CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 BV3700 .P59 1897 
 
 Picket line of missions : sicetches of thi 
 
 oiin 
 
 3 1924 029 352 857 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://archive.org/cletails/cu31924029352857 
 
THE PICKET LINE 
 OF MISSIONS 
 
 Sketches of the Advanced Guard 
 
 BY 
 
 w. F. Mcdowell j. t. gracey 
 
 A. T. PIERSON S. L. BALDWIN 
 
 JENNIE M. BINGHAM W. F. OLDHAM 
 
 MARY LOUISE NINDE W. H. WITHROW 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 Bishop W. X. NINDE 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 MISSIONARY CAMPAIGN LIBEAEY, 
 
 57 WASHINGTON STREET. 
 
Copyright by 
 
 EATON & MAINS, 
 
 1897. 
 
 The General Cabinet of the Epworth League, wrho select 
 the books for the Epworth League Reading Course, thereby 
 commend the general thought contained in them. They do 
 not wish, however, to be held responsible for every detail 
 of treatment and statement which may occur in the volumes. 
 EDWIN A. SCHELL, 
 
 General Secretary. 
 
Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction 5 
 
 By Bishop W. X. Ninde, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 I 
 David Livingstone 23 
 
 By W. F. McDowell, D.D. 
 
 II 
 
 Alexander M. Mackay, the Hero of Uganda 67 
 
 By J. T. Gracey, D.D. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer, Pioneer in Arabia 117 
 By Arthur T. Pierson, D.D. 
 
 IV 
 
 SiA Sek Ong. , 151 
 
 By S. L. Baldwin, D.D. 
 
 V 
 
 John Kenneth Mackenzie, Medical Missionary 
 
 to China 185 
 
 By Miss Jennie M. Bingham. 
 
 VI 
 
 James M. Thoburn 211 
 
 By W. F. Oldham, D.D. 
 3 
 
By Miss Mary Louise Ninde. 
 
 VIII 
 
 i'OLYNESIAN MISSIONS: JOHN WILLIAMS, THE MARTYR. 
 
 OF Erromanga ; John Hunt, the Apostle of 
 
 Fiji 277 
 
 By W. H. Withrow, D.D. 
 4 
 
IFntrobuctton 
 
 We here present for our Reading Course 
 a book which we trust will inspire the hearts 
 of all Epworthians with a freshened enthu- 
 siasm for Christian missions. Nothing 
 seemed more likely to effect this than to 
 bring our young people into close touch 
 with the hearts and life work of a select 
 number of our noble missionaries, some 
 sainted, others still living. While some of 
 the characters here sketched are not as famil- 
 iar as others that might have been chosen, 
 yet each one is truly heroic, and the writers 
 were well fitted for their task, all b)^ genuine 
 sympathy, and some by long and intimate 
 acquaintance with their subjects. We are 
 sure that the book will well repay a careful 
 reading. 
 
 The wonderful century just passing has 
 been called the age of Protestant missions. 
 It is true that the modern missionary move- 
 ment began a little before the dawn of this 
 
Introduction 
 
 century, but the great mission boards have 
 been formed and the work of missions vig- 
 orously pushed within that period. How it 
 stirs the heart to read of the trials, labors, 
 and achievements of the unbroken line of 
 devoted missionaries along the tide of a 
 hundred years? 
 
 In 1760 Voltaire rashly predicted that the 
 opening of the nineteenth century would 
 witness the extinction of the Christian re- 
 ligion. About that time was born William 
 Carey, ' ' the morning star of modern mis- 
 sions," which have since borne the standard 
 of the cross into every land in the wide 
 world. 
 
 For many years after the dawn of the 
 modern missionary movement the visible 
 results were scanty and discouraging. The 
 interest of the home churches was feeble and 
 faltering, and had it not been for the heroic 
 devotion of godly men and women who felt 
 themselves specially called to labor in these 
 distant and difificult fields, and whose self- 
 sacrificing zeal kindled anew the flickering 
 flame of missionary interest among the 
 Christians of favored Europe and America, 
 all effort to convert the heathen might have 
 been abandoned or indefinitely postponed. 
 
Introduction 
 
 The marked success of the missions to the 
 Sandwich Islands and some of the South Sea 
 Islands put a new heart into the movement 
 for the world's evangelization . The Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Church, relieved somewhat of 
 the pressing demands of the home work, en- 
 tered with its accustomed vigor upon the 
 mission work abroad. Our first missionaries 
 to China sailed for that distant land just 
 fifty years ago, and planted our first mission 
 in the treaty port of Foochow. The first ten 
 years was a rayless night of unrequited toil. 
 At the end of that period the first converts 
 were baptized, and since then the mission 
 has expanded with marvelous growth, em- 
 bracing flourishing fields in South, North, 
 Central, and West China, with the prospect 
 of still greater conquests in the near futiire. 
 
 Ten years after entering China our mis- 
 sion was organized in British India. It was 
 successful from the start, and its evangeli- 
 zing progress of late years has been phe- 
 nomenal and most gratifying. Our mis- 
 sions are now spread over most of the vast 
 peninsula and have all the elements of 
 prodigious strength and efficiency. 
 
 Protestant missions in Japan followed 
 
 the treaty which opened up that long 
 
 1 
 
Introduction 
 
 sequestered empire to the commerce of the 
 Western world and allotted to foreigners, 
 under cumbersome limitations, certain priv- 
 ileges of residence and travel. As recently 
 as 1869, Bishop Kingsley made the first 
 Episcopal visitation of our own missions in 
 Eastern Asia. We had no mission in Japan 
 at the time, but on its way to China the 
 bishop's steamer touched at Yokohama in 
 Japan. He went ashore, and found a Pres- 
 byterian missionary who told him there were 
 probably not more than eight native Chris- 
 tians in, the empire. There are now five 
 Methodist Boards operating in Japan with a 
 numerous and efficient force of missionaries 
 and native preachers, and a large clientele 
 of native members and adherents. A con- 
 siderable number of the native preachers, 
 and of the teachers in the mission schools, 
 were educated in this country. 
 
 More recently our mission was planted in 
 the Kingdom of Korea, once termed the 
 " hermit nation," but now surpassing almost 
 all other heathen countries in its kindly wel- 
 come and treatment of foreigners and es- 
 pecially of Christian missionaries. No 
 mission in the list makes a more grateful 
 showing of rapid and substantial progress 
 
than that which cultivates so well this lim- 
 ited but most promising field. 
 
 Our historic mission — the one first planted 
 and manned by our Church — is that of 
 Liberia, on the western coast of Africa. 
 When the American Colonization Society 
 purchased that wild territory and deported 
 thither ' some thousands of free Negroes, 
 many of whom were members of our Church, 
 our duty seemed imperative to provide them 
 with the Christian ordinances. It was also 
 hoped that our Liberia Mission would sooner 
 or later prove the gateway of the Gospel to 
 the inaccessible millions in the interior of 
 the " Dark Continent." That mission was 
 for years a keen disappointment and partial 
 failure. Large appropriations were ab- 
 sorbed by the mission with scanty results. 
 The explorations of Livingstone and Stan- 
 ley and the formation of the Congo Free 
 State afforded the long-coveted opportu- 
 nity to reach the interior of the continent 
 with the priceless blessings of the Christian ^ 
 Gospel. The hour for a grand advance had 
 come and the man was not wanting. That 
 world-wide apostle and missionary, that bold 
 and intrepid hero in Christian service, Will- 
 iam Taylor, accepted the high office to which 
 
Introduction 
 
 God and the Church had called him, and be- 
 came the first Methodist Bishop for Africa. 
 The record of his faithful labors, journeys, 
 privations, perils, and successes are the 
 heritage of a grateful Church whose behest 
 he obeyed, and whose standard he ever bore 
 with unswerving devotion. His honored 
 successor has just entered his new field with 
 equal courage, devotion, and faith, and un- 
 der the most encouraging auspices. 
 
 While the spread of missions has been 
 truly marvelous, even within the memory 
 of people now in middle life, the interest of 
 the Churches in the world's conversion is 
 far short of what it should be. The great 
 mass of professing Christians probably 
 never contribute a penny or a prayer for 
 the salvation of the heathen world. It is 
 difficult to account for the apathy which 
 prevails so widely. No doubt it is largely 
 due to the slight attention given to the sub- 
 ject. Home and personal interests preoc- 
 cupy and absorb the minds of our people 
 and blind them to the needs of the far- 
 distant millions. Many persons strangely 
 insist that our efforts should be concentrated 
 in meeting the needs of the "heathen at 
 our doors," rather than be divided in try- 
 
 10 
 
inirouucnon 
 
 ing to Christianize the heathen in another 
 hemisphere. 
 
 The sordid question is often asked : " Do 
 missions pay? What have they to show in 
 visible results for the vast outlay of money 
 and precious lives? " This inquiry is often 
 made, jnot for the purpose of eliciting infor- 
 mation, but as a supposed unanswerable 
 argument in interrogative form against 
 the maintenance of foreign missions. It is 
 hastily assumed that such missions are a 
 practical failure, and mission statistics are 
 quoted to show the inconsequential results 
 of missionary labors. 
 
 It is further questioned by some who 
 would excuse their indifference to the cause 
 of foreign missions, whether the Christian- 
 izing of the heathen nations is really im- 
 portant or even desirable. We are told 
 that these nations are by no means so irre- 
 ligious as we had thought ; that they have 
 their own faith and creeds, well adapted to 
 their racial peculiarities, which inculcate a 
 morality so high and pure, and a spirituality 
 so refined, as to challenge the admiration 
 of even Christian minds. Representatives 
 of the chief pagan religions, we are i-e- 
 
 minded, have recently visited this country, 
 11 
 
Introduction 
 
 who were shocked at the carnal and ma- 
 terial character of our own boasted civiliza- 
 tion, and whose intelligence, eloquence, 
 devout spirit and manner, and profound and 
 subtle teachings, filled great audiences with 
 admiring wonder. Why should we send 
 missionaries to convert such men and those - 
 they represent to our peculiar ways of 
 thinking and believing? 
 
 Again, there are found, especially among 
 the foreign residents in heathen lands, 
 those who loudly insist that the heathen are 
 not worth saving. The indifference and 
 even aversion of many of the foreign bank- 
 ers, traders, and diplomats, residing in 
 pagan cities, to the missionaries and their 
 work, is largely due to the unchristian con- 
 tempt and sometimes violent hatred which 
 they feel for the masses of the native peo- 
 ples among whom they dwell. They see 
 heathenism in its undisguised vileness, and 
 being destitute of benevolent impulses and 
 a proper sense of Christian duty learn to 
 despise and abhor both the prevalent pa- 
 ganism and its pitiable victims. 
 
 At the indignation meetings held by 
 the foreign residents of Shanghai, China, 
 
 following the cruel Hwasang massacres, 
 
 12 ' 
 
introauction 
 
 sentiments were expressed by reputable 
 merchants and others toward the Chinese 
 race as a whole that might well have 
 shocked a gathering of untutored savages. 
 
 The highest sanction and strongest mo- 
 tive to world-wide missionary effort is our 
 Saviour's explicit command to "Go into all 
 the world and disciple all nations." The 
 early apostles were to begin their work at 
 Jerusalem, but by no means to remain 
 there until all the Jews had been 
 converted. Almost at once they began 
 missionary work among the Gentiles. Con- 
 sidering the meager facilities of those 
 early times, the spread of the Gospel in the 
 first century of the Christian era is the 
 marvel of history, and is a standing rebuke 
 to the feebleness of our faith and the lan- 
 guor of our zeal.' Our Lord's mandate is 
 surely no less binding now- than it was 
 then. Indeed, as the door of opportunity 
 widens it becomes the more imperative. 
 When we think that the great heathen 
 countries are now open through their vast 
 extent to the Christian evangelist; that 
 residence, even in West China, is ordinarily 
 as safe for the missionary as it would be in 
 London or New York ; that in India, Japan, 
 
 3 IS 
 
Introduction 
 
 and even Korea, he is under the protection 
 of friendly governments ; when we are re- 
 minded, too, of the conveniences of travel 
 and the facilities for prosecuting all kinds 
 of mission work, and especially of the acces- 
 sibility of the heathen peoples and their in- 
 creasingly kindly disposition toward the 
 " foreign teachers," we are amazed that a 
 sense of its duty to the wretched and neg- 
 lected heathen has not more strongly im- 
 pressed itself upon the Christian world. 
 There is vast wealth in the hands of the 
 saints. God is calling more men into the 
 ministry than we can possibly find work for 
 in the home field. Marked providential 
 tokens clearly reveal our duty to the be- 
 nighted millions beyond the seas. 
 
 And how sadly do they need our Chris- 
 tian sympathy and labors. At the recent 
 " Parliament of Religions " in Chicago, 
 after listening one day to addresses from 
 representatives of several of the promi- 
 nent pagan faiths, an English missionary 
 who had long lived in China remarked in 
 his address which followed, that whatever 
 good and kind things might be said of some 
 of the ethical elements of those pagan be- 
 liefs, nevertheless the importation of Chris- 
 u 
 
Introduction 
 
 tian ideas into those heathen lands was of 
 incalculable value. That true and impress- 
 ive statement was after all but a mild and 
 inadequate putting of the case as between 
 Christianity and heathenism. Those living 
 in the field, and even transient visitors to 
 heathen lands, can see few lines of similar- 
 ity or points of contact between Christianity 
 and the best pagan creeds. Undisguised 
 practical heathenism is indescribably barren 
 and horrid. It. is not even a partial substi- 
 tute for' the Christian Gospel. It may be 
 gladly admitted that heathen can occasion- 
 ally be found who are decidedly better than 
 tlie besotted masses about them ; that now 
 and then a truly godly man or woman ap- 
 pears who gives clear evidence of the law 
 written in the heart ; yet such cases are too 
 rare to relieve the monotonous vileness of 
 the dominating superstitions. He who im- 
 agines that the heathen faiths can be reha- 
 bilitated and invested with a regenerating 
 power is cherishing a pleasing but illusive 
 dTeam. Nothing will save these Christless 
 lands but the full acceptance of that Gospel 
 which is ' ' the power of God unto salvation 
 to every one that belie veth." 
 
 In estimating the results of foreign mis- 
 is 
 
Introduction 
 
 sions the candid inquirer will take many 
 things into the account. The statistical 
 showing might prove disappointing, but no 
 one accustomed to historical researches will 
 be warped in his judgment by the meager 
 exhibit of Christian converts. The member- 
 ship in the mission churches of southern and 
 eastern Asia may .seem hardly worth con- 
 sidering when compared with the vast and 
 unreached heathen population. Yet to 
 those intimately familiar with the changed 
 personal and famil)' lives of the Christian 
 converts it is worth all the expenditure of 
 money and toil to have saved even the com- 
 parative few from the chains of a heathenism 
 indescribably debased and hopeless. 
 
 The ground of our large hope for the 
 Christianizing of the heathen nations is the 
 ever-brightening indications of a nearing 
 era of miglity changes and unparalleled 
 successes. The traditional superstitions are 
 loosening their hold upon the masses of the 
 people. The Christian Gospel in the purity 
 of its teaching, and especially as exemplified 
 in the lives of the Christian converts, is 
 making a most powerful and healthful im- 
 pression upon observant heathen. The 
 burden of conscious sin and the awakened 
 
Introduction 
 
 but unsatisfied longings for spiritual free- 
 dom and peace are creating a widening and 
 deepening interest in the Christian religion. 
 There can be no doubt that millions of the 
 best minds among the heathen are in a sus- 
 pensive mood. They have lost faith in the 
 prevailing heathenism, and though hesita- 
 ting to accept the social ostracism inevitably 
 following an open Christian confession 
 they are candid inquirers, and may soon in 
 great masses become brave and happy con- 
 verts to the Christian faith. Indeed, in 
 some parts of India and China the move- 
 ment has already begun, and its increasing 
 flow has only been arrested by the sad ina- 
 bility of the missions, through their strait- 
 ened resources, properly to care for and 
 train the new converts. 
 
 No just estimate can be made of what 
 Christian missions have effected in their 
 short history, without considering the indi- 
 rect results of missionary labors. The mis- 
 sionaries as a class have impressed them- 
 selves strongly upon the native peoples. 
 The .simplicity and purity of their lives; 
 their strict truthfulness and honesty, in 
 broad contrast with the character and con- 
 duct of many other foreigners ; their uniform 
 17 
 
Introduction 
 
 kindness and unselfishness manifested on 
 all occasions, burt especially in their care for 
 the poor and the suffering ; their readiness 
 to espouse the side of justice as between 
 natives and foreigners, have given them a 
 high place in the esteem of the heathen 
 among whom they live, and to whom they 
 would gladly minister. Missionaries have 
 often suffered from scandalous and baseless 
 stories fabricated by powerful and unscru- 
 pulous enemies, resulting in occasional riots 
 and massacres; but to an ever-increasing 
 extent the unsophisticated masses are learn- 
 ing the- truth and giving their frank and 
 warm confidence to those whom they are 
 coming to regard as their true and steadfast 
 friends. 
 
 If there be a single high, vocation for the 
 Christian young people of our day, it is the 
 conquest of the unchristianized world for 
 their divine Lord. The " set time to favor 
 Zion " has surely come. He reads the 
 signs of the times to little profit who is not 
 impressed with this manifest fact. The 
 doors of opportunity are thrown widely 
 open. Boundless resources are at our com- 
 mand. Insuperable difficulties have 
 strangely vanished. Appealing voices call 
 
 18 
 
Introduction 
 
 to us from above, from beyond, from with- 
 in ! Shall we not respond to these voices ? 
 Shall we not hail with gladness our day of 
 visitation ? 
 
 This is the day of great things — of great 
 plans, undertakings, and achievements. 
 Projects of small and feeble import fail to 
 rivet attention and kindle enthusiasm. 
 None' like the young feel the thrill of this 
 new spirit of the times. Unless the youth- 
 ful Church can seize upon some object of 
 Christian endeavor large enough to fill their 
 h'oliest ambitions and tax their most strenu- 
 ous energies, they will languish in inglori- 
 ous apathy, or waste their golden opportuni- 
 ties in the mad chase of worldly phantoms. 
 Among our bannered mottoes let this take 
 highest place: " Christ for all the world, 
 and all the world for CHRIST." 
 
 W. X. NiNDE. 
 19 
 
I 
 
 Davit) Xivingstone 
 
 BY 
 
 W. F. McDowell 
 
Ipichet Xine of niMssione 
 
 David Livingstone 
 
 David Livingstone is a name to conjure 
 with. This Scotch physician appeal^ to con- 
 noisseurs in manliness. Blaikie, his princi- 
 pal biographer, and Thomas Hughes, author 
 of the best brief biography of Livingstone, 
 ■are both known as lovers of true manliness. 
 Mr. Hughes writes the Manliness of Christ, 
 the "Tom Brown" books, an(\. Livingstone 
 for the '-' Men of Action " series, studying 
 in each case a different personality, but not 
 a different theme. 
 
 March 19, 18 13, David Livingstone was 
 born in Blantyre, Scotland. " My own in- 
 clination would lead me to say as little as 
 possible about myself." The world, how- 
 ever, has forced into print all that could be 
 gathered about him. He records two items 
 about his ancestors : ' ' My great-grand- 
 fatller fell at the battle of CuUoden, fight- 
 
 23 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 ing for the old line of kings, and my grand- 
 father was a small farmer in Ulua, where 
 my father was born." And this: "The 
 only point of the family tradition that I feel 
 proud of is this — one of these poor islanders, 
 one of my ancestors, when he was on his 
 deathbed, called his children around him 
 and said :' ' Now, lads, I have looked all 
 through our history as far back as I can find 
 it, and I have never found a dishonest man 
 in all the line, and I want you to understand 
 you inherit good blood. You have no ex- 
 cuse for wrongdoing. Be honest.'" When 
 honors were finally laid in profusion at Liv- 
 ingstone's feet he wrote affectionately of 
 " his own people, the honest poor." 
 
 Students of history will have no difficulty 
 recalling the historical conditions existing 
 in 1813. Six years earlier England had 
 abolished the slave trade. Two years later 
 Waterloo came. The "Consecrated Cob- 
 bler " had awakened the Churches of Eng- 
 land to their missionary duty, and there 
 were a dozen societies then in their youth 
 eager to spread the Gospel in foreign lands. 
 The charter of the American Board was a 
 year old when Livingstone was born. The 
 
 Wesleyan Missionary Society was organized 
 2-i 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 in 1 8 12, the Methodist Episcopal Mission- 
 ary Society in 1819. It was tlie day of ex- 
 ploration and inquiry, the day in which the 
 modern missionary movement began. Into 
 the kingdom at such a time and for such a 
 time Livingstone came. At the age of ten 
 he went to work in the cotton mills. Out 
 of his first week's wages he saved enough to 
 buy Ruddiman's Rudiments. The employers 
 provided a schoolmaster to give evening in- 
 struction. When Livingstone could have 
 the master's assistance he took it, when he 
 could not get it he toiled on alone. Thus 
 he mastered his Latin. He was not brighter 
 than other boys. He was not precocious in 
 anything save determination. Early his 
 scientific tastes revealed themselves. While 
 he had the passion for reading he had 
 equally the passion for exploration and for 
 such sports as swimming and fishing. ' ' My 
 reading in the factory," he says, "■was car- 
 ried on by placing the book on a portion of 
 the spinning jenny, so that I could catch 
 sentence after sentence as I passed at my 
 work. I thus kept a pretty constant study, 
 undisturbed by the roar of machinery. To 
 this I owe the power of completely abstract- 
 ing my mind, so as to read and write with 
 
 25 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 perfect comfort amidst the play of children 
 and song of savages." At nineteen he was 
 promoted in the factory. At twenty he 
 " lighted upon the admirable works of Dr. 
 Thomas Dick, The Philosophy of Religion 
 and The Philosophy of a Future State, and 
 was gratified to find that he had enforced 
 his own conviction that religion and 
 science are friendly to one another." At 
 about this time a missionary society was 
 established in the village. He became ac- 
 quainted with missionary biography. The 
 Life of Henry Marty ii stirred his blood. The 
 story of Charles Gutzlaff, medical mission- 
 ary to China, was as a trumpet call. Almost 
 simultaneously came his conversion, bring- 
 ing peace and power and this missionary in- 
 fluence. Young Epworth Leaguers will pause 
 over the statement that at twenty he had 
 resolved to devote to the missionary cause 
 all he could earn an-d save. Then Gutzlaff 
 appealed to the Churches of Great Britain 
 and America for aid in behalf of China, 
 and Livingstone offered not his earnings, 
 but his life. "It is my desire," he said, 
 " to show my attachment to the cause of 
 Him who died for me by devoting my life 
 to his service," and " from this time my 
 
 20 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 efforts were constantly devoted toward this 
 object without any fluctuation." This last 
 sentence shows influence of a faithful Sun- 
 day school teacher who had said to him, 
 "Now, lad, make religion the everyday 
 business of your life, and not a thing of fits 
 and starts." Livingstone did not propose 
 to go as a missionary without preparation. 
 He went on with his studies for six or seven 
 years from the date of the resolution quoted 
 above. When at last he went it was with 
 the strength and training of a man. He was 
 accepted by the London Missionary Society, 
 whose object — " to send neither Episcopacy 
 nor Presbyterianism nor Independency, but 
 the Gospel of Christ to the heathen" — exactly 
 agreed with his ideas. He wanted to go as 
 a medical missionary to China, but the 
 opium war shut him out. He grew weary 
 of waiting, but never faltered in his purpose. 
 One day Robert Moffat came home to plead 
 for the South African Mission. He told 
 Livingstone that he had ' ' sometimes seen 
 in the morning sun the smoke of a thousand 
 villages where no missionary had ever been . '' 
 That settled the question for Livingstone. 
 It was God's hand leading him into the 
 Dark Continent.. In 1840 he was ordained 
 
 27 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 and received his medical diploma. Speak- 
 ing of the latter, he said, "With unfeigned 
 delight I became a member of a profession 
 which with unwearied energy pursues from 
 age to age its endeavors to lessen human 
 woe." On the evening of November i6, 
 1840, he went home to visit for one night 
 with his parents. He proposed to sit up all 
 night. His father had the heart and soul of 
 a missionary. He was the kind of man por- 
 trayed in "The Cotter's Saturday Night." 
 Far into the night they talked of the pros- 
 pects of Christian missions. They talked 
 of the coming day when rich and great men 
 would think it an honor to support whole 
 stations of missionaries instead of spending 
 their money on hounds and horses. At five 
 the next morning they had breakfast, and 
 then gathered around the family altar for 
 prayers. David read the 121st and 135th 
 Psalms and prayed. It is a scene for an 
 artist. Father and son walked to Glasgow. 
 " On the Broomiclaw they parted, and never 
 met again on earth." The father set his 
 face toward home, the great son resolutely 
 starting toward the ' ' smoke of the thousand 
 villages." 
 
 December 8, 1840, he sailed for Cape 
 
 28 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 Town, at the southern extremity of Africa. 
 It is an historic date in the history of Africa 
 and in the history of the Christian Church. 
 When he arrived at the cape he found Dr. 
 Philip,- acting agent for the London Mis- 
 sionary Society, desirous of returning home 
 for a vacation, and anxious to find some one 
 willing to take his place as minister to the 
 congregation at Cape Town. The place, 
 with good compensation, was offered to 
 Livingstone. Then he remembered that 
 Moffat had said to him, "You will do 
 for Africa if you do not go to an old 
 station, but push on to the vast unoccupied 
 districts to the north." He declined the 
 easier position and pushed on toward Dr. 
 Moffat's station at Kuruman, seven hun- 
 dred miles to the north. These seven 
 hundred miles formed the crust of heathen- 
 ism as dense as night. On into it this 
 fearless man went. He practiced medicine 
 as he went. The people believed him to 
 be a wizard. They thought him able to 
 raise the dead. The sick and the curious 
 crowded about his wagon, but not an article 
 was stolen. .One day the chief of a savage 
 tribe said: " I wish you would change my 
 heart. Give me medicine to change it, for 
 
 3 29 
 
it is proud, , proud and angry, angry al- 
 ways." The physician and the scientist, 
 the minister and the reformer, are all com- 
 bined in this one man. He heals the sick ; 
 he notes the scenery, classifying the plants, 
 birds, and beasts, noting that forty-three 
 fruits and thirty-two edible roots grow wild 
 in a certain district; he gathers specimens 
 for a London college ; he rescues a little 
 girl about to be sold into slavery; he re- 
 joices that God had conferred upon him the 
 privilege and honor of being the first mes- 
 senger of mercy that ever trod those regions. 
 He writes home : 
 
 " This is the country for a medical man, 
 but he must leave fees out of the question. 
 These people are excellent patients, too. 
 There is no wincing ; everything prescribed 
 is done instantcr. Their only failing is 
 that they get tired of a long course, but in 
 any operation even the women sit unmoved. 
 I have been astonished again and again at 
 their calmness. In cutting out a tumor an 
 inch in diameter they sit and talk as if they 
 felt nothing. ' A man like me,' they say, 
 ' never cries. It is children that cry.' And 
 it is a fact that the men never cry; but 
 when the Spirit of God works on their 
 
 30 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 minds they cry most pitepusly, trying to 
 hide their heads in their karosses, and when 
 they find that won't do they rush out of 
 church and run with all their, might, crying 
 as if the hand of death were behind them." 
 Meantime visions of planting colonies 
 here float before him. He explores for 
 Jesus Christ. He covers his letters with 
 maps of the country. Every new tract is 
 a new field for the Gospel. He studies the 
 African fever, the tsetse fly, and dreams of 
 the lake. The details of these years cannot 
 be given here. Four years go by. During 
 this time occurred the adventure with the 
 lion, of which adventure he writes that " he 
 meant to have kept it to tell his children 
 in his old age." It was during his second 
 missionary year. He says of it: " He 
 rushed from the bushes and bit me on the 
 arm, breaking the bone. I hope I shall 
 never forget God's mercy. It will be well 
 before this letter reaches you. Do not 
 mention it to anyone. I do not like to be 
 talked about." He never voluntarily re- 
 ferred to it. But of the wound then 
 received Sir Bartle Frere writes in an 
 obituary notice before the Royal Geograph- 
 ical Society : ' ' For thirty years afterward 
 
 31 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 all adventures and exposures and hardships 
 were undertaken with an arm so maimed 
 that it was painful to raise a fowling-piece 
 to his shoulder." In putting up a new 
 mission station he broke it over again, but 
 barely mentioned the fact. Thirty years 
 afterward^ — after his remainshad been car- 
 ried one thousand miles to the coast by 
 faithful African followers, and thence to 
 England, to be deposited in Westminster 
 Abbey among the illustrious dead — a com- 
 pany of royal surgeons identified the body 
 by the scar and compound fracture made 
 by the lion's teeth. 
 
 Four years he toiled on alone, putting 
 aside all thoughts of matrimon}-; but at 
 last, in 1 844, he writes : ' ' After nearly 
 four years of African life as a bachelor 1 
 screwed up courage to put a question be- 
 neath one of the fruit trees, tbe result of 
 which is that I became united in marriage 
 to Mr. Moffat's eldest daughter, Mary." 
 The young couple spent their first year at 
 Mabotsa; then on to Chonuane, forty miles 
 north, "The chief, Sechele, here was his 
 first convert, and in a few weeks was able 
 to read the Bible, his favorite book being 
 Isaiah. ' He was a fine man, that Isaiah; 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 he knew how to speak.' " In his newborn 
 zeal Sechele proposed summary methods of 
 conversion. " Do you think you can make 
 my people believe by talking to them?" 
 he urged. " I can make them do nothing 
 except by thrashing them, and if you like 
 I shall call my headman, and with our 
 whips of rhinoceros hide we will soon 
 make them all believe together," This 
 ofifer was declined, and Sechele soon began 
 to understand Livingstone's spirit and to 
 adopt his methods, though their apparent 
 failure grieved him sorely. He began 
 family worship in his house, and surprised 
 Livingstone by the simple and beautiful 
 style in which he conducted it ; but except 
 his own family no one attended. "In 
 former times," he complained, " if a chief 
 was fond of hunting, all his people got dogs 
 and became fond of hunting, too. If he 
 loved beer, they all rejoiced in strong 
 drink. But now it is different. I love the 
 word of God, but not one of my brethren 
 will join me." 
 
 After a time they go still farther north, to 
 Kolobeng. Livingstone is never idle. He 
 gathers information, heals the sick, and tells 
 the natives of Jesus, ending every article, 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 every letter, and every prayer with the words, 
 "Who will penetrate Africa?" He hears 
 of a doctrinal controversy going on at home, 
 and it makes him sick at heart to know that 
 millions perish while well-fed brethren split 
 theological hairs. He gains few converts, 
 but only reports the actual number, saying 
 that five good ones are better than fifty poor 
 ones, though fifty sounds better in the sta- 
 tistics. At this period his brother Charles 
 came to America to secure an education 
 that he might be a missionary. He had not 
 money enough to get it in England. He 
 landed in New York with ten dollars, where 
 he bought a loaf of bread and a piece of 
 cheese and started for Oberlin College. 
 
 In 1849 Livingstone discovered Lake 
 N'gami, the first European to look upon its 
 waters. But at once he declared that the dis- 
 covery was a part of the enterprise for Christ's 
 kingdom, and would open the way into 
 the interior. He never forgot the " smoke 
 of the thousand villages." Discovering 
 lakes and exploring new tracts were only 
 means to ends. In 1850 one of his chil- 
 dren, a babe six weeks old, died. A little 
 later Charles proposed to him to come to 
 
 America and settle, which brought forth 
 34 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 the famous declaration : "I am a missionary, 
 heart and soul. God had an only Son and 
 he was a missionary and a physician. I am 
 a poor, poor imitation of him, orvdsh to be. 
 In this service I hope to live, in it I wish to 
 die." But this missionary physician had 
 the plans and visions of a statesman. The 
 slave trade fairly froze his blood. He set 
 aside small plans for large ones. He saw 
 the traffic in human beings intrenched from 
 coast to coast. He felt that a path must be 
 opened across the continent from east to 
 west so that lawful commerce and Chris- 
 tian civilization could enter. Men at home, 
 men who had never seen a mission field, the 
 men who always know at a distance far 
 more than the man on the ground — these 
 men complained. They styled Livingstone's 
 etfortsas "wanderings." They wanted him 
 to settle down, to teach, to train a few souls. 
 He knew that to be a noble work, but not 
 his at that time. He writes to his father: 
 " The conversion of a few cannot be put 
 into the scale against the truth spread over 
 the whole country." The word "wander- 
 ings," he said, contained a lie like a serpent 
 coiled up on its bosom. 
 
 On April 23, 1852, Mrs. Livingstone and 
 35 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 the four children started for England. It 
 was a very great trial to them all, but it was 
 necessary. The children could not be edu- 
 cated in that heathen land. But Living- 
 stone spoke two or three sentences in con- 
 nection with this event which ought to be 
 written in letters of light before all mana- 
 gers of missions and missionaries. These 
 are the sentences : ' ' Missionaries expose 
 their children to a contamination which they 
 have had no hand in producing. AVe ex- 
 pose them and ourselves for a time in order 
 to elevate those sad captives of sin and 
 Satan who are the victims of the degrada- 
 tion of ages. None of those who complain 
 about missionaries sending their children 
 home ever descend to this. The mark of 
 Cain is on your foreheads, your father is a 
 missionary. Our children ought to have 
 both the sympathies and prayers of those 
 at whose bidding we become strangers for 
 life." 
 
 David and Mary Livingstone consecrated 
 themselves to the redemption of Africa, her 
 consecration being as true and as willing as 
 his. The separation was as painful for her 
 as for him. She had no enjoyment in Eng- 
 land with her noble husband in Africa. 
 
 36 
 
And yet they said, if merchants, explorers, 
 and seamen could separate from their fam- 
 ilies for years for love of gain, could not 
 they endure as much for Christ? There 
 were those, most of them comfortable souls 
 sitting at home, who said that this separa- 
 tion was for the mutual pleasure of this he- 
 roic pair ; tliat Africa was more agreeable 
 to David with Mary in England^ and Eng- 
 land more attractive for her with the doc- 
 tor in Africa. Listen to one of his letters : 
 
 "My Dearest Mary: How I miss you 
 now, and the children ! My heart yearns 
 incessantly over you. How many thoughts 
 of the past crowd into my mind ! I feel as 
 if I could treat you all much more tenderly 
 and lovingly than ever. You have been a 
 great blessing to me. You attended to my 
 comfort in many, many ways. May God 
 bless you for all your kindnesses ! I see no 
 face now to be compared with that sunburnt 
 one which has so often greeted me with its 
 kind looks. Let us do our duty to our Sav- 
 iour, and we shall meet again. I wish that 
 time were now. You may read the letters 
 over again which I wrote at Mabotsa, the 
 sweet time you know. As I told you before 
 
 37 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 I tell you again, tliey are true, true; there 
 is not a bit of hypocrisy in them. I never 
 show all my feelings; but I can say truly, 
 my dearest, that I loved you when I mar- 
 ried you, and the longer I lived with you I 
 loved you the better. ; . . Let us do our 
 duty to Christ, and he will bring us through 
 the world with honor and usefulness. He 
 is our refuge and high tower ; let us trust 
 in him at all times and in all circumstances. 
 Love him more and more, and diffuse his 
 love among the children. Take them all 
 around you and kiss them for me. Tell 
 them I have left them for the love of Jesus, 
 and they must love him too, and avoid sin, 
 for that displeases Jesus. I shall be de- 
 lighted to hear of you all safe in Eng- 
 land. . . ." 
 
 Being left thus alone, he turned his face 
 toward the interior, visited numerous tribes, 
 preached everywhere, went alone, carrying 
 neither purse nor scrip ; living on what he 
 found or what was given to him, walking or 
 sleeping in the midst of hostile tribes in 
 absolute fearlessness. Part of the country 
 was flooded, and the travelers had to wade 
 all day, forcing their way through sharp- 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 bladed reeds, with hands all raw and 
 bloody, emerging with knees, hands, and 
 face cut and bleeding. It required all his 
 tact and power to prevent the guides and 
 servants from deserting him. Every one 
 but himself was attacked with a fever, and 
 he writes : "I would like to devote a por- 
 tion of my life to the discovery of a remedy 
 for this terrible disease." At last he was 
 smitten down, and we find in his journal : 
 ' ' Am I on my way to die in the Sebituanes 
 country? Havel seen the end of my wife 
 and children? O Jesus, fill me with thy 
 love now, and I beseech thee accept me and 
 use me a little for thy glory. I have done 
 nothing for thee yet, and I would like to do 
 something." 
 
 Then some of the missionaries in South 
 Africa accused him of worldly ambition. 
 They said that he was sinking the mission- 
 ary in the explorer. But this is what he 
 writes about it : 
 
 "The natives listen, but never suppose 
 the truth must be embodied in actual life. 
 ... A minister who had not seen so much 
 pioneer service as I have done would have 
 been shocked to see so little effect pro- 
 duced. . . . We can afford to work in faith. 
 
 39 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 . . . When we view the state of the world 
 and its advancing energies by childlilce — or 
 call it childish — faith we see the earth filling 
 with the knowledge of the glory of God — 
 aye, all nations seeing his glory and bowing 
 before Him whose right it is to reign. We 
 work toward another state of things. Fu- 
 ture missionaries will be rewarded by con- 
 versions for every sermon. We are their 
 pioneers. They will, doubtless, have more 
 light than we, but we served our Master 
 earnestly and proclaimed thS same Gospel 
 they will do." 
 
 And again he writes : "I place no value 
 on anything I have or possess except in re- 
 lation to the kingdom of Christ. It is not 
 the encountering of difficulties and dangers 
 in obedience to inward spiritual promptings 
 which constitutes tempting Providence, but 
 the acting without faith, proceeding on our 
 own errands with no previous convictions 
 of duty and no prayer for aid and direction. 
 Help me. Thou who knowest my frame and 
 pitiest me as a father! " 
 
 His whole mind was set to find a way to 
 the west coast. He knew that the attempt 
 was in the nature of a forlorn hope, but 
 still it was worth trying. He wrote : " Can- 
 
 40 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 not the love of Christ carry the missionary 
 where the slave trade carries the trader ? I 
 shall open up a path to the interior or per- 
 ish." Now, it does not matter very much 
 what the world says or thinks of a man with 
 that_ spirit. For years he saw no white 
 face. For years he lived alone in the heart 
 of the Dark Continent ; battled with polyg- 
 amy, with cannibalism, incest, and slavery, 
 and with every conceivable form of detest- 
 able sin. But the difficulties of this jour- 
 ney to the west coast did not discourage 
 him. He calmly made up his mind that 
 he was as like as not to die pn that jour- 
 ney, so he made his will, and this is what 
 he says : 
 
 ' ' May Christ accept my children for his 
 service, and sanctify them for it ! My bless- 
 ing on my wife. May God comfort her ! If 
 my watch comes back after I am cut off it 
 belongs to Agnes; if my sextant, it is 
 Robert's; the Paris medal to Thomas, 
 and the double-barreled gun to Zouza. Be 
 a father to the fatherless and a husband 
 to the widow, for Jesus' sake. The Boers, 
 by taking possession of all my goods, 
 have saved me the trouble of making a 
 will." 
 
 41 
 
-IIXAV. V/J. ^TX^O<JXV^l~l>3 
 
 On November ii, 1853, he left Linyanti, 
 almost in tire center of lower Africa, and 
 seven months later arrived at St. Paul de 
 Loanda, on the west coast. There is no 
 way to describe this journey. It is full of in- 
 cident. But the most impressive thing about 
 it all was the horrors of the slave trade as 
 witnessed on this long journey. Every day 
 -he saw families torn asunder, dead bodies 
 along the way, gangs chained and yoked, 
 skeletons grinning against the trees and by 
 the roadside. As he rowed along on the 
 river Shire the paddles of his boat were 
 clogged in the morning with the bodies of 
 women and children who had died in the 
 slave-chained gangs and been thrown into 
 the river at night. The air was thick with 
 vultures following them. He counted 
 bodies in the stream by the score as they 
 came floating down. He found the horrible 
 system intrenched from the center of the 
 continent to the coast. It is scarcely sur- 
 prising, therefore, that he felt that the ex- 
 posure of this gigantic iniquity must be his 
 principal work. So he writes to his father 
 that he cannot settle down to teach and 
 train and turn a few souls to Christ. The 
 conversion of a few cannot be put into the 
 
 42 
 
\ 
 
 David Livingstone 
 
 scale against the truth spread over the 
 whole country. This lonely missionary 
 opening up a highway across the continent 
 for commerce, for civilization, for the Gos- 
 pel, rose to the stature of a statesman. 
 Beautiful incidents occurred on this trip 
 showing the devotion of his men. Listen: 
 " Some of my men proposed to return 
 home, and the prospect of being obliged to 
 turn back from the threshold of the Portu- 
 guese settlements distressed me exceed- 
 ingly. After ttsing all my powers of per- 
 suasion I declared that if they now returned 
 I should go on alone, and, returning into 
 my little tent, I lifted up my heart to Him 
 who hears the sighing of the soul. Pres- 
 ently the headman came in. ' Do not be 
 disheartened, ' he said ; ' we will never leave- 
 you. Wherever you lead we will follow. 
 Our remarks were only made on account of 
 the injustice of these people.' Others fol- 
 lowed, and with the most artless simplicity 
 of manner told me to be comforted — ■' they 
 were all my children; they knew no one 
 but Sekeletu and me, and would die for 
 me ; they had spoken in bitterness of spirit, 
 feeling they could do nothing.' " 
 
 It was seven months before he finally 
 
 43 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 reached the west coast. The hardships had 
 been incredible. Thirty attacks o_f fever 
 had so weakened him that he could scarcely 
 mount his ox or hold an instrument for a 
 simple calculation. Once more, near the 
 end, the hearts of his men began to fail, 
 and they hinted their doubts to him, and 
 he said : "If you suspect me you can return, 
 for I am as ignorant of Loanda as you. 
 But nothing will happen to you but hap- 
 pens to me.' We have stood by each other 
 hitherto, and will do so until the last." 
 When they reached Loanda LiAdngstone 
 was poor and ragged, a skeleton, almost 
 consumed with dysentery and famine. It 
 seemed for weeks that he could see nothing 
 but visions of naked men with spears and 
 clubs, bodies of slaves dead and dying, pes- 
 tilence walking at noonday, destruction 
 wasting at midnight, a land covered with 
 skeletons, preyed on by fever, looted by the 
 slave driver, appealing hands everywhere, 
 and no deliverer, no physician. 
 
 When he reached the coast a Portuguese 
 gentleman gave him a suit of clothes, and 
 Livingstone blessed him in the name of Him 
 who said, " I was naked, and ye clothed 
 me." Dr. Gabriel, the English commis- 
 
 44 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 sioner for the suppression of the slave 
 trade, received him with the utmost kind- 
 ness, giving him his own bed, of which 
 Livingstone said : ' ' Never shall I forget 
 the luxurious pleasure I enjoyed in feeling 
 myself again on a good English bed after 
 six months' sleeping on the ground." And 
 yet great disappointment awaited him here. 
 There were no letters from home, no ti- 
 dings from family or friends. An English 
 vessel lay in the harbor and a berth was of- 
 fered him. No one would have complain.ed 
 if he had accepted the opportunity to go 
 home. He prepared his journals, made 
 reports and observations, put them aboard 
 the Forerunner, turned his back on the ship 
 and let it set sail. The ship was lost off 
 Madeira, and all her passengers perished 
 but one. Of course, all Livingstone's papers 
 were lost. Upon hearing of it he stopped, 
 reproduced his dispatches and maps. It 
 was like Carlyle's rewriting his French 
 Revolution after its destruction in Mill's 
 household. Why did he not go home? He 
 ■had promised the natives that he would see 
 them home. He had pledged his word to 
 Sekeletu that he would return with the men, 
 
 and his word to the black men of Africa 
 4 46 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 was just as sacred as it would have been if 
 pledged to the queen. He kept it as faith- 
 fully as an oath made to Almighty God. It 
 involved a journey nearly two years in 
 length, a line of march two thousand miles 
 long, through jungles, swamps, and desert, 
 through scenes of surpassing beauty. But 
 it was two years from that day before he 
 came out on the east coast at Quilimane, 
 and from this time he was the best known, 
 best loved, and most perfectly trusted man 
 in Africa. Everywhere and every day he 
 had preached. He had healed the sick of 
 their diseases. He had discovered the Vic- 
 toria Falls and the two magnificent ranges 
 which were free from the fever and the fly. 
 At the junction of the Loangwa and Zam- 
 bezi rivers he thought that his end had 
 come, and he writes in his diary, " O Jesus, 
 grant me reliance on thy powerful hand 
 and resignation to thy will." Then, think- 
 ing of home and of what he might say if he 
 could get back to England, he adds; " But 
 wilt thou not permit me to plead for Africa? 
 See, Lord, how the heathen rise up against 
 me, as against thy Son. A guilty, weak, 
 andhelpless worm, on thy kind arms I fall." 
 Then the Scotch pluck asserts itself, and he 
 
 46 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 writes : " Should such a man as I flee ! Nay, 
 verily, I shall take observations of latitude 
 and longitude to-night, though they be my 
 last. I feel quite calm now, thank God. 
 O Lord, remember me and thy cause in 
 Africa." And from the perils of this day 
 the Lord delivered him, and he was able to 
 make his report, transmitting to the Lon- 
 don societies a map of Central Africa, a 
 map of the highest value. 
 
 At this very time Sir Roderick Murchison 
 writes him of the honor paid him by the 
 Royal Geographical Society for the great- 
 est triumph in geographical research effected 
 in our times, and tells him why the society 
 has conferred its gold medal upon him. 
 But the heart of the doctor is larger -than 
 the heart of the explorer, and his chief hu- 
 man joy was that he had discovered what 
 he believed to be a remedy for the deadly 
 fever. 
 
 It was now sixteen years since he had left 
 England, and there was no reason why he 
 should not return. So, on tlie 9th of Decem- 
 ber, 1856, he reached his home once more, 
 and found himself almost the most famous 
 man in London. Honors poured upon him 
 
 enough to turn a man's head. The Royal 
 47 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Society held a special meeting of welcome. 
 He was introduced as the man who had 
 traveled over eleven thousand miles of Afri- 
 can ground, had done incalculable service in 
 the way of exploration, had opened a whole 
 world of immortal souls to the Gospel, and 
 had glorified the British name by faithfull}- 
 keeping his word to the black men to whom 
 he had given it. Mrs. Livingstone stood 
 by his side, and Lord Shaftesbury paid her 
 equal tribute with her husband, and all Eng- 
 land said Amen. Livingstone was pre- 
 sented to the royal family, and honored 
 with the freedom of London. Everywhere 
 the most distinguished honors Avere paid 
 him. He remained in England less than 
 two years, working night and day upon his 
 books, dedicating the profits immediately to 
 the cause of opening Africa. But all the 
 time he was thinking, not of England, but 
 of the Dark Continent. He said of himself 
 and his wife, " AVhoever stays, we will go." 
 He had further plans of exploration. ' ' But 
 always," as he writes, " the end of the ex- 
 ploration is the beginning of the enterprise." 
 His own countr}' — Scotland — honored him 
 with the freedom of its cities. Its univer- 
 sities gavehim theirhighest degrees. There 
 
 48 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 were public receptions and a public testi- 
 monial. There were farewell meetings, at- 
 tended by nobles and scholars, and at last, 
 as he started away. Sir Roderick Murchison 
 said : ' ' Notwithstanding months of lauda- 
 tion and a shower of all university honors, 
 he is the same honest, true-hearted David 
 Livingstone as when he came forth from the 
 wilds of Africa." At Cambridge he de- 
 livered a memorable address, in which he 
 said : " It is deplorable to think that one of 
 the noblest of our missionary bodies, the 
 Church Missionary Society, is compelled to 
 send to Germany for missionaries. The sort 
 of men who are wanted for missionaries are 
 such as I see before me. I beg to direct 
 your attention to Africa. I know that in a 
 few years I shall be cut off in that country 
 which is now open. Do not let it be shut 
 again. I go back to Africa to try to open a 
 path for commerce and Christianity. Do 
 you carry out the work which I have begun. 
 I leave it with you." 
 
 Sixteen months he remained at home, 
 and went away with the net result of his 
 visit, as was said at the farewell dinner, that 
 he had found Africa the Dark Continent, 
 and left it the most interesting part of the 
 
 49 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 globe to Englishmen. He went back as the 
 queen's consul, wearing the gold band about 
 his cap, but he went once more for the same 
 old enterprise. A public reception was 
 ■ given him at Cape Town, where six years 
 before they had hated him. In 1858 he ex- 
 plored the Zambezi, in '59 the Shire, in '60 
 he discovei-ed Lake Nyassa, and in '61 he 
 explored the river Rovuma. He estab- 
 lished the sites of mission stations, preached 
 constantly, and carried on a religious and 
 scientific correspondence with the leading 
 societies of England. His purpose, recorded 
 away back at the beginning, grew stronger 
 rather than weaker. In 1862 he preached 
 to the tribes on the shores of Lake Nyassa. 
 He found that twenty thousand slaves were 
 dragged from that region alone and sold at 
 Zanzibar, and he learned that as many more 
 were cruelly murdered. His letters thrilled' 
 the civilized world as he exposed the iniq- 
 uity of this horrid traffic. 
 
 Mrs. Livingstone returned to Scotland in 
 1859, placed the children in school, and in 
 1862 rejoined her husband in Africa. For 
 the' Dark Continent they intended to live 
 and die together, but less than six months 
 after her return her health gave way, and 
 
 50 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 on the banks of the Shire the daughter of 
 Robert Moffat, the wife of David Living- 
 stone, lay down to her everlasting rest. 
 Then the man who had never feared the 
 face of beast or foe, who had faced death 
 countless times, cried out like- a stricken 
 child, " For the first time in my life I want 
 to die. " The body of Mary Livingstone was 
 buried under a baobab tree at Shupanga. 
 But Livingstone's work was not done. Even 
 grief must not hinder him from doing it. He 
 must penetrate to the fountains of the Nile, 
 and he must break up the infamous slave 
 trade. In 1 864 he returned to London again, 
 with two objects in view: the exposure of 
 the slave trade, and the securing of means 
 with which to open a new mission above the 
 Portuguese lines. On the first of August, 
 1864, he was with his mother and children 
 at Hamilton. Only his eldest boy, Robert, 
 a boy of eighteen, was absent. The boy 
 had gone to Natal in the hope of reaching 
 his father. Failing in that, he had crossed 
 to America, enlisted in the Federal army, 
 had been badly wounded, taken prisoner, 
 died at last in the hospital, and was buried 
 in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. 
 
 There is something very fitting in all that. 
 . 51 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 The father was giving his life for the per- 
 fect liberty of the black man in the Dark 
 Continent ; the boy giving his for the lib- 
 erty of the black man and the integrity of 
 the nation, and was buried at last in the 
 spot over which sounded Lincoln's immortal 
 words. 
 
 Livingstone was everywhere received with 
 the highest honors. He was with the Turk- 
 ish ambassador when the crowd cheered, 
 and Livingstone said, ' ' These cheers are 
 for you." And the ambassador replied, 
 ' ' No, I am only what my master made me ; 
 you are what you made yourself." Back 
 again after a few months in 1866, he reached 
 the African coast, ascended the Rovuma, 
 disappeared for three years, visited Lakes 
 Meroe and Tanganyika. Meantime he 
 preached the Gospel to thousands and 
 tens of thousands. He still found the vil- 
 lages of which Moffat had spoken to him 
 years before, where the name of Jesus had 
 never been spoken . And this was his faith : 
 "It is a mistake to suppose that God is 
 too exalted to not'ice our smallest affairs. 
 A general attends to the smallest details 
 of his army. A sparrow cannot fall to the 
 
 ground without your Father. With his 
 52 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 ever-loving eye upon me I may truly go 
 to the front with the message of peace and 
 good will." The Portuguese intercepted 
 his letters and cut off his supplies. He 
 writes that he is near the source of the 
 Nile, and possibly in the wilderness where 
 Moses once was. 
 
 In 1 87 1 his strength utterly failed. His 
 feet ulcerated, his teeth came out, he lay 
 in his low hut for eighty days, and read his 
 Bible four times through. He writes upon 
 the fly leaf, ' ' No letters for three years. I 
 have a sore longing to finish and go home, 
 if God wills." Relief, letters, and supplies 
 had all been sent to him, but he never re- 
 ceived them. Many of the letters that he 
 wrote never reached their destination. But 
 he had accomplished his purpose. He had 
 exposed the slave trade. In 1871 he reached 
 Ujiji, a worn, exhausted, skeleton of a man. 
 The world had not heard from him for years, 
 and the anxious question everywhere was, 
 " Is he dead or alive? " The Royal Society 
 sent out a search expedition. 
 
 One day Henry M. Stanley was sitting at 
 
 a hotel in Madrid, when a telegram was 
 
 handed to him which read : " Come to Paris 
 
 on important business. Bennett." On his 
 53 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 arrival Mr. Bennett said, "Where do you 
 think Livingstone is? " The correspond- 
 ent could not tell — could not tell whether 
 he was alive, of course. " Well," said Mr.' 
 Bennett, " I think he is alive and that he 
 may be found, and I am going to send you 
 to find him." And this was the order: 
 "Take what money you want, but find 
 Livingstone." In January, 1871, Stanley 
 reached Zanzibar, and began to organize his 
 expedition. For eleven months this deter- 
 mined man went on through incredible 
 hardships. He coaxed the weary, whipped - 
 the stubborn. The feet of some were bleed- 
 ing from thorns ; others foil by the way, 
 but on they went. Once in his journey 
 - Stanley wrote : ' ' No living man shall stop 
 me. Only death can prevent me ; but death 
 — not even this. I shall not die ; I will not 
 die; I cannot die. Something tells me I shall 
 find him. And write it larger, find him, FIND 
 him!" Even the words are inspiring. One 
 day a caravan passed and reported that a 
 white man had just reached Ujiji. Stan- 
 ley's heart thumped as he asked them, " Was 
 he young or old? " " He is old: he has 
 white hair on his face; he is sick." So 
 
 Stanley pushed on night and day until they 
 54 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 came in sight of Ujiji. " Unfurl the flags 
 and load the guns," said Stanley, his nerves 
 quivering- with excitement. And the flags 
 floated out, and the guns thundered over 
 the plain. And they were answered by hun- 
 dreds of Africans with shouts. Suddenly 
 Stanley heard a voice say, in good English, 
 " Good morning, sir." .He was startled, 
 and asked abruptly, " Who the mischief are 
 you? " "I am Susi, the servant of Dr. Liv- 
 ingstone." Then a thrill went through 
 Stanley's soul, and all the fatigues and the 
 perils of that year were forgotten. Let 
 Stanley tell the story himself : 
 
 ' ' First his two servants appeared ; by 
 and by the doctor. As I advanced slowly 
 toward him I noticed he was pale, looked 
 wearied, had a gray beard, wore a bluish cap 
 with a faded gold band around it, had on a 
 red-sleeved waistcoat and a pair of gray 
 tweed trousers. I would have run to him, 
 only I was a coward ; would have embraced 
 him, only did not know how he would re- 
 ceive me. So I did what cowardice and false 
 pride suggested, walked deliberately to him, 
 took off my hat and said, ' Dr. Livingstone, 
 I presume? ' ' Yes,' said he,with a kind smile, 
 lifting his cap. I replaced my hat, he his 
 
 " 65 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 cap, and we grasped hands. And I said,' I 
 thank God I am permitted to see you,' and 
 he answered, ' I feel thankful that I am here 
 to welcome you.' 
 
 Of course Stanley was supplied with all 
 that the good man needed. He brought 
 Livingstone letters for which he had pa- 
 tiently waited for years. He brought him 
 news. It was two full years since Living- 
 stone had heard anything from Europe. 
 The coming of Stanley revived Livingstone's 
 spirits. 
 
 Stanley remained with him for months. 
 The correspondent of the New York Herald 
 took his first lessons in exploration at the 
 hands of the master. He grew into enthu- 
 siasm and hero worship. He wrote: "You 
 may take any point in Dr. Livingstone's 
 character and analyze it carefully, and I 
 will challenge any man to find a fault in 
 it." And he had discovered Livingstone's 
 secret. "His religion," he writes, "is a 
 constant, earnest, sincere practice. It is 
 neither demonstrative nor loud, but mani- 
 fests itself in a quiet, practical way, and is 
 always at work. In him religion exhibits 
 its loveliest features ; it governs his conduct, 
 not only toward his servants, but toward 
 
 56 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 the natives, the bigoted Mohammedans, and 
 all who come in contact with him. Without it 
 Livingstone, with his ardent temperament, 
 his enthusiasm, his high spirit and courage, 
 must have been uncompanionable and a hard 
 master. Religion has tamed him and made 
 him a Christian gentleman, the most com- 
 panionable of men and indulgent of mas- 
 ters." Stanley received and mastered a true 
 lesson in the treatment of natives. He tried 
 to induce the doctor to go home with him. 
 But Livingstone's heart was resolute. The 
 old explorer set his face as a flint. He did 
 not feel that his work was done. Stanley 
 started eastward, and the old man in the 
 gray clothes, with bended head and slow 
 steps, returned to his solitude. " I took one 
 more look at him," said Stanley. " He was 
 standing near the gate of Kwihaha, with 
 his servants near him. I waved my hand- 
 kerchief to him, and he responded by lifting 
 his cap." This was Livingstone's last sight 
 of a white man. The old world has borne 
 on her surface few nobler or more pathetic 
 figures since time began. 
 
 In 1S72, March 19, he writes: " My birth- 
 day! My Jesus, my King, my Life, my 
 All! I again dedicate my whole self to 
 
 51 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 thee. Accept me. And grant, O gracious 
 Father, that ere this year is gone I may 
 finish my work. In Jesus's name I ask it. 
 Amen." 
 
 May I, he writes: "Finished a letter to 
 the New York Herald to elicit American zeal 
 to stop the east coast slave trade. I pray for 
 a blessing upon it from the All-Gracious." 
 The last sentence of this letter is the one 
 finally inscribed on Livingstone's tornb. 
 "All I can add in my loneliness," it runs, 
 ' ' is, May Heaven's rich blessing come 
 down on everyone — American, English, 
 Turk — who will help to heal this open sore 
 of the world! " 
 
 Weary months followed — months of plans, 
 of travels, of toils, of hardships — and the 
 last of April, 1873, a year after Stanley had 
 left him. he had reached the village of Ilala, 
 at the southern end of Lake Bangweolo. 
 He had made his observations and written 
 his journal carefully ; had drawn maps and 
 given his orders. The heroic spirit was 
 still struggling to finish the heroic work. 
 But on the morning of the first of May, 
 1873, at four o'clock, the boy who lay at his 
 door called in alarm for Susi, fearing their 
 master was dead. " By the candle still 
 
 58 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 burning they saw him, not in bed, but kneel- 
 ing at the bedside with his head buried in 
 his hands upon the pillow. The sad yet 
 not unexpected truth soon became evident ; 
 he had passed away without a single at- 
 tendant on the farthest of all his journeys. 
 But he had died in the act of prayer — prayer 
 offered in that reverential attitude about 
 which he was always so particular; com- 
 mending his own spirit, with all his dear 
 ones, as was his wont, into the hands of his 
 Saviour; and commending Africa — his own 
 dear Africa — with all her woes and sins and 
 wrongs, to the Avenger of the oppressed 
 and the Redeemer of the lost." 
 
 The behavior of his African servants 
 after his death is beyond all praise. First, 
 they removed and buried his heart. Then 
 they dried his body in the sun, wrapped it 
 in cloths, lashed it to a pole, and set out on 
 their homeward march. It was a weary 
 journey; exposures, sickness, oppositions, 
 all combined to make it difficult. Nine 
 weary months tested their steadfastness and 
 devotion, and on Saturday, April i8, 1874, 
 nearly a year after his death, the remains 
 of the great missionary were committed to 
 
 their resting place in Westminster Abbey. 
 59 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 The black slab that marks the end of the 
 pilgrimage bears this inscription : 
 
 Brought by Faithful Hands 
 
 Over Land and Sea, 
 
 Here Rests 
 
 DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 
 
 Missionary, Traveler, Philanthropist. 
 
 Born March 19, 1813, 
 
 At Biantyre, Lanarkshire. 
 
 Died May i, 1873, 
 
 At Chitambo's Village, Ilala. 
 
 For thirty years his life was spent in an unwearied 
 effort to evangelize the native races, to explore the un- 
 discovered secrets, and abolish the desolating slave trade 
 of CentraL Africa, and where, with his last words, he 
 wrote : 
 
 " All I can add in my loneliness is. May Heaven's rich 
 blessing come down on everyone — American, English, 
 Turk — who will help to heal this open sore of the 
 world." 
 
 The tributes are all of a kind. This 
 from Sir Bartle Frere will answer as a speci- 
 me'n of all the rest : 
 
 "As a whole, the work of his life will 
 surely be held up in ages to come as one of 
 singular nobleness of design and of un- 
 flinching energy and self-sacrifice in execu- 
 tion. It will be long ere anj- one man will 
 be able to open so large an extent of un- 
 known land to civilized mankind ; yet 
 
 GO 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 longer, perhaps, ere we find a brighter ex- 
 ample of a life of such continued and useful 
 self-devotion to a noble cause. I could 
 hardly venture to describe my estimate of 
 his character as a Christian, further than by 
 saying that I never met a man who fulfilled 
 more completely my idea of a perfect 
 Christian gentleman, actuated in what he 
 thought and said and did by the highest and 
 most chivalrous spirit, modeled on the pre- 
 cepts of his great Master and Exemplar." 
 
 His heart lies buried under the tree in 
 Ilala, his bones in Westminster Abbey; 
 but ' ' the end of the exploration is the be- 
 ginning of the enterprise," and his life goes 
 steadily on. Long ago Melville B. Cox 
 wrote: "Though a thousand die, let not 
 Africa be given up." And that word, with 
 Livingstone's last prayer there, is as quick 
 and powerful in the Church as it has ever 
 been. Such men as Livingstone constitute 
 Christianity's last answer to heathenism. 
 Christianity makes such men as this. This 
 is why it is worth while to send Christianity 
 to all the world. But Christianity must go 
 in the person of such men as this. It is 
 said that the Protestant Church is liberal in 
 its use of Bibles, and the Roman Catholic 
 
 5 61 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Church liberal in its use of men. The 
 Church which shall redeem Africa must be 
 liberal with both. We must send our men, 
 living epistles, with the open book in their 
 hands. The methods of Livingstone and 
 the spirit of Livingstone have perpetual 
 value for the evangelization of that Dark 
 Continent. In Stanley's great address be- 
 fore the Methodist preachers of New York 
 he used these words: 
 
 " Now, cast your eye at the south part of 
 Africa. There the European has come, 
 and he is spreading his beliefs and his 
 creeds and his religion in like manner, and 
 introducing his system of civilization ; and 
 tliey are advancing steadily and slowly to- 
 ward the equatorial region, until by and by 
 they are arrested in like manner as they 
 come under the influence of the Zambezi. 
 But one bold man, a missionary, left the 
 ranks of those who were pressing on toward 
 the north, and pushed on and on ttntil he 
 came to the Zambezi. He felt that influ- 
 ence, but, undaunted, he pressed on and 
 crossed Africa to St. Paul de Loanda. He 
 returned again with his native followers to 
 Linyanti, and the chief of the Makololo 
 gave him permission to take them to the 
 
 62 
 
David Livingstone 
 
 seacoast. The faithful natives of inner 
 Africa waited for the return of their master 
 near the banks of the Zambezi, close to the 
 sea. Livingstone went home, received due 
 honor for what he had done, and returned 
 to Africa. He took up his march back, and 
 made journeys, and finally died in Ilala, at 
 the southern end of Lake Bangweolo. But 
 if you look at the illustration of his route 
 you will see that it is the rude figure of the 
 cross. And now you may be able to draw 
 the moral point I have to tell you. You 
 have asked me what have been the causes 
 of missionaries being imperiled. Wherever 
 that good man went he was received. A 
 few rejected him, but the majority listened 
 to him calmly and kindly, and some of them 
 felt quite ready to be of his profession and 
 of his belief. But the words that he 
 dropped were similar to those of the angels 
 heard over Bethlehem, ' Peace on earth, 
 good will to men.' On the other hand, in 
 northern Africa it was an attempt to in- 
 vade by violence, and it failed, and there 
 was not one that had the courage to step 
 out of the ranks and press on. They re- 
 turned. But this lone missionary pressed 
 on and on until he had drawn the rude 
 
 63 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 figure of a cross on the southern continent of 
 Africa, and then he said with his dying 
 words : ' All I can add in my loneliness is, 
 May Heaven's rich blessing come down on 
 everyone — American, English, Turk — who 
 will help to heal this open sore of the 
 world.' And the 'cross turns not back.' 
 The open sore will be healed. Africa will 
 be redeemed." 
 
 64 
 
n 
 
 aieyanber flO. flDacfta^, tbe Ibero 
 of "Uganda 
 
 BY 
 
 J. T. Gracey, D.D 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 II 
 Alexander M. Mackay,* the Hera of Uganda 
 
 A STUDENT of the operations of divine 
 Providence is frequently surprised with the 
 marvelous connections established between 
 men and events widely separated from each 
 other by place and time. A striking illus- 
 tration of this, or rather, many such, are 
 found in the modern history of missions on 
 the continent of Africa, the grouping of 
 which requires a bold hand. 
 
 A little African lad is stolen by slavers 
 from his home in West Africa, allotted to a 
 chief, swapped for a horse, sold again in 
 the slave market, and again to Portuguese 
 slavers, shipped for foreign parts, captured 
 and released by a British man-of-war, sent 
 to school at Sierra Leone, educated for the 
 ministry, becomes Bishop of the Niger 
 and Archdeacon of the English Church. 
 He was a lad of a dozen years on the deck 
 of the man-of-war which captured the 
 slaver. There was on this vessel a young 
 
 *Mackay is pronounced Mac-kay', the emphasis being on 
 the last syllable. 
 
 67 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 officer, whose son, George Shergold Smith, 
 furnishes a link in this story wliich will be 
 mentioned later on. 
 
 The noble life of Adjai, the slaye boy- 
 baptized as Samuel Crowther, who became 
 Bishop of the Niger, was devoted to mis- 
 sionary work on the west coast of Africa 
 and iip the valley of the Niger ; while far 
 away on the east coast of the continent, dis- 
 tant as far as San Francisco from Ireland, 
 in Abyssinia, another young missionary, 
 John Ludwig Krapf, entered upon his work 
 almost simultaneously with Samuel Crow- 
 ther on the west coast, who had as im- 
 portant a providential work to perform in 
 the redemption of Africa as any man whose 
 biography has been given to the world. 
 He was a great linguist, a great explorer, 
 who endured exposure, suffering, and sick- 
 ness, was abandoned by his servants in an 
 enemy's country, came well-nigh dying of 
 famine, buried his wife and child among 
 wild tribes, nevertheless prosecuted his 
 mission from the northeast coast into the 
 Galla country, and dying, bequeathed ' ' to 
 every missionary coming to East Africa " 
 the "idea of a chain of missions" across 
 the entire "Dark Continent." " Every- 
 
 68 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 one," he wrote, " who is a real patriot will 
 open this bequest and take his portion out 
 of it as a fellow-partaker of the tribulation, 
 of the patience, and of the kingdom of our 
 God." 
 
 Krapf did not quail at the cost. He said, 
 "The first resident of the new mission ground 
 is a dead person of the missionary circle ; 
 our God bids us first build a cemetery before 
 we build a church or dwelling house, show- 
 ing us by this lesson that the resurrection 
 of East Africa must be effected by our own 
 destruction." When three mechanics died 
 he wrote: "'That is fine business,' you 
 will say, ' the heavy part of the army is 
 beaten, and the light division completely 
 unnerved, and yet you will conquer Africa, 
 will draw a chain of missions between the 
 east and the west." 
 
 But Crowther at the west and Krapf at 
 the east welded the first links of that chain 
 which in the succeeding half-century were 
 destined to be joined to others till the whole 
 is now in sight of being constructed. 
 
 Krapf's explorations conduced to the 
 greater acquaintance with the interior of 
 northern Africa. But they did far more. 
 The discovery of snow-capped mountains, 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 where the maps had shown only sandy des- 
 ert, excited European geographers, but they 
 did not half so much arouse Europe as did 
 his hints gathered from natives from time 
 to time about the existence of a great lake 
 which they declared could not be traversed 
 from end to end in a hundred days. This 
 information stirred the mind of western 
 Europe. It resulted in the expedition of 
 Burton and Speke to discover the sources 
 of the Nile, and the ultimate revealing of 
 the great chain of lakes so familiar to us 
 now, of East Central Africa, one of which — 
 Nyassa — was reached also by Livingstone 
 from the south. In 1861 Speke and Grant 
 explored the Nyanza, naming it Victoria 
 Lake, and showed the Nile flowing out of 
 it northward. It is a great inland sea, 
 3,300 feet above sea-level, covering a terri- 
 tory " larger than that of Scotland." Stan- 
 ley came a little later to find the hut where 
 Livingstone had died on his knees, to turn 
 Mtesa, King of Uganda, from Mohammed- 
 anism to Christianity, and to appeal to 
 Christendom to send missionaries into his 
 kingdom ; and then, still later, to discover 
 the Congo and reveal a water highway 
 
 ' ' from salt sea to salt sea." All this power- 
 70 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 fully stirred the Christians of western Eu- 
 rope, and a vigorous missionary policy for 
 the lake region of East Central Africa was 
 inaugurated. 
 
 We return for a moment to the west coast 
 to show another " link " in the providential 
 development of this transcontinental chain 
 of missions. We have alluded to the young 
 officer on the man-of-war which rescued the 
 slave boy who became a bishop in the great 
 Church of England. When the Church of 
 England determined on attempting the 
 great lake missions of East Central Africa, 
 and looked about for a competent person to 
 organize and conduct their expedition, in 
 whom should they find their agent but in a 
 son of the young officer of the British man- 
 of-war which set the little slave lad free on 
 the west coast? This was none other than 
 Lieutenant George Shergold Smith, a name 
 sacred forever in missionary history. He 
 had gained experience in campaigning in 
 Africa in the Ashantee war ; later became a 
 student of theology in England, and in de- 
 claring his love for the African said to the 
 Society, ' ' Send me to Africa. I am willing 
 to take the lowest place." This son of the 
 
 Royal Navy officer, now a young captain 
 11 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 and theological student, was immediately 
 joined by another, the son of a Free Church> 
 of Scotland minister — Alexander M. Mackay 
 — whose story it is proposed now briefly to 
 sketch. 
 
 " Mackay of Uganda," as he is familiarly 
 spoken of, was never in "Orders" as a 
 minister of the Gospel, but his illustrious ex- 
 ample as a layman furnishes inspiration to a 
 far more numerous company than that of 
 the ministry, and will impel others who have 
 never felt called of the Holy Ghost to take 
 upon them the vows of the sacred office to 
 join the great band of clerical workers. 
 There are indications that the body of the 
 Church — laymen — are to find vast opportu- 
 nity in the missionary fields of the world, 
 along not only professional lines as physi- 
 cians and educators, but also along well- 
 nigh all the vocations as mechanics and 
 tradesmen, as engineers, inventors, and 
 " pathfinders," in the introduction of Chris- 
 tian civilization as a handmaid to the Gospel 
 minister. The career of Mackay of Uganda 
 should be carefully considered by all ad- 
 ministrators of missionary schemes, for the 
 light it will shed on the great questions con- 
 nected with the employment of lay mission- 
 72 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 aries, in all countries — eminently in Africa. 
 But Mackay's character and career will re- 
 pay close examination by the entire body of 
 the laity of the Christian Churches, specially 
 by young men, as affording them help in 
 character-building. The heroic element is 
 so prominent, the experiences so thrilling at_ 
 times, and the noble balance of all manly 
 qualities so remarkable, that, in fact, there 
 is no class of readers who will not be in- 
 structed and interested by the life story of 
 this man, who, when gauged by his mighty 
 achievements, " was not too young to die." 
 Alexander M. Mackay was born in the 
 village of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 
 October 13, 1849. His father. Rev. Alex- 
 ander Mackay, LL.D., was a fine specimen 
 of the " plain living, high thinking " north- 
 ern Scotch ; the manse was the resort of 
 other "high thinkers," brainy and brawny 
 men, and his sister, in the Preface to the 
 biography of her brother, says of the father, 
 his " painstaking interest in the training 
 and early education of his children laid the 
 foundation of the noble self-sacrificing life " 
 of this pioneer missionary of the Church 
 Missionary Society of Uganda. At three 
 years of age we find the subject of our sketch 
 
 13 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 reading the New Testament ; at seven, Par- 
 adise Lost, Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the 
 Roman Empire, and kindred literature, and 
 for four years thereafter he was a great de- 
 vourer of books. His father tauglit him 
 geography, astronomy, and geometry. From 
 the age of eleven till he was thirteen his in- 
 terest was diverted from books to engines, 
 blacksmithing, and the trades; at thirteen 
 his interest in book study revived, and he 
 made progress in mathematics, but was at 
 odd bits of time interested in photography, 
 shipbuilding, and the like. His mother 
 died when he was sixteen, charging him to 
 search the Scriptures. At eighteen he en- 
 tered a teacher's training college, and after- 
 ward studied applied mechanics, engineer- 
 ing, higher mathematics, physics, and, one 
 year, surveying and fortification. He was 
 twenty-four years old when he went to Ger- 
 many, where he became the draughtsman 
 of a large engineering establishment at Ber- 
 lin. He was intent on spreading a knowl- 
 edge of evangelical truth among the Ger- 
 man people while prosecuting his studies 
 and occupied with his employment. In 1875, 
 when twenty-six years of age, he offered 
 
 himself for service in missionary work in 
 74 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 Mombasa, but the place was already filled. 
 He again offered himself for service in Af- 
 rica, when Stanley's call for men for Uganda 
 reached him in Germany. The Church of 
 England Missionary Society accepted him 
 gladly, the n^xt candidate after Lieutenant 
 Smith, and the party left England April 25, 
 1876, for Lake Nyassa. 
 
 There could be no question as to the 
 motive which inspired him in tendering Iris 
 services to the Missionary Society. Zinzen- 
 dorf cried out, " I have but one passion; it 
 is He, He alone." " God first put into my 
 heart a compassion for the poor souls of 
 .these Indians," says the devoted Eliot. " I 
 remembered a time, out in the woods back 
 of the Andover Seminary," wrote Judson, 
 "when I was almost disheartened. Every- 
 thing looked dark. No one had gone out 
 from this country. The way was not open. 
 The field was far distant and in an un- 
 healthy climate. I knew not what to do. 
 All at once that ' last command ' seemed to 
 come to my heart directly from heaven. I 
 could doubt no longer, but determined on 
 the spot to obey it at all hazards for the 
 sake of pleasing the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 Thus has it been with all great mission- 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 ary souls. Thus was it with the young 
 engineer Mackay. He was pushing the 
 acquisition of his knowledge in this secular 
 line, but his whole soul "burned for the 
 deliverance of Africa." 
 
 The heroic element dominated him from 
 the start. "Though a thousand fall, let 
 not Africa be given up," said the devoted 
 Melville B. Cox, when, as the first Ameri- 
 can Methodist missionary to any foreign 
 country, he was starting for Africa. And 
 thus Mackay's words on the threshold of 
 his departure for Uganda rank among the 
 great utterances of , the world's greatest 
 souls. The farewell interview of the repre- 
 sentatives of the Missionary Society under 
 whose auspices he and seven others were 
 about departing as notable missionary 
 " pathfinders "was about concluded. They 
 had listened to tender words of encourage- 
 ment and received their final instructions, 
 delivered by Rev. Henry Wright, the hon- 
 orary secretary. Each in turn made re- 
 sponse. Mackay came last because he was 
 the youngest of the invincible band. His 
 words are worthy to be written in gold. 
 " There is one thing," he said, "which my 
 brethren have not said, and which I want 
 
 76 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 to say. I want to remind the committee 
 tliat within six months they will probably 
 hear that one of tts is dead." The words 
 startled everyone present, and there was 
 profound silence. " Yes," he resumed, "is 
 it at all likely that eight Englishmen should 
 start for Central Africa and all be alive six 
 months after? One of us at least — it may 
 be I — will surely fall, before that. But 
 what I want to say is this," and the solem- 
 nity deepened as he concluded, " when the 
 news comes do not be cast down', but send 
 some one else immediately to take the va- 
 cant place." The soldiers in the great 
 charge of Balaklava who rode into the 
 "jaws, of death," with "cannon to right 
 of them, cannon to left of them, cannon 
 -in front of them," were brave and dis- 
 ciplined, and the " rush " was under the 
 immediate passion of the moment, but 
 Mackay was not in the " fray; " there was 
 no great audience ; it was in a quiet mis- 
 sionary committee room in Salisbury Square, 
 London, that he uttered these cool words 
 of noblest courage and consecration. 
 
 Of the eight who started on that mission 
 from the quiet little mission room in Lon- 
 don only three ever reached their destina- 
 6 77 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 tion on the shores of Lake Nyassa. James 
 Robertson, a skilled artisan, died of fever 
 shortly after his arrival on the coast of 
 Africa, before the last of the party started 
 inward. It was again true, as in Krapf's 
 case, ' ' the first resident " was a dead per- 
 son of the missionary circle. The medical 
 member of the expedition. Dr. John Smith, 
 soon after succumbed to sickness, and the 
 leader of the expedition, Lieutenant George 
 Shergold Smith, son of the Royal Navy of- 
 ficer who witnessed Samuel Crowther's re- 
 lease, was murdered, and with him Mr. T. 
 O'Neil, second in command of the little 
 craft Daisy, scarcely more than launched on 
 the west side of Lake Nyassa. W. M. Rob- 
 ertson and G. J. Clark returned to England 
 — only two of the original eight were left. 
 Rev. C. T. Wilson on the shore of the lake, 
 and Mackay hundreds of miles away, not 
 yet having reached- the field. 
 
 THE ROAD-BUILDER 
 
 Little idea can be had of an African jun- 
 gle even where forest trees are neither large 
 nor numerous. The thicket of' vines and 
 underwood is such that jSlackay, speaking 
 of the road from the coast to the interior, 
 
 78 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 said he could not "pull a donkey through 
 it." He undertook to construct a rough 
 road for bullock- wagons with only native 
 laborers ignorant of such work. He equipped 
 forty men with American hatchets, English 
 axes, Snider sword-bayonets, picks, spades, 
 and saws, cocoanut-ropes, a small grind- 
 stone, and a donkey load of nails, and for 
 fifty miles cut this road through dense 
 jungle, where even when a tree was " cut 
 down " it would not fall over by reason of 
 the thick creepers clustering in festoons 
 from one tree to another. Over one great 
 ravine he btiilt a bridge hard as iron, to the 
 astonishment of the inhabitants who gath- 
 ered about their fires in the evening to talk 
 about the "big road," which was finished 
 in about a hundred days. Mackay walked 
 backward and forward the two hundred and 
 fifty miles which he constructed, a half- 
 dozen times over. This was done with such 
 food as could be got, and sleeping, as he 
 says, in a cowbyre, a sheepcote, a straw 
 hut not larger than a dog kennel, a hen- 
 house, and often no house at all, caring 
 little which, so he could get tolerably clear 
 of ants and mosquitoes; the black ants he 
 
 declared worse than any pestilence of the 
 79 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 plagues of Egypt. His-English food was ex- 
 hausted because thieves took a fancy to it, 
 and he subsisted on thick porridge, which 
 tasted like sawdust and ashes. He believed 
 this native food might be good enough for 
 Europeans if only the natives were not too 
 greedy to cook it properly, or cleanly enough 
 to keep the sand out of the meal when 
 grinding it. He had through all these months 
 been exposed to the jealousy of native tribes, 
 who looked upon his " big road" as only a 
 highway for Europeans who hated the slave 
 trade. Enormous stretches of the country 
 through which he passed were mercilessly 
 devastated by Arab slave-hunters, great car- 
 avans of whom were carrying tons of ivory 
 to the coast, each with ' ' a string of living 
 little ones trotting on with necks linked to- 
 gether to be disposed of to the highest bid- 
 der at the coast." 
 
 A good deal of the detail of this road- 
 building experience has one way and another 
 been preserved to us, though, like most such 
 explorers, Mackay far preferred making his- 
 tory or civilization to writing about it. 
 Speke was used to say he would rather walk 
 across Africa again than write an account of 
 his first journey, and Mackay declared he 
 
 80 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 would rather brave a hundred days in this 
 unsettled country than set his mind to report 
 the events of a single day. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that Mackay's 
 party had set sail from Teignmouth harbor, 
 March ii, 1876, in the Highland Lassie, an 
 eighty-ton sailing yacht. But Mackay did 
 not sight the Victoria Nyanza till June 12, 
 1878, having, as we have seen, been taken 
 ill on the journey to the coast, and sent back, 
 and, after recovering, set at building two 
 hundred and thirty miles of road from the 
 coast inland to Mpwapwa, which occupied 
 him more than two years, though his chief 
 work was to have been to take out the small 
 steamboat, the Daisy, and set it up on the 
 great Victoria Nyanza. Others did this be- 
 fore Mackay arrived ; six of the members 
 of the mission perished ; and when at length 
 he reached the inland sea he found the 
 little craft sadly out of repair. 
 
 With his first glance at the lake, just be- 
 fore reaching Kager, he shouted ' ' Tha- 
 lassa ! Thalassa ! " We will let him tell his 
 own story of what he found on his arrival ; 
 the freed slaves and runaway slaves of Zan- 
 zibar, having been left in charge after Lieu- 
 tenant Smith was murdered, had helped 
 81 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 themselves to what they valued, and the 
 rest was sadly spoiled. Mackay wrote : 
 
 " In a huge hut, lent us by Kaduma, the 
 chief of the place, I found all that was left 
 of the valuable property of the expedition, 
 except such articles as have already been 
 taken to Uganda. Piled in heaps promiscu- 
 ously lay boiler shells and books, cowrie- 
 shells and candle-molds, papers and piston 
 rods, steam pipes and stationery, printers' 
 types and tent poles, carbolic acid, cartridges 
 and chloroform, saws and garden seeds, 
 traveling trunks and toys, tins of bacon and 
 bags of clothes, pumps and plows, portable 
 forges and boiler fittings, here a cylinder, 
 there its sole plate, here a crankshaft, 
 there an eccentric. Despair might well be 
 found written on my features as I sat down 
 after two years' march ,to rest and look 
 round on the terrible arrangement." 
 
 He found the Z>rtwj/ without a sound plank 
 in her ; the rays of the sun had split them, 
 the teeth of the hippopotamus had pierced 
 them, and the white ants had honeycombed 
 them. All the parts were, however, here, 
 after having been separated into manloads 
 of seventy pounds, and carried seven hun- 
 dred miles overland. 
 
 82 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 Day after day the natives stood round in 
 wonder while Mackay patched the planks and 
 calked the cracks, sprawled on the ground, 
 with hammer and chisel, copper plates, zinc 
 sheets, cottonwood, nails, screws, bars of 
 iron, brass rods aiid bolts, the use for which 
 no native could guess, beneath the vessel, 
 which gradually grew before the admiring 
 natives, who, like all Africans of Central 
 Africa, knew of no better way to fasten two 
 pieces of wood together than lashing. 
 
 THE COUNTRY OF UGANDA — POLITICAL, SO- 
 CIAL 
 
 We have said nothing of the country or 
 people of Uganda to whom Mackay and his 
 companions were designated as missionaries, 
 the first from any civilized country. It will 
 be well to keep in mind the root-word Ganda, 
 to which prefixes are attached. U or Bu be- 
 fore it makes it the country of Ganda; as 
 Uganda, Buganda. If the prefix be Wa or 
 Ba it indicates the people of the country, 
 Waganda or Baganda ; if the prefix used is 
 Ki, Lu, or Ru, it means the language of 
 Ganda. 
 
 Uganda, or Buganda, covers, with its de- 
 pendencies, some seventy thousand square 
 
 83 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 miles bordering on the northeast coast of 
 Lake Nyanza, or Victoria Lake, the second 
 largest lake in the world — second only to 
 Lake Superior. Uganda contains the rich- 
 est and most fertile part of the section of 
 the great lakes of eastern equatorial Africa. 
 The people (Waganda or Baganda) are sup- 
 posed to belong to the great Bantu family, 
 and number about five million souls. The 
 Swahili language, which dominates the east- 
 ern coast and is extensively used over large 
 parts of central and southern Africa, is 
 spoken fluently in the capital of Uganda 
 and generally in the market towns. 
 
 The government of Uganda is a moder- 
 ately limited monarchy, the king being su- 
 preme and absolute master of the land, 
 though in state affairs his power is measur- 
 ably controlled by three hereditary vassals, 
 called " wakungu;" the Governor of Udi, a 
 sort of " mayor of the palace," being also a 
 member of the council, and, in the king's 
 absence, takes his place. He is nominated 
 by the king. The governing body is com- 
 posed of these four persons, together with 
 other grand persons, feudatory lords of the 
 district and palace dignitaries, which to- 
 gether constitute a privy council, or a sort 
 
 84 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 of cabinet. The three " wakungu " select 
 the successor of a king, on his death, from 
 among his children. 
 
 Polygamy prevails, and there are more 
 women than men, as in war the Waganda 
 kill the males and make captives of the fe- 
 males. The women perform all the labor, 
 the strength of the men being reserved for 
 war. A young man only works till he can, 
 by purchase or by war, get wives enough to 
 perform the labor in his stead. They treat 
 their slaves with gentleness and the stran- 
 ger with kindness, but have small regard 
 for human life. When Speke first entered 
 their country he found them well clad, and 
 they have made much progress since that 
 time. 
 
 In matters of religion they are in strong 
 contrast with natives of the west coast. 
 They agree in recognizing one God; but 
 these of East Central Africa have no idols or 
 fetiches, while their Supreme Being, who 
 made the world and mankind, is esteemed 
 to be too exalted to pay any attention to 
 human interests. Their worship is chiefly 
 confined to inferior deities, good and bad 
 demons supposed to inhabit special locali- 
 ties, known by the general name of liibari 
 
 85 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 (spirits). The principal of these is a sort 
 of Neptune who inhabits the lake to control 
 its waters, and wliose influence extends 
 more or less over the whole country ; he 
 enters some human beings, through whom 
 he speaks as an oracle, and becomes the 
 source of disease ^ and controls the rain, war, 
 famine, or pestilence, and also foretells 
 events. When about to make a voyage the 
 Waganda seek to propitiate this spirit ; 
 canoes are gathered together, the chief 
 holding a banana on the uplifted paddle of 
 his canoe over the water, praying at the 
 same time for a prosperous voyage; or they 
 may pray to other spirits supposed to abide 
 in hills for protection for their cattle, each 
 being known by his specific name. There 
 are also river spirits, and former kings be- 
 come demigods. They are specially super- 
 stitious and constantly use charms of pieces 
 of wood, horns, or rubbish for protection 
 against evil. Medicine men have peculiar 
 power with them as regular doctors as well 
 as in the role of fortune-tellers. Foreign 
 religions have made but little impression 
 upon them. Moslems, after sixty years 
 among them as traders, made no converts. 
 Mtesa would never submit to circumcision, 
 
 86 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 and though at times he favored Moham- 
 medanism, the Arabs never claimed him as 
 a convert. Mr. Wilson, missionary, how- 
 ever, though,t on his iirst acquaintance with 
 the people that the lower classes could be 
 drawn to Christianity. 
 
 THE MISSIONARY MECHANIC 
 
 Mtesa, King of Uganda, had received 
 Wilson, the only other survivor besides 
 Mackay, at his court, and erected for him a 
 tiger-grass hut a mile from the palace. He 
 was fairly friendly, and allowed religious 
 services to be held regularly on Sunday 
 mornings when the king hoisted his " flag," 
 a " nondescript thing consisting of pieces 
 of red, blue, and white calico sewn to- 
 gether." Passages of Scripture were read ' 
 in Kiswahili, the king translating into Lu- 
 ganda, even at times exhorting the people 
 to become Christians, though he never did 
 so himself. For three months Wilson lived 
 in Uganda alone. He returned to the south 
 end of the lake, where he met Mackay, ar- 
 rived from the coast. 
 
 Wilson and Mackay started for Uganda, 
 arriving, after being wrecked in the Daisy 
 on the way, February 14, 1879. Mackay 
 
 87 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 soon had two workshops of wickerwork 
 plastered with clay, and built a carriage for 
 the king to be drawn by bullocks. He was 
 always finding time, if only late at night, to 
 teach the natives letters. He was occu- 
 pied, too, in trench-making, translating, 
 making a vocabulary, learning the lan- 
 guage, washing, ironing, brick-making and 
 candle-making, planting, printing, and a 
 host of things besides. More than fifty 
 men and boys came to him daily for in- 
 struction. His house and his workshop 
 were filled with visitors admiring his versa- 
 tility of genius and the results of it. The 
 king even asked for baptism, but on condi- 
 tions which could not be complied with. 
 Mackay's teaching was by what he called 
 the " look-and-say " method, for which he 
 prepared large fly-sheets in the Uganda 
 language. He carved wooden types for 
 making reading sheets, giving away and 
 teaching alphabets from the types as he 
 finished cutting them. Many a day he 
 worked hard at vice and lathe to get plan- 
 tains, which was the substitute for bread ; 
 but pupils were at his side while he worked 
 at the bench, even chiefs shouting out their 
 sheets side by side with their slaves. He 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 even had a limited font of lead types, cast 
 by himself, before one year had passed at 
 Uganda 
 
 OPPOSITION 
 The Arabs had no fondness for the mis- 
 sionaries, because they antagonized not only 
 Mohammedanism, but the slave trade, of 
 which they were the principal agents. 
 Mohammedanism has been spread all 
 through this country by firearms. A vil- 
 lage was selected by the slave hunters, sur- 
 rounded at night, the able-bodied men 
 slaughtered or captured, and the whole 
 secured for transportation to the coast at 
 Zanzibar for the slave market. They were 
 frequently, however, offered the alternative 
 of turning Mohammedans, in which case 
 those able for war were made to join the 
 raid on other villages. All those captured 
 were taken, not out of the country, but traded 
 for elephants' tusks, ivory being as great an 
 object with the Arabs as slaves. These Mos- 
 lems had extended their influence greatly 
 through Uganda, and Mtesa, the king, was 
 turned from allegiance to that faith by Mr. 
 Stanley, who translated some portions of the 
 Scriptures for 'his use, and induced him to 
 appeal to England for teachers of Christianity. 
 
The Picket Line of Missions' 
 
 The old heathen element, however, 
 stoutly held its influence, and there came a 
 great revival for liibari worship, which burst 
 suddenly one day on the king and the mis- 
 sionaries. They sought to compel the king 
 to forbid Mackay teaching his religion, and 
 to reinstate the liibari at court. Mackay 
 wrote: " For several months I have found 
 the word lubari more or less in every one's 
 mouth. Many spoke the name with awe, 
 while others refused to say anything, good 
 or bad, of such a being." He then learned 
 that the lubari was a spirit personified in an 
 old woman living on the lake. Traders 
 were unable to cross the lake just now be- 
 cause the lubari was about to visit this sec- 
 tion of the coast of the lake. This lubari 
 (woman) was coming to the capital to cure 
 the king of his sicknesses. This goddess was 
 known by the name of Mukasa, and Mac- 
 kay so actively antagonized the lubari that 
 he gained the title "Anti- Mukasa." Added 
 to all else the Jesuits reached Uganda and 
 were doing all in their power to proselyte 
 the Christians and gain control of the king. 
 Thus the complications thickened. 
 
 Poor Mtesa was vacillating, now asking 
 for baptism, now refusing to hoist the flag 
 
 90 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 over the chapel for Sunday service, and 
 again ordering the return of the old Moslem 
 worship and theory "Allah Akbar." He 
 was Christian, Moslem, or worshiper of 
 the hi bar i, all in turn, or neither of them, 
 as the whim or the passion of the hour pre- 
 vailed. But he had unlimited power of life 
 and death, was weakened by inherited 
 superstitious fears, and everyone, without 
 exception, in his realm knew that at 
 Mtesa's order his head might come off any 
 hour, with o-^ without cause, be he noble, 
 chief, or peasant. 
 
 Human sacrifices were performed on a 
 large scale at Mtesa's court. His diviners 
 recommend these at times as a remedy for 
 the king's disease, and the executioners are 
 ordered out to collect victims. 
 
 FIGHTING SUPERSTITION 
 Mackay or any other missionary was no 
 less subject to the whim of this spoiled, 
 flattered, vacillating tyrant than was any 
 other person in his realm. Hence it may 
 be seen that it required coolness, courage, 
 and infinite tact to make any headway with 
 him without losing one's own head. That 
 was a contingency never absent, and Mac- 
 
 91 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 kay was never free from peril from the mon- 
 arch nor from the superstitious people. 
 
 " I sit before you," said Mackay to the 
 king one day, " your servant and the serv- 
 ant of Almighty God, and in his name I 
 beg of you have no dealings with this 
 lubari, whether a chief tries to persuade you 
 to do so or a common man advises you." 
 " If this Mukasa is a lubari then he is a 
 god," he continued, when arguing at court, 
 ' ' and thus there are two gods in Uganda 
 — the Lord God Almighty and Mukasa; 
 but if Mukasa is only a man, as many say 
 he is, then there are two kings in Uganda 
 ■ — -Mtesa, whom we all acknowledge and 
 honor, and this Mukasa, who gives himself 
 out as some great one." 
 
 The adroitness with which Mackay kept 
 up the religious discussion with the king, 
 the court, the Moslems, and the defenders of 
 the lubari can only be appreciated when 
 followed day by day with all the turns of 
 the debate and the complexity of events. 
 
 When at last the king declared they would 
 all leave the Christians and Moslems and go 
 back to the religion of their fathers, Mackay 
 reminded him that he was in Uganda be- 
 cause the king had requested Stanley to ask 
 
 92 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 for white men to ' teach his people. The 
 king parried this by saying he wanted them 
 to teach his people how to make powder 
 and guns. Mackay said he had never re- 
 fused to work for the king, and there was not 
 a chief present for whom he had not done 
 work, and like Paul, showing his chains, he 
 exhibited his hands black with working in 
 iron every day. But as to merely working 
 for them, he came to Uganda for no such 
 purpose, and he w6uld return to England if 
 that was all they wanted of him. 
 
 But, strange to say, that was the last thing 
 either chiefs or king wduld consent to, so 
 far as Mackay was concerned. Other mis- 
 sionaries might leave, be put out of the 
 country, or be put to death in it, but 
 Mackay was their wizard at work, all the 
 while rendering himself so necessary to 
 them as artisan, inventor, road-builder, boat- 
 builder, house-builder, engineer, printer, 
 doctor, or what not ; and though always as 
 shrewd a theologian as he was anything 
 else, he was not to be dispensed with. 
 Thus it occurred that the lay missionary 
 was in favor, had influence and permanence 
 of position, which the mere teacher and 
 preacher had not. 
 
 7 93 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 It was not merely to the king and his 
 court that Mackay was a missionary, nor was 
 he confined to his industries as a teacher. 
 One day he bought a powerful charm 
 to give the crowd a lesson in the worthless- 
 ness of idols. Some said, in answer to his 
 questions, that the lubari or spirit was in the 
 charm. "Will it burn?" asked Mackay. 
 " O no, the lubari will not burn." " Is not 
 this charm mine? Did I not buy it?" 
 said Mackay." "Yes, yes, it is yours." 
 " Tlien may I not do with it what I like? " 
 "O yes." "Very good," said the mis- 
 sionary. Then taking oiit his pocket lens 
 he made fire with the sun's rays, gathered 
 a bundle of wood, and soon had a brilliant 
 blaze. " Can your witches make fire out of 
 the sun as I have done? " he asked. " No, 
 no." " Then you see lam cleverer than these 
 gods whom you worship?" "Yes, you 
 make magic," they said. " Well, you say 
 there is magic in this charm which I have 
 bought?" "Yes." "Well, let us see;" 
 and he threw the charm into the fire, and it 
 was soon ashes. "You are a god," some 
 said ; others, " You are a devil;" but, being 
 neither the one nor the other, he was ever 
 on the alert to instruct the people in the 
 
 94 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 truth, a veritable powerful missionary to 
 the common people. 
 
 We have no space to interweave a history 
 of the Uganda Mission, not even an account 
 of the reinforcements from time to time 
 arriving from England and their part of the 
 work, especially the church organization 
 which fell to them as clergymen. But 
 Mackay had been training native Baganda, 
 and "many whom he brought to Christ 
 afterward suffered martyrdom. The other 
 missionaries were greatly indebted to 
 the foundation work' of Mackay. Mr. 
 O'Flaherty, one of the missionaries, wrote : 
 ' ' We have a text-book of theology, the 
 Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Decalogue, 
 texts of vScripture so arranged that they 
 teach the plan of salvation, the duties of a 
 subject to his sovereign, and sovereign to 
 subject, and all to Christ." These had 
 been printed by Mackay — three hundred 
 copies, besides an equal number of alpha- 
 betical spelling sheets in Luganda, ' ' no 
 small work on a toy press," as Mr. O'Fla- 
 herty said. These two years, 1882 and 
 1883, were altogether a time of encourage- 
 ment. The Rev. R. P. Ashe, whose name 
 
 is linked with the after history of the Mis- 
 95 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 sion, arrived in Uganda in April, 1883. A 
 few converts had been baptized. Four 
 lads were baptized March 18, 1882, and 
 Sembera, a slave of one of the chiefs, who 
 had received instruction under Wilson and 
 Mackay, had learned to write without ever 
 having a lesson in writing, wrote his appli- 
 cation for baptism to Mr. Mackay in 
 Luganda with a painted piece of speargra.ss 
 and some ink of "dubious manufacture," 
 received baptism, taking the name of 
 Mackay. 
 
 A NEW KING "THE GREAT TRIBULATION " 
 
 In October, 1884, Mtesa died, and died 
 a heathen. His son, Mwanga, a weaker and 
 far wickeder man than the father, came to 
 the throne. From various causes he soon 
 began a persecution against the Christians. 
 The Arabs reported that the missionaries 
 were harboring malefactors, and orders 
 were given to arrest all Baganda found on 
 their premises. Mr. Mackay asked leave of 
 the king to cross the lake. An army was 
 raised intended to entrap and kill him the 
 next morning. Some of the native Chris- 
 tians were arrested, taken to the borders of 
 a dismal swamp, a rough scaffold was erected 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 and heaped with firewood. The crowd 
 mocked their poor victims. The chief said, 
 " O, you know Isa Masiya (Jesus Christ), 
 you believe in tlie resurrection. Well, I 
 shall burn you, and see if it be so." The 
 lads behaved bravely, an<3 one report says 
 they sang in Luganda, "Daily, daily, sing 
 the praises." They were tortured before 
 death, their arms being cut off and flung 
 upon the burning scaffold. The youngest 
 pleaded that they would do him the one 
 favor of throwing him unmaimed upon the 
 flames, but they would not heed his request. 
 
 That iiight Mackay wrote in his diary, 
 " Our hearts are breaking." The death of 
 the young martyrs was only the beginning 
 of persecution that acquired the title of 
 " the great tribulation." 
 
 Bishop Hannington and all his party, re- 
 cently arrived in Africa from England, 
 were all murdered at the king's command 
 as they approached Uganda by the north- 
 east end of the lake, that being called ' ' the 
 back door of Uganda," and everyone was 
 forbidden to approach the country by that 
 route — a fact unknown to the bishop. This 
 was owing to political jealousies which can- 
 not be here narrated. Mackay wrote Octo- 
 
 97 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 ber 20, "After dark Ismail came to tell us 
 that messengers had returned from Busoga 
 with the tidings that the white men had 
 been killed and all their porters. O night 
 of sorrow! What an unheard-of deed of 
 blood ! " 
 
 The year 1885 ended in great sorrow to 
 the missionaries. What was there to pre- 
 vent Mwanga from taking their lives when 
 he had not stuck at murdering their chief 7 
 The king complained that the missionaries 
 knew all his secrets from his own pages — 
 Christian lads — who with wonderful devo- 
 tion and courage continued to visit the 
 mission houses to apprise the missionaries, 
 from time to time, of their peril. Roman 
 Catholics and Protestants were alike in 
 jeopardy, and all became far more so after 
 Hannington's murder, as Mwanga feared 
 vengeance on the part of Great Britain. The 
 missionaries knew they were more and 
 more in peril, and Mackay tried to get the 
 boats (twelve miles distant) in order, to 
 facilitate their flight when necessary and if 
 possible. 
 
 June 28, 1886, Mackay, writing to his 
 father, said, "Only a month ago a violent 
 persecution against Christians broke out, 
 
 98 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 and they have been murdered right and 
 left. ' The Christians are disobedient and 
 learn rebellion from the white man. I shall 
 kill them all,' said the king. He ordered 
 their arrest, and a dozen were hacked to 
 pieces the first day and their members left ly- 
 ing in all directions on the road. Bands were 
 sent out in all directions to catch and kill." 
 
 ALONE 
 
 The king gave out that the missionaries 
 would not be allowed to leave the country, 
 but would be held as hostages, as he feared 
 the English would be upon him for the 
 murder of Hannington. August 28, 1886, 
 Mackay wrote to his father: " Recently 
 Ashe and I have been trying to get per- 
 mission to leave. This was refused. Next 
 we tried to get leave for one of us to go. 
 The king has again and again absolutely 
 refused permission for me to leave the 
 country, but he has allowed Ashe to go. . . . 
 I must be content to remain alone, yet not 
 alone. I can ever be of service to the 
 scattered remnant of the infant Church ; and 
 our God will prepare the way for better 
 things to come." 
 
 Mackay was now left alone, the sole sur- 
 99 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 vivor once more of all the mission force, for 
 eleven months, in Uganda. His position 
 was extremely uncomfoilable and disquiet- 
 ing, being constantly suspected by the 
 chiefs and king of having some secret 
 understanding with the government of Eng- 
 land to obtain possession of the country. 
 Not only was he restricted in his move- 
 ments, but again and again plots were laid 
 to destroy him, though he made no attempt 
 to escape, but continued busy, now making 
 an enormous flagstaff for the king, now 
 translating Scriptures, now freely using the 
 printing press, and now seeking to bring 
 Mwanga to his plans for free communica- 
 tion with Emin Bey. He wrote to his 
 friends in England that he had not the 
 slightest desire to escape if he could do a 
 particle of good by staying. The Eleanor 
 was in port twelve miles away, and he might 
 possibly make a dash for it, but he did not 
 feel himself warranted in doing so at this 
 time. Meanwhile he was endeavoring 
 amid the multiplicity of his industries to 
 complete the translation of the gospel of 
 Matthew, which he did, rewriting the whole 
 to the end, having it in type as far as the 
 twenty-third chapter. In case of sudden 
 
 100 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 expulsion the manuscript, he thought, might 
 be saved and the mere printing done some- 
 where else. Books and papers continued to 
 be purchased, and it was difficult to keep his 
 stock well up. His sheets of the Litany 
 were exhausted, and he had but a few copies 
 of the hymns on hand. 
 
 Although the rest of the missionaries had 
 been permitted to leave Uganda, and the 
 king refused to let Mackay go under the 
 pretension of his great affection for him, yet 
 his enemies, the Arabs, never intermitted 
 their purpose either to kill or to get rid of 
 him. He had, from the first, been the op- 
 poser of their wicked deeds, and they could 
 recognize that he had the ear of the king. 
 They endeavored to arouse the king's distrust 
 and anger against him by representing his 
 object as a political one. After much dis- 
 puting and questioning the king at last de- 
 cided that Mackay should leave the country 
 . on condition of sending another missionary 
 to take his place. This spoiled the plans of 
 the Arabs, who had it in their thought to 
 plunder the station after Mackay had gone. 
 The last plan of Mackay's arch-enemy was 
 to get himself appointed as a messenger to 
 take him across the lake, which plan, how- 
 
 101 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 ever, Mackay was able to avert. On July 
 21, 1887, Mackay locked up the mission 
 premises, " left the keys with the French 
 priests, and worn with worry, work, and 
 farewells, started for the port, where he 
 had to patch and repair the Eleanor before 
 starting on his voyage to the south end of 
 the lake," where he arrived on August i. 
 
 " We do not want to see Mackay's boat 
 again in these waters," were the words of 
 the Mohammedans as they drove out the 
 missionaries in October, 1888, and never 
 again was it to touch the shores of Uganda. 
 The vessel had done its work and was worn 
 out. " The man who had put her together 
 and completed another boat to replace her," 
 says. Miss Stork in the Story of Uganda, 
 " the man whom all Uganda knew and re- 
 spected, whom heathen and Mohammedan 
 feared, the man whom they looked upon as 
 inseparably connected with the cause of 
 Christ in these regions, was never again to 
 revisit the land for which he had toiled and 
 prayed ; but the cause of Christ, his Master 
 and King, triumphed over all foes and all 
 obstacles, and before he closed his eyes on 
 earth he saw this, the greatest and most 
 
 tyrannical power in all East Africa, in the 
 102 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 hands of men who rejoiced in the name of. 
 Christian.' 
 
 REVOLUTION IN UGANDA 
 
 Leaving Mackay for the present, we will 
 continue onr glance at the immediately suc- 
 ceeding history of events in Uganda. 
 Mwanga's cruelties had disgusted the people. 
 He had a large bodyguard, consisting of 
 Mohammedans and Christians, and it was 
 ascertained that he had a plot to destroy 
 them all : the Mohamm.edans because they 
 would not eat the king's meat, and the 
 Christians because they would not work on 
 Sunday. His plan was to have them carried 
 to a small island in the lake and leave them 
 there to starve. Most of the young chiefs 
 of the country had forsaken the worship of 
 the hibari (spirits), and were alarmed at 
 Mwanga's cruelties, as were the people at 
 large. . In September this bodyguard, be- 
 coming aware of Mwanga's scheme for their 
 destruction, quietly rose up against him and 
 in a single day effected the most peaceful 
 and satisfactory of revolutions. 
 
 They immediately reorganized the gov- 
 ernment with Kiwewa, an older son of 
 Mtesa, as king, and making a Roman Catholic 
 
 103 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Christian chief judge, a Protestant Chris- 
 tian the next high officer, put Christians 
 and Moslems in all other important posts. 
 Religious liberty was proclaimed, and the 
 real feelings of the people of Uganda 
 toward the missionaries were manifested 
 by a rush- to them for instruction. The 
 Mohammedans, however, soon fell out with 
 the Christians, and after a brief struggle 
 overcame them, killing the Christian ad- 
 miral and some others, placing Moslems in 
 all offices, and summoning the missionaries 
 before them. 
 
 Mackay had been allowed to leave Uganda 
 on condition of sending some other mission- 
 ary in his place, probably with the purpose 
 of holding him as a hostage in case the Eng- 
 lish attempted to visit with vengeance the 
 murder of Bishop Hanniugton. Mr. Gordon 
 and Mr. Walker were sent to the Mission, but 
 on arriving at court were seized and impris- 
 oned in a miserable hut for seven days, the 
 Mission property being destroyed at the time 
 when they were summoned to court. The 
 upshot of the whole matter was that the mis- 
 sionaries were driven out of Uganda and 
 most of the native Christians fled the coun- 
 try, finding shelter under the protection of a 
 
 104 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 native prince in the adjoining country im- 
 mediately west of Uganda. How many of 
 them thus found refuge it is impossible to 
 say, but Mr. Stanley, in a letter written to 
 the Church Missionary Society presently 
 afterward from Ankoli, which was supposed 
 to be tributary to Uganda, but at the fall of 
 Mwanga became semi-independent, makes 
 the statement on their own authority that 
 they numbered between two and three thou- 
 sand. Mr. Stanley gives in this letter an 
 account of an interview with Samuel and 
 Zachariah, of the Protestant Mission of 
 Uganda, who told him the wonderful story 
 of the deposition of Mwanga and the growth 
 of the Christian Mission. Mr. Stanley says: 
 " I would have liked nothing better than to 
 have had one of these two men in London 
 to have told it in their own Swahili, and to 
 have got some interpreter to interpret sen- 
 tence after sentence. It was most graphic, 
 most beautiful." He says: " Now I notice 
 that as soon as they left my presence they 
 went to their own little huts and took out 
 little books that they had in their pockets 
 in their clothes, and one day I called Samuel 
 to me and asked him, ' What book is that 
 you have? I did not know Uganda read 
 
 106 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 books;' and that was the first time I knew 
 they had the gospel in Luganda. Then I 
 took greater interest, for I found that al- 
 most every one of the party had a small 
 pamphlet in Luganda — prayers and the gos- 
 pel of Matthew., and, I think, of Luke.' I 
 remember very well seeing the word Ma- 
 thdio, or Matthew, on the top of the book on 
 its title-page. I noticed that after the con- 
 ference, where the princes and leaders of 
 Ankoli ceded their country they retired to 
 their huts and threw themselves upon the 
 ground, and took out the books and began 
 to read them ; and they gathered together 
 and began to talk. And the question was 
 asked me by one of them, with a sort-of dep- 
 recating smile, ' Are all white men Chris- 
 tians? ' That was more than I could ven- 
 ture to say, though I hoped, of course, 
 they were. Then he put a point-blank 
 question to me and said, ' Are you a Chris- 
 tian? ' Then I asked him, ' Do you consider 
 yourself z. Christian? ' 'Of course I do,' he 
 replied. ' How long have you been a Chris- 
 tian? ' ' Well,' he said, ' I am one of Mac- 
 kay's pupils, and learned from him ; and this 
 book was given to me and to every one 
 of us. There are about twenty-five hun- 
 
 106 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 dred of us, all belonging to Mackay's 
 Mission.' " 
 
 MACKAY AT THE SOUTH END OF THE LAKE. 
 
 It is not possible for us to follow the his- 
 tory of the Mission in Uganda in further de- 
 tail, as our object is to follow Mackay, who 
 had removed to the south end of the lake' 
 and was occupied in the mission at Usam- 
 biro, in the territory of a friendly chief. 
 Bishop Parker arrived there just out from 
 England soon after, and a missionary con- 
 ference, composed of six brethren, was held 
 for days at the station. One of the mis- 
 sionaries, and also the bishop, were within 
 a fortnight suddenly smitten with fever and 
 died. The others removed to other mission 
 stations, except Mr. Ashe, who remained a 
 little while longer, and was obliged pn ac- 
 count of ill health to return to England, 
 leaving Mackay once more alone. Mackay 
 carried on his retranslation of St. John's 
 gospel, and also occupied himself with gath- 
 ering the material in the forest for building 
 another steam launch. In a letter of April 
 23, 1888, he says: "Twice within a fort- 
 night Ashe and I have performed the sacred 
 
 duty of commending our dying brethren to 
 107 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 the Saviour whom they served, and closing 
 their eyes. On both occasions I read the 
 funeral service at the grave, in Swahili, a 
 score of African Christians from Freretown 
 standing around. It has indeed been a 
 heavy time of sorrow to us all, but more so 
 to the distant friends will, the news bring 
 sudden grief. The conquest of Africa has 
 already cost many lives, but everyone gone 
 is a step nearer victory. The end to be 
 gained is, however, worth the price paid. 
 The redemption of the world cost infinitely 
 more." On August 8, 1888, he wrote: " I 
 have my hands full preparing to build our 
 new boat. I have to cut the timber some 
 twenty miles distant and have it carried 
 here. You will probably be disgusted at 
 hearing that I am busy just now in making 
 bricks to make a house in which to construct 
 the vessel. Within the last fortnight we 
 have made some ten thousand. That is 
 doubtless poor work to be occupied with in 
 a mission field, but it must be done, and 
 in even such humble occupation I hope the 
 good Lord willnot withhold his blessing. 
 Mission boats, unfortunately, do not grow 
 of themselves; they have to be built, every 
 inch of them, but trees have been growing 
 
 108 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 for ages, of the Lord's planting, and as we 
 fell them I like to think that he" ordained 
 them for this purpose." 
 
 Within less than a month he found him- 
 self with smallpox raging everywhere, and 
 the duty fell to him of vaccinating hosts of 
 people, old and young. Smallpox in some 
 Eastern countries, as in India, is not so 
 generally fatal as in other countries; but in 
 Africa it is a dreadful scourge. Before the 
 year closed a number of the Christian peo- 
 ple of Uganda, who had succeeded in es- 
 caping from the country, found their way 
 to Mackay at Usambiro and were hoeing 
 ground and planting seeds. Mackay was 
 meanwhile engaged in translating and push- 
 ing the building of his steam launch for facili- 
 tating communication on the lake, on the 
 shores of which they hoped to have several 
 stations. 
 
 mackay's death 
 
 On January 2, 1890, Mackay wrote his 
 last message to English Christians, in which 
 he appealed for reinforcements. He wrote 
 as follows: " Mwanga says, ' I want a host 
 of English teachers to come and teach the 
 Gospel to my people.' I write, imploring 
 you to strengthen our Mission, not by two 
 
 8 109 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 or three, but by twenty. Is this golden 
 opportunity to be neglected, or is it to be 
 ' lost forever? " 
 
 MACKAY'S ASCENSION 
 
 It was about a month after this that 
 Mackay himself received a call to ' ' come 
 up higher." His only fellow-laborer, Mr. 
 Deekes, was suffering from ill health and 
 about to return home, but on the morning 
 Mr. Deekes was to start Mackay was taken 
 ill with fever, was four days delirious, and 
 Februarys, 1890, at 11 P. M., he died, a 
 few months more than forty years old. 
 
 A coffin was made for him out of the 
 wood he had gathered for the boat, and the 
 village boys and the Christians from 
 Uganda sang in the Luganda language at 
 his grave on the following Sunday after- 
 noon, " All hail the power of Jesus' name." 
 
 Colonel Grant, who, with Speke, discov- 
 ered this lake, wrote : "I had the utmost 
 confidence in him and looked forward to 
 the time when he would sail around the 
 lake in his own steamer, and when we should 
 have him among us to tell all he knew of 
 that deeply interesting country which I 
 
 almost love — Uganda. The blow to civili- 
 110 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 zation in Central Africa which has fallen on 
 us is not easily repaired, for a score of tis 
 would never make a Mackay." A great 
 burst of lament and of admiration swept 
 over the Christian world as it learned of the 
 death of Mackay. The Church of England 
 missionary authorities confessed frankly 
 that, as much as they had admired him, they 
 had not at all realized the position he had 
 gained in the public mind, and declared 
 that they were not in 'the least prepared 
 for the burst of admiration elicited by the 
 tidings of his death. The London Times 
 correspondent at Zanzibar wrote of the "ir- 
 reparable loss to the cause of African civi- 
 lization " involved in his death. The Pall 
 Mall Gazette called him ' ' The St. Paul of 
 Uganda." The Leeds Mercury, Manchester 
 Exainincr, and other great provincial daily 
 papers gave much space to the considera- 
 tion of Mackay and his work. One of his 
 missionary associates, Mr. Ashe, declared 
 that " the missionary work done in Uganda 
 could never have been accomplished if it 
 had not been for his determination to hold 
 on at all costs. He had learned the secret 
 of being steadfast and unmovable. He 
 
 had his temper wonderfully under control. 
 Ill 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Sometimes the Highland fire would flash 
 out, but never betrayed him into unworthy 
 deeds. I remember him especially during 
 our days of crudest trial in Uganda, how 
 on that first miserable day of persecution, 
 when the bloody Mujasi seized us and our 
 followers, Mackay, though only just recov- 
 ering from fever, was perfectly cool and 
 collected, and seemed not to feel the fatigue 
 of the long and harassing march back ; how 
 clearly he stated our case to the unjust 
 judge ; how wise he was in counsel, how 
 prudent in his dealings with the fickle 
 Mwanga; and I believe, had it not been 
 for Mackay's influence with the old chiefs, 
 the Mission would hardly have weathered 
 the three distinct storms of persecution 
 which burst over it in Mwanga's first years 
 as king." 
 
 Mackay's career exhibited such versatility 
 of talent as rarely centers in one man. He 
 could grapple with Mohammedans in sharp 
 theological controversy, or sit for hours 
 teaching boys to read, or patiently translate 
 the Scriptures into a language that had 
 neither grammar nor dictionary, and was 
 thus a many-sided and intense missionary ; 
 while the great variety of his industrial and 
 
 112 
 
Alexander M. Mackay 
 
 civilizing agencies made him, all in all, the 
 noblest lay missionary the Church and the 
 "world has seen, and the loftiest exemplar of 
 which there is any record of what lay mis- 
 sionaries and industrial missions mean. 
 
 It is not for many to be so possessed with 
 "diversities of gifts," but it is with all of 
 us to present whatever gifts we have upon 
 the same altar on which Mackay consecrated 
 his. 
 
 " We plow it, and we dig it, and we sow the 
 
 furrowed land. 
 But the growing and the reaping are in the 
 
 Lord's own hands." 
 
 ORA ET LABORA. 
 113 
 
^be Ibon. Hon 1keitb*3falconer, 
 pioneer in Hrabia 
 
 BY 
 
 Arthur T. Pierson 
 
Ill 
 
 The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer, Pioneer in Arabia 
 
 History is " philosophy teaching by ex- 
 amples;" precept reduced to practice; the 
 Book of Life presented in an illustrated, 
 sometimes an illuminated, edition. 
 
 The heroic young man whose brief biog- 
 raphy is now to be recorded represented 
 the very flower of British civilization ; and 
 the lesson of his short but beautiful career 
 may be comprehended in one sentence : The 
 best is not too good for God's work, and^ 
 the length of life is not the measure of its 
 service. 
 
 Oliver Wendell Holmes quaintly but pro- 
 foundly said that the training of the child 
 begins a hundred years before its birth. In 
 other words, character has its law of hered- 
 ity; it transmits, at least, its aptitudes. 
 There is something in blood, in breeding, 
 literally construed ; and young Keith-Fal- 
 coner might well be proud of his lineage, 
 for in more senses than one it was noble. 
 
 He could trace the strearn of his family lif^ 
 117 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 back through eight centuries. In the year 
 loio, when Malcolm II was King of Scot- 
 land, Robert Keith, his remote ancestor, by 
 his valor and prowess in the battle with the 
 Danish invaders, won the title of Heredi- 
 tary Great Mareschal of Scotland ; and what 
 Robert Keith did in battle for the Scottish 
 crown his descendant, long after, did for 
 the crown and covenant of the King of kings 
 — he became a standard-bearer on the battle- 
 field where the Moslem and the Christian 
 powers meet, to contend for the victory of 
 the ages ; and he won a higher honor and 
 title than can be conferred by human sover- 
 eigns as one of the Knights of the Cross. 
 
 It is now a little over forty years since 
 Ion Keith-Falconer was born in Edinburgh, 
 Scotland ; and just then began an eventful 
 era in missions, when more new doors were 
 suddenly thrown open for missionary labor 
 than in any previous decade of years since 
 Christ's last command was given to his 
 Church. Born in 1856, he died in 1887 — 
 his brief life-story on earth covering only 
 about thirty years. Yet, if ' ' that life is long 
 which answers life's great end," we must 
 count these thirty years as spanning eter- 
 nity, for they wrought out God's eternal 
 
 118 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 purpose, and left a lasting legacy of blessing 
 to the young men of all generations, the true 
 wealth and worth of which only eternity can 
 compute. 
 
 This biography may perhaps best be stud- 
 ied from four points of view: his boyhood, 
 his college life, his home work, and his pio- 
 neer enterprise on the shores of the Red Sea. 
 
 The first period we may rapidly sketch, as 
 the materials are not abundant. He was 
 marked, as a boy, by four conspicuous qual- 
 ities: a certain manliness, magnanimity, 
 piety, and unselfishness — rare traits indeed 
 in a lad. He loved outdoor sports and ex- 
 celled in athletics. Six feet and three inches 
 in height, and well formed, his physical 
 presence, when he attained full stature, was 
 like that of Saul, the first king of Israel, 
 and made him conspicuous among his fel- 
 lows. No wonder that he was a favorite 
 with the modern advocates of muscular 
 Christianity, since at twenty he was Presi- 
 dent of the London Bicycle Club and at 
 twenty-two the champion racer of Britain, 
 distancing in a five-mile race, in 1878, 
 even John Keen himself. Four years later 
 he was the first to go on his wheel from 
 Land's End to John O'Groat's House — very 
 
 119 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 nearly one thousand miles ; and he trium- 
 phantly accomplished that feat in thirteen 
 days— an average of nearly eighty miles a 
 day. 
 
 If his stalwart manhood won applause, 
 much more his sterling worth as a man of 
 inward strength and symmetry. Let us not 
 forget that this champion in the race for 
 muscular superiority was too strong and 
 brave in soul to be overcome of his own 
 lusts, or enticed. He loved truth in the in- 
 ward parts, and had- no patience with shams 
 or frauds ; and he recalls to our thought the 
 famous statue which represents Veracity, 
 standing with open face, the mask of dissim- 
 ulation lying at his feet, cleft with the sword 
 of Sincerity. He was not ashamed to make 
 the Bible the one book he loved and stud- 
 ied ; and from the earliest dawn of his in- 
 telligence he was a faithful and loyal student 
 of God's Holy Word, and sought by obedi- 
 ence to get ever-increasing knowledge of its 
 true spirit and meaning. 
 
 Better than all, yet by no means inde- 
 pendent of the rest, were his unselfish piety 
 and charity. To impart is the highest 
 blessedness, though most of us do not learn 
 the bliss of giving, if at all, until late in life, 
 
 120 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 A true benevolence is the ripest fruit, and 
 grows on the topmost branch of holy living. 
 Yet this lad early showed a deep sympathy 
 with sorrow and'suffering, and his boyhood's 
 days are even yet remembered for his sim- 
 ple ministries to those who needed help. 
 His old nurse has J;old how he went about, 
 a boy of seven, reading and, in his way, ex- 
 plaining the Bible in the cottages of poor 
 peasants ; and how, having on one occasion 
 spent his pocket money for some baker's 
 choicest cakes, he bestowed them all, un- 
 tasted, upon a hungry boy. What a proph- 
 ecy all this of the man who was to give his 
 short life to teaching the ignorant, and him- 
 self to become one of God's barley loaves to 
 feed dying souls ! 
 
 We come now to glance rapidly at his 
 college life. Keith-Falconer was an ex- 
 ample of concentrated powers of mind as 
 well as of body, of a fine quality of brains 
 as well as brawn. He mastered " short- 
 hand," for instance, and rivaled Pitman 
 himself. Those who want to see how a 
 young man may distinguish himself in this 
 difficult art would do well to read his article, 
 "Shorthand," in the Encyclopcedia Britannica, 
 which is a model of careful and compre- 
 
 121 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 hensive statement as to the science and art 
 of phonography. Although he might not, 
 perhaps, have been accounted a genius, he 
 had the genius of industry, and, by " plod- 
 ding," like William Carey, achieved distinc- 
 tion. He was conscientious in his curricu- 
 lum, and applied himself to hard tasks, and 
 patiently and persistently overcame ob- 
 stacles, until he rose to an enviable rank 
 and won honors and prizes which the indo- 
 lent and indifferent never secure. We shall 
 see, later on, how he was appointed to the 
 professorship of Arabic at Cambridge Uni- 
 versity — a fitting crown to his academic 
 career, in which he successfully mastered 
 not only the regular and ordinary tasks, 
 but theology, Hebrew, the Semitic lan- 
 guages, and kindred studies, and learned 
 the Tonic Sol-fa system of music. 
 
 The missionary spirit burned in him, 
 even in college days and within college 
 walls, though the atmosphere of a univer- 
 sity is not very stimialating to aggressive 
 and evangelistic piety. The lad who, at 
 Harrow School, not ye^ fourteen years old, 
 was, by the testimony of the masters, " en- 
 ergetic, manly, and vigorous," although 
 " neither a prig nor a Pharisee," was, dur- 
 
 122 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 ing his brilliant career at Cambridge, which 
 began in 1874, not only fearless in the 
 avowal of his Christian faith, but was moved 
 by that passion for souls which compels 
 unselfish utterance and effort in behalf of 
 others. In temperance and mission work 
 he both used and tested his powers and 
 adaptations as to a wider field of service. 
 He became the leader of a band of Chris- 
 tian students who, in the old theater at 
 Barnwell, near Cambridge, carried on rag- 
 ged school work and similar Gospel evangel- 
 ism. From among themselves and friends, 
 he and his fellow- workers raised about eight 
 thousand dollars to purchase the building, 
 and there a wide-reaching service began, 
 whose harvest is not yet wholly gathered 
 and garnered. In this sphere Keith- Fal- 
 coner earnestly and vigorously wrought, 
 and when he spoke uttered the clear com- 
 mon sense which is better than ambitious 
 oratory. 
 
 Afield in London next drew him. When 
 yet but a lad of fifteen he had met F. N. 
 Charrington, then a young man of twenty- 
 one, who, while going afoot through Aber- 
 deenshire, had paid a visit to the house of 
 his father, the Earl of Kintore. Between 
 
 123 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Keith-Falconer and Charrington, notwith- 
 standing six years' difference in their ages, 
 a very intimate friendship at once sprang 
 up, which bore that most blessed fruit, fel- 
 lowship in holy work for God and man. Mr. 
 Charrington, now so conspicuously known 
 as the founder and leader of the Tower 
 Hamlets Mission in the East End of London, 
 had, two years before meeting young Keith- 
 Falconer, consecrated his life, at the cost of 
 surrendering a princely fortune as a brewer, 
 to uplifting and redeeming the East End 
 drunkards and outcasts. When, late at 
 night, he watched the wretched wives and 
 mothers anxiously waiting for their hus- 
 bands outside the vile drinkshops over which 
 the name of "Charrington, Head & Co." 
 shone in gold and azure, he felt a mighty 
 impulse within him to break off the yoke of 
 the drink traffic; and, resigning the eldest 
 son's birthright share in the business, he 
 accepted a smaller portion, and even that he 
 laid on the altar of humanity, resolved that 
 the money, largely coined out of human 
 woe, should be dedicated to human weal, in 
 raising out of drunkenness and vice the 
 very classes that the beershop had dragged 
 down. Charrington began his work in a 
 
 124 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 hayloft ; fi-om there he was crowded into a 
 larger hall; then a big tent, until, in 1877, 
 a larger Assembly Hall was opened — now 
 twenty years ago — where two thousand peo- 
 ple were gathered night after night for 
 nine years. 
 
 Keith-Falconer's name is inseparable from 
 tbe grand work of Charrington, and there- 
 fore it is no digression to give that noble 
 enterprise ample mention. The two young 
 men, moved by a similar impulse, were di- 
 vinely knit together, as were David and Jon- 
 athan. During his Cambridge days Keith- 
 Falconer often went to London to visit his 
 friend, watch his work, and give it help. He 
 also took his share of the opposition and 
 persecution that made Charrington its tar- 
 get. He accepted, with hiih, the " mob- 
 bing " which rewarded unselfish service to 
 the degraded slaves of drink, going with 
 him to the police office, when his friend was 
 arrested on false charges, as one that was 
 turning the world upside down. Like 
 Charrington, also, he had his reward. He 
 saw drunkards reformed, gangs of thieves 
 broken up, public houses deserted and for 
 sale at half their cost, and homes redeemed 
 from the curse of rum and crime. 
 
 9 125 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 During the fearful winter of 1879 the 
 feeding of hungry multitudes occupied the 
 attention of Charrington and his helpers, 
 and led ultimately to the erection of that 
 new hall which, at a cost of $200,000, stands 
 with its buildings as a perpetual benediction 
 to the neighborhood, and in which for over 
 ten years untold blessing has been imparted 
 to thousands and even millions. In that 
 larger Assembly Hall the writer has more 
 than once spoken, and in the personal ac- 
 quaintance of the founder and father of the 
 enterprise he . rejoices. From personal ob- 
 servation, therefore, he can testify that in 
 that grand audience room on Mile End Road 
 five thousand people gather under the sound 
 of one voice ; tliere, every night, a Gospel 
 service is held ; the days of mob violence 
 are over, and Mr. Charrington finds stalwart 
 defenders in the poor victims whose yoke 
 he has been the means of breaking, and the 
 whole East End is gradually being redeemed 
 from its social anathema. 
 
 In all this work Keith-Falconer has an 
 eternal share, as in its reward. It was he 
 who, as honorary secretary, issued the neces- 
 sary appeals, himself becoming a beggar for 
 funds and a donor to the extent of $10,000. 
 
 126 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 As a college student he would hurry off to 
 the metropolis for a week at a time, lend a 
 hand and a voice as needed, visit the poor, 
 teach the word, aid in administrative de- 
 tails, and then hurry back to Cambridge 
 and its duties. In his Memorials of Ion Keith- 
 Falconer Mr. Sinker says •-. 
 
 " In the summer of that year (1886) I ac- 
 companied Keith-Falconer to see the build- 
 ing, and we were taken by Mr. Charrington 
 to the central point of the upper gallery of 
 the gi;eat hall, to gain the best general view 
 of the room. As we sat there I could not 
 but be struck with the similar expression on 
 the faces of the two men. It was one in 
 which joy and keen resolve and humble 
 thankfulness were strangely blended. One 
 great work for God which Keith- Falconer 
 had striven hard to further he was allowed 
 to see in its full completeness, carried on by 
 men working there with heartiest and pur- 
 est zeal. Not while any of the present gen- 
 eration of workers survive will the name 
 of Keith-Falconer fade out of loving re- 
 membrance in the great building in Mile 
 End Road." 
 
 All this work he did as a humble layman, 
 
 who did not often speak in public, but who 
 127 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 had learned the secret of ' ' having a talk 
 with a man," and one man at a time — as 
 Jesus did with Nicodemus and the Samari- 
 tan woman. This was his form of evangel- 
 istic and missionary work, getting in touch 
 with an individual soul, and finding the se- 
 cret key that unlocked the heart — a personal, 
 private conversation about the most impor- 
 tant matters. Such a method of service courts 
 no publicity and escapes observation, but 
 - does not fail of recognition in God's book 
 of remembrance, where a special record is 
 kept of those who think upon His name and 
 speak often one to another.* For example, 
 while on a bicycle tour with a friend in 
 Sutherlandshire, in 1884, he wrote to his 
 wife : ' ' We had a job to get across the Kyle. 
 It was very low water, and we had to wade 
 some distance before we got to the boat. We 
 had a talk with the boatman, who said he 
 had been praying and searching for years, 
 but couldn't find Him." This modest, un- 
 pretending sentence, written to her he loved 
 best, reveals the habit of the man. 
 
 The fourth and last period of his life is 
 forever linked with Arabia. After he 
 passed his last examination at Cambridge, 
 
 * Mai. iii, i6. 
 128' 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 in 1880, Keith-Falconer gave himself, with 
 all his concentration of mind, to the study 
 of the Arabic, including the Koran. First 
 he got from books what preparatory knowl- 
 edge of that difficult tongue he could, and 
 then went to the Nile, and at Assiout resided 
 for some months with that well-known 
 missionary. Dr. H. W. Hogg, to acquire 
 the colloquial language, learn the temper 
 of the Arabic mind, and study the Moslem 
 faith. Then he again sought the univer- 
 sity halls, and for three years longer carried 
 on his research, translating the Kalilah and 
 Dimnali* and meanwhile filling the post 
 of Hebrew Lecturer at Clare College and of 
 Theological Ex-aminer. 
 
 Here then is a young man, not yet 
 thirty, married to a charming woman. Miss 
 Bevan, and in the midst of the finest clas- 
 sical surroundings. Everything was calcu- 
 lated to root him at Cambridge, where 
 before him lay a future of almost unlimited 
 possibilities. He might have grown in 
 
 * These were the so-called " Fables of Bidpai " qr Pilpai, 
 an Indian Biahman and gymnosophist, of great antiquity. 
 Scarcely any book but the Bible has been translated into 
 so many tongues, and its history is a part of the history of 
 human development. Bidpai has been called chief of the 
 philosophers of India. 
 
 129 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 such a soil until, like the palm, he over- 
 topped others and blossomed into a sur- 
 passing fruitfulness, as well as a scholarly 
 symmetry. Fame had her goal and laurel 
 wreath in sight. But a higher calling and 
 a fadeless crown absorbed him. He left all 
 behind him to carry the Gospel message to 
 distant Aden. 
 
 The life of Dr. John Wilson, of Bombay, 
 had opened his eyes to the possibilities of 
 a missionary career, and about the same 
 time General Haig had called attention to 
 Arabia as a neglected field, and to the 
 strategic importance of this particular sta- 
 tion on the Red Sea as a point of approach 
 and occupation. Aden as a military posi- 
 tion controls the Red Sea, and in a mercan- 
 tile and nautical point of view sustains a 
 relation to Asia and Africa similar to that 
 of Gibraltar to Europe and Africa. In the 
 year of Victoria's coronation — 1838 — the 
 Arab sultan was persuaded to cede the 
 peninsula to England, and it was made a 
 free port. It is but five hundred miles 
 south from Mecca and six hundred and 
 fifty from Medina. Thousands from all 
 parts of Arabia enter the British territory 
 every year and are compelled to see how 
 
 130 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith- Falconer 
 
 the peace, order, freedom, and good gov- 
 ernment, there prevalent, contrast with the 
 tyranny and anarchy elsewhere found. 
 
 Keith-Falconer had -an interview with 
 General Haig, and in 1885, in the autttmn, 
 went to Aden to prospect. On his way he 
 began inducting his wife into the mysteries 
 of Arabic, and quaintly wrote : ' ' Gwen- 
 dolin struggling with Arabic. Arabic 
 grammars should be strongly bound, be- 
 cause learners are so often found to dash 
 them frantically on the ground." 
 
 The- result of his prospecting tour was 
 that he determined to fix on Sheikh-Othman, 
 near by, as his station, leaving Aden to the 
 Church Missionary Society. He explored 
 the neighborhood, and personally proved 
 to the people that not all Europeans are 
 " clever people who get drunk and have no 
 religion to speak of." He found camel- 
 riding not very pleasant, and saw one of 
 those brutes seize and shake a man vio- 
 lently; and he adds, "a camel will some- 
 times bite off a man's head!" 
 
 In the spring of 1886 he and his wife 
 were again in England, and on Easter Day, 
 in the Assembly Hall at Mile End, Keith- 
 Falconer delivered, on "Temptation," the 
 
 131 
 
•The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 most striking address of his life. Was it a 
 reflection of the inward struggle he was 
 then experiencing, with the parting of the 
 ways before him? with nobility, wealth, 
 distinction, on the one hand, and seclusion, 
 self-denial, and obscurity, on the other? In 
 May he spoke before the General Assembly 
 of the Free Church of Scotland on Moham- 
 medan missions, an address equally impress- 
 ive in its way, which reveals his purpose and 
 clear conception of the possible service to 
 which Arabia appealed. He said that he 
 had been again and again urged to go to 
 Arabia and set up a school, and that one 
 day a Mohammedan, asking for a piece of 
 paper, wrote in a mysterious fashion, " If 
 you want the people to walk in your way, 
 then set jip schools." The man was a Had- 
 jee, returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, 
 where he had been thoroughly stripped of 
 all his mone}'. Keith-Falconer offered him 
 a copy of John's gospel, but he would not 
 accept it ; and, being further questioned, 
 acknowledged that he liked the historical 
 parts, but other parts made him fearful. 
 He pointed to the talk between Christ and 
 the woman at Jacob's well, " If thou knew- 
 est the gift of God," etc., " and," said the 
 
 132 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 Hadjee, "that verse makes my heart trem- 
 ble, lest I be made to follow in the way of 
 the Messiah." 
 
 This young Semitic scholar, already the 
 greatest living orientalist, saw the way to a 
 great work at this southern station in 
 Arabia. He would have a school, a med- 
 ical mission, and- a depot for distributing 
 the Holy vScriptures. He must study medi- 
 cine himself and secure a Christian physi- 
 cian as his coworker. He would put him- 
 self under the Foreign Mission Board of the 
 Scottish Church, but he would pay all costs 
 of the mission himself. 
 
 Just at this point, and greatly to his sur- 
 prise, he was made Professor of Arabic at 
 Cambridge. The position was partly hon- 
 orary, its active teaching depending mostly 
 on an associate ; and so it was accepted, 
 undoubtedly not because of a divided pur- 
 pose, but because his mind was set on 
 Arabia, and his Cambridge work would 
 augment his power to turn attention to its 
 needs. He gave a course of three lectures 
 on "The Pilgrimage to Mecca," and on the 
 evening after his last lecture was again off 
 for Aden with his wife and his accom- 
 plished colleague. Dr. Stewart Cowen. 
 
 133 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 This was November, 1886. He laid tlie 
 foundation for his 'mission premises and 
 work, and the force of his character was 
 already making an impression on the Mos- 
 lem mind, so that, within a few months, 
 there were but few who came in touch with 
 this Christlike man who were willing to ad- 
 mit that they were followers of Mohammed ; 
 but they were wont to say, " There are no 
 Moslems here!" The Gospel in Arabic 
 found both purchasers and readers with 
 those who had read in this grand man the 
 living- epistle of God. 
 
 But the Aden fever proved a fatal foe. 
 Both Keith-Falconer and his wife were 
 stricken in February, 1887, and fresh at- 
 tacks rapidly weakened his stalwart consti- 
 tution until, on May 11, he sank into quiet 
 slumber and could no more be awaked 
 for service in this lower sphere. His biog- 
 rapher, Mr. Sinker, beautifully writes : "It 
 was indeed the end. Quietly he passed 
 away. God's finger touched him and he 
 slept. Slept? nay, rather awakened, not in 
 the close, heated room where he had so lone 
 lain helpless — the weary nurse, overcome 
 with heat and watching, slumbering near — 
 the young wife, widowed ere she knew her 
 
 134 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 loss, lying in an adjoining room, herself 
 broken down with illness as' well as anxiet)' 
 — the loyal doctor, resting after his two 
 nights' vigil — not on these do Ion Keith- 
 Falconer's eyes open. He is in the pres- 
 ence of his Lord ; the life which is the life 
 indeed has begun." 
 
 After five months of labor in his chosen 
 field the body of Keith-Falconer was lov- 
 ingly laid to rest in the cemetery at Aden 
 by British officers and soldiers of her maj- 
 est}' — fitting burial for one of the soldiers of 
 a greater King, who, with his armor on and 
 his courage undaunted, fell with his face 
 to the foe. The martyr of Aden had en- 
 tered God's Eden. 
 
 And so Great Britain made her first offer- 
 ing — and it was a very costly one — to 
 Arabia's evangelization. 
 
 No doubt there be those who will exclaim, 
 " To what purpose is this waste! " for this 
 flask of costly ointment, broken and poured 
 out amid Arabia's arid sands, might have 
 been kept in the classic halls of Cambridge, 
 and even yet be breathing its perfume where 
 scholars tread and heroes are made. To 
 this and all such cavils of unbelief there is 
 but one answer, and it is all-sufHcient, for 
 
 135 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 it is God's answer : ' ' What I do thou know- 
 est not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." 
 
 The Free Church, whose missionary he 
 was, declares: " The falling asleep, in the 
 first months of fervent service, of the Hon. 
 Ion Keith-Falconer, in the extreme Asian 
 outpost in South Arabia, gives solemn ur- 
 gency to his last appeal to the cultured, the 
 wealthy, and the unselfish, whom that de- 
 voted volunteer for Christ represented when 
 he addressed them in these words : 
 
 " ' While vast continents are shrouded in 
 almost utter darkness, and hundreds of 
 millions suffer the horrors of heathenism or 
 Islam, the burden of proof lies upon you to 
 show that the circumstances in which God 
 has placed you were meant by Him to keep 
 you out of the foreign mission field.'" 
 
 God makes no mistakes, and we are " im- 
 mortal till our work is done," if we are fully 
 in His plan. We may not penetrate the ar- 
 cana of His secret purposes and read the 
 final issue of our disappointments, but, as 
 Dr. J. W. Dulles used to say, they are, 
 rightly read, "His appointments." The 
 short career of Keith-Falconer is a lesson 
 such as never has been more impressively 
 taught — that nothing is too good to be given 
 
 136 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 to God on the altar of missions. Keith- 
 Falconer's death sent an electric shock 
 tlirough the British kingdom and the wider 
 Church of Christ. But it was his distinction 
 and accomplishments that made it impossi- 
 ble for his life's lesson to remain unread. 
 His fame gave a trumpet voice to his words 
 and made his life vocal with witness. Ad- 
 miration and love united to draw others to 
 follow in the steps of a heroism so divinely 
 self-oblivious. The Church asked for one 
 volunteer to step into the breach, and thir- 
 teen of the graduating class of the New 
 College at once responded; but the response 
 did not end then or there. The very year of 
 Keith-Falconer's death Robert P. Wilder 
 and John N. Forman were going about 
 among the colleges and theological schools 
 of the United States and Canada, appealing 
 for volunteers, from the very best of the ed- 
 ucated young men, for the foreign field. 
 And now, during the ten years that have 
 passed since this martyr spirit of Aden went 
 up to God, ten thousand lives of young men 
 and women in Britain and America have 
 been offered to God, quickened by this ex- 
 ample of consecration. The Henry Martyn 
 Memorial Hall at Cambridge, the Hanning- 
 
 131 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 ton Memorial Hall at Oxford, and many 
 other monuments of the dead and living 
 who have given themselves to God's mis- 
 sion work are keeping alive the testimony 
 of the Cambridge orientalist. He, being 
 dead, yet speaketh, and no voice of the last 
 half century is heard more widely by the 
 young men of the Church of Christ. 
 
 He sought to " call attention to Arabia ;" 
 he has done it in a way and to, an extent that 
 he never imagined. The workman fell, but 
 the work goes on. Under Rev. W. R. W. 
 Gardner and Dr. Young new currents of in- 
 fluence are flowing into and through Aden. 
 In 1888 a large number of Abyssinian chil- 
 dren, who had been carried into Arabia from 
 ruined homes and massacred families, for 
 enslavement, were rescued by a British man- 
 of-war and put into school in this mission 
 for Christian training, to be sent back to 
 Abyssinia as missionaries. Christian teach- 
 ers, evangelists, and physicians have since 
 gone to this port on the Gulf of Aden to 
 take up the work Keith-Falconer laid down. 
 And on both sides of the Red Sea, in Africa 
 and Asia, the mission which he begun is likely 
 to be the seed of other enterprises looking 
 to the evangelization of both continents. 
 
 138 
 
The Hon. Ion IIcith-Falconer 
 
 The Keith-Falconer Mission to Arabia has 
 not come to its grave because its founder 
 sleeps in the dreary cemetery at Aden. On 
 these southern shores of Arabia stand the 
 "Scots Church" and the Church of Eng- 
 land edifices, one of which latter is largely 
 built from collections made in the mail 
 steamers that ply across those waters. The 
 Scots Church, which is now building, is 
 partly the result of the money raised by the 
 children of the Free Church of Scotland, and 
 under the supervision of an Arab contractor 
 and workmen, some of whom are Jews. And 
 so, curiously enough. Christians, Arabs, and 
 Jews unite to erect Christ's houses of prayer 
 in the land of Ishmael! Dr. George Smith, 
 who recently visited Aden, testifies to the 
 prosperity and hopefulness of the congrega- 
 tion there worshiping in connection with 
 the Scots Church, and says that in the 
 pioneering stage of the Arab mission it 
 supplies the spiritual life and enthusiasm 
 of common worship and evangelical effort. 
 Dr. Young acts as military chaplain for the 
 British infantry and artillery located at 
 Aden, and with his colleague undertakes not 
 only to furnish two sermons a week, but to 
 meet the demands made on two medical 
 
 139 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 missionaries for Arab and Somali, Jew and 
 Parsee ; thus on one hand nourishing piety 
 in the British residents, and reaching out 
 on the other to the various foreign, Mos- 
 lem, Parsee, and other populations that need 
 Gospel effort. 
 
 The British camp and the native town of 
 Aden lie in the crater of an extinct volcano. 
 What a typical place in which to plant the 
 Bible, with the tree of knowledge and of 
 life ! And the Bible is planted there. On 
 a busy corner of the main street the British 
 and Foreign Bible Society's depot stands, and 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lethaby are its devoted work- 
 ers. Near by stands the square and well- 
 fenced inclosure,, with its somewhat rude 
 entrance, which is the resting place of the 
 body of Keith-Falconer. In the middle of 
 a row of graves of British officers and men, 
 each with a single cross above it, may be 
 seen the tomb of the first missionary that 
 Scotland gave to Arabia; who, as Dr. Smith 
 says, ' ' died at thirty, one year younger than 
 Henry Martyn, and was followed by the 
 aged bishop, Valpy French, on the eastern 
 shore at Muscat. A massive block of white 
 Egyptian marble covers the grave, while 
 there rises at its head an exquisitely pure 
 
 140 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 slab, with an inscription, under a coronet 
 which might well represent the martyr's 
 crown. There Dr. Cowen, who was then 
 his medical colleague, and several officers 
 and men of her British majesty's Ninety- 
 eighth Regiment, as the sun set, laid all that 
 was mortal of the young Scottish noble, 
 scholar, and self-consecrated missionary of 
 the Free Church of Scotland. The sacred 
 spot is the first missionary milestone into 
 Arabia." 
 
 Dr. Smith further says — and we quote 
 the words of this distinguished correspond- 
 ent as the latest available information from 
 this field : 
 
 ' ' As the Keith-Falconer Mission, bearing 
 its founder's name and generuosly supported 
 by his family, this first modern mission to 
 the Arab may be said to have begun anew 
 in the year 1889. First of all. Principal 
 Mackichan, when on his return to Bombay, 
 after furlough, carefully inspected the 
 Sheikh-Othman headquarters, and, with the 
 local medical authorities, reported in favor 
 of continuing and extending the plans of 
 its founder. The mission is now, as a re- 
 sult" of past experience, conducted by two 
 fully qualified men, one of whom is married, 
 10 HI 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 who are working- in most brotherly hai-mony, 
 preacliing the Gospel in Arabic as well as 
 healing the sick. Its Arabic and English 
 school is taught by Alexander Aabud, a 
 married member of the Syrian Evangelical 
 Church, from the Lebanon, but trained in 
 the American mission in Egypt. 
 
 "All over this neighborhood the med- 
 ical mission founded by Keith-Falconer is 
 making for itself a name, and its doctors are 
 received, or visited at their dispensary, as the 
 messengers of God. European and native 
 alike, natives from India and Africa, as well 
 as the Arab camel drivers and subjects of 
 the Sultan of Lahej — himself and his fam- 
 ily patients of the Mission — ttirn to the 
 missionaries with gratitude and hope, and , 
 will do them any service. Nowhere has the 
 influence of medical missions in this early 
 stage, of course preparatory, been so re- 
 markable as in this Yemen corner of Arabia 
 during the past seven years." "'■' 
 
 It is, perhaps, proper, before we add the 
 last touches to this imperfect sketch of one 
 of the finest, brightest, and noblest young 
 men of the century, that we indicate some 
 
 * Letter to theV Free Church of Scotland Monthly, ty 
 George Smith, LL.D. 
 
 142 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 of those special traits which shone in him and 
 provoke us to emulation. Among them we 
 select the following as most pertinent to the 
 particular purposes for which mainly this 
 book is prepared, and with the prayer that 
 many of those who read these pages may 
 follow him as he followed the supreme Ex- 
 emplar of us all. 
 
 First, his simplicity. The childlike char- 
 acter, refined of what is merely childish, is 
 the divine ideal of human perfection. We 
 must not outgrow the simple artlessness, 
 humility, docility of childhood, but rather 
 grow backward toward it perpetually. 
 The ideal child is inseparable in our minds 
 from faith, love, truth, and trust; and these 
 are the cardinal virtues of Christian charac- 
 ter. To learn to doubt, to hate, to lie, to 
 suspect, is to .learn the devil's lessons, and 
 any approach to these is just so much prog- 
 ress in Satan's school. This pioneer to 
 Arabia never lost his simple childlikeness. 
 His manhood was not an outgrowing of his 
 boyhood, in all that makes a child beautiful 
 and attractive. He never put on airs of 
 any sort, but hated all hollow pretense and 
 empty professions. His was that highest 
 art of concealing all art ; in his most care- 
 
 143 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 ful work he did not lose naturalness, and 
 in his most studied performances there was 
 no affectation. He acted out himself — a 
 genuine, honest, sincere man, who con- 
 cealed nothing and- had nothing to conceal. 
 Second, his eccentricity. We use this 
 word because it has forever had a new 
 meaning by his interpretation of it. He 
 was wont to say that a true disciple must 
 not fear to be called " eccentric." " Eccen- 
 tric," said he, " means ' out of center,' and 
 you will be out of center with the world if 
 you are in center with Christ." He dared 
 to be one of God's ''peculiar people, zeal- 
 ous of good works." While we are con- 
 tent to live on the low level of the average 
 "professor of religion" we shall exhibit 
 no peculiarity, for there is no peculiarity 
 about a dead level. But if, like a moun- 
 tain rising from a plain, we dare to aspire 
 to higher and. better things, to get nearer 
 to God, to live in a loftier altitude and at- 
 mosphere, we shall, like the mountain, be 
 singular and exceptional, we cannot escape 
 observation, and may not escape hostile crit- 
 icism. Blessed is the man who, like Caleb 
 and Joshua, ventures to stand compara- 
 tively alone in testimony to God; for it is 
 
 144 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 
 
 such as these who go over into the inherit- 
 ance of peculiar privileges and rewards. 
 
 Third, his unselfishness. Few of us ap- 
 preciate the deformity and enormity of the 
 sin of simply being absorbed in our own 
 things. One may be a monster of repulsive- 
 ness in God's eyes through qualities that ex- 
 hibit little outward hatefulness and uglinesS 
 to the common eye. Greed, lust, ambition, 
 pride, envy and jealousy, malice and un- 
 charity, may not be forbidden in man's deca- 
 logue, but they eat away the core of char- 
 acter like the worm in the apple's heart. 
 Balzac, in one of his stories, revives the old 
 myth of the magic skin which enabled the 
 wearer to get his wish, but with every new 
 gratification of selfish desire shrank and 
 held him in closer embrace, until it squeezed 
 the breath of life out of him. And the 
 myth is an open mystery, to be seen in 
 daily life. Every time that we seek some- 
 thing for ourselves only, without regard to 
 God's glory or man's good, our very success 
 is defeat ; we may get what we want, but 
 we shrink, in capacity for the highest joy 
 and the noblest life. 
 
 Fourth, his coneentration. Paul writes to 
 
 the Philippians, "This one thing I do." 
 145 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 In the original it is far more terse and dense 
 with meaning. He uses two little Greek 
 words, the shortest in the language (ei' (Je), 
 " But one! " an exclamation that no words 
 can interpret. All his energies were directed 
 toward and converged in one. Our lives are 
 a waste because they lack unity of aim and 
 effort. We seek too many things to attain 
 anything great or achieve anything grand. 
 Our energies are divided, scattered, dissi- 
 pated. Impulse is followed, and impulse is 
 variable, unsteady, and inconstant, while 
 principle is constant, like the pole star. 
 We are too much controlled by opinions 
 which change with the hoitr, instead of by 
 convictions which, being intelligently 
 formed?, hold us, like the girdle of truth in 
 the Christian armor, instead of our merely 
 holding them. It is possible for a man or 
 woman to gain almost any goal, desirabie 
 or not, if the whole energy be concentrated. 
 How immense the importance, then, of get- 
 ting a right purpose to command the soul, 
 and then making everything else bend and 
 bow before it! 
 
 God speaks to the young men and women 
 of our day as in trumpet tones: " He that 
 hath ears to hear, let him hear ! " An exam- 
 
 146 
 
The Hon. Ion Keith- Falconer 
 
 pie like that set before us in this life-story 
 is one of God's voices. In Keith-Falconer 
 "the Holy Ghost saith," " vStop and con-, 
 sider! " What way is your life-stream run- 
 ning? Are youi living for yourself or for 
 God and for man ? Every man is his broth- 
 er's keeper, and it is fitting that the first 
 man who questioned this should have been 
 Cain, his brother's murderer! Did it ever 
 occur to the reader that every one of us is 
 either his brother's keeper or slayer? Every 
 life is saving or destroying other lives. We 
 liftmen up or we drag them down: there is 
 no escape from responsibility. 
 
 Keith-Falconer saw that no man liveth 
 unto himself and no man dieth unto him- 
 self. Life is bound up in a bundle with all 
 other life. We are none of us independent 
 of the others, and we cannot escape the ne- 
 cessity of influencing them for good or evil. 
 Eternity alone can measure the capacity for 
 such influence, for eternity alone can give 
 the vision and the revelation of what life 
 covers in- the reach and range of its mighty 
 forces. It is a solemn and august thought 
 that, to-day, each one of us is projecting 
 lines of influence into the unending here- 
 after. The life span is infinite. 
 
 14V 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 So looked upon, this short career of thirty 
 years did not end at Aden ten years ago. 
 That was the laying of a basis for a building 
 that is going on unseen and silently, and 
 whose spires will pierce the clouds. That 
 was the planting 'of a seed for a tree whose 
 branches shall shake like Lebanon, and 
 wave in beauty and fertility when the 
 mountains are no more. That was the 
 starting of a career which is still going on, 
 only that the cloud is between us and its 
 hidden future, and we cannot trace its on- 
 ward, upward path. 
 
 Let us turn once more to that grave at 
 Aden and read the simple inscription : 
 
 TO 
 
 THE DEAR MEMORY OF 
 
 THE HON. ION KEITH-FALCONER, 
 
 THIRD SON OF 
 
 THE EARL AND COUNTESS OF KINTORE, 
 
 WHO ENTERED INTO REST 
 
 AT SHEIKH-OTH-MAN, MAY II, 1887, 
 
 AGED 30 YEARS. 
 
 " If any man serve me, let him follow me ; and where I 
 am, there shall also my servant be : jf any man serve me, him 
 will my Father honor." 
 
 148 
 
IV 
 Sia Sefi ®na 
 
 BY 
 
 S. L. Baldwin, D.D. 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 IV. 
 Sia Sek Ongf 
 
 EARLY LIFE. 
 
 It is well that in a series of missionary 
 biographies there should be one of a native 
 preacher upon a mission field, and I have 
 chosen Sia Sek Ong, of the Foo-Chow Mis- 
 sion, as one suitable to be enrolled in this 
 missionary book. 
 
 He was born in the mountain village of 
 Yek-iong, about nine miles west of the city 
 of Foo-Chow. His father was a farmer, who 
 also gave much attention to literary pur- 
 suits, a man having many strong points of 
 character, of incorruptible honesty, and 
 very amiable and pleasant in his intercourse 
 with the people. His mother was an ex- 
 cellent woman, and was of much repute in 
 helping people who were in sorrow and 
 need. He was the oldest child in a family 
 of five. Opportunities for schooling were 
 given him as soon as he was able to com- 
 mence study. The chief object in Chinese 
 education, aside from acquiring a sufficient 
 
 , 151 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 knowledge of reading and writing to be 
 able to conduct business, is to become ac- 
 quainted with the Confucian classics. He, 
 therefore, made early acquaintance with 
 these books. In regard to some of his early- 
 experiences he says himself : "One day at 
 school I saw a book with pictures represent- 
 ing the punishment awaiting the wicked. 
 One was snatched up at death by the prince 
 of devils and sawn asunder, while others 
 were roasted at a copper pipe to which they 
 were chained. It also gave an account of a 
 good man's death, and the glory and honor 
 that are his reward. I had a vague belief 
 in future retribution, and exerted myself in 
 doing good so that I might obtain happiness 
 on earth and escape punishment hereafter." 
 He also intimates that when he was about 
 thirteen years old, beginning to realize the 
 burden and care of parents in rearing chil- 
 dren, he resolved to study more diligently 
 and become a good man, cherishing in- 
 wardly the hope that the gods would be 
 pleased with him and protect him, so that he 
 might live to reward his parents for their 
 care of him. 
 
 His mother died when he was sixteen 
 years of age, and, his father's burdens in- 
 
 152 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 creasing, at the age of eighteen he left 
 school and began teaching in a neighboring 
 village. This relieved his father of the ex- 
 pense of tuition and also increased his in- 
 come by the money which the son was able 
 to contribute. 
 
 In these early years he frequently wor- 
 shiped at heathen temples, hoping to gain 
 from the gods or the spirits of his ancestors 
 help in leading a good life -and protection 
 from evil spirits. It will thus be seen that 
 this man without any knowledge of Chris- 
 tianity was trying to do the best he could 
 with such knowledge as he had, and that he 
 had a sincere purpose to lead a good life. 
 
 HIS FIRST KNOWLEDGE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 When Sia was in his eighteenth year he 
 first heard of people who believed in Jesus. 
 They were known as hong-kaii (followers of 
 doctrine). This name ought not to imply 
 any evil, but such were the associations in 
 the minds of the people connected with 
 the term that the young lad thought they 
 were persons of whom he should be afraid 
 and whom he ought to avoid. Unexpect- 
 edly meeting a Christian one day at a school 
 taught by a friend, Sia asked him to tell 
 
 153 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 him something of Christian doctrine, and 
 then lieard for the first time the Bible ac- 
 count of the creation. He says in regard 
 to this conversation, " Having lieard him 
 to the end, I felt in my heart that the nar- 
 rative was true." Afterward a Christian 
 teacher visited his own school and preached 
 there, but Sia says that he was like a deaf 
 man, that not a word entered his heart. 
 Nevertheless, after the teacher had gone he 
 began to reflect upon his sincerity and pa- 
 tience, and to think that men ought to be 
 like him. At, that time he received two 
 Christian books, but when the preacher 
 came again and asked him whether he had 
 read them, not having read them at all, he 
 replied, " I have looked at them," and lis- 
 tened to the preaching with great prejudice 
 against the preacher. 
 
 The next year he taught school near a 
 Christian chapel, and one day attended the 
 services. Of his experience on that day he 
 says: " I would fain have got up and fled, 
 but something seemed to bind my feet. It 
 seemed as if the seat I occupied were full of 
 needles. From this time on I gradually 
 comprehended that idols are nothing, and 
 felt a constant desire to proclaim such of the 
 
 154 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 doctrines as I understood. Whenever I met 
 a person who hated Christianity I tried to 
 defend it." Listening once to a preacher 
 at Ngu-kang, who spoke of God as the ruler 
 of heaven and earth, light seemed to break 
 in upon his mind as he listened, and the 
 conviction came to his heart that there truly 
 is a God ; and he testifies that from this time 
 he made considerable progress in Christian 
 knowledge, realized that the Scriptures 
 helped him to discriminate between the true 
 and the false, and that he must obey the truth 
 if he would be a true man. He also records 
 that in the winter of that year another 
 preacher told him of the judgment to come, 
 and for a long time he was troubled and with- 
 out comfort, but took refuge in the thought 
 that he was young, and that he need not 
 trouble about death, and tried to avoid hear- 
 ing Christianity preached. He purposely 
 went to a village where there were no Chris- 
 tians, but found no comfort of heart, there 
 being nothing in his new associations that 
 could satisfy him. 
 
 It was about this time that he first came 
 into contact with Rev. Nathan Sites, and 
 says that he was as happy in meeting Chris- 
 tian people in connection with the mission- 
 
 155 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 ary as one is who returns from a foreign 
 country and meets his relatives, and that he 
 felt it was really the society of Christian 
 friends for which he had been longing dur- 
 ing his absence. 
 
 COMING TO CHRIST 
 
 I do not remember the precise time at 
 which Sia Sek Ong became the personal 
 teacher of Dr. Sites, but it was not far from 
 the time of which we have just been speak- 
 ing. He had the reputation of being an ex- 
 cellent teacher, and although he was a proud- 
 spirited Confucianist and a worshiper in 
 heathen temples he was employed as the 
 personal teacher of Dr. Sites because of his 
 ability. The chapel and mission residence 
 at Ngu-kang were under one roof, the side 
 door of the chapel opening into the study of 
 the missionary. One day Sia was sitting in 
 the study with the door open between the 
 study and the chapel. Li Yu Mi, a black- 
 smith who had been converted but a short 
 time before, was preaching in the ohapel. 
 Among other things that he uttered he said : 
 " There is but one name that can save ; that 
 is the name of Jesus." Sia was angry. He 
 arose and shut the door with a very em- 
 
 156 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 phatic bang and walked the floor, saying to 
 himself : ' ' I'll not listen to such talk as this. 
 How does this blacksmith, who can scarcely- 
 read his own language, dare to tell us that 
 there is only one name that can save, and 
 that the name of a foreigner we never heard 
 of until a few months ago? " 
 
 But he could not get rid of the words 
 which had entered his mind. Talking with 
 _me about it years afterward, he said that 
 when he went home at night and tried to 
 sleep he could not get rest, seeming to hear 
 in both eats all the time the words, ' ' Only 
 one name that can save !" The next day he 
 found that this continued, and in the midst 
 of his duties he was continually hearing 
 these words. After a great struggle he 
 finally began to reason with himself, "After 
 all I need a Saviour. Confucius tells me 
 nothing about what is after death nor about 
 my relations to the great power above. All 
 men need a Saviour, and if he did not come 
 from China how do I know but he may have 
 come from Judea, and may be the very Jesus 
 to whom my heart has been so opposed?" 
 
 This led to more serious thought, and 
 gradually he yielded his obstinate opposition^ 
 and began to pray to the true Qod for guid- 
 
 11 IS'? 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 ance and help. He was not, however, to 
 come at once into the light and be relieved 
 of all further trouble. He passed through 
 many severe experiences, sometimes lying 
 awake through the night in great agony. 
 On one such occasion he seemed to realize 
 that his own hardness of heart was the 
 cause of his sorrow, and determined to give 
 up worldly joys and trust to God's mercy. 
 He confessed his sins and prayed, but still 
 the conflict seemed to be going on. He 
 speaks of it as if two giants were fighting 
 within him. When he arose in the morn- 
 ing it was with the fear that after all the 
 preaching he had heard, remaining hard- 
 hearted, perhaps the Lord had utterly cast 
 him off. He narrates that at ten o'clock in 
 the forenoon, as he was walking to and fro, 
 a voice seemed to say to him, "The Lord 
 has heard your prayers and forgiven your 
 sins." In describing this voice he says, "It 
 seemed to be above me,- at my side, and 
 within me." And he further records, ",My 
 sorrow disappeared ; I could not tell how or , 
 at what moment a peace and joy unspeak- 
 able filled my soul." He began to read his 
 Bible regularly, and while teaching school 
 he required his pupils to sit still and listen 
 
 158 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 to the preaching of g. Christian minister who 
 visited them. 
 
 In 1864 he united with the Methodist 
 Episcopal church at Ngu-kaug. Of course 
 he stopped making any payments to the 
 temples of his native village and idolatrous 
 processions, which led his neighbors to 
 threaten to confiscate his property and to 
 expel him from his home. For two years 
 he suffered much trouble on this account, 
 having the opposition of his family as well 
 as that of the people. But he received 
 help from on high and continued a faithful 
 member of the Church. Some of his neigh- 
 bors began to listen to the Gospel, and by 
 the end of two years from his union with 
 the Church some fifteen of them had be- 
 come 'Christians. 
 
 ENTERING THE MINISTRY 
 
 Like all the other new Christians of those 
 days, as soon as Sia became a Christian him- 
 self he began to proclaim the truth to others. 
 Just as the early Christians went about 
 preaching the word so did these Chinese 
 Christians. Without waiting for license or 
 ordination they told to others what they 
 themselves had felt and experienced. 
 
 159 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Dr. Sites asked Sia Sek Ong to accompany 
 him to the villages which he visited and 
 proclaim the doctrine. Finding that he had 
 " gifts, grace, and usefulness," he gave him 
 exhorter's license, and after a few months 
 sent him to Ming-chiang, a city on the 
 other side of the river Min. There he 
 rented a chapel and preached daily for one 
 year, and while engaged in this work be- 
 came satisfied that he must leave all secular 
 occupation and devote himself to the preach- 
 ing of the Gospel. This was in 1865. At 
 the Annual Meeting of the Foo-Chow Mis- 
 sion, held in the autumn of that year, he 
 was received as a preacher and appointed to 
 the Hok Ing Tong Circuit, which included 
 the East Street Church in the city of Foo- 
 Chow, with Ngu-kang, Yek-iong, his native 
 place, and several other country stations. 
 He met with many trials, often suffering 
 persecution, but preaching with earnestness 
 and fidelity. He was much troubled con- 
 cerning the death of an uncle whom he had 
 often exhorted to repent, but upon whom 
 he had not been able to make much impres- 
 sion. This uncle dying very suddenly, it 
 caused the preacher great anxiety and sor- 
 row ; but he says that one night it seemed 
 
 160 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 as if the Saviour stood by him and bade him 
 touch liis hands and his side, and thereupon 
 his heart was filled with peace and joy. 
 
 For the three years following, from 1 866 to 
 1869, he was appointed to the Hok-chiang 
 Circuit. This was a very difficult part of 
 the country in which to labor, as many un- 
 ruly people were to be found there, and be- 
 sides the troubles which he met from those 
 outside of the Church he also experienced 
 severe trials among false brethren. Speak- 
 ing of his experiences during these years 
 he says they were like those of a knife on a 
 whetstone. Sometimes he was in deep sor- 
 row because the people did not understand 
 the truth, and at other times because many 
 of those who did understand it, rebelled 
 against it. It was here that he became so 
 impressed with the fact that the Gospel was 
 hindered because of the common saying that 
 the preachers ate the foreigners' rice and 
 therefore spoke the foreigners' words, that 
 he determined to decline all support from 
 the missionary treasury. This becoming 
 known to the people, when they found him 
 sad and weeping over their lack of under- 
 standing and their failure to come to the 
 truth, they supposed that he was in trouble 
 
 161 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 because he was receiving- no money. But in 
 the midst of all these sorrows he was driven 
 nearer to God and came into the enjoyment 
 of great peace of soul. 
 
 SELF-SUPPORT 
 
 At the Annual Meeting of the Mission fol- 
 lowing he declared his determination to take 
 this step. During the year he was often in 
 great straits, and did not know where the 
 necessary supplies for the sustenance of his 
 family would come from. 
 
 While planning to attend a meeting at 
 Keng-kiang he was dismayed by the terri- 
 ble rain that was falling. He knew that the 
 chapel had only a wet mud floor, that the 
 church members had not sufficient room in 
 their houses to entertain him, that it would 
 require a great exercise of the voice to be 
 heard by the people while a heavy rain was' 
 falling upon the roof, that in his weakness 
 of body it was simply torture to be shut up 
 in such quarters as he must have there with 
 people who were noisy, and many of whom 
 smoked tobacco, and that if the rain con- 
 tinued he would be compelled to stay for 
 days. He remarks that while thinking in 
 this way he was overcome by sleep, and sud- 
 
 162 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 denly heard a voice calling, " Sia Sek Ong, 
 how do you know there is such a thing as a 
 human soul ? If there is no soul then you are 
 very foolish to trouble yourself so about go- 
 ing to that meeting." He turned and lis- 
 tened, but hearing no one he opened the 
 door and asked the assistant preacher 
 whether he had spoken, but the assistant 
 was sound asleep. He could not determine 
 whether the voice came from within or with- 
 out, and said to himself, ' ' This voice comes 
 near sound reason." All day long he felt 
 that the doctrine of the soul was mere con- 
 jecture, and he began to plan for moving 
 his family home lest he should spend his 
 strength for naught. While such thoughts 
 as these were still agitating his mind in the 
 night suddenly a bright light filled the 
 room, and the cross of Jesus shone in inde- 
 scribable splendor before his eyes. He 
 realized that he had been tempted, and said 
 to himself, "If man has no soul, then what 
 means, the Saviour's cross?" With this 
 peace returned to his heart, and he deter- 
 mined to go on with his duty as a preacher 
 without regard to the joy or sorrow that 
 might await him, and without inquiring 
 whether men knew any of his trials or not. 
 
 163 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 When the time of the Annual Meeting 
 again arrived he found that all he had re- 
 ceived in money, fuel, and food during the 
 year was about enough to support a family 
 of eight persons three months. But as he 
 had then only his wife and one child they 
 had managed to live a year on this income, 
 although during the year he iiad been 
 obliged to pawn some of his clothes. 
 Brethren from other districts collected 
 enough money to enable him to redeem 
 ' them. 
 
 During the first few years in which he 
 was on self-support he never spoke about 
 his financial affairs to anyone, and his true 
 condition in this respect was not known. 
 There were some who suspected that he 
 was secretly getting help from the mission- 
 aries, and when Bishop Harris visited the 
 Mission in 1873 one of these publicly stated 
 his suspicions in a speech at the Annual 
 Meeting. He then replied that since 1870 
 his hand had not handled a foreign dollar, 
 and the discussion tended to increase the 
 movement toward self-support in the Mis- 
 sion. 
 
 Two years later, when he was appointed 
 to Hinghua, a brother tried to dissuade 
 
 164 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 him from moving his family on the ground 
 that they would not be properly provided 
 for; but when he reached the parsonage 
 he found a month's food awaiting them, 
 and as he started upon his fir-st round the 
 preachers and members had his quarterage 
 ready and handed it over to him. He 
 makes record that all the finances were ad- 
 ministered in the disciplinary way, and 
 matters improved from year to year. We 
 give his own words as to his experiences at 
 this time: " I saw the darkness and super- 
 stition of the world and felt a strong desire 
 to build up a church in men's hearts, so that 
 with new hearts they might accept the 
 truth and lead true lives. I considered this 
 the greatest work of life, and with this as 
 my sole purpose I could leave the matter 
 of salary to- the judgment and good will of 
 the native Christians. Thanks be to God, 
 who thus enabled me to carry out the princi- 
 ple of self-support on three districts. Al- 
 though many hated my course and tried to 
 put difficulties in my way it nevertheless 
 became brighter and brighter, so that I 
 could see that it was of the Lord, and must 
 succeed in the end. I seemed to see the 
 day of self-support almost from the outset." 
 
 166 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Not long after this time he was put to a 
 severe test, when, in the judgment of the 
 Mission, it was necessary to station him on 
 the Yong-bing District. This was entirely 
 a missionary district. There were no na- 
 tive Christians who could support him. 
 There was much ground to be occupied, 
 and it was absolutely necessary to give sup- 
 port to the person who should be appointed 
 to preside over it. It was more of a trial 
 by far to him to consent to go receiving 
 missionary support than it had been to en- 
 dure all manner of trials because of the 
 lack of money while he was on self-support. 
 Yet, when convinced of the duty, he took 
 up the work and went forward with great, 
 energy. 
 
 It will be in place before leaving this 
 matter to say that the work of self-support 
 has steadily grown until a considerable 
 number of stations or circuits now entirely 
 support their preachers, and some of the 
 districts give full support^ to their presiding 
 elders. In November, 1896, Bishop Joyce, 
 by the authority of the General Conference, 
 set off the new Hinghua Mission Conference, 
 starting with nearly 6,000 members and 
 probationers, and leaving over 7,000 in the 
 
 166 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 old Foo-Chow Conference. This new Con- 
 ference has grown out of the work in which 
 Sia Sek Ong was engaged when he first 
 traveled the district on self-support. The 
 whole work in the district is more than half 
 self-supporting, and the Rev. W. N. Brew- 
 ster, who is the superintendent, expects to 
 secure full self-support of the native preach- 
 ers in the Conference within a few years. 
 Much of this result is due to the early and 
 faithful labors and sacrifices of Sia Sek Ong 
 in this direction. 
 
 PROGRESS AND ENCOURAGEMENT 
 
 The visits of the bishops from time to 
 time were sources of great encouragement 
 and help to the native preachers, and to 
 none more so than to Sia Sek Ong. The 
 first visit was made by Bishop Thomson in 
 1865, but Mr. Sia was not then a member 
 of the Church. The next was in 1869 by 
 Bishop Kingsley, for whom Brother Sia 
 formed a very strong attachment. The 
 bishop recognized the strength of his mind 
 and the Christian spirit which animated 
 him, and wrote many hearty words of ap- 
 preciation in his letters from the field. 
 
 A very joyous love feast was held during 
 
 167 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Bishop Kingsley's sojourn, at which Sia, 
 among others, gave cordial expression to his 
 joy and gratitude over the bishop's visit. 
 At this time he was ordained both deacon 
 and elder, and although he was not ap- 
 pointed presiding elder, yet the emergencies 
 of the work in a very few months required 
 him to do practically the work of a presiding 
 elder on a large district. When Bishop Har- 
 ris visited the Mission in 1873 much prog- 
 ress had been made in the work, and Sia 
 Sek Ong was appointed Presiding Elder of 
 the Foo-Chow District. The bishop greatly 
 endeared himself to the native preachers 
 during his short stay, and their grateful tes- 
 timonies on the last day of the Conference 
 session were accompanied with tears and 
 deep emotion such as up to that time had 
 rarely been seen in a Chinese congregation. 
 In 1877 Bishop Wiley, who had been a 
 missionary a quarter of a century before 
 in this very field, came to organize the Foo- 
 Chow Conference. Having toiled in the 
 dark days when there was no convert to 
 greet the labors of the missionaries it was a 
 great joy to him to see such a body of 
 earnest, faithful ministers of the truth as he 
 found at that time. He speaks of Sia Sek 
 
 168 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 Ong as the John Fletcher of the Mission, 
 and in many respects this was an appropriate 
 characterization. 
 
 When Sia Sek Ong first felt impelled to 
 start out as a preacher of the Gospel it was 
 with the stern opposition of his sturdy- 
 father, who believed that his son was doing 
 despite to the memory of his ancestors in 
 going out to preach this foreign and hated 
 doctrine. After some time had passed, 
 however, his father sent for him to come 
 home, saying that he could not bear to be 
 separated from him, that if his son would 
 be a Christian that was something which he 
 could not control, but he wished still to have 
 an affectionate feeling between them. The 
 father then began to examine the Bible 
 himself, ' ' to see what had crazed the mind 
 of his son," the result of which was that the 
 same kind of insanity seized upon himself 
 and he soon became a trusting Christian. 
 It was with great pleasure that at the Con- 
 ference of 1877 we saw Sia Kai Luang, the 
 venerable father of Sia Sek Ong, ordained 
 as local deacon in our Church, an office 
 which he filled with fidelity and very 
 acceptably to the people to the end of his 
 life. 
 
 169 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 LITERARY LABOR 
 
 Among other eminent services rendered 
 by Mr. Sia to the Mission his literary work 
 is prominent. He has been connected for 
 many years with the publication of the 
 Fookicn Church Gazette, which is the Christian 
 Advocate of the Foo-Chow Mission. In con- 
 nection with the foreign missionaries who 
 have had charge of the paper he has done 
 much valuable work, disseminating a great 
 deal of information concerning foreign 
 countries, as well as articles on the doc- 
 trines and history of Christianity. 
 
 He is the author of various tracts and 
 leaflets, one of the best known of which is 
 the tract entitled, Who is Jesus ? Avhich was 
 written in response to an offer by Rev. Y. J. 
 Allen, editor of a Church newspaper pub- 
 lished at Shanghai, of a premium for the 
 best essay on the text, " But whom say ye 
 that I am? " There were many essays sent 
 in, and after full examination the premium 
 was awarded to Sia Sek Ong. The essay 
 was afterward published as a tract at 'the 
 Mission Press in Foo-Chow, and was also 
 translated and has for twenty years been 
 published as an English tract by our Tract 
 
 170 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 Society. The conception of it is that of 
 Jesus himself answering the question. Some 
 extracts are appended to give the rccider an 
 idea of his style : 
 
 "The facts concerning me are these: 
 Though originally without form, yet I have 
 a form ; though originally without a body, 
 yet I have a body. Though I have a form, 
 I do not depend on it for life;' though I 
 have a body, I have no solicitude for it. I 
 am the resurrection and the life. Except 
 by me none can ascend to heaven. Except 
 by me none can escape hell. I am an ex- 
 ample of righteous living for all men ; I am 
 the beginning of a new life for all mankind. 
 I am the revealer to sinful men of their just 
 condemnation ; the giver of repentance for 
 pas^t transgressions ; the guide of the peo- 
 ple to God ; the Saviour of the people from 
 their sins ; a redeeming sacrifice for the 
 sins of the world ; the leader of the resur- 
 rection to all the dead. I was rich, bixt for 
 your sakes became poor; I was exalted, but 
 for your sakes humbled myself and conde- 
 scended to become a man, taking upon me 
 the form of a servant. These things you 
 twelve men have already heard and known. 
 
 ' ' Thinii ! Who is he that will not break 
 171 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 the bruised reed? Who is he that will not 
 quench the smoking flax? Who is he that 
 dies for sinners? Who is he that prays for 
 his enemies? Who is he who when he 
 suffers, threatens not, and when he is re- 
 viled, revileth not again? Who is he whom 
 men regard as a root out of dry ground, 
 treat as a criminal, see in him no beauty 
 that they should desire him, appoint him 
 his grave with the wicked ? Of what family 
 is'he the son, think you? To what house- 
 hold does he belono-? Is he one of the 
 prophets returned to the world, or John 
 raised from the dead? 
 
 " Are not ye- the twelve whom I have 
 cliosen ? Ye ought to know me ; but every 
 day ye show that ye have not yet appre- 
 hended me. Therefore ye ask, ' Who shall 
 be greatest in the kingdom of heaven ? ' 
 Therefore ye are filled with indignation 
 against John and his brother. Therefore 
 ye dispute by the way who shall be great- 
 est. Therefore ye ignorantly talk of build- 
 ing tabernacles on the Mount of Transfigu- 
 ration. When I speak of my approaching 
 death and resurrection, ye rebuke me. 
 When I walk on the sea, ye think it is a 
 spirit. AVhen I rebuke the- wind, ye say, 
 
 172 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 ' What manner of man is this? ' When I 
 would wash your feet, ye refuse me. When 
 ye walk on the water to come to me, ye are 
 still afraid. 
 
 " Now ye have walked by my side and 
 beeq -intimate with me for three years. You 
 have heard of my changing water into 
 wine. You saw my transfiguration on the 
 mountain. You know that with a word I 
 defeated ^he devil and escaped from his 
 snares. You saw me feed the multitude 
 with five fishes, and yet have fragments to 
 gather up. And greater things than these : 
 the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, 
 the dumb speak, the lepers are cleansed, 
 the maimed are healed, all diseases are 
 cured, the dead are raised. These things 
 the holy prophets of old desired to see, but 
 saw not ; and to hear, but heard not. But 
 blessed are your eyes, for they see, and 
 your ears, for they hear. Now, carefully 
 reflecting upon what you have seen and 
 heard, whom say ye that I am? " 
 
 " Somewhat in this manner I suppose Je- 
 sus talked with his disciples. I now leave 
 this question, ' Who is Jesus? ' with the 
 reader, praying that the Holy Spirit may 
 
 guide him in his meditations upon it, until 
 13 ^ ns 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 with Thomas he shall joyfully exclaim, 
 ' My Lord and my God ! ' " 
 
 His sermons were always extempore, so 
 far as the wording- was concerned. But 
 they were thoroughly studied, as a rule, be- 
 fore being delivered. His sermon on Sun- 
 day morning, during Bishop Kingsley's 
 visit, was one long to be remembered. It 
 was from the text, ' ' If any man will come 
 after me, let him deny himself, and take up 
 his cross, and follow me." I give a few 
 words from it: "You must, then, first 
 think what manner of man Jesus was. He 
 was not rich, nor honored, nor great. He 
 was poor, despised, lonely. We must be 
 willing to be the same. We must not try 
 to meet him in the dark when nobody can, 
 see us, like Nicodemus, but we must openly 
 follow him. We must not follow him, like 
 the five thousand, for the loaves and fishes, 
 nor, like the sons of Zebedee, for worldly 
 honors. We must not follow him to dwell 
 on the mountain top, but follow him be- 
 cause he has the words of life and there is 
 no one else who can give them to us. If 
 we follow him our enemies will be those of 
 our own households, but we must still fol- 
 low. Whether the road be smooth or rough, 
 174 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 or if it carries us into the waves of the sea, 
 Still we must follow. We cannot go on to 
 the mountain top and build three tents and 
 stay there. We must follow him out of the 
 city, into the garden of Gethsemane, to the 
 mockery of the soldiers, to being spitten 
 upon, to Calvary, to the cross! We must 
 hear him exclaim, ' Why hast thou left me, 
 O my God? ' and still follow him. Follow 
 him to death, to the grave. And shall we 
 stop here ? O no ! Who can keep Jesus in 
 the grave ? Nobody ! nobody ! We will 
 follow him in the resurrection to life. But 
 we will not stop there. The Head has as- 
 cended to heaven, the members shall also. 
 There is no help for it, but they must ' fol- 
 low their Head. Then we will look back 
 over the way, see the dangers, the unnum- 
 bered trials we have passed, and as we 
 tremble God himself shall wipe away the 
 tears from our eyes. Then, when we think 
 upon the, means of our salvation, we will 
 find it has not been by our good works, or 
 deeds of merit, but just by folio wing. Jesus 
 wherever he has led, until all the dangers 
 of the way have been surmounted. 
 
 "Fathers, brethren, sisters, up and be 
 doing. Gird yourselves for the work- You 
 
 175 
 
The. Picket Line of Missions 
 
 may not be able to bear other burdens or 
 exert strength in other directions, but you 
 may bear the great burden of the cross, for 
 Jesus is your strength ; and when we have 
 followed him into heaven we will rejoice 
 atid shout, Glory to God and the Lamb for- 
 ever ! May we all with diligence and pa^ 
 tience bear the cross and reach eternal 
 life." 
 
 VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES 
 
 It is not necessary to follow with any de- 
 tail the subsequent years of this personal 
 history. In the work of a presiding elder 
 on different districts, as a skillful and faith- 
 ful instructor in the Theological School, as 
 a pastor in charge of our most important 
 churches, this man has demonstrated him- 
 self ' ' a workman that needeth not to be 
 ashamed, rightly dividing the word of 
 truth." Everywhere his ministry has been 
 faithful, and he has secured the respect of 
 those who remain heathen and the affec- 
 tion of the Christian congregations which 
 he has served. In some regions he was 
 more successful, apparently, in securing the 
 conversion of souls than in others; but 
 whether his field was one ripe unto the 
 
 176 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 harvest and he was engaged hi the delight- 
 ful work of reaping, or whether it was a 
 barren wilderness where he was sowing the 
 seed of truth with little in immediate re- 
 sults to encourage him, he alike preserved 
 his serene confidence in the Master whom 
 he served and was faithful to the duty of 
 the hour. I do not think he ever under- 
 took to sum up the conversions which have 
 taken place under his labors. It is safe, 
 however, to say that hundreds of souls 
 have been brought to Christ through his 
 ministrations, and that perhaps even more 
 important work has been done by him in 
 the patient instruction and edification of the 
 professed followers of Christ. 
 
 At the Conference of 1887 he was elected 
 a delegate to the General Conference, which 
 met in New York in 1888. He was accom- 
 panied to the United States by Rev. Dr. 
 Sites, who acted as his interpreter during 
 his visit. He had the pleasure of visiting 
 some of our largest institutions, and was 
 deeply impressed with all he saw and heard. 
 When he was at the De Pauw University 
 at Greencastle, Ind., showing great delight 
 in the sight of so many students seek- 
 ing the higher realms of knowledge, he 
 177 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 was asked, " What has impressed you most 
 of what you have seen here? " His answer 
 was, " The fact that so many hundreds of 
 young men and young women can study 
 here together; " and his quick mind saw in 
 this fact one of tlie great revolutions that 
 Christianity was destined to work for the 
 people of his own country. 
 
 There were great revelations to him in 
 the immense factories, the machine shops, 
 the railways, and in fact in all the great, 
 busy, bustling life of the young republic.^ 
 He was a faithful listener to all the debates 
 of the General Conference, the purport of 
 which was made known to him by Dr. Sites, 
 gave careful study to the important ques- 
 tions that came before the body, and came 
 to independent decisions in regard to them. 
 One instance of this is found in his view of 
 the eligibility of women to the General Con- 
 ference. He listened very carefully to the 
 interpretation of the arguments on both 
 sides, and although his interpreter, friend, 
 and instructor was himself of the view that 
 the women elected delegates were not eli- 
 gible, Mr. Sia remarked at the close of the 
 discussion, " Many strong arguments have 
 been presented against them, but neverthe- 
 
 178 
 
Sia Sek Ong 
 
 less I am seven tenths in favor of their ad- 
 mission ; " and he voted accordingly. 
 
 One pleasant incident of the session oc- 
 curred when the newly elected bishops were 
 consecrated. Bishop Joyce had requested 
 that the delegate from China , rgight take 
 part in his ordination. So it happened that 
 the friend of Bishop Wiley from far-off 
 China was one of those who laid hands in 
 the consecrating rite upon the head of that 
 other dear friend of the bishop who was 
 about to be ordained to the highest office of 
 the Church. 
 
 I was at the time pastor of St. John's 
 Church, Boston, and it was an indescribable 
 joy to have him preach in my pulpit and to 
 interpret to my people his earnest words; 
 and especially to have him join in the ad- 
 ministration of the Lord's Supper to my 
 American, congregation. I thought of the 
 days when he was a heathen on the hillside 
 at Yek-iong, and of all his faithful ministry 
 since his conversion, and my heart was too 
 full for utterance as I saw American Chris- 
 tians receiving from his hands, as those of 
 an honored minister of Christ, the emblems 
 of the broken body and shed blood of our 
 Redeemer. 
 
 119 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 His address to the Boston Preachers' 
 Meeting was full of the earnest spirit of a 
 consecrated Christian minister , and produced 
 a most favorable impression upon all who 
 listened to it. Wherever he went the at- 
 tention of our people was secured, higher 
 ideas were formed of the possibilities of 
 Christian grace among the Chinese, and 
 deeper interest aroused in the work of God in 
 China. 
 
 While at our parsonage, Mrs. Baldwin 
 said to him, " Now you have seen our coun- 
 try, how does it impress you as compared 
 with your own ?" With exceeding sadness 
 of face and tone, he replied, " Your country 
 is alive; niy country is dead!" 
 
 A SERENELY CLOSING LIFE 
 On his return to China Mr. Sia went 
 among tbe churches lecturing upon the 
 United States, and awakened intense inter- 
 est as he told of the wonderful things he 
 had seen and of the mighty evidences of 
 the superiority of Christianity as shown in 
 the development and progress of a great 
 Christian country. Many of the things he 
 had to tell, as those which he had actually 
 seen, seemed to the natives almost incred- 
 
 180 
 
Sia Sek Ong^ 
 
 ible, and they listened with delight as one 
 wonder after another was brought to view 
 in his vivid descriptions. But while awak- 
 ening their interest in the material progress 
 of our land he did not fail to'enforce the les- 
 sons of Christian experience which he had 
 learned in his visits to many of our churcTies. 
 The whole influence of his utterances was 
 of a spiritually beneficial character. 
 
 During the progress of the war with 
 Japan he felt called upon to preach a 
 series of sermons in regard to the needs of 
 China. They were exceedingly, able dis- 
 courses, commanded the attention of his 
 congregations and stirred them to a more 
 profound interest in the welfare of their 
 country than they had before experienced. 
 The leading thought in these sermons was 
 that China was suffering because of her 
 blind adherence to the past, that she was 
 forever looking backward and living in the 
 remote ages of antiquity, while she ought 
 to be alive to the immense progress of the 
 present age and the great possibilities of 
 the opening future ; that she must cease 
 looking to the past, and look forward with 
 hope and with a determination to be felt 
 as a power among the nations in the days 
 
 181 
 
The Picket Line of Missions , 
 
 to come. He showed how necessary it was 
 that she should become Christian in order 
 to have the impulse which comes from the 
 life of Christ in the heart, the awakening of 
 intellectual power, and the stimulation of 
 all the noblest faculties of the human soul. 
 He is now nearly laid aside from active 
 service, but, no doubt, can say, as another of 
 our veterans, Hu Po Mi, recently wrote me ; 
 " I do not wish to becoitie an idle servant 
 of Christ. It is my desire to do his work 
 till my eyes close for a newer and happier 
 world." 
 
 After the above had gone to the printer, 
 the sad news of the death of Sia Sek Ong 
 came in a letter from his eldest son, Sia 
 Tieng Ang, now a student in the Illinois 
 Wesleyan University. He died March 24, 
 1897; but we are as yet without any par- 
 ticulars. The temporal life has merged 
 into the eternal ; the mortal has put on im- 
 mortality. An eminent and faithful minis- 
 ter of Christ has gone to his reward ; but 
 his work abides in the hearts and lives of 
 those whom he brought to Christ, and in the 
 influences he set in motion for the awaken- 
 ing of a new life among his people. 
 
 182 
 
3obn Ikennetb riDacftensie, fIDebical 
 flDi60ionar^ to (Tbina 
 
 BY 
 
 Jennie M. Bingham 
 
John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 John Kenneth Mackenzie, Medical Missionary 
 to China 
 
 EARLY LIFE 
 
 August 25, 1850, at Yarmouth, on the 
 Isle of Wight, John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 was born. His father was a Scotchman 
 and his mother Welsh, people of earnest, 
 simple-hearted piety. The boy Kenneth 
 was noted for his reserve and a very quick 
 temper. He had great strength of will, 
 which made him undaunted in the presence 
 of the great difficulties of his after life. 
 His parents removed to Bristol, where his 
 youth was spent. ' ' He showed little liking 
 for sfudy and left school at the age of fifteen 
 to become a clerk in a merchant's office." 
 
 TWO DAYS 
 
 He, with his chums, joined a Bible class 
 held in the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion rooms Sunday afternoon. A certain 
 May Sunday the subject was, "A Good 
 Conscience." The Bible study was followed 
 
 185 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 by an address from Mr. Moody, who was 
 there on his first visit to England. Mac- 
 kenzie was among those who rose for prayer. 
 The year that followed was full of doubt 
 and questioning. He realized his need of 
 help from a higher source than himself, but 
 found it difficult to believe. Finally he left 
 the Bible class altogether. 
 
 The anniversary of that day when he arose 
 for prayers found him in his place at the 
 Young Men's Christian Association rooms. 
 An Association secretary from London spoke 
 and asked those young men to refuse or ac- 
 cept Jesus Christ. Kenneth arose and sev- 
 eral young men with him, one of whom after- 
 ward followed him to China as a missionary. 
 
 He afterward said, " My doubts and ques- 
 tionings have all been met in the person of 
 Jesus Christ himself." 
 
 ACTIVE SERVICE 
 
 At once he threw himself into Christian 
 work. He held open-air services, visited 
 lodging houses and ragged schools, dis- 
 tributed literature at street corners, worked 
 at the Midnight Mission, and was remark- 
 ably successful with notorious criminals. 
 Feeling a need of proficiency in public 
 
 186 
 
John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 speaking he and his friends formed a 
 unique training college. They met in a 
 broken-down cow shed, two miles out in the 
 country, at five o'clock in the morning. 
 Here they took turns in delivering carefully 
 prepared sermons and knelt on the earth- 
 floor in earnest prayer. Kenneth's talks are 
 declaimed by his companions to have been 
 " most interesting and full of Bible." 
 
 He worked at the avangelistic services 
 held every winter in the Bristol Theater, and 
 here met a friend, Colonel Duncan, to whom 
 he first spoke of his desire to become a foreign 
 missionary. Colonel Duncan's answer was : 
 " You are still young. Study medicine and 
 go to China as a medical missionary." He 
 put in his hands a pamphlet, entitled The 
 Double Cure ; or, What is a Medical Mission ? 
 
 This led Mackenzie to his decision. His 
 first difficulty was the objection of his 
 parents, ' ' which was withdrawn in answer 
 to prayer." 
 
 OFF FOR CHINA 
 
 Very little is known of his student life 
 except that it was very thorough and his 
 preparation complete. He took post-gradu- 
 ate courses in a London eye hospital. 
 
 He wrote to his Mission Board: "I am 
 \%1 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 engaged to be married, but shall follow the 
 advice of missionaries and wait a couple of 
 years to learn the language before I marry. 
 I can understand that a missionary's life 
 must be a lonely one, and a wife a solace and 
 help." 
 
 AT HANKOW 
 
 Hankow is the great commercial city of 
 China, at the junction of two great rivers, 
 the Yang-tse and Han, and with its two 
 large neighboring cities is called the heart 
 of the empire. The tea trade alone amounts 
 to fifteen million dollars annually. The 
 first Sunday after bis arrival Mackenzie 
 went on board the ships in the harbor and 
 did evangelistic work there. If he could 
 not yet speak Chinese he could speak Eng- 
 lish and do missionary work among English 
 sailors. The next day he began work in the 
 hospitaLand his struggle with the language. 
 A hospital had been built and put tempora- 
 rily into the hands of the foreign community 
 physician. At once lie had more medical 
 duties than he wanted. He wrote : 
 
 " I am besieged with eye disease. Two 
 sisters, blind from bijth, came to the hospi- 
 tal. I operated upon them, and both can 
 see well. They became deeply interested ~ 
 
John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 in the truth and were baptize,d before leav- 
 ing. A woman restored to sight after a 
 blindness of fifteen years prayed at a hos- 
 pital prayer meeting that the blessing of 
 the one true God of whom she had learned 
 might rest upon the foreign doctor for what 
 he had done for her. 
 
 ' ' After a successful operation on a little 
 girl her father, belonging to the proud lit- 
 erary class, went down on his knees and 
 knocked his forehead on the floor to express 
 deep homage. I lifted him up and told ' 
 him to kneel only to God. While here in 
 the hospital he was thoroughly instructed 
 in the Christian faith." 
 
 DAILY PREACHING 
 
 Daily preaching is carried on in most of 
 the mission chapels in China. A shop in a 
 crowded street is rented and fitted up as a 
 " Glad Tidings Hall," where the foreign 
 missionary and his native assistant for 
 many hours every day proclaim salvation 
 through Jesus to those caming in. No 
 regular service is held, but as the coolies 
 resting from their burdens, the countryman 
 with his basket, the peddler with his bun- 
 dle come in for a while the preacher, in 
 
 13 181; 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 colloquial fashion, addresses questions to 
 individuals and tries by patient repetition 
 to show the love of God in Jesus Christ. 
 They have never before heard anything 
 like this " new doctrine." Frequently they 
 come again and again, and in some cases 
 the missionary will see a genuine interest 
 shown. Then lie knows there will be con- 
 vertSi 
 
 COUNTRY WORK 
 
 In six months Mackenzie began giving a 
 little address in Chinese to the people. He 
 says: " From the first I was determined to 
 learn Chinese. There is no work so useful 
 as that of the medical, missionary, but he 
 must combine the cure of the soul with the 
 cure of the body ; otherwise medical missions 
 are little more than benevolent institutions." 
 
 With Mr. Grififith John, who had first 
 opened up work in Hankow, he went out 
 to towns and villages where missionaries 
 had never been. Their plan was to go to a 
 tea shop, where Mr. John would begin to 
 talk to the people. Soon there would be a 
 great crowd. He would tell them that his 
 companion was a doctor, and at once they 
 would rush off and bring all the sick people 
 in the place. Every sixth case woiild be 
 
 190 
 
John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 eye disease, with occasionally a leper. One 
 result of these visits was that patients 
 would come to the hospital from these vil- 
 lages, and thus the teaching could be fol- 
 lowed up. 
 
 PERSECUTION , 
 
 A native by the name of Wei, coming to 
 Hankow on business, was converted, and in 
 his own community became the center of a 
 little Christian group. - The plan was to 
 visit his village, and Wei met them at an 
 appointed place to conduct them thither. 
 The two Englishmen attracted a great deal 
 of attention. When they landed from the 
 boat several hundred men and boys were 
 assembled. TJaey had " no leisure so much 
 as to eat," and, preaching to crowds, they 
 moved on to the next town " with almost 
 the whole village at their heels." 
 
 Soon the behavior of the people began to 
 change. From being curious they began to 
 be rude, and then to shout, " Go back to 
 Hankow and preach your Jesus there ; you 
 shall not come here." Then they threw 
 hard clods at the missionaries (fortunately 
 there were no stones), and -the missionaries 
 found themselves the center of a howling 
 mob of about one thousand men and boys. 
 
 191 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Mackenzie guarded his head with his 
 hands, but Mr. John was struck in tlie 
 mouth and nearly fainted from loss of blood. 
 He also had a scalp wound. The native 
 Christians behaved nobly, one of them say- 
 ing, " You may kill me, but don't kill my 
 pastor." At the crossing of a creek the 
 doctor and Mr. John fell back until most 
 had gone over the plank bridge, and then 
 broke through the crowd and escaped. A 
 native Christian followed them. They 
 •were wondering where they could find shel- 
 ter in that strange, hostile land. The na- 
 tive Christian beckoned them to follow him. 
 He took them to a house wliose master wel- 
 comed them and told them he feared not to 
 take them in. They were about to give 
 their names when he interrupted and said 
 he had been a patient at the hospital and 
 knew them. He then prepared a delicious 
 feast for these battered pilgrims, who had 
 eaten nothing since early morning. 
 
 When they departed next day he refused 
 to be paid. On a subsequent visit to these 
 villages Mackenzie said : ' ' These men are 
 athletic, manly, simple, and fearless. We 
 made it a special point to call at the villages 
 where we had been molested and preach 
 
 192 
 
, John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 the Gospel of peace and good will to the 
 inhabitants.',' 
 
 This work, begun amid great opposition 
 and danger, has been greatly successful. 
 These people raised money among them- 
 selves and built two chapels in this very dis- 
 trict, and now every year new houses of 
 worship are erected there. 
 
 CHINESE MEDICINE 
 
 Chinese doctors know very little about 
 anatomy or physiology. They attribute 
 disease to the " five elements." Most won- 
 derful healing properties are attributed to 
 dragons' teeth, fossils, tigers' bones. Dr. 
 Mackenzie was called to see a child very 
 sick with bronchitis. She was being fed 
 on the stings of a scorpion. In sickness 
 idols, astrologers, aiid fortune-tellers are con- 
 sulted. The priests teach that disease is due 
 to the anger of the gods or to a visitation of 
 evil spirits. Charms are written out and 
 pasted around the sick room. Sometimes 
 these marvelous bits of paper are burned 
 and the patient is ordered to drink the ashes. 
 Idolatrous rites are performed with gongs 
 and firecrackers, the terrible noise being 
 most distressing to a sick person. The 
 
 193 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Chinese believe that a spirit can wield 
 greater power when separated from the 
 body ; from this comes ancestral worship. 
 Persons desiring to take vengeance upon 
 their enemies will often commit suicide to 
 obtain their end. 
 
 One day a young man came to the dis- 
 pensary with a large wound on his left arm, 
 evidently caused by some cutting instru- 
 ment. He said he had a sick father who 
 failed to respond to Chinese treatment. The 
 relatives decided that the son must sacrifice 
 his own flesh to save his father's life. A 
 large piece of flesh was cut out of his arm, 
 cooked into a savory meal, and given to the 
 patient. He died, and the family decided 
 that filial piety was lacking in the son, as 
 shown in the fatal effect of eating his flesh. 
 The poor boy not only had a bad arm, but 
 was also condemned and an outcast. 
 
 If the child of a rich Chinaman is sick, 
 the priest will tell them that some ancestor 
 IS suffering, and it will require a large sum 
 to set him free. After this has been paid 
 the priest will tell them that the ancestor is 
 still in agony, and as much more must be 
 paid. This goes on till the priests get all 
 they possibly can. 
 
 194 
 
John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 Mackenzie was called to a case of typhoid 
 fever. The native doctor had been treating 
 the woman by burning her body with in- 
 cense. Her body was coyered with blisters 
 and scars. 
 
 A man with dyspepsia was treated by hav- 
 ing six needles thrust into his body at the 
 pit of his stomach. 
 
 A woman with asthma had her back beaten 
 with a huge club to give her relief. Truly 
 the tender mercies of the heathen are cruel. 
 
 As the fame of the skillful Western phy- 
 sician spread it was no unusual thing for 
 him to be called to bring dead people to life. 
 On one occasion a man brought his de- 
 mented son to be restored. 
 
 OPIUM PATIENTS 
 
 In one year the doctor treated seven hun- 
 dred cases of opium smoking. He says: 
 "As most of them come from long distances 
 and support themselves while in the hos- 
 pital we feel it wrong to turn them away, 
 since they carry to their homes a knowl- 
 edge of Jesus. I always tell them the med- 
 icine is given to relieve the pain and crav- 
 ing, and that they must pray to have the 
 desire taken from their hearts and new 
 
 195 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 hearts given to them. We cannot know 
 how many are permanently cured, but when 
 this question is asked new arrivals, ' What 
 brought you to the hospital for treatment ? ' 
 the almost invariable answer is, ' I have 
 friends and neighbors who have been cured 
 here.'" 
 
 MARRIAGE 
 
 In December, 1876, the lady to whom Dr. 
 Mackenzie was betrothed came from Eng- 
 land to Shanghai, where they were married. 
 Mrs. Mackenzie entered with enthusiasm 
 into her husband's work. He wrote to Tiis 
 brother, "We are now established in our 
 pretty home, which looks thoroughly home- 
 like and comfortable, thanks to Millie's deft 
 fingers." 
 
 This year he treated over a thousand per- 
 sons in the wards and almost twelve thou- 
 sand in the dispensary. In one case where 
 he saved a life by opening the windpipe 
 and inserting a silver tube great interest 
 was manifested. Soon he was called in hot 
 haste to a similar case, and was requested to 
 bring with him "the tube for making two 
 mouths! " 
 
 He wrote to his friends: " My one aim is 
 to make medicine the handmaid of the Gos- 
 
 196 
 
John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 pel. My commission is the Scripture verse, 
 ' And he sent, them to preach the kingdom 
 of God and to heal the sick.' " 
 
 In October Dr. Mackenzie's heart was 
 gladdened by the birth of a little daughter, 
 who was baptized at the public Chinese 
 service and named Margaret Ethel. 
 
 A NEW HOME 
 
 When Mackenzie had been four years 
 abroad he felt that it was best to leave the 
 trying climate of Hankow and go farther 
 north. Amid loving farewells he left for 
 Tien-tsin, his new field. 
 
 He says concerning traveling by carts: 
 ' ' They are heavy, ugly contrivances, so 
 small that only one person can conveniently 
 sit or lie inside, for there is no seat except 
 the floor of the cart. Having no springs, and 
 the road being frightfully cut up with ruts, 
 the jolting is simply awful. We line the 
 interior with our bedding and pillows, but 
 to prevent coming in contact with the sides 
 of the cart you have to seize hold of the 
 vehicle itself. The soil is soft and full of 
 soda. With only a slight wind you are soon 
 covered with dust, which penetrates your 
 mouth and nostrils. In wet weather you 
 
 197 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 plow through mud, getting stuck every few 
 minutes." 
 
 POWER OF PRAYER 
 
 When he reached Tien-tsin there was 
 neither money nor drugs to open his work, 
 and it would take five months before help 
 could come from the home Board. It was 
 suggested by a missionary that a written re- 
 quest for funds be sent to the viceroy, who 
 was Li Hung Chang, the famous Chinese 
 statesman, setting forth the advantage of 
 establishing a hospital for the, benefit of the 
 Chinese. 
 
 It was presented through the consul, but 
 no answer came. Two months passed, and 
 not a word from the viceroy. Meanwhile 
 the little mission circle was praying might- 
 ily that the viceroy's heart might be opened. 
 
 On August I the prayer meeting subject 
 was, " Ask, and it shall be given you." 
 That very day a member of the English le- 
 gation noticed the sad face of the viceroy. 
 On inquiry the viceroy said, "My wife is 
 seriously ill — dying. The doctors told me 
 this morning that she cannot live." 
 
 " Why don't you get the help of the for- 
 eign doctors ? " asked the Englishtnan. 
 ' The viceroy objected that it would be 
 
 198 
 
John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 quite impossible for a Chinese lady of rank 
 to be attended by a foreigner, but soon his 
 common sense triumphed, and he sent for 
 Dr. Mackenzie and his colleague. 
 
 It was a very extraordinary proceeding 
 for these men to be admitted to Lady Li's 
 sick room. When they returned to the Mis. 
 sion they reported, " She is very sick; we 
 must all pray for her recovery." 
 
 They attended faithfully and saved her 
 life. When convalescent Mackenzie sug- 
 gested that Miss Dr. Howard, of the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Mission in Peking, be sent for. 
 She came for a month's stay, and the result 
 was that Lady Li established a woman's 
 hospital and put Miss Howard at the head. 
 
 In an Eastern city if a great ruler takes 
 you by the hand the country is yours. At 
 once Dr. Mackenzie's pathway was thronged 
 with suppliants to be healed. He proposed 
 that the viceroy should witness a surgical 
 operation, and he did so, showing much in. 
 terest in the skill and ease of Western sur- 
 gery. 
 
 The viceroy at once gave one of his rooms 
 for a dispensary, and this becoming so 
 thronged as to impede the business of the 
 court his excellency set aside a part of the 
 
 199 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 temple, one of the finest buildings in Tien- 
 tsin, and furnished money for its support. 
 Dr. Mackenzie speaks of seeing two htm- 
 dred patients a day. 
 
 As this temple hospital was three miles 
 from the Mission compound he determined 
 to build one in a more convenient location. 
 He appealed to the natives, and as he had 
 several rich patients he refused pay from 
 them, and instead asked for subscriptions to 
 the new hospital. He received gifts of 
 money in-generous measure. The hospital 
 was built, and publicly opened by the vice- 
 roy amid imposing ceremonies, at which the 
 British and Russian consuls spoke. 
 
 The North China Daily News said : ' ' Unique 
 interest attaches to the work carried on by 
 Dr. Mackenzie during the last fifteen months, 
 seeing that all the funds for its support 
 have been derived from native sources." 
 " Whether believers in Jesus Christ or not," 
 remarked the viceroy on one occasion, " we 
 are .all of one mind in wishing to aid in the 
 healing of the sick." 
 
 A MORNING IN THE HOSPITAL 
 
 The doctor wrote to his friends: "Let 
 me take you to our Chinese hospital. As- 
 
 200 
 
John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 cending a broad flight of stone steps to the 
 veranda we pass into a lofty hall and enter 
 the waiting room. Benches are ranged 
 down the whole length of it, and at both 
 sides texts of Scripture in Chinese decorate 
 the walls. The hour is nine o'clock and the 
 gong is sounding for morning prayers. 
 Already groups of men are collected from 
 the city and villages around with a bundle 
 of bedding by their sides. There a blind 
 man is led in, here comes a lame man on 
 crutches. Men with enormous tumors, men 
 feeble from dysentery and consumption file 
 in, and the emaciated opium smoker is also 
 there. The in-patients who are sufficiently 
 convalescent come trooping in with their 
 bandages and dressings on. 
 
 ' ' The Gospel hymn is given out and a 
 portion of Scripture read, very likely a case 
 of healing. It is explained and lessons are 
 drawn from it. The patients are very quiet 
 and attentive. 
 
 ' ' Then the medical missionary goes to 
 the dispensary, while the native evangelist 
 continues to talk to the patients as they 
 wait for their turn. One by one the patients 
 come into the dispensary. First a case of 
 eye disease. The patient is told he must 
 
 201 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 become an in-patient and undergo a slight 
 operation. He will probably start back in 
 dismay exclaiming, 'Cut! No, never!' 
 
 ' ' I call an assistant to lead this patient to 
 one of the wards to rest a while. There he 
 is sure to meet a similar case, and the testi- 
 mony of his own countryman brings him 
 back to the dispensary for an operation. 
 
 "An official's servant appears with a large 
 red piece of paper in his hand. It is his 
 master's visiting card. I treated the gov- 
 ernor of this province for bronchitis, and 
 when he came to pay his official visit his 
 retinue extended a hundred yards up the 
 street. 
 
 ' ' We proceed to visit the wards. Look 
 at that man sitting on his bed, with his bed- 
 ding still in a bundle instead of being com- 
 fortably spread out. He is a newcomer 
 full of fears. By to-morrow he will be as 
 jolly as his bodily ailment will allow. By 
 one bedside sits the native evangelist with 
 his open Bible. Portions of the gospels are 
 scattered about the wards, and as I go from 
 patient to patient, dressing wounds and at- 
 tending to their wants, I question them 
 about their reading, and urge them to bring 
 their sinsick souls to the great Physician." 
 
 202 
 
John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 SURGICAL WORK. 
 
 He -wrote : "It would be difficult for a 
 medical man in England to comprehend my 
 anxiety over serious surgical cases. At 
 home consultants are called in, and what- 
 ever operation is undertaken, whatever the 
 result, it is accepted that the best thing has 
 been done for the patient. Here I am alone. 
 The Chinese, though they see a man very 
 ill, doh't realize that unless operated upon 
 he must die. If he should die after the 
 operation they would spread abroad the 
 news that the operation had killed him. 
 
 ' ' Though God has not given to his serv- 
 ants miraculous powers of healing, yet so 
 greatly has he enlightened us that the man 
 fully instructed and doing his work in 
 humble dependence upon divine help will 
 achieve such success that in the eyes of the 
 Chinese it appears to be well-nigh miracu- 
 lous." 
 
 A CHINESE MEDICAL SCHOOL 
 
 A delegation of young Chinamen, who 
 had been sent to the best schools and col- 
 leges of America, and had been after a few 
 years recalled to China because it was feared 
 they would become Americanized, attracted 
 
 203 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Mackenzie's attention. He asked that eight 
 of these young men be given him to be 
 trained in medical science. He wrote con- 
 cerning this work : 
 
 " I am not merely training surgeons for 
 the Chinese government. This is a rare op- 
 portunity to influence educated young men 
 from a Christian standpoint. My hands are 
 left perfectly free by the viceroy, and the 
 young men are entirely under my charge. 
 
 " I have to be a whole medical faculty in 
 myself, and it sorely taxes my time. The 
 more I know of the Chinese, especially their 
 educated men, the more I feel there is a 
 mine of wealth here." 
 
 At this period of his, life, when Dr. Mac- 
 kenzie so much needed the comforts of 
 home and family, his wife's health failed 
 and she was obliged to go to England, 
 
 A CHINESE DECORATION 
 
 In recognition of the valuable service 
 rendered to tlie students of the medical 
 school the Emperor of China bestowed on 
 Dr. Mackenzie an imperial decoration. It 
 was called ' ' The Star of the Order of the 
 Double Dragon." It was made of gold, 
 with a precious stone in blue, corresponding 
 
 204 
 
John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 with the blue buttons worn by mandarins. 
 The doctor wrote : 
 
 " It was accompanied by an embroidered 
 ribbon to be worn with it, and the whole 
 was incased in an ebony cabinet with a dis- 
 patch to explain the reason of the gift. It 
 is kindly meant and a gracious gift, and 
 as such I value it. In Chinese official soci- 
 ety, too, it gives me a certain rank which is 
 not to be despised by one living and work-r 
 ing here." 
 
 HARD WORK 
 
 His work, which pressed so heavily 
 in many different departments — teaching, 
 healing, preaching — care and responsibility 
 enough for ten men, began to tell upon him 
 physically. He says: 
 
 " I no longer have time to read anything 
 but the Bible. The verse, ' In nothing be 
 anxious,' has proven a great comfort both 
 in regard to family sorrows and hospital 
 cares, for with so many patients, and most 
 of them surgical operations of the greatest 
 severity, I could scarcely have borne the 
 strain. 
 
 " It is very delightful to see around you 
 spiritual growth. It is worth suffering 
 much (though I have no Cause to talk of suf- 
 
 14 205 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 fering, my joy has been so full) and com- 
 ing a long way to see Chinamen drink- 
 ing in the living water. You would be 
 interested in the sight going on in the hos- 
 pital wards nearly every afternoon — little 
 groups of patients gathered round one or 
 two beds, and one of the hospital helpers 
 busy teaching them. It is wonderful how 
 God has used this medical work to spread 
 into the district all around the news of sal- 
 vation. 
 
 " The medical missionary has this great 
 advantage over his clerical brother, the 
 people seek him, he has not to trouble about 
 seeking them. As in our Lord's day, they 
 come only for material benefits. 
 
 ' ' There are many depressing influences 
 in our medical work. A visitor once said 
 to me : 
 
 " ' How can you spend your life among 
 these dirty wretches? ' 
 
 " We have to work with imperfect instru- 
 ments in the shape of clumsy, if willing, 
 men in place of the intelligent and tender 
 nurses of our home hospitals. We have to 
 put up with ideas of cleanliness different from 
 our own. To counterbalance this Ave need 
 the elevating influence of service for God." 
 
 206 
 
John Kenneth Mackenzie 
 
 DEATH 
 
 After a few days' illness from smallpox, 
 contracted from his patients, IDr. Mackenzie 
 died. A few hours before death he was 
 told he \vas better, and was asked if that 
 pleased him. He answered, " I am quite 
 ready whichever way it is. I only want 
 the Lord's will to be done. -It would be 
 nice to stay and do a little more work, if 
 that is his will." 
 
 Very early in the mortfing while it was 
 yet dark, on Easter Day, God's finger 
 touched him and he slept. 
 
 From the viceroy's palace to the poorest 
 hovel there was sorrow and dismay. 
 
 "How can the sick be healed now?" 
 they cried. 
 
 ' ' There will never be such another physi- 
 cian," they said. 
 
 " I never thought Chinamen could be so 
 affected, " said one who knew only the 
 stolid side of their natures. 
 
 Chinamen thronged the little church and 
 cemetery, the viceroy sending two high 
 officials to represent himself and Lady Li. 
 Thirty-six different men were bearers, 
 changing places as they moved, to give all 
 
 207 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 who requested the privilege a chance to 
 carry the body a little way. 
 
 The large congregation sang together the 
 beautiful hymn, 
 
 " Sleep on, beloved, sleep and take thy rest. 
 Lay down thy head upon thy Saviour's breast ; 
 We love thee well, but Jesus loves thee best. 
 Good night! " 
 
 Very tenderly they thought of the wife 
 and child and old father in the home land 
 to whom the sad message had been sent the 
 day before. 
 
 There in the land he loved, amid the 
 people whom he served so well, the tired 
 body lies sleeping. 
 
 " Until the Easter glory lights the skies. 
 Until the dead in Jesus shall arise. 
 And he shall come, but not in lowly guise. 
 Good night ! " 
 208 
 
VI 
 3ames fiD. ZTboburn 
 
 W. F. Oldham, D.D. 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 VI 
 James M. Thoburn 
 
 The great battles of Christianity are those 
 fought against cultivated and literary non- 
 Christian systems. That the cannibal sav- 
 ages of the Pacific or some of the wild tribes 
 of Africa should quickly yield to the pres- 
 ence of the missionary and the preaching 
 of the Gospel is, indeed, matter for glad 
 thanksgiving. But the greater triumphs of 
 the cross are achieved against the fortified 
 systems of religious error.- When the 
 powerful and polished systems of the Greeks 
 and the religion of imperial Rome con- 
 fronted the early Christian Church, and with- 
 out prestige and social advantage young 
 Christianity overcame them by the might of 
 her moral earnestness and the fullness of 
 her spiritual life, the victory was greater 
 aiid more wonderful than those she achieved 
 later through her dauntless missionaries 
 among: the wild Goths and savage Teutons 
 of northern Europe. 
 
 Of the great religious systems that stand 
 
 211 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 opposed to Christianity to-day Hinduism, 
 with a following of about two hundred mil- 
 lions, is among the most numerous and is, in 
 many regards, the most difficult to attack. 
 It is a" purely ethnic faith, and is confined to 
 one people. These are the inhabitants of 
 that vast and populous peninsula of southern 
 Asia known as India. The difficulties pre- 
 sented by India to the spread of the Gospel 
 are many; some are common to all oriental 
 countries, and some peculiar to this land. 
 Of the former, perhaps the chief are the 
 national conservatism and dislike for inno- 
 vation, particularly for imported novelties in 
 religion, the moral inertia of every great 
 mass of paganism, and the utter deadening 
 of the conscience by centuries of gross sin. 
 Peculiar to India are the difficulties of a rigid 
 caste system, which destroys individual 
 liberty, and a dreamy pantheism, which 
 tends to confuse the moral sense and almost 
 destroys conscience, while conservatism 
 deepens into passionate devotion to the cus- 
 toms of the past. 
 
 This vast land, thronging with people 
 among whom the ascendency of the British 
 government gives easy access and perfect 
 safety, could not but early attract the atten- 
 
 212 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 tion of a missionary-hearted Church. The 
 Metliodist Episcopal Church, which had 
 spent the first half century of her life in 
 laying those broad, deep foundations in the 
 home land which continue to make her the 
 first of American denominations, had al- 
 ready sent her first missionaries to Liberia in 
 1833, and to China in 1847, when the ardent 
 gaze of that great missionary secretary. Dr. 
 Durbin, w^as attracted to India. In 1852 it 
 was determined to open a mission wherever 
 on the broad bosom of the Indian peninsula 
 a suitable territory, unoccupied by other 
 missions, could be found. After much de- 
 lay a suitable leader was found in William 
 Butler, nomen prcsclaritin et venerabile, of the 
 New England Conference. He was a man 
 of marked and varied ability, whom time has 
 crowned as one of the great and enduring 
 names of the Church, and to whom was 
 given the added honor of afterward opening 
 another great foreign mission field of the 
 Church — Mexico. 
 
 Dr. Butler reached Calcutta September 
 
 25, 1856, and, in consultation with the 
 
 •leaders of other missions, selected as the 
 
 Methodist Episcopal mission field a small 
 
 territory in North India. A little later this 
 213 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 territory was somewliat extended. About 
 twenty years from then it was found that 
 Methodism could not be contained in any 
 narrow limits; and now the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church is coterminous with the 
 Indian empire, and has gone beyond into the 
 island region of Malaysia. The wisdom of 
 the early choice of territory is, however, 
 demonstrated by the abundant fruitage of 
 the missions in the first India mission field, 
 where to this day more than one half of all 
 our converts are found. Scarcely had Dr. 
 Butler gotten to work when the world was 
 startled by the outburst of Mohammedan 
 fanaticism and Hindu bigotry in the ' ' Indian 
 mutiny." The thrilling story of those try- 
 ing days, the narrow escape of the Butlers, 
 and the heroic martyrdoms of our early 
 Methodist converts is told in that mission- 
 ary classic which ought to be in all our 
 libraries, a volume more fascinating than 
 any romance — Tlie Land of the Veda, by 
 William Butler. 
 
 The mutiny deeply stirred the Christian 
 world, and on the restoration of order the 
 India Mission was reinforced by two mis- 
 sionaries and their wives, and, in the fol- 
 lowing year, by what was then considered 
 
 214 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 a large party — six men, five of them mar- 
 ried and accompanied by their wives. Of 
 these nine male pioneers seven remain to 
 this day, having rendered among them an 
 aggregate of about two hundred and fifty 
 years of missionary service. Drs. Parker, 
 Messmore, Waugh, and Humphrey are still 
 active men , and Dr. Baume has but recently 
 retired. Their leader, William Butler, who 
 lives in Newtpn Center, Mass., quietly waits 
 for the morning, while his son, the Rev. 
 John W. Butler, happy inheritor of his 
 father's ability and zeal, builds wisely and 
 well the nascent Methodism of Mexico. The 
 record is unparalleled. 
 
 It is the purpose of this sketch to na]:rate 
 briefly the career of but one of this band of 
 pioneers — and he the youngest — who, in the 
 providence of God and by the appointment 
 of the Church, has come in these later years 
 to the leadership of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal forces in India and Malaysia. In any 
 article so brief as this must be but scant 
 attention can be given to the absorbingly 
 interesting fields of missionary enterprise 
 entered, the intricate and distracting prob- 
 lems faced, and the wondrous achievements 
 accomplished, in the face of the most for- 
 
 215 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 midable difficulties, under him of whom we 
 write. Even of the leader himself our words 
 must be few. 
 
 James Mills Thoburn, of an old Irish 
 family of Thorburns, was born near St. 
 Clairsville, O., in March, 1836. His father 
 was a small farmer, a man of active piety and 
 rare good sense ; his mother was a woman 
 of extraordinary parts and force of charac- 
 ter. All her children received from her 
 such inspiration for life as will abide for all 
 time. The family consisted of five boys, 
 of whom James was the youngest, and five 
 girls. Three of the brothers have died — 
 one of them killed in battle ; all the sisters,- 
 including Isabella, the well-known India 
 missionary, and Mrs. General Cowen, the 
 equally well-known Woman's Foreign Mis- 
 sionary Secretary, live in useful service. 
 
 Of the boy James the record among his 
 earliest friends is that he was a lad of un- 
 ceasing activity and of kindly nature. The 
 words that best characterize the outstanding 
 traits of his boyhood are " mischief and 
 generosity." The overflowing spirits and 
 incessant movement of the restless boy were 
 always condoned by the fact that he was 
 ever willing to suffer for others' escapades. 
 
 216 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 When he was but fourteen years old his 
 father died, but his mother determined that 
 nolhing should interfere with the lad's 
 schooling. Graduating from the public 
 schools of his native place, he entered Al- 
 legheny College, at Meadville, Pa., greatly 
 encouraged by the prediction of his neigh- 
 bors that so mischievous a fellow would on 
 leaving home surely go to destruction. His 
 mother knew her boy better, and the event 
 proved her right. Perhaps his neighbors' 
 doleful forecast helped to put the young man 
 on his mettle. 
 
 In Allegheny College then, as now, the 
 spirit of earnest Methodist evangelism was 
 present. The glory of the Christian college 
 is that it ministers to the religious as well 
 as the mental needs, and so trains for time 
 and eternity. Epworth Leaguers will do well 
 to note that the schools which have bred the 
 great builders of the ~ kingdom of Jesus 
 Christ liave been those taught by God-fear- 
 ing and loving-hearted men. Allegheny 
 College, modest and unpretentious, has yet 
 enrolled a noble band of students which in- 
 cludes such names as Bishop Kingsley, 
 Senator Allison, Dr. Long, of Roberts Col- 
 lege, Bishop Thoburn, President McKinley, 
 
 21Y 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 and hundreds of other worthies. Here at 
 the "Old Brick Church " — hallowed spot in 
 the memory of hundreds of scarred and 
 grizzled veterans in God's army — James M. 
 Thoburn was soundly converted to God. 
 
 On his graduation he became a member 
 of the Pittsburg Conference, which then in- 
 ckided much of Ohio, and was appointed to 
 a circuit in what is now in the territory of 
 the East Ohio Conference, and included the 
 towns of Greentown and Marlboro. Here 
 the young preacher on one hundred dollars 
 a year pursued his active and busy life, until 
 with deepening consecration to his Master's 
 service there came to him a clear call to leave 
 home and kindred and turn his face to an 
 unknown land in a far-off region, to pro- 
 claim among the Christless millions the 
 grace that had saved him. So many j^oung 
 Christians are solemnly pondering the ques- 
 tion of a call to foreign mission service that 
 it might' be well to quote from his own 
 words at a later date the personal experience 
 of the young circuit rider. The persuasion 
 grew upon him that somehow his work in 
 Ohio was drawing to a close. " How this 
 definite and disquieting conviction began I 
 cannot tell. I never could recall its origin 
 
 218 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 or tell how it had taken possession of my 
 mind. I only knew that the issue must 
 soon be decided definitely for all time to 
 come." God's calls to his children to spe- 
 cific enterprise are always accompanied by 
 an "open way" along which to wa,lk in 
 answer to the call. In a broad, general way, 
 it might be said the voice of the Church is 
 the echo of the voice of God, and one attests 
 to any hearer the message of the other. 
 
 At this time appeared in The Christian 
 Advocate the " call for six missionaries" to 
 reinforce -the India Mission. The young 
 preacher read it with burning heart and 
 streaming eyes, and immediately gave him- 
 self in humble consecration to God for India. 
 He started to find his presiding elder, D. 
 P. Mitchell (afterward of Kansas), to advise 
 with him ; but before he spoke his thoughts 
 he learned that the elder was seeking him 
 with a commission from Bishop Janes for 
 service in the India Mission. The offer 
 was immediately accepted. ' ' I went up stairs 
 to the little prophet chamber and knelt 
 down to seek for guidance from above, but 
 I could not pray. God poured his Spirit upon 
 me from on high, and my heart so over- 
 flowed with a hallowed feeling of love 
 
 219 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 and joy that I could not utter a word. It 
 was not so much a call to India that I re- 
 ceived as an acceptance for India." " That 
 hour stands out in my life as the burning 
 bush must have stood in the memory of 
 Moses." Not all calls to foreign service are 
 alike, but it is well that men and women 
 called to most arduous and difficult en-ter- 
 prise should- definitely know that they are 
 commissioned from above for their high 
 tasks. 
 
 One more quotation from the missionary's 
 experience because of its truth and pathos. 
 The entire party was being farewelled in 
 the Lynn Commons Church, in Lynn, Mass. 
 ' ' The church was so crowded I could only 
 get room to stand in the vestibule, near the 
 door. I was leaning against the stairwaj' 
 listening to a thousand children singing. 
 Turning to a stranger, I said, ' What sweet 
 singing ! ' ' You'd better enjo)^ it all you 
 can,' he replied, ' for you will never hear 
 such singing again.' The words dropped 
 upon my heart like lead ; my unbelieving 
 heart did not then dare to hope that in other 
 tongues I should hear the songs of Zion 
 warbled by the glad young voices of thou- 
 sands rescued from the worship of idols, and 
 
 . 220 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 that the praises of-Christ were to be taken 
 up by all the little ones of earth." 
 
 The party soon after sailed for India, and 
 after one hundred days found themselves in 
 the Hooghly River, where the first object 
 that impressed them was the massive out- 
 lines of a temple of Juggernaut. India's 
 gods are many. Their stories and their 
 temples fill the land. A perfect saturnalia 
 of idolatry possesses the whole country. 
 Under every tall tree, on every high moun- 
 tain, worship is continually being offered to 
 some one of the multiplied millions of pol- 
 luting gods. Whatever the earliest Hindu- 
 ism may have been, it is to-day a system of 
 unspeakable grossness in many of its teach- 
 ings, and its gods and goddesses reach such 
 depths of shameless iniquity as cannot but 
 deprave their worshipers. It wa^s signifi- 
 cant that the first thing to attract the mis- 
 sionary's gaze was the temple of one of these 
 many gods against whom he was to exalt 
 Jehovah to their overthrowing. 
 
 After a brief council in Calcutta, followed 
 by the Annual Meeting in Lucknow, he pro- 
 ceeded to Naini Tal to begin his missionary 
 labors. The location of this station, seven 
 thousand feet above sea level, the little 
 
 15 221 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 straggling town picturesquely nestling above 
 a beautiful mountain lake, left nothing to 
 be desired in the way of climate or scenic 
 beauty. Indeed, it is a great mistake to sup- 
 pose that a missionary's deprivations are in 
 these matters. God's world is beautiful 
 everywhere, and the 'Church doe^ not will- 
 ingly expose its servants to physical hard- 
 ships beyond what is necessary to effective 
 service. The great trials of a missionary's 
 life arise from the loss of social and religious 
 privileges. To live in the shadow of a solid 
 wall of heathenism, to resist the chill and 
 moral malaria of a Christless mass, to look 
 into a thousand faces and look in vain for 
 any response to the thoughts that fill his 
 own soul, to receive no help from any fel- 
 low-worshiper — this is the trial, this the 
 deprivation of the missionary. But none 
 even of these things moved the ardent 
 young soul who, among the mountains of 
 India, gave himself with unwearying fidelit}^ 
 to the building of the kingdom. While the 
 way along which he was called to walk was 
 strange and unfamiliar, one presence went 
 with him, and the Christ who saved him in 
 the old brick church in Meadville cheered 
 the heart of his young herald as he moved 
 
 222 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 among the multittides of the untaught in 
 far-away India. 
 
 The favorite picture before the eyes of 
 many in America, as in imagination they see 
 tlie missionary at his work in distant lands, 
 is that his progress- is marked by the has- 
 tening together of thousands of eager hear- 
 ers who thirst to hear the preaching of the 
 Gospel, and that the missionary's course is 
 marked by something like a popular ovation. 
 Very different were the facts, as the young 
 preacher discovered, in these early pioneer 
 days. Preaching to a handful of white sol- 
 diers, stammering in broken words, eager 
 to tell of the great salvation to little groups 
 of wondering natives ; the teaching of a few 
 pupils with difficulty persuaded to run the 
 risk of contamination by contact with a 
 Christian ; little humble services under try- 
 ing and often under disappointing circum- 
 stances — these were the early experiences; 
 but during these days faith deepened, con- 
 secration reached new depths, and data for 
 the solution of a hundred future problems 
 was being stored by the man who with open 
 eyes and with teachable spirit and quench- 
 less ardor was building even then better 
 than he knew. 
 
 223 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 He now took as his companion the widow 
 of his fellow-missionary, and was married to 
 Mrs. Downey. Their married life was brief, 
 but it was lotig enough to teach him the value 
 of woman's work among women. A babe 
 was born. He is now the Rev. Crawford 
 Thoburn, the talented and successful presi- 
 dent who is laying the foundations^ of a 
 great university at Tacoma, Wash. Four 
 weeks later the young wife and mother took 
 her flight to that heaven which, thank God, 
 is to his dear children as near India as any- 
 where. Two weeks later the sad-hearted 
 man with his babe and a young mountain- 
 eer convert, whom many in America re- 
 member as Harkua Wilson^ came down to 
 Bareilly, and a year after returned to his 
 native land feeble in health but with imper- 
 ishable love for the people to whose evan- 
 gelizing God has called and sealed him. 
 
 What pen can picture the home-coming 
 of God's anointed servants? To look once 
 more upon the face of mother and kinsfolk, 
 to strike glad hands with-friends and old ac- 
 quaintances, to be in the life of Christendom, 
 to feel the throbbing fervor of Christian 
 communities, to move where Christ is known 
 and loved — this itself is tonic and health. 
 
 224 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 Not that the foreign missionary has not eyes 
 to see the defects and blots upon the life of 
 the home land ; he is often its most faithful 
 censor; but only he who has stood amid 
 the moral desolations of heathenism in un- 
 speakable loneliness of spirit can quite un- 
 derstand what Dr. Duff meant when he 
 wrote, " It will be to me for rapture of joy 
 to throw myself upon my face and kiss the 
 heath of my native land." 
 
 Young Mr. Thoburn found an open door 
 awaiting him at home. At Conference ses- 
 sions, at camp meetings, in many of the first 
 piilpits of the land the returned mission- 
 ary's voice was heard, and wherever he spoke 
 interest was aroused, zeal quickened, and 
 enlarged gifts flowed into the treasury of the 
 Society. If our missionary treasury is to- 
 day below the -requirements of our world- 
 wide missions, if something of debt op- 
 presses us, and if retrenchment in the very 
 hour of marvelous success is forced upon 
 our remonstrating missionaries, there are 
 but two ways to mend the situation : first, 
 to seek a deeper consecration in carrying out 
 God's program on earth, " Go ye forth and 
 disciple all nation's," and, second, to get more 
 definitely informed concerning the religious 
 
 225 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 destitution of the larger half of the race. A 
 wider use of our returned missionaries, such 
 a use of the men as the women's societies 
 make of the returned women, would help us 
 much. 
 
 After a longer stay than he desired 
 James Thoburn returned to India. In his 
 absence the Missio'n had been visited by a 
 Methodist bishop, the first to administer 
 the Mission, Edward Thomson. He was a 
 man of rare ability and such singular insight 
 that it is a question whether any Church 
 official ever visited a foreign land who saw 
 so easily and clearly into the heart of vexed 
 and difficult problems as he. The Mission 
 was organized into a Conference by Bishop 
 Thomson, and Missionary Thoburn 's ap- 
 pointment was changed to Paori, in the 
 mountains of Gurhwal, eight days' journey 
 from Naini Tal, or as far in time as from 
 New York to Berlin. On his way to his ap- 
 pointment, a year later, he preached from 
 place to place, and that the reader may catch 
 a glimpse of the missionary at work there is 
 subjoined a passage from his own pen : 
 
 ' ' We found ourselves in a little courtyard 
 about forty feet square, with a small banyan 
 tree in its center. Three small houses opened 
 
 226 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 into it, and the three families living in these 
 houses had a joint interest in the property. 
 Under the banyan tree, on a small earthen 
 platform about twelve inches high, was a 
 rude private shrine for the use of the own- 
 ers. ^ The people followed us into the court- 
 yard and filled it in every part, while others 
 leaned over the mud wall or stood outside, 
 where they could both see and hear. After 
 singing and prayer I stood on the mud plat- 
 form close beside the gods and told the 
 people about Jesus and his salvation. They 
 listened with eager attention, and the sight 
 of their dusky faces upturned in the bright 
 moonlight acted like an inspiration upon me. 
 The idols by my feet gave no one a thought ; 
 all seemed to feel that a new message from 
 God had come to them, and as I glanced up 
 and saw the bright moonbeams straggling 
 down through the thick foliage of the ban- 
 yan tree it seemed as if God's everlasting 
 light was shining upon us, and faith rose up 
 in new strength to claim an assured victory. 
 We prayed that night that God would give 
 us that idol shrine and all the souls that 
 bowed down to those images of stone and 
 clay, and lay down to sleep in thankfulness 
 and hope. I shall never forget the luxury 
 
 227 
 
' The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 of preaching I enjoyed that night. It v^as 
 an unmixed joy to preach in such a place to 
 such a people with such a hope. . . . Very 
 soon after Brother Mansell baptized the man 
 who had invited us to hold the meeting in 
 his courtyard, . . . and a small room which 
 opened into the square was fitted up as a 
 chapel." Out of hours like these are born 
 the tidal waves that are to sweep the nations 
 into the Church of God. Two years of labo- 
 rious but successful activity. saw the planting 
 of many Christian enterprises in Gurhwal. 
 
 Meanwhile the whole India Conference 
 was strengthening its foundations, and much 
 of the preparatory work of organization was 
 being done. Foundation laying attracts but 
 little attention, and yet the stability of the 
 future structure lies here. Much of the wider 
 success of these later years must be attrib- 
 uted to the beginnings so carefully nursed 
 in that earlier time. It was a day of small 
 things. But fg.ithfulness and ardor and con- 
 fident trust in God soon bring larger things, 
 and so the India Conference was to prove. 
 In 1869 the Conference appointment read, 
 "Moradabad District, J. M.Thoburn, P.E. ;" 
 and in the following year Bishop Kingsley 
 transferred him to the eldership of Lucknow 
 
 228 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 District, perhaps the most responsible posi- 
 tion of the Methodist Church in India. 
 
 Meanwhile, without design, he had helped 
 in a transaction which was fraught with un- 
 told good to Eastern lands and to the Church 
 at large. Some time before he had written 
 his sister Isabella in her Ohio home to join 
 him as a missionary helper. She forthwith 
 consented. Mrs. Parker and seven other 
 ladies about this time met in Tremont 
 Street Church, in Boston, and organized the 
 Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. One of the 
 first two ladies to embark for India, under the 
 auspices of this Society, was Miss Thoburn. 
 Her work has been no whit behind that of 
 hei distinguished brother, and the help con- 
 veyed to the darkened nations of the world 
 by the ministry of earnest-minded and de- 
 voted women deserves to be told in a sepa- 
 rate article by some facile pen in fingers 
 urged by a heart throbbing with intelligent 
 gratitude to God, who discovered to the 
 Church this mighty source of new power. 
 
 While at Lucknow, where Dr. Thoburn 
 was joined by his sister, another event hap- 
 pened, fraught likewise with largest bless- 
 ing to India and Indian Methodism. This 
 
 229 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 was the invitation extended by the Metho- 
 dist missionaries to William Taylor, the 
 World Evangelist. He had been greatly 
 used of God among the pagan tribes of 
 Africa, his ministry had been blessed to 
 thousands in America and Australia. The 
 India missionaries, longing to see some de- 
 cided break in the mighty masses around 
 them, sent to Taylor, asking for his pres- 
 ence, and prayed God to bless his com- 
 ing. The evangelist came. The word was 
 with power in Lucknow, in Cawnpore, in 
 other places. But it was the nominally 
 Christian world that was moved. The 
 " raw heathen " did not seem to respond. 
 A few notable conversions occurred, but in 
 almost every case it was among those who 
 had already formally joined the Christian 
 camp. ' 
 
 Devoutly waiting upon God for further 
 leading, William Taylor found himself in 
 Bombay, where he saw many English- 
 speaking people, Europeans, Eurasians, and 
 natives, soundly converted to God. There 
 was no Methodist church, English or Ameri- 
 can, in Bombay. The territory lay hun- 
 dreds of miles outside the bounds of the 
 India Conference. The missionary au- 
 
 230 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 thorities were thousands of miles away ; be- 
 sides, Taylor jealously maintained the fact 
 that he was not the agent of any society, 
 but a servant of the Lord, belonging to the 
 Methodist Church. He had already con- 
 ceived the project of using the scattered 
 English people as a base of operations 
 among the natives who were outpoured 
 around them. From the beginning our 
 missionaries had served English congrega- 
 tions within their borders. The religious 
 life of bands of nominal Christians living 
 in the sight of the heathen world must al- 
 ways be a matter for deepest concerri to the 
 missionary. Bishop Walden, on his return 
 from China and Japan, in his most intelli- 
 gent survey of the situation urges the open- 
 ing now of churches among the English- 
 speaking foreigners along the coasts of 
 eastern Asia. The godlessness of Euro- 
 peans scattered among non-Christian Asi- 
 atics is one of the capital hindrances to the 
 spread of the Gospel. William Taylor's 
 thought was to turn this obstacle into a 
 help by the active evangelization of these 
 nominal Christians. 
 
 There was supposed to be a tacit agree- 
 ment that the American Methodists were 
 
 231 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 to be confined to the territory occupied by 
 their India Conference. He was not to be 
 deterred, however, by any such compacts, 
 real or implied ; so he went forward boldly 
 and organized a Methodist Episcopal church, 
 first in Bombay, and later in other points as 
 far apart as Madras and Calcutta, the oppo- 
 site ends of India. The most difficult of 
 these enterprises was that in Calcutta, where 
 the dauntless man, with scarcely a friend to 
 begin with, sang and prayed and preached 
 his way into the hearts of a considerable 
 following, whom he formally organized and 
 established in a plain, commodious church 
 building. These scattered congregations 
 were afterward organized by Bishop Harris, 
 in 1873, into the India Mission, and later, in 
 1876, by Bishop Andrews, into the South 
 India Conference, although part of its terri- 
 tory lay hundreds of miles north of the old 
 " India Conference," which was now named 
 the " North India Conference." 
 
 William Taylor's plan for India's evan- 
 gelization has never in any sense wholly 
 succeeded. There are many reasons which, 
 had he known India better, would have 
 warned him that no single plan can be re- 
 lied on to Christianize so vast a mass with a 
 
 232 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 comparative handful of migratory English- 
 men. The English and their descendants 
 in India are so constantly on the move that 
 our churches lose twenty per cent of their 
 membership yearly by removals. A very 
 large proportion of the membership, too, 
 has but the smallest acquaintance with the 
 vernacular. But while it were vain to rely 
 wholly upon such a shifting and unsatisfac- 
 tory basis as the only means for reaching 
 so vast and well-organized a heathen sys- 
 tem, the splendid heroism and self-sacrifi- 
 cing spirit of the Taylor movement helped 
 to put iron into the blood of the young 
 Methodist Church, and more accent was 
 put everywhere upon self-support, and 
 wider use Tias everywhere been made of 
 scattered English communities since his 
 day. Above all, his scattered churches 
 committed us to the evangelization of all 
 India, and Methodism must now do her full 
 share in the salvation of a widespread and 
 multitudinous nation. 
 
 While Taylor was planting these churches 
 and elaborating and illustrating his theory 
 of " self-support " in the South India Con- 
 ference God was strangely preparing Tho- 
 burn to succeed Taylor and to conserve his 
 
 233 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 work by gradually methodizing it, and by 
 eventually coordinating it with the existing 
 Methodist missions. It was he who was 
 largely to evolve from these a united Metho- 
 dism which holds all that is good in both the 
 methods, the " regular society " and the 
 "self-support" methods. The friction that at 
 one time threatened to divide India Metho- 
 dism into two camps has entirely passed 
 away, and the man who more than any other 
 has brought about the present compacted 
 and aggressively militant Methodism of 
 India, north and south, east and west, was 
 peculiarly fitted for the task. As Presiding 
 Elder of Oudh District he gave up his Mis- 
 sionary Society salary because it seemed to 
 him better when dealing with questions of 
 wages among the native preachers to him- 
 self rely on the local resources. But he 
 had no word nor thought of reproach against 
 his brethren. He refused to make it a 
 party cry, but trusted the missionaries who 
 disagreed with him in policy and worked 
 heartily with them. Presently Taylor would 
 be gone. Philip-like, the Spirit would carry 
 him to a distant shore. Among his own 
 men there were none who either had large 
 experience or had risen to anything like 
 
 234 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 marked leadership. The movement was 
 but four years old in_the oldest church, and 
 the men were young and inexperienced. 
 Who should lead this scattered, zealous, 
 enthusiastic, but inexperienced band ? 
 
 Bishop Harris selected Dr. Thoburn from 
 the North India Conference for the 
 manning of Calcutta, the most important 
 point, perhaps, in the Taylor work. Here 
 the work was first to develop the English 
 church and from this base to engage so far 
 in the evangelizing of the great city of 
 nearly a million of people, speaking a Babel 
 of languages, as strength and skill and 
 resources would permit. The English con- 
 gregation increased so rapidly that it soon 
 became necessary to erect a larger building, 
 which is among the largest Christian audi- 
 toriums in India. So high did the enthusi- 
 asm run that on the day of dedication the 
 congregation raised thirty-six thousand 
 rupees, while in the evening twenty peni- 
 tents bowed at the altar as the sign of the 
 divine presence and approval. From the 
 English-speaking, the revival spread among 
 the Bengalis, and before long a strong natiye 
 church grew up, and in connection with 
 these two congregations all manner of mis- 
 
 235 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 sionary activities were projected whereby 
 Dr. Tiioburn's name became a household 
 word among all classes of the people in 
 India's chief governmental city. 
 
 Nor were his activities confined to Cal- 
 cutta. The whole Bengal-Bombay Mission 
 felt his presence, and his long years of ex- 
 perience in the India Mission, his clear in- 
 sight into the difficulties that beset the new 
 work, his splendid constructive ability, which 
 was able to suggest such modifications of 
 the Discipline and such departures as the 
 circumstances called for, all combined to 
 make him easily the leader of Indian 
 Methodism and its trusted representative in 
 the councils of the Church. He was ac- 
 cordingly elected to the General Conference 
 of 1876, and while there secured the recog- 
 nition of the Bengal-Bombay Mission as a 
 prospective Annual Conference. 
 
 On his return from America he immedi- 
 ately resumed charge of the work in Cal- 
 cutta with the presiding eldership of the- 
 district. Now it was that the great Cal- 
 cutta church was dedicated free of debt, 
 and all India felt that a vigorous type of 
 evangelical religion which ministei^ed to all 
 people in various languages had come into 
 
 236 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 the main cities to be supported largely from 
 local resources. From his Calcutta pulpit 
 as a place of power Dr. Thoburn projected 
 schools and new mission stations and many 
 forms of evangelical aggression. Loved 
 and trusted by a multitude of many denomi- 
 nations, he was intrusted with means to do 
 good by all manner of people, and was at 
 once one of the most useful and most hard- 
 worked men in India. 
 
 But even this wide field did not absorb all 
 his energies. Across the Bay of Bengal 
 from Calcutta lies Burmah, Adoniram Jud- 
 son's field! Methodists from India were 
 constantly going and coming to and from 
 Burmah. From the great city of Rangoon 
 came urgent cry for help. With scarcely 
 enough money to pay their passages. Dr. 
 Thoburn and R. E. Carter entered Ran- 
 goon, and proceeded at once to preach and 
 lay the foundations of a Methodist mission 
 to supplement the work of our Baptist 
 friends among eight millions of people. It 
 will now be generally conceded that the 
 coming of the Methodists to Burmah has 
 quickened all existing missionary enterprise 
 and has given the cause of Christ marked 
 impetus. 
 
 16 237 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 In nothing, perhaps, has the constructive 
 ability and clear statesmanship of Dr. Tho- 
 burn served tlie Cliurcli better tlian in* the 
 part lie has taken in outlining on the field 
 and securing in the home councils such 
 modifications and readjustments of our dis- 
 ciplinary provisions as the peculiar circum- 
 stances of a far-away land call for. The 
 flexibility of our polity and the hospitable 
 temper of the home authorities, too, has been 
 as frequently illustrated by the readiness to 
 suffer these changes when their reason was 
 made clear. The presence of Dr. Thoburn 
 in the General Conferences since 1876 has 
 been invaluable in this connection. Mild- 
 tempered, gentle, bu^t shrewd and of keen- 
 est insight, never engaging in unnecessary 
 debate, and always speaking with that inner 
 glow that comes from intense conviction, he 
 rarely fails to carry his point. He has thus 
 secured invaluable legislative concessions 
 for the mission fields. His deep anxiety for 
 the progress of the work in his own field 
 may seem sometimes to have blunted his 
 perception of the claims of others, but those 
 who know him best know that Dr. Thoburn 
 is a wide-eyed, catholic-spirited man, who 
 rejoices with a full heart in all the triumphs 
 
 238 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 of the Redeemer, wherever won. And if, 
 in his splendid enthusiasm, he sometimes 
 betrays a touch of impatience at what seems 
 to him tlie laggard movement of the Church 
 of his love, let it be remembered that his 
 great Master once cried to the disciples of 
 his day, " O, slow of heart to believe!" 
 To one who sees the largest conquests just 
 ahead, who has already entered into the 
 beginnings of victory, the comparative 
 apathy and dullness of the great army 
 seems at times almost incredible. Shall 
 we woiider if sometimes he comes near 
 losing patience? Were it not better we 
 should quicken our steps? Leaguers, for- 
 ward ! The great generals at the front of 
 the army call for quickened pace in the 
 storming of the strongholds of paganism. 
 Men and supplies to the front! The flag 
 of Jesus is presently to wave on the dis- 
 mantled ramparts already closely invested. 
 
 In 1884 Dr. Thoburn found in Kingston, 
 O., a gracious lady, a graduate in medicine, 
 Miss Anna Jones, who consented to become 
 his partner in toil and triumph. Mrs. Tho- 
 burn proves .to be a lady of rare gifts of 
 mind and heart. 
 
 In 1885 Malaysia, an island empire of 
 
 2&9 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 forty millions of people, was opened by Dr. 
 Thoburn to Methodist missionary effort, 
 and one of the most successful of our young 
 missions was planted there. Meanwhile 
 there had grown up throughout our wide- 
 extended India missions, whose greatest 
 length is now close to four thousand miles, 
 a firm conviction that they needed the con- 
 stant presence of a bishop. Much as they 
 valued the annual visits of the general su- 
 perintendents, they felt that the incoming 
 of a new man ever}' year, who stayed with 
 them but three months, did not give them 
 the close and continuous superintendency 
 needed to unify and coordinate their wide- 
 spread movements. In the General Confer- 
 ence of 1888 this matter came to a focus, 
 and it was determined by that body to ap- 
 point a " Missionary Bishop for India and 
 Malaysia." There was but one name se- 
 riously considered. Dr. Thoburn was 
 elected and consecrated as the diocesan of 
 this vast domain. How magnificently he 
 has administered his trust, how grandly 
 God's work has gone forward among that 
 noble band of missionaries whose trusted 
 friend and leader he is, a very brief recapit- 
 ulation of the India statistics will show. 
 
 240 
 
James M. Thoburn 
 
 The most marked and continuous revival 
 of religion on the face of the earth to-day- 
 is among our humble brethren in India. 
 Read the figures. In 1888 there were two 
 Conferences and one Mission ; there are 
 now five Annual Conferences and one Mis- 
 sion Conference. 
 
 Sunday Schools. Scholars, Day Schools, Scholars 
 
 1888 703 27,000 545 14,000 
 
 1892 1.376 50,000 1,039 ' 29,000 
 
 1896 2,249 72,000 1,297 30,000 
 
 The membership has increased from 
 24,000 to 84,000, while the Christian com- 
 munity during the eight years has increased 
 at the rate of A thousand a month ! The 
 Ep worth League, recently introduced, al- 
 ready numbers 140 chapters with 7,000 
 members, and elicits from Bishop Thoburn 
 the remark, ' ' The success of the Ep worth 
 League in India has from the first been 
 surprising. " The number of workers linder 
 appointment has reached the astonishing 
 figure of 3,000, of whom but a handful are 
 foreign missionaries. Great urgency is 
 being put upon the development of ' ' self- 
 support," and quaintly interesting and 
 deeply pathetic are the reports of the dis- 
 trict meetings on " self-support day," when 
 
 241 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 humble men and women, who but recently- 
 ware idol worshipers, bring the produce of 
 the field and barnyard, and even the scant 
 savings from their meager daily meals, to 
 make possible among them and their hea- 
 then neighbors the preaching of the Gospel 
 of Jesus Christ. The whole land is deeply 
 moved. Amid the din of contending voices, 
 the decay of ancient religions, the collapse 
 of hoary and oppressive systems, there rises 
 among the multitudinous and polyglot peo- 
 ple of India the outlines of the cross and 
 the form of One who is set forth as " evi- 
 dently crucified " for them. From his pale 
 lips they hear the cry, ' ' Come unto me, all 
 ye that labor and are heavy laden," and 
 poor, religiously heavy laden, but deep- 
 hearted India hears her Saviour's call and 
 hastens to lay at the foot of the cross the 
 burden she has borne for centuries. Mar- 
 shaling the hosts of Methodism, leading in 
 the very van of the movement for the re- 
 demption of this land, is the brave-hearted, 
 enthusiastic, keen-eyed, wholly devoted 
 man whom God in his providence has 
 raised up to be the Francis Asbury of India 
 — James M. Thoburn, Bishop of India and 
 Malaysia. 
 
 242 
 
vn 
 
 flDar^ IReeb 
 
 BY ^ 
 
 Miss Mary Louise Ninde 
 
" Measure thy life by loss instead of gain ; 
 Not by the wine drunk, but the wine poured forth? 
 For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice. 
 And whoso suffers most hath most to give." 
 
 ■Ugo Bassu 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 VII 
 Mary Reed 
 
 In northern India, where the snow-clad 
 Himalayas look down in solemn grandeur 
 upon the smiling valley at their feet, and 
 ' far removed from the blighting heat and 
 turmoil of the plains, stands a modest little 
 home. The early morning beams gild the 
 tiled roof and the afternoon sun lingers 
 lovingly on the whitewashed walls ere it 
 sinks to rest behind the " everlasting hills." 
 In this secluded retreat dwells a sweet-faced 
 young woman, with abundant brown hair 
 combed back from a peaceful brow, and ten- 
 der eyes that sometimes turn a little wist- 
 fully toward the crimsoned West, where 
 thousands of miles away lies the land of her 
 birth, whose shores her feet will never tread 
 again. "Set apart" by her heavenly 
 Father for a special work, she daily min- 
 isters to the forsaken and suffering ones, 
 whose piteous cries for help were never 
 unheeded by the Master when on earth. 
 The influence of a consecrated, heroic life 
 
 245 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 is not bounded by ocean or continent, and 
 wherever, the world over, the story of Mary 
 Reed is known faith grows- stronger and 
 the hearts of men and women are made 
 purer and better. 
 
 Miss Reed was born in Ohio, in a little town 
 bearing the curious name of "Crooked Tree. " 
 She was converted at the age of sixteen, and 
 early received her call to be a missionary. 
 In 1884 she sailed for India, under the aus- 
 pices of the Woman's Foreign Missionary 
 Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 and was appointed to Cawnpore. This old 
 Mogul city, situated on the western bank of 
 the Ganges, is one of our most important 
 centers of work. It was occupied during 
 the early days of the Mission, and Bishop 
 Thoburn refers to his experience in crossing 
 the river and entering this new fieW as 
 " crossing the Indian Rubicon," so signifi- 
 cant a move was it felt to be. Cawnpore 
 was the scene of terrible carnage during the 
 Sepoy rebellion, and one of the most sadly 
 interesting spots in the city is the historic 
 well, now covered by a marble shrine, sur- 
 mounted by a statue of the Angel of Peace, 
 where the bodies of the two hundred women 
 and children, so cruelly murdered by the 
 
 246 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 Sepoys, were thrown. Miss Reed was put 
 in charge of the zenana work in this place. 
 " Zenana " is a Persian word, and signifies 
 the part of the house reserved for the 
 women. It is only by house-to-house visit- 
 ation that the native women can be reached, 
 since they are kept in strict seclusion, 
 except those of the very lowest class. 
 
 How well I remember my first visit to 
 Cawnpore ! It was a busy time, for Miss 
 Reed, filled herself with a consuming zeal 
 for the work, was eager that I should see and 
 learn as much of it as possible durin g my brief 
 stay. I never grew tired of accompanying 
 her on her daily round of calls at the homes 
 of the people. We usually set out about ten 
 o'clock in the morning, in the zenana ghari, 
 an. oblong, boxlike vehicle, with shutters at 
 the sides to exclude the .sun, which even in 
 winter must be carefully avoided by Euro- 
 peans. Driving through the city till the 
 streets became too narrow to proceed fur- 
 ther, we would alight and slowly edge our 
 way on foot among the jostling, crowds to 
 our first zenana. Up dark flights of stairs 
 to stifling, iininviting chambers ; into inner 
 courts, damp and chilly, generally reached 
 by passing through the stable among the 
 
 247 
 
The Pipket Line of Mission's 
 
 oxen and buffalo; sometimes in homes of 
 wealth, but oftenest in those of extreme pov- 
 erty ; usually received gladly, but occasion- 
 ally met with averted glances and a drawing 
 away from contact with our clothes, or even 
 the polluting influence of our shadow, on we 
 went, from zenana to zenana. Seated at Miss 
 Reed's side on a low bed of woven rope, the 
 best substitute for chairs most of the houses 
 afforded, I was a sympathetic listener while 
 she sang and talked to the group of dark- 
 eyed women and children gathered around 
 us on the floor.' Patiently she answered 
 their childish little questions, and again and 
 again drew back their wandering attention 
 to the simple Gospel truths she was so ear- 
 nestly trying to impress on their minds. 
 We had no support for our backs, and I 
 often tried to rest by leaning first on one 
 hand and then the other. But Miss Reed 
 seemed utterly oblivious to personal discom- 
 fort and fatigue, and only the increasing pal- 
 lor of her face, as the hours wore on, con- 
 vinced me that she also was succumbing to 
 the weariness she was too absorbed to heed. 
 At two o'clock we returned home. After 
 lunch it was always necessary for Miss Reed 
 to hurry away to write letters, to plan the 
 
 " 248 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 next day's work, to receive native callers, 
 and to look after the affairs of the home, for 
 she was a model housekeeper and kept 
 everything under her careful supervision. 
 "Do you never rest?" I asked her once. 
 " I seldom have time," she replied, brightly, 
 and truly she impressed me as one whose in- 
 most soul was imbued with the thought that 
 "the King's business requires haste." It 
 was her habit each morning to meet with 
 the native Bible women who assisted her in 
 zenana visiting for an hour of Scripture 
 study and prayer. One of the sweetest pic- 
 tures I carry in my memory is that of this 
 faithful missionary sitting in the midst of 
 the Christian Hindus at her feet, their dark, 
 upturned faces framed in clean white ehud- 
 dars, instructing them concerning the things 
 of the kingdom and then sending them 
 out, two and two, to sow the seed, as the 
 seventy went forth of old. 
 
 Several times a week Miss Reed visited 
 the ghats. This was a feature of her work 
 in which I became greatly interested. The 
 ghats are the stone steps on the banks of 
 the Ganges which are built for the accom- 
 modation of the Hindus, who flock in 
 crowds to the river early every morning to 
 
 •249 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 bathe in its sacred waters. As this is a 
 privilege in wliich tlie women share, the 
 missionary who visits the ghats not only 
 has an opportunity to meet a large number 
 of women at one time, but to talk to many 
 of the higher castes who are too bigoted to 
 receive her into their homes. In the dim 
 light of a December morning, when the 
 bells in the Hindu temples began to ring, 
 Miss Reed and I roused from sleep and 
 wended our way to the river. On drawing 
 near to it what a scene met our eyes ! The 
 ghats where the women congregate were 
 thronged with worshipers. Their rainbow- 
 tinted draperies made brilliant patches of 
 color against the gray sky and the yellow 
 water of the Ganges. The noisy clamor of 
 voices was almost deafening. Some women 
 had just arrived, closely veiled, and were 
 chattering volubly while they removed their 
 outer coverings. Others, who had finished 
 their bath, were slowly ascending the steps, 
 shivering in the cool air and carrying a 
 small brass cup containing Ganges water, 
 which was to be taken home and placed be- 
 fore the household gods. Still others were 
 seated on the wet flagging at the top of the 
 stairs, busily engaged, by the aid of a tiny 
 
 250 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 mirror, in painting- the marks on their fore- 
 Jieads wliidi would show they had per 
 formed the required ablutions for that day. 
 Hundreds of women were in the water, all 
 praying aloiid, though no two in unison, 
 now gathering the water up in the palm of 
 their hands and offering it to the sun, and 
 now circling around or breathing heavily to 
 frighten away "the demons which are sup- 
 posed to haunt them even in this sacred 
 place. Miss R§ed took her stand where 
 the crowd was the thickest and began sing- 
 ing a bJiajaii — one of the native airs set to 
 Christian words which the people like so 
 welL At once the attention of the women 
 was arrested, and many stopped to listen. 
 As soon as they were quiet Miss Reed ex- 
 plained the meaning of the wdrds of the 
 hymn, which told the story of " Jesus and 
 his love." But some laughed and turned 
 away. Others became angry and retorted 
 rudely. A few appeared thoughtful and 
 touched. When her audience had scat- 
 tered Miss Reed commenced singing again. 
 To all who would receive' it she gave Chris- 
 tian literature— tracts and small portions 
 of the gospels. It was indeed scattering 
 the seed- broadcast, and only the all-seeing 
 
 251 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Father knows whether any took root and 
 brought forth fruit. 
 
 I was very anxious to visit Benares, the 
 sacred city of the Hindus, and as I had 
 no traveling companion Miss Reed kindly 
 agreed to go with me. I think at that time 
 she had never seen Benares herself. The 
 busy life of a missionary affords little op- 
 portunity for sight-seeing. Benares is the 
 Mecca of the Hindus. From all parts of 
 India innumerable pilgrims find their way 
 there every year, multitudes making the 
 journey on foot, many even measuring the 
 distance with their bodies by lying on their 
 faces and stretching out their hands, then 
 rising and placing their toes where their 
 fingers reached, and thus proceeding for 
 weary miles. By this meritorious act they 
 hope to win the especial favor of the gods. 
 Benares is on the Ganges some distance be- 
 low Cawnpore. The morning after our ar- 
 rival Miss Reed and I took a boat and sailed 
 up and down the river in front of the city. 
 The banks were lined with temples and pal- 
 aces and presented a striking and pictur- 
 esque appearance. Thousands of worship- 
 ers, men, women, and children, thronged 
 the ghats and made turbulent the water 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 around them. At one point on the shore a 
 column of smoke rising into the air showed 
 us where the Hindus were burning their 
 dead, for they never bury them, though the 
 ashes are afterward gathered up and thrown 
 into the Ganges. Tlie fire at the " Burning 
 Ghats," as this place is called, never goes 
 out. Here and there along the shore we 
 could discern a dying man lying on the 
 ground, watched over by an attendant, prob- 
 ably some near relative, who had brought 
 him here, it may be, from a great distance, . 
 that he might breathe his last on conse- 
 crated soil and with his feet dipped in the 
 waters of the sacred river. After death, in-^ 
 stead of being burned, the bodies of these 
 men are often floated out on the sacred 
 stream, soon, however, to be seized by a croc- 
 odile and quickly borne out of sight. After 
 leaving the river Miss Reed and I roamed 
 through the city, visiting only the most 
 celebrated shrines and temples — for their 
 number is legion, mingling with the pil- 
 grims in the crowded byways, and confront- 
 ing heathenism in its most heart-sickening 
 aspects at every turn. We saw the famous 
 monkey temple, where hundreds of chatter- 
 ing little creatures were scampering about ' 
 
 17 253 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 their beautiful home, making- grimaces at 
 the worshipers and evidently leading a very- 
 happy life. We tiptoed our way through 
 the mud and slusli around the sacred ' ' Well 
 of Knowledge " and peered down into its 
 forbidding depths. Its waters are believed 
 to be peculiarly efl&cacious in cleansing from 
 sin, but tire rank odor arising from the de- 
 caying flowers thrown into the well by 
 countless devotees made us glad to turn 
 away. In the temple of Shiva we witnessed 
 a characteristic act of worship. A very aged 
 woman, whose gray locks, shorn close to her 
 head, told the sad story of widowhood, went 
 to one of the silky-skinned cows wandering 
 over the marble pavement of the outer court, 
 and, placing a wreath of flowers around its 
 neck, kissed its forehead; then, kneeling 
 before it, while the tears trickled down her 
 cheeks, she bowed her face to the ground 
 many times. How we longed to tell her of 
 Jesus, the burden -bearer, at whose feet she 
 could find peace and comfort for her troubled 
 heart ! Miss Reed only stayed a day and a 
 half in Benares. The sights we witnessed 
 seemed to awake in her a new and almost 
 overwhelming sense of her responsibility 
 as a messenger of light to these sin-dark- 
 
 254 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 ened people: so, leaving me in the home 
 of a Wesleyan missionary for a few days 
 longer, she hastened back to her work in 
 Cawnpore. 
 
 After five years of exhausting labor in 
 India Miss Reed returned to America much 
 broken in health. It was during this period 
 of rest in the home land that the Holy 
 Spirit revealed to her the special work to 
 which the remainder of her life was to be 
 consecrated. The surgeon selects with in- 
 finite care the instruments which are to be 
 used in the most critical operations. Is it , 
 not ever thus with the great Physician? 
 As Mary Reed was obedient to her Lord's 
 first call, so now in the time of this crucial 
 test she did not waver, but replied, with 
 childlike trust and triumphant faith, " Here 
 am I; send me." Our hearts were torn 
 with anguish when we saw her enter the 
 garden' with the Master, but she gloried in 
 her high privilege and followed him gladly. 
 
 For some time Miss Reed had been 
 troubled by a stinging pain in the forefinger 
 of her right hand. A curious spot also ap- 
 peared on her cheek, low down near the 
 ear. One day a voice seemed to whisper 
 to her, ' ' You have leprosy ; you must go 
 
 2S5 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 back to India and devote the rest of your 
 life to work among the lepers." From that 
 moment she never felt any doubt as to the 
 true nature of her disease. Her physician 
 reluctantly admitted that her diagnosis 
 seemed correct, and sent her to an eminent 
 specialist in New York, who confirmed her 
 opinion of the case. Later two noted physir 
 cians in London, and also one in Bombay, 
 were consulted with the same result. It 
 will probably always remain a mystery how 
 Miss Reed contracted leprosy, as it is not 
 known that she was ever exposed to it in 
 any way. She herself simply explains it 
 as a providential visitation, the seal of her 
 divine appointment to work among the 
 lepers, and very beautifully quotes : 
 
 " No chance has brought this ill to me; 
 'Tis God's sweet will, .so let it be; 
 He seeth what I cannot see. 
 
 " There is a need be for each pain ; 
 And he will make it one day plain 
 That earthly loss is heavenly gain." 
 
 As soon as the necessary preparations could 
 be made Miss Reed bade good-bye to home 
 and loved ones and hurried back to India, 
 crossing to England in the same steamer 
 which carried the Epworth League pilgrims 
 
 256 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 to the Old World in the summer of 1891. I 
 shall never forget the autumn evening- when 
 the news first reached me which fell with 
 such crushing weight on so many hearts. It 
 came in a letter from Mrs. Cowen, of Cin- 
 cinnati, a sister of Bishop Thoburn, and 
 one whom Miss Reed affectionately calls 
 "My Missionary Mother." Almost the first 
 words my eyes fell upon were the appalling 
 ones, "Mary Reed is a leper! " After a 
 little while I read on through blinding tears, 
 " Pray for her mother; she has just learned 
 the sad news ; Mary did not tell her whe'n 
 she went away ; she did not eveti kiss her 
 good-bye! " I could not sleep that night. I 
 am sure there were many who did not sleep 
 when that awful word was brought to them. 
 I thought of the mother in her heart- 
 breaking sorrow, who could never hope to 
 see her daiighter's face again on earth. 
 Then I thought of the daughter, devoted, 
 heroic, journeying for the last time toward 
 the far-away East. How vividly the days 
 spent with her in India came back to me ! 
 One experience especially stood out in my 
 memory. During a second visit I made to 
 Cawnpore I attended a Christmas celebra- 
 tion for the lepers. About five hundred 
 
 261 
 
The Picket Line of i;5,issions 
 
 were gathered on a grassy common in a re- 
 tired quarter of the city — poor mutilated 
 creatures, in all stages of the disease. It 
 was a pathetic sight to see them crouched on 
 the ground, listening with eager interest 
 while the missionaries sang and prayed and 
 then told how Jesus healed the lepers of old 
 and how he still loves them, and though he 
 may not now work a miracle and cure their 
 bodies he will enter their hearts, if they 
 will but let him, and make them clean and 
 whole. At the close of the exercises each 
 leper was given a warm blanket and a hand- 
 ful of salt. On account of its high price in 
 North India salt is a luxury with the poor 
 people. Miss Reed and I stood side by side 
 and looked pityingly on while the lepers 
 filed slowly past us to receive their gifts. 
 Many whose feet were reduced to mere 
 stumps walked with the greatest difficulty. 
 As each poor sufferer in turn came to the 
 front the missionary in charge threw a 
 blanket across his shoulders — for in most 
 cases his hands were too maimed to hold it — 
 and then made a bag in a corner of his out- 
 side garment in which the salt was poured. 
 I well remember what a relief it was to me 
 that day to return to Miss Reed's cheerful 
 
 258 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 home and try to shut out from my mind 
 for a while the saddening and loathsome 
 sights of the morning. 
 
 During the long hours of that sleepless 
 night I also lived over again the week I 
 spent in Moradabad at the time the North 
 India Conference was in session. What a 
 happy home-gathering that Conference was ! 
 And with what joyful anticipation the mis- 
 sionaries told me they had looked forward 
 ■ to it the whole year through, especially those 
 in the outlying stations ! Only a missionary 
 knows the longing of the heart for compan- 
 ionship in a pagan land. And must Miss 
 Reed henceforth be denied all these sweet 
 comforts ? I asked myself. May she never 
 again join her colaborers in the Confer- 
 ence prayer ixieeting? Never again feel 
 their arms thrown around her in loving 
 embrace ? Never even sit down to eat with 
 them at the same table? O the unutter- 
 able loneliness of such a life ! Can she en- 
 dure it? 
 
 But in the meantime how tenderly was 
 the loving Father guarding and guiding his 
 child ! In London she became acquainted 
 with an American lady from New England, 
 with whom she traveled across the Conti- 
 
 259 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 nent. This friend describes most touch- 
 ingly the days they spent together:*' 
 
 ' ' I wondered instinctively at the ivory pal- 
 lor of that sweet face and at the cruel spot 
 that disfigured it, so different from anything 
 I had ever seen. I wondered, too, as the days 
 went by, why the forefinger, always covered 
 with a white cot, refused to yield to healing 
 remedies. I was not surprised when she 
 asked permission to accompany us on our 
 journey southward, which for the Master's - 
 sake was readily granted, although we did 
 not think she was able to travel rapidly from 
 place to place. Tears were in her eyes 
 when she came to my room for the answer, 
 and she said, ' I think God has sent you 
 here in answer to my prayers.' Then she 
 told me how with unwavering faith she had 
 prayed and waited many days for some one 
 to come with whom she could travel a part 
 of her long overland journey to Brindisi, 
 where she was to meet the steamer for 
 India. Sympathy grew between us, and 
 though the signs of some dread disease 
 were ever present to my eyes my lips were 
 
 * From An Evening with Mary Reed. This is a com- 
 plete missionaiy program, admirably adapted for use by 
 Epworth Leagues. Price, 15 cents. Address Miss Pauline 
 J. Walden, 36 Bromfield Street, Boston, Mass. 
 260 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 silent.. As I came to know her better, I 
 found that her heart craved companionship. 
 Under the smiling English skies of Can- 
 terbury we walked up to St. Martin's, the 
 little church whose memories go back at 
 least thirteen hundred years. Near the 
 chancel the English lassie who guided us 
 stopped and, pointing to an opening itf the 
 thick wall, said, 'That is the leper's 
 squint.' The poor sufferers, creeping to 
 the sanctuary in olden times, might only 
 listen from without to the words of life. 
 Eloquent though mute are such barriers 
 raised and maintained between life and 
 death ! If I had known then what I knew 
 aftersvard my heart would have bled for 
 the woman at my side. Calmly she stood 
 there before us with a heavenly light in her 
 eyes, not a muscle of her face betraying her 
 heart's secret. In the grand old cathedral 
 we paused before the stone staircase lead- 
 ing to a Becket's shrine, and gazed long at 
 the hollows worn by the kneeling, praying 
 pilgrims. She was making that journey, 
 so full of pleasure to us, literally on her 
 knees, sustained and comforted by the power of 
 prayer. 
 
 Here and there we held sweet hours 
 
 261 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 of communion, and I, who had been accus- 
 tomed to see missionaries seeking America 
 when in her feeble condition, could not re- 
 frain from asking if it was right for her to 
 return to India at an unfavorable season, 
 before her health was established. Her 
 lips quivered, but her gentle pleading voice 
 grew steady as she replied, ' My Father 
 knows the way I go, and I am sure it is the 
 right way;' and at another time she said, 
 ' I am returning to India under conditions 
 in which no other missionary ever returned.' 
 ' ' It was in Paris that she sang to me the 
 hymns she loved so well, those song-prayers 
 that must have ascended like incense to the 
 ear of her Father. It was in Paris that she 
 said one evening, ' If I thought it was 
 right, and you would promise never to speak 
 of it until you heard it in some other way, 
 I should tell you my story.' I told her if 
 aught in me inspired confidence that was 
 the surest safeguard of her secret. On 
 memory's walls there will hang while time 
 lasts for me the picture of that scene. A 
 wax taper burned dimly on the table beside 
 her open Bible, that book of all books from 
 whose pages she received daily consolation ; 
 and while without Paris was turning night 
 
 262 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 to day with light and music and wine, 
 within, Mary Reed's gentle voice, faltering 
 only at her mother's name and coming sor- 
 row, told the secret of her affliction. As 
 my throbbing heart caught its first glimpse 
 of her meaning I covered my face to shut 
 out the swiftly rising vision of her future 
 even to the bitter end, and almost in agony 
 I cried out, ' O, not that ! do not tell me 
 that has come to you." And when in 
 calmer moments I said that all Christians 
 ought to unite in prayer for her recovery 
 her only response was, ' I have not yet 
 received any assurance of healing ; perhaps 
 I can serve my Father better thus.' 
 
 ' ' I come with sorrow to my last evening 
 with Miss Reed. I sat in the shadow and 
 she where the full rrioon, rising over the 
 snow}'' mountains, just touched with a glory 
 that loved to linger her pale, sweet face. 
 Again I hear her voice in song: 
 
 'Straight to my home above 
 
 I travel calmly on ; 
 And sing, in life or death, 
 
 My Lord, thy will be done." 
 
 And with the anticipation of our parting 
 on the morrow she told me of her last 
 hours in her Western home, of her father's 
 
 263 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 farewell breathed out in his morning prayer, 
 telling the All-Father and the heart of his 
 daughter the sorrow that for her sake should 
 be repressed • how, upheld by a strength 
 not her own, she went out as if some day 
 she might return, and then hastened on to 
 the land of her exile. On the shores of 
 Lake Lucerne hand clasped hand for the 
 last time on earth, and, with eyes blinded by 
 gathering tears, our farewell was whispered, 
 ' God be with you till we meet again.' " 
 From the earliest times India has been 
 peculiarly subject to leprosy. The last of- 
 ficial report gives the number of lepers in 
 the country as one hundred and thirty-one 
 thousand six hundred and eighteen. No 
 cure has been found for this dreaded dis- 
 ease, though certain medicines are known 
 to retard and even in some cases to arrest 
 its progress. Medical authorities differ 
 widely as to the danger from contagion. 
 Bishop Thoburn says; "There are sev- 
 eral varieties of leprosy, and none of them 
 are at all contagious unless the skin is 
 broken, which is not always the case, or 
 when broken the affected part is brought 
 into contact with a cut or abrasion of some 
 kind on the skin of a healthy person. 
 
 264 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 Those of us who have lived long in India 
 have practically ceased to be afraid of the 
 lepers." Still, the English government has 
 increasingly felt the wisdom of segregating 
 the lepers as a precautionary measure, and 
 only the expense involved has delayed the 
 work so long. There are a few asylums, 
 but their number is wholly inadequate to 
 the needs. The only missionary society 
 that works exclusively among this neglected 
 class, though largely through the medium 
 of existing agencies, is a Scotch and Irish 
 organization called the ' ' Mission to Lepers 
 in India and the East." One of its asylums 
 is at Chandag Heights, among the Hima- 
 laya Mountains, and is reached from the 
 railway terminus at the base of the foothills 
 by a nine days' journey on horseback, or in 
 a dandi carried on the shoulders of natives. 
 Miss Reed, on arriving in India, went at 
 once to the north, and was made superin- 
 tendent of this asylum. The society with 
 which she thus became providentially con- 
 nected, though still receiving her own sup- 
 port from America, writes of her as follows 
 in one of their reports: " Most deeply pa- 
 thetic is the story of how our staff of 
 workers among the lepers has been so 
 
 265 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 strangely reinforced by tlie addition of a 
 lady missionary of one of tlie American so- 
 cieties, who has contracted -the disease in 
 the course of her work in India. The com- 
 mittee has appointed her an agent in one of 
 our asylums, as it is her earnest wisli to 
 spend her remaining strength in this special 
 work to which she has been so mysteriously 
 consecrated." 
 
 Miss Reed's home at Chandag is in the 
 midst of ideal scenery, which I will let her 
 describe in her own glowing words : ' ' The 
 mountains inclose a lovely valley, called 
 Shor, like a massive and exquisitely beauti- 
 ful frame around a magnificent picture. 
 My home is on the crest of the range which 
 forms the western boundary of the valley, 
 or the left side of the picture frame. And 
 the picture! A rich and beautiful valley, 
 containing six square miles, lies more than 
 one thousand feet below my lofty and lovely 
 ' Retreat,' and is dotted with numerous 
 villages which are surrounded by clumps 
 of trees and terraced green fields of rice, 
 wheat, and other grains. Throi:gh this 
 valley a little river with its tributaries 
 winds in and out." Three miles from the 
 asylum is Pithoragarh, where there is a 
 
 266 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 flourishing girls' scliool under the charge of 
 Miss Annie Budden, of our Woman's For- 
 eign Missionary Society, and a community 
 of three hundred native Christians, witli 
 whom Miss Reed has frequent intercourse, 
 so, as she cheerily writes, "I am neither 
 lonely nor alone." 
 
 The asylum grounds cover over sixty- 
 six acres, and are shut in by a low stone 
 wall. Within the inclosure are the neat 
 stone houses of the men, surrounded by 
 carefully kept garden plots, and fifteen 
 minutes' walk away the homes of the wom- 
 en. There is also a hospital with dispen- 
 sary attached where the worst cases can be 
 treated, a newly finished chapel, and Miss 
 Reed's little bungalow, besides other build- 
 ings. The many acres of unoccupied land 
 are reserved for grazing and farming. 
 Leprosy abounds in this fair mountain re- 
 gion as in scarcely any other district in In- 
 dia. Miss Reed writes: "I am told, that 
 within a radius of ten miles there are more 
 than four hundred patients who ought to be 
 here in the asylum." Another missionary 
 adds, however: "At first it is often difficult 
 to persuade these wretched ones to enter 
 the asylums. They know nothing of Chiv:;- 
 
 267 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 tian philanthropy. What can be wanted of 
 them but to put them to death? The few 
 first gained are sometimes made use of by 
 sending them out in carts to advertise to 
 the others the comforts they may have." 
 The last report gives the number of in- 
 mates at Chandag Heights as ninety-six, a 
 large majority of whom were Christians. 
 
 The attendance has steadily increased 
 each year since Miss Reed took charge of 
 the- work. A ' visiting missionary from 
 Scotland tells of a most interesting service 
 he held at the asylum: "At 10:30 o'clock 
 we all assembled at the side of Miss Reed's 
 house, where the lepers might sit in the 
 sun and be warm ; it makes such a differ- 
 ence to them, poor things! At first the 
 women assembled and employed their time 
 singing bhajans till the men should arrive 
 up from Panahgah — ' Place of Refuge ' — 
 their home. I stood up and walked to the 
 brow of the hill to see if there was any sign 
 of the men and boys coming, when a touch- 
 ing sight met my eye. I saw a long, strag- 
 gling, white line of very helpless creatures 
 wending their way up the mountain side 
 with considerable difficulty. At last they 
 arrived and we got them all seated, and, 
 
 268 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 ah ! what a eight it was ! In front of the 
 wonien and close to us were seated three 
 dear little girls with winsome wee faces, 
 but all far gone in leprosy. Among the 
 men were several boys with sad, wistful 
 faces ; one, a little Nepalese chap, had a 
 specially pathetic look on his face. When 
 all were ready we had a hymn and prayer; 
 then I preached to them on an interview 
 with Christ, illustrated by the story of the 
 woman at the well. It was precious to tell 
 out the riches of redeeming love to such an 
 audience. The appreciative smiles, the 
 nods of satisfaction, and the verbal answers 
 I got from time to time showed that they 
 understood and gladly received what I 
 preached. We afterward asked those who 
 had really given themselves to Jesus Christ 
 and had received the gift of eternal life 
 from him to rise. Quite a large number, 
 both of the men and women, did so. I ob- 
 served the little Nepalese lad hesitating, 
 but finally he, too, stood up. Later we had 
 a prayer and testimony meeting. Several 
 gave the most clear testimony to the blessed 
 salvation they had received through Christ. 
 One young woman, in a very beautiful 
 prayer, thanked God that he had brought 
 
 18 269 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 this disease upon her, as it had been the 
 means of leading- her to Christ. Among 
 our audience were a father, mother, and son, 
 all victims of this terrible disease." 
 
 Besides the care of the asylum Miss Reed 
 has the oversight of a very encouraging 
 and rapidly growing work among the wom- 
 en and children in a number of the villages 
 which lie scattered through the neighboring 
 valleys, ,and which she carries on by the aid 
 of native Bible teachers and evangelists. 
 This work is under the auspices of our 
 home society and is supported by it. 
 
 During the years since Miss Reed re- 
 turned to India thousands of prayers have 
 been offered for her recovery, and the re- 
 port has several times gone abroad that 
 they were answered and she was healed. 
 The disease has indeed been "wonderfully 
 holden," as Miss Reed expresses it, but to a 
 dear missionary friend, Dr. Martha Sheldon, 
 she recently said : " I am conscious of its 
 presence within, and have been especially 
 so during the last few months, but I feel the 
 power of God upon me in holding me quiet. 
 There are da3's, too, when the external 
 symptoms are aggravated and more notice- 
 able. Then again they recede. What I 
 
Mary Reed 
 
 pass through in my experiences no one 
 knows." And Dr. Sheldon adds: "I feel 
 deeply that, as far as human help is con- 
 cerned, she is walking in the furnace alone, 
 and that there is only One who can enter in 
 and comfort her." But what a marvelous 
 testimony is it to the all-sufl&ciency of the 
 divine Comforter in the darkest Gethsem- 
 ane, when she can write home in words 
 like these : " God has enabled me to say, not 
 with a sigh, but with a song. Thy will be 
 done." " I just couldn't tie myself down 
 to my writing desk this morning in quiet- 
 ness of heart till I first sat down at my dear 
 organ and played and sang with all the thir- 
 teen stops out, 
 
 ' I am dwelling on the m'ountain, 
 Where the golden sunlight gleams ! ' " 
 
 ' ' I see not trouble and sorrow ahead, but 
 the joy of telling out among the heathen 
 that our Saviour has power to save to the 
 uttermost." " The song of my heart is con- 
 tinually, ' Praise God, from whom all bless- 
 ings flow! ' " And yet an intimate friend, 
 referring to Miss Reed's -affliction, says of 
 her, " She is highly sensitive, and of all my 
 acquaintance I know of no one who would 
 by nature more loathe this complaint." 
 
 271 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Soon after Miss Reed went back to India 
 I received from her in a letter a little card 
 of pressed ferns gathered near her moun- 
 tain home. " These delicate ferns," she 
 wrote, ' 'will give you an inkling of the beauty 
 that lies all about me, continually remind- 
 ing me that the Mighty One is also the Lov- 
 ing One." On the back of the card were 
 these beautiful verses of Miss Havergal's : 
 
 " Alone, alone I yet round me stand 
 God's mountains, slill and grand ! 
 Still and grand, serene and bright, 
 Sentinels clothed in armor white. 
 And helmeted with scarlet light. 
 
 His power is near, 
 
 I need not fear. 
 Beneath the shadow of his thT'one, 
 Alone, alone ! yet not alone. 
 
 " Alone, alone ! yet beneath me sleep 
 The flowers his hand doth keep ; 
 Small and fair, by crag and dell. 
 Trustfully closing star and bell, 
 Eve by eve as twilight fell. 
 
 His love is near, 
 
 I need not fear. 
 Beneath the shadow of his throne 
 Alone, alone ! yet not alone." 
 
 Below the verses were written the words : 
 " Mary Reed, in India till the end of life." 
 As I read them my thoughts went back to 
 
 272 
 
Mary Reed ' 
 
 one afternoon in Cawnpore when, as Miss 
 Reed stood with me on the veranda of her 
 house, looking out over the tropical garden, 
 she turned with sudden earnestness and said : 
 " I want to stay and work in India till I am 
 very old, but then I should like to go home 
 to die. There is something inexpressibly 
 sad to me about the thought of being buried 
 in this land. A short time ago I was visit- 
 ing one evening with an English lady living 
 in the next compound. She appeared per- 
 fectly well, but the' following morning when 
 I awoke I saw her being carried to the cem- 
 etery. She had been taken sick with chol- 
 era in the night, and in this hot climate it 
 is necessary to bury the dead at once. The 
 cemeteries here are not like ours, they seem 
 so desolate and lonely. O yes, I hope I can 
 die at home." 
 
 Dear Mary Reed ! Did she think I would 
 remember the conversation and wish to as- 
 sure me that she was no longer possessed 
 by the old dread ? It was as if she would say, 
 ' ' Do not feel troubled about me ; I no longer 
 fear to die here, but can exclaim with the 
 missionary who laid down her life on these 
 shores a few years since, ' India is just as 
 
 near heaven as America! ' " So this noble 
 273 
 
The Picket lline of Missions 
 
 woman works bravely and hopefully on, con- 
 tent to know that when her allotted task is 
 finished she will be laid to rest on alien soil 
 and under Orient skies, since it is only 
 ■' until the day break, and the shadows flee 
 
 away." 
 
 274 
 
vm 
 
 BY 
 
 W. H. WiTHROw, D.D. 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 VIII 
 
 Polynesian Missions 
 
 JOHN WILLIAMS, THE MARTYR OF ERRO- 
 MANGA* 
 
 The countless islands of the Polynesian 
 Archipelago possess an intense interest to 
 the Christian, the scientist, and the states- 
 man. Here some, of the noblest triumphs 
 of the cross have been won. Their social 
 constitution and history present one of the 
 most remarkable examples of the civiliza- 
 tion of once savage races ; and with these 
 islands are associated some of the grandest 
 records of Christian philanthropy. These 
 • Summer isles of Eden lying 
 In dark purple spheres of sea " 
 
 appeared to the first European visitors 
 among the loveliest and most favored spots 
 on earth. The breadfruit tree and the 
 
 *The principal authorities for tliis paper are Rowe's Life 
 of yohn Htmt^ Williams's Fiji and Fijians, and Calvert's 
 Missionary Labors Among the Cannibals, 2 vols. ; Moister's 
 History of IVesleyan Missions, Cummings's At Home in Fiji, 
 London Quarterly, January, 1882, article "Fiji," and Bishop 
 Walsh's Biography of John Williams. 
 277 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 cocoa palm waved their foliage in the balmy 
 
 air. 
 
 " In a halcyon sea mid the coral grove 
 The purple mullet and goldfish rove " 
 
 Flowers of brightest hues and fragrance 
 and fruits of richest flavor abounded. 
 Surely here, if anywhere on earth, were 
 the Islands of the Blessed, and here must 
 be found the primeval innocence and happi- 
 ness of that Golden Age of which poets had 
 sung ! 
 
 But how different was the realityj These 
 scenes of fairy loveliness were full of the 
 habitations of cruelty, and were in danger of 
 becoming depopulated through the abomi- 
 nable wickedness of the inhabitants. Chronic 
 wars wasted the islands, and the victors 
 feasted upon the flesh of their conquered 
 enemies. Even woman's heart forgot its 
 pitifulness, and " mothers slept calmly on 
 the beds beneath which they had buried 
 many of their own murdered infants." 
 
 ' ' What Cook was among navigators, John 
 Williams was among missionaries. Both 
 were eminently distinguished for their. hero- 
 ism and their philanthropy. The lot and 
 labor of both were mainly cast among those 
 lovely groups of islands whose feathery 
 
 278 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 palms are mirrored in the waters of the Pa- 
 cific. These islands were made known to 
 the civilized world by the one ; they were 
 brought into the fellowship of Christendom 
 by the other. Both of these distinguished 
 men lost their lives by murderous hands 
 upon those distant coasts in the noble 
 effort to do their- duty to God and to be a 
 blessing, to their fellow-men. And if Cook 
 was a real martyr in the cause of science, 
 Williams was a real martyr in the cause of 
 religion." 
 
 Tottenham Court Road is one of the most 
 crowded and busy thoroughfares of London. 
 It has Methodist associations from the cir- 
 cumstance that in this region was situated 
 Whitefield's famous tabernacle. In this 
 populous neighborhood the future illus- 
 trious missionary, John Williams, was born, 
 1796. From his boyhood he exhibited that 
 mechanical aptitude and manual dexterity 
 which he afterward turned to such good 
 account among the barbarous South Sea 
 islanders. He was familiarly spoken of as 
 the "handy lad," who repaired the break- 
 ages of the household utensils and furni- 
 ture. 
 
 Probably in consequence of this natural 
 279 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 bent he was apprenticed to an ironmonger 
 in City Road. It was soon observed that 
 he was more inclined to the anvil and forge, 
 although exempted by his indentures from 
 the more laborious parts of the business, 
 than to the more cleanly and, as some 
 would think, more respectable department 
 of the office and store. He thus became an 
 expert handicraftsman — a sort of Quentin 
 Matsys in his way — and was frequently em- 
 ployed by his master in the execution of 
 orders demanding peculiar dexterity and 
 skill. 
 
 His parents were pious people, and en- 
 deavored to train up their son in the ways 
 of religion. But with the natural wayward- 
 ness of youth he was restive beneath their 
 restraints, and in the company of fellow- 
 apprentices sought the frivolous amuse- 
 ments afforded by the great metropolis. 
 One Sunday evening, we are told, he was 
 loitering at a street corner waiting for 
 some companions to accompany him to 
 some such place of resort, so unbecoming 
 the sanctity of the day. The delay of his 
 comrades gave an opportunity for the com- 
 punctions of a conscience dormant but not 
 dead. 
 
 280 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 Just at that moment it ctiaiiced — or was 
 it chance? — that the wife of his employer 
 passed on her way to Mr. Whitefield's 
 tabernacle. " It proved," says his biog- 
 rapher, " the turning-point in his life, and 
 many years afterward, when the successful 
 missionary was narrating to a breathless 
 audience, in the same place of worship, the 
 story of his labors and successes, he pointed 
 with deep emotion to the door by which he 
 had entered and to the pew in which he 
 had sat on th^t memorable night when the 
 word of God had been fastened in his heart, 
 as in a sure place, by the Master of assem- 
 blies." 
 
 The young convert forthwith engaged 
 earnestly in Christian work, so far as oppor- 
 tunity offered — and opportunity was not 
 wanting in that great and wicked city, 
 greater and, considering the Christian light 
 and knowledge abounding on every side, 
 more wicked than ancient Nineveh. These 
 were the early years of foreign missionary 
 work. Already the London Missionary So- 
 ciety was endeavoring to win from heathen- 
 ism to Christianity those sunny islands of 
 the Southern Seas which Cook and his fel- 
 low-discoverers had unveiled to the world. 
 
 281 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Here the Gospel of Jesns had already 
 been preached, and had won, as amid the 
 corruptions of Corinth and the cruelties of 
 Rome, its wonted triumphs. In some of 
 the islands the natives renounced their 
 idolatry and gave up their bloody rites. 
 Across the sea came the cry for more labor- 
 ers for this field of toil and danger. Among 
 the first to respond was the zealous j'oung 
 convert, John Williams, being then only in 
 his twentieth }'ear. He offered his services 
 to the London Missionary .Society, and was 
 accepted for the work to which he gave his 
 life. 
 
 " It was on the 30th of September, 18 16," 
 says his biographer, " that nine young men 
 stood side by side in Surrey Chapel to re- 
 ceive their missionary designation. John 
 Williams and Robert Moffat were the two 
 youngest of the band, the former destined 
 to be the 'Apostle of Polynesia,' the latter 
 to win for himself a name in connection 
 with the Dark Continent of Africa only 
 second to that of Livingstone, his illustrious 
 son-in-law. The words in which the a^ed 
 minister who addressed them gave his part- 
 ing exhortation to John Williams rang, not 
 only then, but through all his af,ter life, like 
 
 282 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 a trumpet in his ears : ' Go, my dear young 
 brother, and if your tongue cleave to the 
 roof of your mouth let it be with telling 
 sinners of the love of Jesus Christ ; and if 
 your arms drop from your shoulders let it 
 be with knocking at men's hearts to gain 
 admittance for him there.' " 
 
 With his young and devoted wife, who 
 proved herself a noble helpmeet in many a 
 time of trial, John Williams set forth for 
 the scene of his future triumphs and mar- 
 tyrdom. Men could not then go "round 
 the world in eighty days," and a whole year 
 elapsed before the cocoa groves of Eimeo, 
 one of the Society Islands, greeted the eyes 
 of the young missionary, weary with con- 
 templating the wide waste of the melan- 
 choly main. Here he remained for some 
 time acquiring the native language. His 
 extraordinary mechanical skill commanded 
 the admiration of the islanders, and, gain- 
 ing their confidence, he soon acquired great 
 facility in adopting their modes of thought 
 and expression. 
 
 It is remarkable by what mean's God often 
 breaks down barriers and prepares the way 
 for the entrance of the Gospel. Pomare, 
 the Christian King of Tahiti, and an English 
 
 283 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 missionary had been driven by a storm 
 upon the island of Raiatea, the center of 
 political power of the Society group and the 
 seat of the worship of Oro — "at once the 
 Mars and Moloch of the Southern Seas." 
 The evidences of the superiority of Chris- 
 tian civilization induced the chief of Raiatea 
 to petition for missionaries to instruct his 
 people. To this appeal John Williams joy- 
 fully responded. 
 
 " There was a grand welcome," says the 
 record of this Mission, "at Raiatea for. 
 ' Viriarau,' which was the nearest form of 
 pronunciation that the natives could find in 
 their speech for the name of Williams. A 
 present of five pigs forViriamu, five for his 
 wife-, and five, for their bab}' boy, with 
 abundance of yams and cocoanuts and 
 bananas, pi'oved that the people were willing 
 to accept their new teachers. They were 
 ready, moreover, to hear Mr. Williams 
 preach, to observe the Lord's Day, to re- 
 nounce their idols ; but their moral condi- 
 tion was unutterably debased, their idleness 
 inveterate, their habits of theft, polygamy, 
 and infanticide were abominable, and their 
 darker and fiercer passions were something 
 awful when roused to war and vengeance." 
 
 284 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 Here again the mechanical ingenuity of 
 the missionary proved a valuable aid to his 
 spiritual labors. As he well remarks in one 
 of his journals : ' ' The missionary does not 
 go to bai-barize himself, but to elevate the 
 heathen ; not to sink himself to their 
 standard, but to raise them to his." Ac- 
 cordingly he built himself a house, with 
 window sashes and Venetian blinds, and 
 filled it with neat and commodious furni- 
 ture, almost every article of which was 
 made by his own ingenious hands. He 
 taught, the natives how to make lime from 
 coral and to build decent houses for them- 
 selves. When they beheld the firm, smooth 
 surface of the snow-white plaster their de- 
 light and astonishment knew no bounds. 
 Their zealous instructor also set them the 
 example of gardening and agriculture and 
 boat building, and rewarded all attempts at 
 industry by presents of nails, hinges, and 
 tools. 
 
 Soon a place of worship was erected in 
 their island capable of containing some 
 three thousand people. Williams took care 
 to make it, as far as possible, worthy of the 
 purpose for which it was designed. It was 
 truly a noble Polynesian cathedral, though 
 
 19 285 
 
The Picket Line_of Missions 
 
 its sides were made of wattles and its pillars 
 of the trunks of trees. He expended special 
 care upon the carving of the pulpit and the 
 reading desk, and fabricated such wondrous 
 chandeliers for evening service that the 
 natives were lost in astonishment. 
 
 These were, however, but means toward 
 an end, the salvation of souls. Christianity 
 began to make. its way. The idol houses, 
 which were often the scenes of cruel and can- 
 nibal orgies, were pulled down, the gods 
 were committed to the flames, infanticide was 
 abolished, cannibalism was at an end, divine 
 service was held three times every Sunday, 
 family prayer was universal, and the people, 
 who lately seemed as if possessed by devils, 
 were "sitting clothed in their right mind." 
 " With respect to civilization," says Mr. 
 AVilliams, "the natives are doing all that 
 we can reasonably expect, and every person 
 is now daily and busily employed from 
 morning till night. At present there is a 
 range of three miles along the sea beach 
 studded with little plastered and white- 
 washed cottages, with their own schooner 
 lying at anchor near them. All this forms 
 such a contrast to the view we had here 
 three j-ears ago, when, excepting three 
 
 286 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 hovels, all was wilderness, that we cannot 
 but be thankful, and, when we consider all 
 things, exceedingly thankful, for what God 
 has wrought." 
 
 "Williams, " remarks his biographer, " was 
 a statesman as well as a mechanic. He suc- 
 ceeded in getting a new and admirable code 
 of laws established by the votes of the peo- 
 ple in a great assembly. Trial by jury was 
 a distinctive feature of this code, and such 
 an efficient executive was provided from 
 among the natives themselves that the whole 
 system worked admirably. He lai'd the 
 foundations, moreover, for a remunerative 
 commerce by teaching them how to culti- 
 vate cotton and tobacco, as well as by in- 
 structing them in ropemaking and other 
 useful arts. He taught them how to pre- 
 pare the sugar cane for the market, and not 
 only constructed a mill for the purpose, but 
 made with his own hands the lathe in which 
 the rollers for it were turned." 
 
 The zealous missionary was not satisfied 
 with even these results. He organized a 
 missionary society to carry the Gospel to 
 the surrounding islands, and these recent 
 pagans, at the end of the fir^t year, had 
 given some fifteen thousand bamboos of 
 
 287 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 cocoanut oil, tlie value of which was at 
 least two thousand five hundred dollars, as 
 a recognition of their own obligations to 
 the Gospel and of their earnest desire to 
 make it known to others. 
 
 The missionary had heard among the 
 natives strange songs and traditions of an 
 island which they called Raratonga, which 
 he was anxious to discover and evangelize. 
 " I cannot," he said, "content myself with 
 the narrow limits of a single reef; and if 
 means are not provided a continent would 
 be to me infinitely preferable ; for there, 
 if you cannot ride, you can walk ; but to 
 these isolated islands a ship must carry 
 you." 
 
 After appealing in vain to the Christians 
 of England for a missionary vessel he him- 
 self chartered the schooner Endeavour , and 
 with some native Christians set out on his 
 voyage of discovery. " The story," says 
 Bishop Walsh, "reads like a romance, and 
 reminds one of Columbus and his^ search 
 for the New World. Baffled day after day 
 in his efforts to discover the traditionary 
 island, he still persevered. The provisions 
 were all but exhausted ; the captain came 
 to the missionary early on the last morning 
 
 288 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 and said, 'We must give up the search, or 
 we shall all be starved.' Williams begged 
 him to steer on until eight o'clock, and 
 promised that if the island were not then 
 in, sight he would return home. It was an 
 anxious hour. Four times had a native 
 been sent to the top of the mast, and he 
 was now ascending for the fifth. Only half 
 an hour of the time agreed upon remained 
 unexpired, when suddenly the cloud-mist 
 rolled away, the majestic hills of Rara- 
 tonga, the chief of the Hervey group, stood 
 full in view, and the excited sailor shouted, 
 ' Here, here is the land we have been seek- 
 mg! 
 
 Similar results followed as . at Raiatea, 
 and within twelve months of its discovery 
 the whole population, numbering some 
 seven thousand, had renounced idolatry 
 and were engaged in erecting a place of 
 worship, six hundred feet in length, to ac- 
 commodate the overwhelming congrega- 
 tions. " But not even triumphs like these," 
 says his biographer, "could satisfy the 
 grand aspirations of this devoted man. He 
 looked out upon the Polynesian world of 
 islands which still remained unevangelized 
 around him and beyond him, and he re- 
 
 289 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 solved to build a ship of his own, in which 
 he might roam through the vast archipelago 
 of the Eastern world." 
 
 His account of the building of that ship 
 reads like another romance, and has been 
 compared to a chapter in Defoe. AVith 
 none to help him but the natives whom he 
 had raised from savagedom ; with only a 
 few rude tools, and with no experience save 
 that which he had acquired as an ironmon- 
 ger's apprentice, he planned and carried to 
 completion his ambitious project. The na- 
 tives looked on in wonder as the teacher 
 built his ship. One day, when he had for- 
 gotten his square, he wrote for it to his wife 
 upon a chip, and told a chief to carry it to 
 Mrs. Williams. "What shall I say? " in- 
 quired the puzzled Raratongan. " Noth- 
 ing," replied the missionary; "the chip 
 will tell her." When, on reading the mes- 
 sage, she gave him the square the aston- 
 ished chieftain ran through the settlement 
 exclaiming, " O, the wisdom of these 
 English! They make chips talk!" And 
 he tied a string to the mysterious messenger 
 and hung it as an amulet around his neck ! 
 
 The story of Williams making his first 
 bellows is well known. There were only 
 
 290 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 four goats on the island, and three of them 
 were killed to furnish the leather for it. 
 But during the night the rats of Raratonga, 
 which were like one of the plagues of 
 Egypt, congregated in vast numbers and 
 left nothing of the bellows but the boards. 
 Williams then ingeniously constructed a 
 blowing machine on the principle of the 
 common pump, which defied the rats and 
 accomplished his purpose. Then the builder 
 was soon on board his Messenger of Peace, 
 'which the natives called ' ' The Ship of God," 
 and was carrying the glad tidings of salva- 
 tion to the surrounding shores. 
 
 From island to island he sailed, preaching 
 everywhere the Gospel of the grace of God, 
 till, of sixty thousand natives of the Samoan 
 group, fifty thousand were under religious 
 instruction. The grateful people testified 
 their love for the missionary in songs and 
 ballads, of which the following are exam- 
 ples: 
 
 " Let us talk of Viriamu. 
 Let cocoanuts grow for him in peace for months. ^ 
 
 When strong the east winds blow, our hearts forget 
 
 him not. 
 Let us greatly love the Christian land of the great white 
 
 chief. 
 All victors are we now, for we all have one God." 
 291 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 ," The birds are crying for Viriamu, 
 His ship has sailed another way. 
 The birds are crying for Viriamu, 
 Long time is he in coming. 
 Will he ever come again .' 
 Will he ever come again.? " 
 
 This is the testimony of the heroic inis- 
 sionary as to the divine power of the Gospel : 
 " Christianity has triumphed, not by human 
 authority; but by its own ' moral power, by 
 the light which it spread abroad, and b\- 
 the benevolent spirit which it disseminated; 
 for kindness is the key to the human heart, 
 whether it be that of savage or civilized 
 man. Having witnessed the introduction 
 of Christianity into a greater number of 
 islands than any other missionary, I can 
 safely affirm that- in no single instance has 
 the civil power been employed in its propa- 
 gation." 
 
 After eighteen years of hallowed labor 
 this heroic man was able to say, " There is 
 not an island of importance within two 
 thousand miles of Tahiti to which the glad 
 tidings of salvation has not been conveyed." 
 But the results accomplished he regarded as 
 only stepping-stones to still greater results 
 in the future. He therefore re^solved to 
 visit England to tell of the three hundred 
 
 292 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 thousand savages already brought under re- 
 ligious instruction, .to get his Raratongan 
 version of the Scriptures through the press, 
 and to arouse the hearts of his countrymen 
 to the blessed work of giving the Gospel to 
 ■ the heathen. 
 
 "It is not too much," writes Bishop 
 AValsh, ' ' to say that his visit did more to fan 
 the flame of missionary interest in England 
 than any event which had occurred for a 
 century. When, at the end of four years, - 
 he sailed down the Thames in the Ca^nden 
 (a vessel of two hundred tons burden which 
 had been expressly purchased for his use at 
 a cost of .^2,600) be was accompanied on 
 his voyage by sixteen other missionaries 
 and their wives, and' was followed by such , 
 a gale of prayer and interest from the tens 
 of thousands who had been thrilled by his 
 narratives as plainly testified how much his 
 visit had been blessed to hearts at home." 
 
 He had set his heart on the conquest for 
 Christ of the New Hebrides, a group whose 
 inhabitants were known to be violent and 
 suspicious. After visiting all his old sta- 
 tions he resolved on planting a mission at 
 Erromanga,- the key of the Hebrides group. 
 He seemed to have a foreboding of his com- 
 
 293 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 ing fate, and as the text for his last address 
 to his beloved Samoans he chose the words 
 of the apostle at Miletus : ' ' They all wept 
 sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed 
 him, sorrowing most of all for the words 
 which he spake,- that they should see his 
 face no more." 
 
 Having reached the island, Mr. Williams, 
 with a small party, went ashore. The na- 
 tives were shy and sullen, but the mission- 
 ary frankly offered his hand and presented 
 some cloth. They accepted his gifts, but - 
 while he was speaking to some children the 
 cry of " danger " from the boats caused the 
 party to run. Two of them escaped, but 
 the heroic Williams and Mr. Harris, another 
 missionary, were pierced with arrows and 
 captured by the natives. 
 
 " There can be little doubt," continues 
 the narrative of this tragic event, ' ' that 
 the horrid orgies of cannibalism followed 
 closely upon the murder, for when the Brit- 
 ish ship Favorite visited the island to re- 
 cover the bodies a few bones were surren- 
 dered as the only remains of the man who 
 had done so much good in his day and gen- 
 eration. These were carried to Upolu and 
 laid beside his desolate home and widowed 
 
 294 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 church. The noblest monument that could 
 be raised to his memory was the resolution 
 of his Samoan converts to carry on that 
 work in pursuit of which their beloved 
 teacher fell, and to plant the standard of 
 the cross upon the soil of Erromanga." 
 
 A few years later the saintly Selwyn, 
 Bishop of New Zealand, on his first visit to 
 the New Hebrides, touched at Erromanga 
 with a native teacher. They knelt together 
 on its blood-stained shore and asked God to 
 open a way for his Gospel to the degraded 
 inhabitants. At length, in 1852, two na- 
 tive Christians from the Hervey Islands 
 were landed, and one of those chiefs who 
 were most forward in giving them a wel- 
 come was the very man who had murdered 
 Williams. It turned out upon inquiry that 
 some foreigners had killed his own son and 
 that he had avenged himself upon the first 
 white man that came within his reach ; but 
 the very club that struck the fatal blow was 
 surrendered to the missionaries, and the 
 prayer which had been offered up on that 
 ensanguined beach was at length fully an- 
 swered. 
 
 " Erromanga, however, was to have other 
 associations with the noble army of martyrs 
 
 205 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 before that blessed constimmation could be 
 attained. In 1861 Mr. and Mrs. Gordon, a 
 devoted missionary pair, were savagely 
 massacred by some of the heathen. -A 
 touching link between their death and two 
 other martyrs is this, that they were buried 
 close to the spot where Williams fell and 
 that the funeral service of the Church of 
 England was read over their graves by 
 Bishop Patterson, himself destined to be 
 the ' Martyr of Melanesia.' " 
 
 It is the deliberate opinion of Bishop 
 Walsh, the biographer of this devoted mis- 
 sionary, that "since the days of the apos- 
 tles no one man was the means of winning 
 so many thousands to the true faith of Christ 
 by the preaching of the Gospel as John 
 Williams." And yet lie sealed his testi- 
 mony with his blood at the early age of 
 forty-three. His life was short if measured 
 by years, but if measured by results — ^by 
 noble achievements for God and for man — 
 it was long and grand and glorious ! His 
 undying fame is recorded in his brief but 
 glorious epitaph: "When he came there 
 were no Christians, when he left there were 
 no heathen." 
 
 296 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 JOHN HUNT, THE APOSTLE OF FIJI. 
 
 We turn now to the remarkable story 
 of the conversion of Fiji. This name is 
 given to a group of islands, some two 
 hundred and twenty-five in number, scat- 
 tered over an area of two hundred and 
 fifty by three hundred and seventy miles, of 
 which about one hundred and forty are in- 
 habited. The population in 1893 was 125,- 
 442. The largest of these islands, Vitu 
 Levu, is about the same size as Jamaica. 
 The story of this fair and fertile group, 
 long the habitation of cruelty, is one of in- 
 tense interest. That-a Lincolnshire plow- 
 boy, who grew up to manhood with no ed- 
 ucational advantages, should, before his 
 thirty-sixth year, be the chief instrument 
 in the conversion to Christianity and civili- 
 zation of one of the most barbarous races of 
 cannibals on the face of the earth is one of 
 the most remarkable events in the annals of 
 Christian missions. 
 
 The father of John Hunt had been a sol- 
 dier, but deserted and entered the navy. 
 He was with Nelson at the battle of the 
 Nile, and, from hearing his fireside stories, 
 his son resolved to be himself a hero . Young 
 
 297 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 Hunt was put, at ten years of age; to the 
 hard work of plowboy. At sixteen he fell 
 ill of brain fever, and was brought to the 
 verge of the grave. His soul was filled with 
 dread, and on his recovery he began to at- 
 tend a Methodist chapel. As he followed 
 the plow thoughts of eternity agitated his 
 mind and so engrossed his thoughts that, 
 once being ordered to take a load of corn to 
 market, he set off with an empty wagon. 
 He became soundly converted, and, being 
 full of zeal, he was soon asked to address a 
 village congregation. His first attempt was 
 a failure. His thoughts took flight. He sat 
 downoverwhelmed'with-confusion, and went 
 home sad and discouraged. Conscious of 
 his want of culture, he caught at every 
 chance of training his mind by attending 
 night school and learning to read and write. 
 In spite of his uncouth appearance and 
 rustic brogue he became a favorite with the 
 rural congregations which he addressed. He 
 was still a hard-working farm servant. After 
 walking many miles on Sunday, often not 
 reaching home till midnight, he was in the 
 stables grooming his horses at four o'clock 
 next morning. Being asked if he would like 
 to become a preacher, he confessed that lie 
 
 298 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 would like to go as a servant with ajnission-'' 
 ary to South Africa and teach in a Sunday 
 school, so modest was his ambition. The 
 mission secretaries rather laughed at the 
 idea; but he was recommended for the min- 
 istry, and at length was sent to the Hoxton 
 Training School. He devoted himself with 
 energy to English, Latin, Greek, and theol- 
 ogy — hitherto his only books had been a 
 Bible and Pilgrim's Progress — and during 
 vacation this raw plowboy was sent to 
 preach, of all places in the world, in the col- 
 legiate city of Oxford. 
 
 About two years before this two Wes- 
 leyan missionaries had gone as pioneers 
 from Australia to Fiji. Their account of the 
 cannibal orgies of the islands was a revela- 
 tion of horror to England. The Wesleyan 
 Mission House issued an appeal, " Pity Poor 
 Fiji," which stirred -the societies through- 
 out the kingdom. Young Hunt and James 
 Calvert, a Yorkshire lad who had recently 
 completed his apprenticeship as printer and 
 bookbinder, were chosen to reinforce that 
 little band among cannibals. A fellow-stu- 
 dent condoled with Hunt on the perils 
 which he must encounter. " That's not it," 
 exclaimed the brave-souled man. " There 
 
 299 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 is a poor girl in Lincolnshire who will never 
 go with me to Fiji; her mother will never 
 consent ! " He wrote at once a manly letter 
 to his betrothed, releasing her from her en- 
 gagement. In a few days he burst into his 
 friend's room, saying, " It's all right! She'll 
 go with me anywhere." In a few weeks 
 they were married and on their way to the 
 scene of their future trials and triumphs at 
 the antipodes. At Sydney they met John 
 ■ AVilliams, the destined martyr of Erro- 
 manga, and they sailed the same day to their 
 different fields of toil. 
 
 On reaching Fiji, December 22, 1838, the 
 young missionary and his wife were ap- 
 pointed to Rewa, a solitary station remoLe 
 from Christian aid or sympathy. Tliey went 
 undismayed to their arduous post. " They 
 soon found," said Bishop Walsh, ' ' that so far 
 as the cruelties of the people were concerned 
 the half had not been told them. The Fiji- 
 ans were, perhaps, the most deeply degraded 
 race of human beings that liad ever been met 
 with in any of the South Sea Islands. They 
 were superstitious, cruel, and revengeful in , 
 the extreme, and addicted to war and blood- 
 shed, in connection with which they often 
 committed deeds of savage barbarity a de- 
 
 300 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 sjcription of which would not be fit for the 
 ears of civilized Christian people." 
 
 In personal appearance the Fijians are 
 stout and robust. They care little about 
 clothing, except on state occasions, when 
 they paint their bodies and pay special at- 
 tention to the dressing of the hair, which is 
 arrayed in the most extraordinary and fan- 
 tastic manner. We continue to quote as 
 follows from Bishop AValsh's graphic sketch : 
 
 " Infanticide and cannibalism flourished 
 in even darker forms than in other savage 
 lands. Two thirds of all the children were 
 killed in infancy, and every village had an 
 executioner appointed to carry out this deed 
 of blood. Those who survived were eai^ly 
 trained to the darkest deeds. Dead bodies 
 were handed over to young children to hack 
 and hew ; living captives were given up to 
 them to mutilate and torture. No marvel 
 if we read that sick and aged parents were 
 put out of the way by the clubs of their own 
 offspring, and that hoary hairs and failing 
 strength excited neither reverence nor com- 
 passion. As to cannibalism, it had become 
 an epicurean art. It was no uncommon 
 thing for a man to -select his best wife or 
 his most tender child for the dreadful fes- 
 
 20 301 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 tival, and even to invite his friends to the 
 awful banquet. 
 
 " Ra Undreundu kept a register by- 
 means of stones of the bodies which he had 
 eaten, and they numbered nine hundred! 
 The horrid practice mingled itself with all 
 the acts of life and worship. The building 
 of a canoe, the burial of the dead, the pay- 
 ment of tax, and even the taking down of 
 a mast, were each accompanied with this 
 revolting ceremonial. A chief has been 
 known to kill eight or ten men in order to 
 make rollers for the launching of his canoe, 
 and the ovens were previously ablaze to 
 cook them -for his banquet. We must draw 
 the veil over still darker scenes which will 
 not endure recital in Christian ears." 
 
 Amid all this savagery Mr. Hunt writes : 
 " I feel m5'self saved from almost all fear, 
 though surrounded with men who have 
 scarcely any regard for human life. We 
 are in the hands of a God whom even the 
 heathen fear when they hear of him. The 
 people at Lakemba saly that their god has 
 actually left the island because our God has 
 beaten him till his bones are sore ! " Be- 
 fore long converts were made to the reli- 
 gion of the cross, and with conversion came 
 
 31 2 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 persecution of the Christian neophytes, 
 who were pillaged of their property by the 
 heathen. Yet the sufferers bore with noble 
 cheerfulness " the spoiling of their goods." 
 
 After seven months Mr. Hunt, his col- 
 league, Mr. Lyte, and their two wives, re- 
 moved to the island of Samosamo, where 
 only one white man had ever gone, and he 
 a short time before had been barbarously 
 murdered. Their reception was disheart- 
 ening, and the scenes which they were com- 
 pelled to witness were appalling in the ex- 
 treme. 
 
 Within a week news came that the king's 
 youngest son was lost at sea. Forthwith an 
 order was issued that sixteen women, some 
 of them of high rank, should be strangled, 
 and, despite Hunt's entreaties, they were 
 put to death and then burned in front of 
 the mission houseamid the blast of conchs 
 and the yells of incarnate demons. Some 
 months later eleven men were dragged with 
 ropes to ovens and roasted for a banquet, 
 and when the missionary's wife closed the 
 window blinds against the sight of the hor- 
 rid festival the unfuriated natives threat- 
 ened to burn down the house -unless they 
 were reopened. War canoes were launched 
 
 303 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 on living human bodies as rollers. It was 
 considered the honorable thing for a wife, 
 to be strangled when her husband died. 
 Sometimes a dozen or more wives of a chief 
 were thus put to death and buried with 
 their husband. 
 
 In 1840 Commodore Wilkes, of the 
 United States Navy, visited the island, and 
 so deplorable was the condition of the mis- 
 sionaries that he offered to convey them 
 away, but they refused to go, although even 
 the chiefs commanded them to depart. 
 
 Dt;ring this time the cannibal feasts were 
 more frequent, and barbarous ceremonies 
 were constantly taking place in the town. 
 The ovens were so near the mission house 
 that the smell from them was sickening, 
 and the young king furiously threatened to 
 kill the missionaries and their wives if they 
 shut up their house to exclude the horrible 
 stench. Among all the perils and annoy- 
 ances Mr. Hunt steadily and earnestly went 
 about his work, always — to use his favorite 
 expression — " turning his care into prayer." 
 
 After three years of apparently unre- 
 quited toil at Samosamo Mr. Hunt removed 
 to Viwa, where the last six years of his life 
 were spent. Though broken in health he 
 
 804 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 devoted himself with increased zeal to toil 
 and study, teaching, preaching, translating. 
 To him belongs the honor of giving the 
 New Testament to the Fijians in their na- 
 tive tongue, and it was soon printed on an 
 imported press. He kept up, also, his per- 
 sonal studies, reading Greek, Hebrew, 
 Blackstone's Commentaries, and English lit- 
 erature, and writing a work on sanctification, 
 which he illustrated in his own religious 
 experience. 
 
 Such devotion, however, could not fail of 
 its glorious reward. A great religious 
 awakening took place. Among the coii- 
 verts was, the Queen of Viwa. , "Her 
 heart," says Mr. Hunt, "seemed literally 
 to be broken, and, though a very strong 
 woman, she fainted twice under the weight 
 of a wounded spirit. She revived only to 
 renew her strong cries and tears, so that it 
 was all we could do to proceed with the 
 service. The effect soon became more gen- 
 eral. Several of the women and some of 
 the men literally roared for the disquietude 
 of their hearts. As many as could chanted 
 the Te Deiim. It was very affecting to see 
 upward of a hundred Fijians, many of 
 whom were a few years ago some of the 
 
 305 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 worst cannibals in the group, and even in 
 the world, chanting, ' We praise thee, O 
 God ; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord,' 
 while their voices were almost drowned by 
 the cries of broken-hearted penitents." 
 
 Soon a bitter storm of persecution burst 
 on the Christians of Viwa. The neigh- 
 boring heathen made relentless war upon 
 them. " O, if you missionaries would go 
 away!" they said. "It is your presence 
 that prevents us killing them. If you 
 would go away before long all these Viwa 
 people would be in the ovens!" "It is 
 very easy," said the Christians, " for us to 
 come to Mbau and be cooked ; but it is very 
 difficult to renounce Christianity." 
 
 Mr. Hunt's continuous toil at length told 
 seriously upon his health. The man of iron- 
 strength, who had come up to London from 
 the fields of Lincolnshire only twelve years 
 before, was evidently dying. Of him, too, 
 might it be truly said, " The zeal of thine 
 house hath eaten me up." The converts 
 from heathenism, with sad faces, flocked to 
 the chapel and prayed earnestly for the 
 missionary. " O Lord," Elijah Verani cried 
 aloud, " we know we are very bad, but 
 spare thy servant. If one must die, take 
 
 306 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 me ! take ten of us ! but spare thy servant 
 to preacli Christ to the people ! " 
 
 As he neared his end the missionary 
 confidently committed his wife and babes 
 to God, but was sorely distressed for Fiji. 
 Sobbing as though in acute distress, he 
 cried out, "Lord, bless Fiji! save Fiji! 
 Thou knowest my soul has loved Fiji ; my 
 heart has travailed for Fiji !" Then, grasp- 
 ing his friend Calvert by the hand, he ex- 
 claimed again: "O, let me pray once more 
 for Fiji ! Lord, for Christ's sake, bless 
 Fiji! save Fiji!" Turning to his mourn- 
 ing wife, he said, " If this be dying, praise 
 the Lord!" Presently, as his eyes looked 
 up with a bright joy that defied death, he 
 exclaimed, "I want strength to praise Him 
 abundantly !" and with the note of triumph, 
 "Hallelujah," on his lips, he joined the 
 worship of the skies. 
 
 The next day his coffin was borne by na- 
 tive students to the grave. It had on it no 
 emblazonry, and no record but this : 
 
 REV. JOHN HUNT, 
 
 SLEPT IN JESUS, OCTOBER 4TH, 1848, 
 
 AGED 36 YEARS. 
 
 The good work so auspiciously begun by 
 Hunt and his associates has been carried 
 
 307 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 on with glorious results. The mission band 
 has been reinforced, till, in 1892, there were 
 employed, besides about a score of European 
 missionaries, 70 native preachers, 1,126 
 catechists, 2,081 local preachers, 3,405 class 
 leaders, with 106,000 attendants on public 
 worship, out of a population of 120,000. 
 The people have erected for themselves 
 979 chapels, which are out of debt, and 334 
 other preaching- places. Every Sunday 
 there are 1,200 pulpits filled by native Fiji 
 preachers, and during the week 1,951 day 
 schools are conducted for the instruction of 
 over 38,307 scholars, each village support- 
 ing its own schools. 
 
 In 1874 the islands became, by petition 
 of their inhabitants, a crown colony of Great 
 Britain, and the following year Sir Arthur 
 Gordon was appointed first governor. The 
 British governor receives a salary of $10^000 
 a year, paid by the colony. One hundred 
 and , sixty native chiefs are employed in 
 administrative capacities, besides 33 native 
 stipendiar}'- magistrates, associated with 13 
 European magistrates, in the administra- 
 tion of justice. 
 
 Fiji abounds in magnifiGent harbors. In 
 natural beauty it is a perfect ' ' land of the 
 
 308 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 lotus-eaters," with volcanic peaks and love- 
 ly vales covered with richest vegetation. 
 Among its products are cotton, coffee, tea, 
 sugar, sago, cocoa, rice, India rubber, and 
 spices. The revenue of the country in- 
 creased in four years from ;^i6,433 in 1875 
 to i:8o,678 in 1880.* 
 
 In 1885 the jubilee of Christianity was 
 celebrated in Fiji. Mr. Calvert, then 
 
 * The foreign trade of these, till recently, cannibal people iri 
 1891 amounted to £727,383, the exports being £474,334 and 
 the imports £253,049. There are in the colony eleven .sugar 
 mills, which in 1892 — the latest figures we have — exported 
 18,883 tons, valued at over £300,000. Among the imports 
 of 1892, amounting to £253,586, were drapery, £48,022 — when 
 the missionaries went there first their drapery bill was a very 
 small one; meat, £11,844; breadstuff's, £28,449; fertilizers, 
 £10,600; coal, £18,449; i''°" ware, £i8,88g; machinery, 
 £8,251. Other exports are tea ; bananas', £62,442 ; peanuts, 
 £7,074 ; copra, or dried kernel of cocoanut, 5,937 tons, 
 valued at £49,723. 
 
 During the year 1892 63 steamers and 28 sailing vessels ar- 
 rived at the colony, besides 331 local vessels, 241 of which 
 are owned by natives. 
 
 In 1892 there passed through the post office in local 
 correspondence 216,588 letters, 131,467 papers, and 150,071 
 book packets; and in foreign correspondence 110,251 letters, 
 94,074 papers, and 8,967 book packets. 
 
 This moral elevation, these churches and schools, these 
 many thousands of changed lives and happy deaths are the 
 direct result of Christian missions, and this wonderful 
 development of commerce and civilization, perhaps, is a, 
 scarcely less direct consequence. 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 seventy-two years of age, left England to 
 attend it. Referring to this visit he said : 
 "In 1835, when the Mission commenced, 
 there was not a single Christian in Fiji. In 
 1885 there was not an avowed heathen in 
 all the inhabited islands. Out of a popula- 
 tion of 110,000, 104,585 were attendants on 
 public worship. Now m^arriage is sacred, 
 family worship regularly conducted, schools 
 are everywhere established, law and good 
 government firmly laid, and spiritual 
 churches formed and prosperous. The 
 language has been reduced to written form 
 and made one, doing away with the plague 
 of many dialects. Eight thousand copies 
 of the Bible in two editions and fifty thou- 
 sand of the New Testament have been pur- 
 chased. Catechisms, with Scripture proofs, 
 Bunyan's Pilgrhn s Progress, and three edi- 
 tions of John Hunt'^s invaluable Christian 
 Theology have been widely circulated. We 
 had no night of toil. God was with us from 
 the beginning, and ever confirmed his word 
 with signs following. These converts were 
 whole-hearted,- and very true and faithful. 
 Their thorough change of heart, wrought 
 by the Holy Spirit, was manifest to all. 
 They became living epistles, read and 
 
 310 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 known and, felt by all who knew them. 
 This personal Christian experience told 
 amazingly among the dark and simple- 
 minded Fijians, and it tells everywhere. 
 The Fijian Church is also continually send- 
 ing native missionaries to other distant 
 lands to preach Christ in other tongues. 
 This many of them do successfully." 
 
 Levuka, the capital of Fiji, has three 
 handsome European churches, a govern- 
 ment house, supreme court, Masonic, Good 
 Templars', and Odd Fellows' halls, Me- 
 chanics' Institute, club room, bank, two tri- 
 weekly papers, stores, hotels, and — another 
 sign of civilization — a single cab. 
 
 Many are the testimonies given as to the 
 success of the Wesleyan missions by persons 
 in no wise prejudiced in their favor. One 
 of the most striking of thesq is the follow- 
 ing, by the chaplain of the British man-of- 
 war Brisk, as to the success of Fiji missions : 
 
 "Never was I so much impressed," he 
 says, " with the power of divine truth as 
 when I stood in the midst of a native con- 
 gregation at Bau of over seven hundred ; 
 the king, seated in a dignified manner in 
 an armchair, with his large Bible before 
 him; the queen, the finest specimen of ' the 
 
 311 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 human face divine ' that I ever saw, in a 
 conspicuous place among tlie women ; and 
 heard the Gospel preached by a native min- 
 ister, and the accents of their praise ascend- 
 ing on high like the voice of many waters. 
 The church is a large native building, 
 capable of holding one thousand persons, 
 and displays great ingenuity in its style of 
 architecture. It is situated within a few 
 yards of the ruins of an old heathen tem- 
 ple, where human sacrifices were wont to 
 be offered to the gods previous to their 
 being coQked and eaten. The ovens which 
 were used for this revolting purpose of 
 cooking the victims are still to be seen, 
 filled with earth, and quite close to the 
 church." 
 
 But the fullest testimony is that of Miss 
 C. F. Gordon Gumming, a lady of celebrity 
 as a trayeler and author, who, by invita- 
 tion, accompanied Sir Arthur and Lady 
 Gordon as a member of their family. Miss 
 Gumming spent two years in Fiji, during 
 which time she explored most of the inhab- 
 ited islands, mingled freely with tbe people 
 in their homes and at social and public 
 gatherings, and was a careful observer of 
 their customs, manners, and morals. She 
 
 312 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 vividly describes the wonderful transition 
 which has ensued from the most savage 
 barbarism to Christian civilization by the 
 introduction of the Gospel. 
 
 "Strange, indeed," she writes, "is the 
 change that has come over these isles, since 
 first the Wesleyan missionaries landed here 
 in 183s, resolved, at the hazard of their 
 lives, to bring the light of Christianity to 
 these ferocious cannibals. Imagine the 
 faith and courage of the two white men, 
 without any visible protection, landing in 
 the midst of these bloodthirsty hordes, 
 whose unknown language they had in the 
 first instance to master, and day after day 
 witnessing such scenes as chills one's blood 
 to hear about. Many such ha,ve been de- 
 scribed to me by eyewitnesses. Slow and 
 disheartening was their labor for many 
 years ; yet so well has that little leaven 
 worked that, with the exception of Kai 
 Tholos, the wild Highlanders who still hold 
 out in the mountain fastnesses, the inhab- 
 ited isles have all abjured cannibalism and 
 other frighiful customs, and have lotutcd 
 (that is, embraced Christianity) in such good 
 earnest as may well put to shame many 
 more civilized nations. 
 
 313 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 " I often wisli that some of the cavilers 
 who are forever sneering- at Christian mis- 
 sions could see some of their results in these 
 isles. But first they would have ^ to recall 
 the Fiji of ten years ago, when every man's 
 hand was against his neighlaor and the 
 land had no rest from intertribal wars, in 
 which the foe, without respect of age or 
 sex, were looked upon only in the light of 
 so much beef — the prisoners deliberately fat- 
 tened for the slaughter ; limbs cut off from 
 living men and women and cooked and 
 eaten in the presence of the victim, who had 
 previously been compelled to dig the oven 
 and cut the firewood for the purpose ; and 
 tills, not in time of war, when such atrocity 
 might be deemed less inexcusable, but in 
 time of peace, to gratify the caprice or ap- 
 petite of the moment. 
 
 ' ' Think of the sick buried alive ; the ar- 
 ray of wido,ws who were deliberately stran- 
 gled on the death of any great man ; the 
 living victims who were buried beside every 
 post of a chief's house, and must needs 
 stand clasping it while the earth was gradu- 
 ally heaped over their devoted heads; a 
 time when there was not the slightest se- 
 curity for life or property, and no man knew 
 
 8U 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 how quickly his own hour of doom might 
 come; when whole villages were depopu- 
 lated simply to supply their neighbors with 
 fresh meat ! 
 
 ' ' Just think of all this and of the change 
 that has been wrought, and then just imag- 
 ine white men who can sneer at missionary 
 work in the way they do. Now you can 
 pass from isle to isle, certain everywhere to 
 find the same cordial reception by kindly 
 men and women. Every village on the 
 lightly inhabited isles has built for itself a 
 tidy church and a good house for its teacher 
 or native minister, for whom the village 
 also provides food and clothing. Cah you 
 realize that there are nine hundred Wesleyan 
 churches in Fiji, at every one of which the 
 frequent services are crowded by devout 
 congregations; that the schools are well 
 attended, and that the first sound that greets 
 your ear at dawn and the last at night is 
 that of hymn singing and most fervent wor- 
 ship rising from each dwelling at the hour 
 of family prayer?" 
 
 One great chief after another was con- 
 verted, but the most remarkable of all was 
 the conversion of King Thakombaw, the 
 powerful monarch of Fiji. Captain Erskine, 
 
 S15 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 of Her Majesty's steamship Havannali, who 
 visited Fiji in, 1849, thus describes Tha- 
 kombaw: " It was impossible not to admire 
 the appearance of the chief. Of large, al- 
 most gigantic size, his limbs were beauti- 
 fully formed and proportioned. His coun- 
 tenance, with far less of the Negro cast than 
 among the lower orders, was agreeable and 
 intelligent. In 1857 he was publicly bap- 
 tized. He had been requested to address 
 the assembly after his baptism. He did so. 
 What a congregation he had! Widows 
 whose husbands he had slain ; people whose 
 relatives had been strangled by his orders ; 
 those whose friends he had eaten ; and chil- 
 dren, the descendants of people he had 
 murdered, and who had vowed to avenge 
 the wrongs inflicted on their fathers. A 
 thousand stony hearts heaved with fear and 
 astonishment as Thakombaw said : 
 
 "'I have been a bad man. The mis- 
 sionaries came and invited me to embrace 
 Christianity, but I said, "I will continue to 
 fight." God has singularly preserved my 
 life. I desire to acknowledge him as the 
 only and the true God. I have scourged the 
 world.' 
 
 " He was deeply affected, and spoke with 
 
 316 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 great diffidence. He showed his sincerity 
 by dismissing his many wives and publicly 
 marrying the chief one, Andi Lydia Sa- 
 manunu. From this time he took no retro- 
 grade step. His thirst for'knowledge grew, 
 and the touching spectacle was often wit- 
 nessed of his efforts to learn to read, taught 
 by his own little children. Tlie Rev. J. 
 Nettleton, who was his chaplain for seven 
 years, said he never met with a more de- 
 voted, earnest, and consistent Christian. He 
 died in 1883, and the Fijian Times, a secu- 
 lar paper, said : ' His influence on the side 
 of Christianity and of good in general has 
 been greater than that of any chief or com- 
 bination of chiefs throughout the islands. 
 Since his conversion and baptism, he has led 
 a worthy life, and, eminent before for 
 tyranny, licentiousness, and disregard of 
 human life, he has since been free from re- 
 proach, chaste in conduct, and considerate 
 of the people ! ' " 
 
 The conversion of Fiji was preeminently 
 God's work — the work of the Holy Spirit. 
 The work at Ono was a remarkable in- 
 stance of this. Ono is the chief island of a 
 group situated one hundred and fifty miles 
 
 south of Lakemba, and the most southerly 
 21 317 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 extremity of Fiji. Without any prompting 
 except that which must have come from 
 God's good Spirit, these people began to 
 grope from their own deep heathen dark- 
 ness toward the light : 
 
 " An infant crying in the night, 
 An infant crying for the light, 
 And with no language but a cry." 
 
 In 1835, about the same time that the 
 Mission to Fiji was commenced, a desire 
 arose among these people for better gods 
 than they had. One of their chiefs had 
 heard from a Friendly Islander that there 
 was but one God, and that one day in seven 
 ought to be set apart for his worship. As 
 soon as this news reached them they deter- 
 mined to worship this unknown God. A 
 difficulty arose as to who should ^officiate for 
 them. In their dilemma they sent for the 
 heathen priest. Moved either by fear or 
 compassion or honor, he consented, and 
 asked this new God to keep and bless the 
 people, at the same time acknowledging 
 that he himself worshiped a different god 
 and that he was only acting as spokesman 
 for his neighbors. This kind of worship 
 continued, while the longing for more"knowl- 
 edge grew tipon them every day. 
 
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Polynesian Missions 
 
 It was a long time before their wishes for 
 a teacher could be made known. A storm 
 drove a bpat full of Tongans, returning 
 home, far out of their course. They landed 
 on an island fifty miles from Ono. One of 
 them was a Christian, and when he heard 
 of what was going on at Ono went there 
 and taught them what he knew. When a 
 regular Christian teacher reached them he 
 found one hundred and twenty persons who 
 had renounced heathenism. The work 
 spread on every hand. The missionaries 
 bore testimony that " of all the work in 
 Fiji that at Ono has been the most perma- 
 nent and successful. More native teachers 
 have been raised in proportion to the popu- 
 lation than in any of the other islands." 
 
 The genuine and sturdy character of the 
 religion of these Fijian converts has proved 
 itself on many signal occasions. Manfully 
 have many of them endured persecution, 
 exile, and death rather than compromise 
 their principles. Forty native Fijians have 
 gone as missionaries to New Guinea, a land 
 more degraded than even their own had 
 been, and through their labors two thou- 
 sand three hundred of the inhabitants be- 
 came Christians. The Fijians -make good 
 
 819 
 
The Picket Line of Missions 
 
 missionaries; difficulties do not dishearten 
 nor perils affright them. Where one falls 
 under the club of a savage — and many have 
 so fallen — others are ready to take up his 
 work and proclaim to his murderers both 
 the law and the Gospel. 
 
 In 1877 Mr. Brown, a Wesleyan mission- 
 ary, with nine native Fiji preachers (seven 
 of them married, and accompanied by their 
 wives), sailed in the Mission brig John- 
 Wesley to carry to the savages of New 
 Britain the Gospel of Christ. Before they 
 sailed the British consul remonstrated with 
 them on the peril of the attempt, but they 
 replied, "We know the danger; we are 
 willing to go. If we get killed, well ; if we 
 live, well." 
 
 News was soon received that four of them 
 were eaten, and that their wives and little 
 ones were threatened with a similar fate. 
 " These distressing tidings," says Miss 
 Gordon Gumming, " reached Fiji just as a 
 fresh detachment of teachers was about to 
 start for New Britain. Their determina- 
 tion was in no degree shaken. One of them 
 expressed the determination of them all 
 when he said, ' If the people kill and eat 
 my body I shall go to a place where there 
 
 320 
 
Polynesian Missions 
 
 is no more pain or death; it is all right.' 
 One of the wives was asked whether she 
 still intended to accompany her husband to 
 a scene of so great danger. She replied, 
 ' I am like the outrigger of a canoe — where 
 the canoe goes, there you will surely find 
 the outrigger! ' Brave helpmeets, these! " 
 Bishop Walsh, a prelate of the Anglican 
 Church, pays this generous tribute to the 
 lowly Lincolnshire plowman whose life and 
 work we have sketched : ' ' Fiji is not only 
 a gem in the British crown, but a precious 
 jewel in the missionary diadem ; and to 
 John Hunt, above all other men, belongs 
 the honor of having placed it there ! " 
 
 THE END, 
 321