACCA. 123
First, a few domestics brought from Canton were drawn to
attend, and then the school teacher and his pupils were in
duced to follow them. Thus very slowly had Mr. Milne to
take step after step towards the attainment of his great object.
A small church of Dutch Christians in Malacca was at this
time without a pastor, and they invited Mr. Milne to occupy
the vacant place. This he declined, on the ground that he
was commissioned for another purpose ; but he undertook
to conduct Divine service for their benefit once a week.
For about a year no land was obtained for the erection
of the meditated buildings; but at the beginning of 1816
Mr. Milne obtained a grant of land from the English Governor
at Penang, subject to approval from the Dutch authorities.
This was a considerable distance from the town, and not
suitable for the purposes of the Mission. It was, therefore,
exchanged for a smaller piece near the city gates, a sum
of about two hundred pounds being paid as a further re
compense to the vendor. Thus was a site obtained in a
most eligible situation. It has been mentioned that work
men as printers had accompanied Mr. Milne from China.
He now procured a printing-press, founts of English and
Malay types, and all necessary apparatus for setting to
work. In order to keep his men employed, he printed an
edition in English of Doddridge s "Rise and Progress of
Religion in the Soul," and Bogue s " Essays on the Truth of
the Christian Religion." These were sold or distributed
amongst the English residents and adventurers in China,
India, and in the wide Archipelago of the East.
On Mr. Morrison resuming his work at Canton, he was
quickly tried by fresh difficulties which beset him. A
quarrel broke out among his workmen at the press ; one
of whom, to revenge himself on others, took a sheet of the
Dictionary to the Tso-tang, a district magistrate. This
official was only too glad of an occurrence which seemed
to afford an opportunity of extorting money, and sent his
police runners to seize the printing materials, and the
124 ROBERT MORRISON.
natives who were engaged in the illegal task of assisting
foreigners to print the Chinese language. Sir Theophilus
Metcalf, the English chief of the Factory, interfered with
great firmness, and prevented the presses and types being
impounded. The Viceroy of Canton issued prompt orders
that no natives should aid foreigners in printing the Chinese
characters ; the names of Mr. Morrison s teachers and
transcribers were recorded for arrest ; Ko-Seen-sang ab
sconded, while Sam-Tak, A-Fo, and A-He en were in great
apprehension. The result was that Portuguese workmen
had to be instructed to cut the Chinese characters on wood
blocks for the printing of the Dictionary.
Besides his incessant labours on the Dictionary, usually
occupying six or eight hours a day, Mr. Morrison translated
and published the morning and evening prayers as they
stand in the Book of Common Prayer, also " Horse Sinicse," a
series of translations from Chinese classics, and a Chinese
Primer, all of which, with other works already recorded,
prove a zeal and diligence of application that must have
tried tfci most patient mind and tested the strongest con
stitution. The progress the translation of the Bible was
making is indicated in the following letter to the Bible
Society, under date November 24th, 1817 :
" During the ensuing year Mr. Milne and I hope to
finish a translation of the whole Bible. He has completed
Deuteronomy and Joshua. The Book of Genesis has been
printed some time. I have made a first draught of the
Book of Exodus and the Book of Ruth. The Psalms I
have finished, and they are now in the press. The Book
of Isaiah is about one-half translated. Several type-cutters
are engaged to go down to Malacca for the purpose of
printing Deuteronomy, Joshua, and an edition of the
Psalms in duodecimo ; that which I am perfecting here is
smaller than our duodecimo New Testament."
A letter from America at this time informed Mr.
Morrison that a young Chinaman, about twenty-six years
VISIT TO PEKIN. COLLEGE AT MALACCA. 125
of age, from Macao, who had settled in New York, had
been led, through the reading of the Chinese New
Testament, to profess faith in Christ, and was manifesting
the utmost earnestness and consistency. These tidings,
amidst the dry, monotonous grind of translation work, were
peculiarly refreshing to his soul.
Mr. Morrison s labours now began to excite attention
and interest in all parts of Great Britain, and also in many
parts of Europe and America. He received letters from
some of the most learned professors in Germany and
France, most warmly recognising his eminent attainments
and services. Dr. Vater, Professor of Konigsberg Univer
sity, and M. Remusat, Professor of Chinese, etc., in the
Royal College of France, one of the most erudite men in
Europe, with others, frankly and cordially congratulated
him upon the thorough and varied knowledge he had
gained of Chinese language and literature, and the firm
foundation he was laying for his successors. He was
unanimously and gratuitously created Doctor of Divinity
by the Senatus Academicus of the University of Glasgow,
as a recognition of the great value of his labours as a
philologist and a Christian teacher.
He had now been ten years at work in the far-off land
years that had been devoted to intense and grinding labour,
years of prolonged strain and trial by reason of the annoy
ance and persecution of Chinese officials and the scarcely
concealed dislike of many of the English merchants, years
of severe and depressing disappointment on account of
the stubborn and dogged indifference to Gospel truth
manifested by the natives. The sterling qualities of Mr.
Morrison s nature had all been brought into active and
energetic exercise by the pressing exigencies of his position,
and they had admirably enabled him to grapple with those
exigencies. Not that he had been uncheered in his labours
in the interim. Providence had, on several trying occasions,
interfered in his behalf in a special manner, enabling him
126 ROBERT MORRISON.
to maintain a foothold in the land, giving him a position
by which he might prosecute evangelistic work undisturbed
by the official arm, and affording throughout all his labours
such a fresh, clear rense of peace and comfort that he was
maintained in hope and courage, and was prepared to
labour on, resting on the promise, " In quietness and in
confidence shall be your strength." And certainly the
results of those ten years were permanent material for the
future. An ample knowledge of the most difficult lan
guage and the most obscure literature had been obtained.
Large plant of printing-presses, types, woodblocks, and other
material had been accumulated ; one large edition of the
New Testament in Chinese had been printed and circulated;
another edition of nine thousand copies was nearly printed off;
a Chinese grammar, a volume of translations from Chinese
classics, a psalter, a book of prayers, several small publica
tions on Christian doctrine and history, had also been
issued as the result of his own application ; not to speak of
the Books of the Old Testament already translated, and
some of them printed, awaiting the completion of the
whole before passing into circulation. Besides this must
be taken into account the help given to Mr. Milne in his
acquisition of the language, and the establishment of the
mission in Malacca. All this was accomplished, besides
the invaluable services rendered by Mr. Morrison to the
East India Company as its official translator and secretary.
Nor had the ten years been utterly fruitless as to the
main work of the Christian missionary the conversion
of souls to God. Two persons at least had given up
idolatry and professed faith in Christ ; one of these had
been baptised, and maintained a good confession, and the
other was giving promise of such growth in Christian
knowledge and piety as to warrant his reception by baptism
before long. The experiences of other pioneer Protestant
missionaries had been far different to Mr. Morrison s.
They had faced greater risks and dangers from savages and
VISIT TO PEKIN. COLLEGE AT MALACCA. 127
barbarians, they had passed through exciting adventures
and romantic trials, but they had also been cheered and
inspired by great successes ; and it may be doubted
whether any of them had shown greater calmness in pre
sence of danger, heroism more grand, or determination
more unwavering, in spite of repeated disappointments,
than had been manifested by Robert Morrison during this
period.
CHAPTER X.
CHINESE BIBLE COMPLETED. -DR. MILNE S
DEATH.
" God did anoint thee with His odorous oil,
To wrestle, not to reign ; and He assigns
All thy tears over, like pure crystallines,
For younger fellow-workers of the soil,
To wear as amulets. So others shall
Take patience, labour to their heart and hand,
From thy hand, and thy heart, and thy brave cheer."
E. B. BROWNING.
ON November loth, 1818, the foundation-stone of the
Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca was laid by
Colonel W. Farquhar, in the presence of the Hon.
J. S. T. Thyson (the Governor), Hon. J. J. Erskine (Judge
of Penang), the members of the College of Justice, and
many other distinguished persons. Mr. Milne represented
Dr. Morrison, and delivered a suitable address. The
object was announced as the reciprocal cultivation of
Chinese and European literature, and the machinery was
CHINESE BIBLE COMPLETED. 129
to comprise a library furnished with books treating on the
language, history, science, etc., of European and Oriental
nations. European professors of the Chinese language,
aided by native Chinese tutors, were to impart knowledge ;
a printing-press was to be made use of in divers manners,
and it was also intended soon to form a botanic garden, so
as to have in one focus the plants of the Eastern Archi
pelago. To the advantages of the institution Europeans
were to be admitted, to be fitted and prepared for missionary,
commercial, scientific, or official pursuits in the East, and
also youths from Chinese-speaking countries, who desired
to be trained for service under Europeans or in the
Christian Church. Dr. Morrison contributed one thousand
pounds towards the establishment, and promised a hundred
pounds a year for five years towards its maintenance. He
otherwise, especially in respect of the library, contributed
largely towards the College. Another gentleman gave the
sum of four thousand Spanish dollars towards the building,
the London Missionary Society gave five hundred pounds,
and European residents in Canton five hundred pounds.
One friend wrote :
" I confess that the plan far outstrips my expectations.
It is benevolent and liberal to a degree; it is extensive
also, and so ought our donations therefore to be. I shall
be obliged to you to draw on me at any time you like for
8420 [that being equal to one hundred guineas].
" In faith and hope the world will disagree,
But all mankind s concern is charity :
Thus God and nature linked the general frame,
And bade self-love and social be the same. "
No words can describe the bright visions of usefulness
which Dr. Morrison entertained as to the results of this
institution. Malacca was to be not the Athens only, but
the Jerusalem of the East. Streams of knowledge and
spiritual grace were to flow from thence until the Chinese
world was sanctified thereby. Malacca was one of the
9
130 ROBERT MORRISON.
first European possessions in Asia, being captured by the
Portuguese a very few years after the successful voyage of
Vasco de Gama round the Cape of Good Hope. They
did not do much to improve the moral condition of the
natives. It was visited by Francis Xavier, who testified that
the excess and number of their vices alone distinguished the
Christians from the unbelievers. It was afterwards captured
by the English, and it was chosen as the most convenient
and promising centre for the great work Dr. Morrison had
so much at heart.
The College erected was a plain substantial edifice,
ninety feet in length, thirty-four in breadth, with a verandah
back and front supported by pillars, one hundred and three
feet long, and sixteen and a half wide. The interior was
suitably arranged, on one side being the Chinese and
English printing offices, schools and apartments for native
masters, workmen, etc. ; on the other the residences of the
governor and his assistants. The front, which faced the
sea, was shaded by a row of senna trees, and the whole
was surrounded by grounds which were well laid out and
cultivated.
For some time there was great disappointment in the
minds of the promoters, as the natives refused to send their
children, until Mr. Milne was obliged to offer a small
weekly payment to each child to induce its attendance. As
the natives became familiarised to the presence of the
College, and understood better the spirit of its conductors,
they became more trustful, and the school prospered.
Pupils and students were trained, during Mr. Milne s life,
varying in number from twenty up to sixty at one time;
and of these several were converted and became consistent
Christians. Books some of them of great importance
were poured forth from the press, periodicals were main
tained, and vigorous methods taken to make Malacca the
centre of Christian propagandism on a large scale. A few
years after the institution had been opened it was visited
132 ROBERT MORRISON.
by the Hon. C. Majoribanks, the President of the Select
Committee, who in the course of a deeply interesting
account of his visit said :
"When I visited the College it contained upwards of
thirty students. Were its funds greater, its opportunities
of doing good would be necessarily more extensive. It
was a source of gratification to hear nearly every one of
those boys reading with fluency the Bible in the Chinese
and English languages. Many of them wrote elegantly
both Chinese and English, and had attained considerable
proficiency in arithmetic, geography, the use of the globes,
and general history. Thus does a son of a Malacca peasant
derive an enlightened education denied to the son of the
Emperor of China." In 1820 Dr. Milne says : " Connected
with the Mission are thirteen schools in all, containing about
three hundred children and youths."
The higher work of conversion seems also to have been
proceeding in some minds. A native printer, called Leang
Afa, who acted as tutor, had professed faith in Christ, and
after giving satisfactory evidence of his sincerity, had been
baptised and received into Church membership. He com
posed and printed a paraphrase on several parts of the
New Testament, and when called to suffer persecution very
patiently endured it. He maintained his faith to the end,
having it tested by the loss of property, scourging, and im
prisonment. He laboured as an evangelist in several parts
of China, and was the first person ordained to that work by
the London Missionary Society. It was through the reading
of tracts written by Leang Afa that the leader of the Taeping
rebellion was led to an acquaintance with Christianity, some
elements of which he professed and advocated in seeking
to establish his mongrel government in China.
Several volumes of the gigantic Dictionary were now
completed and issued; but on November 25th, 1819, it was
the unutterable pleasure of Dr. Morrison to be able to write
to the Directors of the London Missionary Society that the
CHIXESE BIBLE COMPLETED. 133
greatest object of his life and the largest hope of his heart
was realised. The whole Bible was now translated into the
Chinese tongue.
He, of course, had by far the larger share of the great
work ; but Mr. Milne had given most effective and willing
service since his acquaintance with the language had enabled
him to do so. The whole of the New Testament was the
work of Dr. Morrison, the Chinese MS. found in the British
Museum being a basis for a part of it ; and of the Old
Testament he had done the whole, with the exception of
the Books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings,
Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Job, which had been
translated by Mr. Milne. In his letter to the Society
Dr. Morrison expressly disowns any claim to perfect correct
ness, and only professes to have laid a foundation for other
and more perfect translations in after years. A few extracts
from the letter will be interesting. He says :
" If Morrison and Milne s Bible shall in China at some
subsequent period hold such a place in reference to a better
translation as Wickliff s or Tyndale s now holds in reference
to our present English version, many will for ever bless
God for the attempt; and neither the Missionary Society
nor the Bible Society will ever regret the funds they have
expended, or shall yet expend, in aid of the object.
" It is not yet five hundred years since WicklifPs bones
were dug up and burnt, chiefly because he translated the
Scriptures ; and it is not yet three hundred years since
Tyndale was strangled by the hands of the common hang
man, and then burnt, for the same cause. The alleged
inaccuracy of Wickliff s and of Tyndale s translations was
the ground of cavil with all those who were averse to any
translations of the sacred Scriptures ; and it is but two hun
dred and seventy-seven years since the English Parliament
decreed that all manner of books of the Old and New
Testaments, of the crafty, false, and untrue translations of
Tyndale, be forthwith abolished and forbidden to be used
134 ROBERT MORRISON.
and kept. If such things occurred so recently, more modem
translators need not be surprised if their works are censured
and condemned.
" King James translators were fifty-four in number, and
rendered into their modern tongue in their native country
under the patronage of their prince. Our version is the
work of two persons, or at most of three (including the author
of the MS.), performed in a remote country, and into a
foreign and newly acquired language, one of the most
difficult in the world, and the least cultivated in Europe.
The candid judge of men s works will not forget these
circumstances.
" In my translations I have studied fidelity, perspicuity,
and simplicity. I have preferred common words to rare
and classical ones. I have avoided technical terms which
occur in the pagan philosophy and religion. I would rather
be deemed inelegant than hard to be understood. In diffi
cult passages I have taken the sense given by the general
consent of the gravest, most pious, and least eccentric
divines to whom I had access.
" To the task I have brought patient endurance of long
labour and seclusion from society; a calm and unprejudiced
judgment, not enamoured of novelty and eccentricity, nor
yet tenacious of an opinion merely because it was old, and,
I hope, somewhat of an accurate mode of thinking, with a
reverential sense of the awful responsibility of misinterpreting
God s word. Such qualifications are, perhaps, as indispens
able as grammatical learning in translating such a bock as
the Bible.
" To have Moses, David, and the Prophets, Jesus Christ
and His apostles, using their own words, and thereby de
claring to the inhabitants of this land the wonderful works
of God, indicates, I hope, the speedy introduction of a
happier era in these parts of the world, and I trust that the
gloomy darkness of pagan scepticism will be dispelled by
the Dayspring from on high, and that the gilded idols of
136 ROBERT MORRISON.
Buddha, and the numberless images which fill the land, will
one day assuredly fall to the ground before the force of
God s word, as the idol Dagon fell before the ark.
"Tyndale, while he was being tied to the stake, said,
with a fervent and loud voice, in reference to Henry VIII.,
Lord, open the King of England s eyes ; and his prayer
seems to have been heard and answered. Let us be as
fervent in a similar petition in reference to the Sovereign
of this Empire.
" In the Apostle s words I conclude this letter : Finally,
brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have
free course and be glorified, even as it is with you. "
The joy entertained by the friends of Christian missions
throughout Europe and America on the accomplishment of
this great work was intense. Congratulations to Messrs.
Morrison and Milne poured upon them from many quarters,
the University of Glasgow conferred the degree of D.D. on
Mr. Milne, and fervent gratitude was expressed to the bene
ficent Providence which had presided over their labours.
The Rev. G. Burder, D.D., Secretary to the London
Missionary Society, wrote :
"The herculean task is at length completed. To Him
alone who gave the power to effect this great work, and
who alone can render it effectual for its intended purpose
the illumination and renovation of human minds to Him
alone be the glory now and evermore. But, my dear friend,
we ought not, we will not, we do not, forget the laborious
agents whom He has been pleased to employ for this great
end. We thank Him for you and your helper, Mr. Milne.
We bless God, who has continued your lives in a sultry
climate, maintained your mental and corporal powers, and
spared you to see the completion of your great labour. . . .
Never mind what opponents say. The work is done, and
God will bless it ; nor will He forget this work of faith and
labour of love when He shall render to every man according
to his works. Bless God, my dear sir, that ever you were
CHINESE BIBLE COMPLETED.
137
born, and born again, and enabled to effect this great work.
You have lived to good purpose in having lived to publish
a Chinese Bible. Thank God, and take courage."
A101I1ELARY STREET, CANTON.
The Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society
wrote in a similar strain of thanksgiving and congratulation,
138 ROBERT MORRISON.
and granted a fresh sum of one thousand pounds in aid of
the multiplication and circulation of copies of the translation.
The Committee of the American Bible Society presented
Dr. Morrison with a copy of the best edition in octavo
of the Bible, in splendid binding, as an expression of
its esteem and approbation, and the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions wrote offering their
most cordial thanks and congratulations. Besides these,
Sir George Staunton and many other eminent scholars
wrote in a similar strain, giving proof of the intensity of
interest felt throughout the Christian world in the great
achievement.
This absorbing task being now accomplished, Dr. Morrison
pursued his work in other directions with unwearied assiduity.
The Rev. Dr. Baird, principal of Aberdeen University,
had written to him seeking information as to the poor of
China. This led him, in connection with Dr. Livingstone,
the surgeon of the East India Company in Canton, to give
attention to the enormous numbers of destitute poor and
sick people who infest all Chinese towns and cities. The
blind, the lame, the leprous, often filled the highways, and
their condition excited little concern or compassion. The
melancholy condition of these sufferers was only equalled
by the gross ignorance that prevailed as to medical science.
In the public streets and markets might be seen here and
there a stall on which dried vegetable substances were
exposed for sale, these being sold for any, and some for
every, complaint, without an attempt at discrimination.
The apothecaries shops at Canton contained professedly
about three hundred medicines, but only thirty were in abso
lute practice, whilst one eminent physician chiefly used only
one viz., rhubarb. His name was Wang, "a king," and in
allusion to his practice he was called " The Rhubarb King."
To meet this crying evil, Dr. Morrison opened a dispensary
for supplying the poor with advice and medicines, super
intending it himself for one or two hours daily, and being
CHINESE BIBLE COMPLETED. 139
assisted in its management by Dr. Livingstone. He also
purchased a Chinese medical library, consisting of upwards
of eight hundred volumes, with a complete assortment of
Chinese medicines, and engaged a respectable Chinese
physician and apothecary, with the occasional attendance
of a herbalist (whose complete stock he purchased for Dr.
Livingstone s analysis), to explain the properties of the
various herbs he collected and sold.
The afflicted Chinese of Canton and the adjacent districts
crowded to this dispensary, and in a few months thousands
of cases had been under treatment with gratifying success.
This institution must be considered as the forerunner of a
crowd of similar institutions, which have been established
in connection with Christian missions in the East, and
which are increasingly vindicating their claim to be con
sidered an integral part of Christian propagandist enter
prises.
Amidst more important occupations, Dr. Morrison found
opportunity to send from the press several useful works of
lesser account. One was a small treatise contrasting the
principles of the heathen religions of China with those of
Christianity ; another was " A Voyage Round the World,"
which was meant to enlarge and enlighten the ideas of the
Chinese as to mankind, and especially as to Christians and
practical religion ; a third was " Translations" of the Morn
ing and Evening Prayers of the Church of England, and
also of the Psalter. Two thousand copies of this last work
were ordered by the Prayer Book and Homily Society for
distribution amongst the Chinese.
On April 23rd, 1820, Mrs. Morrison, in much improved
health, embarked with her two children in the Ararchioness
of Ely, to rejoin her husband in China. On August 23rd
he had the great happiness of receiving them at Macao, and
of spending a few weeks of blessed home enjoyment in their
society. Then he had to leave them, to undertake again
his official duties in Canton.
140 ROBERT MORRISON.
In the meantime Dr. Milne had devoted himself to the
management of the College at Malacca, and other missionary
work, with such devotion as greatly to overtax his never very
robust constitution. He had much to try him in the midst
of his labours, but in March, 1819, he was called to endure
the severest earthly trial. Death had already snatched from
him two dear children, but now his beloved partner was
called from his side. She died in perfect peace and full
hope of a glorious immortality. Most bitterly did the
bereaved husband and father feel these trials. From the
time of Mrs. Milne s departure from earth, to the time of
his own death, his journal was often blotted and blurred
with his tears. " O Rachel ! Rachel ! " he wrote, " endeared
to me by every possible tie ! But I will try not to grieve
for thee, as thou didst often request before thy departure.
I will try to cherish the remembrance of thy virtues and
sayings, and teach them to the dear babes thou hast left
behind. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ;
blessed be the Name of the Lord. "
From this time he wrought on, with the interests of his
four surviving children resting heavily upon his mind. And
there was sufficient in the expenses and difficulties of the
College to cause both Dr. Morrison and him great anxiety.
The wealthy East India Company had promised to give
twelve hundred dollars annually towards its maintenance,
but, on Lord William Bentinck s appointment to the Govern
ment of India, the allowance was withdrawn. The members
of the Select Committee of the Company in China were,
however, so convinced of the excellence of the institution,
that they wrote a joint letter to Dr. Morrison, expressing
their deep regret at the step taken, and stating that they
had resolved to make up the amount themselves, so that
its influence might be still exercised for the good of the
East. At this time, also, several missionaries were sent out
by the London Missionary Society to labour in Batavia,
Penang, Singapore, and Malacca, and an experienced
142 ROBERT MORRISON.
printer arrived at Malacca to aid Dr. Milne in his various
efforts to scatter a Christian literature throughout the
settlements.
In the spring of 1821 Dr. Morrison returned to Macao,
and for a brief interval he was permitted the delightful and
restful joys of home life. But a dark cloud hovered over
that household, and for a time filled it with gloom. He
had occasion soon to write the following letter to his father-
in-law, Mr. Morton : " My beloved Mary, from the last
time of her arrival in China, enjoyed remarkably good
health, seldom requiring medical aid. We were pleasantly
situated, and had a piece of ground before our house by the
seaside in Macao, where we and the children walked happily
together every evening. We then, after family prayers, sat
down round a table, all occupied in something useful or
amusing. My Mary was occupied innocently and pleasantly
in making clothes for her expected babe, and got all her
house in order most comfortably ; yet amidst this she never
went to rest, nor rose to work, without reading considerable
portions of her Bible ; and since she came out to China,
she read, I believe, the whole of Milner s Church History,
which she found edifying."
On June the 8th she was suddenly taken ill, and not
withstanding that doctor, husband, and friends did all that
human skill or affection could devise, she died in her
husband s arms on Sunday evening, the loth. Dr. Morrison
wished to bury her by the side of her little son James,
whose body lay in a grave amongst the hills ; but the
Chinese would not suffer the grave to be reopened. The
Roman Catholics refused to allow the dust of a Protestant
to repose in their cemetery, and therefore the Committee
of the English Factory purchased a piece of ground, worth
about a thousand pounds, as a Protestant bury ing-place, and
here the remains of Mrs. Morrison were reverently placed.
The blow was so sudden and afflictive to Dr. Morrison,
and the desolation was so awful, that he seemed stunned
CHINESE BIBLE COMPLETED. 143
and paralysed. His health and spirits suffered for a con
siderable time ; and while he diligently fulfilled his official
duties, and wrought with undiminished ardour for the com
pletion of his Dictionary, his correspondence, generally so
varied and multitudinous, was limited to his nearest relatives.
When his duties required his presence in Canton he took
his son with him, leaving his daughter in the care of his
kind friends Dr. and Mrs. Livingstone, at Macao, intending
to send both children to England as soon as a convenient
opportunity occurred.
His skill and tact as an interpreter and diplomatist were
to be very severely tested on his arrival at Canton, in con
sequence of a fracas which broke out between the English
and Chinese authorities. Some men from an English frigate
had gone ashore at the island of Lintin, adjacent to the
Chinese coast, for the purpose of obtaining water. Although
they were unarmed, a party of Chinese attacked them, and
several were wounded. A company was sent from the ship
to defend them, and in the struggle two Chinamen were
killed. The local government demanded that the murderers,
as they were called, should be given up, to be executed
according to law. The English denied that there was any
murder in the case, and refused the demand. Both parties
firmly maintained their ground, and as a result trade was
interfered with, the relations of the two nations were strained,
the English Factory at Canton was closed, its employes and
stock were put on board ship, and an unfriendly attitude
was taken up. Some of the Chinese merchants deeply re
gretted the affair, and did their best to end the unfortunate
quarrel by seeking to induce the English to accommodate
matters somewhat. They even suggested to the officers of
the frigate that they should say that two of their men had
fallen overboard, and that, as these were the murderers,
they could not be given up. They would have been con
tent to allow the matter to blow over on such a wild story
as this ; but their pride would not allow them to acknow-
144 ROBERT MORRISON.
ledge the plea that the men had been killed by the English
in self-defence. The English would not concede any point,
and especially would not give up the men to be strangled
to death, as they certainly would have been, if surrendered.
The result was that two months were spent in wearying and
vexatious correspondence, ending at last in a compromise
to the effect that friendly relations were to be re-established
and trade resumed, on the condition that the English
Government would cause full examination to be made into
the circumstances of the mclce. Mr. Morrison s services in
the discussion were invaluable, and on its conclusion a
report was drawn up by Sir James Urmston, in which the
following words occur : " During the progress of this affair,
which had involved the East India Company s representa
tives in one of the most serious, vexatious, and harassing
discussions they had ever been engaged in with the Chinese,
the zeal and exertions of Dr. Morrison were unremitting.
His extensive and indeed extraordinary knowledge of the
Chinese language, both written and colloquial, and of the
system, character, and disposition of the Chinese Govern
ment, enabled him clearly and fully to comprehend its
sentiments, views, and meaning, as well as to detect the
sophistry, duplicity, and even falsity which but too fre
quently marked the official documents of the local authori
ties, as well as the language and arguments of the Hong
merchants ; the latter being always the vehicle of com
munication between their Government and foreigners. This
close and correct insight into the Chinese documents proved
of the utmost importance to the Select Committee, who were
enabled thus to frame their correspondence and communica
tions with the Chinese in a form, language, and spirit suitable
to meet and to resist the arrogant language and pretensions,
and the unjust demands, of the Viceroy of Canton and his
colleagues. These communications were translated into such
perfect Chinese by Dr. Morrison as to render it impossible
for the Chinese Government to misunderstand, or even to
CHINESE BIBLE COMPLETED. 145
affect to misunderstand, the feelings, sentiments, and deter
mination of the East India Company s representatives ; and
this circumstance is at all times of immense importance in
negotiations or discussions with the Chinese. Dr. Morrison s
invaluable talents and services were fully understood and
appreciated by those whose vast and important interests
he had on this as well as on various former occasions so
essentially benefited."
The Company s ships returned to their usual stations, the
trade resumed its course, and Dr. Morrison arranged for his
children to return to England. His daughter sailed in the
good ship Kent, in the care of Mr. and Mrs. Maloney, from
whom she received almost parental kindness. The little
boy sailed in the Atlas, under the protection of Mr. Dill, the
surgeon. In writing to his brother concerning their depar
ture Dr. Morrison said : " I desire that my children may
be taken good care of, and be brought up in a plain way,
but, above all things, be taught to fear the Lord betimes
that is wisdom."
Dr. Morrison now retired to his desolate home at Macao,
and devoted himself with renewed application to his mis
sionary duties and the completion of his Dictionary. He
was, however, alarmed at the intelligence which speedily
reached him as to the failing health and critical condition
of his beloved fellow-labourer Dr. Milne, who seemed to
manifest an ever-intensifying zeal as his physical capabilities
appeared to diminish. For upwards of two years the con
cerns of the Mission in Malacca devolved almost exclusively
on him. He negotiated with the Government, took the
oversight of Mission buildings, edited the Gleaner, taught in
the College, translated pamphlets and books, and regularly
preached the Word. His chief work was the translation and
composition of Christian books. His part in the translation
of the Old Testament has already been narrated; but, besides
this, he wrote in Chinese or English not less than fifteen
tracts, varying from ten to seventy leaves each, besides a
10
146 ROBERT MORRISON.
full commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians, and an
elaborate work in two volumes, called an "Essay on the
Soul." Some of his tracts published in Chinese are un
equalled for their acceptability and their adaptation to
particular cases.
In reviewing these results of intense application shortly
before his death he says : " They appear many for my
strength, especially if to these the care of my family be
added. I humbly hope also that they are and \\ill be
useful to the Church of God. But when I view them as
connected with the imperfection of my motives and the
dulness and deficiency of spiritual affections in them, I am
disposed to adopt the language of the Prophet, Very many
and very dry. They appear almost to be dead works.
Woe s me ! Woe s me ! My dead soul ! Lord, make it
akin to Thee, and this will give life to all my labours."
Amidst his manifold labours his health failed ; he had
many premonitions of danger, followed by partial recovery.
Profuse spitting of blood indicated disease of the lungs ;
but it was afterwards ascertained that the liver was the seat
of his complaint. He took a voyage to Penang, hoping
thereby to recruit his health ; but deriving no benefit from
the change, he returned, utterly worn out, to Malacca, only
anxious to die at his post. There he passed peacefully to
his rest and reward, being thus reunited to his faithful
partner, and leaving four children utterly orphaned and
cast destitute on the fatherhood of God. He had written
to his recently widowed friend, Dr. Morrison, from Penang,
and on June 3rd, 1822, the following reply was penned :
" I have received your letter from Penang, and deeply
regret the afflicting news which it contains. Oh that God
may spare your life and restore your health ! I am going
on mourning all the day an unprofitable servant ; Lord,
pity me !
" Aheen has written to me from Canton, saying that he
is convinced of sin, and desiring to be washed therefrom by
DR. MILNE S DEATH. 147
the Saviour of the world, in token of which he asks if he
may be baptised. The lad Asam, the younger, seems to
understand the outline of the Gospel, and says he believes
it. I really hope Aheen is sincere he was always too
proud, as well as a conceited Tiih-shoo-jin [a literary
person], to say now that he was convinced of sin and
wanted salvation, if it had not some reality in it. He is a
man of few words, and naturally cold-hearted. If indeed
he now looks to the Saviour, God be praised for giving to
worthless me some fruit of my feeble labours ! Alas ! I
write this fearing .you are already beyond the reach of
letters."
He was indeed beyond the reach of letters. On June
2nd, at the early age of thirty-seven, this shepherd lad from
the hills of Scotland, who became by the force of conse
crated toil a learned and successful pioneer missionary, was
called to the eternal home.
From May 24th, the day on which he returned from
Penang, it was evident to all who saw him that his useful
and laborious life was drawing to a close. But having
begun several works which promised to be useful, both to
the heathen and future missionaries, he was earnestly
desirous of being spared to finish them. But such was
not to be. His disease became rapidly more painful and
dangerous. It was so agonising for him to speak that,
except to settle his own affairs or those of the institutions
he had charge of, he uttered few words. As he drew near
to the end he expressed his mm faith of salvation through
the merits of Jesus, and appeared more at ease than he had
done for some time. His friends thought that this arose
from some improvement in his condition, but it was from
exhaustion of nature, for in a short time, without a struggle
or a groan, he passed away. His body was carried from
the Anglo-Chinese College to the Dutch burial-ground, and
laid in a vault he had prepared for his wife and children.
The funeral was numerously attended by both natives and
148 ROBERT MORRISON.
foreigners. The Government officials, the foreign mission
aries, the members of the Dutch church, most of the
respectable inhabitants of Malacca, and hundreds of
Chinese and Malays, were present to offer their tribute
of respect and reverence to his memory.
His character was summed up by Dr. Morrison in these
fitting words : " Dr. Milne appears to have possessed
naturally a very ardent, impetuous, determined mind, yet
softened by mildness of manner ; and after it was con
verted, turned from Satan to God, it retained its natural
ardour and impetuosity, but directed to new and very
different objects from what it previously was. He was
now fully convinced that the cause of Missions was the
cause of heaven, and neither fire nor water could impede
his onward course. He served with courage and fidelity
ten years ; and then, worn out by useful toils and hard
service, died at his post."
Dr. Morrison was at this time meditating a jo.urney to
England, in order to visit old friends and kindred, and to
enjoy a well-earned furlough. But on the news of Dr.
Milne s death he gave up for the present all thought of a
holiday, and resolved to repair to Malacca to arrange for
the future working of the Mission and the College. With
characteristic benevolence, also, he resolved to adopt, as his
own son, little Robert Milne, named after himself, and to
provide for his maintenance and education with his own
children.
In November of this year a fire broke out on the west
side of Canton, about a mile north of the European
Factories. It raged furiously for several days, and burnt
every building westward for a mile and a half, and indeed
did not cease to burn till no buildings were left. Thou
sands of Chinese shops and houses were destroyed, and
millions of pounds worth of property was lost. The East
India Company s loss was estimated at one million ; and
the loss of life through the fire, terror, trampling to death,
DR. MILNE S DEATH. 149
and attacks of cruel banditti was awful and horrible. This
was an additional trial to Dr. Morrison, as he lost much
property by the fire, and especially a hundred pounds
worth of paper he was about to send to Malacca for a
fresh edition of the New Testament.
On January lyth, 1823, Dr. Morrison left Canton for
Malacca, and on the 2gth of the same month landed at
Singapore, then a newly formed English settlement in the
Malayan Archipelago. He was received by the Lieutenant-
Governor, Sir T. Stamford Raffles, with great friendliness.
They were men of sympathetic feeling ; and earnest con
ference on several subjects for promoting the welfare of the
colony and the Malays occupied the period of the visit.
The result of the interview was the resolve to establish at
Singapore an institution similar to that at Malacca ; and as
the latter settlement was under the Dutch Government, to
unite both under one management, with the title of "The
Singapore Institution." A meeting of the principal in
habitants of the settlement was summoned, and the
proposal laid be r ore them. It was decided to adopt the
scheme : the College at Malacca to be carried on as at
present with its special departments, and the new institu
tion to take up branches of knowledge and science which
the older one had not been able to embrace. A liberal
subscription followed. Dr. Morrison was appointed Vice-
President, and subscribed upwards of fifteen hundred
dollars, besides spending much more in the clearing of a
site of land which he obtained as a grant from the Govern
ment. On February ist he arrived at Malacca. He
found everything in a healthy and hopeful condition. He
says : " The College and the native students gave me great
satisfaction. The Chinese youths sang the hundredth
Psalm to Luther s tune. It was composed in Chinese by
my former assistant, K6-Seen-sang. Finding the good use
which had been made by my dear William of my books in
Chinese, and of my funds, and the freedom of worshipping
150 ROBERT MORRISON.
God without Mandarin interference, altogether produced on
my mind a most pleasing effect. Oh, how grateful should
I be ! " He filled up the vacant post of principal of the
College by the appointment of the Rev. David Collie, who
had been sent out by the London Missionary Society in
1822, and who had shown remarkable aptness in gaining
acquaintanceship with the Chinese language. Mr. Collie
fulfilled the duties of the office with great ability up to the
time of his death in 1828.
The year 1823 was a memorable one in the life of Dr.
Morrison, owing to the publication of the Anglo-Chinese
Dictionary, which must be considered as the great work of
his life. He had been engaged upon it sixteen years, and
in connection with its composition he had accumulated a
library of about ten thousand Chinese volumes. It was now
issued at a cost of twelve thousand pounds by the East
India Company. It filled six large quarto volumes, each
equalling in size a family Bible ; it contained four thousand
five hundred and ninety-five pages, and recorded forty thou
sand words expressed by the Chinese character. Having
accomplished so marvellous a work, it was not wonderful
that his name became universally famous. Testimonies as
to the value and importance of the publication came from
all sides. Dr. Montucci, of Dresden, an erudite Oriental
scholar, said: " I am free to assert that Dr. Morrison within
these ten years has published volumes by far more useful to
the European student than all the printed and MS. works
published by the missionaries in the course of the last
century." M. Remusat, of Paris, said: "The Anglo-
Chinese Dictionary by Dr. Morrison is incomparably supe
rior to every other." The book is indeed almost as much
an encyclopaedia as a dictionary ; biographies, histories, and
notices of national customs, ceremonies, and systems abound,
making it a repertory of information on all matters touching
Chinese life and literature.
Dr. Morrison writes, under date November loth, 1823:
DR. MILNE S DEATH. 15 l
" Afh, whom our dear Milne baptised, has led his wife to
embrace Christianity, and proposes to bring his little son to
be baptised." And on the 2oth he wrote : "To-day Leang
Afa, our Chinese fellow-disciple, brought his son Leang-tsin-
tih (entering on virtue), and had him baptised in the name
of God the Father, Son, and Spirit. Oh that this small
Christian family may be the means of spreading the truth
around them in this pagan land ! "
The time had now come when Dr. Morrison felt he might
gratify his long-deferred desire of visiting his native land, and
associating once more for a brief period with his beloved
distant friends. He therefore wrote to the Select Com
mittee of the East India Company : " Having spent sixteen
years in China, subjected to sedentary occupation, in trans
lating, writing the Chinese Dictionary, and other works, and
now feeling indications of my constitution being affected
by the want of bodily exercise, I have determined to avail
myself of the liberal permission granted by the Honourable
the Court of Directors to visit England, with certain allow
ances. I intend going in the Waterloo, with Captain
Alsager. Thus 1 shall leave China in the end of December,
1823. In the close of December, 1824, I purpose to quit
England and return to China, via. Bengal ; by which means
I hope to resume my duties in the Factory in August, 1825.
" For the benefit of Chinese literature in England, I pur
pose taking thither and leaving there my Chinese library,
consisting of several thousand volumes, to ship which on
board the Waterloo I request the Committee s permission.
And if the Committee can authorise me to draw such part
of my allowance during absence as they may see fit, in
England, on my arrival there, it will be a great accommoda
tion to me, and will be considered a favour."
The Select Committee willingly granted all he desired.
He sailed in the Company s ship Waterloo early in December,
1823, and arrived in England in March, 1824, accompanied
by a Chinese servant who had lived with him for several
152 ROBERT MORRISON.
years, and had made a consistent profession of Christianity.
One deep regret he had in leaving China, that he was unable
to leave behind him a missionary to continue his work in
Canton or Macao. He had urgently besought the societies
of England and America to appoint a helper, who might be
his successor in the event of his death, but no provision had
yet been made. He therefore ordained Leang Afa to the
office of Evangelist. He had maintained a good confession
for eight years, and he was now commissioned to carry on
spiritual work amongst his countrymen in Canton as oppor
tunities allowed.
CHAPTER XI.
WORK IN ENGLAXD.
" I would not have this perfect love of ours
Grow from a single root, a single stem,
Bearing no goodly fruit, but only flowers
That idly hide life s iron diadem :
It should grow always, like that Eastern tree
Whose limbs take root and spread forth constantly;
That love for one, from which there doth not spring
Wide love for all, is but a worthless thing." LOWELL.
^TMIE reputation which Dr. Morrison had won for himself,
for his devotion as a Christian missionary, and his
erudition as a philologist, secured him, on his arrival in
England, a gratifying reception from persons of all ranks,
and from many philanthropic and learned societies.
Trouble and vexation, however, attended his arrival with
regard to the enormous Chinese library he had brought
with him. Previous to leaving China he had stated to the
British authorities his object in bringing it to England,
which was to present it to some public institution, by which
it might be made accessible to all desirous of learning the
Chinese language. It was a valuable collection of books.
Many of them had been obtained with great difficulty, as
the natives were by law forbidden to sell their books to
154 ROBERT MORRISON.
foreigners. Some of the works were rare and expensive,
so that the cost to Dr. Morrison had been upwards of two
thousand pounds. His design as to the library being stated
to the Lords of the Treasury, a remission of the duty
levied on foreign books was sought. Grave objections
were entertained as to giving this permission, and Dr.
Morrison was kept in suspense for some time, only to be
informed that the library would be allowed to pass duty
free on application from the public body for whom it was
designed. This was tantalising in the extreme ; the public
body had not yet been found that would accept such a gift,
and Dr. Morrison was not prepared to pay the large sum
which was required to free the books from the hands of
Custom House officers. Looking back upon the occurrence,
it seems a paltry method of treating a liberal offer for the
public good, to insist on a tax, simply because the bene
volence is the act of an individual, rather than an association
of individuals under some collective name. He was so
discouraged as to have made up his mind to pay the duty,
when a number of gentlemen, especially his old friend
Sir George Staunton, pressed the matter so strongly upon
members of the Ministry, that the books were allowed to
pass free, and were deposited in a room on the premises of
the London Missionary Society until they could be satis
factorily disposed of. This matter settled, no less an
honour was to be offered to Dr. Morrison than to be
presented to His Majesty the King. Sir George conveyed
the news to him in these words : " Mr. Wynn has very
handsomely agreed to present you himself to the King on
Wednesday, and to consult with Mr. Peel about the best
mode of laying before His Majesty your translation of the
Scriptures. Under these circumstances it might not be
necessary for me to go; but as you are a stranger, Mr.
Wynn wishes me to accompany you in order to ensure
your finding him, and putting you at the proper moment
into his hands, and this I shall be happy to do, and shall
WORK IN ENGLAND.
155
therefore, as before settled, call for you in Berners Street,
on Wednesday, at half-past one."
At the appointed time Dr. Morrison accompanied Sir
George Staunton to the Levee ; and on being presented to
the King, His Majesty recognised him in a manner which
showed he was well acquainted with his merits and the value
of his public services. He very graciously accepted a copy
of the translation of the Bible and a map of Pekin, which
C ll.NEbE BOOKSELLER.
were acknowledged in the following letters, the first from
the Right Hon. Sir R. Peel, then Home Secretary, and
afterwards Prime Minister, and the other from Dr. Sumner,
afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury :
"To Sir George Staunton, Bart., etc., etc.
"WHITEHALL, April i2t/i, 1824.
" My dear Sir, In laying before His Majesty the
Chinese Bible, I have not failed to mention to His Majesty
the very singular and meritorious exertions which have
156 ROBERT MORRISON.
been made by Dr. Morrison to promote religion and
literature in the East.
" His Majesty has commanded me to convey through
you to Dr. Morrison the expression of his marked approba
tion of that gentleman s distinguished and useful labours.
" I have the honour to be, my dear Sir,
"Your most faithful and obedient servant,
" ROBERT PEEL."
" To the Rev. R. Morrison, D.D., etc.
"CARLTON PALACE, April \\tJi, 1824.
" Sir, I have received His Majesty s commands to convey
to you His Majesty s acknowledgments, and to express his
sense of your attention in presenting, through Mr. Peel, a
copy of. your Chinese Bible.
" His Majesty has been pleased to direct me to take it
into my particular care, as an important and valuable
addition to his library.
" I have the honour to be, Sir,
" Your obedient and faithful servant,
" CHARLES R. SUMNER, Librarian"
The Select Committee of the East India Company also
introduced Mr. Morrison to the Court of Directors in the
following flattering words, showing how groundless had been
all the fears entertained that his official connection with the
Company would be inimical to its commercial interests :
" December 5th, 1823. We cannot permit Dr. Morrison
to depart from the situation he has held for sixteen years in
this establishment, with eminent advantage to the interests
of the Honourable Company, without expressing the strong
sense we entertain of the importance of his services, and of
the perfect satisfaction we have derived from his abilities
and general deportment during his residence in this country.
We trust, therefore, we may be permitted to introduce Dr.
Morrison to the notice of your Honourable Court as a
gentleman meriting your best attentions."
WORK IN ENGLAND. 157
This was signed by all the members of the Select Com
mittee, and consequently from the Directors as a body and
from many of them personally he received attentive courtesy.
The Court allowed him half his income while on furlough,
and he was invited to a public dinner given in his honour
by the Directors, where he formed acquaintance with some
of the most distinguished personages of the time. Public
engagements crowded upon him, leaving him no opportunity
for rest, or for enjoying private fellowship with his friends.
As soon as hj could tear himself from pressing engagements
in London he went down to his native county, Northumber
land, and in Newcastle found himself again amongst many
friends and relatives, who accorded him an enthusiastic
reception. He arrived on April i8th, and on the Sab
bath preached to crowded congregations, hundreds being
unable to gain admission. He proceeded, on the 23rd, to
Edinburgh, to visit his daughter, and, accompanied by her,
returned to Newcastle, en route to Manchester, in order to
take with him to London his son, to be present at the
meetings of the various benevolent and religious societies
in May. He was waited upon by the civil authorities, and
invited to a public dinner given in honour of his visit.
One gentleman still survives who recollects, with great
distinctness, this visit to Newcastle. The venerable and
much-esteemed Rev. ]. C. Bruce, D.D., LL.D., etc., etc.,
remembers Dr. Morrison paying a visit to his father s house,
and says of his appearance : " As I remember him, he was
a well-formed man about middle size, with dark and rather
curly hair." Dr. Bruce also possesses a copy of his translation
of the Bible and the Anglo-Chinese Dictionary.
In reference to this visit he wrote to Sir G. Staunton :
" My reception in this town is as kind as I could possibly
wish. It is interesting to me to revisit the streets and fields
where I lived happily as a poor bashful boy, thirty years
ago." His experiences in revisiting old haunts he afterwards
described in writing to his niece on his return to China :
158 ROBERT MORRISON.
" I felt deep interest in travelling over again the walks of my
boyhood : St. John s Church, the Forth, Maiden Lane, the
riverside, once so lovely to me ; now, the dirty new coal
shaft has disfigured all the high bank healthy walks, with
the river between and the windmill hills opposite. At four
or five in the morning, winter and summer, have I sallied
forth to the walks I have now alluded to but ah ! how
changed the circumstances. Holy Scripture, prayer, the
Sabbath, and the assembly of God s people were then my
delight days never to return. But there is a better country,
Hannah, and in China I am as near to it as in England."
He was overwhelmed with solicitations from all parts of
England to preach and speak on behalf of various missionary
and other societies, and he was obliged to appeal to his
friends to be more considerate of his strength and ability.
Wherever he went his presence was hailed with overflowing
and devout enthusiasm, and the claims of China to the
Gospel more fully acknowledged. He attended the May
meetings of several of the leading religious societies,
including those of the London Missionary, the British and
Foreign Bible, the Religious Tract, the Prayer Book and
Homily, and the Port of London Societies, with all of which
he had become closely associated by his work in China, and
which bonds were drawn the closer the longer he lived. In
all these meetings the references to Dr. Morrison and his
work were so eloquent, and were received with such
enthusiastic applause, that his retiring modesty was very
much tried. One interesting incident was afterwards re
corded by the Rev. T. S. Grimshaw, in relation to the
anniversary meeting of the Bible Society. He says : " The
day had been signalised by Dr. Morrison having presented
to Lord Teignmouth, the President, before a crowded and
distinguished auditory, the Chinese version of the Bible,
executed jointly by himself and the late Dr. Milne. The
undertaking was said to have been the result of nearly twenty
years laborious toil and study, and justly considered to be
WORK IN ENGLAND. 159
an extraordinary monument of Christian piety and perse
verance. Never shall I forget the deep interest of that
impressive occasion. Dr. Morrison appeared in the front
of the platform, holding the precious volume in his hand.
Beside him stood his youthful son, brought forward, as it
were, like another Hannibal, not indeed to stand pledged
against his country s foes, but to be consecrated, on the
altar of the Bible Society, against those of his Redeemer,
and to share with his father in the honour of extending
His everlasting kingdom. . . . Mr. Butterworth stated the
following fact : It is now many years ago that, in visiting
the library of the British Museum, I frequently saw a young
man, who appeared to be deeply occupied in his studies.
The book he was reading was in a language and character
totally unknown to me. My curiosity was awakened, and
apologising to him for the liberty I was taking, I ventured
to ask what was the language that engaged so much of his
attention. " The Chinese," he modestly replied. " And do
you understand the language ? " I said. " I am trying to
understand it," he replied, " but it is attended with singular
difficulty." "And what may be your object," I asked, "in
studying a language so proverbially difficult of attainment,
and considered to be even insuperable to European talent
and industry? " " I can scarcely define my motives," he re
marked ; " all that I know is that my mind is powerfully
wrought upon by some strong and indescribable impulse;
and if the language be capable of being surmounted by
human zeal and perseverance I mean to make the experiment.
What may be the final result time only can develop. I
have as yet no determinate object in contemplation beyond
the acquisition of the language itself." Little did I think
that I then beheld the germ, as it were, of this under
taking, the completion of which we have witnessed this
day, that such small beginnings would lead to such mighty
results, and that I saw before me the honoured instru
ment, raised up by the Providence of God, for enlightening
160 ROBERT MORRISON.
so large a portion of the human race, and bringing them
under the dominion of the truths of the Gospel. "
The remainder of the year was spent in visits to France,
Ireland, Scotland, and all parts of England, with a view to
excite deeper interest in the spiritual condition of China
and other Oriental nations. With an entire disregard of
his own ease, Dr. Morrison powerfully advocated the claims
of the heathen, urging the various Christian Churches to
renewed efforts to evangelise the far-distant and ancient
countries of the East. As a result of his labours a very
large and widespread interest was awakened respecting the
social and religious condition of a people concerning whom
till then so little had been known. Several young men
of piety and promise were led to devote themselves to
mission work, who became subsequently successful and
honoured instruments of spreading the Gospel in the East.
Associations were also formed in large cities to aid the
work of the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca, and the
missionary spirit throughout the land was greatly stimulated.
Dr. Morrison says that for some months he " lived mostly
in stage-coaches and inns," his letters were hurried and
brief, and his life was an unbroken round of engagements.
To extend a knowledge of China and the diffusion of
Christianity, he crossed to France, being furnished by Sir
George Staunton and other friends with letters of intro
duction to several distinguished personages in Paris. In
crossing over to Calais he met with Lord William and
Lady Bentinck, who offered him great attentions, taking
him to their own hotel, and procuring for him the services
of an agreeable guide and interpreter while he was in Paris.
Lady Bentinck entered most sympathetically into his views
for the enlightenment of the lands of the East, and when
afterwards her husband was Governor-General of India, she
fervently strove to use her influence in encouraging efforts
for the diffusion of knowledge and religion.
In Paris he had interviews wiih, and received much
IVOR K IN ENGLAND. 161
courtesy from, Baron Humholdt, M. Remusat, M. Klaproth,
Baron de Stael, M. de Saci, and other of the leading
literary men of France. He was introduced to the Asiatic
Society, the National Society, and others, and he returned
to England satisfied that he had produced a deep impres
sion on many minds favourable to efforts for the moral
elevation of the East. On his return from France he
hastened to Ireland, preaching at Bath, Bristol, and Liver
pool on the way, to large and crowded congregations. In
Ireland great enthusiasm was aroused wherever he went.
In Dublin he preached twice, and attended four meetings ;
and in these, as in all others in Ireland, the various
denominations, not excepting the Established Church, vied
with each other to do him honour. He spent two days
with the Earl of Roden at Tullymore Park, then went to
Belfast, and preached in Dr. Hanna s church, and from
there went to the Giant s Causeway to inspect that most
wonderful natural phenomenon, and then crossed over in
a steamer to Greenock.
In Scotland he visited Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Perth,
preaching and speaking everywhere as to his great Mission ;
and went northwards to Aberdeen to see the orphan
children of Dr. Milne, in whom he took an affectionate
interest, and earnestly enjoined upon his own children to
cherish towards them a fraternal regard. Scotland, like
Paris and Dublin, which he had already visited, poured
out profuse tributes of admiration for his work; and
amongst many invitations from distinguished persons was
one from Sir Walter Scott, requesting him to visit him at
Abbotsford. This courtesy, however, with many others, he
was obliged to decline.
He was greatly encouraged by a gift of fifteen hundred
pounds from Lord Kingborough towards the Anglo-Chinese
College, and also three hundred volumes of valuable books
for the library of the College. Sir George Staunton also
contributed two hundred pounds, in addition to previous
ii
1 62 ROBERT MORRISON.
liberal gifts towards the same institution. The British and
Foreign Bible Society voted a further sum of a thousand
pounds to aid him in the circulation of the Scriptures, and
authorised him to employ agents and colporteurs as he
might find openings for them, to be usefully engaged in
such work. Much other encouragement and help was
volunteered for the furtherance of the objects he had so
much at heart.
He was increasingly anxious as to the destination of his
vast accumulation of Chinese books, which lay in the
meantime in the premises of the London Missionary
Society. He had hoped to have induced one of the great
national Universities to establish a Chinese Professorship,
and to have accepted the library in connection therewith.
This hope was not to be realised for at least two genera
tions. The learned and religious mind of England was as
yet but little prepared to adopt or embody the broad views
of the large heart of the Chinese missionary as to the future
of China, and the disposition of the library became a diffi
cult problem. Ultimately it was presented to the Council
of University College, London, and called " The Morrison
Library," on the condition that it might be used by students
of any denomination free of charge.
He preached one Sunday in Dr. Waugh s church, and
revived many tender recollections in his mind. The
venerable minister, then in extreme age, was present, and
afterwards told him that his understanding and heart
approved of every sentiment, and that if he could have a
copy of the sermon he would print it.
Various religious bodies sought conferences with Dr.
Morrison as to the best methods of carrying out their
existing methods for the evangelisation of the East, or as
to any more efficient means which might be adopted. One
of his suggestions to promote Christianity in the East,
which, like some other grand projects, was before its time,
was the establishment of what was called " The Language
WORK IN ENGLAND. 163
Institution." The object of this effort was stated as a plan
" for a more extensive diffusion of Divine truth, by means
of a society which should promote the cultivation of all
the languages of mankind, and afford to those benevolent
persons who leave their native country with a view of
imparting to the heathen the knowledge of Christianity
every degree of assistance before they quit their native
country." He was urged to write an appeal on this project
by the London, the Church, the Baptist, and the Wesleyan
Missionary Societies, and the Society was launched under
the high patronage of Earl Roden, Lords Calthorpe and
Bexley, Sir George Staunton, Sir T. Stamford Raffles,
Sir R. H. Inglis, Barts., Mr. W. Wilberforce, and many
other distinguished philanthropists. A suitable building
was taken in Holborn, and the business of the Society set
on foot. Dr. Morrison granted the Society the use of his
library and museum, and opened the Chinese department
by a course of lectures extending over three months.
Thirteen students attentively followed him through this
course, four of whom were dedicated as Christian
missionaries in Malacca and the Indian Archipelago. Dr.
Morrison s services were so eagerly sought, and were
deemed so important, that he was induced to prolong his
stay in England for another year, and he formed classes of
young men and women, to whom he gave instruction on
subjects relating to mission life among the heathen. He
entertained the strongest conviction that women could
never be elevated and sanctified in Eastern countries, except
largely through the agency of Christian women. This con
viction had been impressed on him by his observance of
the social seclusion of married women, and of the super
stitions which mixed themselves with their lives from their
marriage day. When a marriage engagement was formed
for a Chinese girl, judicial astrologers were consulted, horo
scopes were compared, and every magical art exhausted
in order to select a lucky day, and to secure this the cere-
1 64 ROBERT MORRISON.
mony was sometimes postponed for months. When the
wedding day arrived presents were sent to the house of
the bridegroom and of the bride. When the evening arrived
the bridegroom came with an ornamented sedan and a
cavalcade of lanterns, music, etc., to fetch home his spouse.
On reaching his residence the bride was carried into the
house over a pan of burning charcoal, which was on the
threshold. From this time the Chinese woman was shut
out from social intercourse, and found her chief delight,
apart from family ties, in observing the idolatrous and
superstitious rites of Buddhism. Dr. Morrison early per
ceived the importance of Christian ladies being employed
to find access to the hearts of Eastern women and influence
them towards the Gospel.
The Language Institution did not long continue after his
return to China ; but through its instrumentality, during its
brief existence, till 1828, several eminent missionaries were
partially prepared and fitted for their great work. The Rev.
Samuel Dyer, for sixteen years a devoted and successful
missionary in Penang, testified that he and his wife found
Dr. Morrison s lectures of such advantage, that they were
able to converse with the people in six or seven weeks after
their arrival, and that Mr. Dyer then preached in the
langunge so as to be understood.
In consequence of Dr. Morrison s determination to remain
a longer period in England, he removed to a quiet house
in Hackney, attending, however, thrice a week to lecture at
the Institution, and on the other three days teaching a class
of ladies at his own house, who were studying the language
with a view of going into the mission field. He also fulfilled
many public engagements, wrote many papers in magazines
on the language, religions, and philosophies of China, and
issued two or three books on similar subjects. The strongest
constitution could not bear so great and prolonged a strain,
and it is not surprising that he was attacked by an illness
which excited serious apprehensions on his behalf. He was
1 66 ROBERT MORRISON.
induced to accept the oft-repeated invitation to spend a few
days with Sir George Staunton at Leigh Park, Hampshire.
His stay of less than a week at this delightful residence was
the longest interval of rest that he was allowed to indulge in
during his two years furlough in England. He was obliged
to decline other opportunities of social enjoyment, only
allowing himself respite from public duties for a very brief
visit to Mr. Wilberforce, and to the Rev. C. Simeon, at
Cambridge.
The London Missionary Society conferred on him the
honour, although contrary to its rules, of appointing him one
of its Directors ; and the Royal Society also spontaneously
elected him a Fellow of its learned body. In common with
all great public benefactors who have been successful in
their work, he had to endure coldness and indifference from
some quarters and contrary criticism from others. This led
to a vigorous article appearing in a journal, setting forth in
sympathetic words the great services he had rendered to the
world. A few paragraphs from this article will express the
prevailing opinion of his merits as a linguist and a missionary :
" We have heard it well remarked that a man of talents and
learning, who devotes them to the cause of religion, is, in
the present day, situated something like the first heathen
philosophers who embraced the faith of the despised Naza-
rene he is frowned upon and contemned by his brethren
of the schools. If the projects and performances of Dr.
Morrison had originated with some sapient professor, too
enlightened to discern the inferiority of Confucius to Christ,
is there a man upon earth who does not believe that long
ere now, every review, every magazine, every newspaper,
would have sounded his praises all over the civilised world ?
. . . Quickly as we must come to a conclusion we cannot
refrain from looking back upon what has been done. Here
is the Chinese language acquired ; here are tracts in that
language compiled ; the Holy Scriptures translated into it ;
a grammar and dictionary of it composed, filling six quarto
WORK IN ENGLAND. 167
volumes ; several other works written or translated in that
most difficult of all tongues ; the great scheme of a college
formed and brought into active operation ; and all this by
the labours of Dr. Morrison and a colleague, acting under
his directions. Is it possible not to feel astonished at such
achievements of individual talents and industry ? Why, we
place in the highest rank of men of letters, we describe as
a colossus of literature, the great English lexicographer,
Dr. Johnson ; and he deserves it at our hands. We venerate
the scholars who accomplished the translation of the Scrip
tures into their and our native tongue, and we do no more
than what is just. But how much less than justice shall we
do if, professing to desire the extension of Christianity or
even literature, we fail to regard with high reverence, and to
help with hearty co-operation, the man who, almost with
out assistance, has reduced to a system for foreigners, and
enriched with an entire translation of the Bible for natives,
the language of the greatest empire in the world."
During his residence in England he was married to Miss
Eliza Armstrong, of Liverpool, a lady who proved a most
amiable and congenial partner; and, early in 1826, he pre
pared to return with her and his children, whom he pro
posed to train for mission work as his successors in China.
Letters of farewell and benediction poured upon him from
distinguished scholars and philanthropists, and benevolent
societies held meetings to commend him to God, and to
offer him tender and affectionate good-will. One extract
from the letter of Dr. Adam Clarke, the commentator, must
suffice as a specimen of many friendly communications. Re
ferring to his Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, he says :
" One thing you must indulge me in, otherwise you will put
me to pain. For some time I have purposed to beg your
acceptance of a copy of this work for your own library. I
am sorry it is not a large-paper copy, but there is not one ot
them left they have long been out of print. I present this,
out of high respect for your labours, and affection for your
1 68 ROBERT MORRISON.
person. I have ordered it in good boards, for it could not
(a few parts excepted) be bound without being spoiled ; as
the ink of the latter parts, not being sufficiently dried, would
set-off. Your prayer for me, at the conclusion of your note,
is worth a thousand copies of my work. I return you mine,
in your own words : May the power of Christ rest upon
your person, your family, and your abundant labours. You
had two lovely children, I think the finest I ever saw. I
have carried them on my knees, kissed them often, and have
borne them in my arms. It is many years since I saw
them, and they can have no remembrance of me : please to
tell them, however, that they have an old man s blessing
and his heartiest prayers. When you sail, may His presence
go with you, and give you rest. Amen."
According to usual etiquette, Dr. Morrison notified to
the Court of Directors of the East India Company his
intention of returning to China, requesting that he might
be permitted to resume his duties at the Factory, and that
his family might be allowed to accompany him. He waited
before making final arrangements for the voyage, until he
received an official answer to his application, not, however,
anticipating any hesitation in granting his request. He
was, therefore, much surprised on being informed that he
was permitted to return in the Company s service, " for the
term of three years," but that his two children were not
permitted to return with him. Dr. Morrison submitted
with as much grace as possible to this ungracious refusal,
contenting himself with sending a memorial to the Directors,
recalling the services he had rendered to the Company in
China for sixteen years, and expressing his disappointment
that so small a favour had been refused. To this applica
tion no answer was vouchsafed for some weeks, when he
received a reply stating that under all the circumstances of
the case he was permitted to take his two elder children
back with him. Thus he was spared the pang of being
again separated from them.
WORK IN ENGLAND. 169
A valedictory service, held in Hoxton Chapel, and at
tended by many eminent ministers, the venerable Dr. Waugh
amongst them, was profoundly affecting. Dr. Morrison
gave a powerful address containing these words : " Who are
we that we should go to the kings of the heathen nations
and attempt to deliver the people from heathen bondage ?
We have no authority from princes or from kings ; we are
not eloquent, we have no diplomatic finesse or chicanery,
we are not men of address, and if we had all these things
we should renounce all dependence upon them. But we
rely on the presence of that God who said to Moses, Now
therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee
what thou shalt say. God s presence is our hope, else we
should say, If Thy presence go not with us, carry us not up
hence." He concluded by saying : " Let us look to Christ
to Christ in all His love and mercy and mediatorial work.
Let this ever dwell in our hearts. So shall we be cheered
in every bereavement, and find ourselves at home in every
clime. Farewell ! "
On April 2ist, 1826, he and his partner and children,
accompanied by a party of friends, went down to Gravesend.
He intended to sail by the Orwell, a ship in poor repute
with seamen, on account of its inferior accommodation ; but
the captain was a religious man, and Dr. Morrison preferred
congenial company to creature comforts. The vessel, how
ever, was detained at Gravesend until May ist. As he was
waiting to sail, he was greatly pleased to receive from his
tried and proved friend, Sir G. Staunton, the present of a
beautiful and valuable inkstand, which he acknowledged
in these words : " I have received the beautiful inkstand
which you have sent me, and done me the honour to
inscribe with your own name. In China and in England
you have for twenty years condescended, I may say (con
sidering my humble circumstances), to favour me with your
friendship. This last token of your kind regard shall be
preserved in my family as a memento of your goodness to
170 ROBERT MORRISON.
me. Accept, dear Sir George, of my sincerely grateful
thanks for all your kindness, and for your substantial aid
to the cause of our holy religion, through me, its humble
servant. And accept of my best thanks for this parting
expression of your affectionate friendship. May the
Divine blessing of God our Saviour rest upon you ! "
He was accompanied to Gravesend by a number of old
and tried friends. He says : " To-day, about eleven o clock,
a party of friends, Revs. G. and H. Burder, Townley, and
others, knelt down and commended us to God s gracious
care. From the room our ship, the Onvell, is in sight, and
next to her another China ship, the General Harris, which
will sail before us. In her Sir W. Fraser goes as passenger.
He is an old acquaintance, and is to be our chief authority
in the English Factory."
On July 24th, as the ship pursued its course, a serious
mutiny occurred on board. The men alleged they had
been treated with harshness and tyranny, and some bold
spirits had enticed their companions to swear an oath on
the Bible to stand by each other. A plot was laid to resist
the officers, and on the first pistol being fired at them it
was arranged that every man should draw his knife and
rush on his superiors, either to murder or overpower
them. A consultation was called by the captain and officers,
Dr. Morrison attending. Several pistols were fired, and,
either by accident or design, one of them shattered the
gunner s foot, which was afterwards amputated. Dr. Mor
rison asked and obtained permission to go and reason with
the mutineers, and proceeding to the forecastle he spoke
to them with combined firmness and kindness, until he
persuaded them to obey orders and work the ship. They
left the forecastle to disperse to their work, when one of the
chief mutineers held an iron weapon in the chief officer s
face in a menacing attitude. He was seized, tied up,
and flogged ; and three others who came to assist their
eader shared the same fate, and were then put in irons.
WORK IN ENGLAND. r?i
There can be no doubt but that the composure and
self-possession of Dr. Morrison on the occasion prevented
much loss of life. As he fearlessly approached the angry
mutineers they showed him no resistance, but listened with
the utmost respect as he appealed to their better feelings,
and urged them to return to their duty. He had great
reward for his efforts in the conversion of one of the sailors.
He says : " The gunner has been awakened to the most
serious concern for the salvation of his soul, and is, I hope,
a true penitent. I have visited, prayed with, and read good
books to him daily, at his own desire. He has seen many
wicked companions cut off in their sins, and, although he
has lost a leg, blesses God that he was not shot dead on
the spot. The blessed Saviour s full and free salvation,
without works, has afforded peace to his mind."
On August 8th the vessel anchored at Anjier, in the
Straits of Sunda. Here the Rev. W. H. Medhurst was
waiting to see and confer with Dr. Morrison. He was
labouring in Java amidst much discouragement. He
chiefly went from door to door preaching Jesus to the
Chinese and the Malays in their homes, but with small
visible success.
On August 2oth, after a trying voyage of nearly five
months, Dr. Morrison and his family landed at Singapore,
and were hospitably entertained by Captain Flint, the
brother-in-law of Sir T. Stamford Raffles. Here they stayed
about a fortnight, and Dr. Morrison took the opportunity of
ascertaining how far the plans put into operation by Sir
T. S. Raffles and himself had been carried out. He was
bitterly grieved and disappointed at the result. He found
that the large funds had been nearly all expended in the
erection of buildings which were not half finished, while the
Malayan professor was drawing his salary without attempting
to discharge any duty. A huge tract of land granted by the
late governor, and on which Dr. Morrison had laid out
large sums of money, had been entirely neglected by the
172 ROBERT MORRISON.
agent in charge of it, and the various measures taken by
Sir Stamford to improve the moral atmosphere of the settle
ment had been allowed to fall into neglect. The work
seemed to require entire reorganisation. Dr. Morrison
secured the assistance of the Rev. Robert Burn, chaplain to
the settlement, a man of piety and ability, and who entered
warmly into the scheme. He became a trustee of the
Institution, and manifested the deepest interest in its success.
Dr. Morrison purchased at his own expense a portion of
land near the Chinese quarter, to be occupied as a mission
station. He proceeded with his family to Macao, and here
experienced further disappointment. He found his house
and furniture in such a state of dilapidation as to require
the former to be virtually rebuilt, and the other to be
renewed. His books also were found to be almost utterly
ruined by white ants and other insects, which abound in
Eastern climes. As quickly as possible he made arrange
ments for the comfortable settlement of his family, and then
proceeded to Canton, entering upon his duties there in
October.
Dr. Morrison wrote to the London Missionary Society a
very cheering and interesting account of Leang Afa, whom
he left in charge of the religious work of the Mission : " On
September 6th we left Singapore, and on the evening of the
i gth landed at Macao. All my former native domestics
and my old Chinese teacher were waiting to receive me
The next day the native Christian, Leang Afa, made his
appearance, and in social prayer we returned thanks to God
our Saviour for His kind preservation of our lives, and that
our minds were still kept looking to Jesus. The following
Sabbath I recommenced the religious services in which we
formerly used to engage.
"Afa presented me with a small Chinese volume, con
taining explanatory notes to the Book of Hebrews, which he
had composed during my absence. It is designed to com
municate to pagans those views of religion which he derived
H ORK IN ENGLAND. i?3
from the late lamented Milne. I have read a part of it,
and considering the few advantages Afa has had, the work
evinces that he has made the Bible his study, although
some parts of his composition receive a shade of colour in
the phraseology from his recent paganism. He wrote also
a small essay in favour of the Christian religion, which he
entitled The True Principle of the World s Salvation. "
Leang Afa had been most faithful and diligent in the
discharge of the important duties with which he had been
entrusted. He gave a most interesting account of conver
sations he had held with his countrymen on the subject of
religion. One of these took place in a passage boat. Afa
happened to be reading the Evangelist Mark. A fellow
passenger took up the book and cast his eyes over chapter ix.,
verse 9 : " Till the Son of man be risen from the dead."
The inquirer asked what the rising from the dead meant.
Afa declared the death and resurrection of Jesus to make
atonement for the sins of men, confessed his own faith, and
preached salvation to all those who believed in His name.
He spoke also of the miracles of mercy done by Jesus. His
companion asked if he had seen these miracles with his own
eyes. "No," said Afa, " they are related in the sacred books,
which were published in the land of Judea, situated in the
Western world, and many nations believed them to be true."
" Have you never read," said his critic, " what the sage
Mangtse said ? It would be better for mankind to have
no books than to believe everything contained in books.
Although the Western nations believe these books, it is not
necessary that we Chinese should believe them. Do you
believe ? " To this Afa replied : " Although I never saw the
things recorded, I most firmly believe the principles and
doctrines contained in the Bible. I know that I have been
a very wicked man, and if there be no Saviour to make
atonement for sin it would be impossible for me to escape
the righteous judgment of God."
Dr. Morrison found also that in the hearts of others the
174 ROBERT MORRISON
truths he had imparted to them had taken firm hold, and
especially so in the case of the person who first assisted him
in writing out the Chinese New Testament for the press.
The gentlemen of the Factory at Canton gave him a
cordial welcome, and, unsolicited, made a subscription
in behalf of the College at Malacca, which amounted to
upwards of five hundred pounds.
Acting upon the instructions he had received from the
Bible Society, he arranged for the Rev. W. H. Medhurst
(afterwards D.D.), who was then at Java, to take a tour
throughout the Indian Archipelago, visiting Borneo, Siam,
and other places, to distribute copies of the Scriptures and
various religious tracts and treatises. The Mission press at
Malacca was kept busily at work for this purpose, and many
thousands of pages of Christian literature were thrown off
by it. Than Mr. Medhurst, no one more suitable for such
work could be found ; he had been ten years in the
mission field, and had extraordinary knowledge of the
Chinese language.
CHAPTER XII.
LETTERS TO HIS CHILDREN
" The true ambition there alone resides,
Where justice vindicates and wisdom guides;
Where inward dignity joins outward state,
Our purpose good, as our achievement great ;
Where public blessings, public praise, attend,
Where glory is our motive, not our end :
Wouldst thou be famed ? have these high acts in view ;
Brave men would act, though scandal would ensue."
YOUNG.
HITHERTO, Dr. Morrison has been presented in these
pages in his public character as a missionary of the
Cross. The dignity and uprightness of his conduct,
the unswerving conscientiousness, and the untiring devotion
to duty he ever displayed in his ministerial or literary
labours, or in his service to the East India Company, have
been abundantly illustrated. It is now needful to behold
him in more private and tender relations, especially as
manifesting the most affectionate concern and desire for
the welfare of his children. Many letters are carefully
preserved by his eldest and still surviving child, the Mary
Rebecca to whom he refers in some of the extracts already
presented. She and her brother, by being left motherless,
drew out the tenderest sympathies of his nature towards
1 76 ROBERT MORRISON.
them, and caused him to yearn over their spiritual wel
fare with a parental solicitude that was remarkable in its
intensity. It was a rare thing for him to close a letter
without seeking to impress upon them in some form the
excellence of religion and the claims of the Saviour. Many
admonitions fraught with sound sense and sagacity also
flowed from his pen as he wrote to them, and in the light
of these letters he appears to have combined in himself the
most stern and unyielding adherence to principle with the
most gentle and amiable graces of character. A few ex
tracts will be alike instructive and interesting.
The following was written September i4th, 1824, when
his son was at Mill Hill School :
" It is gratifying to me that Mary and you feel interested
in missionaries and the Madagascar boys, because Missions
are the cause of God. And, my dear boy John, to please
God, to think and say and do what He approves, is at once
wisdom and happiness. I hope, Johnny, you and Bee have
not forgotten one sentence of prayer taught you in China
after mamma s death ; it was this : Lord, help us to
remember our mamma s instructions. If you remember
and act upon mamma s instructions, my dear Johnny, I am
sure you will be happy, because mamma led you to God
and to Jesus. May the Lord help you, my dear children,
to seek His favour as the chief good.
" I hope, my dear, that you will advance in practical
knowledge daily, and correct every succeeding day what
you perceive wrong in your words or actions the preceding
day. Consider that if Providence spare your life, you will
have to provide for yourself by your own industry ; there
fore make good use of your time, and behave so as to
ensure the confidence and respect of your friends and
acquaintances. Above all learn to look to the Almighty
to guide you, keep you from evil, and bless you. God the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit desires the welfare
of us all, but we must be willing and obedient to the
LETTERS TO HIS CHILDREN. 177
voice of conscience, the strivings of the Holy Spirit, and
the precepts of the Bible. May God for Christ s sake
make you so.
"Within the last few days we have received by two
different ships letters from the Straits, from Mr. Collie and
from Bee, but not a line from you. This has given me
and mamma uneasiness about you. If it were intentional
not to write or mere neglect, it is still equally undutiful.
You should remember how much we love you and are
interested about you, and not do anything to grieve us. Be
careful, my dear Johnny, of giving way at any time to pride
and passion. Pride is one of the most heinous sins in the
BANGKOK, SIAM.
sight of the Almighty. Make me happy, my beloved child,
by listening to a father s counsel, and not forgetting the
law of thy mother."
In the year 1830 an opportunity came for Dr. Morrison s
son to go to Siam, in connection with an American mer
cantile expedition, and his father wrote to him on the
subject as follows : " I was not by any means, my dear
son, displeased with your notion of going to Siam. At the
same time it did not seem a judicious resolution, considering
your youth. I was pleased, my beloved boy, to see your
zeal, although I had other plans for you. But plans are
often rendered completely useless by some subsequent
occurrence. To follow the leading of Providence is the
12
178 ROBERT MORRISON.
best plan. If spared, it would be useful perhaps that you
should see Europe again before you take a fixed position.
But, on the other hand, you have your Bible and good
European authors in every department of knowledge, and
therefore, as long as health does not indicate the desirable
ness of a change and you have work here, I do not lay any
stress on your early return to Europe. Don t fag too hard,
and, on the other hand, don t be lazy. There is a medium.
Take care of your health with religious care. Don t let
pride and the ambition of scholarship drive you to ex
cessive labour. Let the love of Christ constrain you to
spend and be spent for His cause. Fear not, only believe
as you are in duty bound the gracious revelation of Divine
mercy to sinners. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye
to the waters of life. You thirst, my son ? Drink then
of Divine consolations, yea, drink abundantly whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely. "
His son was at this time at the Anglo-Chinese College
at Malacca, and was engaged in important duties there, but
it was now getting time for him to be preparing for a
definite calling in life. His father therefore wrote to
him : " I am very well satisfied that you have made
yourself useful in the College, but you must ere long turn
your attention to a profession for your subsequent support.
You are too young to go to Siam. Indeed, I see no utility
in people moving about from place to place. When we
have work to do we should attend to it, and not leave it in
search of what may be more amusing and interesting."
The following extract is excellent evidence of Dr. Mor
rison s intense desire for his son to become thoroughly
versed in the Holy Scriptures :
" I send one of Mr. Bagster s editions of the Bible in
English, which he calls the Comprehensive Bible. One
has gone to the College, and the copy I now send I intend
for your own use. Read, my dear son, the very instructive
introduction, and compare parallel passages, so as to make
LETTERS TO HIS CHILDREN. 179
the Holy Bible familiar to your mind, and pray for God s
blessing on your reading."
Towards the end of 1832 it was decided for John Robert
to join the expedition to Siam and other places in the East,
and reluctantly his father consented to the engagement. He
wrote concerning it to his daughter Mary Rebecca :
" It is now seemingly decided that your brother should
leave us awhile, and go among perfect strangers and people
belonging to other nations. I have hesitated much, but
incline to hope that the course I have advised is best for
him, considering his intended pursuits as a Christian mer
chant. I have advised his being a merchant with a constant
reference to his being a merchant missionary, i.e. one who
makes all his pursuits to bear upon the diffusion of the
Christian religion in these parts of the world. I trust he
will not be less zealous nor less useful because he is an
unpaid lay missionary. If Providence should spare his life
and make him prosperous, he may not only be himself
independent, but may be a blessing to all our family,
and also to the heathen. May God preserve him in the
midst of all dangers and temptations to which he may be
exposed."
On the verge of starting on his journey the son received
the following letter and rules of conduct from his anxious
father :
" As to your going I almost relent. I am afraid to trust
you alone in such society. If you go the utmost vigilance
and prayerfulness will be indispensable. God grant you
grace to watch your heart and your tongue at all times.
The Lord in rnercy direct us in all our ways."
" RULES OF CONDUCT.
" i. Mentally pray for Divine help in all affairs.
" 2. Converse but do not dispute with strangers and
foreigners.
180 ROBERT MORRISON.
" 3. Read each document carefully through to get the
whole sense before you interpret it, for reading a part only
one may hastily give a sense that the subsequent parts alter
or modify, and then it appears as if one did not understand
the language and only guessed at the sense.
" 4. In difficult paragraphs consult if possible some native.
" 5. Let important papers be well studied, and the Eng
lish made as perfect as possible before delivering them
in ; therefore hurry is to be avoided. Set about them
immediately, for procrastination occasions hurry at last."
As Mr. John Robert was accompanying the expedition in
the capacity of interpreter and secretary, the force of these
instructions will be readily recognised, and perhaps in them
may be found the secret of both Dr. Morrison and his son s
excellence as translators.
"January ist, 1832. Another year has commenced its
course according to our reckoning. The principle of halting
awhile to review the past at any great interval of time what
ever the reckoning may be a good one. The review of the
past even in youth affords matter for sorrow and repentance
and also for gratitude.
" How much more then would one think in old age ! To
be early instructed in the good way, and have an example
set by parents, is a blessing, my dear John, for which you
and your sister have to be thankful. May the Lord strengthen
in your soul every good resolution, and through faith in
Jesus give you the victory over every spiritual foe. Look
to Jesus ! He is the Captain of your salvation. Join His
standard, declare for His cause, and put yourself entirely
under His orders and His protection. Halt no longer, my
dear son, between two opinions. Give yourself to the Lord
and to His Church unreservedly."
That Dr. Morrison s repeated and earnest exhortations
to his son to seek and follow the Lord fully were not
without avail is shown by a passage occurring in a letter
under date November 23rd, 1832 :
LETTERS TO HIS CHILDREN. 181
" I am glad you have come to the resolution, God helping
you, to avow yourself a humble dependant upon the Saviour s
death by commemorating the same and showing forth His
death till He come."
The following letter, under date September 6th, 1833,
shows that in the earlier as in the later days of Christian
Missions a Sadducean spirit was abroad, grudging the money
spent, and heartlessly criticising those who were bravely
doing their best, although hemmed in by difficulties :
" Reform and economy seem to have engendered a
heartless spirit of severity and suspicion often bordering on
malice. The Christian Advocate, a rather talented paper,
has week after week filled its columns with attacks on the
London Missionary Society, in a most unchristian manner.
The Directors have no doubt erred ; but who is perfect ?
The repudiated bad missionaries have all assailed them
under the generalship of a Mr. Forbes. Grace and peace
be with you, my son. Oh, keep your heart in the fear of
God with all diligence ! Neglect no means ; enter not into
temptation ; seek not the approbation of the wicked ; imitate
them not. Be simple and unaffected, but be not afraid of
appearing singular."
Dr. Morrison was most anxious that his son should
be engaged in mission work, or that he should qualify
himself for a life of usefulness in some relation in China.
So he wrote to him under date September i2th, 1833 :
" Remember my advice to speak Chinese as much as you
can till you are quite fluent, and study a more audible
elocution at all times. I also recommend to you what I
never had time to do myself, but now regret it. Make a
collection as they occur of pithy good sentences in all
languages, that you would like to adopt as your own. Do
so first in a sort of waste book without order, and if you
have time hereafter you may arrange them under heads.
Farewell, my dear son ; God bless you, and make you
a blessing to your family, your kindred, and all with whom
1 82 ROBERT MORRISON.
you have to do. Not only do no evil, but ever study to do
good. Let the love of Christ constrain you."
His letters abound in brief, sententious, and important
scraps of advice, which we may well believe were carefully
treasured up by his children. The following are taken
almost at random from a pile of letters addressed to them :
" In your note you say, in haste. Don t get into a habit
of making this apology or indeed any other in letters. Say
the best and the most you can, and let it pass. I mean this
as a good general rule."
"Your remarks concerning the hostility to the Morrisons
in certain quarters are, I fear, too true. At the same time,
the other party are not what could be wished in respect of
religious sentiment and Christian morality. We can be of
no party which is against the truth ; we must ever be for
the truth, and therefore cannot be acceptable to those who
reject the truth of the Gospel."
" Keep short accounts, my dear son, in the books entered
on high. Every day settle carefully your private memoranda.
Presume not on to-morrow. When I first came to China,
I prayed three times a day ; I implored God s protection
only for a few hours, from morning till noon, from noon till
evening."
One more extract from a letter written on board the
Hercules at Lintin, after bidding farewell to his wife and
younger children, will further illustrate the tenderness and
depth of his domestic affection :
" Yesterday morning at daylight I watched the Ing/is
conveying you out of sight, with many tears and much
prayer to God for you, my beloved wife, and our dear, dear
children. John went to Macao to get me some clothes before
I start for Canton. I am shut up in the cabin where you
all slept the last few days. I have a Bible, however, and
the History of the Sufferings of the Scottish Covenanters,
in which I find great consolation. I hope the sweet
presence of the blessed God is with you this day.
LETTERS TO HTS CHILDREN.
83
" John has communicated your last message. By the
pilot you say, Every one seems kind on board. Thank
God ! I heartily and humbly bless the Lord that He has
mingled much mercy with this trying occasion, especially
in raising up kind friends. I purpose to give myself
wholly to Chinese, and especially, as I before resolved, to
the Bible. I should like to print an edition at our own
press. May the Lord prosper the work of my hands."
It will be seen, in subsequent pages, how well both of
these children seem to have absorbed the precepts thus
instilled into them, and how fully his earnest prayers for
their welfare were fulfilled.
CHAPTER XIII.
RENEWED LABOUR.
" There is a book
By seraphs writ with beams of heavenly light,
On which the eyes of God not rarely look,
A chronicle of actions just and blight." COWPER.
DR. MORRISON speedily settled down to his various
duties and engagements in his chosen sphere. He
spent half the year at Canton in attendance at the
Factory, as his official duties required, from the arrival of the
Company s ships in August until the last was despatched in
February or March ; and then he went to Macao to rejoin
his family. He had a busy life. He commenced the gigantic
work of preparing a Commentary on the Bible in Chinese,
and laboured at it with all the marvellous patience and
assiduity of which he was capable. He conducted public
and private worship with as great frequency as he could
induce either Europeans or Chinese to attend, and he was
in daily demand when in Canton to execute commissions
for missionaries and friends at Penang, Malacca, Singapore,
and many other places, who were obliged to send to Canton
for domestic articles of nearly all kinds. Then he had to
obtain all printing materials, books, teachers, and workmen,
and keep all in active employment. Missionaries on the
RENEWED LABOUR. 185
other stations in the East applied to him for advice and
direction in every matter of difficulty or intricacy, and his
long experience and excellent judgment made him an in
valuable counsellor on every question of Eastern mission
work.
He was much hampered also by adverse criticism from
those who had little sympathy with Christian Missions, and
by the superciliousness of some in the employ of the East
India Company, who, while willing to avail themselves of
his services as an unrivalled Chinese scholar, were yet
disposed to scoff at him as a Christian advocate, and who,
whilst making large fortunes out of the commerce carried
on with China, could not be brought to aid in the attempt
to enlighten the natives by the truth. Dr. Morrison says
in his journal :
" I have been reading on beware of covetousness (Luke
xii. 15). Covetousness implies discontentedness. I thought
of preparing an English sermon from those words, but I am
afraid it may be too pointedly applicable to those who may
be my hearers.
" I met this morning with this little Chinese story : Hoo-
shaou was a very poor man, yet he daily thanked Heaven
for pure bliss. His wife said to him, We have daily only
three meals of greens, rice, and water. What do you call
pure bliss ? He replied, Happily we live in times of peace,
and experience none of the miseries arising from conflicting
armies ; happily there is nobody in our family that suffers
from hunger and cold ; and happily none of us are laid on a
bed of sickness nor immured in prison : if this is not pure
bliss, I know not what it is. Though this is a pagan story,
I think it a very edifying one. We have to thank Heaven
for all that Hoo-shaou had and a great deal more."
Christian sentiment in England at this time on the subject
of liberal giving to the cause of God was not very elevated.
Dr. Morrison published a tract entitled "Christian Devoted-
ness," in which he urged strongly the propriety of all property
1 86 ROBERT MORRISON.
and riches being considered as from the Lord, and to be
used in reference to Him ; in fact, of being devoted for
Him and to Him. The Eclectic Reriew fiercely criticised
the production, and said the man who wrote it could have
no children and no living mother. Concerning this, Dr.
Morrison says : " But I have a wife and children, and yet
I am a good deal of an anti-earth-treasure-hoarder. But my
principles go to lending to the Lord He will provide.
Yes, say the others, by your instrumentality ; and so
carping and caring becomes a duty imposed by Providence.
Jehovah-jireh, says the Bible. Yes, says the commen
tator ; the Lord will enable you to provide ; you are not to
look beyond yourself for any provision. Now, I ask, does
not this reasoning convict itself? for, trusting Providence,
according to it, only means trusting to one s self; and the
word of God is made just to mean nothing at all."
About the same time also the Quarterly Review made an
attack upon him as to the imperfections of his translation
of the Bible. It taunted him with being " self-instructed,"
and that his " humble pretensions in any other case should
have disarmed criticism." It also severely blamed almost
every step hitherto taken by the Bible Society. It was a
needlessly cruel attack. No one was ever more ready to
admit the drawbacks of his translation than was Dr. Morrison,
and all he ever professed to have done by it was to have
laid a foundation on which others could build a more perfect
superstructure. He felt this attack, therefore, most keenly,
and wrote a reply to it, which was not published, but con
tained the following paragraph: "What good scholar ever
existed who was not in a great degree self-taught ? . .
But putting this aside, who was to instruct the modern
missionaries in Sanscrit, or Chinese, or Otaheitean, but the
individuals themselves? There had been regularly edu
cated civilians and commanders, and chaplains, too, in India,
and commercial agents in China, long before the English
missionaries were born ; but had they learned or had they
ft iv - V *
1 88 ROBERT MORRISON.
provided means to teach those languages ? England had
drunk Chinese tea, and raised millions of revenue from it,
for a century; but England had not furnished one page,
nor established a single school to teach Chinese, till a self-
instructed English missionary did it."
Such a reproach came with ill grace from a periodical
which at the very time was edited by a man who, however
much to be condemned for narrowness and asperity of
spirit, was yet greatly to be commended for having raised
himself from a shoemaker s bench to a high position in
scholarship and authorship.
As the East India Company was without a chaplain in
Canton at this time, and usual prayers were therefore not
read on the Lord s Day, Dr. Morrison offered to read the
prayers and preach without any pecuniary reward until
another chaplain could be obtained. He stated that un
willingness to see public worship discontinued was the sole
reason of his offer. He received the following answer from
Sir W. Fraser, the President of the Select Committee :
" I have mentioned to my colleagues the purport of your
note, and they coincide in opinion with me that we are
not authorised to accept your kind offer, which I am well
assured was only made from the best motives and wishes
for our welfare." Dr. Morrison remarks : " It is a lament
able state of religious or irreligious feeling, that, in the true
spirit of Popery, under no circumstances (except reading
prayers over the dead) will they have communion with any
who will not bow down to absolute authority, and yield an
implicit uniformity. If such persons believe, they don t
act upon the article in the Creed, communion of saints. "
Under these circumstances a European gentleman offered
his room to Dr. Morrison, and collected as many as he
could for Divine service. About twenty attended, and very
refreshing spiritual meetings were held.
He was also able to gather a small company monthly to
pray for the conversion of China. The Chinese converts
RENEWED LABOUR. 189
or inquirers, with about seven Europeans, were united in
this first missionary prayer meeting in that great heathen
nation. Every one took part, giving out a hymn, reading
the Scriptures, or offering prayer. This meeting was fre
quently a great refreshment to Dr. Morrison s spirit when
he was tempted to despondency.
At the beginning of 1827 a fire occurred in his neigh
bour s rooms at Canton, and burnt into his apartments.
All his books and many valuables were destroyed or
rendered useless. A friend comforted him by saying it
was a judgment upon him for being so vain of beautiful
bindings.
A new periodical, called the Canton Register, was com
menced, to circulate in the British settlements of the East.
It was chiefly a commercial paper, but Dr. Morrison was
asked to contribute to it regularly, and to this he agreed on
the condition that he should be fully at liberty to express
his opinions on the moral and religious subjects it was the
object of his life to promote. This opportunity was granted
him, with an offer of three hundred dollars a year to be
bestowed on any benevolent institution he chose. To this
paper he contributed frequently till his death.
Dr. Morrison was destined also to experience much dis
appointment through the failure of two institutions he
had been the principal instrument in establishing. The
Language Institution was dissolved in England for want
of an enthusiastic spirit to keep it alive. But indeed it
was before its time by fifty years. Then the Singapore
Institution also failed entirely through the mismanagement
of persons who were entrusted with the carrying out of the
project. Thus the benevolent intentions of Dr. Morrison,
who had spent about six thousand dollars upon it, and of
Sir T. Stamford Raffles were frustrated. On the other hand,
he was cheered by the success of the Anglo-Chinese College
at Malacca; and the Select Committee of the East India
Company drew up a memorial to the Honourable Court of
190 ROBERT MORRISON.
Directors in England, setting forth very clearly the good it
was doing, and the excellent influence it was likely to
exercise on the interchange of commerce between the
nations, by facilitating intercourse with China and ex
tending to Europeans the knowledge of the Chinese
language. The memorial, which was signed by Sir W.
Eraser, the chief of the Factory, and the other members of
the Committee, adds : " It is but justice to Dr. Morrison to
state that the College entirely owes its origin to him, and
its continuation to his exertions ; and he has thus added to
pre-eminent success in Chinese literature his unremitting
exertions for the diffusion of useful knowledge."
In December, 1827, he experienced a great loss in the
death of his firm and helpful friend Sir W. Eraser, the
chief of the British Factory. He died after a month s
illness, and was buried in the Honourable Company s burial-
ground at Macao, Dr. Morrison conducting the service.
He was taken ill when preparing to return to England, and
the ship which was to have conveyed him fired minute guns
in the Roads at the time of the funeral. Sir William was
forty years of age, of ample fortune, and one of the few
British residents in China who befriended missionaries.
His funeral was attended by the judge of Macao, and all
the Europeans who were resident there.
So carefully was Dr. Morrison observed by the Roman
Catholics on the one hand, and Chinese officials on the other,
that he was entirely shut out from preaching or teaching the
Gospel to any, save the few Chinese in his own employ,
and occasionally one or two who might be induced to join
them. He was therefore compelled, almost exclusively, to
make attempts to reach the heathen through the press, and
for this purpose he laboured incessantly and devotedly.
He persevered in the preparation of his Chinese Com
mentary ; and, in order to train native inquirers into clearer
views of Divine truth, he prepared a system of reference to
each book, chapter, and verse of the Bible, with chrono-
RENEWED LABOUR. 191
logical, historical, and literary notices. He also commenced
a Dictionary of the provincial dialect of Canton, which was
then coming into use almost equally with the Mandarin
dialect. He employed many means of disseminating the
Bible and religious tracts, and succeeded in sending large
quantities to Corea, Cochin China, Siam, the islands of
the Archipelago, and, by means of traders, into the very
heart of the interior of China.
The native teacher, Leang Afa, meantime laboured
assiduously for the benefit of his countrymen, as oppor
tunity permitted. He went up the country and opened a
school, instructing a few children and his own family in
the principles of Christianity. He wrote from thence to
Dr. Morrison :
" The people are all deceived and sunk in stupidity
respecting vain idols. Although I take the truth and
exhort them, all my strength is too small to overcome such
a multitude. At present, during the seventh moon, the
Buddhists deceive the people by the rites of the Yu Ian
shing hwuy. Every family, without exception, asserts that
it is absolutely necessary to exert their utmost strength in
burning multitudes of paper before the tablets of their
ancestors, and also burn some in the streets, that destitute
ghosts coming and going, as well as the spirits of their
ancestors in Hades, may receive these things, and have
clothes to wear and money to spend in the other world.
If these things be not done, the hearts of the people are
unhappy; not to do so is considered a want of piety and
affection and virtue. When I look on such stupid nonsense
I am exceedingly grieved, and at a loss what to do. I can
only meditate and attend to my own conduct night and
day, carefully and firmly adhering to the truth, and look
up and pray to the Lord on high to convert the hearts of
men, and turn their feet into the straight road which will
lead them from everlasting misery."
A curious testimony as to the value of Dr. Morrison s
192
ROBERT MORRISON.
literary labours occurred at this time, being nothing less
than the translation of his enormous Dictionary into
Japanese. He was also informed that the prevailing
BUDDHIST PRIESTS IN CHINA.
fashion in Japanese fans was to have them covered with
extracts from the Dictionary, arranged alphabetically, and
written with extraordinary neatness.
At the close of the year 1828 he was called to attend two
young officers on the ship Orwell, by which he had come
RENEWED LABOUR. 193
out from England after his visit, and who both died after a
short illness. He showed them the most tender and careful
attention, and was rewarded by both of them giving satisfac
tory testimony that the truth and comfort he imparted, in
the name of Christ, had been blessed to the salvation of
their souls.
Dr. Morrison writes thus concerning their end :
"The Moravian surgeon has just been here to say that
his patient, Johnstone, whom I have visited twice to day,
has departed this life. There was hope in his death. His
memory supplied him richly with sentences from the prayers
he had been accustomed to pronounce. On leaving the
last time, I took his death-cold hand and said, The Lord
be with you ; he replied, And with thy spirit. Wilson
is fast sinking. Both he and Johnstone were in high
health a month ago, and were both at three great parties
at Whampoa, where they feasted without fear. Johnstone
gave signs of earnestly pleading for mercy. Wilson is silent
almost, although he joined with uplifted eyes and clasped
hands in prayer to God with me. Oh that men were
wise ! that they would consider before the last hour !
The Lx -d help us to live devoutly, and with minds so
blessed as to look on death as a real gain to us."
The Sunday evening meetings previously referred to
continued, and grew in interest and importance. Dr.
Morrison says of them, under date January ist, 1829: The
union which takes place in my room at Canton of pious
books and pious persons of all countries, sects, and creeds
often excites my admiration and gratitude."
On this date the gunner on board the Onveil called to
thank him for the kindness and instruction he had received
from him when he had his leg amputated after the mutiny.
Dr. Morrison next appears as the saviour of an innocent
man from the hands of the executioner. The captain,
crew, and passengers of a French vessel bound to Manilla,
when within a short distance off Macao, were all, save one,
194 ROBERT MORRISON.
murdered by a number of Chinese, whose cupidity had
been excited by the treasure on board. The survivor sup
ported himself on a plank, when he was taken up by a
fishing-boat] and brought to Macao. He deposed to the
awful crime before the Portuguese authorities, and infor
mation was forwarded to the Chinese officials at Canton,
who directed that prompt measures should be taken for the
apprehension of the murderers. They were traced, captured,
tortured, tried, and condemned to be executed; but before
being so, they were brought to Canton to be confronted with
the survivor of the murdered crew. The ceremony took
place in the Hong Merchants Hall, and was attended by
many foreigners, among whom Dr. Morrison occupied a
front position. The murderers were displayed in bamboo
cages, so small that they could not sit upright ; they had
fetters on their necks, legs, and wrists, and on each cage was
inscribed the name of the offender and the sentence passed
upon him. The French sailor recognised most of them,
but last of all one man was brought forward who attracted
general attention. He was an interesting-looking man, about
fifty years of age, and the name Tsae-Kung-chaou was on
the cage. He attempted to address the Court, but was
unable to make himself understood. None of his own
countrymen present could interpret for him, as he spoke the
Fokien dialect, which differs widely from the Canton. Dr.
Morrison therefore went forward and conversed with him,
and ascertained that he was unjustly condemned, and was
quite innocent of any share in the awful crime. He then
addressed the Court on behalf of the man so forcibly, that
he was remanded until proper inquiries could be instituted,
with the result that in a few days the man appeared at
Dr. Morrison s house to express his fervent gratitude to him
as the preserver of his life. The resident Chinese were
loud in their praise of an Englishman who thus pleaded so
earnestly for the life of one of their countrymen.
Mr. Chinnery, a very talented artist who was then in
:" ^
A CHINESE COURT OF JUSTICE.
196 ROBERT MORRISON.
Canton, painted a most excellent portrait of Dr. Morrison,
with two of his Chinese assistants, which was engraved at
the expense of the gentlemen of the Factory, in testimony
of their esteem for him, and impressions of the picture were
sold for the benefit of the College at Malacca (see frontispiece).
An attempt was made to establish at Macao a " British
Museum in China," for the purpose of collecting native and
foreign curiosities, including productions of art, of natural
history, etc. ; and Dr. Morrison entered into the scheme
with his usual earnestness and generosity. He also, with
a view of promoting the study of Chinese literature and
language, commenced a weekly reunion in his own house of
students of the language and their teachers, topics for con
versation being arranged previously, papers being read on
subjects relating to books, idioms, and dialects, and curiosities
of all kinds being brought for general inspection.
He finished, in March, 1829, the third part of his Dic
tionary of the Canton dialect, and then busied himself with
other literary work bearing on the diffusion of Divine truth.
Leang Afa had recourse to him at this time. He had been
obliged to break up his school, and flee from a persecution
which had threatened his life, on the charge that he was
disseminating a wicked superstition, and seeking to sell his
country to foreigners. He was obliged, therefore, to take
refuge at Macao with Dr. Morrison.
The duties of Dr. Morrison at the Factory now became
more arduous and offensive. They had always been un
congenial, but he had faithfully and diligently discharged
them, because only thus had he preserved a foothold in the
country, and been able to pursue his mission work without
receiving any recompense from the Missionary Society ; but
since the death of Sir W. Fraser persons had come into
power who sought to exercise an authority over him more
arbitrary than he could bear. He resolved, therefore, to
resign his office, and devote himself to higher work, although
it might necessitate his confining himself to Macao or
RENEWED LABOUR. 197
Malacca. With this view he wrote a letter to the Select
Committee, giving up his position. Very suddenly and
unexpectedly a change was made in the Executive of the
Company, and a gentleman Mr. J. F. Davis was after
wards appointed as chief, who proved a firm friend to the
missionary.
Leang Afa left him in December to go and print two
tracts which he had prepared, and by which he hoped, as
his school had been broken up, to circulate a knowledge of
the Gospel. Dr. Morrison says of him : " His prayer in
parting was very appropriate, and shows clearly that his
heart is in his work, as well as that he is in the habit of
praying. He desires the prayers of God s people that he
may be faithful till death. May the Lord bless him and
make him a blessing."
In the beginning of 1830 Dr. Morrison had the happiness
of baptising another Chinese, and receiving him as a mem
ber of the Church. This was Kew-a-gong. Until his
introduction to Dr. Morrison he had led an idle and
improvident life, neglecting to provide for his wife and
children, whom he had entirely forsaken, and not settling
to any regular occupation. But from the moment the
truths of the Gospel touched his spirit he became as anxious
for the happiness of his family as before he had been care
less of it. He learnt the art of printing from Leang Afa,
and worked diligently at it ; meantime receiving instruction
from Dr. Morrison, until he manifested steadfastness and
sincerity sufficient to justify his baptism as a believer in
Jesus. After being baptised he became the companion of
Leang Afa in the distribution of the Bible, religious books,
and tracts.
Dr. Morrison had made very pressing appeals to the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to
send agents to China to aid in the work of diffusing the
Gospel. He was greatly cheered to learn that in response
the Rev. David Abeel was being sent out as chaplain of
198 ROBERT MORRISON.
the Seamen s Friend Society, to labour for sailors frequent
ing the ports of Canton, with the understanding that after
one year he was to enter the service of the American Board
for the purpose of exploring the islands and countries in
Eastern Asia to find out the best stations for foreign mis
sions. He sailed for Canton October i4th, 1829, in the
ship Roman, accompanied by the Rev. E. C. Bridgman, and
reached the Flowery Land in February, 1830, where he and
his companion received a warm welcome from Dr. Morrison.
He at once furnished them with books for the study of the
language, procured a teacher, and gave them personal help
and instruction. The American Board most gratefully
acknowledged his kindness to them, and most warmly did
he rejoice that at last he had fellow-labourers in the field,
and that now it was likely that, though he should be shortly
removed, there would never cease to be earnest witnesses
for the Gospel of Christ in China.
He had also the joy of receiving in Canton his eldest son
John Robert, who, in England and at the Anglo-Chinese
College at Malacca, had been diligently pursuing his studies
for some years. He was only sixteen years of age, but he
had become so proficient in his knowledge and use of
the Chinese language that he received the appointment of
translator to the British merchants in Canton.
Ur. Morrison was not allowed to proceed for any long
period in his work without being assailed by some calum
nious or offensive criticism. Towards these he generally
maintained a patient and silent reserve, satisfied with the
purity of his motives, and believing that time would pre
serve his reputation from any ultimate misunderstandings.
A French philologist of eminence, M. Klaproth, in the year
1830, proposed to a gentleman in the Company s service,
who was afterwards Chief Superintendent of His Majesty s
Commission in China, that he should become the enemy
of Dr. Morrison, in which case he undertook to laud him
in the public press. Mr. J. F. Davis, the gentleman in
RENEWED LABOUR. 199
question, was celebrated as one of the most learned men
of his day in Chinese literature as well as Western erudi
tion, and he had a heart as honourable as a mind well
informed. He returned the following answer to this
insidious offer:
" I cannot help regretting that you should indulge in
such hostility to Dr. Morrison, concerning whom I must
declare (and I could not without the greatest baseness do
otherwise), that I agree with Sir George Staunton in con
sidering him as confessedly the first Chinese scholar in
Europe. It is notorious in this country [England] that he
has for years conducted on the part of the East India Com
pany a very extensive correspondence with the Chinese,
in the written character; that he writes the language of
China with the ease and rapidity of a native ; and that the
natives themselves have long since given him the title of
Z<? Dodeur Ma. This testimony is decisive, and the
position it gives him is such, that he may regard all
European squabbles concerning his Chinese knowledge as
mere Batrachomyomachia, battles of frogs and mice."
The year 1831 opened with the happy tidings that Leang
Afa had baptised three persons. These were a father, in
his sixty second year, and his two sons, one twenty-two and
the otber seventeen. The father was a man of good educa
tion, and his sons had been hitherto employed in native
literature. The son of Leang Afa was placed under the
care of Mr. Bridgman for instruction in the English language
and in Christian truth.
Up to the present time the English Government of
Penang had made an allowance of one hundred dollars
a month to the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca. This
was now withdrawn in connection with a system of retrench
ment carried out by Lord W. Bentinck. The Select Com
mittee of the East India Company at Canton, with its usual
liberality, at once made a grant of an equal sum, under
" the firm conviction of its excellence," saying, " We believe
200 ROBERT MORRISON.
it to be eminently calculated to diffuse the light of know
ledge and of useful instruction through the most remote
possessions of Great Britain, and to assist in removing
those prejudices which have so long fettered the public
mind in this country."
Another missionary, to the joy of Dr. Morrison, now
arrived at Canton from America. This was the Rev. Edward
Stevens, who came in a vessel named the Morrison, after
the subject of this memoir. Its owner was Mr. Olyphant,
a devoted Christian and a faithful friend to the missionary,
who opened his factory in Canton for Christian worship
and service at any time.
Dr. Morrison s " Domestic Instructor " and " Scripture
Lessons " were now printed and published. He himself
gave two hundred pounds towards the printing of the former,
which was issued in four octavo volumes. The two works
were intended to afford a historical, doctrinal, and practical
view of the Christian religion, and they were widely circulated
by the agents now being employed for that purpose.
His generous sympathies were daily aroused towards all
cases of individual necessity and of public objects of
benevolence. The claims on his practical liberality were
endless, nor were any refused that seemed to merit assistance.
Especially his desires were drawn out towards the English
sailors, who, when at liberty from their duty on board ship,
became the victims of Chinese land sharks, who supplied
them with distilled spirits, rendering them liable to shame
ful extortion, and exciting them to riot and outrage. In
order to do something to preserve such from over-indulgence
and robbery, Dr. Morrison engaged a respectable native
to take charge of a " coffee shop," and had handbills
printed inviting sailors to partake of the cheap and refreshing
beverage provided for them there, and warning them against
the poisonous and fiery liquids sold by the natives for the
purpose of robbing them.
He gave the English service on the Lord s Day into
202 ROBERT MORRISON.
the hands of Mr. Bridgman, and devoted himself to the
Chinese. He was greatly cheered in having to baptise the
Mandarin teacher at the Anglo-Chinese College. His name
was Choo-seen-sang, and he had been an earnest student of
the Christian system for a long time, but had for a period
resisted conviction on account of opium smoking. At
length he was able to break off the habit, and professed to
believe with all his heart in the Lord Jesus. In his testimony
he stated that he believed Jesus to be the Son of God, that
he believed what He taught, obeyed what He commanded,
and hoped for what He promised." In sailing from Malacca
to Canton he had been nearly shipwrecked, and thus was
led to see his wickedness in not professing Christ, after he
had become convinced of His truth. Leang Afa also had
the happiness of baptising several others, making seven in
all who had professed conversion through his teaching.
At the beginning of 1832 Dr. Morrison wrote :
"There is now in Canton a state of society in respect
of Chinese totally different from what I found in 1807.
Chinese scholars, missionary students, English presses, and
Chinese Scriptures, with public worship of God, have all
grown up since that period. I have served my generation,
and must the Lord knows when fall asleep."
A very important change in his prospects was now
threatening. The charter of the East India Company in
China \vas soon to terminate, and the condition of all in
the English Factory at Canton would be greatly affected
thereby. No one more so than Dr. Morrison. He had
served the Company twenty years, and the Select Com
mittee had spontaneously sought to induce the Court of
Directors to grant him a pension in consideration of the
important services he had rendered. To this appeal no
answer was made, and he had, therefore, before him the
alternative of either seeking some secular employment, or
of having recourse to the Missionary Society, to which he
had given such splendid gratuitous service for the period
RENEWED LABOUR. 203
in which he had been employed by the Company. He
resolved to wait the unfolding of the Divine will, but of
the two paths undoubtedly to choose the latter, in order
that he might still devote his powers to the evangelising of
the heathen. To the uncertainty of his pecuniary position
was added also the sorrow of being separated from his
family. The health of Mrs. Morrison had for some time
been poor, and a voyage home was necessary for her
restoration. And to crown his anxieties at this time, he
received a letter from the Select Committee of the East
India Company informing him that the Portuguese governor
of Macao had been appealed to by the Roman Catholic
dignitary of the diocese as to some of his publications,
which were alleged to be opposed to the Romish faith, and
stating that the use of a printing-press was prohibited in
the Portuguese territories, except under previous censorship,
and that the press must be discontinued. The Select
Committee, therefore, requested Dr. Morrison to suspend
the issue of any further publications from the press at
Macao.
This was an ungenerous and annoying act of intolerance ;
but as there was no appeal from the decision, Dr. Morrison
had to content himself with offering a strong expostulation,
and to obey. Still he did not abate any energy in the
circulation of the many publications from the pens of him
self, Dr. Milne, Leang Afa, and others, which were now
extensively distributed, and many of which had penetrated
as far north as the ancient wall. He devoted himself with
increasing zeal to preparing his Commentary ; he continued
his public service on Sabbath mornings ; and, as the habit
had sprung up in Macao among the foreigners of spending
the Sabbath evening in recreation and amusement, he strove
to draw them to a higher enjoyment by commencing an
evening lecture. At the close of the morning service for the
foreigners he conducted one for the Chinese. In this he
ever took great delight, never omitting the singing, although
204 ROBERT MORRISON.
he often had it all to himself. In the intervals of worship
he was occupied in reading, or in hearing his children
repeat hymns and Holy Scripture. At these times he used
to resort to a retired terrace in the front of his residence,
beyond which lay the Bay of Macao, encircled by hills.
The cerrace was shaded by beautiful flowering shrubs, and
bordered with Western plants and flowers. Here, accom
panied by the whole of his family and attendants, a favourite
Newfoundland dog being always present, most happy hours
of converse were spent. Often after a Sabbath s labours,
involving five or six hours standing and speaking, has he
sat thus conversing on the blessings and mercies of life.
And if sometimes asked whether he was not tired, his reply
would be, " Yes, tired in the work, but not of it. I delight
in the work."
Symptoms began to appear that his constitution, so strong
and wiry, was beginning to fail. A sensation of weight in
/.he top of his head, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, pain
in the right side, and great prostration of strength, caused
him and his partner serious apprehension. He consulted a
doctor, who appeased his fears by stating it was an affection
of the liver, and that it was only an apparent and not a real
loss of strength, and that when the excitement caused by
the departure of his family to England was past he would
be quite restored. With these assurances he returned to
Canton, in order to conduct a correspondence having re
ference to an affray on board one of the opium ships, in
which a Chinese had been killed. Here he remained until
within a fortnight of his family leaving Macao. Then the
Select Committee accepted the services of his eldest son, and
he returned to his family . Arrangements were made for them
to sail on December loth, 1833, and they were to embark
at Lintin, a safe anchorage eighteen miles from Macao.
On that day, therefore, he and his family, save Mr. J. R.
Morrison, who was to remain at Canton, sailed in a small
passage-boat to Lintin, and arrived after a painful passage,
RENEWED LABOUR. 205
the whole company being cold, sick, and dejected. The
party was taken on board the ship Inglis, prayers were
offered, farewells were taken, and the family separated,
never again to meet in this world.
In the uncertainty of his future prospects, Dr. Morrison
at once gave up his home at Macao, and returned to
Canton.
The exchange of the East India Company s regime in
China for an administration by the Government of England
gave rise to much and prolonged difficulty between the
Chinese and the English Parliament. A Bill was ultimately
passed giving the Government power to do much as it
pleased in carrying out a system of commercial interchange,
customs, etc., and Lord Napier was appointed the Chief
Ambassador of the English Court to China. Several
members of the East India Council strongly urged
upon him and his suite to secure the valuable services of
Dr. Morrison as translator and secretary to the Embassy.
But a f ter all the worse than coolness which had been
manifested by the English Government towards Mis
sions, it seemed most unlikely that a missionary should
be employed by it for the transaction of business so im
portant and delicate as must attach to the vacant office.
No certainty could be attained until the arrival of Lord
Napier and his attendants.
On May ist, 1834, Dr. Morrison wrote this entry in his
journal : " On the 28th of this month it is thirty years since
I was accepted as a missionary in Mr. Hardcastle s counting-
house, at the end of the old London Bridge. Rowland
Hill was there, and asked me if I looked upon the heathen
as angels did. As I did not know the mind of angels, of
course I could not say Yes. "
On July i5th he wrote from Macao: "Lord Napier
landed yesterday about 3 p.m. The frigate fired a salute
when he left the ship, and the Portuguese fired one when
he reached the shore. T went down to the Chinese custom-
206 ROBERT MORRISON.
house, where he landed, and handed one of his daughters
from the boat to my chair, in which she went up to D. s.
I introduced myself to him in going upstairs. He took me
by the hand, and said he was glad to make my acquaintance.
He was dressed in naval uniform. Lady Napier rose from
her chair and walked towards me to shake hands, with a
smiling countenance and civil speech, saying she seemed to
have been long acquainted with me, being so familiar with
my name.
"At noon to-day a meeting of all the Factory people was
summoned at Lord Napier s to hear the King s commission
read. That which concerns you* and our beloved children
I will tell first. I am to be styled Chinese Secretary and
Interpreter, and to have thirteen hundred pounds a year,
without any allowances whatever for domine, house-rent, or
anything else. I am to wear a vice-consul s coat with King s
buttons, when I can get one. Government will pay one
hundred dollars a month to the College, instead o f the
Company. His lordship asked whether I accepted of the
appointment or not. I told him at once that I did. He
then said he would forthwith make out my commission. . . .
Pray for me that I may be faithful to my blessed Saviour
in the new place I have to occupy. It is rather an
anomalous one for a missionary. A vice-consul s uniform
instead of the preaching gown ! "
In writing to his little boy, Robert, he says, concerning
this same subject : " You must know that dada is a king s
servant : King William is my master. However, Robert,
my dear boy, I have a greater master than England s king.
The Lord Jesus Christ is He whom I serve. He has gone
to prepare a home for me and for you and all who serve
Him in His Father s house in heaven." This was the last
letter he ever signed.
On July 2oth Lady Napier wished him to preach in the
* Addressed to his wife.
REXEll ED LABOUR. 207
Company s chapel at Macao, and he prepared to preach a
sermon he had just composed from the words, " In My
Father s house are many mansions " (John xiv. 2) ; but an
objection was raised by some narrow-minded sectarian, and
no service at all was considered better than one conducted
by a minister who was not properly ordained.
This sermon shows clearly how much his mind seems to
have been led to dwell upon the unseen world of glory, as
though anticipatory of an early decease. It suggests four
topics of consolation to the Christian under circumstances
of affliction. First, faith in God as their reconciled Father,
and in Jesus as the promised Messiah, the great Redeemer
who came to save His people from their sins ; second, the
recollection that they had been adopted into the family of
God ; third, that they had a rich inheritance ; and, fourthly,
that they were advancing towards an everlasting home, the
happiness of which would consist in a great degree in the
society formed there, the family of God, from all ages and
out of all nations patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs,
and confessors, with the more humble followers of the
Lamb, and, above all, the Saviour, whom they would
see face to face. In describing the heavenly state the
writer rose to an unusual vividness and impressiveness of
style.
On the 23rd he accompanied Lord Napier to Canton,
his presence being necessary in any interview between the
ambassador and the Chinese Government officials. He
suffered frightfully on the voyage. He quitted the frigate
at the Bogue, and remained all night in an open boat,
exposed to the extreme heat and a storm of rain. He
was, therefore, utterly spent when he landed, and had the
prospect of exciting and anxious negotiations before him.
On the 25th he writes : "In walking through the hot sun
to-day from this house to the Company s, where Lord
Napier is, I was like to drop in the streets, and have been
groaning on my couch ever since, being now past eight in
2o8 HUBERT MORRISON.
the evening." The next day he attended the Council from
ten to three, occupied in the work of translating letters.
On Sunday, the 27th, he conducted service with the
Chinese, having, perhaps, the. largest congregation he had
been privileged to see, and he was cheered by old Le, who
had long transcribed for him, telling him that he had been
led to believe in Christ Jesus. The day before his name
had been published with those of the officers of the King s
Commission, being placed above those of the surgeons,
chaplains, and private secretary. On the following day he
dragged himself to his official duties, and had a wearisome
time, with the squabbles between the native and English
officers, and then his earthly labours were over. He spent
a wretched night on the Tuesday, and on Wednesday a
surgeon was sent for. Everything that doctors or his son
or attendants could do was attempted, but a fever raged
within him that apparently nothing could assuage. Leave
of absence from Canton was given him, but he was too
feeble to be removed. On Friday evening the doctors in
attendance tried other means for his relief; but he was
rapidly sinking, and at about ten o clock in the evening he
closed his eyes and slept. It was the sleep of the righteous,
from which he awoke in glory. He passed thus quietly
into the mansion in the Father s house prepared for him
by the Saviour, and concerning which, as if prophetically,
he had prepared his last discourse.
The sorrowful tidings were conveyed by letter to his
partner in words full of tenderness and consolation from
his eldest son: "On Friday, July 25th, I had the happi
ness again to see my father after a separation of nearly
five months. But that pleasure was greatly damped by the
extreme weakness which prostrated all his bodily powers,
but which never touched his powerful mind. On the 27th,
which was Sunday, he had his little Chinese congregation
around him, and addressed them as much as his strength
would permit, and truly it was in this heathen land a most
210 ROBERT MORRISON.
cheering sight to see upwards of a dozen Chinese of the
most depraved city of this debased empire joining in
prayer and praise to our crucified Redeemer. A greater
than usual degree of solemnity appeared to pervade the
little congregation as we received from those lips, then
dying, though we knew it not, the words of everlasting
life. And loudly did we sing praises to the Lamb
who was dead, and is alive again, and who liveth for
evermore.
"On Monday and Tuesday his weakness and pain slowly
increased. On Monday he went twice in a palanquin to
Lord Napier s. The next day the chairmen were afraid
to come, but had they come he could not have gone
out."
Mr. J. R. Morrison describes fully the medical treatment
of his father up to Friday evening, and then continues :
" Our beloved sufferer had received ease the night before
from the use of an opiate, and requested the same mode
of relief. But the fever of his frame was such that they
dare not give it him without first taking from him some
blood. He submitted, not without reluctance. They bled
him ; but, alas ! it was too late. After the arm had been
tied up and the bleeding stopped, he began rapidly to sink,
and refused the opiate. All pain appeared now to have
left him. He was still able, however, to move from his
bed, and was with difficulty kept quiet. I had gone out
to obtain speedily some medicine. When I returned his
cheek was pale and his eye glistened. His feet were cold.
By artificial means we endeavoured to restore circulation
of the blood. All our efforts were, alas ! in vain. He
ceased to speak or to struggle for about twenty minutes,
and about ten o clock he closed his eyes and slept. The
next moment we cannot doubt his liberated spirit was
before his God, clothed in the robes of Christ s righteous
ness, and arrayed in the garments of salvation.
"On Saturday evening I embarked with the precious
RENEWED LABOUR.
211
remains to convey them to Macao, and deposit them beside
the grave of her who gave me birth."
His remains were attended from the house to the place
of embarkation by Lord Napier, and all the Europeans,
*&***: }..>.. : ,-
.
Americans, and Asiatic British subjects then in Canton.
Sir George Robinson and other honourable gentlemen
accompanied them to Macao, and the service was read by
the Rev. E. Stevens, Seamen s Chaplain at Canton.
212 ROBERT MORRISON.
The following inscription was placed upon his tomb :
<Sacrcb to the mcmorg of
ROBERT MORRISON, D.D.,
THE FIRST PROTESTANT MISSIONARY
TO CHINA,
inhere after a service of hventy-seven years cheerfully spent in extending
the kingdom of the blessed REDEEMER, during which period he compiled
and published
A DICTIONARY OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE,
founded the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca,
and for several years laboured alone on a Chinese version of
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES,
which he was spared to see completed and widely circulated
among those for whom it was destined,
he sweetly slept in Jest4s.
He was born at Morpeth, in Northumberland,
January $th, 1782, zvas sent to China by the London Missionary
Society in 1807,
was for twenty-five years Chinese translator in the employ of
The East India Company,
and died at Canton, August 1st, 1834.
" Blessed are the dead ivhich die tn the Lord from henceforth :
Yea, saith the Spirit,
that they may rest from their labours ; and their ivorks do follow t/trrn "
CHAPTER XIV.
WHAT HE WAS AND WHAT HE DID.
" Who sow good seed with tears shall reap in joy. 1
So thought I as I watched the gracious rain,
And deemed it like that silent sad employ
Whence sprung thy glory s harvest, to remain
For ever. God hath sworn to lift on high
Who sinks himself by true humility." KEBLE.
r I A HE intelligence that so great and good a man had
passed away from this life produced a profound
sensation, not only in China and in England, but
in every part of Christendom. The religious societies of
England, America, and even of the continent of Europe,
were prompt to express the lofty esteem in which they held
his character and the work he had sought to perform.
The London Missionary Society appointed a public service
commemorating his long devotion to the Mission cause,
at which a sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Fletcher,
of Stepney, to an overflowing and much impressed audience.
The personal friends of Dr. Morrison in China, very
numerous and influential, promptly resolved to establish
a memorial institution by which a portion of his work could
be permanently conserved, and the public esteem in which
he was held could be suitably expressed. A liberal subscrip-
214 ROBERT MORRISON.
tion was opened, by which about two thousand pounds
were collected, and in 1835 "The Morrison Education
Society " was established and put into operation.
His life was an unbroken course of self-sacrificing effort
for the attainment of the great end he had set before him
at the beginning of his student course the salvation of the
heathen. His attainments in philology were all consecrated
to this ; the civil and official duties he discharged through
so many years were only undertaken and fulfilled for the sake
of the opportunity afforded of maintaining a standing in the
country, and of being permitted to pursue his higher work
unmolested, and yet they were discharged so efficiently as
to merit and receive the most flattering and grateful
acknowledgments of the wealthy and influential Company
that employed him. The large salary he for a time received
enabled him to live without drawing on the funds of the
Missionary Society for his personal support, and to give
with even princely liberality, considering his means, to
promote the work of education and religion in the East.
By the learned and distinguished personages with whom
he came in contact he was treated as an equal, because his
own extensive attainments in learning, and his natural
dignity, diminished all sense of distance which might other
wise have been felt on account of their different social
positions ; and by his Chinese, Portuguese, and English
dependants he was revered as a friend whom they could
approach without fear, and confide in with assurance. The
work he accomplished will ever remain as a monument of
indefatigable and patient industry. The translation of the
Scriptures, carried out mainly by his own agency, has long
since been surpassed by others, more perfect in their
renderings, and more idiomatic in style, but this does not
detract from the praise due to his untiring labour in having
laid a foundation on which others have nobly built. The
Anglo-Chinese Dictionary was a miracle of plodding and
sagacious diligence, prolonged through many years, and for
U llAT HE WAS AND WHAT HE DID. 215
its proportions and encyclopaedic character stands perhaps
unrivalled in human literature as the work of one man.
The catalogue of his other works cannot be enumerated ;
but books of doctrine, history, education, catechisms,
prayers, hymns, etc., flowed from his unceasing pen until
the list is contemplated with amazement. Dr. Medhurst,
in " China : Its State and Prospects, says that no fewer than
751,763 copies of tracts and books were poured forth from
the Chinese Mission presses from 1810 to 1836. A very
large proportion of these came from the pen of Dr. Morrison,
and indeed Dr. Medhurst declares that his list making up
that number was by no means complete.
To his literary labours must be added also the time and
effort consumed in establishing and aiding to carry on the
various benevolent and religious institutions which owed
their origin to his energy and zeal. The Anglo-Chinese
College at Malacca occupied much of his thought, and
to its welfare he devoted time and money ungrudgingly.
It accomplished much good, although it came far short of
the idea of its founder. That it did not accomplish more,
and that the Singapore Institution and the Language
Institution failed, was in no sense due to Dr. Morrison,
but rather to the unfaithfulness of agents in the one case,
and the slowness of the Christian sense of England to
appreciate the possible benefits to be derived from the other.
His character presents many features and qualities which
must command fervent admiration. He had an ardent
thirst for knowledge ; he cultivated a fine sensitiveness of
nature as to moral uprightness ; he manifested unswerving
conscientiousness ; he had an inexhaustible genius for
patient, persevering, plodding industry ; and, as an internal
fire, there ever glowed within him the steady flame of love
for Christ and zeal for His glory, which lighted with
lambent glow all the qualities of heart and mind which
made up a noble personality. He was precisely fitted to
the position he was called to fulfil. His caution, his
216 ROBERT MORRISON.
common sense, his soundness of judgment, never failed
him, and the result was that he never had to take a back
ward step. If he baptised but few converts, he had great
reason to rejoice that those who were received into the
Church by baptism gave him no cause to mourn over their
defection or apostasy ; and if he gathered no crowds to
hear him preach the Gospel, it must be remembered that
his conditions and circumstances forbade him exercising
such public ministrations, and forced him to adopt the
only other way open to him of reaching the Chinese
intellect by appeals through the press. His patience
was severely tried, but his faith in the ultimate success
of the work never faltered ; he was often exposed to
persecution, and his life was threatened by imperial edict,
but his cheek never paled nor his heart palpitated with
apprehension. He did all that he could, and what few
men could have done, and he lives to-day in the deep and
growing interest in the Chinese Empire, and in the intense
enthusiasm which is being manifested for its conversion.
The influence of such a life and character can never die,
but must extend and diffuse itself in ever-widening fragrance
and blessedness wherever his name is known or his deeds
are recorded.
On the death of Dr. Morrison, his son, although only nine
teen years of age, was appointed his successor as Chinese
Secretary and Interpreter to the British Embassy. Such
was his maturity of character, general knowledge, vigour
of intellect, and high attainments in the Chinese language,
and such his knowledge of forms, usages, and principles
of the Chinese Government, that his services won the
highest appreciation from the British Government. He
was employed by Sir Henry Pottinger as chief interpreter
in all his negotiations with the Chinese authorities during
the whole of the war, and was the chief agent in arranging
with the Chinese the treaties which formed the basis of
a settlement between the two countries. He was prudent
WHAT HE WAS AND WHAT HE DID. 217
in counsel, conciliatory in style, jealous of the honour of
England, but fair to the Chinese, and he gave himself with
unflagging zeal to his delicate and onerous duties until peace
was established between his own and the foreign government.
He was a devoted Christian, the adviser and protector
of the native converts when they were exposed to persecu
tion and injustice, the companion and benefactor of the
missionaries who were sent into the Empire or the con
tiguous settlements, and the enlightened advocate of every
effort which tended to advance the intellectual or moral
welfare of the East. His public duties, however arduous,
were discharged so as to draw out the confidence and
admiration of those who employed him, and he was so
unremitting in his attention to them that his health failed.
He received leave of absence for a time, that he might seek
its restoration ; but pressing duties led him to delay his
holiday, until he was seized with a fever, which was at
the time an epidemic, and of which he died at Macao on
August zgth, 1843. He was buried in the cemetery by
the side of his father and mother.
Besides being Interpreter and Chinese Secretary, he had
been elected a member of the Legislative Council at Hong-
Kong, and appointed the Colonial Secretary. In announc
ing his death, His Majesty s plenipotentiary, Sir Henry
Pottinger, expressed his conviction that it was a national
calamity, and said that no man living could supply his
place. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., speaking in the House of
Commons in reference to both the father and the son,
declared that in the whole range of public service two men
could not be found more remarkable for their high character
and fidelity.
Dr. Morrison s eldest daughter married Dr. Hobson, a
scholarly medical missionary in Canton, who left an
enduring record in eighteen medical works, most of them
illustrated, and still survives, a worthy descendant of her
honoured and famous father.
CHAPTER XV.
THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
11 Through midnight gloom from Macedon,
The cry of myriads as of one ;
The awful silence of despair
Is eloquent in awful prayer ;
The soul s exceeding bitter cry,
Come o er and help us or we die ! "
fT^HE London Missionary Society having once boldly
attempted to enter China and make known the
Gospel, sent out in rapid succession a number of
men who laboured faithfully to lay the foundations of a
widely extended Christian Church amongst the Chinese-
speaking peoples of the East. Following Dr. Milne, who
was sent out in 1813, there came the Rev. W. H. Medhurst
in 1817, who laboured first at Malacca, and then amongst
the Chinese in Batavia, on the island of Java. Upon the
opening of the five treaty ports in 1842, he removed to
Shanghai. He was long the senior missionary in the field,
and obtained a very familiar acquaintance with the Chinese
language. He had a fine presence and dignified manner.
His command of language made him an impressive speaker
both in Chinese and English. He laboured much to
THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 219
diffuse a knowledge of Christ by the voice, but even more
still by the pen. In 1835 he published an English and
Chinese dictionary containing fifteen hundred octavo pages,
and which is well adapted for use by the general student.
Afterwards he prepared vocabularies for Corea, Japan, and
China. He prepared a version of the New Testament, and
several valuable tracts on the Christian religion. When on
a visit to England in 1836, he published a most interesting
volume, called " China : Its State and Prospects," which
had a large sale, and did much to deepen the concern of
the churches for the welfare of that land. He returned to
his work, and sedulously pursued it till 1856, when he again
returned to his native land to plead the cause of China.
He was suddenly cut short in his career soon after reaching
his native shores. He died January 24th, 1857, aged sixty
years, leaving a reputation unblemished for its piety, and
fragrant with works of love and mercy.
Several others laboured at Penang, Malacca, and Singapore,
chiefly amongst the Chinese settlers, who soon returned to
England through failure of health or other causes, and who
need not be further particularised. Rev. David Collie was
a man of much promise, who was sent to Malacca in 1822.
He succeeded Dr. Milne as principal of the Anglo-Chinese
College, and translated the Four Books of Confucius. He
mastered the language in an unusually short time, and
laboured with great energy and success till 1828. Then
his health failed, and he started upon a homeward voyage,
during which he was removed to the rest of heaven.
Rev. Samuel Dyer was another worthy agent of the
London Missionary Society, who was born at Greenwich
in 1804, and in 1827 arrived at Penang. While Dr. Mor
rison was in England he and Mr. Dyer had much inter
course, and chiefly under his instructions he was able to
read imperfectly the Bible in Chinese before starting on
his voyage. He performed really splendid service in trans
lating, preaching, type-making, and teaching the young :
THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 221
shedding a blessed influence around him everywhere till
1843, when the end came. He had gone to a convention
of missionaries at Hong-Kong, called to confer as to the
more perfect translation of the Holy Scriptures. He was
appointed the secretary of the meeting, which involved much
labour and anxiety. The object of the meeting was to
unite the various evangelical agents in China in the use of
one version of the Bible. The good men could not be drawn
into accord, especially as to the term which was to be used
for God ; and so, after several days discussion, the meeting
ended without any conclusion being reached. He pro
ceeded to Canton, where he suffered a severe attack of
fever, but recovered so far as to sail for Singapore. But
as the ship called at Macao he had a severe relapse, was
taken ashore, where he soon peacefully slept, nevermore to
wake till the trumpet shall sound. His last words were,
"Blessed Jesus! Sweet Saviour! I go to be with Him
who died for me." He was buried by the side of Dr.
Morrison, and the two who had been united pleasantly
in life found a resting-place together.
Agents of the London Missionary Society assiduously
sought to lay the foundations of the Christian religion
amongst the Chinese in the Straits Settlements ; but when at
the close of the opium war of 1842, the five ports Canton,
Shanghai, Amoy, Foo-chow, and Ning-po were opened to
foreigners, and the island of Hong-Kong became a British
possession, they were removed to China, and in some of
these cities there were soon to be found churches, schools,
and large printing establishments. The Anglo-Chinese
College founded by Morrison was removed to Hong-
Kong, and was for years under the excellent management
of Rev. Dr. Legge. In that seminary great numbers have
been taught English and Chinese, have been carefully in
structed in religion, and many have given evidence of real
piety. Some have become Christian agents, others have
gone out as interpreters in merchants orifices and govern-
222
ROBERT MORRISON.
ment departments, where they have been able to exercise
a widespread and useful influence.
M
REV. JAMES GILMOUR, M.A.
In 1839 *he London Missionary Society sent out its first
medical missionary, Dr. W. Lockhart, who first laboured at
Ti:E LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 223
Macao, and then removed to Shanghai. He was accom
panied or followed by Rev. James Legge, Rev. W. C. Milne
(a son of Dr. Milne), and Dr. Hobson, afterwards son-in-law
of Dr. Morrison. These again have been succeeded by many
others who have written their names indelibly in the history
of the evangelisation of the Chinese Empire. Amongst these
may be named Rev.W. Muirhead, Rev. J. Edkins, D.D., Rev.
J. Chalmers, D.D., Rev. Griffith John, D.D., and others, who
have done earnest and successful work in Hong-Kong,
Canton, Hankow, Shanghai, Tientsin, and other places.
This Society has now extensive missions and valuable
establishments in five provinces, and still maintains a position
that befits the pioneer Society in the work of piercing with
Divine light the densest and largest heathen empire in the
world. The principal centres occupied by the agents of the
Society are as follows :
PEKIN, where there are not only preaching centres, but
medical hospital and girls training schools, with a staff of
eight European missionaries, supplemented by many pious
native helpers. The Rev. G. Owen is the senior missionary
in the field. It is with deepest regret that we observe that
the Rev. J. Gilmour has recently died. He was a man of
great force of character, of somewhat original methods,
adapting himself freely to the habits of the natives, that he
might better win their confidence if possible, and counting
no sacrifice too great to be made if he could thereby pro
mote the great work. He gave himself up enthusiastically
to work in Mongolia, and came to be called affectionately
by the natives amongst whom he lived " our Gilmour."
There was everything about him to attract the affections of the
people. He devoted himself to the welfare of the Mongols
in every respect. As a doctor he prescribed for their ail
ments; he denied himself home comforts, that he might travel
from place to place the more readily ; he was a vegetarian,
that he might have the more to spend upon his work ; and
in a brilliant review of his fascinating book, " Among the
-
THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 225
Mongols," which appeared in the Spectator, it is said, " As
for danger, he had made up his mind not to carry arms,
not to be angry with a heathen happen what might, and,
although he does not mention this, not to be afraid of
anything whatever neither dogs, nor thieves, nor hunger,
nor the climate ; and he kept these resolutions. It has
been justly said by a friend, He has been called away
perhaps to higher service, because no one can imagine such
a restless, untiring spirit as his doing nothing. "
The girls training school in the capital city is a fine
institution and under skilful management, and doing much
to train Christian women, who may hereafter become Bible
readers to their own sex, or will make pious and helpful
wives to the native agents and members in the Mission.
TIENTSIN. In this great seaport the London Missionary
Society commenced its work in 1861. There is scarcely a
finer sphere for the Christian agent in China than here.
Tientsin is not only the location of an immense population,
but it is the centre of a wide district, the inhabitants of which
come crowding into it from all quarters both by sea and
land. It is, moreover, the principal centre of the railway
and telegraph systems in China, and is more deeply touched
by the modes of western civilisation than any other place.
It is no wonder, therefore, that it is the headquarters of
several missionary societies. Rev. Jonathan Lees is the
senior agent, having laboured here since the commence
ment of the Mission in 1861. He is well sustained by
several other clerical missionaries, and also by two medical
and two lady agents. A very beautiful medical hospital
was built here some years ago, chiefly through the liberality
of the great commissioner, Li Hung Chang, Viceroy of the
Imperial Province. Lady Li had been greatly benefited
by the instrumentality of Dr. Mackenzie and Miss Dr.
Howard, now Mrs. Dr. King, and in gratitude they erected
the hospital, which for many years was under the manage
ment of the London Society. Through the interference
5
226 ROBERT MORRISON.
of the Chinese officials some alteration has been made
in the management but not in the usefulness of the
institution.
A very interesting feature in the work at Tientsin, is
the girls school under the management of Mrs. Bryson,
wife of Rev. T. Bryson, who has been on the Mission for
twenty-five years. In the year 1885, Mrs. Bryson com
menced a class for women on Thursday afternoons. A
large number attended at first, no doubt prompted by
curiosity. But gradually the number decreased until only
a handful remained, who, however, showed deep seriousness,
and learned to engage in prayer with much earnestness.
In a few months a girls school was attempted, and a well-
qualified native female, who had been trained by Mrs.
Edkins at Pekin, was engaged as teacher. Fifteen girls
were soon under careful tuition, most of whom have given
satisfactory evidence of conversion and proficiency in
Christian knowledge. Already this school has borne fruit in
providing pious wives for native helpers and useful workers
in the Mission in several departments. Too much impor
tance cannot be attached to such an agency in a heathen
land like China, where the education of women is utterly
neglected, and where social customs forbid women entering
public assemblies where the Gospel is preached.
HANKOW. The life and soul of the Mission in Hankow
has been Rev. Dr. Griffith John. He went out to China in
1855, and is now a well-worn but still a stalwart veteran in
the field. He was aided in the commencement of his work
by the Rev. R. Wilson, B.A., who died in 1863, and is
buried in the cemetery. There is a chapel in the centre
of the city where daily preaching of the Word is carried on
for four or five hours without intermission to ever-varying
crowds of people by the missionaries and native helpers.
Near to the English settlement is the hospital and boys
school, with teacher s house, and in another part of the
mission compound is a school for girls with house for the
228 ROBERT MORRISON.
teacher. This is a very complete mission establishment,
and is doing a great work. There are several country
stations, and also a mission at Wuchang where two English
ministers reside. The commercial importance of Hankow
makes this mission a very promising and influential one.
The hospital, which is under the care of Dr. T. Gillison,
accommodates about seventy patients ; and in addition to
this, a new hospital for women has recently been erected
chiefly at the expense of Dr. John, in memory of his
devoted wife, Mrs. Margaret John.
AMOY. In this important seaport, the two brothers,
Revs. John and Alexander Stronach, established a mission
when the treaty of 1842 opened it to foreign residents.
They had previously laboured at Singapore. They were
followed by Drs. Hirschberg and Hislop in 1847 and 1848,
and slowly a substantial work arose round them. The
senior agent now there is Rev. J. Macgowan, who began
his labours in 1859, and next to him is Rev. J. Sadler,
who went in 1866. Two lady missionaries are engaged on
the Mission, and in addition to the ordinary agencies
employed, a gospel boat has been built that the missionaries
may visit places round the neighbouring coast, where
preaching stations have been established. The boat is an
excellent one, and built with special reference to the needs
of the Mission.
SHANGHAI. The veteran missionary of China, Rev. W.
Muirhead, has long been in charge here, and is looked up
to by the agents of all the societies in China with respect
and confidence. He superintends the general work, and
has two lady helpers who are accomplishing much good
for the girls of the city, in the management of an excellent
Christian school for their benefit. This is fitting, indeed,
in the city where the celebrated well exists in which female
babies have been for generations abandoned to die by
starvation.
HONG-KONG. On the cession of this island to England
THE NL.V AMU i OOol KL BOAT.
230 ROBERT MORRISON.
in 1842, Rev. J. Legge, afterwards Dr. Legge, went thither
and actively carried on mission work of various kinds. He
was an able and accomplished man, whose fame became a
universal possession, and who by his literary labours did
much for Christianity in China. On the transference from
Malacca to Hong-Kong of the Anglo-Chinese College, he
found a congenial sphere as the principal thereof, and
he was afterwards joined by Revs. W. Gillespie, J. F. Cleland,
and J. Chalmers, with the medical agents Drs. Hirschberg
and Hobson. The hospital carried on by these healers
of the body was of signal service to the general work of the
mission. A few years since the Alice Memorial Hospital
was established, and is now very ably and successfully
superintended by Dr. Thomson. The senior missionary
is Rev. J. Chalmers, D.D., and he is assisted by Rev.
G. H. Bondfield and Miss Rowe.
CANTON. In this original centre of mission operations in
China, all vestige of the work done by Dr. Morrison seems
to have been lost, except what was preserved by the cautious
labours of Dr. Parker, who established the Medical Mis
sionary Society, but who was only permitted to operate
within the narrow limits of the foreign factories. In 1848
Rev. T. Gilfillan arrived there and commenced operations
anew. The Rev. T. W. Pearse is now in charge of the work.
The record of the London Missionary Society, in regard
to Chinese missions, is a noble one. It has accomplished
great things through its medical missions and its day and
boarding schools for boys and girls, but chiefly it has given
to China and the cause of universal missions scholars so
learned, and ministers so zealous, as Dr. Legge and Dr.
Chalmers and Dr. Griffith John, with others who are
worthy successors of the great man whose name is the
title of this volume, Robert Morrison. In connection with
this society there are thirty-one ordained missionaries in
China, with thirteen lady agents. There are eight ordained
native ministers, and seventy-two unordained helpers.
THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 231
There are about four thousand communicants, and two
thousand pupils in schools. When the difficulties of the
position are all duly estimated, this must be reckoned a
very wonderful result.
When China was opened in 1842, and missionaries began
to settle there in large numbers, it was deemed needful to
prepare a new revision or translation of the New Testament.
A Committee of Delegates was appointed, representing
different Missionary Societies, which began its labours in
July, 1847. The acting members of the Committee were
the Revs. Urs. Medhurst and Bridgman and John Stronach.
They finished their work in two years. It was a scholarly
production, clear and idiomatic in style, as well as being
a faithful translation. In view of the success of the work,
it was resolved to prepare a similar translation of the Old
Testament. The Rev. W. Milne was added to the Com
mittee, and the task was brought to a happy conclusion in
1854. Shortly afterwards a version of the New Testament
in colloquial Mandarin was prepared. Soon after these
important translations were finished the hand of death was
laid upon Dr. Medhurst, the veteran head of the Committee.
The British and Foreign Bible Society at once resolved
to scatter the new translation broadcast. On the earnest
appeal of the Rev. J. Angell James, one million copies of
the New Testament were printed and circulated, and the
Bible Society sent out agents to superintend and carry out
the work of distributing and selling copies throughout the
land.
CHAPTER XVI.
CONTINUANCE OF THE WORK: AMERICAN
AND CONTINENTAL SOCIETIES.
" The hand of God sows not in vain ;
Long sleeps the darkling seed below;
The seasons come and change and go,
And all the fields are deep with grain." LOWELL.
THE society which was the first to follow the example
set by the London Mission in seeking to enter China
was the Netherlands Society. It sent out Rev.
Charles Gutzlaff in 1826, with some duties as chaplain
under the Dutch Government. He reached Java in 1827,
but in 1829 he left the service, and gave himself largely to
preaching, writing and distributing Christian books, visiting
the ships in the seaports of Siam, Singapore, Macao, and
other places. On the death of Hon. J. R. Morrison, he
succeeded him as Chinese Secretary in the Government of
Hong-Kong, which post he held till his death. He became
a very expert Chinese scholar, and prepared a translation
of the Bible. He also issued many historical and religious
books, which prove him to have been a diligent student
and industrious man. He was followed by Rev. Herman
Rottger in 1832, who laboured in Macao and Hong-Kong
AMERICAN AND CONTINENTAL SOCIETIES. 255
until 1846, when he retired, and the Netherlands Mission
expired. Dr. Gutzlaffdied in 1851.
The Americans were the next to venture into the great
field. The Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,
representing the Congregational Churches of the United
States, sent out Revs. David Abeel and E. C. Bridgman
in 1829, and who were received in February 1830 by
Dr. Morrison. These devoted men assiduously laboured
among the Chinese and Malays of the Straits Settlements,
but from 1842, up to his death in 1846, Mr. Abeel devoted
himself to establishing a mission in Amoy, and the future
success of the work of God in that city is largely due to
his prudence and energy in its beginning.
The American Board followed up the appointment of
these men with many others in rapid succession. Revs. I.
Tracy and S. W. Williams, LL.D., followed in 1833, and
settled at Singapore and Macao. In the same year Revs.
S. Johnson and S. Munson went to Bangkok and Sumatra,
and up to the present time this Society has spared neither
men nor means in order to follow up providential openings
in the great dark empire. At present it has four great
centres from which smaller stations are maintained. These
are Foo-chow, in connection with which are fifteen churches ;
North China, embracing Pekin, Kalgan, Tientsin, Tung-chow,
and Pao-ting-fus with smaller stations in the various districts
of the centre missions ; Shansi, with two stations in the
midst of districts cursed by opium cultivation ; and Hong-
Kong, where a missionary for the past seven years has
resided chiefly to interview and seek to impress the
multitudes of Chinamen going to and from the United
States. At Tung-chow a college has been established, over
which Dr. Mateer presides. Tung-chow is one of the centres
for the literary competitive examinations of China, and
therefore an important place. Dr. Mateer believed that the
light of modern science shown in contrast with Chinese
superstition would prove effective. He has, therefore,
234 ROBERT MORRISON.
taught astronomy, mathematics, natural philosophy, and
history, devoting himself, along with his helpful wife, to the
young men and boys under his care. The result is that
he has placed a stamp upon his young men, which makes
them acceptable as teachers all over North China. The
young men whom he has specially trained in Biblical in
struction have proved the best material for a native ministry.
Drs. Nevius and Corbett have co-operated in this latter
work, by giving a theological education to candidates for
the ministry during a portion of each year at Che-foo.
This Society has in connection with its principal stations
large medical dispensaries and hospitals, boarding schools
for boys and girls, colleges for native students, and other
agencies for effecting the great purposes of the mission.
It has twenty-eight missionaries, sixteen lady agents, ten
medical missionaries, four ordained native ministers, one
hundred and five unordained native helpers, nearly one
thousand communicants, and four hundred and fifty pupils
in its schools.
Other American churches speedily followed the example
of the Congregationalist Board, and commissioned agents
to go forth in their names to aid in the work of evangelising
China.
The American Baptist Board sent out Rev. William
Dean in 1834, who settled at Bangkok, but afterwards
removed to Hong-Kong. Then in 1835 the American
Episcopal Board sent out Rev. H. Lockwood, who went
to Batavia, and in 1837 the American Presbyterian Board
designated Revs. R. W. Orr and J. A. Mitchell to go out
to Singapore. These societies have vigorously prosecuted
the great work, and at the present time have a large
aggregate of labourers on their various missions. The
Baptist Board has sixteen agents at work in Ning-po,
Swatow, and other places, and six other Baptist Associations
have stations and missionaries in the land, although one or
two are in a very feeble condition.
STREET IN HONG-KONG.
236 ROBERT MORRISON.
The Protestant Episcopal Mission has its head
quarters in Shanghai, where it maintains a very efficient
staff, and does a good work. Following Mr. Lockwood,
Rev. W. J. Boone, D.D., went out in 1837 to Batavia. He
afterwards removed to Amoy, but in 1843 he was appointed
to Shanghai, and made the missionary bishop of China.
Speedily, boarding and day schools were established, a
medical hospital opened, and Dr. Schereschewsky was set
apart to prepare a new version of the Holy Scriptures, in
the Mandarin dialect, which he completed in 1875. There
is also in Shanghai a medical school for the training of
native physicians, surgeons and nurses, and a college for the
training of native missionaries. There are other stations
at Wuchang, Hankow, Che-foo, and Pekin, which, including
those at Shanghai, comprise forty-three places of worship,
ten missionaries, three medical agents, three lady agents,
seventeen ordained native ministers, three unordained
helpers, and about five hundred communicants.
The Presbyterian Board of America transferred
two of their missionaries from Singapore to China, in 1843.
It has now four great centres. CANTON was entered in
1845, but it was sixteen years before they were able to
baptise the first convert. Now upwards of four hundred
in that city reward the persevering faith of the patient
wo.rkers. A medical hospital is a very important factor in
the work of the Mission. Missions in Macao and Hainan
are sustained from this centre. Hospital work has been a
prominent feature in this Mission. Dr. Peter Parker com
menced a hospital in 1835, which was transferred to this
society in 1854, and placed under the care of Dr. Kerr.
The Central Mission has five main centres which branch
out in many directions. These include Ning-po, Shanghai,
Hang-chow, Foo-chow, and Nanking. At Shanghai the
extensive printing operations of the Society are carried
on. These comprise not only several presses which are
constantly at work, but a foundry where seven sizes of
AMERICAN AND CONTINENTAL SOCIETIES. 237
Chinese type, besides English, Korean, Manchu, Japanese,
Hebrew, Greek and others, are cast. There is also complete
apparatus for electrotyping and engraving. Much splendid
translation work has been done by this Society, and hand
books of Christian history and doctrine prepared by it
are in use on most of the Protestant missions in the land.
The Shantung Mission extends from the capital city, Chi-
nan-foo, northwards to Che-foo, and has many stations
which report about three thousand members. The Pekin
Mission is of latest date, and is doing much work in
diffusing throughout a wide district a knowledge of the
Gospel by its earnest proclamation of the truth to the vast
numbers who crowd from all the surrounding regions to
the imperial city. The totals of the mission are, forty-eight
missionaries, eighteen lady agents, twenty-three ordained
native pastors, eighty-four unordained native helpers, and
nearly four thousand communicants.
The American Presbyterian Board was followed, in 1842,
by the American Reformed Church (Dutch). It has
now seven missionaries and one hundred and fourteen
unordained native helpers, working with Amoy for head
centre, with about fifteen associated churches. In 1847,
the American Methodist Episcopal Society (North) entered
the field, and has surpassed all others in the number of
its agents and members. Its pioneer was Rev. Judson
D. Collins, who passionately besought the society to enter
China. When he was told that no money was available for
the purpose, he wrote : " Engage me a passage before the
mast in the first vessel going to China. My own strong
arm can pull me to China and can support me when I
arrive there." Such enthusiasm was irresistible, and Mr.
Collins was sent to Foo-chow, where, after ten years weary
preparation, a splendid work broke out, which has spread
itself over six large districts, and comprises sixty stations.
A printing press is kept busily employed, which, in the year
1888 alone, issued 14,000 pages of Christian literature. A
238 ROBERT MORRISON.
large college is in use through the generosity of a native
gentleman. The mission also winds along the banks of the
Yang-tse-Kiang for three hundred miles, and has stations in
Nanking and other large cities. Northwards it has churches
in Pekin, Tientsin and Isunhua, with full accompaniments
of schools and hospitals, and it extends westward to Chung
King, 1,400 miles from the sea. It has thirty-two mis
sionaries, seventeen lady agents, forty-three native ordained
pastors, ninety-one unordained native helpers, and over
four thousand communicants.
Two Baptist Societies already named followed in chrono
logical order from America, and in 1848, the Methodist
Episcopal Church (South) followed the example of its
sister denomination of the north, and sent out its agents
to Shanghai, where they have since laboured, extending to
several neighbouring cities. They have ten missionaries,
fifteen lady agents, and employ one hundred and ninety-
eight native workers. They maintain a college at Shanghai,
and do much dispensary and hospital work.
Later missions from America have been established, as,
the Presbyterian Board (South) in 1867, the Canadian
Presbyterian in 1871, the American Bible Society in
1876, the American Scandinavian Congregational
Society in 1889. These young recruits in the field are
occupying many important spheres and give promise of
much development.
It may be convenient here to notice the Continental
societies which have contributed their forces in the attack on
Chinese heathenism. In 1847, missionaries from the Basle
Evangelical Mission arrived at Canton. These were
the Rev. T. Hamberg, who died in 1854, and the Rev. R.
Lechler, who still lives to superintend the work. Eleven
churches exist around Canton as the centre, and much
money and labour have been expended in the production
of Christian tracts, school books and handbooks of
doctrine.
AMERICAN AND CONTINENTAL SOCIETIES. 239
In the same year, the Rhenish Mission sent Revs. W.
Roster and F. Genaehr to China. They settled at Canton,
but the mission has experienced much difficulty and dis
couragement. It has four missionaries, three lady agents,
eight unordained native workers, and numbers about one
hundred and fifty members.
The Berlin Society sent agents to China in 1850, and
some standing was preserved by them till 1873, when the
work seemed to expire. But in 1882 another effort was
made to occupy the field, and now three central stations are
opened, four foreign missionaries are at work with thirty-
five native agents, and about five hundred communicants
have been gathered.
The Berlin Foundling Society has also established
a benevolent mission in Hong-Kong, where Rev. F. Hartman,
assisted by four lady agents, is carrying out earnest labour.
This institution was established in 1850. Dr. Gutzlaff
visited Berlin in that year, and gave such a graphic account
of the distressing misery existing in China, that the wife
of a Lutheran pastor, named Knack, resolved to seek to
alleviate it. Dr. Gutzlaff had spoken of the great number
of infants cast away by their parents in China, and Mrs.
Knack formed a ladies association to organise a plan to
rescue some of these foundlings. A house was rented in
Hong-Kong, and a commencement made. Not many chil
dren were found in Hong-Kong, but many were brought in
baskets from the country districts of China. Some were in
such a reduced condition when they were received that they
speedily expired, but soon a large number were received and
placed under instruction. In 1861 new and enlarged pre
mises were built, the funds being supplied by foreign residents
in Hong-Kong and by benevolent donors in Germany. In
the course of twenty years three hundred children were
received, but of these a considerable number died. They
receive careful religious instruction, and learn to read and
write. They are taught arithmetic, geography, history, and
240 ROBERT MORRISON.
singing. They learn also to perform all household duties.
The school is under Government inspection, and the girls
have acquitted themselves well in the examinations. The
girls have generally turned out well, some having married
native Christians, some being school teachers, and others
having gone to other countries. It is pleasant to think of
these castaways being rescued and trained to become jewels
in the crown of the Lord Jesus.
In 1884 the General Protestant Evangelical
Society of Germany sent Rev. E. Faber to Shanghai,
where he is working alone.
Thus it will be seen that extensive and variously adapted
means are being freely used, in order to extend the Gospel
in China by the societies of America and the Protestant
countries of Europe, and it is not to be doubted but that,
as the sore needs of the vast populations of the enormous
empire make themselves felt, the Christian conscience will
vibrate more adequately to the call of duty, and the instru
mentalities, already in operation, will be multiplied mani
fold. It is fitting now that a slight review should be taken
of the work being done by British Societies.
CHAPTER XVII.
CONTINUANCE OF THE WORK: BRITISH
SOCIETIES.
"Fall warm, fall fast, them mellow rain;
Thou rain of God, make- fat the land;
That roi t.s which parch in burning sand
May bud to llowtr and fruit again." KINGSLEY.
THE first British Society to follow in the footsteps of the
earliest and pioneer agents was the Church Mis
sionary Society, which sent out its messengers
soon after the opening of the Empire after the treaty of
Nanking. Shanghai was first occupied by these agents,
then Ning-po, then Foo-chow, afterwards Hong-Kong and
Pekin, more lately in succession Hang-chow, Shaou-hing,
and Canton. The work in Foo-chow and neighbourhood
has been especially encouraging. Eleven years passed
without one soul having been converted, and during that
period two missionaries had died and two had retired,
leaving only one in the field. Then promise of a harvest
was given, and during the past twenty-five years more than
seven thousand have professed conversion in one hundred
and thirty towns and villages where preaching of the Gospel
has been established. Very much of the work is done by
16
24* ROBERT MORRISON.
native evangelists, and, in order to train these, a theolo
gical college has been established, besides several boarding
schools. Medical missions are also carefully cultivated.
Similar happy results are reported from Ning-po and Hang-
chow. At the latter place, in addition to the usual mission
operations and agencies, there is an opium refuge provided,
to which even the mandarins of the city contributed. This
Society has published many portions of the Scriptures, the
Prayer Book, and other Christian books in Roman character
in several of the dialects spoken in the localities where its
missions are situated. It has twenty-eight missionaries, five
lady agents, eleven ordained native ministers, eighty un-
ordained native helpers, two thousand eight hundred and
thirty-two communicants, and two thousand and forty-one
pupils in its many schools.
The Baptist Missionary Society entered China in
1845, when the Revs. T. H. Hudson and W. Jarrom went
to Ning-po. In this connection it may be mentioned that
the earliest missionaries of this Society when in India had
intense interest aroused in their minds in behalf of China,
inasmuch as Ur. Marshman became an expert in the
language, translated the Bible into Chinese, prepared a
grammar of the language, and translated the works of
Confucius into English. The mission attempted in 1845
lingered feebly and expired for a time, but in 1877 a new
commencement was made, and a useful work has been
done in the provinces of Shansi and Shantung. This
Society is laying deep foundations of future usefulness by
paying earnest heed to the training of native evangelists.
Medical missions are also engaging its attention. It has
now twenty-one missionaries in the field, with one ordained
native pastor and eight unordained native helpers. It
numbers nearly twelve hundred communicants.
The Presbyterian Church of England resolved to
establish a mission in China in 1847. r l ne services of the
Rev. William Chalmers Burns were accepted, and he went
244 ROBERT MORRISON.
forth, residing first at Hong-Kong and then at Amoy. Ten
years later he was joined by the Rev. George Smith.
Mr. Burns was a man of flaming zeal and devotion; and,
along with his colleague, amidst inauspicious circumstances
and many disappointments, laid the foundation of what is
now one of the most extensive and prosperous missions in
the Empire. Its principal centres are Swatow, Amoy, and
Tai-wau. It has several most complete and beautiful esta
blishments, combining churches, mission houses, hospitals,
and schools, and spends money freely in carrying out every
department of operation. The senior missionaries in the
field are Rev. H. L. Mackenzie, M.A., of Swatow, and
Rev. W. McGregor, M.A., of Amoy. Rev. George Smith,
the coadjutor of Mr. Burns, died only last February (1891),
and was a man of sterling qualities. This Society is greatly
aided by a women s association, by which female agents
are sent out from this country. Several of these have
certificates for the practice of midwifery, and possess a
general practical knowledge of medicine, being thus able
to alleviate the sufferings of the native women to a very
considerable degree. It has one hundred and six stations
in China and Singapore, and employs fifteen ordained
missionaries and medical workers. It has nine lady agents,
five ordained native pastors, and ninety-three unordained
native helpers. It numbers nearly three thousand six
hundred members, and has four hundred scholars in its
training schools.
The Wesleyan Missionary Society sent out Revs.
W. R. Beach and J. Cox to Canton in 1852. It afterwards
established itself in Hankow, and has now its principal
stations in that city and others of the province of Hupeh.
Lay agency, under the direction of Rev. David Hill, is a pro
minent feature in the Mission at Hankow, and this Society
is also trying the experiment of giving to some of its mis
sionaries a medical training, that they may combine preaching
and healing gifts in their labours. The result of these
BRITISH SOCIETIES. 345
experiments will be looked for by other societies with much
interest.
In 1884 it resolved to open a college or high school
in connection with their Central Mission, and the Rev. W.
REV. J. INNOCENT.
T. A. Barber, M.A., was appointed principal, and arrived
at Hankow early in 1885. The object of the institution is
to provide a liberal Western education for the sons of official
and other wealthy Chinamen. Attempts to purchase land
for the erection of a suitable building were unsuccessful,
246 ROBERT MORRISON.
but in 1887 a large house was rented in the main street of
Wuchang, and the work begun. It is proceeding with
growing success, and much may be expected from it both
directly and indirectly to benefit the work of the Mission.
A ladies auxiliary society interests itself in sending out
female workers, and almost every branch of the Mission is
encouraging. There are twenty-five missionaries at work,
with six lady agents, two ordained native pastors, thirty-three
unordained native helpers, and nine hundred and seventy-
five communicants.
The Methodist New Connexion entered China in
1860, immediately after the close of the second opium war,
and after the signing of the Tientsin treaty, which virtually
opened all China to the Christian agent. The pioneers of
the movement were Revs. J. Innocent and W. N. Hall,
who established themselves in Tientsin, which was then
virgin mission ground. Mr. Hall died of fever in 1878,
but Mr. Innocent still survives, and is the Nestor of the
Mission. There are three preaching rooms in the city of
Tientsin, one being in the main thoroughfare, and in these
daily preaching is kept up. On the English concession
there is a large mission establishment, consisting of a training
college for native students for the ministry, missionaries
houses, and a boarding school for the training of native
women and girls in Christian life and work. Rev. J.
Robinson is the principal of the college, and Miss Waller
is in charge of the girls school.
The largest mission of this Society is in the north-east
portion of the province of Shantung, where about fifty native
churches are maintained in an agricultural district extending
over about three hundred miles. The headquarters of this
circuit are in Chu Chia, Lao-ling district, where are situated
the mission houses, and a medical dispensary and hospital.
Mr. Innocent is at present the head of this circuit, and the
hospital is in charge of Drs. W. W. Shrubshall and F. W.
Marshall. In this place also is located Rev. J. K. Robson,
BRITISH SOCIETIES. 247
who has devoted himself to the work of the Mission at his
own charges.
More recently a new mission has been opened at the
Tang-san Collieries, near Kai Ping, in the north of the
province of Chih-li. This is under the charge of Rev. F. B.
Turner, and is rapidly extending, having a church in the
ancient city of Yung-ping-fu, near the old wall, and also
several rural chapels in the district round Kai Ping.
The work of this Society is chiefly carried on by native
agency; a large number of efficient men have been trained
and qualified by means of the training college. Several pious
native women are also set apart as Biblewomen to their
own sex ; one of these, Mrs. Hu, has laboured in this capacity
for nearly twenty-five years, and was the first such agent
ever employed in China. This Mission now numbers
seven missionaries, two medical agents, one lady agent,
forty-six native helpers, and six female native helpers. It
has over thirteen hundred communicants, and about two
hundred and fifty scholars in its day and boarding schools.
The United Presbyterian Missionary Society of
Scotland sent its agents to China in 1864. Work was
commenced at Ning-po, and afterwards extended to Che-foo,
but latterly these stations have been left, and Manchuria has
become the special sphere of the Society. The Rev. A.
Williamson, LL.D., is the patriarch of the Mission, having
been in China since 1855, working in various departments.
He has of late years devoted himself entirely to literary work,
and has prepared some books of Christian history and doc
trine, which must in the future be important helps to Chinese
students and converts. The work in Manchuria has been
remarkably successful. The Revs. J. Ross and J. Mclntyre,
who went out in 1872, are at the head of the two great
centres of operation, Hai-chung and Moukden. A medical
hospital is in operation in each of these places. Mr. Ross
has lately completed a translation of the New Testament
into the Corean dialect, and from this Society useful work
248 ROBERT MORRISON.
in Corca is to be expected shortly. There are seven
missionaries employed, one lady agent, fourteen native
helpers, and about eight hundred communicants are re
ported.
The China Inland Mission commenced its extraordi
nary history in 1865. The chief instrument in the formation
of the Mission, under God, was Rev. J. Hudson Taylor,
M.R.C.S., who in 1853 went to China as a medical
missionary in connection with the Chinese Evangelisation
Society. He separated himself from this Society in 1857,
and in 1860 he returned to England in broken health. He
had for some time been in charge of a large hospital in
Ning-po, and the heavy strain of being alone in such an
institution completely prostrated him. As he sailed home
wards he was intensely anxious about China, and fervently
prayed that God would cause his return home to forward
the conversion of the Empire. He specially asked that he
might have five labourers given him for Ning-po, and the
province of Che-kiang. He had already written to a friend
in England asking if he knew of any earnest devoted young
men who, not wishing for more than their expenses, would
go out and labour there. On his arrival in England he
soon met with several young men who were willing to under
take work on such terms as he could offer. Mr. James
Meadows was the first to volunteer, and he with his young
wife sailed to Ning-po in 1862. The five workers first asked
were obtained, and then Mr. Taylor felt that his faith was
enlarged to ask for and expect larger blessings from God.
Therefore he asked for twenty-four more labourers to enter
the interior, which, with the exception of Hankow, was
as yet untouched by mission effort. This led to the for
mation of the Inland Mission. In commencing a new
association for the conversion of China, Mr. Taylor was
anxious not to interfere with any of the existing Societies,
but the need of increased effort and agency was painfully
evident, from the fact that in 1865 there was only about
BRITISH SOCIETIES. 249
one missionary in the country to every three millions of the
population, and that eleven out of the eighteen provinces
were as yet unvisited by any Christian agent. The Inland
Mission was commenced on these principles : (a) That the
agents should be employed without reference to their de
nominational attachments, only provided they believed the
truths accepted by Evangelical churches ; (b) that they
should go out in dependence upon God for their support,
without any guaranteed income, and knowing that the
Society could only maintain them so long as its funds
permitted ; (c) that there should not be any collections or
personal solicitation of money.
Mr. Taylor sailed for China in 1866, with fifteen
missionaries. This was the real commencement of this
wonderful movement. Since that time the Mission has
extended in every direction. It has established itself in
fifteen provinces. It has ninety-one principal stations, and
about as many out-stations. Its income for the first ten
years averaged ^5,000 per annum, but it has risen of late
years to from ^30,000 to ^40,000 per annum, and the
mission staff has multiplied from fifteen in 1865 to four
hundred and twenty-four in 1891, including the wives of
missionaries, many of whom were already employed by
the Mission, and still continue their labours. The agents
have been drawn with remarkable impartiality from every
Protestant community ; and while many of them are of the
poorest in condition, some of them are both wealthy and of
high social standing, who have gladly maintained themselves,
and in addition have contributed largely to the general
work. In the year 1888 Mr. Taylor made a special appeal
for one hundred missionaries, and during the year had the
pleasure of seeing his prayer gratified, for more than the
number asked for were forthcoming. Besides the immense
number of agents directly connected with this association,
there are seven societies, chiefly Continental, which maintain
seventy-nine missionaries, who work under its direction. The
250 ROBERT MORRTSON.
number of communicants counted is under three thousand,
which if less than is returned by some Societies who employ
but a. tithe of the agents of the Inland Mission, is yet a
return to be thankful for, considering the enormous difficulties
encountered by the missionaries in breaking up fresh ground
in the interior, in having untold opposition to encounter
from those to whom the very sight of a foreigner was a
novelty and a scandal, and also from the fact that many of
the agents of this Mission have been itinerating preachers,
passing from town to town and village to village with the
message of the Gospel, rather than settling down as pastors
and teachers after the manner of other Societies. The
facts above recorded have been principally gleaned from
" China s Spiritual Need and Claims," by J. Hudson Taylor.
Mr. Taylor has been nobly seconded in his efforts by
Mr. B. Broomhall, the devoted secretary of the Society.
The United Methodist Free Churches entered China
in 1864, Rev. W. R. Fuller being the first agent. Resettled
in Ning-po, and was shortly afterwards joined by Rev. J.
Mara. Rev. F. W. Galpin went out in 1868, and laboured
in Ning-po till 1890. In 1891 Rev. R. Swallow was ap
pointed to the same place. In 1887 Rev. W. S. Soothill
went to Wan-chow, and has recently been able to record a
large number of interesting conversions. This latter Mission
experienced a severe trial in 1888 by the Chinese wrecking
its premises, along with other foreign property, in rioting
arising out of the war with France. Compensation was fully
made by the Government, and more eligible premises were
secured. There are three missionaries, two ordained native
pastors, eight unordained native helpers, and about three
hundred and fifty members on the Mission. Rev. R.
Swallow combines medical work with his ministerial
labours.
The Society of the Irish Presbyterian Church began
work in China in 1869. It has chosen Manchuria as its
sphere ; and its agents, from Neu-chwang as their head-
BRITISH SOCIETIES. 251
quarters, take long evangelistic journeys northwards, and
are arranging to settle in some of the large towns they have
visited. There are three missionaries and one medical
agent, and nine unordained native helpers at work, and
twenty-eight members are recorded.
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts has attempted work in the Straits Settle
ments for many years, but only in 1874 did it seek to establish
itself in China. It has appointed a Bishop of North China,
with four helpers, and is training a number of young men for
missionary work. Several other Societies have also recently
entered the Empire to aid in its evangelisation ; among which
may be enumerated the Established Church of Scotland,
which commenced in 1878; the Bible Christians, who
entered in 1885, and work in conjunction with the China
Inland Mission; the Society of Friends, who sent one
agent in 1886, and a few others. All this activity shows
the widespread interest China is arousing in the Christian
Church, and how properly its conscience is responding to
its claims.
It would not be right to omit reference to the wonderful
work being done in behalf of the blind of China by
Mr. W. H. Murray, of the Scotch Bible Society. He
went to China in 1871 ; but knowing that there are immense
numbers of blind people in that land, before he went out
he studied the systems of Moon and Braille for reading
and writing by the blind, and also took lessons in Bell s
system of visible speech. On arriving in China he found
that the latter system aided him in acquiring the Chinese
language. He carefully noted every sound he mastered,
and reduced them to the number of four hundred and
twenty. Meeting with crowds of the blind at every turn
of his work, he became possessed of an intense longing to
alleviate their hard lot by teaching them to read. He set
to work to reduce these sounds to a system of dots after
Braille s system, and after numberless experiments succeeded
252 ROBERT MORRISON.
in forming a category of signs to represent the sounds of
the language. Then he sought out a subject on whom he
might try his system. He took a little blind orphan beggar
who was lying almost naked in the streets ; he washed and
clothed him, and offered to house and feed him if he would
try to master his teaching. The boy was delighted with
the change in his condition, and in six weeks, to the mutual
joy of master and pupil, the child was able to read both
fluently and accurately. Then two blind beggar men were
induced to learn, the boy acting as teacher. One read well
in two months; the other not so quickly, but with great
pleasure. Miss Gordon Gumming says it was intensely
pathetic to stand at the door of a dark room and hear
these men read the words of Holy Scripture, who four
months before had sat in misery and rags, begging in
the streets. For more than sixteen years Mr. Murray has
pursued his work among the blind, and many of his pupils
have become earnest Christians and respectable citizens
through his instrumentality. While he has been pursuing
this novel method of doing good, he has diligently per
formed his duties as a colporteur of the Bible Society of
Scotland, and has taught his pupils in hours stolen from
sleep. He has also denied himself at every end to provide
board, lodging, and raiment for his ragged regiment of
blind students. A special blessing has been conferred by
him on a number of blind women he has taught to read,
who have thus had not only a new charm given to their
own lives, but have become centres of interest and living
power as readers of the Bible to their friends and neighbours.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE OPIUM TRADE OF CHINA.
" Man s inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn." BURNS.
M^HERE is one evil in China which it is important to
speak of, as being a dire foe to the welfare of the
people, and an enormous hindrance to the progress
of missions. It is the use of opium. Opium is made from
the juice of the poppy head, and although it has a place as
a medicine, when it is taken habitually it becomes the most
frightful curse to the man who becomes its victim. It mas
ters both body and mind, paralysing the one and gradually
destroying the other. It deadens the conscience so entirely,
that a man will sacrifice his mother, wife or child in order
to gratify its insatiable cravings, and will commit any deadly
crime sooner than be deprived of it. This curse has so
spread itself in China, as to threaten the happiness of the
nation throughout its whole extent.
About a hundred years ago opium was almost unknown
in China. It was then brought in the ships of the East
India Company, and offered for sale. Some of the natives
began to smoke it, not knowing its deadly nature ; and being
delighted with its soothing influence, they bought it readily.
254 ROBERT MORRISON.
This encouraged the foreign traders to bring more, and so
gradually the poison obtained a footing in the land.
When at last the Emperor and statesmen found out the
harm opium was doing, a law was passed that no one
was to buy, sell, or use it under penalty of death, and
for a brief time the traffic was stopped. The mandarins
of China are proverbially corrupt ; and when bribes were
offered them by English merchants to permit the entrance
of opium into their ports, they accepted the bribes, and thus
the buying and selling of the drug still went on. Then
smuggling sprang up and prevailed extensively ; British
ships brought the opium within easy reach of the shores of
China, and Chinamen went out in boats, which were rowed
with many oars, and brought the fatal drug to the land.
This became known to the Government, which issued strict
orders to the mandarins, commanding that the smugglers
should be seized and imprisoned or beheaded.
The English merchants had now discovered what a source
of wealth opium might become to them ; and, as the strict
ness of the Chinese Government made smuggling difficult
and dangerous, they armed with guns and soldiers small
strong boats, and sent them up to Canton, offering larger
bribes to the mandarins, and thus still forcing their nefarious
traffic upon the people. At last the Emperor became so
incensed that he sent a Special Commissioner from Pekin to
stop the trade in opium. This man boldly grappled with
the evil. He shut up the English merchants in their
houses, seized twenty thousand chests of opium at the
island of Lintin, at the mouth of the Canton river, and
threw them into the sea. The East India Company re
sented this action, and, being sustained by the British
Government, war was declared against China, and a cruel,
bloody, disastrous war it proved to the unfortunate heathens.
When at last peace was made, the Chinese were condemned
to pay a fine of twenty-one millions of dollars, including six
millions of dollars for the opium which had been destroyed.
THE OPIUM TRADE OF CHINA. 255
Then a proposal was made to the Emperor that opium
should be admitted into China, and that he should share
the revenue obtained from its sale. The proposal was in
dignantly rejected, and, with a magnanimity worthy of
imitation by some so-called Christian potentates, he said he
would not become rich by destroying his people.
Two wars afterwards broke out between the English and
the Chinese, in which the former were again victorious.
Then the Emperor was obliged to sign a treaty making
it lawful to bring opium into the Empire. The English
would only permit a small tax to be placed upon it, which
was insufficient to materially check its use. Thus the
weak and helpless natives have been dragged into the use
of this poison, which, when once used, creates such a
craving for more that men and women speedily become
slaves to its use.
The opium that is most largely used in China is grown in
India, and the money obtained by its sale in China helps
largely to maintain the British Government of that empire.
The opium traffic with China is not like the accursed drink
or gunpowder trades with the barbarous tribes of Africa,
because these are carried on by private individuals or com
panies, and neither the Government nor the people who
support the Government are directly responsible. Nor is
the opium trade like the drink traffic in England, because,
although the Church of England is a large owner of public-
house property, and many professing Christians stain their
hands and consciences by engaging in the traffic, yet the
Government does not carry on nor maintain breweries or
distilleries or public-houses. But the British Government
in India is responsible for the opium traffic. It advances
the money for its growth and cultivation ; it receives and
manufactures the juice into opium, and the sale of it is a
Government monopoly, from which it draws an annual
revenue of five millions of pounds. It has spent millions
of money and thousands of lives in keeping the ports of
256 ROBERT MORRISON.
China open for its sale, and insists still upon the necessity
of persevering in the trade because it cannot do without it.
In vain Christians and philanthropists denounce the traffic
the wide world over ; in vain Chinese governments entreat
and bewail and seek to check the demoralisation of the
people. Every consideration is of no avail when five
millions of pounds is concerned for the support of the
Indian Government.
The influence of this diabolical trade upon the work of
the missionary in China is distressing. It is the most
gigantic stumbling-block in the way of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. As the missionary preaches the Gospel of peace
and love in the city chapels or at fairs and festivals, as he
denounces idolatry in the native temples, he is raked with
questions as to the opium wars, as to the destruction of
the people by a drug which " Christians " have introduced
and forced upon them, and is reproached with the ruin
manifestly spread through the land by this awful vice.
Now, opium is being cultivated largely in China itself.
The quality is not so good in the judgment of opium
smokers as that produced in India ; but as the vice increases
amongst the people, and the habit weakens the perceptive
power, the coarser and cheaper quality comes to be used,
and thus China is learning to furnish itself with the means
of its own destruction. The only possible antidote to the
evil is the restraining power of the Gospel ; the only com
pensation which England can make to China for the ill it
has done through the introduction of this vice is to insist
upon the stoppage of the traffic, even if the deficiency in
the Indian revenue has to be made up by the British tax
payer, and then to multiply Christian agents and agencies,
until by the preaching of the Gospel and the power of the
Holy Spirit the evil is retrieved and the land is purified
from the great curse.
In the month of March of the present year, a convention
was held in London by Christians of every branch of the
THE OPIUM TRADE OF CHINA. 257
Church, including delegates from all parts of the United
Kingdom and from Holland, to consider the evils of the
opium system, and how to remedy them. One day was
devoted to fervent prayer for Divine direction, and three
days were spent in solemn and devout discussion of the
subject. Forty-five thousand ministers about the same
time called the attention of their congregations to the
results of the evil thing, and finally a fund for ,20,000
was commenced to carry out by pen and voice an undying
crusade against its continuance. The moral power of the
council has already made itself felt, for shortly afterwards a
majority of the House of Commons voted in favour of the
motion of Sir Joseph Pease, that it was inexpedient any
longer to maintain the traffic in opium, simply for the
purpose of sustaining the Indian revenue. It becomes now
the duty of the Government to consider in what way the
decision of Parliament can be carried out, and it becomes
the duty of every Christian to use his influence and insist
that it shall be carried out.
CHAPTER XIX.
CHINA FOR CHRIST.
"Oh! mighty King of glory,
Thy chosen heralds send
To tell the old, old story
To earth s remotest end.
Give hearts of love and pity,
And willing, zealous feet,
Through forest, plain, and city
Thy mercy to repeat."
WE need an army of workers in China. We must
have a large brigade of our noblest youths for the
great work waiting for labourers over there. We
have hundreds of young men and women, the children
of rich and well-to-do people, who have no special work
in life, and to whom life will be a humdrum monotony,
bringing little joy and no growth to the higher nature
unless they rouse themselves to sublime and self-sacrificing
work in the Lord s Harvest Field. Will their parents and
friends consent to their being devoted to a calling as grand
and inspiring as ever called Paul to the " regions beyond,"
or Wesley to labour so zealously for the semi-barbarous and
totally degraded masses of England in the last century ?
CHINA FOR CHRIST. 259
It is a fact that hitherto all the efforts of the Christian
world for China have only resulted in supplying one mission
ary for 350,000 souls. Take the province of Chih-li ; the
whole Protestant force is only forty, or one missionary to
675,000 souls. If we had the means we could place in the
unworked portion of this province 150 missionaries, each one
having a radius of twenty miles as his circuit of operation.
This great nation cannot wait indefinitely. While we
are lingering, all the evil forces of the world infidelity,
gambling, licentiousness, idolatry, opium-smoking, spirit-
drinking, and a host of others are vigorously at work, and
unless Christians wake up to this terribly vast responsibility,
we shall have China waking up from its long sleep of twenty
centuries only to plunge into an abyss of atheism and
immorality the depths of which can never be sounded.
Every minute that the Church delays responding to the
cry of China, twenty-four immortal souls sink into a
Christless grave ; every day s delay means 35,000 more
who have gone ; every month s delay means one million,
whom Christ died to redeem from sin, who have gone into
the great future without having received the glad tidings of
great joy.
The people are willing to listen to the Gospel. If they
are slow to receive it, they hold it the more firmly when it is
received. The Chinese character, when it is truly converted
and sanctified by the love of Christ, is a noble one ; and while
the cry for help comes to us from China, it also comes to
us from the Master who has thrust us into the great harvest
field and given us such pre-eminent success therein.
In the readiness of the people to hear the Gospel we have
great encouragement to persevere ; for that mighty and all-
effectual talisman which of old, in Greek and Roman cities,
proved itself to be the " power of God unto salvation," has
still "the dew of its youth" resting upon it, and as the gods
of the Pantheon were not able to withstand its attack, so the
gods of Buddhist and Taoist temples must also fall before it.
260 ROBERT MORRISON.
"The idols He shall utterly demolish." "He shall dash
them in pieces like a potter s vessel."
There is much encouragement to be found in the fact
that the Chinaman, when he is converted, develops a
Christian character and a firm adherence to principle which
will bear comparison with the members of any church in
the world. Trained to consider revenge a Divine quality,
Chinese converts have manifested a meekness and for-
givingness of disposition truly admirable ; educated in pride
and conceit, they have become as docile as young children ;
covetous and deceitful, taught to consider lying and stealing
a virtue, they have showed willingness to suffer persecu
tion and to endure death itself rather than deny their
Master or turn from their faith. Two or three examples
may be given out of hundreds that are ready to hand,
and which the piles of modern reports plentifully supply.
Indeed, few more charming and inspiring books could be
produced than one filled with such examples of grace as
Chinese missions have recorded.
Mr. Wang was a magistrate and scholar residing in a
large city in the north of China. He was over sixty years
of age when he was taken with a serious illness. In the
course of this sickness a friend came into his house one
day and said, " See, the foreign teachers in the city have
given me this book. Now, I don t care to read it, but you
are a great reader, and I have brought it you to read
during your sickness." The old man took the book and
carefully examined it. It was a Bible in the Chinese
language. He read it, and was deeply impressed with its
contents. He was not able fully to understand it, and
when his friend called upon him shortly afterwards he said
to him, " Will you ask those foreign teachers to give me
something to explain that wonderful book you brought
me ? " His friend did so, and was supplied with Dr.
Martin s handbook of Christian truth, which is kept on
several missions in China to be placed in the hands of
CHINA FOR CHRIST. 261
inquirers. Mr. Wang eagerly received this book, and as
he examined it and compared it with the statements of the
Bible the darkness began to pass from his mind. Up to
this time he had been a proud Confucianist, but now he
firmly grasped these two foundation truths of religion :
(a) that there is one God, the Almighty Maker of heaven and
earth ; and (b) that He is willing to hear and answer prayer.
Under the influence of these great truths, the next time his
native doctor called upon him, he told him he would not
require his services any longer, that he had called upon the
Almighty God of heaven to cure him, and that He would
answer his prayer. Upon his recovery he repaired to the
hall where the daily preaching of Christ and His salvation
was maintained in the city. He listened to the message
as one entranced. He remained behind the congregation
as an inquirer, and, like many other Chinese convert, she
asked questions without end, going down to the roots of
things with scholarly acuteness and satisfying his mind step
by step for many days. At last his scruples and difficulties
were all removed, and with the simple faith of a child he
rested himself on Christ for full salvation. In the eagerness
of his new-found peace he declared himself a Christian to
his family and friends. But now came the trial of his faith.
All his relatives and his friends turned against him. He
was degraded from his place on the seat of justice ; he was
not allowed to associate with his literary friends ; his very
children rose up against him and expelled him from home,
a step in a country where reverence for parents is the first
law of life, which shows the extreme to which religious
persecutions may be carried : but none of these things moved
him. He found refuge in the Mission premises, and gave
himself to preparation for the work of an evangelist. Soon
he proved himself an earnest and effective preacher of the
Gospel, and for years stood up boldly declaring Jesus to be
the Friend and Saviour of sinners, always setting forth him
self as being the subject of His power to save. In this
262 ROBERT MORRISON.
way he wrought, preaching in public halls and in the open
air until the infirmities of old age made such exercise too
much for him. Then he devoted himself to the preparation
of a book on Christianity, which he entitled " The Bright
Lamp of the Heavenly Way." As he concluded his task
his strength failed and his end drew near. He called the
missionaries of the Societies represented in the city to
his side, and bade them farewell ; he confessed again his
undying faith in Jesus. To one of them who was about to
return on furlough to England he urged his request that he
would tell his English friends who had sent him the message
of Divine peace that he would wait for them at the door of
heaven, and when they arrived there he would lead them to
the throne and say to the Saviour, " These are the people
who sent to me the tidings of eternal life."
After his death the book he had prepared lay for some
time unpublished, money was scarce, and perhaps the spirit
of enterprise was low; but in 1886 Mr. Crossett, of an
American Society, borrowed it, and was so struck with its
eloquence and learning that he had it printed at the
Mission press in Pekin, and the leading missionaries in the
north Revs. Drs. Martin, Edkins, Blodgett and others,
ordered several hundreds of copies. Many others were
sent to southern stations ; and thus old Wang, being dead,
yet speaketh.
Mr. Hu was born in a large city near the mouth of the
river Peiho. His father was a flourishing merchant, who
owned several seagoing junks. He gave his son a good
education, and trained him for a business life. He became
supercargo of one of his father s ships, but while on a
voyage to the south one day pirates boarded the vessel,
robbed him of all he had in the world, and he was cast
ashore at Shanghai penniless, and had to seek other
employment. He became a teacher of northern Mandarin
to students for the consular service, one of his pupils
being Mr. Morrison, a younger son of the subject of this
CHINA FOR CHRIST. 263
memoir. One day, as he wandered along the main street of
the city, he saw a mission chapel with open doors, and a
foreigner speaking to a congregation of people. Impelled
by curiosity he entered and listened to the message. He
repeated his visit, and obtained a copy of the Holy
Scriptures, which he carefully read. The Lord opened his
heart, he became a sincere believer in Jesus Christ, and
united himself with the church where he had first heard
the Word of Life. Soon after this he became possessed
with a desire to return to the neighbourhood of his early-
days, and he left Shanghai, carrying with him letters of
recommendation to the missionaries in the town to which
he was going. On arriving there he went to the mission
church and presented his letters of introduction. The
agents who received him were at that time offering special
prayer to God that some one might be given to them to
help in the work which was opening out before them.
They welcomed Mr. Hu, and he quickly proved himself to
be a devoted and able helper. He was a man of fine
presence, he had an excellent voice and style of speaking,
he was intelligent and courageous, and as he became
familiar with the truths of the Gospel he proved himself to
be a preacher of extraordinary power. Soon after his
ordination to the work of the ministry a very wonderful
revival of religion broke out in a number of towns and
villages in the northern part of the province of Shantung,
and Mr. Hu was sent to inspect and take charge of the
work. He went, and for about twelve years he laboured
with untiring zeal, going round the district as an evangelist,
superintending the building of chapels, keeping the accounts
of the various churches, and fulfilling all the duties of a
pastor with extraordinary diligence and success. After a
tour through the eastern portion of his district, he was
smitten down with sickness which proved to be fatal. He
manifested the utmost calmness and cheerfulness, and when
the end was approaching he placed his hand on his heart
264 ROBERT MORRISON.
and said, " ALL is PEACE HERE," and with this testimony
to the efficacy of redeeming love he passed from earth to
heaven.
Mr. Wong was a young landscape painter in a large city
in the province of Fuh-kien. An intimate friend of his
named Hu, also a painter, was a Christian and a member
of the church. After much prayer and persuasion he
induced Wong to read the Bible and attend the services.
Results were soon manifest. Wong s mother, who was
tenderly attached to her son, was warned that something
was wrong, and that he should be looked after. " What is
wrong ? " she said ; " my son has always been industrious
and dutiful : what has happened ? " " He attends foreign
churches." "Impossible!" she cried; "it cannot be that
my son would do such a thing." On questioning him she
found to her horror it was too true, and he declared that he
found what the foreigners said to be " very reasonable."
It needs some familiarity with social life in China to
understand the power of the parent over a son in mature
life. She kept him closely confined to the house, and tried
in every way to shake his determination, weeping, scolding,
and threatening by turns. But all was of no avail, and her
wrath grew more intense as she heard him praying, " Lord,
bless my mother," and continually invoking the name of
Jesus. At last she said, " Son, you must stop this praying."
" Mother," he replied, " I have always obeyed all your
commands, but this I cannot do." "But the noise disturbs
me." " Then I will pray silently." "You shall never pray
in this house again." "Mother," said Wong, "I cannot
stop praying." "Leave the house then," she exclaimed;
" I disown you for ever as my child, and when I die dare
not to join with the family in celebrating my funeral rites."
Wong was driven from the house, but not from his faith.
He went and lived with his friend Hu, and rapidly grew in
knowledge and grace. One day his mother sent to bid him
come to her. He could only think it was a plot to seize
CHINA FOR CHRIST. 265
and kill him, but after a painful mental struggle he said to
his minister, "I will go; pray for me." He went. The
mother asked him if he was still determined to be a
Christian. " Mother," he said, fully expecting some assault,
"7 am." "Then," she said, "if you will not change your
mind I will change mine. You may be a Christian and
you may live at home." Overwhelmed with joy, Wong fell
on his knees and thanked God.
For some months he continued his occupation as a
painter, and was then taken into the service of the Mission,
and laboured zealously as an evangelist for about four
years. Then a discussion arose amongst the missionaries
about the right term to use in Chinese for " God," and a
word was imposed on the agents which Wong could not
conscientiously use. He resigned his office, but shortly
afterwards joined another Society, which not only gladly
employed him, but ordained him to the ministry, the
members of his former communion expressing their hearty
concurrence in his reception. Thus the Chinese are
proving by their steadfastness and zeal that the Gospel can
find as good material to operate upon in that empire as
anywhere under the sun.
The most difficult and yet the most pressing need of
missions in China is to obtain access to the women of the
land.
Women are generally excluded from society. Elderly
females are allowed considerable freedom ; but all the
younger ones, and more especially the unmarried, are held
by rigid etiquette to such complete retirement that it is often
difficult to get them to attend public worship, and this not
withstanding the fact that the women assemble in a separate
compartment, where they cannot be seen by the men.
They do not take their meals with the men of the house
hold. If you visit a Chinaman s house, you do not see the
ladies. Unless some degree of intimacy exists, it is impolite
to ask after the health of a Chinaman s wife or daughter.
266 ROBERT MORRISON.
Public sentiment is against teaching women to read. There
are some few among the higher classes, but not many, who
can read. You seldom meet with one, except such as has
been educated in mission schools. It is very seldom you
meet with a woman having any desire to learn to read.
Again, they have very little leisure time. In rural neighbour
hoods the women work harder than the men. They spin
cotton and weave cloth. They are the cooks and tailors
and dressmakers of the household. They seldom work in the
fields ; but when the crops are brought in they take their full
share of work at threshing, winnowing, and grinding. All
this in spite of their little feet disqualifying them for any
great activity. The only females who have any spare time
are the old women ; and teaching them to read is almost, if
not quite, out of the question.
At the same time the women form a very important
element of society. Their influence in the household, as in
England, counts for a great deal. Having far less knowledge,
they are far less under the influence of Confucian ideas, the
most conservative ideas in the Empire. Their nature is
much more religious than that of the men. The men trifle
with their beliefs; the women are in earnest. They are
capable of a practical faith, the men much less so. As a
rule the male part of the family are Confucian, the women
Buddhists or Taoists. It is they who visit the temples.
The incense pots which smoulder before the placid coun
tenance of Buddha are filled and kindled by them. It is
they who may be seen prostrating and K 6 T owing before
the monstrous images alike of general and local deities.
They burn ten sheets of paper to the men s one. Left to
the men, Fo Yeh, the San Ch ing, the eighteen Lo Huns,
Kuan Yin, Kuan Yiin Ch iang, the god of medicine, the
god of wealth, the innumerable P u Sah, all the countless
host of the Chinese Pantheon, would have crumbled on
their seats and been buried under the undistinguishable
ruins of their own temples long ago. When the men
CHINA FOR CHRIST. 267
pretend to worship them they only play at it. But the
zeal of the women has kept alive the faith in these grotesque
and senseless deities, and supplied the impulse which from
time to time has reconstructed their broken shrines and
renovated their falling habitations. On this account they
make much better Christians than the men. The men are
satisfied with the cold abstractions and moral maxims of
Confucianism, are interested in nothing higher than the
earth or wider than the bounds of human life ; the women
must have something warmer and more emotional they
have deep cravings for the spiritual and the eternal. The
men talk about their religion much, but practise it little;
the women feel their religion, and hence practise it. The
men can do without worship, the women cannot. Earnest
idolaters make earnest Christians. The affections and aspira
tions which clung around and sanctified imaginary and super
stitious beings, transferred to a living Christ and a God
of eternal love, are the impulse to a new and holy life.
Indifferent heathens make indifferent Christians. The
habits of insincerity and practical scepticism which through
a lifetime have been associated with a false faith are too
often, on their conversion, retained in connection with the
true.
Until woman, as the ruling power in the home and the
influential factor in moulding the successive generations of
China, is grasped and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ, the
work of the missionary will be largely in vain ; but as in
other great onward Christian movements, let the women be
drawn into the Church, and the conquest of the Empire will
be chiefly accomplished.
China is just now in a transition state, and is passing
through the greatest crisis of its history. Old things are
passing away, and all things are becoming ne\v. Institutions
and customs of slow growth, hoary with "age, are tottering
to their fall. Old superstitions, with which the life of the
l>eople is inoculated, are losing their hold, and the nation
268 ROBERT MORRISON.
is like a giant roused from a long stupor a stupor which
missionaries with their Divine message have had some share
in breaking. Now a strange and undefined feeling is leading
the nation to desire better things than she has had in the
past. There must now go on a great fight between the new
and the old. The intrusion of foreigners, and the intro
duction of Western modes of civilisation and of war, must
change the social and political life of the people. The
breaking up of old religious ideas and practices must affect
the Empire either for better or for worse. That it may be
for the better in every possible sense we must Christianise
China through its length and breadth. We have been
in the last hundred years training small detachments of
Christian soldiers, and doing much preparatory work ; but
now the cry for more help and multiplied workers deepens
itself, and comes from every province and every city.
Shall England, that in the opium traffic and the opium
wars has so deeply cursed China, not have mercy and extend
towards it the love of Christianity ?
Buddhism is a religion of mercy in Asia. She has a
concrete embodiment of a beautiful idea in the goddess of
mercy with a thousand arms, a relief for the thousand ills of
life. But Christianity has the more effectual relief for these
ills in living agencies and beneficent institutions. There is
no power that conciliates men like love, no force that can
save like love. It is the power of God.
The cry is truly a Macedonian call from China. It is a
cry from a " man," mighty for untold and incalculable good,
but without the Gospel a curse to himself and the world.
It comes from the deepest need of the most ancient and
populous nation of the world. It comes from all classes, of
false creeds and of no creed. It comes from myriads of
infants who come to an untimely end, because of the
misfortune of their sex or deformity. It is the sobbing,
yearning cry of women oppressed by degrading wrongs,
and who never knew the true blessedness and dignity of
CHINA FOR CHRIST. 269
womanhood. It is the cry of millions of the poor, lame, and
blind. It expresses the yearning of spirits to be delivered
from a bondage of corruption into a Divine liberty. It
is the language of a widely diffused and undefined feeling
and striving after a higher Someone, albeit along a road of
torturing idolatry and asceticism that they may flee from a
wrath to come or an abyss of nothingness. It is the cry of
a strong man bound and crippled, his eyes put out, and
crushed into almost utter hopelessness, but who in his
last extremity stretches out piteous hands for a Healer, a
Deliverer, a Saviour, and pleads "Oh that I knew where
I might find Him ! "
The answer to the piteous cry for help which comes from
China, and, indeed, from all parts of the heathen world,
can only be supplied by the thorough consecration of the
wfiole Church to the advancement of Christ s kingdom. As
Dr. Stevenson says: "The Church has been consecrated
to this work by its Master; and when the consecration is
accepted, penetrating not only into assemblies and councils,
but into every little group of Christian people penetrating
like a fire that burns into men s souls, and then leaping out
in flames of impulse and passionate surrender we shall see
the Mission as Christ would have it be. The story of it
will be told from every pulpit; it will be the burden of
daily prayer in every Christian home ; every one will study
for himself, as Canon Westcott recommends, the annals of
the present conquests of the Cross ; the children will grow
up believing that this is the aim for which they are to live,
and churches will meet to plan their great campaigns, and
send out the best and ablest men they have to take part in
this war of love. It will be the cause of the hour into which
men will pour all that they would spend on the greatest
struggle they have ever known. It is time for the Church
to ask for this consecrated spirit, to ask for the entire
congregation the consecration that is asked and expected of
the single man or woman whom it sends into the field."
270 ROBERT MORRISON.
A year ago four hundred and thirty missionaries met in
conference in Shanghai to consider the extension of missions
in China. It was attended by many of the most venerable
agents in the field, and for several days the members occu
pied themselves in prayerful and solemn consideration of
living subjects touching the conversion of the empire of China.
The main outcome of the Conference was the resolve to
make a fervid appeal to the Christian world for multiplied
agents, and the following touching and powerful address has
been issued. That its trumpet-tongued words may vibrate
sympathetically in the hearts of all the readers of this
volume is the earnest prayer of the writer.
Bn Hppeal for <me Gbousanfc flfeen.
To all Protestant Churchmen of Christian Lands.
DEAR BRETHREN IN CHRIST,
We, the General Conference of Protestant Missionaries
in China, having just made a special appeal to you for a
largely increased force of ordained Missionaries to preach
the Gospel throughout the length and breadth of this great
land, to plant Churches, to educate native ministers and
helpers, to create a Christian literature, and in general to
engage in and direct the supreme work of Christian
evangelisation, and
Having also just made a special appeal to you for a largely
increased force of unordained men, evangelists, teachers,
and physicians, to travel far and wide distributing books
and preaching to the masses, to lend a strong helping hand
in the great work of Christian education, and to exhibit to
China the benevolent side of Christianity in the work of
healing the sick ;
Therefore, we do now appeal to you, the Protestant
Churches of Christian lands, to send to China in response
to these calls
CHINA FOR CHRIST. 271
ONE THOUSAND MEN
WITHIN FIVE YEARS FROM THIS TIME.
We make this appeal in behalf of three hundred millions
of unevangelised heathen ; we make it with the earnestness
of our whole hearts, as men overwhelmed with the magni
tude and responsibility of the work before us ; we make it
with unwavering faith in the power of a risen SAVIOUR to
call men into His vineyard, and to open the hearts of those
who are His stewards to send out and support them, and we
shall not cease to cry mightily to Him that He will do this
thing, and that our eyes may see it.
On behalf of the Conference,
Chairmen / Rev " J- L XEVR S D D
X Rev. D. HII.L.
f Rev. J. HUDSON TAYLOR.
Rev. WM. ASHMORE, D.D.
Permanent ] ^ R COR D D
Co,n,mttee Rev . c . w. MATEER, D.D., LL.D.
\ Rev. C. F. REID.
Shanghai, May, 1890.
Dr. Griffith John, in addressing a company of young men
on his recent visit to England, spoke these words, with which
this volume may fitly end :
** It is not my habit to say anything to induce young men
to devote themselves to this work, for I have a wholesome
dread of man-inspired missionaries. But I cannot allow
this opportunity to pass without telling you young men who
are preparing for the ministry, that I thank God most
sincerely and devoutly that I am a missionary. I have
never regretted the step I took many years ago in opposition
to the strongly expressed wish of my best friends ; and if
there is a sincere desire burning within my breast, it is that
I may live and die in labouring and suffering for Christ
among the heathen. Oh, it is a glorious work ! I know
272 ROBERT MORRISON.
no work like it, so real, so unselfish, so apostolic, so
Christ-like. I know no work that brings Christ so near
to the soul, that throws a man back so completely upon
God, and that makes the grand old, Gospel appear so real,
so precious, so divine. And then think of the grandeur of
our aim ! Our cry is, China for Christ ! India for Christ !
The world for Christ ! Think of China and her hundreds
of millions becoming our Lord s and His Christ s ! Is there
nothing grand in the idea ? Is there nothing soul-stirring
in the prospect ? Is not that an achievement worthy of the
best efforts of the Church and of the noblest powers of
the most richly endowed among you ? And then think
of the unspeakable privilege and honour of having a share
in a work which is destined to have such a glorious issue.
Oh ! young men, think of it, dwell upon it ; and if you
hear the voice of God bid you go, manfully take up your
cross and go, and you will never cease to thank Jesus Christ
our Lord for counting you worthy to be missionaries."
THE END.
Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.
