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 ItUECLCGICAL SEMlNJlKY.i 
 
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 BV 2520 .M6x 
 
 Moore, Erasmus Darwin, 1802 
 
 1889. 
 Life scenes from mission 
 
LIFE SCENES 
 
 MISSION FIELDS 
 
 A BOOK OP 
 
 FACTS, IKCIDENTS, AiND RESULTS, 
 
 THE MOST 
 
 Pakrial m\ii ^§,mmlMt m glissioniup (t^mmt, 
 
 CONDENSED AND ARRANGED FOR POPULAR USE, 
 
 E. D. MOORE 
 
 "WT-ITIi -A.3Sr I 3Sr T R, O 3D XJ C T I O 3Sr 
 BT 
 
 REV. HUBBARD WtXSLOW. 
 
 ' I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory."— Isaiah 66 : 13. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY CHARLES SCRIBNER. 
 
 1 8 5 Y. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 
 
 E. D. MOOKE, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 StprootypC'i by 
 
 HOBART ft BOBBINS, 
 
 New England Type and Stereotype Foundcry, 
 
PREEACE. 
 
 The plan of the following work was suggested to the 
 author while preparing articles for the " Cyclopaedia of 
 Missions," some two years since. Striking and impres- 
 sive passages were every day met with, which were 
 inappropriate to that work, and which it seemed desir- 
 able should be brought out from the mass of -journals 
 and books in which they lay imbedded, reduced to form, 
 and "set" in a book for ready and convenient use. 
 
 The design especially has been to bring together 
 such materials from the vast field of missions, as might 
 serve to illustrate, not only the truth and value of 
 Christianity, but also the preeminence of the Evangeli- 
 cal system over all other forms of belief and teaching, 
 as a regenerating and saving power. 
 
 Volumes of " Evidences " have been written, with 
 the desired effect. Tliis ofiers a source of practical 
 evidence, which, without pretensions to logic or learn- 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 ing, may claim the merit of directness, point, and con- 
 clusiveness. 
 
 In his preparations for the pulpit, the pastor often 
 feels the need of a pertinent fact^ with which to refute 
 an error, " pin " a truth, or enforce a train of reason- 
 ing. In the selection and arrangement of matter 
 for the present volume, constant reference has been 
 had to this want, and it might be not inaptly termed a 
 " hand-book of facts for ministers." And not only min- 
 isters, but all who have occasion to inculcate religious 
 truth, plead the cause of Christian benevolence, or 
 combat popular prejudice and infidelity, may find this 
 an armory from which to draw their weapons. ' 
 
 The credit of originality is not claimed, so much as 
 that of toil and patience. It has been a mining process, 
 and has been attended with the usual contingencies of 
 such labor, — some tracts yielding scarcely a shining 
 gem, while at other times rich veins have appeared at 
 every turn. The work is regarded as at least impartial, 
 the journals of missionary societies oiall denominations, 
 in all fields, having been carefully examined, and works 
 of missionary history, travel, exploration, etc., exten- 
 sively consulted. 
 
 In nearly every instance the authority is given, that 
 those who desire it may consult the original record. 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 Most of the articles have been condensed, often with 
 an introductory or closing remark, while care has been 
 taken to preserve strict fidelity to facts. 
 
 The facilities enjoyed for the preparation of a work 
 of this nature have been very extensive ; free access 
 having been given to the library of the American 
 Board, at their rooms in Boston; and also to the libra- 
 ries of the Baptist and other Boards. The first-named 
 is the largest library of the kind known to exist in any 
 country ; and altogether they have furnished informa- 
 tion as full and complete as could be desired. 
 
 It is not within the author's knowledge that any 
 work similar to the present has ever before been 
 attempted. About twenty-five years ago the London 
 Tract Society issued a little volume of " Missionary 
 Anecdotes," and about the same time " Holt's Mission- 
 ary Anecdotes " were published in this city. But they 
 were not met with till the present work was within a 
 week or two of its completion ; and then were found to 
 be so extremely limited in matter and design as to 
 answer no important purposes at the present day. 
 
 An apology may be thought due to a class of readers 
 
 who fail to find in this volume certain articles which 
 
 have interested their own minds, and which they would 
 
 have had inserted. Such cases were unavoidable ; for 
 
 1* 
 
yi PEEFACE. 
 
 no two persons in this field would make a book of pre- 
 cisely the same materials, though, as a whole, they 
 might be of equal value. 
 
 With these brief remarks, the work is commended to 
 the Christian public, and to the blessing of the Head of 
 the Church, who accepts even the feeblest efforts to 
 advance his cause. 
 
 Boston, March 21, 185T. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Christian religion is peculiariy and immensely rich 
 in historical facts, illustrative of its divine nature. In this 
 respect, as in all respects, no other religion compares with 
 it. On this ground alone it may fairly challenge the claim 
 to its heavenly origin. The religions of the Chinese, the 
 Hindoos, the Mohammedans, abound in fictions, fancies, and 
 absurd pretensions to miraculous agency ; they make extrav- 
 agant demands upon the passion for the marvellous ; but, in 
 the sober and earnest matter of reclaiming fallen character, 
 of restoring lost men to God, and to purity of heart and 
 life, they are utterly and hopelessly at fault. They have, 
 in this capital respect, produced no results worthy to be 
 recorded. By their failure to yield good fruit, they are 
 known to be false, just as Christianity, by its precious and 
 abounding fruits, is known to be of God. 
 
 It is the design of the following pages to exhibit interest- 
 ing and instructive specimens of the fruits of the Gospel, in 
 its effects upon the character and condition of men. That 
 this design may be satisfactorily secured, the facts are taken 
 from a great variety of sources. They are gathered from 
 different periods, covering more than a hundred years, and 
 from all parts of the world where Protestant missionaries 
 have labored. They embrace, also, the testimony of every 
 branch of the evangelical church ; and it will be found that, 
 whether in one age or another, — whether in a palace or a 
 cottage, — whether amidst polar ice, or under tropical suns, 
 
VIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 — whether amid the lights and adornments of science and 
 art, or in regions of abject ignorance, and savage rude- 
 ness, — wherever the Gospel takes effect, we find the same 
 essential results. Man returns to his forsaken God, and, in 
 the knowledge and love of him, begins to rise in all that 
 constitutes true excellence and dignity of character. 
 
 The facts in question have been gathered by great labor, 
 and arranged in their proper order, both to render them 
 more striking and impressive to the general reader than 
 they usually are as chronicled in circumstantial detail, and 
 also to place them within the reach of Christians and the 
 friends of missions, very few of whom have access to the 
 numerous journals and documents from which they have 
 been taken. They are transferred to these pages in an 
 abbreviated and condensed form, so that this work is not a 
 mere compilation, but an exhibition of historical and docu- 
 mentary facts, in a new and original shape. 
 
 It is believed that the work will do essential service, not 
 only as furnishing the ministers of Christ with facts to illus- 
 trate and enforce the truths which they teach, and Sab- 
 bath-schools and families with a new and rich treasury of 
 information for their libraries, but as tending to convince 
 sceptics and confirm believers, in respect to the divine ori- 
 gin and the benign eflScacy of the Gospel. 
 
 The Gospel has proved, by what it has accomplished, that 
 it is clothed with a comprehensive power. The entire his- 
 tory of Christianity is replete with triumphs over obstacles 
 which none but a divine power could surmount. It is the 
 record of a sublime and prolonged miracle ; and, what this 
 religion has done, it can still do. Greater obstacles remain 
 not, than it has already surmounted ; mightier works are 
 uncalled for, than it has already wrought. Victories no 
 more signal than it has repeatedly won, will unfurl its tri- 
 umphant banner over the whole earth. The argument here 
 is to the effect that the almighty power of God is in it. 
 That living Omnipotence which made the tin-one of the 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 Csesars tremble at the name of Jesus ; which prostrated the 
 marble domes of heathen temples in the dust ; which faced 
 down the boasted science and literature of the Augustan, 
 age ; which overthrew the time-honored dynasties of Jew- 
 ish and Pagan prejudice ; which, in the scoffer's own em- 
 phatic words, " turned the world upside down," — can erect 
 altars to the true God under the whole heavens. Not to 
 believe here, is to make all history false ; — to doubt on this 
 point, is to sin against our own eyes. If the first disciples 
 of Christ could feel assured of the ultimate triumph of his 
 cause, and if the stubborn incredulity of multitudes of 
 Jews was resolved into unwavering fixith, unbelief in us is 
 a shameful marvel ; for, if the early Christians saw in the 
 dawning light of the future, we see in the blazing light of 
 the past. 
 
 What wonders has this religion wrought ! In defiance 
 of all the ignorance, prejudice, lust, and sottishness, of man- 
 kind ; despite the meagre facilities, in the early ages, for 
 circulating thought, and extending a permanent moral and 
 religious influence ; and, in resistance to all the canonized 
 authority of idol systems, and the frowning menace of hos- 
 tile kingdoms, it has steadily made its way, enlightening, 
 elevating, disenthralling our race, revolutionizing states 
 and empires, until it has boldly challenged, and has re- 
 ceived the willing homage of the most intelligent portions 
 of the whole world. 
 
 In the mean time science, commerce, art, all forms of 
 human enterprise, are bringing distant members of the 
 human family together. A valuable truth, elicited by a 
 mind here, speedily finds its way, as on the wings of the 
 wind, to minds in remotest lands ; a benevolent affection 
 kindled in an American heart, may soon make itself felt by 
 hearts in India, Ciiina, and the distant islands of the ocean. 
 Indeed, the deep throbbings of Christian liberty, and the 
 mighty impulse of Christian enterprise, in America, are, 
 at this moment, prostrating the temples of pagan idolatry, 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and are even shaking the Celestial Empire to its centre. 
 Already the eye of hope sees Amei'ica stretching the hand 
 of" paternal embrace to lands of Christian light and liberty 
 across the Pacific. 
 
 It will also appear, in the following pages, that the direct 
 instrumentalities of Christianity are increasing, both in num- 
 ber and eflFectiveness. Bibles, tracts, colpoi-teurs, mission- 
 aries, are diffusing light, and many are praying for the com- 
 ing of God's kingdom ; while the Holy Spirit, without whose 
 influence no essential good is accomplished, is making the 
 truth effectual to the salvation of those who receive it. 
 
 Finally, in connection with these multiform encourage- 
 ments, are the cheeiing voices of inspired prophecy, pro- 
 claiming the gracious purpose of God, that all flesh shall 
 see his salvation. The decree of the Almighty has gone 
 forth. " Hath he said it, and shall he not do it ? " Sound the 
 glad tidings over land and sea ; let them roll upward on 
 waves of silvery light to the highest heavens, and down- 
 ward on the dark clouds of thundering terror to hell ; let 
 angelic worlds believe and rejoice ; let the devils, also, 
 " believe and tremble." If even a comparative heathen 
 could say, " Great is the truth, and it will prevail," much 
 more may we say thus of that truth, which has already fur- 
 nished, by its fruits, such convincing demonstration of its 
 heavenly origin. H. W. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 THE HEATHEN WITHOUT EXCUSE. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 System for Getting Rid of God, 21 
 
 Nothing but a Stone, 24 
 
 Lesson from a Heathen Poet, *■ 24 
 
 Idol-makers, 25 
 
 Hindoo Affinities for Truth, 25 
 
 Cheating the Idol, 27 
 
 Admission of Guilt, 27 
 
 Kicking the Gods, 27 
 
 Money the Hindoo's God, 28 
 
 A Stultified Intellect, 28 
 
 The Strength of Sin well Expressed, 29 
 
 Buying Christians, 29 
 
 Religion and the Bag of Money, 29 
 
 THE HABITATIONS OF CRUELTY. 
 
 Horrible Funeral Sacrifices 30 
 
 Selling Children, 30 
 
 ♦' Bleeding Africa," 30 
 
 Torturing Human Victims, 32 
 
 Women in Africa, 32 
 
 Awful Superstition, 33 
 
 Head for Head, 34 
 
 Chinese Cruelty — Making Little Feet, 34 
 
 Without Natural Affection, 35 
 
 Sacrifices to Juggernaut, 36 
 
 Woman in India, 36 
 
 Retribution, 37 
 
 Character of the Gonds, 38 
 
 NATIVE INTELLECT, CAPACITY, WIT, ETC. 
 
 Heathen do Think, 39 
 
 Eagerness in Learning to Read, 40 
 
 A Model Preacher, 41 
 
 A Touching Appeal, 41 
 
XII CONTENTS. 
 
 The Blind Boy and the Bible, 42 
 
 A Heathen Child's Retort 42 
 
 Native Eloquence 42 
 
 Not Ashamed, 43 
 
 Remarkable Familiarity with the Scriptures, 43 
 
 An African's Argument, 41 
 
 As a Cake of Sugar, 44 
 
 Saying of an Ai-menian, 45 
 
 The Thatched Head, 45 
 
 Native Shrewdness, 45 
 
 The Little Teacher, 46 
 
 Early Proficiency, 46 
 
 Native Talent Tested, 47 
 
 An Original Interpretation, 47 
 
 Dead Branches, 48 
 
 Learning under Discouragements, 48 
 
 Defence of Heathenism 48 
 
 Comparison, 49 
 
 An African's Question, 49 
 
 Wine-Drinking in Eastern Metaphor, 49 
 
 No Good Will to the Fishes, 49 
 
 Doing Appropriate Work, 50 
 
 A Hindoo's Idea of Religion, 50 
 
 Hot Hearts, 50 
 
 The Nestorian Child's Heart, 51 
 
 Reproof — Native Good Sense, 52 
 
 The Indian Mother's Lament, 58 
 
 African Eloquence, 54 
 
 DOGMAS, CAVILS, OBJECTIONS, ETC. 
 
 A Hindoo Dogma Refuted, 56 
 
 A Hindoo Caviler Silenced, 60 
 
 Let us Alone, 60 
 
 Nothing to do with Morals, 61 
 
 Throwing Back the Blame, 61 
 
 Hindoo Objections to Christianity, 61 
 
 Sure of Some Religion, 63 
 
 Theological Discovery of a Heathen Sage 64 
 
 On AU'Sides 64 
 
 SCRIPTURE TRUTH — ITS MANY OPERATIONS. 
 
 The Work of One Tract, 65 
 
 The Tongue Loosed, 66 
 
 The True Teacher, 67 
 
 The Blind Old Man, 67 
 
 A Leaf of Scripture for Wadding, 68 
 
 Definition of the Bible 69 
 
 The Gospel Without the Civil Power 70 
 
 Invisible Fruits, 70 
 
 The "Stop-Off," 71 
 
 A Docile Spirit 71 
 
CONTENTS. XIII 
 
 Faith without Hearing, 72 
 
 Wayside Pickings, 73 
 
 Truth without a Preacher, 74 
 
 What shall wc Do? 76 
 
 A Vow of Silence, 76 
 
 "What shall it Profit? 77 
 
 The Garment of Self-Righteousness, 77 
 
 THE LION CHANGED TO A LAMB. 
 
 The Terror of the Country, 78 
 
 The Hottentot Subdued, 80 
 
 A Noted Chief and Mui-derer, 80 
 
 A Miracle of Grace, 82 
 
 Trying the Experiment, 83 
 
 Grief tor Murdered Children, 84 
 
 The Murderer of Williams, 86 
 
 THE MARTYR SPIRIT OF NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Household Foes, 88 
 
 Not Peace, but a Sword, 88 
 
 The Martyrs of Madagascar, 89 
 
 A Modern Daniel, 91 
 
 The Nine Faithful Witnesses, 91 
 
 Christian Heroism, 92 
 
 "It is All Well," 93 
 
 " Not Accepting Deliverance," 93 
 
 The Only Son of the Queen 94 
 
 Done with the Devil, 94 
 
 "I Must Pray," 95 
 
 Indians Becoming Martyrs, 95 
 
 Converts Multiplied under Persecution, 97 
 
 The Karen Pastor, Thaghe, 98 
 
 Asaad Shidiak, 100 
 
 EXAMPLES OP PIETY AND BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 The CafFre Woman's Testimony, 105 
 
 AGreat Feast— Noble Example, 106 
 
 Umgiko's Decision, 107 
 
 The Little Girl's Offering, 108 
 
 He hath Done what he Could, 108 
 
 Energy as Good as Money, 108 
 
 AVeak Things to Confound the Wise, lO'J 
 
 Love of God's House, 110 
 
 A Good Deacon, 110 
 
 Liberality of a Poor Blind Girl, Ill 
 
 The Converted Chief and his Wives, 112 
 
 A Stray Sheep in the Jungles, 113 
 
 The Indian Chief and the Missionaries, 114 
 
 Extraordinary Efforts to Hear the Word, 116 
 
 Konai Das, a jModel Christian, 117 
 
 All that he Had, 119 
 
 The New Zealander and the Bible, 119 
 
 2 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Efforts to Obtain a Bible, 119 
 
 Missionary Harmony — Its Influence, 120 
 
 SINCERITY AND FIRMNESS OF CONVERTS. 
 
 Reality of Hindoo Convei'sions, 121 
 
 Conversion of Ei-ebon, 122 
 
 Thirteen Years in Chains, 122 
 
 Grace Triumphant, 123 
 
 Death Better than Denying Christ, 124 
 
 Lukhein-Das, 125 
 
 More than Meat and Drink, 128 
 
 How to Reason under Temptation, 128 
 
 The Bribe Rejected, 129 
 
 Not Mad, 130 
 
 Power of a Consistent Example, 130 
 
 God or Mammon — A Hindoo's Choice, 131 
 
 Forsaking All, 132 
 
 The Poor Armenian and his Bible, 132 
 
 A Gospel Hero, 133 
 
 The Cattre Woman's Religion, 134 
 
 The Disciple in India, 135 
 
 A Christian Heroine, 135 
 
 Myat Kyau, the Burman, 136 
 
 Psalm-singing Against Persecution, 139 
 
 HEATHEN WITHOUT IDOLATRY. 
 
 No God, 141 
 
 The Infidel's Ideal Man, 142 
 
 The Karens, 143 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS PREEMINENT. 
 
 Prayer of a Converted Hindoo, 144 
 
 The African's Remedy, 145 
 
 An Indian's Offering, 146 
 
 A Devotee Leaving All, 146 
 
 The Four Kings, 147 
 
 Wanting to Confess, 148 
 
 «' The God of my Child," 149 
 
 Christ more than Krishna, 149 
 
 But One Way 150 
 
 Important Testimony, 150 
 
 Experience of the Moravians, 151 
 
 A Noble Defence, 152 
 
 " Did Doorga Die for Sinners ? " 153 
 
 " Two Words Overcome," 154 
 
 A Good Resolve, 155 
 
 " Is all this True ? " 155 
 
 Tschoop, the Indian, 155 
 
 "Just what I had been Seeking for," 157 
 
 Dr. Duff's Method, 158 
 
 "Tell me that Again," 159 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 A Labrador Convert, 159 
 
 The Oftence of the Cross, 160 
 
 A Cause of AVeeping, IGl 
 
 The Remedy Found, IGl 
 
 Turning from Mary to Christ, 162 
 
 Why Christ is an USence, 164 
 
 The True Teacher, 165 
 
 Not Mohammed, but Christ, 165 
 
 The Converted Caffre, 165 
 
 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE IN MANY 
 FORMS AND DIALECTS. 
 
 The Two Hearts 168 
 
 Native Churclies at Work, 169 
 
 The Converted Negro and his Fiddle, 170 
 
 Another Tongue, 171 
 
 The Will, 171 
 
 The Negro's Testimony for Christ, 172 
 
 The New Creature, 172 
 
 Give when Moved to it, 173 
 
 God's Work must be Done, 173 
 
 The Armenian Converts, 174 
 
 Faith and Joy of the Hindoo Convert, 175 
 
 AVe have got the Root, 176 
 
 Decision in a Little Girl, 177 
 
 Nicodemus and the Great Wheel, 177 
 
 The Law in the Members, 177 
 
 Similes en the Love of God, 178 
 
 An Instructive Experience, 179 
 
 A Testament Better than a House, 180 
 
 Redeemed out of Every Land, 180 
 
 Fidelity in Prayer, 180 
 
 Piety in the Negro Dialect, 181 
 
 A New Name, 182 
 
 A Sleeping Friend, 182 
 
 Heart Utterances, 182 
 
 A Noble Answer, 183 
 
 Religious Experience in New Zealand, 184 
 
 The Devil's Flag, 188 
 
 The Two Africans, 189 
 
 Views Respecting the Dead, 189 
 
 A South Sea Island Witness, 190 
 
 No Fighting over the Bible 190 
 
 African Simplicitj', 191 
 
 The Indian Convert and the Sabbath, 191 
 
 "When I would do Good," etc., 192 
 
 Preciousness of the Bible, 192 
 
 An Armenian's Idea of Sincerity, 193 
 
 The Little Girl and the Sabbath, 193 
 
 The New Commandment Illustrated, 193 
 
 The Christian Indian's Wish, 194 
 
 Singular Proof of Declension, 194 
 
 Denominational Distinctions Lost, 194 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 A RELIGION OF INTEGRITY AND HONOR. 
 
 Too Honest for liis Business 106 
 
 Honesty in New Zealand, 1'.I7 
 
 Truth and Honor before Office, I'.i8 
 
 Missions and Crime, I'J'J 
 
 The Girls that would not Lie, I'.l'.) 
 
 The Priest and his Little Boy, 200 
 
 Religion iu Rurutu, 200 
 
 Integrity of the Zulus, 200 
 
 NATIVE DEATH-BED SCENES. 
 
 The Dying Indian Boy, 202 
 
 The Last Hours of a Hindoo, 203 
 
 The Choctaw Widow, 204 
 
 Eliza. — A Sore Conflict, 204 
 
 Ann Waiapu, 206 
 
 TAXES IMPOSED BY IDOLATRY. 
 
 Expenses of Buddhism, 208 
 
 Costly Temples, 209 
 
 Enormous Burden, 210 
 
 Heathen Liberality, 210 
 
 Quarter of a Million for a Temple, 210 
 
 Fifty Bags of Money, 210 
 
 No Worship without Money, 211 
 
 The Craft in Danger, 211 
 
 Cheerful Givers, 212 
 
 Zeal for Juggernaut, 212 
 
 The Idol's Portion, 213 
 
 AVilling Offerings, 213 
 
 The Sick God, 214 
 
 Advertisement of an Idol-manufaoturer, 214 
 
 SURPRISING RESULTS. 
 
 What the Missionaries have Done, 216 
 
 Memories of a South Sea Islander, 216 
 
 The Change in Eimeo, 217 
 
 The Gospel in a Dark Field, 218 
 
 A Sudden Revolution, 220 
 
 What Christian Energy can Accomplish, 220 
 
 The Islands Rejoicing 221 
 
 An Impartial Gospel, 221 
 
 Witnesses for Missions , 222 
 
 Burning Idol-Houses, 228 
 
 A Contrast, 223 
 
 A Revival Scene, 224 
 
 Polygamy Yielding to Christianity, 224 
 
 Christianity vs. Intidelity, 225 
 
 The Sandwich Islands. — A Contrast, 225 
 
 Wonderful Results in New Zealand, 227 
 
 Changes in Thirty Years, 227 
 
 South Africa Ten Years Ago, 228 
 
CONTENTS. XVII 
 
 A Nation Regenerated, 229 
 
 Dr. Livingston and Africa 229 
 
 CHARACTER OF PAPAL MISSIONS. 
 
 Claiming Other Men's Label's, 231 
 
 Ministers of Wickedness, 232 
 
 Mutilating the Word, 233 
 
 Killing Heretics, 233 
 
 Leaves the Heathen as it Found Them, 233 
 
 Encouraging Vice, 234 
 
 The Bishop and the Native, 234 
 
 Heathenish Priests, 2o5 
 
 A Crazy Protestant, 236 
 
 How Papists Educate, 237 
 
 Catholic Argument, 237 
 
 Francis Xavier's Bible, 237 
 
 Jesuit Opposition, 238 
 
 No Translations, 238 
 
 Catholic Weapons, 238 
 
 Popish Missionaries and Castes, 239 
 
 Rage Against the New Testament, 239 
 
 Bible-Burning, 239 
 
 Catholics and Schools, 239 
 
 The Jesuit and the Cuttle-Fish, 240 
 
 Thirty-Two Popish Emissaries at Fernando Po, 241 
 
 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING PRESENT AND 
 TEMPORAL. 
 
 " Good Will to Men," 242 
 
 A Blessed Freedom, 243 
 
 Spiritual Weapons Mighty, 244 
 
 The Indian and the Sabbath, 244 
 
 The Whale-Ship and the Cannibals, 245 
 
 Bless Them that Curse, 247 
 
 The Poor Man and his Tree, 247 
 
 Christianity and Government, 248 
 
 A Sailor's Opinion of IMissions, 249 
 
 House of Worship in Tahiti, 249 
 
 How to Return a Blow, 250 
 
 Anti Human Sacrifice Society, 250 
 
 Something to do with the Law of God, 250 
 
 They shall Learn War no More, 251 
 
 Missionaries between Hostile Armies, 252 
 
 Dr. Philip's Testimony, 253 
 
 Influence of a Religion of Mercy, 253 
 
 Christianity and Slaveiy, 255 
 
 AVorship and Arms, 255 
 
 Sons of the Word — A Surprise, 256 
 
 What the Missionaries Do, 258 
 
 Protection to Life and Property, 258 
 
 A New Zealand Scene, 260 
 
 Missions and Commerce, 260 
 
 The Wrecked Sailors and the Cannibals, 202 
 
 2* 
 
XVIII CONTENTS. 
 
 They shall Learn War no More, 26S 
 
 Dr. Kane's Testimony, 264 
 
 Geographical Discovery, 264 
 
 Wrecked Sailors and the Esquimaux, 266 
 
 Rights of Conscience in India, 267 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 " Their Foot shall Slide in due Time," 269 
 
 The Receipt of Custom, 270 
 
 " Cursed be the Man," etc., 270 
 
 Return of the Stork, 271 
 
 Telling the Flocks, 271 
 
 Skins of Wine, 272 
 
 Washing Ilauds, 272 
 
 Olive Grafting, 272 
 
 Cast thy Bread upon the Waters, 272 
 
 TreadiDg Out the Corn, 273 
 
 The Camel's Furniture, 273 
 
 Shibboleth, 273 
 
 Behold it was Leah, 273 
 
 A Lodge in a Garden, 274 
 
 The Corruptible Crown, 275 
 
 The Boar out of the Wood, 275 
 
 Pricks in your Eyes, 275 
 
 Praying in the Corners of the Streets, 276 
 
 The Barley Harvest, 276 
 
 Camping of Locusts, 276 
 
 Letting a Bed through the Roof, 277 
 
 A Roll of a Book, 277 
 
 Mode of Salutation, 278 
 
 Tiie Sheep hear his Voice, 278 
 
 Serpent-Charming, 279 
 
 Bolster and Cruise of Water, 279 
 
 Eating Together, 279 
 
 A Lodging-Place in the Wilderness, 280 
 
 A Sheep in Court, 280 
 
 The Ox-Goad, 281 
 
 Great is Diana, ^81 
 
 BREAD UPON THE WATERS. 
 
 Seed Sown in Tahiti, 283 
 
 Dr. Judson's Faith, 284 
 
 The Twenty Pounds, 284 
 
 The Moravians at the Cape, 286 
 
 Seed Buried Twenty Years, 286 
 
 Fiuits of One Gift, 286 
 
 Sovereignty of Grace, 287 
 
 The Profits of Giving, 287 
 
 Mr. Sehauffler and his Books, 288 
 
 A Hidden Gem Discovered, 288 
 
 The Chinese Convicts, 290 
 
 Seed-Time and Harvest, 291 
 
 God's Hand in the South Sea Islands , 291 
 
CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 A Series of Fruits 293 
 
 Unlooked-for Testimony, 294 
 
 Remnants of Brainard's Flock, 294 
 
 Food for Faith, 295 
 
 Sowing and Reaping, 295 
 
 Half a Century's Labor in India 296 
 
 Twenty Years in Armenia, 297 
 
 MYTHOLOGIES, MAXIMS, PROVERBS, SAYINGS, 
 ETC. 
 
 Hindoo Science, 299 
 
 Hindoo History ( f the Creation, 300 
 
 A Persian Simile, 300 
 
 Wisdom of the Malays, 300 
 
 The Dyak Religion, 302 
 
 A Heathen's Idea of Fate, 303 
 
 South Sea Island Similes, 303 
 
 Mussulman Faith, 304 
 
 The New Zealanders' Ideas of the Evil Spirit, 304 
 
 IMice in the Moon, 305 
 
 Peculiar Devil, 305 
 
 Ideas of the Devil, 305 
 
 Hindoo Theology, 306 
 
 Chinese Sayings, 306 
 
 Angry Saints, 306 
 
 Theory of the Tides, 307 
 
 Proverbs, 307 
 
 " Honest as a Protestant," 308 
 
 The Cural, 309 
 
 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 Dr. Wilson, 311 
 
 Mrs. Walker, 312 
 
 Rev. Mr. Dibble, 312 
 
 Rev. Charles Lacey, 313 
 
 Mrs. Bushnell, 315 
 
 Mrs. Todd, 316 
 
 Rev. .James Richards, • 316 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Porter, 317 
 
 Dr. William Carey, 318 
 
 Mrs. AVolcott, 319 
 
 Rev. G. Turnbull, 319 
 
 Mrs. Burgess, 320 
 
 Mrs. Grant, 321 
 
 Rev. Mr. Lawson, 321 
 
 Mrs. Scudder, 323 
 
 Mrs. Paris 323 
 
 Mrs. Castle, 325 
 
 Rev. H. M. Adams, 320 
 
 Rev. Samuel Whitney, 328 
 
 Re\». J. S.Everett, 328 
 
 Mrs. Henrietta A. L. Hamlin, 330 
 
 Mrs. Mary W. AVinslow 331 
 
 l>r. Judson, 332 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NARRATIVES. 
 
 A Question for Christians, 834 
 
 Facts for the Friends of Missions, 334 
 
 A Family of Missionaries, , 335 
 
 Prayer always Answered, 335 
 
 Christians Instructed by a Heathen, 336 
 
 Training Children for the Missionary Work 336 
 
 New Zealimd Taste in Dress, 837 
 
 An Indian Chiefs Conclusion, 838 
 
 A Puzzling Question, 338 
 
 " Anything to Distract the Brain," 338 
 
 Origin of the English Baptist Missionary Society 338 
 
 The Self-Denial Box, 339 
 
 A Subtle Question, 339 
 
 Swearers Reproved, 340 
 
 Beginning of the Moravians, 340 
 
 *' Order of the Grain of Mustard-Seed," 341 
 
 The Testament and the Dog, 341 
 
 A Singular Moral Philosophy, 342 
 
 A Praying Machine, 342 
 
 Thinking about the Sheep 343 
 
 Good out of Evil, 343 
 
 The Wonders of a Chip, 344 
 
 A Liar's Defence, 845 
 
 Truth Taught by an Oath, 345 
 
 Opium and Missions, 346 
 
 A Night in Prison, 346 
 
 When to Repent, 347 
 
 A Persecutor Awakened, 847 
 
 A Persecutor Serving the Church, 348 
 
 Giving and Feeling, 348 
 
 An Extraordinary Man, 348 
 
 An Offering to Swamy, 349 
 
 Make Haste, 350 
 
 A Penitent as good as Dead, 850 
 
 Origin of Monthly Concert, 351 
 
 A Question of Conscience, 351 
 
 Infants Taught Idolatry, 351 
 
 Ability and Disposition, 352 
 
 Where Last of All, 352 
 
 The Devil and Rum, 353 
 
 Admonition to the Church, 353 
 
 The Caffre and the Bishop, 353 
 
 The Hearer with his Basket of Idols, 354 
 
 An Ancient New Testament, 3"4 
 
 A Sharp Reproof, 355 
 
 The Gold Mine of India, 355 
 
 An Unselfish Religion, 356 
 
 Sad Memorial, 356 
 
 Conservatism of a Zulu 357 
 
 A Pleasing Testimony, 357 
 
 A Christian's Retort, *358 
 
"'^ PUXHGSTOIT 
 
 \tiisologioal 
 
 THE HEATHEN WITHOUT EXCUSE. 
 
 The plea is often heard, in one form or another, even in 
 this day of augmented light, that the heathen, being with- 
 out a revelation, cannot be justly held responsible for the 
 abominations of their faith and worship. The plea assumes 
 that they live up to the light they have, which is entirely 
 false. Facts clearly show, what an apostle long since 
 affimied, that the heathen do not follow the light which 
 shines-upon their path ; do not observe the law written on 
 their hearts ; do not, as they might, cultivate and retain 
 the knowledge of God, nor glorify him as they ought. They 
 indicate enough of intelligence, moral sense, and perception 
 of truth, to bring them fairly within the range of the divine 
 government ; and there appears to be no escape from the 
 conclusion that, however their guilt may be modified, they 
 are actually perishing^ in a course of deliberate transgres- 
 sion. The few pages given under this head will serve to 
 show that the position in question is not one of mere spec- 
 ulation or opinion. 
 
 SYSTEM FOR GETTING BID OF GOD. 
 
 The statements below serve to establish the facts, that the 
 heathen have a conscience ; that idolatry results from an 
 atheistic heart; and that its devotees are guilty for not glo- 
 rifying a God whom, to some extent, they know and con- 
 fess. Particularly is this true of the Hindoos. The extracts 
 here given are from Clarkson's "India and the Gospel," a 
 work the result of large missionary experience, and one of 
 
22 THE HEATHEN WITHOUT EXCUSE. 
 
 the most learned and discriminating, on this subject, any- 
 where to be found. The author says : 
 
 " Morally, liindooism may be considered as a grand effort 
 of the human mind, on an unparalleled scale, to work out 
 some great result. It is imporlant to understand what tliat 
 effort is, and ivliat results it contemplates. We ask, then, is 
 Hindooism an effort of man to find out God ? or is it an 
 effort to separate himself from him ? Some have considered 
 this religion as indicative of earnest desires on the part of 
 its disciples to know the true God. * * This view is not 
 scriptural, Hindooism is not the effort of the soul to seek 
 after God, but a struggle to keep aloof from him. Hindoo- 
 ism illustrates not the tendency of man toicards God, but his 
 tendency from him. It is not the embodiment of known 
 truths, but the suppression of them. The Hindoos do not 
 seek God, ' if haply they may find him ; ' they rather stum- 
 ble at noonday as in the night. * * Hindooism owes its 
 origin, not to ignorance, not to the weakness of unaided 
 reason, not to the intellectual difficulties which attend on 
 things and beings beyond the range of sense ; but to an un- 
 godly heart — a heart that longs to be without God, and that 
 hales God. In its renewed attempts to avoid conviction of 
 the truth, — in its wilful rejection of it when it has been un- 
 derstood, — in its bold eflbrts to justify known errors, and 
 to confute known truths, — in its eagerness to embrace solu- 
 tions and theories which shall conduct it away from the 
 eternal truth, and its reluctance to be conducted toioards it, 
 ■ — in its complacency in all that excludes a true Divinity, 
 and in its dislike of all that embraces it, — we find accumu- 
 lated evidence of the statement, that Hindooism, in all its 
 countless forms, is a departure from the living God. * * The 
 systems of metaphysical Brahmins, and the spontaneous 
 speculations of the unlettered people, have one converging 
 point — the denying of God the Creator." 
 
 The learned author proceeds to inquire what Hindoos 
 really think — what are ihe'w deliberate judgments ; and he 
 maintains that they possess moral and religious convictions 
 and elements of truth which, though not registered, nor 
 2:)7-opounded by authority, arc inscribed on the heart, and 
 prevalent amongst all the several grades of society. These 
 convictions, Ik; says, latent, or partially developed, have 
 modified the Hindoo's language, so that "he speaks of God 
 as possessed of a unity, which certainly finds no counterpart 
 in his systems of religion. His several forms of speech 
 
SYSTEM FOR GETTING RID OP GOD. 23 
 
 and inadvertent references, on unrestrained occasions, when 
 he has no system to defend, show that he has conceptions 
 of one God. He speaks of him as a creator, and supporter, 
 and ruler ; as willing, and controlling, and ordaining. Ho 
 chiims him as a witness of his integrity. He speaks of him- 
 self and others as amenable to his authority." The learned 
 and acute missionary author from whom we quote, shows 
 that the Hindoos frequently endeavor to prove, by sundry 
 illusti'ations, that they worship only one God. When 
 charged with evil, they prove that evil to be good, and thus 
 they show that they have conceptions of truth and right- 
 eousness, far transcending the forms of faith and practice 
 current among them ; and they afford the strongest evidence 
 that the light of primeval ages has not been extinguished 
 within them — that the original perceptions of the human 
 mind have not been wholly obscured. Mr. Clarkson says : 
 " These traditional elements have preserved India from de- 
 struction ; they have raised barriers to the destructive ten- 
 dencies of their mythology ; they have proved the salt 
 which has kept society from becoming a corrupt mass. 
 These moral convictions have prevented the utter corruption 
 of the whole mass of mind, and the utter confounding of all 
 moral distinctions, which would certainly have ensued had 
 the religion of the Brahmins exercised an unrestrained con- 
 trol." On account of these moral barriers, " India is yet 
 a civilized country, with towns and villages, with domestic 
 and social circles and relationships. It is from no other 
 reason, than that God has not allowed to pass from its 
 people those fundamental principles of knowledge requisite 
 to the very sustentation of society. God has not left him- 
 self without witness in the operations of nature ; neither 
 has he left the eternal principles of moral truth without 
 their testimony in the heart of man." But it is an admitted 
 and appalling fact, after all, that the convictions of the 
 Hindoo are obscured, and to a great extent wholly inopera- 
 tive ; that he is blinded by a corrupt system of metaphysics 
 and mythology; that his God comes at last to be every- 
 lliing, and everything is God; that he is a Pantheist; and 
 that Pantheism denies all moral distinctions. " In one of 
 the most sacred cities of India," says Mr. C, " an assembly 
 was convened to witness a public discussion between learned 
 Brahmins and two missionaries. The upholders of Ilindoo- 
 ism put forth their most valiant champions. The missionary 
 asked, ' How can sin be removed ? ' The answer which the 
 
24 THE HEATHEN WITHOUT EXCUSE, 
 
 concentrated wisdom of ages, speaking in their Brahminical 
 representative, put forth, was, ' Are not good and evil the 
 same thing ? ' " The Pantheism of the Hindoos " refers all 
 evil to the Deity. It says God is the only being — the only 
 agent, and therefore sin is his product. What we call evil, 
 or sin, is only one development of the Deity. Whatever 
 evil man does is divine evil ; whatever guilt attaches to 
 him is divine ; whatever his past career of crime, it is that 
 of God. Purity and impurity, chastity and uncleanness, 
 truth and falsehood, love and hatred, piety and cruelty, the 
 benevolence of an angel, and the malevolence of a fiend, 
 flow from one common source, the Divinity." 
 
 These remarks of an experienced missionary have been 
 quoted, as showing that the heathens of India have some 
 elementary ideas of God, some natural sense of right and 
 wrong, some conscience, and that their idolatry is against 
 knowledge, against conscience, and therefore a source of 
 guilt and of just condemnation. 
 
 NOTHING BUT A STONE. 
 
 A Baptist missionary in India said to some parties, who 
 were going to worship their great god Narayam, " Is this 
 IVarayam, that you are going to see, a male or a female ? " — 
 " 0, he is both." — " Is he married ? " — " No." — " Then of 
 course he has no posterity." — " 0, yes ; the world is his 
 family." — " What trade is he ? is he wealthy or poor ? does 
 lie live in the plain or in the mountain ? is he an Oriya, or 
 Teligoo, or Mahratta ? what caste is he ? what language 
 does he speak ? " Amused by my interrogations, they 
 burst into a laugh, saying, "Why, sahib, do you ask us 
 such questions? You know, and we knoAv, too, that the 
 god is naught but a stone." — Gen. Bap. Repos., 1850, 
 p. 478. 
 
 LESSON FBOM A HEATHEN POET. 
 
 As Rev. Mr. Bailey, Baptist missionary in India, was out 
 on one of his circuits, he met some pilgrims, and asked 
 them where they were going. They said, " Going to get a 
 sight of the great Singa Rajah." Mr. B. remonstrated 
 against such folly, saying, " You know that Singa Rajah is 
 nothing but stone — a shapeless thing. Can a stone see, 
 and hear, and feel ? It is Avrittcn in your own Bhagabot, 
 ' Come what may, never receive the instructions of Singa 
 Rajah.' And another of your own poets has said, ' If pur- 
 
HINDOO AFFINITIES FOU TRUTH. 25 
 
 sued by a tiger, betlei- be devoured by it than tale refuge in a 
 temjjle of Singa liajah.' " A striking similarity will be 
 noticed between this sentiment of a heathen poet, and that 
 of Christ, "Fear not them that kill the body," etc. The 
 Hindoo poet, even, rebukes the temporizing policy that 
 chooses the least of two sins, rather than prefer death to 
 either. 
 
 IDOL-MAKERS. 
 
 In points where their worldly interest is concerned, the 
 Chinese are an intelligent people, displaying much ingenuity 
 in various ways. Their darkness on all spiritual subjects is 
 the more pali:)able hy the contrast. The idol-maker, with 
 the license of the mandarins, pursues his vocation. His 
 shop is filled with idols of every pattern and quality, and at 
 various prices ; and the Chinese literati, as well as the 
 laborers and handicraftsmen, frequent the golden Budha 
 shop to purchase a god. "Professing themselves to be 
 wise, they have become fools." — Ghh. Hiss. Gleaner, 
 1853, p. 42. 
 
 HINDOO AFFINITIES FOE, TRUTH. 
 
 There is a large class of floating popular sentiments in 
 India which contain much truth. These are embodied in 
 proverbs, or clothed in poetry, and are familiar to every 
 Hindoo. They harmonize, in a striking degree, with the 
 principles of the Gospel. Some of them are of known, and 
 others of unknown origin. Some are local, and others uni- 
 versal. There are also certain states of mind among the 
 people, and certain undefined expectations, of which the 
 evangelist may take advantage. To illustrate ; there are 
 general impressions of the necessity to man of a " True 
 Teacher," a " Mediator," a "Help," " one who will take 
 sin and impart merit." It is commonly said, "Adherence 
 to a True Teacher will save." " The disciple will have im- 
 puted to him the merit of the Teacher." " No one can 
 save himself" Hence, in setting forth Christ, as a Teacher, 
 Mediator, and Saviour, the missionary propounds no new 
 idea. The ignorant and the learned use alike the proverb, 
 " Without a True Teacher, man cannot attain salvation." 
 Such expressions as the following are common : — " As with- 
 out a ladder none can ascend a house, so without some help 
 it is impossible for us to ascend to the knowledge of God." 
 " Such a one will save me." " Such a one will be respon- 
 sible for me." "I have gone to such a one, and cast all 
 3 
 
26 THE HEATHEN WITHOUT EXCUSE. 
 
 my sins at his feet." Some proverbs repudiating idolatry, 
 and others exposing and refuting the claims of Brahmins, 
 have become extensively current. One very popular prov- 
 erb is, " If the idol were anything, would it not eat up the 
 stone-cutter vi^ho dares to carve it ? " Throughout India 
 there are prophecies more or less clearly defining a period 
 when the present Brahminical religion shall be abolished, 
 and a new doctrine shall prevail. These prophecies are 
 known to the illiterate as well as the Brahmins, and have 
 excited in the minds of many an expectation of a mighty 
 change in religious systems. In the prophetic Shastra of 
 the Brahmins there is a prediction to the eftect that in the 
 Kali Yuga — the era in which we now live — all distinc- 
 tions of caste shall cease, and all men shall be one. It is 
 also written, that men will forsake idolatry, and worship 
 the Supreme. A prophecy current in Gujurat (Northern 
 India) may be thus paraphrased : 
 
 " Lo ! see advance the destined day, 
 
 When fall shall every heathen shrine, 
 When Brahma's shastra shall decay, 
 Mohammed's system shall decline. 
 
 " No more shall different sects and castes 
 
 Each from the rest like strangers stand , 
 Divisions then shall all be past, 
 And mankind form one friendly band." 
 
 Some prophecies in the South of India take a bolder 
 sweep. Take a specimen : 
 
 " Lo ! from the distant West 
 New teachers do arise ; 
 Fair is their countenance, 
 
 Their words are true and wise. 
 
 " The Brahmin's priestly rule 
 Shall cease to liold its sway ; 
 Idols of wood and clay 
 For aye shall pass away." 
 
 Prophetic writings of this sort are already beginning to 
 exert an important influence. Reports from the country of 
 the Canarese, and other southern regions, assure us that sev- 
 eral natives, and sometimes whole communities, have been 
 led to inquire into Christianity, from its being apparently 
 the religion referred to in their prophetic verses. Thus the 
 
KICKING THE GODS. 27 
 
 missionary finds some voice echo to his own ; some sounds 
 of antiquity symphonize with those of the Gospel. The pop- 
 nhxr mind has been in a faint degree prepared. We may lay 
 hold of these floating and lifeless elements of thought, and 
 make them subserve the purposes of a stable and vital 
 iUith. — Glarkson's India and the Gospel, p. 189, 
 
 CHEATING THE IDOL. 
 
 A Hindoo idolater, being in imminent danger from an 
 impending calamity, went to his idol god, and promised to 
 give him a lakh if he would avert the danger. Now, a lakh 
 means a hundred thousand rupees, and it means, also, a 
 piece of sealing-wax. The meaning of the supplicant, at the 
 time of making the promise, was the former. But the peril 
 was no sooner avei'ted than he betook himself to the latter, 
 and offered to the idol a piece of wax. Thus doing, he sam- 
 jaoed (cajoled) his god, which the more sensible Hindoos 
 often say is all they mean by worshipping idols. — "Record " 
 of Free Church of Scotland, 1850. 
 
 ADMISSION OP GUILT. 
 
 Missionaries in India have held np Paul's description of 
 the heathen, in the first chapter of his epistle to the Ro- 
 mans, as applicable to the Hindoos of the present day ; and 
 the idolaters of India have proved that the delineation, as 
 applied to them, is true, by actually charging the mission- 
 aries with having forged this passage since their arrival in 
 the country. Thus the fullest admission has been made 
 that the epistle to the Romans gives, not only an accurate 
 description of the enormities and woes of heathen idolaters, 
 but of their guilt and ^self-condemnation, as knowing that 
 they which do such things are worthy of death. — Rev. Mr. 
 Sidlon, Missionary from India. 
 
 KICKING THE GODS. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Williams, of the Wesleyan Methodist Society, 
 in his "Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands," 
 says, " While walking through the settlement at Aitutaki, 
 we saw two grim-looking gods in a more dishonorable situa-. 
 tion than they had been wont to occupy ; for they were 
 sustaining upon their heads the whole loeight of a cooking- 
 house! Wishing to make them more useful, we ofiered to 
 purchase them from their former worshipper. He instantly 
 
28 THE HEATHEN WITHOUT EXCUSE. 
 
 propped np tlie house, took out the idols, and threw them 
 down ; and, while they were prostrate on the ground, he 
 gave them a kick, saying-, 'There — yoia- reujn is at an 
 end.' " 
 
 MONEY THE HINDOO'S GOD. 
 
 That the Hindoos care more for money, often, than for their 
 idolatry, is frequently illustrated in the most forcible man- 
 ner. The following is an instance : — While a missionary of 
 the London Missionary Society was preaching to a crowd 
 of Brahmins in Southern India, one of them came forward 
 and said, " We do not know what is wisdom, nor what is 
 folly. You must teach us ; give us ten rupees a month, 
 and we will come over to you." — "A strange, but true 
 confession," says the missionarj^, " of their ignorance, and 
 the magic power of gold over them ; they cannot resist it. 
 Talk of Hindoo prejudices leading the people into revolt I 
 We might buy them all, if it could do them any good, and 
 if we were able. Long ago, a man said to me, in my preach- 
 ing-place, ' Give us four pagodas a month, and we will all 
 become Christians. Money is the best god you can give 
 this people.' " —Lon. Hiss. Mag., 1849, p. 57. 
 
 A STULTIFIED iNTELLBCT. 
 
 The idolatry of India in a marvellous degree stultifies 
 the intellect. The Hindoo has delusions which no reason- 
 ings can remove. An infatuation comes over him. Pil- 
 grims die in all the circumstances of horror, and they call 
 it "entering into Elysium." The}' witness the abomina- 
 tions of the temples, and all the loathsome corruptions 
 which predominate within their regions, and they call these 
 places " the gates of heaven," " the land flowing with milk 
 and honey." They see their gods to be impotent, and j'et 
 assert them to be almighty. "I adduce," says Mr. Clark- 
 son, " the following illustration. A popular idol, in the city 
 of my labors, was submerged by a flood. I ptiinted out to 
 the worshippers the impotence of the idol, inasmuch as he 
 could not save himself from the waters. What was the 
 answer ? ' 0, our god chooses to be drowned ! If he 
 wished it, he might swallow the whole river at a gulp.' 
 In the same city, hundreds of idols, and several temples, 
 were burnt down in a very destructive fire. Alas ! the 
 workmen soon replaced them, and the worshippers went on 
 to worship the new divinities." — Clarkson's India and the 
 Gospel, p. Ii7. 
 
RELIGION AND THE BAG OF MONEY. 29 
 
 THE STRENGTH OF SIN WELL EXPRESSED. 
 
 It is seldom that a more simple and forcible expression 
 of the love of sin in the natural heart is heard, than that 
 uttered by a Dyak, in Borneo, to Mr. Thomson, the mission- 
 ar3\ He quoted several remarks which he had heard, and 
 said, " We are urged to forsake sin ; but how can that be ? 
 How can I leave off my sins ? Why, I love them be/ler than 
 I do my i^ice ! " IIow many in Christian lands, if equally 
 honest, might adopt this truly original form of confession I 
 — Missionary Herald, 1854, p. 318. 
 
 BUYING CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Mr. Adams, of Doorgapore, India, writes : " To-day a 
 man, after hearing some remarks which I made upon the 
 chapter I had read, turned away with contempt, exclaim- 
 ing, ' Give me three rupees, and I will bring you three 
 hundred Christians ; give me ten, and I will bring you a 
 thousand.' " The missionary adds : " He spoke the truth ; 
 we could every day make thousands of the kind of Chris- 
 tians that he meant. Such is the venal character of the 
 Hindoos, that, by money, if one had it, we could make as 
 extensive and rapid conquests as Mohammed ever made by 
 his arms. But the religion of Jesus is the religion of con- 
 science. "—5ap<. Miss. Her., April, 1820. 
 
 RELIGION AND THE BAG OF MONEY. 
 
 As a missionary was preaching to a company of Nes- 
 toriahs, a young man, who appeared to be intoxicated, 
 interrupted by asking the hearers, " What do j^ou gain by 
 listening ? Let the gentleman give me employment, and I 
 will repent, and stop drinking. If not, I will go on in evil 
 doing." The matron of the house, where the meeting was 
 held, a robust, masculine-looking woman, called out in the 
 midst of the discourse, "Let God send down through the 
 roof a bag of money for us to pay our taxes with, and then 
 see how we will serve him." — 3Iiss. Her., 1844, p. 257, 
 3* 
 
THE HABITATIONS OF CRUELTY. 
 
 HOKRIBLE FUNERAL SACRIFICES, 
 
 At Calabar, in West Africa, there was, in 1846, a fearful 
 sacrifice of life at the funeral of a deceased son of the king-. 
 The miserable son danced Egbo all day, drank nimbly of 
 palm wine, in large quantities, and died the same night. It 
 is supposed he was poisoned. The aged mother cried out, 
 in Aii'ican frenzy, that she had lost her last child, and now 
 had none to whom to leave her property, and plenty of 
 slaves must therefore be sacrificed. Those at market, and 
 all who heard in time, ran into the bush, and remained there 
 till the sacrifices ceased, that is, till the term of their per- 
 sonal liabilities expired, which was more than a year. The 
 sacrifice took place 1 Three holes were dug in a house. 
 The corpse was put into the first, with a number of young 
 women. Into the second, the slaves were put ; and into 
 the third, the Creoles, or town-born people. The propor- 
 tion for these holes was, thirty female slaves, forty male 
 slaves, and twenty Creoles. They were either buried alive, 
 or killed before filling up the holes ; and thus nearly a hun- 
 dred people met a horrible death, as a funeral ofi'ering to 
 one of the dark gods of Africa. — American Missionary, 
 vol. I., p. 56. 
 
 SELLING CHILDREN. 
 
 The practice of selling children is very common in Siam, 
 on the part of poor parents. Hundreds, perhaps, are sold 
 into slavery dailj', both male and female, the latter becom- 
 ing, to a great extent, subservient to the amusement and 
 sensuality of the nobility. — 3Iiss. Her., July, 1837. 
 
 "BLEEDING AFRICA." 
 
 In no part of the heathen world has the horrid practice 
 of sacrificing human beings been more awfully prevalent 
 
"bleeding AFRICA." 31 
 
 than in Western Africa. There are two forms of this fear- 
 ful custom. One is that of sacrificing' persons for the dead ; 
 the other, that of sacrifices to propitiate the fetish, or super- 
 natural power. The first form demands the largest number 
 of victims. When a chief or any of his relatives die, indi- 
 viduals are put to death, in order that they may follow him 
 into the future world, and serve him there. Affection and 
 grief are thus converted into means of fearful cruelty. The 
 rank of the dead and of the living, the ardor of affection, 
 and the greatness of the sorrow felt, tend to augment the 
 number of these butcheries. The British consul, Mr. Bow- 
 ditch, who resided some years in Ashantee, states that when 
 the king's mother died, the king himself devoted to death 
 three thousand victims! two thousand of whom were prison- 
 ers taken in war ; besides which, five of the largest towns, 
 to show their loyalty, offered one hundred victims each ; 
 and most of the smaller towns, ten each. The victims are 
 generally slaves or captives ; but when these are insuffi- 
 cient, the friends of the deceased seize and drag to death 
 whomsoever they can catch, and it is not deemed murder. 
 
 Under the second form, human sacrifices are offered when 
 a war is to be undertaken, a calamity averted, or any impor- 
 tant work done. The public national customs, as the relig- 
 ious ceremonies are called, are but scenes of wholesale 
 slaughter. For daj's, the floor of the palace, the streets, 
 and public places, are covered with blood. Hence it is, 
 that Africa is called, with awful significance, a "land of 
 skulls." These are seen in almost every house and court- 
 yard, and often in large heaps elsewhere, and they are 
 exhibited as evidences of piety, and a source of pi'otection 
 to life and property. Says Rev. Mr. Freeman, missionary, 
 "The wall which surrounds the palace of the king of Da- 
 homey is decorated with human skulls, stuck on small 
 sticks." Six thousand heads of war-captives were cut oft' 
 for the purpose ; and, as these were found to be insuffi- 
 cient, an order was given to chop off" as manj'- as were 
 needed, and one hundred and twenty seven heads were 
 added, to adorn the royal walls, and protect the palace. 
 This custom explains the " fetish tree," seen by Lander, at 
 Badagry. The bodies of the victims are hewed to pieces, 
 and fragments suspended on the branches of this enormous 
 tree, while the skulls are placed in heaps around its vast 
 base. Thousands of vultures feed upon the flesh with which 
 these trees are loaded, and the air is filled with the intoler- 
 
32 THE HABITATIONS OF CEUELTY. 
 
 able stench of putrefying bodies. Truly, Africa is a land 
 of darkness, cruelty and blood ! made so by its own hea- 
 thenism, independent of the slave-trade ; but intelligent resi- 
 dents in that country declare that these woes have been 
 immeasurably aggravated and em])ittered by that inhuman 
 traffic. A Calabar chief said, when remonstrated with in 
 regard to these cruelties, "A slave be nothing." Yes, 
 European and American Christians (nominally so) have 
 taught the African chief that "a slave be nothing," and 
 have sanctioned the wholesale butchery of these poor vic- 
 tims, by a barbarity worse than death, at the altar of super- 
 stition. — U. Brelh.'s Miss. Record, 1846, p. 187, 
 
 TOHTURIITG HUMAN" VICTIMS. 
 
 Common as human sacrifices are among heathen nations, 
 it is seldom that they are known to torture their victims 
 before killing them. But the following are appalling in- 
 stances of such a practice. In Coomassie, the capital of 
 Ashantee, Western Africa, an English gentleman was wit- 
 ness to the horrible torments inflicted on a man previous to 
 sacrifice. His hands were pinioned behind him, a knife was 
 passed through his cheeks, to which his lips were noosed 
 like the figure 8 ; one ear was cut off, and carried before 
 him ; the other hung to his head by a small bit of skin ; 
 there were several gashes in his back, and a knife was 
 thrust under each shoulder-blade ; he was led, with a cord 
 passed through his nose, by men disfigured with immense 
 caps of shaggy black skins, and drums beat before him. 
 
 In another case. Rev. Mr. Freeman, Wesleyan missionary, 
 saw two human beings, who were about to be offered in the 
 " devil-house," each with knives forced through their cheeks, 
 one on each side, so as to deprive them of speech. This 
 peculiar method of torture is resorted to, to prevent the 
 victims fnmi cursing the king, or swearing the death of any 
 persons on whom they might wish vengeance to fall. — 
 Fox's Hist, of Wesleyan Jllission in W. Africa, p. 252, 
 
 WOMEN IN AFHICA. 
 
 The appalling degradation and abuse of women in West 
 Africa is set forth in the following passage : " They are 
 bought and sold, whipped, worked and despised. Unques- 
 tionably thc}^ become surly, malicious and perverse, and, 
 under the detestable system of polygamy which prevails 
 everywhere, they are perfectly faithless to their husbands ; 
 
AWFUL SUPERSTITION. 33 
 
 whom they torment by tlieir perversity. They are the most 
 bitter enemies of the missionaries, and this they communi- 
 cate to their chikh-en. They are here, as mothers are ever}^- 
 where, the instructors of the young. Early in life they fill 
 the 3'oung mind with the most foolish and debasing supei'- 
 stitions, and foster, by daily example, the worst of pas- 
 sions." The missionary, from whose journal we copy, says, 
 " I am convinced that the first efficient movement, in under- 
 mining these systems of false religion, must be in the way 
 of female training." American females, he thinks, should 
 not hesitate to make the experiment of teaching them, 
 though it be attended with some danger to health and life. 
 — Miss. Her., 1851. 
 
 AWFUL SUPEKSTITION. 
 
 A missionary of the London Missionary Society, among 
 the Caflres in South Africa, relates the following instance 
 of awful cruelty, practised under the influence of the preva- 
 lent superstition. Two children at a Kraal, at some dis- 
 tance from his residence, had died quite suddenly, and their 
 destruction was attributed to witchcraft. After an examina- 
 tion of the case, a Caffi-e sorceress decided that an uncle of 
 the children, about forty years of age, had caused their 
 death by witchcraft. He was thereupon seized, bound, and 
 severely beaten. Next he was thrown on the ground, and 
 thongs bound round his ankles, wrists and neck, and, with 
 his limbs extended and his face upwards, he was fastened 
 to the earth, and exposed to the fierce rays of a burning 
 sun ; a scorching fire was made at his feet, and large stones 
 made hot in it applied to various parts of his body. In this 
 situation he was found when the missionary, who had heard 
 of the scene, hastily arrived, in the hope of relieving the 
 sufferer. But his remonstrances were of no avail. The 
 helpless sufferer's toi'ture was now increased by a nest of 
 large black ants, whose bite is severely painful, being shaken 
 over his body ; and, when the missionary approached to drive 
 them off, he was peremptorily ordered to desist, and to in- 
 terfere no more. These dreadful tortures were continued 
 from early in the morning until near sunset, when the 
 wretched man was released, and allowed to crawl away 
 with the small remains of life he possessed. But he had 
 been fatally injured, and he died in two days. — 3[issionary 
 Chronicle, 1835, p. 344. 
 
34 THE HABITATIONS OF CRUELTY. 
 
 HEAD FOR HEAD. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Anderson, of the Scotch United Presbyterian 
 Church, long a missionary in West Africa, writes, in 1850, 
 that as he and Dr. Taylor were walking along, in old Cala- 
 bar, they saw two fellows fighting with big sticks. One 
 nearly broke the other's head. The missionaries took them 
 both to his majesty the king, to see how he would settle the 
 quarrel. The trial was very short. Oidy one party was 
 heard — the complainant. Having heard his storj^, the 
 king cut the matter short, by giving his decision, which 
 was, "Him break your head? Why you no break his 
 back again ? Go." The parties immediately went ofi', and 
 the king said to his white friends, "This be proper fashion 
 for Calabar ; when one man hurt another, other must Inirt 
 him back ; and if another man make palaver (i. e., a third 
 party interfere), shoot him." Barbarous and heathenish as 
 the ideas of this sable king may seem, his decision was 
 quite as enlightened as is the sentiment on which rests the 
 " code of honor," which is simply a law of brute force and 
 deliberate murder. 
 
 CHINESE CRUELTY— MAKING LITTLE FEET. 
 
 In 1847, Dr. Peter Parker gave the following account of 
 a case which came under his own observation. It was that 
 of Luh Akwang, an interesting little Chinese girl, seven 
 years of age, who lost both her feet from compression. 
 "On the 9th of February, agreeably to a custom that has 
 prevailed in China for thousands of years, the bandages 
 were applied, a la mode, to her feet, occasioning her ex- 
 cessive sufferings, which, after the lapse of a fortnight, 
 became insupportable, and the parents were reluctantly 
 compelled to remove the bandages, when, as the father 
 j.-eprescnted, the toes were found discolored. Gangrene had 
 commenced, and, when she was brought to the hospital on 
 the Stb of March, it had extended to the whole foot. The 
 ijne oir demai-cation formed at the ankles, and both feet 
 were perfectly black, shrivelled, and dry, and nearly ready 
 to drop oflTat the ankle-joint. The left foot separated in a 
 few days after, and within about ten days the right also, 
 leaving the stumps healthy, the granulation rapidly covering 
 tlie bone^ and new skin forming at the edges. The friends 
 preferring it, the child was treated at home, being brought 
 occasionally to the hospital. The last time she was seen, 
 the right stum]) had nearly healed over, the other was less 
 
WITHOUT NATURAL AFFECTION. 35 
 
 advanced in the healing process. Since the occurrence of 
 this case, I have heard, on good authority, of several others 
 similar, — a painful comment on the cruelty of this custom, 
 to which millions in China have been subject during many 
 centuries past." The origin of this practice. Dr. Parker says, 
 is ascribed to Tanke, an infamous empress, B. C. 1100, who 
 was born with club feet. She is represented as having 
 great influence over the emperor, whom she induced to 
 issue an imperial edict, adopting her feet; as the model of 
 oeauty, and requiring the compression of the infant females' 
 feet, so as to conform to the imperial model. This is a tra- 
 ditional story, to which, Dr. Parker does not attach much 
 importance. — Am. Hiss., vol. ii., p. 87. 
 
 "WITHOUT NATURAL AFFECTION. 
 
 Robert Moifat, more than twenty years missionary in 
 South Africa, relates the following painful incidents, which 
 XJame under his observation. Returning home with his 
 party from a tour in the interior, his attention was called to 
 an object the most pitiful and distressing he had ever beheld. 
 It was a venerable-looking old woman, a living skeleton, 
 sitting, with her head leaning on her knees. She appeared 
 terrified at the presence of the strangers, and especially 
 Mr. Moflfat. She tried to rise, but was too weak, and she 
 sunk again to the earth. Mr. Mofi'at addressed her, saying, 
 " My mother, fear not, we are friends, and will do you no 
 harm." He put several questions to her; but she seemed 
 afraid to open her lips. He again repeated, " Pray, 
 mother, who are you, and how do you come to be in this 
 situation?" — to which she replied, "I am a woman; I 
 have been here four days ; my children have left me here to 
 die." — "Your children!" exclaimed Mr. Moffat. "Yes," 
 raising her hand to her shrivelled bosom, "my own 
 children, three sons and two daughters. They are gone," 
 pointing with her finger, " to yonder blue mountain, and 
 have left me here to die." — " And, pray, why did they leave 
 you ? " he inquired. Spreading out her hands, she said, 
 " I am old, you see, and I am no longer able to serve them ; 
 when they kill game, I am too feeble to help in carrying 
 home the flesh ; I am not able to gather wood to make 
 fire ; and I cannot cany their children on my back, as I used 
 to do." — "This last sentence," says Mr. Moffiit, was more 
 than I could bear, and, though my tongue was cleaving to 
 the roof of my mouth for want of water, this reply opened a 
 
36 THE HABITATIONS OP CRUELTY. 
 
 fountain of tears. I remarked that I was surprised that 
 she had escaped the lions, which abounded, and had ap- 
 proached very near the spot where she was. She took hold 
 of tlie skin of her left arm with lier fing-ers, and, raising it up 
 as one would do a loose linen, she added, " I hear the lions, 
 but there is nothing on me that they would eat ; I have no 
 flesh on me for them to scent." Mr. Motfat offered to take 
 her into his wagon and remove her to a neighboring village, 
 but she replied, " They would only do the same thing with 
 me again ; it is our custom ; I am nearly dead, and I do not 
 want to die again." This is what human nature comes to 
 without the Gospel. — 3Iiss. Labors and Scenes in South 
 Africa, p. 133, 
 
 SACBIPICES TO JUGGERNAUT. 
 
 Dr. Scudder says that 200,000 persons visit Juggernaut 
 yearly, and that 10,000 of them die annually. Others think 
 tliat if all that die at Poore (Juggernaut's seat) and upon, 
 the road, and all who sink under diseases after they return 
 home, were included, tlie number would be nearer 20,000. 
 This does not include those who suffer and die by diseases 
 contracted or taken by others from returned pilgrims. If 
 we remember that this awful mortalit}', both of tlic pilgrims 
 and the people among whom they journey, has been going 
 on for hundreds of years, we can form some feeble estimate 
 of the mass of misery which this formidable pilgrimage pro- 
 duces. 
 
 "WOMAN" IN" INDIA. 
 
 The distinguished Dr. Duff has compressed into a single 
 passage a volume of truth respecting the condition of females 
 in India. lie says, " In India, the birth of a female sel- 
 dom occasions any greetings congratulatory to tlie motlier, 
 — any kind of inquiries respecting the welfare of her new- 
 born babe. It is the commonest expression on tlie lips of 
 the men, ' Cursed be the day when a female was born in 
 my house ! ' Were a stranger at any time to meet a respect- 
 able Hindoo, — a man of wealth and rank, of sense and 
 honor, — and were he, in his ignorance of the customs of the 
 country, to ask for the wife and family of his new acquaint- 
 ance, how would such an act of intended and well-meant 
 kindness be regarded ? In no other light than that of an 
 insult. At any such inquiries he is apt to be fired with indig- 
 nation. If the husband is obliged on any occasion to refer 
 
RETRIBUTION. 37 
 
 to his wife, he will not speak of her in direct and express 
 terms. He will say, ' A certain person,' or ' Some individ- 
 ual.' Hence it is, that in India there are millions of molliers, 
 but not a single ivife, in the noble and Christian sense of the 
 term ; millions of domestic drudges, but not a single guide or 
 instructress of her own children! From the very entrance 
 of woman into the world, she is treated as a slave, who has 
 no personal liberty. The universal practice is to betroth her 
 at the tenderest age, and very often when a mere infant, to 
 her future husband. There is no will — no choice — no room 
 for the exercise of afiection. But the misery does not stop 
 here. Suppose the betrothed husband should die before the 
 marriage is consummated, what is the fate of the female ? 
 The betroth ment is considered to be of the very essence of 
 marriage. She is accordingly treated as a widow ; and, by 
 a law held to be of divine authority, a widow is forbidden to 
 marry. Accordingly, if she refuse to sacrifice herself on the 
 funeral pile of her intended husband, she must remain a 
 widow for life, subject to a thousand vexatious restrictions 
 and mortifying indignities. In this way, there are thousands 
 of widows in India, not exceeding the age of ten or iwelce, 
 and not a few from two years old and under ! Who can tell 
 what a fount of temptation, and pollution, and wickedness, 
 this cruel and arbitrary system has opened, and for ages 
 kept open, in every province in India? — Duff's Miss. Ad- 
 dresses, p. 227. 
 
 KETRIBUTION. 
 
 The manner in which a horrid and cruel heathen custom 
 was brought to an end is related by Dr. Grant of the Nes- 
 torian mission. A little distance from Lezan was a preci- 
 pice, down which it was the custom, at a former period, for 
 children to throw their aged and helpless parents, to relieve 
 themselves of the burden of their support. At length a young 
 man, who was carrying his aged father up the precipitous 
 mountain, became exhausted, and put down his burden to 
 rest, when the old man began to weep, and said to his son, 
 " It is not for myself but for you that I weep. I well 
 remember the time when I carried my father up this same 
 mountain, but I little thought then that my turn would come 
 so soon. I weep, my son, to think that you too may soon 
 be dashed down that dreadful precipice, as you arc about to 
 do to me." This speech melted the son's heart ; he carried 
 back his venerable father, and maintained him at his own 
 4 
 
38 THE HABITATIONS OP CRUELTY. 
 
 home. From that time the practice wholly ceased. Dr. 
 Grant, without vouchiug- for the truth of the story, gives it 
 as a valuable legend of the country. — Iltss. Her., 1841, 
 p. 126. 
 
 CHARACTER OP THE GONDS. 
 
 The Gonds are a primitive people, inhabiting western Ilin- 
 doostan. "They are cannibals, and extremely savage, 
 though they do not eat the flesh of any person not belonging 
 to their own family or tribe. It is the custom of this singu- 
 lar people to cut the throat of any person of their family who 
 is sick, and not likely to recover, and when killed they feast 
 upon his body. So, when a person is aged and infirm, they 
 proceed with him as with the sick. This they do not con- 
 sider a sin, but an acceptable service to Kalee, and a mercy 
 to their relatives." Missionaries of late have modified this 
 statement, and have observed that the Gonds have ceased to 
 be cannibals, and have become as much civilized as the 
 poorer Hindoos around them. It is a remarkable fact, testi- 
 iied to by missionaries and government officers, that the 
 Gonds are honest and " never told lies." — Miss. Her., 1853, 
 p. 23T. 
 
NATIVE INTELLECT, CAPACITY, WIT, ETC. 
 
 HEATHEN DO THINK. 
 
 The heathen are not all as dull and thoughtless as some 
 imagine. Of this the following is a proof. Sekesa, a Be- 
 chuaua (West African), thus addressed a missionary, from 
 whom he had been hearing the Gospel : — " Your views, 
 white man, are just what I wanted and sought for, before I 
 found you. Twelve years ago, I went, in a cloudy season, 
 to feed my flock along the Tlotse, among the Malutis. 
 Seated upon a rock, in sight of my sheep, I asked myself 
 sad questions, — yes, sad, because I could not answer them. 
 The sta7^s, said I, who touched them with his hand ? On 
 what pillars do they rest ? The xoaters are not weary ; they 
 run without ceasing, at night and morning alike ; but where 
 do they stop ? or who makes them run thus ? The clouds 
 also go, return, and fall in water to the earth. Whence do 
 they arise ? Who sends them ? It surely is not the Barokas 
 (rain-makers) who gave us the rain, for how could they 
 make it ? The wind, what is it ? Who brings it or takes 
 it away, makes it blow, and roar, and frighten us ? Do I 
 know how the corn grows ? Yesterday there was not a 
 blade to be seen in my field ; to-day I return and find some- 
 thing. It is very small, I can scarcely see it, but it will 
 grow up like to a young man. Who canhave given the ground 
 wisdom and power to produce it ? Then, I buried mj'- fore- 
 head in my hands, — again I thought within myself, and I 
 said, We all depart, but this country remains ; it alone 
 remains, for we all go away. But whither do we go ? My 
 heart answered, Perhaps other men live besides us, and we 
 shall go to them. A second time it said. Perhaps those 
 men live under the earth, and we shall go to them ; but 
 another thought arose against it, and said, Those men under 
 
40 NATIVE INTELLECT, CAPACITY, WIT, ETC. 
 
 the earth, whence come they? Then my heart did not know 
 what more to think. It wandered. 
 
 " Then m}' heart rose and spoke to me, sa3Mng, All men 
 do much evil, and thou, thou also hast done much evil ; woe 
 to thee ! I recalled many wrongs which I had done to 
 others, and because of them my conscience gnawed me in 
 secret, as I sat alone on the rock. I say I was afraid ; I 
 got up, and ran after my sheep, trying to enliven myself; 
 but 1 trembled much." — Pres. For. Ilias., 1851, p. 20. 
 
 EAGERNESS IN LEARNING TO READ. 
 
 A native assistant in the female seminary at Ooroomiah 
 gives the following deeply interesting account of the anxiety 
 and efforts of the girls, women, and men, in the Sabbath- 
 school, to learn to read. lie says, " One girl, who has 
 never been to school, has read her New Testament twice 
 through, and has begun to read the Old Testament, trans- 
 lating from the ancient Syriac. There are sixteen women 
 who have learned to read well in the New Testament. 
 These women have never been to school, nor have they time 
 to go, for they are laborers, and have a great deal of work. 
 But they love to read, and when they go out in the summer 
 to their vineyards or fields, to weed, they carry their books 
 with tliem ; and when they sit down to eat and rest a little, 
 while their companions sleep, they read. Others, who have 
 not oil to light their houses, read by moonlight. Others, 
 when they are spinning, put their books on a little shelf, and 
 spin and read. Of the men who have, in these two years, 
 learned to read, one has finished his New Testament, and 
 fourteen others read well. It is a very difficult thing for 
 them to read, for they have a great deal of work in winter 
 and summer. They are very poor, and cannot leave their 
 Avork to go to school. This they do that they ma}"- learn. 
 When they go out to plough, or dig, or harvest, they put 
 their books in their pockets, and, at the time for rest, when 
 their companions lie down, they read. Though they may 
 be very tired when they come from their work at 
 night, they always read, however late it may be. One of 
 these men, of whom I have spoken, is so earnest to read, 
 tliat, when he gets up in the night to take care of liis cattle, 
 he never sleeps afterwards, but reads till morning. When 
 his flimily knew this they waked him no more to work in 
 the iiight, because he burned so much oil. There are some 
 of these men who will give a little girl a cent, to give at the 
 
A TOUCHING APPEAL. 41 
 
 monthly concert, for teaching them ; and so they gather up 
 knowledge. When they come to evening prayers they 
 bring their books with them, and read till the people assem- 
 ble."— J/is^\ Her., 1852, p. 241. 
 
 A MODEL PREACHEK. 
 
 John, the acting native pastor of Geog Tapa, was one of 
 the most devoted laborers among the Nestorians. He usu- 
 ally preached three times a day during the week time, 
 besides performing other arduous duties. His spirit and 
 practice may be inferred from the language he employed in 
 public on one occasion, as described by Rev. Mr. Stocking. 
 He said to his hearers, " Meet the truth like men, for we 
 shall not cease to pursue jow, wherever you are, with the 
 sword of the Spirit. If you come to church, you will meet 
 it here. If you stay in your houses, we shall reach you 
 there. If you go to your Holds, we shall go after you there. 
 If we find you in the streets, there we shall address you ; 
 and if you are in your stables, thither, also, we shall go to 
 reclaim you to God. Since, then, there is no escape for you, 
 meet the truth, and yield yourselves to God." — Jour, of 
 Miss., Aug., 1850. 
 
 A TOUCHIlSrG APPEAL. 
 
 Eev. John Williams, in his Missionary Enterprises, p, 
 466, gives the following account of a scene which occurred 
 on his leaving the island of Raiatea, one of the Society 
 Islands, where he had long labored as a missionary. He 
 saj's : " A few weeks after I had taken leave of Raiatea for 
 England, I had occasion to return to that island ; and, a 
 short time subsequent to my arrival, I found that a meeting 
 had been convened, which I was requested to attend. I 
 knew not its object, until the king's speaker arose, and told 
 me that they had met to request me to abandon my inten- 
 tion of visiting England. After many interesting addresses, 
 a chief arose, and, with great gravity, said, ' Mr. Williams, 
 I have been reading to-day what Paul wrote to the Philip- 
 pians : " I am in a strait between two, having a desire to 
 depart and be with Christ, which is far better ; nevertheless, 
 to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." Now, wo 
 all know that you must wish to see your friends, and visit 
 your native country, after so long an absence, — this is very 
 reasonable ; but don't you think, if Paul was willing (o stay, 
 even out of heaven, to do good to Christians on earth, that 
 4* 
 
42 NATIVE INTELLECT, CAPACITY, WIT, ETC. 
 
 you ought to forego the pleasure of visiting England, to do 
 good to us r* ' This was a touching appeal ; and, feeling it 
 deeply, I replied, b}'- expressing my pleasure at receiving 
 this proof of their aflection, and promised, on revisiting 
 Tahiti, to consult Mrs. W., and, if we could not remain our- 
 selves, to persuade one of our brother missiouaries to reside 
 with them until our return. I had no sooner made this 
 declaration than another speaker arose, and, after thanking 
 me for promising to endeavor to find a substitute, exclaimed, 
 ' But, although we have ten thousand instructors in Christ, 
 we have not many fathers ; for, in Christ Jesus, you have 
 begotten us through the Gospel.' " 
 
 THE BLIND BOY AND THE BIBLE. 
 
 The ease and rapidity with which the blind often acquire 
 a knowledge of the Scriptures, is illustrated in the case of 
 a little Nestorian boy, who, though he could not see at all, 
 learned more rapidly than any other boy in the mission 
 school. After hearing the other boys read a chapter in the 
 Bible a few times, he Avould repeat the whole of it from 
 memory. When his turn came to read, he would repeat his 
 verse with as much accuracy as any of them. — Miss. Her., 
 1844, p. 260. 
 
 A HEATHEN CHILD'S BETORT. 
 
 A little boy (son of a distinguished Hindoo), who had 
 been taught in the mission school, said to a devotee, who 
 came to his father's house to beg for food, " I cannot give 
 you rice ; ask the house." The devotee answered, " Why 
 should I do so ? It cannot give me anything." — " Then," 
 said the boy, " ask the tree," pointing to a cocoa-nut tree. 
 
 — " Tliat cannot understand me, if 1 do," was the reply. 
 
 — " Then ask Juggernaut, whom you worship," continued 
 the boy ; " he will understand as well as the tree, because 
 he is wood." The poor devotee walked away, bearing this 
 sharp and sensible rebuke as well as he could. — Gen. Bap. 
 Repos., 1850, p. 294. 
 
 NATIVE ELOQUENCE. 
 
 A native catechist at Madura, addressing a company 
 from the latter part of the sixth chapter of Matthew, said, 
 " Of what avail is knowledge without faith ? Where is Ra- 
 maswamy ? (a native who had recently died.) Where there 
 
BEMARKABLE FAMILIARITY WITH THE SCRIPTURES. 43 
 
 is no room for change ! And how suddenly was he taken ! 
 How many plans has he left unfinished ! Ilow did he think, 
 ' To-morrow I will g-o to Pereakolum, and do tliis ; another 
 day to Combum, and do that ; and here in Dindigul I will do 
 so and so ! ' Did he do it ? And that interest in the court 
 at Madura, — you know with what hopes he went thither a 
 few weeks since. ' If this succeeds, I shall get a name for 
 my family and kindred, and for myself Did he accomplish 
 it all ? Where is he now ? Remember the rich fool. While 
 he would be pulling down and enlarging his store-houses, 
 God calls away his soul. Did he carry any of his wealth 
 with him ? Did Ramaswamy carry any of his with him ? 
 Where is his last month's wages ? Are they not in his 
 trunk ? And of what avail to him now ? Did the people 
 whose reproaches he feared go with him ? What folly to 
 fear the revilings of men ! " Much more to the same effect 
 is recorded of this speech, showing a degree of force and 
 ingenuity in the native mind, which eminently fits them for 
 operating successfully upon their countrymen, where by 
 grace and education they are fitted for preachers of the Gos- 
 pel.— Miss. He?'., 1842, p. 138. 
 
 NOT ASHAMED. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Yate, in his New Zealand, p. 216, repox'ts the 
 speech of an old chief, at an evening service held by Mr. 
 Yate. At the conclusion, the chief rose and said, " Come, 
 friends, let us all believe ; it will do us no harm. Believ- 
 ing, what will it do ? It will not kill us, for the white 
 people do not die ; it will not make us ill, for the white 
 people are not ill ; it will not make us ashamed, for the 
 white people are not ashamed ; therefore, let us all, all, all 
 believe, and perhaps it will make the white people's God 
 gracious to us, and our souls will not be any longer devili- 
 fied, but will be Christified, and we shall all, all go to 
 heaven." 
 
 REMARKABLE FAMILIARITY \N7-ITH THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 Blind Bartimeus, of whom frequent mention is made in 
 the journals of the Sandwich Islands' mission, was more 
 than thirty years old before he knew that such a book as 
 the Bible existed, and yet, says the missionary, Mr. Clarke, 
 " he afterwards became more familiar with its contents than 
 any person I ever knew. He commenced storing his mem- 
 ory with the word of God before it was translated into his 
 
44 NATIVE INTELLECT, CAPACITY, WIT, ETC. 
 
 native tonp^no. A text from which he heard a missionary 
 preach, seldom escaped him. Ho could repeat it, many 
 years after, with the chapter and verse, and often, also, a 
 large part of the discourse. When portions of the Bible 
 began to be published in his own language, he would re- 
 quest his wife and others to read to him. In this way he 
 secured the precious treasure as fast as it was published, in 
 a language which he understood. And so accurate was 
 his memory that he Avould sometimes quote, in his addresses 
 to the people, different editions of the New Testament, as 
 changes were made in the translation from time to time. 
 He would first tell how the passage stood in the old edition, 
 then in the new, so that those who had different editions 
 might recognize the passage." Mr. Clarke adds, after 
 noticing the happy death of Bartimeus, " Could we know 
 how many Hawaiians have been saved by the instrumen- 
 tality of this individual, well might we exclaim, at how 
 cheap a price has his immortal soul been purchased by the 
 American churches! " — Miss. Her., 1844, p. 145. 
 
 AN AFEICAN'S ARGUMENT. 
 
 Rev, Mr. Moffat, of the South Africa mission, states 
 that a converted native, by the name of Mosheshe, was 
 addressing his countrymen on one occasion, when he used 
 the following illustration : — " Ye Makare have heard these 
 words, and you say they are lies. If these words do not 
 conquer, the fault will lie with you. You say you will not 
 believe what you do not understand. Look at an egg. If 
 a man break it, there comes only a watery and yellow sub- 
 stance from it ; but if it be placed under the wings of a 
 fowl, there comes a living thing from it. Who can under- 
 stand this ? Who ever knew how the heat of the hen pro- 
 duced the chicken in the egg? This is incomprehensible to 
 us, yet we do not deny the fact. Let us do like the hen. 
 Let us place these truths in our hearts, as the hen does the 
 egg under her wings. Let us sit upon them, and take the 
 same pains, and something new will come of them." — Miss, 
 Labors and Scenes in South Africa, p. 611, 
 
 AS A CAKE OF SUGAR, 
 
 A young Brahmin convert, who was observed to spend 
 much time in reading the Bible, was asked how he liked it ; 
 to which he answered, that he " felt it as a cake of sugar — 
 no side of it bitter." 
 
NATIVE SHKEWDNESS. 45 
 
 SAYING OP AN ARMENIAN. 
 
 An Armenian convert, Peshtiinaljan, head of the Arme- 
 nian academy at Constantinople, remarked, that " When 
 God created man, he made him in his own image ; but man 
 has reversed the order, and now endeavors to make God in 
 man's image." — 3Iiss. Her., April, 1837. 
 
 THE THATCHED HEAD. 
 
 As an instance of the wit and humor of some of the 
 South Sea Islanders, the following amusing incident is 
 related. A missionary, who had labored at one of the 
 islands, and who was quite bald, went to England, where 
 his friends fitted him to a nice wig. On his return, after 
 the usual salutations, one of the natives said to him, " You 
 were bald when you left, and now you have a beautiful head 
 of hair. What amazing people the English are ! How did 
 tliey make your hair grow again ? " — " You simple people," 
 replied the missionary, "how does everything grow? is it 
 not by sowing seed?" They immediately shouted, " 0, 
 these English people ! they sow seed upon a bald man's 
 head, to make the hair grow ! " One shrewd fellow inquired 
 whether he had brought any of the seed with him. The 
 good missionary carried on the joke for a short time, and 
 then took oflF his wig. The revelation of his original head 
 drew forth a roar of laughter, which was greatly increased 
 when one of the natives shouted to his countrymen, "Here, 
 
 see Mr. ; he lias come from England ivith his head 
 
 thatched! he has come from England with his head thatched! " 
 
 NATIVE SHREWDNESS. 
 
 Some years since a trading vessel, while sailing among 
 the South Sea Islands, heard of the wreck of the Falcon at 
 Rurutu, a Christian island ; and, understanding that there 
 were only native missionaries there, it occurred to the cap- 
 tain that he could easily deceive the people and obtain the 
 wrecked cargo. He therefore steered for Rurutu, and, on 
 landing, was welcomed by the native missionary, to whom 
 he stated that he had come for the oil belonging to the late 
 Falcon. The missionary asked him if he had not a letter 
 from Bcni (Capt. Chase). "Certainly," said he; "but I 
 have come from my ship without it ; I will return for it im- 
 mediately." He went off to his vessel, and wrote an order, 
 with which he returned to the shore. Affirming it to be 
 from Capt. Chase, he put it into the hands of the missionary. 
 
46 NATIVE INTELLECT, CAPACITY, WIT, ETC. 
 
 The natives are very unsophisticated at times in the expres- 
 sion of their sentiments ; and, looking the captain sig'iiifi- 
 cantly in the face, the teaclier, in his broken English, said, 
 " You a liar — you a thief — you w^ant to steal this property 
 — you no have it 1 " The captain, being much enraged at 
 this salutation, or more probably at being disappointed of 
 his expected booty, began to bluster and storm. The 
 teacher, however, took the captain by the hand, led him into 
 his house, and opened his native journal, in which he had 
 taken the precaution to get Capt. Chase to write. Placing 
 the forged paper by the side of the wanting in the journal, 
 he repeated his charge. " You a liar — you a thief — you 
 shall not have this property 1 " The captain threatened to 
 go to his vessel, load his cannon, and take the property by 
 force ; but, instead of this, he hoisted his sails and departed. 
 Native good sense was more than a match for the piratical 
 foreigner. — Williams^ s Missionary Enterprise in South Sea 
 Islands, p. 64. 
 
 THE LITTLE TEACHER. 
 
 Mr. Goodell, of Constantinople, mentions the case of a 
 little girl, four yeai's old, whom he met with in one of the 
 Protestant schools, and who, when it came her turn, read 
 her verses in the New Testament with as much facility as 
 the older scholars, the only difficulty being that she was too 
 young to sjjeak plain 1 Mr. G. further learnt, to his aston- 
 ishment, that this little girl was iha teacher of her mother ! 
 This mother, having learnt thus, from her own little babe, 
 to read the Bible, and having been taught, also, by the Holy 
 Spirit, was about to be received to the church. — Miss. 
 Her., 1847, p. 212. 
 
 EARLY PROFICIENCY. 
 
 As showing what a child can do, it is related of a little 
 girl nine years old, at Madura, Southern India, that she had 
 committed to memory thirty hymns, and eight or ten chap- 
 ters in the Scriptures ; a book of nearly three hundred 
 pages, being a compendium of the Bible ; three or four cat- 
 echisms, besides going through with the whole course pur- 
 sued in the mission school. As a monitor and assistant 
 teacher, she had also rendered important service. Few 
 children, at such an age, even in Christian lands, exhibit 
 greater capacity and progress than this little girl, though 
 born to heathenism. — Miss. Her., 1845, p. 38. 
 
AN ORIGINAL INTERPEETATION. 4i\ 
 
 NATIVE TALENT TESTED. 
 
 The converts to Christianity in Raiatea, one of the Soci- 
 ety Islands, and the largest of the group, were many of 
 them so intelligent, and so free and correct in their conver- 
 sation and addresses, that the ofiBcers of an English vessel 
 then in port were led to question their originality, and to 
 assert that they were mere parrots, repeating only what Mr. 
 Williams, the missionary, had taught them. To test this 
 point, Mr. Williams proposed to the captain and chaplain 
 of the vessel, to take tea at his house, when he would have 
 ten or fifteen of the native Christians present, and they 
 might answer any questions that should be proposed to them. 
 This was agreed to, and the meeting was accordingly held. 
 The natives were subjected to a protracted examination, in 
 which they acquitted themselves to the satisfliction and 
 surprise of their sceptical interrogators. To a question on 
 the divine origin and inspiration of the Bible, several had 
 replied in a thorough manner ; and when it came to an old 
 priest, then a devoted Christian, instead of replying at once, 
 he held up his hands, and rapidly moved the joints of his 
 wrists and fingers, then opened and shut his mouth, and 
 closed these singular actions by raising his leg, and moving 
 it in various directions. Having done this, he said, " See, I 
 have hinges all over me ; if the thought grows in my heart, 
 that I wish to handle anything, the hinges in my hands ena- 
 ble me to do so ; if I want to utter anything, the hinges to 
 my jaws enable me to say it ; and if I desire to go anywhere, 
 here are hinges to my legs to enable me to walk. Now," 
 continued he, " I perceive great wisdom in the adaptation of 
 my body to the various wants of my mind ; and when I look 
 into the Bible, and see there proofs of wisdom which corre- 
 spond exactly with those which appear in vaj frame, I con- 
 clude the Maker of my body is the author .of that book." 
 After a trial of over three hours, the captain and chaplain 
 were convinced that the convei'ts were not "parrots," but 
 spoke from their own native force of mind and abundant 
 knowledge of the Scriptures. On their return to England, 
 they made a report, highly favorable to the mission, and to 
 the character of converts. — Williams^s Miss. Researches in 
 South Sea Islands, p. 227. 
 
 AN ORIGINAL INTERPRETATION. 
 
 A learned Hindoo, in Northern India, employed as a 
 teacher and interpreter by the missionaries, became deeply 
 
48 NATIVE INTELLECT, CAPACITY, WIT, ETC. 
 
 interested in the Christian religion, and subsequently trans- 
 lated portions of the Scriptures into his native dialect. When 
 translating' the parable of the man out of whom the unclean 
 spirit had been cast, the missionary asked him if he under- 
 stood what it meant ; — to which he replied, " Previous to a 
 man's knowing and professing Christ, one devil may be 
 said to dwell in his heart. But, should he afterwards deny 
 Christ, his state becomes so bad, that seven devils may be 
 said to have entered him ; and his punishment will, conse- 
 quently, be seven times gi-eater than it would have been 
 had he never pi'ofessed Christ." — Eng. Bap. Miss. Herald, 
 Jan., 1833. 
 
 DEAD BRAISrCHES. 
 
 A New Zealand convert, on being examined for baptism in 
 1854, said, " When a tree is grafted, the under branches 
 are all cut off and thrown away, for, if not, the scion would 
 not grow ; and so I feel that it will be of no use for me to 
 be baptized, unless I leave off theft and all other sins, which 
 have been to me as the old branches to the stock." 
 
 LEABNIWO- TJWDEB DISCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 A priest, named Dunka, in the Koordish mountains, re- 
 lated to Mr. Perkins, of the Nestorian mission, the circum- 
 stances of extreme difficulty and discouragement under 
 which he acquired knowledge when quite a boy. His father 
 was violentl}^ opposed to his reading the psalter, and would 
 wrest it from him, with a blow on the head, whenever he 
 found him perusing it. He had learned his letters from an 
 uncle, and when he went out daily to look after the flock (for 
 that was his business), he would take his psalter secretly, 
 and study it all day, while watching his flock in the wild 
 Koordish mountains. In this way he committed the whole 
 of the Psalms to memory, and learned to spell all the words. 
 He continued to learn, became distinguished for his attain- 
 ments, and was ordained a priest. He was a warm friend 
 of the missionaries. — Miss. Herald, 1840, p. 487. 
 
 DEFENCE OP HEATHENISM. 
 
 Said a heathen, who had listened to a conversation be- 
 tween Dr. Poor and a priest, " One hundred persons obtain 
 their livelihood from that temple ; how then can they repent 
 and become Chi-istians? " This remark was based on some 
 knowledge of human nature, which is the same in heathen 
 as in Christian climes. 
 
NO GOOD WILL TO THE FISHES. 49 
 
 COMPARISON". 
 
 A converted Hindoo, on being assailed with a torrent of 
 profane and obscene words from his idolatrous neighbors, 
 went up to them and asked, " Which is worse, the abusive 
 terms that you are just using, or the mud and dirt that you 
 see lying on yon dung-hill ? " — " The abusive terms," was 
 the reply. " And would you ever take into your mouths the 
 mud and dirt?" — "Never." — " Then why do you fill your 
 mouths with the abusive terms, which you confess to be 
 worst of the two ? " Confounded with this rebuke, they 
 retired, saying that "the argument was but fair." — "Rec- 
 ord;' of Free Ch. of Scot., 1850. 
 
 AN" APEICAN'S QUESTION. 
 
 An African woman, who had heard the missionary preach, 
 inquired of him, with much apparent solicitude, " VV^hen the 
 missionary returns home does he tell God about us, and in 
 what manner we have received his word ? " 
 
 WINE-DRINKING, IN EASTERN METAPHOR. 
 
 The Bishop of Ooroomia, to show that he and his people 
 understood the subject of temperance, brought forward one 
 of their sacred books, written in the ancient Syriac, and 
 read a long passage, a part of which was in the following 
 words: "Guard thyself in drinking wine; gird up thy 
 loins like a man, lest it steal thee from thyself. The begin- 
 ning of drinking wine is like a fox ; the middle of it like an 
 elephant ; the end a fool, a blockhead, and so stupid as to 
 be nothing different from a swine, or an ass's colt." The 
 simile needs no interpretation. — 3Iiss. Her., 1839, p. 449. 
 
 W"0 GOOD WILL TO THE FISHES. 
 
 A patriarch at Constantinople came out, on a certain 
 Sabbath, with bold denunciations against the Gospel and 
 the missionaries, and used the following illustration : 
 "When fishermen go out to take fish with the hook, they 
 always employ a bait. They put something on the hook 
 which is very attractive ; and it might appear that it was 
 love for the fishes, and a desire to satisfy their appetites, 
 that led the fishermen to do this. But their real motive is 
 not at all one of benevolence, but of selfishness. They 
 wish to take the fishes for their own bellies. It is pre- 
 cisely so with the Protestants. Their bait is the Gospel, 
 and they pi'ofess to seek the good of the people ; but their 
 5 
 
50 NATIVE INTELLECT, CAPACITY, WIT, ETC. 
 
 real object is to pluck up and desti-oy." This illustration, 
 thougU falsely applied by the patriarch, is an ingenious one, 
 and may be used with great force in certain directions. — 
 Miss. Her., 1844, p. 355. 
 
 DOING APPKOPEIATE WOKE. 
 
 About the year 1838, there was considerable complaint, 
 in the American churches, that the missionaries of the 
 Board turned aside from their appropriate work to attend 
 upon schools, printing establishments, &c. This became a 
 frequent topic of remark at the mission stations, and one 
 day a missionary at Ceylon said to a catechist, " The 
 people in America say to us, we send you to preach the 
 Gosi^el, but you teach schools, make books, &c. What 
 have you to say by way of answer?" He replied, "I 
 called a carpenter to make a door for my house, and he 
 brought an adze, planes, &c. ; I rebuked him, saying, I told 
 you to come and make a door — I did not tell you to bring 
 adzes and planes, nor to work with them." Soon after, 
 another assistant came in, not knowing what had been said, 
 and I repeated the complaint of the American churches 
 (says the missionary), and asked him what answer I should 
 give. He said, " I sent my servant to the field to farm it, 
 and he went and dug out the stones, and ploughed the field, 
 and put on manure, and then I turned him off, saying, I sent 
 you to make a farm, and not to dig stones, nor put on ma- 
 nure."— Mss. Her., Maij, 1838. 
 
 A HINDOO'S IDEA OF RELIGION". 
 
 A missionary at Bangalore, India, finding a portion of 
 his hearers disposed to attend to religion, but deterred by 
 the fear of man, urged them to come out from the world and 
 trust in God, when one of them replied, "I cannot do 
 this all at once. Wait a little. As a sculptor bestows 
 much pains on a statue, giving it many touches with the 
 chisel before it attains perfection, so must you work upon 
 me again and again, and by and by your work will be 
 completed." — Miss. Chrvnicie, 1849, p. 23. 
 
 HOT HEARTS. 
 
 A Chinese convert, in conversation with a missionary, 
 remarked, " We want men with hot hearts to tell us of 
 the love of Christ." 
 
THE NESTORIAN CHILD'S HEART. 51 
 
 THE NESTORIAN" CHILD'S HEART. 
 
 It is a serious mistake to suppose that the hearts of little 
 heathen children are uuimpressible, and that it matters little 
 to them whether they have kind teachers and tender treat- 
 ment, or not. No children in the world appreciate privi- 
 leges more than they, the moment they begin to emerge 
 from heathen darkness. This is affectingly illustrated in the 
 following narrative. In the female school at Ooroomiah, under 
 the care of Miss Fiske, were some twenty or thirty children, 
 gathered from neglected and degraded classes, and looking, 
 after pretty thorough external improvements, like another 
 race. Those who had known them before were amazed at the 
 change ; and some of their simple-hearted mothers thought 
 their children had grown very pretty since attending school. 
 Again and again they would ask, "How do you make them 
 so white ?" — not having known much about the wonderful 
 properties of clean water. A corresponding change took 
 place in their minds, their feelings, and their behavior. It 
 was soon found that those children who had been supposed 
 to love nothing and care for nothing, were yielding up their 
 hearts to their teachers in the most tender and confiding 
 manner, and, especially when the attempt was made to break 
 those ties, it was seen how strongly those young affections 
 were entwined around their objects. An order was issued 
 for all readers to leave the premises, and the dissolution of 
 the school became a painful necessity. Miss Fiske sent for 
 the children, and announced to them the decision. A gen- 
 eral burst of grief followed, and the tears and sobs of the 
 children told, more plainly than language could have done, 
 the deep sorrow of their hearts. " Nor did they weep 
 alone," says a missionary. " We could not restrain our 
 own tears. And who would not weep at such a scene ? " 
 There were a company of bright, happy faces, turned with 
 hope and love to their new friends, and giving high promise 
 for the future, about to be turned back to their former dark- 
 ness, filth, and misery. "The stoutest hearts of the Nesto- 
 rians, who were standing b3^ were melted, and those who 
 were unused to weeping let fall the tear of sj^mpathy. After 
 commending these tender lambs to the gracious Shepherd 
 of Israel, they began to make their preparations for leaving 
 ns. The most trying moment, however, was yet before 
 them — the parting of pupil from pupil, and from those who 
 had for months taken the place of their parents. When 
 they were ready to leave, they threw their arms around the 
 
52 NATIVE INTELLECT, CAPACITY, WIT, ETC. 
 
 neck of their teacher, and there poured forth the bitterness 
 of their grief. It seemed as if they could never unclasp 
 their folded arms, and consent to go away. With aftecting 
 earnestness they said, again and again, ' We shall never 
 hear the words of God more.' Weeping they left us, and 
 the breezes boi'e back their mournful sigTis when they were 
 out of si>rht." When the patriarch's brothers, who had 
 ordered this dispersion, heard of the aftecting separation, 
 they lamented their own act, and said they had no intention 
 of bringing to pass such a scene. Measures were accord- 
 ingly soon taken to reassemble the children ; and in a month 
 or two they and their teacher were rejoicing together with 
 a new and peculiar joy. Their parents, also, sympathized 
 in their children's happiness, and many other Nestorian 
 families, having through this event become impressed with 
 the advantages of the school, applied for the admission of 
 their children ; so that on the whole good resulted from the 
 trial. It is natural to reflect, that, if heathen children, 
 after a few months' training, are susceptible of such culti- 
 vation and refinement of feeling, vastly more ought to be 
 done for them by the children and mothers of Christian 
 lands.— 3Iiss. Her., 1845, p. 232. 
 
 RBPBOOF — NATIVE GOOD SENSE. 
 
 Kev. Mr. Williams says, "I was standing one day by 
 Tamatoa (a South Sea Island king), when the fishing-canoes 
 returned with a quantity of salmon. These were deposited 
 in his presence ; and one of the domestics, by his master's 
 order, began to set apart a number for the various chiefs, 
 according to the usual custom. While he was doing this, a 
 petty chief took a large fish from the pile ; on seeing Avhich 
 the servant immediately seized it, and muttered something 
 in a very growling tone of voice. Tamatoa noticed this, 
 and asked the man why he did so ? ' That fellow,' he re- 
 plied, ' refused to give me some bread-fruit the other day, 
 and now he comes to take our fish ! ' The king then ordered 
 him to select two of the finest salmon, and give them cheer- 
 fully to the chief The man grumbled, and very reluctantly 
 obeyed the order. Shortly afterwards, Tamatoa called on 
 his servant, and said, ' You foolish fellow, do yon not per- 
 ceive that, by this act, the unkindness of that man will be 
 reproved, and that he will be ashamed to refuse you any- 
 thing the next time you go ? ' I immediately turned to the 
 king, and whispered, ' Why, j'ou are as wise as Solomon ; 
 
THE INDIAN MOTHER'S LAMENT. 53 
 
 for he says, "If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread 
 to eat ; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink, for 
 thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head." ' — ' True,' he 
 replied, ' that 's the way to conquer people.' " — Missionary 
 Enterprise, p. 463. 
 
 THE INDIAN" MOTHER'S LAMENT. 
 
 The following paraphrase of a Dakota mother's lament, 
 containing passages of great beauty, was prepared some 
 years since for the Dakotah Friend: 
 
 " My daughter ! my daughter! Alas! alas! My hope, 
 my comfort has departed ; my heart is very sad. My joy 
 is turned into sorrow, and my song into wailing. Shall I 
 never behold thy sunny smiles ? Shall I never more hear the 
 music of thy voice ? The Great Spirit has entered my lodge 
 in anger, and taken from me my first-born child. I am 
 comfortless, and must wail out my grief. The pale-faces 
 repress their sorrow ; but we children of nature must give 
 vent to ours or die. My daughter ! my daughter ! 
 
 " The light of my eyes is extinguished. All, all is dark. 
 I have cast from me all comfortable clothing, and robed 
 myself in comfortless skins ; for no clothing, no fire can 
 warm thee, my daughter. Unwashed and uncombed, I 
 will mourn for thee, whose long locks I can never more 
 braid, and whose cheeks I can never again tinge with ver- 
 milion. I will cut off my dishevelled hair, for my grief is 
 great, my daughter ! my daughter ! How can I survive 
 thee ? How can I be happy, and you a homeless wanderer 
 to the spirit land ? How can I eat, if you are hungry ? I 
 will go to the grave with food for your spirit. Your bowl 
 and spoon are placed in your coffin for use on the journey. 
 The feast of your playmates has been made at the place of 
 interment. Knowest thou of their presence ? My daugh- 
 ter ! my daughter ! 
 
 " When spring returns, the choicest of ducks shall be 
 your portion. Sugar and berries, also, shall be placed near 
 your grave. Neither grass nor flowers shall be allowed to 
 grow thereon. Affection for thee will keep the little 
 mound desolate, like the heart from which thou art torn. 
 My daughter, I come, I come. I bring you parched corn. 
 0, how long will you sleep ! The wintry winds wail your 
 requiem. The cold eai-th is your bed, and the colder snow 
 your covering. I would that they were mine ! I will he 
 down by thy side. I will sleep once more with thee. If no 
 5* 
 
54 NATIVE INTELLECT, CAPACITY, WIT, ETC. 
 
 one discovers me, I shall soon be as cold as thou art ; and 
 together we will sleep that long, long sleep from which I 
 cannot wake thee, my daughter! my daughter I" — Jour, 
 of Miss., 1856, p. 42. 
 
 AFKICAN ELOQUENCE. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Moffat, who has become very familiar with the 
 people of Southern Africa, describes an interview with a 
 native chief, which shows that there is mind in that region 
 of a high order. In speaking of the treatment which the 
 earliest inhabitants of the Trans Vaal Sovereignty have 
 received from the Boers of late, and also from the English, 
 this rude orator uses the following indignant language : 
 " Do you not see that, without a fault on our part, we have 
 been shot down like game ? Do you not see that we are 
 reduced to poverty by the Boers, who are eating our meat 
 and drinking our milk ? Where are our children ? When 
 fathers and mothers lie down at night they ask, ' Where are 
 our children ? ' When they rise in the morning they ask, 
 ' Where are our sons and our daughters ? ' And, because 
 there is none to answer, they weep. They have wept this 
 morning. They will weep again to-night. Are the Boers 
 to be permitted to kill us, that our children may become 
 their slaves ? Did we ever injure them ? If we did, let 
 the Boer whom we injured, or whose sheep and goats we 
 stole, come and bear witness. Is it because we have not 
 white skins that we are to be destroyed like beasts of prey ? 
 Why do the English assist the Boers ? Why do they give 
 them power over lands that are not theirs to give ? Why 
 do the English supply them with ammunition, when they 
 know the Boers ? You have spoken about what the word 
 of God says : have not the English the word of God ? And 
 have not the Boers the word of God ? Are we alone to 
 obey the word of God, because we are black ? Are white 
 people not to obey the word of God, because they are 
 white ? We are told that the English love all men. They 
 give or sell ammunition, horses and guns, to the Boers, who 
 have bloody teeth to destroy us ; and if we ask to buy 
 powder, we can get none. No, no, no ; black men must 
 have no ammunition ; they must serve the white man. Is 
 tliis their love ? The English are not friends to the black 
 man. If I am accusing the English or tlie Boers falsely, 
 tell me. Are these things not so ? You know all these 
 things better than we do." 
 
AFRICAN ELOQUENCE. 55 
 
 Not only is intellect displayed in this touching discourse, 
 but also a keen sense of injustice and wrong, and a percep- 
 tion of the inconsistency and wickedness of white men, 
 who, while enforcing- a Gospel of good will, inflict the most 
 unprovoked and terrible injuries. Would that nominal 
 Christians, English and American, who deny to the native 
 negro both intellect and sensibility, had as high an appreci- 
 ation of honor and right as this pleading African ! 
 
DOGMAS, CAVILS, OBJECTIONS, ETC. 
 
 The measure of learning, logic, cunning, and artifice, often 
 employed by the heathen against the doctrines of Christian- 
 ity, are such as to put the theology and ingenuity of mission- 
 aries to the severest test. Especially is this the case in 
 India ; and it is gratifying to be able to state that the Rev. 
 Miron Winslow, while examining the present work in manu- 
 script, took special note of this chapter, as presenting a 
 correct view of the principal dogmas and cavils which he 
 himself had been familiar with for nearly forty years in that 
 vast field of idolatry. The idea, sometimes entertained, 
 that even dulness itself, if " good," may go on a foreign 
 mission, is refuted by the most experienced missionaries, as 
 well as by the testimony given below. 
 
 A HINDOO DOGMA KEFUTED. 
 
 That God is the author of sin, is a dogma which learned 
 Hindoos have over insisted upon with the utmost pertinac- 
 ity. Some idea of their reasoning on this point may be 
 gathered from a dialogue related by Rev. A. F. Lacroix, of 
 the London Missionary Society, at Calcutta, between him- 
 self and a distinguished Brahmin. (See London Missionary 
 Magazine for January, 1847.) The discussion took place at 
 the receipt of customs, before a crowded auditor^', pretty 
 much, Mr. L. says, in the following strain : 
 
 Missionary. Pray, Brahmin, do you acknowledge that 
 God is the Master, not only of his irrational, but also of 
 his rational creatures, and that he has given them laws to 
 keep ? 
 
 Brahmin. Certainly, he is their master, and has not only 
 
A HINDOO DOGMA REFUTED. 57 
 
 given them laws, but prepared a place of bliss for those who 
 keep them ; and he has said, moreover, that those who do 
 not obey them shall be severely punished in this life, and 
 also in the next. 
 
 3Iiss. Very well ; I am happy to hear you say so. But 
 I am sorry to hear you say that God is the author of sin, 
 because that is untrue, and I hope to prove it to be so. 
 Let me, therefore, put this question to you, — Is God pos- 
 sessed of supreme wisdom, or not ? 
 
 Brah. yes, God is supremely wise. Who ever doubted 
 that? 
 
 3Iiss. There is a man here present who not only doubts 
 whether God be wise, but who positivel}"- asserts that he is 
 not. Who that man is you will presently ascertain. Tell 
 me, what would you think of one who spent much money 
 and took great trouble to build a house for his own resi- 
 dence and that of his flimily, and who, the moment the 
 house was ready, would himself put fire to it and completely 
 destroy it ? 
 
 Brail. I have never heard of such a man ; but, if such a 
 man ever existed, he must have been a madman. 
 
 3Iiss. Well, sir, consider whether you do not ascribe to 
 God an equal want of understanding, when you say that he 
 has given laws to men to keep, and has prepared a heaven 
 for those who keep them, but who himself prompts them to 
 break those very laws, and thereby renders;- them liable to 
 be consigned to the fire of hell ! 
 
 Brah. You may say so to a certain degree. 
 
 Miss. I have not done yet ; for I wish, before all these 
 people, to sift the subject to the bottom. Do you hold that 
 God is pure and holy ; that is, that he loves that which is 
 good and right, and hates murder, theft, adultery, injustice, 
 and such like things ? 
 
 Brah. Certainly I do. 
 
 Miss. Now, if God be pure, and loves holiness, and hates 
 sin, how is it possible that he should prompt men to do that 
 which he hates ? Would you. Brahmin, for instance, insti- 
 gate a robber to plunder your house, and kill your wife and 
 children ? 
 
 Brah. Not I ! How could I instigate a man to do things 
 which I so utterly abhor ? 
 
 Miss. No more will God ever induce men to commit sin, 
 which is so opposed to his nature. 
 
 Brah. If you have anything more to say, say on. 
 
58 DOGMAS, CAVILS, OBJECTIONS, ETC. 
 
 Hiss. Yes ; I have a great deal more to say. Tell me, 
 Brahmin, is God just ? 
 
 Brail. God is just ; all pundits will say so. 
 
 Miss. But, by your saying that God is the author of sin, 
 you make him unjust to the utmost degree ; for you say 
 that he punishes the wicked, while, according to your tenet, 
 man has no demerit, for God causes him to sin. What 
 would you say of me, if I ordered one of my boatmen to go 
 and fetch my umbrella ; and if, on his bringing that article 
 to me, I beat him unmercifully, saying, "0, you wicked 
 man, why did you bring this umbrella to me ? " 
 
 Brah. I would say that you were a very unjust man, in- 
 deed ; because you punished your boatman for doing what 
 you yourself ordered him to do. 
 
 Miss. Now apply this to God punishing sinners. Is it 
 not very unjust for him to punish them for what they never 
 would have done of their own accord, but did only because 
 lie caused them to do so ? 
 
 Brah. God is full of love and mercy, for he feeds men 
 and beasts, and supports all. 
 
 Miss. Now let me tell you that, when you say God is the 
 author of sin, you make him the most unmerciful of all 
 beings ; for you well know that every suffering which men 
 endure in this life and the next is occasioned by sin. If, 
 therefore, God causes men to sin, is he not inflicting upon 
 them the greatest injury imaginable, and does he not show 
 himself to be their greatest enemy ? AVhat would you 
 think of a man who secretly put poison in your food, and 
 thus caused you to die amidst the most intense pain and 
 agony ? 
 
 Brah. How can you ask such a question ? That man 
 would be most cruel to me, and I do not believe I have such 
 an enemy. 
 
 Miss. Well, sin is that poison, and when you say God is 
 the autlior of it, you make him most cruel, and more un- 
 principled than even your worst enemy. Are you prepared 
 to acknowledge this 'I 
 
 Brah. I am not prepared to assert it, and yet I am not 
 cojivinced, for when I am sinning I am doing it with the 
 members which God has given me, and therelbre it appears 
 to me that he is the author of the sin. 
 
 3Iiss. I grant that it is God wlio has given you your 
 mind, your speech, and all your faculties ; but wliy has he 
 given them to you ? Certainly not tliat you should use them 
 
A HINDOO DOGMA EEFUTED. 59 
 
 in sinning, but that j^ou should perform his service and glo- 
 rify him. Suppose, Brahmin, that, on leaving home this 
 morning, you had given a rupee to your servant for the 
 purpose of purchasing some necessary article for your fam- 
 ily, and that on your return you should find that, instead of 
 fulfilling your orders with that rupee, your servant had 
 spent it in drinking, or other evil practices. Would you 
 not hold him to be very guilty ? 
 
 Brah. Most certainly I would ; and that not merely, but 
 I would punish him in a way that he would long remember. 
 
 Miss. But if the servant told you, " Master, I am not to 
 blame, for it was you gave me the rupee which I spent in 
 bad practices," — would you not then at once declare your 
 servant innocent ? 
 
 Brah. Innocent, indeed! No; I would tell him, "You 
 good-for-nothing fellow I was it to get drunk with it that I 
 gave you that rupee ? Was it not to buy provisions ? " 
 But 3'et I am not wholly satisfied, and if you will not be 
 quite angry, I wish to ask. one question more. Why does 
 not God prevent men from sinning ? He could easily do it, 
 as he is omnipotent. 
 
 Miss. Tell me, would you like to be a stone, a tree, or a 
 horse, rather than a man ? 
 
 Brah. No, not I. I prefer being a man, for the shasters 
 say that the state of man is the highest to which any being 
 can attain on earth. 
 
 Miss. This is so far correct ; but why is a man superior 
 to the brutes, or to inanimate things ? It is because he has 
 a rational soul and a free will, which inferior creatures have 
 not. If, therefore, God did, by mere force and compulsion, 
 prevent men from sinning, it would be tantamount to mak- 
 ing them like stones, trees, and horses, which have no will 
 of their own, but act only as they are moved ; and you 
 yourself. Brahmin, said this moment that you preferred 
 being a man to such a mere machine. 
 
 Brah. This will do, sir. I beg to take leave, for I see it 
 is time for me to go to my dinner. 
 
 Mr. Lacroix adds, "There is, perhaps, not a doctrine of 
 ITindooism which oilers greater impediments to the Gospel, 
 than this pantheistic one, that God is the author of sin. A 
 Saviour, to persons holding this tenet, is an utter absurd- 
 ity." 
 
 The foregoing discussion is instructive, not only as show- 
 ing what sort of opponents the missionary has often to 
 
60 DOGMAS, CAVILS, OBJECTIONS, ETC. 
 
 meet, but also as indicating the kind of theology which comes 
 in play on heathen ground. Trammelled with the dogma 
 of physical depravity, total inability, or necessitated human 
 actions, the missionary would have stood a poor chance 
 with the shrewd Brahmin. And should not the theology of 
 the Christian pulpit be the same as that of the " receipt of 
 customs " in Calcutta, in order to disarm the natural mind 
 of its cavils and objections ? 
 
 A HINDOO GAVILEB. SILENCED. 
 
 As Rev. Mr. Thomas was one day addressing a company 
 of Hindoos on the banks of the Ganges, a Brahmin said to 
 him, " Sir, don't you say that the devil tempts men to 
 sin?" — " Yes," was the reply. "Then," said the Brah- 
 min, "it is the devil's fault, and the devil ought to be pun- 
 ished, and not man." Just then a boat was coming down 
 the river, and Mr. Thomas said, " Brahmin, do j^ou see that 
 boat ? " — " Yes." — " Suppose I were to send my servants 
 to destroy the boat and all on -board ; who ought to sufler 
 punishment — I for inducing them to go, or they for the 
 wicked act ? " — " Wh}''," answered the Brahmin, " you 
 ought all to be put to death together." — "Ay," replied 
 Mr. Thomas, " and if you and the devil sin together, you 
 and the devil must be punished together," — Pres. For. 
 Miss., 1853, p. 88. 
 
 LET US ALONE. 
 
 The sceptic and the man of the world will often shield 
 themselves against the truth with the plea that their religion 
 is a private affair, and nobody's business ; so claiming to be 
 let alone. It may help such to know that the heathen are 
 of the same opinion. On one occasion some Hindoo idola- 
 ters remonstrated with the missionary for attempting to 
 teach them the doctrines of Christianity. " Why," said 
 they, " do you trouble us with your doctrines ? AVe know 
 that our gods are stones, but it is no Inisiness of j^ours to 
 tell us so. We do not want to believe in Christ. Our 
 fathers are happy because they died in ignorance ; but you 
 make us wretched b}^ dispelling our ignorance, and making 
 us, contrary to our inclinations, to inquire and to speak of 
 these things." On another occasion, in the same neiglibor- 
 hood, while a missionary was preaching, a chitty (mer- 
 chant) came up to him, and bade him be gone, and not pol- 
 lute the sacred precincts of the temple of the gods. The 
 
HINDOO OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 61 
 
 missionary asked him if he could conscientiously call the 
 stone a god. " I know," he replied, " it is not ; but we do 
 not want you to tell us so. This is too bad ; why cannot 
 you leave iis alone ? " Thus it is found to be true, that 
 even the heathen resist their own convictions, sin wilfully, 
 and clamor to be let alone in their idolatry, — London Mitis. 
 Mag., 1841, p. 112. 
 
 NOTHING TO DO "WITH MORALS. 
 
 A missionary in Syria says that on reproving people for 
 fiilsehood, dishonesty, and the grossest immoralities, they 
 often answer, " This has nothing to do with religion ; it 
 is a worldly concern." The pi-iests have little or nothing 
 to do with the moral character of the people. Their busi- 
 ness, says the missionary, is with religion, and not with 
 morality. Such priests would be genial company for some 
 in Christendom, who assume, in practice, that business and 
 politics are one thing, religion another! — Miss. Her., 1836, 
 Quar. Paper. 
 
 THROWING BACK THE BLAME. 
 
 Says Mr. Yate, of the New Zealand mission: — "After 
 sermon, one Lord's day, some of our native boys came to 
 me and said, ' Well, if it be true what you have now said, 
 we are none of us Christians,' or, as they express it, ' Christ- 
 ified.' They added, ' Our thoughts tell us you are right ; 
 but what are we to do ? We cannot help our thoughts. 
 Our hearts are bad ; we were born bad ; and there is an 
 end of the matter. Why did not you come before we were 
 born, and make our parents good ? Then we should have 
 been born good. The fault rests with you, not with us.' 
 Of course I had to correct their notions with respect to the 
 sinfulness of our nature." The incident shows how ready 
 the guilty conscience is, in whatever clime, to cast the 
 blame of its guilt upon some one, and seek a personal justi- 
 fication. 
 
 HINDOO OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 The following list of Hindoo objections to Christianity 
 are a curiosity ; and they show how similar is the working 
 of a heathen mind to that of the infidel and scofler in Chris- 
 tendom, when the religion of the Gospel is to be opposed. 
 The objections were furnished by Rev. A. F. Lacroix, long 
 a missionary of the London Missionary Society, at Calcutta, 
 6 
 
62 DOGMAS, CAVILS, OBJECTIONS, ETC. 
 
 and were published in the London Missionary Magazine for 
 September, 1854. Mr. Lacroix remarks that they are the 
 objections of the "old idolatrous school," and not such as 
 educated Hindoos liave of late borrowed from the writings 
 of European infidels. They are as follows : 
 
 1. We must not depart from the religion and customs of 
 our forefathers. 
 
 2. We cannot leave our own Gooroos, whom we are to 
 account as gods, and who are our proper guides in the way 
 of salvation. 
 
 3. What a number of persons say, we ought always to 
 conform to. As long, therefore, as the majority of our 
 countrymen adhere to Hindooism, we also must continue 
 doing the same. 
 
 4. Let our Pundits, Baboos, and chief men, embrace 
 Christianity, and then we, who are their inferiors, may fol- 
 low their example. 
 
 5. Every one will be saved by minding his own religion. 
 As there are many roads, all leading to the same city, so 
 there are many religious in the world ; but they all lead 
 to heaven at last. Of what use, therefore, is it for us to 
 forsake our present religion to embrace a new one ? 
 
 6. Of what use is it to exhort us to embrace Chris- 
 tianity, seeing that what is written in our foreheads must 
 of necessity come to pass, whatever we may do ? 
 
 Y. When we commit sin, it involves no guilt on our part, 
 since it is God himself, the author of all things, who causes 
 us to commit sin. 
 
 8. Our souls are portions of the deity, which after a 
 while will be reabsorbed into it ; what is the use, therefore, 
 of troubling ourselves about eternity ? 
 
 9. The age in which we live is the Koli Joog (iron 
 age), in which, according to our shasters, wickedness 
 necessarily abounds ; it is therefore useless for us to stem 
 the current, and to turn our miuds to repentance and 
 holiness. 
 
 10. The various gods we worship are all portions of 
 Brumho (deity, that is, the pantheistic " soul of the world "), 
 and, therefore, by worshipphig them, we are in fact worship- 
 ping Brumlio himself. 
 
 11. Many Christians (meaning Roman Catholics) worship 
 images ; why then do missionaries find fault with us for 
 doing the same ? 
 
 12. We doubt Christianity to be the true religion, because, 
 
SURE OP SOME RELIGION. 63 
 
 wliile it professes to make men good, we nevertheless see 
 many Christians leading very bad lives. 
 
 13. Christians, by the permission of their own shasters, 
 eat all kinds of forbidden food without sin ; how, therefore, 
 can a religion founded upon such a shaster, be true ? 
 
 14. Christians destroy animal life, and even the life of 
 cows, for food, which is very cruel ; how, then, can we 
 embrace a religion which sanctions such practices ? 
 
 15. Jesus Christ is not mentioned in the vedas, nor in 
 any of the histories of the four joogs (ages of the world). 
 
 16. If Christianity be the only true religion, why was it 
 not made known to us sooner ? 
 
 17. If Christianity be the only true religion, then all our 
 forefathers must have perished. 
 
 18. If we embrace Christianity, we shall lose our caste, 
 and subject ourselves to many painful trials. Why, then, 
 should we become Christians ? 
 
 19. If we embrace Christianity, we must give up our 
 worldly business, for we know by experience that unless 
 we tell lies we cannot prosper in business. 
 
 20. Perform a miracle, and then we shall believe that 
 Christianity is true, but not before. 
 
 These objections are, as will be noticed, chiefly such as 
 human nature everywhere brings forward, and modern infi- 
 dels and cavillers are very little in advance of "old school 
 heathenism," in finding out plausible arguments against 
 Christianity. 
 
 SUKE OF SOME RELIGION". 
 
 The native Ceylonese are constitutionally indolent, effem- 
 inate, and averse to mental or bodily effort. This character- 
 istic renders them dull and negligent as to their religion, 
 and satisfied with almost any form. " It is good," they 
 say, "to have three or four strings to one's bow. One kind 
 of religion will do us good on one occasion, another kind at 
 some other period, — so let us have all." Thus, if it were 
 allowed, they are quite ready to be baptized ; because, they 
 say, " Christianity is the most genteel religion ; it will secure 
 us good ofiices in the government." At the same time they 
 will follow Buddhism, because, they say, their priests may 
 be of some service to them. Next, they will be devil-wor- 
 shippers, for, if not, they fear the devil will send some sick- 
 ness or misfortune upon them. And then they will take a 
 pilgrimage of some ten days, to worship in a distant temple, 
 
64 DOGMAS, CAVILS, OBJECTIONS, ETC. 
 
 thinking this too will hold them in time of need. Thus they 
 seem to think, that, by having all religions, they will be 
 saved by one or more of them. It is bad enough that such 
 a delusion should be found in heathendom ; and especially 
 deplorable, when pastors in Christendom encounter hearers, 
 very much like them, in a choice of all religions, and a lazy 
 indifference to any. — Am. Miss., vol. vi., p. 14. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY OP A HEATHEN SAGE. 
 
 A missionary in India relates the following amusing inci- 
 dent : — "About four years ago, after preaching in our chapel 
 in the Chitpore road, an aged pundit, who had been one of my 
 hearers, came to my house, and said, ' Sir, perceiving that 
 you are a theologian, I wish, in private, to reveal to you a 
 discovery I have made, in regard to that much disputed 
 point, the essence of God ; but, should you publish it to the 
 world, I expect you will not take the credit of the discovery 
 to yourself, but ascribe it to me.' I promised him faithfully 
 to attend to his wish, and was all ear to learn this wonder- 
 ful revelation of the Hindoo doctor ; upon which he ex- 
 pressed himself to the following effect : ' It is admitted, by 
 every intelligent man, that God is the origin and source of 
 all that exists. It is also admitted that light was the very 
 first thing created. That, therefore, which existed before 
 light, must needs be the origin of all things, — in other 
 words, God. Darkness being that preexistent thing, God, 
 of course, is darkness.' " This was the mighty discovery 
 which the Hindoo sage, by dint of reasoning, had made, — 
 that God is darkness, whereas inspiration affirms that God 
 is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Ti'uly, the world 
 by wisdom knew not God. — Miss. Mag., 1852, p. 65. 
 
 ON ALL SIDES. 
 
 An intelligent man in Burmah, when urged by the mis- 
 sionary to embrace the Gospel as the only way of salvation, 
 said, " At present I am like a Karen shooting at a squirrel 
 in the top of a tree. He shoots, and shoots, and shoots, 
 knowing some shot will hit, — then he gains his object. So 
 I worship on all sides, and am sure 1 sometimes hit." — 
 Am. Bap. Mag., 1850, p. 243. 
 
SCRIPTURE TRUTH -ITS MANY OPERATIONS. 
 
 That the Author of Eevelation has" instituted a perfect 
 adapfadon and fitness between Scripture truth and man's 
 spiritual necessities, is a point of so great practical concern, 
 that it cannot be safely overlooked for a moment. The 
 Christian teacher must recognize this great fact at every 
 step. The missionary, especially, who addresses himself to 
 minds shut up, apparently, in impenetrable folds of error 
 and superstition, can have absolutely no hope but in the 
 assurance that even such minds need, and cs^ufeel the need 
 of, the very truths which he presents, as the body feels the 
 need of its natural aliment. The facts and narratives given 
 in this chapter strikingly illustrate this point, and may 
 serve to establish the pastor and the missionary in the con- 
 viction, that, with such appliances as the Master has ap- 
 pointed to be used, their labor cannot be in vain. It will 
 appear, also, that divine truth operates so diversely, and in 
 ways so unlooked for, as to baffle all human calculations, 
 and shame the unbelief even of the best of men. It is seen 
 that God can work, and put honor upon his word, by means 
 seemingly most trivial, as well as by more formidable meas- 
 ures, and that therefore no work should be despised, no 
 opportunity neglected, no despair tolerated, even in the 
 darkest field, or over the most hopeless subject. 
 
 THE "WORK OF OliTE TRACT. 
 
 It is related that two young men, Patterson and Ilender- 
 6on, the latter author of an important work on Iceland, 
 6* 
 
66 SCRIPTUEE TRUTH — ITS MANY OPERATIONS. 
 
 became associated together as missionaries to India, and 
 proceeded to Copenhagen, intending to sail from that port. 
 But war breaking out between England and Denmark, they 
 were detained in that capital, and labored in acquiring the 
 language, translating and distributing tracts, &c. It hap- 
 pened one day, as they were in the royal gardens, that 
 Henderson gave a tract to a young physician who passed 
 by. He read it, and it made such an impression on his 
 mind, that he wished to find the stranger that gave it to 
 him. For this purpose he went to a patient, one of the 
 Moravian brethren, from whom he thought himself likely to 
 obtain the information. He was soon introduced to Patter- 
 son and Henderson, and from this young physician, a reli- 
 gious inquirer, the missionaries learned the deplorable state 
 of Iceland ; and a correspondence was entered into with the 
 Bible Society, for supplying the inhabitants with the word 
 of life. This laid the foundation for the employment of 
 Messrs. Patterson and Henderson in the service of the 
 Bible Society; and, consequently, saj^s the narrator, "for 
 all the blessings that have flowed, are still flowing, and, no 
 doubt, will yet more abundantly flow, from the societies 
 now existing in Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Iceland — I was 
 going to say, by way of anticipation, Turkey, Persia, &c." 
 Such ai'e the consequences which result from the giving 
 away of a single tract. — Am. Bap. Mag., 1823, p. 109. 
 
 THE TONGUE LOOSED. 
 
 A missionary in India met with a man who was under a 
 vow of silence for the space of ten years. His body 
 was covered with mud from the Ganges, he had on scai-cely 
 a rag of clothing, and the skeleton of a huge serpent was 
 coiled around his neck. He was hoping in this way to 
 obtain salvation. The missionary explained to him, as well 
 as he could, the folly of all this ; told him of salvation 
 through Jesus Christ, and placed two appropriate tracts on 
 tlie ground before him. The case seemed hopeless, and the 
 missionary might have said, " It is of no use to try to 
 enlighten such a man ; I Avill pass him by." But, behold 
 the result. A few days afterwards this miserable heathen 
 entered the study of the missionary, and, taking the serpent 
 from his neck, he cast it to the ground, and said, " My vow 
 is broken ; for/crt;- years I have not spoken a word, and for 
 six years more I should have remained silent, had not you 
 come and proved to me the insuflScicncy of man's merit, and 
 
THE BLIND OLD MAN. 67 
 
 the sufficiency of Christ's merit to take away sin, I read 
 your books, and thought over the matter, and I am now 
 convinced of the folly and wickedness of my conduct. I 
 have come to seek further instruction in the things of God. 
 I fly in the face of all that the Brahmins and shasters teach. 
 My caste is gone ; my hopes of life are over ; all men will 
 hate and shun me as an apostate ; but I am willing to 
 renounce all for Christ. Henceforth, I will speak loudly, 
 and speak continually ; and I will travel from place to place 
 with this book (the Bible) in my hand, and will call on my 
 countrymen to behold the Lamb of God that taketh away 
 the sins of the world. I should not be surprised if they 
 kill me when they hear my voice ; but God's will be done." 
 
 THE TKUE TEACHEB, 
 
 A native African preacher, in addressing the people one 
 day, said, " Now, I will remind you of your bolotsanego 
 (rascality). You said that the teachers talked to the book 
 (Bible), and made the book say what they pleased. Here 
 is the book, and it can talk where there are no teachers. 
 If a believer reads it, it tells the same news ; if an unbe- 
 liever reads it, the news is still the same. This book," 
 holding it out in his hand, " will preach, teach, and tell 
 news, though there were no teachers in the country." A 
 good answer to those who profess to find all sorts of creeds 
 in the Bible. 
 
 THE BLIND OLD MAN". 
 
 A little boat, early on a clear evening, cast anchor near 
 the city of Thayroot, in Burmah. An American missionary 
 was in that boat ; two native teachers also were with him, 
 and their errand was that which Christ gave to his servants 
 
 — go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every 
 creature. The missionary sat down outside the boat, and 
 began to read a tract to the few stragglers who had come 
 to enjoy the cool and quiet of the evening on the shore. 
 Soon a large assembly gathered. They were obliged to 
 push the boat off a little, to prevent the people crowding in, 
 and upsetting or sinking it, when a tall, grave-looking 
 young man pushed his way through the crowd, and, in an 
 under tone, said, " Teacher, have you the Acts of the 
 Apostles ? " Mr. Kincaid — that was the missionary's name 
 
 — gave him a copy. " Teacher," the young man said again, 
 "have you the Gospel of John?" Mr. Kincaid looked 
 
68 SCRIPTURE TRUTH — ITS MANY OPERATIONS. 
 
 astonished. He was in a city, like Athens of old, "wholly 
 given to idolatry," three hundred miles from Rangoon, the 
 mission station, and here was one asking about the Acts, 
 and the Gospel by John ; and he said, " IIow do you know 
 anything about these books ? " The young man replied, 
 " A long time since, there was a foreign teacher, Judson, 
 in the city of Prome, and he gave my grandfather these 
 books. He could not see ; he was blind ; but he had them 
 read to him, and was always talking about them. But 
 some time since there was a great fire in our city, and my 
 grandfatlier's house was burned, and the books in it." So 
 saying, the young man rolled up his precious gifts in his 
 shawl, and soon was lost amid the crowd. And now 
 the sun was down, the angry wind was rising, and the 
 teachers were obliged to move their little vessel to a more 
 sheltered spot, about two miles up the river. But still the 
 thoughtful missionary sat outside the boat, pondering over 
 the events of the day, and wishing he could find out the 
 blind old man who had sent for the portions of God's word ; 
 and, just as he was saying to the native teachers, Ko Shoon 
 and Kau Saulone, " We must try in the morning to find him 
 out," the grandson came on board again. He told them of 
 the delight with which the aged man had received the books, 
 but said he sadly wanted to see the teachers too, and had 
 sent him back to the boat ; but, finding it was gone, he had 
 followed on, anxiously inquiring for the " foreign teachers." 
 Gladly did Mr. Kincaid follow the messenger, threading his 
 way through the streets of the Indian city, till he came to 
 the house. There, in the vei-anda, lighted by one dim 
 lamp, sat the aged man, with his family and neighbors 
 around him. The gloom was nothing to him, for no earthly 
 light could gladden his sightless eyeballs ; yet, when he 
 turned them towards the teacher, the light of inward joy 
 and peace shone upon the old man's face, while he told 
 how, in days gone by, he had found God's word to be a 
 lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path ; and pointing 
 to his white locks, which, in the language of the East, he 
 called " the flag of death," he thanked God that his heart 
 could see, and rejoiced to meet once more with a Christian 
 friend. — Am. Missionary, vol. i., p. 10. 
 
 A LEAF OF SCmPTITRE FOR "WADDING. 
 
 Many years since, the missionaries of Samoa had only the 
 Gospel of Matthew in the native language ; and the trans- 
 
DEFINITION OF THE BIBLE. 69 
 
 lation was so imperfect that some doubted whether it was 
 fit to be printed. But, poor as it was, it was the means of 
 bringing' a wicked youth to the knowledge of Christ. His 
 name was Puloa. lie had been the prime mover in build- 
 ing a war-boat. While engaged in this work, he Avas seized 
 with spitting of blood ; but it seemed to have no effect in 
 deterring him from his evil courses ; for, when the "boat was 
 finished, he embarked in it for the seat of war. On arriving 
 there, one of his comrades commenced loading his musket, 
 and produced for wadding a piece of printed paper. Poloa 
 took it up to examine it, when his eye caught the words, 
 " there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." It was a 
 leaf from the old first edition of Matthew. " That," thought 
 he, "will be my portion if I die in this war." The arrow 
 pierced his heart. As speedily as possible he left the war 
 party, and became a candidate for baptism. — Jour, of Miss., 
 1856, p. 66. 
 
 DEFINITION OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Moffat, missionary in Western Africa, relates 
 that after Christianity had progressed considerably, a 
 stranger, chief of his tribe, came from the interior, and, see- 
 ing some young people intent upon some little books, asked, 
 " What things are these that you are turning over and 
 over? Is it food?" They said, "No, it is the word of 
 God." — "Does it speak?" — "Yes, it speaks to the 
 heart." The chief went on to another chief, and told him 
 what he had seen, and, to his surprise, saw the children of 
 this chief with similar books in their hands. He said, 
 "Pray, father, unravel my confused thoughts; what has 
 come over your people ? for they look at things, and talk to 
 things that cannot talk again." — "Ah," said the other, 
 " I will explain it to you ; " and, being seated, the Christian 
 chief continued, "These are the books brought by the 
 teachers to instruct us ; we thought at first that the teachers 
 made them, but we have found out that they are God's 
 books." — "How did you find that out?" asked the 
 stranger. " Because we saw that tho}^ hcrned jjcopje upside 
 down; they made people 7iew ; they separated between father 
 and son, mother and daughter ; they made such a revolution 
 among the people, that we were afraid we should all be 
 made over again." — " Do you believe this ? " — " Yes." — 
 "And why?" — "Because, I can't dance any more; I 
 can't sing any more : I can't keep harem ; therefore, I was 
 
70 SCRIPTDEE TRUTH — ITS MANY OPERATIONS. 
 
 afraid we sliould all be turned upside down. But I know 
 the secret. There is my son — ho is dead to me through these 
 books.'' — " Why V — " Became lie is alive to God." The 
 stranger chief, astonished, asked, " Do they eat the books ? " 
 — " No, they eat them with the soul, not with the mouth ; 
 they digest them with the heart, they do not chew them 
 with the teeth." The chief, in his deep blindness as to the 
 Gospel and the new birth, expressed his astonishment that 
 anything external, not eaten, could produce such a change, 
 and passed on. — Monthly Extracts Brit, and For. Bi. Soc, 
 1840, p. 117. 
 
 THE GOSPEL "WITHOITT THE CIVIL POWER. 
 
 The surprising success of the Gospel in the South Sea 
 Islands, particularly the Ilervey and Navigators' Islands, 
 led to the remark, by Professor Lee, of England, that this 
 success was owing to the aid which the Gospel derived from 
 the civil jwwer. This being considered both an ignorant 
 and injurious assertion, it was denied by Rev. Jolm Wil- 
 liams, of the London Missionary Society, who said, " This 
 statement is not founded in truth. 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 the 
 propagation of the Gospel. The moral influence of the 
 chiefs has been most beneficially exerted, in many instances, 
 in behalf of Christianity ; but never, to my knowledge, have 
 they employed coercion to induce their subjects to embrace 
 it. They were not in a condition to do this, for they had to 
 defend themselves against the fury of a large portion of their 
 own subjects, by whom, in the early progress of the work, 
 they were fiercely attacked." Further statements of Mr. 
 Williams make it clear that the Gospel triumphed in those 
 islands by its own moral power, — by the light which it 
 carried with it, and the benevolent spirit which it dissemi- 
 nated. "His own arm hath gotten him the victory." — 
 Williams's Miss. Enter, in South Sea Islands, p. 189. 
 
 INVISIBLE FKTJITS. 
 
 That the Gospel gathers trophies from among the heathen, 
 which are scarcely known in this world, is proved by many 
 facts like the following : — "A Hindoo," says Eev. ]\[r. Clark- 
 son, " took from me a book, and, reading it, said, ' This is the 
 
A DOCILE SPIRIT. 71 
 
 Jesus Christ about whom my father always spoke before ho 
 died.' Upon further inquiry, he said, 'My father told us 
 that all our gods were false. He waited to see a missionary 
 return to his village, but in vain. lie read your books, and 
 died acknowledging Jesus to be the Saviour.' " 
 
 THE "STOP-OFF." 
 
 A Christian negro in Demarara, at a celebration of West 
 India emancipation, in 18-40, made the following speech, as 
 recorded by a London missionary. lie said : — " My brothei'S 
 and sisters, what has God done for us ? and what shall we 
 do for him ? Once we were in darkness — we were slaves ; 
 now we have the light of the Gospel — now we free. God 
 do this for us, not man. You know when we want to keep 
 out the water, we make a sfop-oj/' (dsim of earth), but some- 
 times the water boi'e it, and if we don't mind the hole, it 
 will soon grow large, and the stop-off will be of no use. 
 Now, when the Gospel come to us, men try to put a stop- 
 off to keep it back. They no want us to learn to read ; 
 they no allow us to have meeting on plantation. Some- 
 times they punish us if we have meeting. So man do. But 
 the Gospel begin to bore, and it come in at a small hole at 
 first. They try to stop it, but they not able. The Gospel 
 keep on bore, bore, till it carry away the stop-off altogether. 
 Now we can learn to read ; we can have meeting on planta- 
 tion ; we have our chapel and minister to teach us. Stop- 
 off no there no more." So will the truth continue to bore, 
 bore, into all systems of error and iniquity, till the hole 
 "grows large," and all the stop-offs which mammon and 
 lust, and expediency, and timidity, have applied, shall be 
 carried away altogether. 
 
 A DOCILE SPIRIT. 
 
 An interesting fact is related of a distinguished man who 
 resided ninety miles north of Dindigul, the most remote 
 station of the Madura mission, in Southern India, and who 
 paid to government an annual tax of seven thousand dol- 
 lars. He had, through a native reader, become acquainted 
 Avith the general principles of the Gospel, and now, of his 
 own accord, he sought at Dindigul an opportunity for con- 
 versation with the missionaries. Of the folly of idolatry 
 he wished to say nothing. " Do I not know," said he, 
 " that those idols are nothing: but stone ? " And then he 
 
72 SCRIPTURE TRUTH — ITS MANY OPERATIONS. 
 
 urged the missionary, saying, " Come to us and teach us, 
 arid I will do just as you say ; I will be like a little dog 
 that you have trained for yourself." He was asked, " Are 
 you willing that all your people shall learn and embrace 
 Christianity?" He replied, "When ants have tasted 
 sugar, need 3'ou hire them to come and eat it ? " He con- 
 versed much more on the subject of Christianity, and on 
 the following Sabbath he came into the Dindigul church, 
 and took his seat on the mat with the common people, — a 
 thing which had never been done before by any native of 
 distinction since the establishment of the mission. Such 
 were the blessed results of a casual word of instruction, 
 dropped by a native reader, in a region far distant from any 
 mission station. The language above quoted beautifully 
 illustrates the willing and humble spirit of a learner in the 
 way of Christ, and also the longing which those have for 
 the Gospel who have once tasted of its sweets. — Hiss. 
 Her., 1855, p. 379. 
 
 FAITH ^WITHOUT HEARING. 
 
 A Hindoo woman applied to a missionary for admission 
 to the Christian church, and on being refused she burst 
 into tears, saying that for two years she had been the 
 most miserable of beings. She had, as she related, about 
 that period since met with a Bible in her native lan- 
 guage ; and, as women in India were not taught to read, 
 she induced the man with whom she lived (polygamy being 
 common in India) to read it to her occasionally in the even- 
 ings. This man was a native officer in one of the Bombay 
 regiments. She then declared, in the most artless style, 
 the workings of her own heart, and said that she had dis- 
 covered that her breast contained another or second heart. 
 Sometimes one heart, which brought to her recollection her 
 crimes, sunk her into the deepest distress for her sins, and 
 directed her to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. 
 The other heart would tell her not to mind, but to live on 
 and not care about all this. At first, the bad heart had the 
 preeminence ; but for some time past the good heart had 
 so troubled her that she had resolved to set out for Taunah, 
 from the cantonment in which she lived, and to arrive there 
 on the day on which she understood the padre (clergyman) 
 would be there. Her grief at finding that she would not 
 be received was very pungent, and vented itself in tears. 
 On hearing this artless tale, the clergyman thought fit fur- 
 
WAYSIDE PICKINGS. 73 
 
 thcr to interrogate her. He asked her if she was content 
 to forsake the man with whom she was living, as he had 
 another wife ; and whether she could abandon all her sins, 
 as the holy laws of God demanded. She replied that she 
 could do all this, and even live in the jungle (wilderness), 
 if it were to God's honor. She solemnly declared that she 
 had not spoken to a single missionai-y or other Christian ; and 
 that from the reading of the Holy Bible alone she had been 
 thus affected. She was accordingly admitted to baptism, 
 and adorned her Christian profession. So mighty is the 
 word of God, even without oral instruction. — Church Mis- 
 sionary's Quarterly Papers, 1827. 
 
 WAYSIDE PICKINGS. 
 
 Rev. J. Williams, in his " Missionary'' Enterprises in the 
 South Sea Islands," p. 202, gives a very singular and in- 
 structive account of a man who was enlightened and led to 
 Christ by simply gathering up seeds of truth which fell by 
 the waj^side. Mr. Williams was walking out one evening 
 in the island of Rarotonga, when he was accosted by a man 
 named Buteve, who shouted, "Welcome, servant of God, 
 who brought light to this dark island ! — to you are we in- 
 debted for the word of salvation." Mr. Williams says : — 
 " The appearance of this person first attracted my attention, 
 his hands and feet being eaten off by disease, which the 
 natives call kokovi, so that he was obliged to walk upon 
 his knees ; but, notwithstanding this, he was exceedingly 
 industrious, kept his kainga (garden) in beautiful order, and 
 raised food enough to support his wife and three children. 
 In repl}'^ to his salutation, I asked him what he knew of the 
 word of salvation. He answered, 'I know about Jesus 
 Christ, who came into the world to save sinners.' On 
 inquiring what he knew about Jesus Christ, he replied, 'I 
 know that he is the Son of God, and that he died painfully 
 upon the cross, to pay for the sins of men, in order that 
 their souls might be saved, and go to happiness in the 
 skies.' — 1 inquired of him if all the people went to heaven 
 after death. — ' Certainly not,' he replied, ' onl}'- those who 
 believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who cast away sin, and 
 pray to God.' — ' You pray, of course,' I continued. — ' 0, 
 yes,' he replied, 'I very frequentl}'^ pray as I weed my 
 ground and plant my food, but alwaj's three times a day, 
 besides praying with my fomily every morning and evening.' 
 — ' AVell,' I said, ' that, Buteve. is very excellent ; but where 
 7 
 
74 SCRIPTURE TRUTH — ITS MANY OPERATIONS. 
 
 did you obtain your knowledge ? ' — ' From you, to be sure. 
 Who brought us the knowledge of salvation but yourself? ' — • 
 ' True/ I replied, ' but I do not recollect ever to have seen 
 you at either of the settlements to hear me speak of these 
 things, and how did you obtain your knowledge of them '/ ' 
 — ' Why,' he said, ' as the people return from the services, I 
 take my seat by the wayside, and beg a bit of the xvord from 
 them as they pass by. One gives me one piece, another another 
 piece, and I collect them together in my heart, and by thinking 
 over what I thus obtain, and praying to God to make me 
 know, I understand a little about his word.' — This," says 
 Mr. Williams, "was altogether a most interesting incident, 
 as I had never seen the poor cripple before, and I could not 
 learn that he had ever been in a place of Avorship in his life. 
 His knowledge, however, was such as to aflbrd me both 
 astonishment and delight, and I seldom passed his house, 
 after this interview, without holding an interesting conver- 
 sation with him." 
 
 TRUTH "WITHOUT A PREACHER. 
 
 As a general rule the jjreaching of the word is essential 
 to the conversion of the heathen ; but it often happens that 
 truth communicated in other ways, and by methods strange 
 and unlooked for, is made effectual. The following is an 
 instance. A man from the region of Ahmednuggur went to 
 Bombay, and took service in the family of a man who feared 
 God, and who taught his servant to read, and gave him 
 Christian books. Hearing of the sickness of a child, this 
 servant went home, taking his books with him. He had an 
 uncle there who could read, and who, on learning that his 
 nephew had books, obtained one and read it. He then read 
 another and another, till he had read them all. He read 
 them a second and a third time, and the more he read them 
 tlie more he loved them. A'lid he said, "Here is truth." 
 God had taught him, through this simple and unexpected 
 means. These books became his companions in the house 
 and in the field. He began to talk of what he had read to 
 his family and to the people of the town. But nobodj'- 
 would believe him ; they had never heard of such things 
 before, for no missionary had ever visited the place, neither 
 liad this man ever had a teacher except these books. But 
 he soon began to say of his gods, "These ai-e stones, cop- 
 per, brass, clay. They are graven by art and man's device. 
 They are not the Maker and Preserver of all things. Why 
 
TEUTH WITHOUT A PREACHER. 75 
 
 then should I bow down to those, and neglect him ? These 
 can do neither good nor evil. God is alwa^^s present, and 
 able to help." Surrounded by dense darkness, forty miles 
 from Ahmednuggur, and none to sympathize with him, he 
 cast away his gods of stone, and became a worshipper of 
 the one living and true God. And now the people tliought 
 him mad. He began to say of the shasters, " They are a 
 lie," and of the Brahmins, " They are false teachers." The 
 Brahmins invoked upon him the anger of the gods ; but he 
 prayed to the true God, and confessed his sins, and sought 
 pardon through the blood of Christ. He began also to 
 keep the Sabbath. His wife and children, and grand-chil- 
 dren, his brothers and their children, all the people of the 
 town, hated him, jeered him, and persecuted him. They 
 said to him, " Go to the people whom you have chosen. If 
 not, then do as we do ; walk in our ways." He replied, 
 "It is all dark, dark behind me ; I cannot go back. It is 
 all light, very light before ; I must go forward. Your gods 
 are false ; your ways are false. I cannot go with you." 
 He was alone in his own house, and among his own people. 
 He had never heard the voice of prayer, save his own I 
 Tlie cheering woixl " brother " had never greeted his ears. 
 He stood, a solitary light, in that dark waste of heathenism, 
 and for six or seven years he had kept his light burning, by 
 the grace of God, before he saw or heard of a missionary. 
 At length Mr. Hunger, while pi'eaching in a village some 
 distance from Ahmednuggur, was interrupted by a person 
 saying, " My uncle is a worshipper of this Christ. He has 
 forsaken all, and now he prays only to Christ. He is night 
 and day reading the books of Christ." In great astonish- 
 ment, Mr. M. inquired who the individual was, and where 
 he lived. To wliich the man replied, " He is Dulaji Bhau, 
 and he lives in Misal Wadi, ten miles distant." The mis- 
 sionai-y lost no time in searching him out, and, to his great 
 joy, he found it even as it had been told him. The man 
 was sixty-five or seventy years old, and in all the villages 
 in that vicinity he was known and spoken of as a hater of 
 the gods of the Hindoos, and a worshipper of the God of 
 (christians. Mr. Munger preached in his village, and all 
 the people, men, women and children, came to hear him, 
 and the relatives of Dulaji seemed glad to know that he was 
 right in the view of Christians, whatever the Hindoos 
 might think of him. Among the books which Mr. M. found 
 in the hands of this remarkable individual, were the "True 
 
76 SCRIPTURE TRUTH — ITS MANY OPERATIONS. 
 
 Atonement," the "Assembly's Shorter Catechism," " Scrip-' 
 ture Narratives of the Okl Testament," and " Prayer." His 
 knowledge of the principal facts of the Old Testament his- 
 tory was found to be surprisingly accurate. The mission- 
 ary left, praising God for what he had seen and heard, and 
 feeling that he had a right to call Dulaji Bhau a brother in 
 Christ. Thus it is seen that God can, and often does, make 
 his truth miglity without other instrumentalities ; and, fur- 
 ther, that Scripture truth, though it find a soul buried in the 
 deepest night of heathenism, has power to meet its wants, 
 and lift it up into the light and joy of salvation. — 3Iitis. 
 Her., 1849, p. 271. 
 
 ■WHAT SHALL "WE DO ? 
 
 In 1831, Dr. Judson wrote from Rangoon, describing the 
 eagerness with which the people inquired for tracts at the 
 festival of the great Sway Dagong Pagoda in that place. 
 He supposed there had been six thousand applicants, some 
 coming three months' journey, from the borders of Siam and 
 China. "Sir," was the appeal, "we hear that there is an 
 eternal hell ; we arc afraid of it; do give us a writing that 
 will tell us how to escape it." Others, who had come from 
 the frontiers of Cassay, a hundred miles north of Ava, said, 
 " Sir, we have seen a writing that tells us about an eternal 
 God. Are you the man that gives away such writings ? 
 If so, pray give us one, for we want to know tiie truth 
 before we die." Others, from the interior of the country, 
 where the name of Jesus is a little known, asked, " Are you 
 Jesus Christ's man ? Give us a writing that tells about 
 Jesus Christ." To these inquirers. Dr. Judson gave away, 
 during this one festival, about ten thousand tracts, giving 
 only to those wlio asked for them. Dr. Judson adds, "It 
 is most distressing to find, when we are almost worn out, 
 and are sinking one after another into the grave, that many 
 of our brethren in Christ at home are just as hard and 
 immovable as rocks, just as cold and repulsive as the moun- 
 tains of ice in the polar seas." — Seventh Rep. of Am. 'Tract 
 Society, p. 42. 
 
 A VOV/ OF SILENCE. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Carey found a man in Calcutta who had not 
 spoken a loud word for four years, having been under a 
 vow of perpetual silence. Nothing could open his mouth, 
 till, happening to meet with a religious tract, he read it, and 
 his tongue was loosed. lie soon threw away his paras and 
 
THE GARMENT OF SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. 77 
 
 all other badges of superstition, and became, as was believed, 
 a partaker of the grace of God. Many a nominal, and even 
 professing Christian, who is as dumb on religious subjects 
 as if under a "vow of silence," would find a tongue to 
 speak, if religion were reallj' to touch and warm his heart. 
 — Bap Miss. Her., Jan., 1820. 
 
 WHAT SHALL IT PBOFIT ? 
 
 A South Sea Islander came to the missionary, Rev. Mr. 
 Orsmund, one day, greatly agitated, his tears falling fast, 
 and said, " I was at work, putting up my garden fence ; it 
 was a long, hard work, and only myself to do it. All over 
 dirt, and greatly wearied, I sat down on a little bank to 
 rest, and said within myself, I cannot tell why, ' All this 
 great garden, and death for my soul ! All this great prop- 
 ert}^, and death forever ! 0, what shall I do 1 ' I went 
 immediatel}'^ and bathed, and went to my wife and told her 
 my thoughts and wishes. She agreed to my desire, and 
 we, on that evening, left our work, and came to this place, 
 where the Avord of God lives, and I have been wishing to 
 speak to you ever since." This man was properly in- 
 structed, became a convert to Christ, and lived worthy of 
 the Gospel. — Anecdotes by London Tract Soc, p. 66. 
 
 THE GABMENT OF SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 It happened some years ago that a white man and a North 
 American Indian were deeply convicted under the same ser- 
 mon. The Indian was almost immediately made to rejoice in 
 pardoning mercy ; but tlie white man was for a long time in 
 great distress of mind, and sometimes almost ready to de- 
 spair, till at last he too found comfort in God's forgiving 
 love. Sometime afterwards, on meeting his Indian brother, 
 he thus addressed him : " IIow was it that I should be so 
 long under conviction, when you found comfort so soon ? " — 
 " 0, brother," replied the Indian, " me tell you : there come 
 along a rich prince ; he promise to give you a new coat ; you 
 look at your coat, and say, ' I don't know, my coat pretty 
 good, it will do a little longer.' He then offer me a new 
 coat ; I look at my old blanket ; I say, ' This good for noth- 
 ing ; ' I fling it right away, and take the new coat. Just 
 so, brother, j'ou try to make your old righteousness do for 
 a little while ; you loath to give it up ; but I, poor Indian, 
 had none, so I glad to receive at once the righteousness of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ." — J'uie. Miss. Her., 18i6, p. 132. 
 •7* 
 
THE LION CHANGED TO A LAMB. 
 
 THE TERROR OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 The power of the Gospel to change the most fierce and 
 savage natiu'e into that of a mild and loving- cliild, is forci- 
 bly illustrated in the following account of Christian Afri- 
 caner, given b}^ Rev. Mr. Moffat, missionary in Southern 
 Africa. Africaner had been tlio terror of tlie whole country 
 round, and it was extremely difficult to convince the people 
 that he was changed, or that it was safe to go near him. A 
 Namaqua chief, standing with Mr. Moffat, and pointing to 
 Africaner, who was entreating parties ripe for a battle, to 
 live at peace with each other, said, " Look, there is the 
 man, once the lion, at whose roar even the inhabitants of 
 distant hamlets fled from their homes ! Yes, and I," — pat- 
 ting his chest with his hand, — "have, for fear of his ap- 
 proach, fled with my people, our wives and our babes, to 
 the mountain glen or to the wilderness, and spent nights 
 among beasts of prey, rather than gaze on the eyes of this 
 lion, or hear his roar," Mr. Moffat says, " The flirmers 
 were sceptical to the last degree about his conversion, and 
 predicted mj'' destruction if 1 went near him. One said ho 
 would set me for a mark for his boys to shoot at; anotlier, 
 that he would strip off my skin and make a drum of it to 
 dance to ; and another most consoling prediction was that 
 he would make a drinking-cup of my skull." Of the con- 
 trast between Africaner as the ferocious savage, and as the 
 docile and tender-hearted Christian, Mr. Moflat says, "It 
 may be emphatically said of him, after his conversion, he 
 wept with those that wept, for wherever he heard of a case 
 of distress, tliither his sympathies were directed; and be 
 was ever on tlie alert to stretch out a helping hand to the 
 widow and fatherless. lie who w^as formerl}'^ like a fire- 
 brand, speading discord, enmity and war, among the neigh- 
 boring tribes, would now make any sacrifice to prevent a 
 
THE TERROR OF THE COUNTRY. 79 
 
 collision between contending parties ; and when he miglit 
 liave lifted his arm and dared them to raise a spear or draw 
 a bow, he wonid stand in the attitude of a suppliant, and 
 entreat them to be reconciled to each other ; and, pointing 
 to his past life, ask, ' What have I now of all the battles I 
 have fought, and all the cattle I took, but shame and re- 
 morse ? ' " An interview between Mr. Moffat and a farmer 
 of the capo, who had lived in great dread of xVfricaner, is 
 thus described : " On seeing nie again, he asked who I was. 
 I replied that I was Mofl'at. * Mofiat ! ' he exclaimed, with 
 a faltering voice ; 'it 's your ghost ; ' and moved backwards. 
 1 told him I was no ghost. ' Don't come near me,' he ex- 
 claimed ; 'you have long been murdered by Africaner.' I 
 tried to convince him of my materiality ; but he continued, 
 ' Everybody says you was murdered, and a man told me he 
 had seen your bones.' At length he extended his trembling 
 hand, saying, ' When did you rise from the dead ? ' I ex- 
 plained to him the change in Africaner's character, and that 
 he was now a good man ; to which he replied, ' I can believe 
 almost anj^thing you say, but that I cannot credit ; there 
 are seven wonders in the world, — that would be the eighth.' 
 The farmer said that, if what had been told him was true, he 
 had but one wish, and that was to see Africaner before he 
 died. We went to see him ; and, on coming into his pres- 
 ence, I said, ' This is Africaner.' The farmer started back, 
 looking earnestly at the man, and at length exclaimed, ' Are 
 3'ou Africaner ? ' The latter doffed his old hat, and, making 
 a polite bow, answered, 'I am.' The farmer was thunder- 
 struck ; but when he had assured himself of the fact that 
 the former bugbear of the border stood before him, meek 
 and lamb-like in his whole deportment, he lifted up his eyes 
 and exclaimed, ' God, what a miracle of thy power ! What 
 cannot thy grace accomplish ?' " Respecting an interview 
 between Africaner and a rival chief, now also converted, Mr. 
 Mofiat says, " These chiefs sat down together in our tent 
 with a number of our people, when all united in singing a 
 hymn of praise to God, after which they knelt at the same 
 stool, before the peaceful throne of the Redeemer. Thus 
 the Gospel makes 
 
 ' Lions, and beasts of savnpje name. 
 Put on the nature of the himb.' " 
 
 When Africaner found his end approaching, he called all 
 his people together, after the example of Joshua, and gave 
 
80 THE LION CHANGED TO A LAMB. 
 
 them directions as to their future conduct, exhorting them 
 to remain togotlier, and live in peace, and to receive any 
 teacher that might come to them as one sent from God. 
 He added, " My former life is stained with blood ; but Jesus 
 Christ has pardoned me, and I am going to heaven. ! 
 beware of falling into the same evils into which I have led 
 you frequently ; but seek God, and he will be found of you 
 to direct you'" — Miss. Her., 1842, p. 318. 
 
 THE HOTTENTOT SUBDUED. 
 
 Even the Hottentot yields to the power of the Gospel. 
 A scene is described by Rev. Jonas Read, of the London Mis- 
 sionary Society, in South Africa, which is full of interest. 
 It had been in contemplation for some time to do something 
 for the Bushmen and Tambookies, on the Kat river; and, 
 in the summer of 1839 Mr. Read went, with some native 
 teachers, to establish a mission among them. One of these 
 teachers was Boosman, an old Hottentot disciple ; and, as 
 soon as he was introduced to Kallagalla, the Tambookie 
 chief, a friend of the missionaries, he was much affected, 
 and said, weeping, " Kallagalla, my heart opens now that I 
 see you. I thank God that he has brought me to you, and 
 I give myself up to serve you ; where you flee, 1 11 flee, 
 whether in the mountain, plain, or river ; where you die, I 
 am ready to die. I am come to you to show you and your 
 people the way to heaven, and you can know by me that God 
 is no respecter of persons ; for, as you see, I am one of the 
 most despicable and unseemly of mankind. But God has 
 opened my heart, and* given me to see the way of salvation 
 through Jesus Christ his Son." Mr. Read adds, " I shall 
 never forget his leaving us, trudging after the chief with 
 his blanket on his shoulders, and singing and weeping as he 
 went." — Z/on. Miss. Mag., 1810, p. 61. 
 
 A NOTED CHIEF AND MUKDEEER. 
 
 Vara, chief of Aimeo, one of the Tahiti and Society 
 Islands, had been a notoriously cruel and wicked man, and 
 having, for his daring and blood-thirsty disposition, been 
 'employed as a pi^ocurer of human sacrifices, he had, of 
 course, committed numerous deeds of a most horrible na- 
 ture. On one occasion Pomare (then unconverted) ordered 
 him to obtain a sacrifice immediately ; and, as he started 
 off, not knowing just where to go for a victim, his oivn little 
 brother followed, crying after him ; upon which he seized a 
 
A NOTED CHIEF AND MURDEEEE. 81 ' 
 
 stone, and, with a blow upon the head, killed the boy, put 
 him into a basket, and sent him to Pomare ! When his 
 mother bewailed the death of her son, Vara abused her, and 
 said, " Is not the favor of the gods, the pleasure of the 
 king, and the security of our possessions, worth more than 
 that little fool of a brother ? " So perfectly did this chief 
 answer to the scriptural representation, " Without natural 
 aftection, implacable, unmerciful." Another office held by 
 Vara was to rally dispirited warriors ; and many a night 
 has he spent in trying to rouse the savage spirit of the 
 people, by assuring them, on the authority of a pretended 
 communication from some god, of their success in an ap- 
 proaching battle. But this implacable and unmerciful 
 heathen was made a 7ieio creature by the power of the Gos- 
 pel ! He received baptism at the hands of the missionary, 
 and for many years was a humble and consistent Christian. 
 When at length he fell sick, and the hope of life was past, 
 he was asked, " Are you sorry that you cast away your 
 lying gods, by which you gained so much property ? " 
 Rousing from his lethargy, he replied, "0, no, no, no I 
 AVhat ! can I be sorry for casting away death for life ? 
 Jesus is my rock — the fortification in which my soul takes 
 shelter." The missionary said, "Tell me on what you 
 found your hopes of future blessedness." He replied, "I 
 have been very wicked, but a great king from the other side 
 of the skies sent his ambassadors with terms of peace. We 
 could not tell for many years what these ambassadors 
 wanted. At length Pomare obtained a victory, and invited 
 all his subjects to come and take refuge under the wing of 
 Jesus, and I was one of the first to do so. The blood of 
 Jenus is my foundation. I grieve that all my children do 
 not love him. Had they known the misery we endured in 
 the reign of the devil, they would gladly take the Gospel 
 in exchange for their follies. Jesus is the best king ; he 
 gives a jnlloiv loithout thorns." Soon after this. Vara was 
 asked if he was afraid to die, when, with almost youthful 
 energy, he replied, " No, no ! The canoe is in the sea, the 
 sails are spread, she is ready for the gale. I have a good 
 pilot to guide me, and a good heaven to receive me. My 
 outside man and my inside man differ. Let the one rot till 
 the trump shall sound, but let my soul wing her way to 
 the throne of Jesus." What but the Gospel-system ever 
 brought such a man to such a dying bed ? — Williams's 
 Miss. Enter, in South Sea Islands, p. 339. 
 
82 THE LION CHANGED TO A LAMB. 
 
 A MIRACLE OF GRACE. 
 
 Job, the Sandwich Islander, was a worshipper of idols, 
 and took an active part in all their abominations. So hard- 
 ened and daring- was he, that the chiefs employed hiin to do 
 their most wicked and horrid work ; and he shrank from 
 nothing-. It was made a part of his business to commit 
 mnrder. He would do it with as little reluctance as a man 
 would kill an animal. lie killed those who had never 
 harmed liin^, and who had done nothing worthy of death. 
 Whenever the chiefs wanted any one to be put out of the 
 way, they knew where to find an instrument, bold and piti- 
 less enough to do the base and murderous deed. One who 
 could perform such acts for others would not be slow to 
 perform them for himself He had shed a great deal of 
 innocent blood, and there was not a worse man on the 
 island. But the Gospel came to Molokai, his residence, and 
 Job was among the earliest of its converts. He became a 
 meek, humble, zealous follower of the Lamb. With great 
 zeal he entered on his new life. He had served Satan many 
 years ; he now wanted to serve Christ as faithfully. He 
 did so. His path became that of the just, shining more 
 and more. He had not much talents, nor great learning ; 
 but the love of God constrained him. A few miles from his 
 house was a village, where a few people had met occasion- 
 ally, in an old dilapidated grass-house, to pray. They had 
 almost ceased to meet, and their house was fast going to 
 decay. Job went there, and met with them ; and, as he 
 exhorted and prayed, the Spirit of God came upon the 
 place. The meetings grew longer and more frequent ; the 
 impenitent and children came in, and sinners began to be 
 converted. A better house was needed. Job shouldered 
 his axe, and led the way to the mountains. All followed 
 him. They cut down timber, and brought it to the shore, 
 and soon had a large, commodious, and attractive house, 
 instead of the old one. 
 
 A little further off was another village, which was in an 
 equally bad plight. No sooner had success crowned the 
 efforts of Job in the first, than he went to this ; and, almost 
 immediately, sinners began to be converted, for the Holy 
 Spirit evidently worked with him. Ibn-e, too, a new house 
 was speedily erected, and stands as a monument to the old 
 man's zeal. But he was not weary in well-doing, and went 
 right to another place, where his labors were attended with 
 like results. A short time ago (this narrative was written 
 
TRYING THE EXPERIMENT. 83 
 
 in 1852), the third house built through his instrumentality 
 was dedicated to God as a house of prayer, lie has now 
 gone over the mountains, a greater distance from his home, 
 to another place where his labors are also needed. Thus ho 
 continues to bring forth fruit in old age. His course will 
 soon be ended, and then he will enter into the joy of his 
 Lord. How wonderful the change 1 What a case of regen- 
 eration, of new birth ! Did ever any agency but the Spirit 
 of God, through the Gospel, transform such a man as Job 
 into a disciple and soldier of Christ, such as he became ? 
 
 TRYING- THE EXPERIMENT. 
 
 Malietoa, King of Savai, one of the South Sea Islands, 
 having become favorable to Christianity, with many of his 
 people, and erected a chapel, the time came for the public 
 dedication of this place of worship, when the king called 
 his family together, most of whom had reached manhood, 
 and stated to them that he was about to fulfil his promise to 
 become a worshipper of Jehovah. With one accord they 
 replied, that, if it was good for him, it was equally so for 
 them, and that they would follow his example. But to this 
 he objected, and declared that, if they did so, he would 
 adhere to the old system. " Do you not know," he said, 
 "that the gods will be enraged with me for abandoning 
 them, and endeavor to destroy me ? and, perhaps, Jehovah 
 may not have power to protect me against the efiects of 
 their anger. My proposition is, therefore, that I should try 
 the experiment of becoming his worshipper, and then, if 
 he can protect me, you may with safety follow my exam- 
 ple ; but, if not, I only shall fall a victim to their vengeance 
 — you will be safe." The young men manifested great re- 
 luctance to comply with this request, and wished to know 
 how long a time he required to make this singular experi- 
 ment. He informed them that he desired a month or six 
 weeks ; and, after some debate, they unwillingly acquiesced 
 in his proposition. It was, however, a time of general 
 and intense excitement, and messengers were frequently 
 despatched to different parts of the island to announce the 
 triumphs of Jehovah's power. At the expiration of the 
 third week, however, the patience of the young men was 
 exhausted, and, on going to their father, they stated that 
 he had tried his experiment sufficiently long ; that no evil 
 had befallen him, and that, therefore, they would imme- 
 diately follow his example. He gave his consent ; when, 
 
84 THE LION CHANGED TO A LAMB. 
 
 not only his relatives, but nearly all the people, abandoned 
 their heathen worship. A day was appointed for their pub- 
 lic renunciation of Heathenism, and the necessary ceremo- 
 nies were adopted. Subsequently, a large meeting was 
 convened to consult respecting the destruction of Papo, 
 Avhich was only a piece of old rotten matting, about three 
 yards long, and four inches in width ; but as this was the 
 god of war, and always attached to the canoe of their leader 
 when they went forth to battle, it was regarded with great 
 veneration. At the meeting, one person proposed that Papo 
 should be thrown into the fire ; but drowning was finally 
 decided upon ; and, for this purpose, a new canoe was 
 launched, a stone was tied to the god, and he was taken into 
 the canoe to be consigned to a watery grave. But the 
 native teachers, hearing of this, paddled ofli'as quick as pos- 
 sible in another boat, rescued Papo, and gave this notable 
 god of war to Rev. J. Williams, who took it to England 
 and deposited it in the Missionary Museum. — TVilliams's 
 Miss. Enter, in South Sea Islands, p. 393. 
 
 GBIEF FOR MURDERED CHILDREN". 
 
 Converted heathen often manifest the most intense sorrow 
 for the children which they murdered in their former blind- 
 ness. A Feegee mother, the wife of a chief, when about to 
 die, sent for the missionary, Mr. Williams, and, as he entered 
 her room, she exclaimed, " 0, servant of God ! come and tell 
 me what I must do." He perceived that she was suffering 
 great mental distress, and inquired the cause of it ; when 
 she replied, "I am about to die — I am about to die." — 
 " Well," Mr. W. said, " if it be so, what creates this agony 
 of mind ? " — "01 my sins, my sins 1 " she cried ; " 1 am 
 about to die." Pie inquired what the particular sins were 
 which so greatly distressed her, when she exclaimed, " 0, 
 my children ! my murdered children ! I am about to die, 
 and I shall meet them all at the judgment-seat of Christ." 
 Upon this, the missionary inquired how many children she 
 had destroyed ; and, to his astonishment, she replied, " I 
 have destroyed sixteen! and now am about to die." He 
 tried to comfort her, by explaining that those were the 
 times of ignorance, which God winked at ; but this afforded 
 her no consolation, and she again gave vent to her agonized 
 feelings, by exclaiming, "0, my ^children, my children!" 
 She died iik the animating hope that her sins, though many, 
 were forgiven. 
 
GRIEF FOR MURDERED CHILDREN. 85 
 
 At a public meeting, in the same islands, for the examina- 
 tion of school children, a large number of parents being 
 present, many a father and mother wci-e heard to say, witli 
 eyes gleaming with delight, " What a mercy it is that we 
 spared our dear girl!" Others, with faltering voices, 
 lamented in bitterness that they had not saved theirs ; and 
 some, with tears, told the painful tale that all their cliildren 
 were destroyed. In the midst of these proceedings, a ven- 
 erable chief, gray with age, arose, and, with impassioned 
 look and manner, exclaimed, " Let me speak ; I must speak ! " 
 On obtaining permission, he said, " 0, that I had known 
 that the Gospel was coming! 0, that I had known that 
 these blessings were in store for us ! then I should have 
 saved my children, and they would have been among this 
 happy group. But, alas ! I destroyed them all, and have 
 not one left." Then the distressed chief, turning to the . 
 chairman of the meeting, a relative, stretched out his arm, 
 and exclaimed, " You, my brother, saw me kill child after 
 child, but you never seized my murderous hand, and said, 
 ' Stay, brother, God is about to bless us ; the Gospel of 
 salvation is coming to our shores.' " Then he cursed the 
 gods which they formerly worshipped, and added, " It was 
 you that infused this savage disposition into us, and now I 
 shall die childless, although I have been the father of nine- 
 teen children." The chief and father, brought to a sense of 
 his great loss, then sat down, and gave vent to his agonized 
 feelings in a flood of grief 
 
 One more remarkable and exciting case is thus recorded 
 by Mr. Williams. It was the case of a chief woman, who 
 had been married to a man of inferior rank ; and it was the 
 universal custom to desti'oy the children of such a union. 
 The first babe was born, and put to death. The fatlicr 
 wished the second to be spared, but the mother and the 
 mother's i-elatives demanded its destruction. The third 
 was a fine girl. The father pleaded and entreated that it 
 might be saved, for his bowels yearned over it ; but the 
 mother and the mother's relatives agahi carried their point, 
 and the babe was doomed to die. One of the numerous 
 modes of destroying the lives of children was, to put the 
 unconscious victim in a hole, covered with a plank to keep 
 the earth from pressing it, and leave it there to perish. This 
 method was adopted in the present instance. The father 
 happened to be in the mountains at the time of the child's 
 birth and interment ; but, on his return, he hastened to the 
 
86 THE LION CHANGED TO A LAMB. 
 
 spot, opened the grave, and, finding that the child was not 
 dead, ho took her up, and gave her in charge to his brotlier 
 and sister, by whom she was conveyed to the island of 
 Aimeo, about seventy miles distant, where they trained her 
 up. The husband died, without informing his wife that 
 their daughter was still alive. After Cliristianity was 
 embraced, the mother was, on one occasion, bewailing most 
 bitterly the destruction of her children ; when a woman, who 
 happened to be present, and who was acquainted with the 
 foot of the child's disinterment, astonished and overwliplmed 
 her with the announcement that her daughter had been 
 saved, and was yet living at Aimeo. A short time after 
 receiving this extraordinary intelligence, she sailed for 
 Aimeo, and, on reaching the shore, hurried with excited 
 feeling to the house other relatives, and, as she approached 
 it, beheld, with wonder and delight, a fine young girl stand- 
 ing in the door-way. At once she recognized Iter own image 
 in the countenance of Ihe child ! It was her daughter. She 
 clasped the treasure to her bosom, and exclaimed, " Rejoice 
 with me, for this, my daughter, was dead and is alive 
 again ! " The mother went to her rest, but the daughter 
 became an active teacher in one of the mission schools, and 
 a consistent member of a Christian church. — WiUianis's 
 Hiss. Enter, in South Seas, p. 500. 
 
 THE MURDEREK OF WILLIAMS. 
 
 John Williams, as is well known, was a missionary of the 
 London Missionary Society, to the South Sea Islands ; and 
 was murdered at Erromanga, one of the New Hebrides, by 
 a native. A letter from the captain of the missionar}^ ship 
 John Williams, received at the London Mission-house, in 
 1854, reports a visit to Erromanga, and says that, during 
 the stay of the vessel off the island, the very man, who 
 levelled the fatal blow at Mr. Williams, came on board. 
 He is now a learner of Christianity. The question was put 
 to him, why he killed the missionary. Ilis reply was, 
 " White man had been to the island, and had slain his 
 brother and his sister, and he feared this white man would 
 do likewise, and so he killed him." The island is now, to a 
 great extent, reclaimed from heathenism, by the labors of 
 native evangelists. 
 
THE MARTYR SPIRIT OF NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 The apostles and tlieir immediate successors were not 
 more distinguished fur their firm and consistent conduct, 
 under persecutions and violent deaths, than have been many 
 converts to Christianity in modern missionary fields ; and 
 this fact is of immense practical importance, as showing 
 that the religion of the Gospel, in its real spirit and power, 
 is the same now as when first exemplified on the cross and 
 at the stake, — that it has lost none of its vitality, and 
 sufiered no depreciation in the boldness, decision, and for- 
 titude, with which it inspires its disciples in the hour of 
 conflict and trial. In countries nominally Christian little 
 opportunity is furnished for the demonstration of this truth ; 
 and the inference often is, that Christians who wage an un- 
 steady or unsuccessful warfare with the many temptations 
 to worldliness, would, of courf^e, utterly fail in the harder 
 and hotter fights of the prison, torture and fagot, I'or 
 Christ's sake. Such is by no means the truth ; the reason- 
 ing is superficial. There is sufficient ground for the asser- 
 tion, that if the fires of persecution were to be kindled in 
 this country, in New England even. Christians by thou- 
 sands, as in Madagascar, Syria, India and elsewhere, would 
 be found ready to suffer for-Christ, — for him and the Gospel 
 to accept the dungeon, the stake, the spear. The examples 
 given below may confirm in a measure this truth, and ought 
 certainly to establish all believers in the reality and pre- 
 ciousness of the faith they have received. 
 
88 THE MAETYR SPIRIT OF NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 HOUSEHOLD FOES. 
 
 In heathen countries the saying is every day verified, that 
 "a man's foes sliall be they of his own household." Said 
 a young man at Trehizond, to the missionary, Mr. Bliss, 
 "Seven years has my father been trying, in every way, to 
 hinder me from reading and obeying the Gospel ; and, though 
 I have endeavored to soften his heart towards me by the 
 most dutiful conduct, it has been iitterly without efiect." 
 He then added, as a specimen, that a few mornings ago, as 
 he was sitting in his room, studying the Gospel, his father 
 came in and began to upbraid him, in the most violent man- 
 ner, for not having been to church that morning, it being a 
 week-day. From wopds he proceeded to blows, the son all 
 the Avhile making no reply but saying, "Hear me, father; 
 why do you beat me ? " The violence of the father's anger 
 having abated a little, he called in a priest and half a dozen 
 other influential men to remonstrate with his son. After 
 abusing him severely, the priest asked him, " Why do you 
 leave me to run after foreign priests ? Am I not a priest? " 
 The son replied, "If you are a priest, where are the fruits 
 of your ministry ? How many men have you ever gained 
 over to the service of God ? " At these and similar search- 
 ing questions, the priest was silent, and the interview 
 ended. 
 
 Another father, at the same place, after having severely 
 beaten his son, and burnt his Testament, told him that, unless 
 he gave up reading that book, he would turn him out of his 
 house. "Very well, father," said the son, "if you wish me 
 to leave you for the Gospel's sake, I am ready to go." At 
 this the father relented, and dropped the conversation. 
 Thus religion not only embitters ungodly relatives, but 
 teaches a child in what spirit to answer a persecuting 
 father.— J/^ss. Her., 1845, p. 296. 
 
 NOT PEACE, BUT A SWORD. 
 
 The following is one among the many painful narratives, 
 which serve to illustrate the truth and meaning of the dec- 
 laration, that Christ came "not to send peace but a sword." 
 The statement is taken from the journal of Messrs. Clarkson 
 and Taylor, of the London Miss. Soc, in Northern India, 
 and may be found in the London Hiss. Mag. for Aug., 1849. 
 They say, "In the case of five converts, their wives have 
 refused to join them ; there is no subordination in famihes. 
 
THE MARTYRS OF MADAGASCAR. 89 
 
 The child will rail against the parent, and the wife will shut 
 the door against her husband. Everything in their present 
 social and domestic circumstances is calculated to wear 
 down the spirits of the converts, and drive them to despair. 
 If God do not abide with them they are of all men most mis- 
 erable. In one case, a convert had his two children taken 
 from him, by his own brother, with a drawn sword. In an- 
 other case, an unbelieving son, in indignation against a 
 believing father, swallowed opium to destroy himself, but 
 was saved from death. In another case, an unbelieving 
 mother and a believing son who is married have, by mutual 
 consent, built up a wall in their dwellings, to divide, so as 
 to bar access to one another's families. In another case, a 
 very pious man was imprisoned by order of the authorities, 
 owing to the petition of his own brother, who declared that 
 he should lose caste were he to dwell near him." The mis- 
 sionaries add, " Verily the consistent Christian among the 
 heathen is something more than worldly men conceive of. 
 Nothing but the powers of the unseen world can make a 
 man give up house and land, father and sister and brother, 
 nay, his own wife and children." 
 
 THE MARTYRS OF MADAGASCAR. 
 
 The reality and power of the religion of Christ were never 
 more forcibly illustrated, not even by the primitive martyrs, 
 than by the converts to Christianity in Madagascar. Two 
 cases may be cited as examples. The first martyr to the 
 cause of Christ in Madagascar, was Rasalama, a woman of 
 strong mind, and whose piety had shone with peculiar lustre 
 for six or seven years. In 1836, an accusation was laid 
 against her, that slie observed the Sabbath, retained and 
 read a copy of the Scriptures, and conversed on religious 
 subjects. For these crimes she was condemned to death, 
 in the daily prospect of which she remarked to a friend, that 
 as to her life she felt indifferent ; that if her blood were to 
 be shed on the land, she trusted it might be the means of 
 kindling such a feeling of interest in Madagascar, as should 
 never be extinguished. She was not immediately executed ; 
 but, on some Christian books being found near her residence, 
 she was secured, and her hands and feet loaded with heavy 
 irons. After being menaced eight or ten days, to induce 
 her to impeach her companions, she remained firm, and was 
 put to death by spearing, August, 1837, at the age of thirty- 
 eight. She Avas most wonderfully supported in her last 
 8* 
 
90 THE MARTYR SPIRIT OF NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 moments, having repeatedly said to an intimate friend, by 
 letter, "Do not fear on my account; I am ready and pre- 
 pared to die ibr Jesus, if such be the will of God." In 
 relation to her death, a missionary, familiar with the facts, 
 remarks, "Never did a Christian martyr, in the annals of 
 the church, suffer from motives more pure, simple, and un- 
 mixed with earthly alloy. She had never heard of any after 
 glory of martyrdom here on earth. No external splendor 
 had been cast around the subject, in her mind, by reading 
 any lives of martyrs. All was to her obloquy and contempt. 
 Iler own father and relatives, to the very last, accused her 
 of stubbornness. She had no earthly friends to support and 
 cheer her. But her whole heart, as her letters testify, was 
 filled with the love of Jesus, and she endured as seeing him 
 who is invisible. Her letters abounded in Scripture expres- 
 sions, as the following specimen shows. It was written to 
 Mr. Johns, missionary, shortly before her last imprison- 
 ment : ' Blessed God, who hath given ns access by our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. My earnest prayer to God is, that he would 
 enable me to obey the words of Jesus to his disciples, " If 
 any man desire to come after me, let him deny himself." 
 Hence, then, none of these things move me, neither count 
 I my life dear to myself, that I may finish my course in the 
 service I have received of the Lord Jesus. Do not you 
 missionaries grieve, under the idea that j^our labor here has 
 been in vain in the Lord. Through the blessing of God it 
 succeeds. If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are 
 lost ; but it is the power of God unto salvation to them that 
 believe. Here is my ground of confidence. The power of 
 God cannot be effectually resisted. I will go in the strength 
 of the Lord. May I be found in him, not having mine own 
 righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through 
 the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by 
 faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrec- 
 tion, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made con- 
 formable unto his death. Pray for us, that the Lord may 
 open the door for his word among us.' She was most 
 severely flogged for several days before she was put to 
 death, — a thing never heard of before in Madagascar ; but 
 she continued steadfast, and met death with such calmness 
 and tranquillity, that the executioners repeatedly declared, 
 that ' there ica.s some charm in the religion of the whites, that 
 took away the dread of death.'" — Miss. Her., 1839, p. 139. 
 
THE NINE FAITHFUL WITNESSES. 91 
 
 A MODERM" DANIEL. 
 
 The following' narrative illustrates the fact that in mod- 
 ern times, no less than in apostolic days, true religion will 
 stand the test of persecution and death. Among- the native 
 Christians in Madagascar was a young man named Kafa- 
 ralahy, who, in defiance of the persecuting edicts of the 
 queen, continued to pray, like Daniel, and to attend the 
 meetings of the little band of disciples ; and, a bolder of- 
 fence still, to have prayer-meetings at his own house. At 
 length a man, hitherto friendly, who owed him a small sum, 
 and was unwilling to pay, accused Rafaralahy to the queen, 
 and he was immediately arrested and put in irons. The 
 first thing was, to extort from him, if possible, the names 
 of those who were associated with him in the unlawful busi- 
 ness of Bible-reading, praying, &c. But Rafaralahy was 
 inflexible, refusing to disclose a single name, saying, "Here 
 am I ; let the queen do what slie pleases with me ; I have 
 done it, but I will not accuse my friends." After being in 
 irons several days, he w^as taken to the place of execution, 
 the mode of death being by spearing. When the execu- 
 tioners came to the door of the house where he was bound, 
 'they asked, "Which is Rafaralahy?" He replied, very 
 calmly, "I am, sir." They approaclied him, and took off 
 the irons, and told him to go along with them. He arose 
 inunediatcl}' and went with them, speaking to them all the 
 way of Jesus Christ, and how happ}'' he felt at the thought 
 of shortly seeing him who had loved him and died for him. 
 On arriving at the place of execution, he requested them to 
 allow him a few moments to commit his soul to his Saviour. 
 This being granted, he offered a most fervent prayer for his 
 country, for his persecuted brethren, and commended his 
 soul to his Saviour. He then rose from his knees, and the 
 executioners were preparing to throw .him down on the 
 ground. He said there was no need of that, as he was now 
 ready to die ; and he laid himself down, and was immedi- 
 ately put to death. He was the second martja- in Mada- 
 gascar. — Narraiice of Persecutions in Madagascar, p. 212. 
 
 THE NINE FAITHFUL "WITNESSES. 
 
 During the dreadful persecutions in Madagascar, nine per- 
 sons were arrested on suspicion of their having embraced 
 the Christian religion. They were taken to the capital, and 
 three days successively they underwent examination. On 
 
92 THE MARTYR SPIRIT OP NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 the third day they resolved to witness the good confession, 
 and therefore they made the following declaration, through 
 Andriamanana, one of their number, whom they appointed 
 as spokesman. He said, " Since you ask us again and again, 
 we will tell you. We are not banditti, nor murderers ; we 
 are (impivavaca) praying people ; and if this make us guilty 
 in the kingdom of the queen, then, ivhatever the queen does, we 
 submit to suffer." — "Is this then," said the interrogator, 
 "your final reply, whether for life or death?" They an- 
 swered, "// is our fnal 7'eply, whether for life or death." 
 llaving made this confession, they felt inexpressible peace 
 and joy. They had prayed ; they had confessed Christ ; and 
 now that concealment was at an end, and they could freely 
 open their overburdened hearts, they said to each other, 
 " Now we are in the situation of Christian and Faithful, 
 when they were led to the city of Vanity Fair." And so it 
 proved, when they underwent the martyr's death, after the 
 example of Faithful. — Lon. Miss. Mag., 1841, p. 74. 
 
 CHRISTIAN" HEROISM. 
 
 Among the many instances of courage and firmness in the 
 face of death, related by the missionaries, is the following, 
 which occurred at the Georgian Islands. A young man, 
 who had renounced idolatry, and become a consistent and 
 devoted disciple of Christ, was much ridiculed and perse- 
 cuted by his former friends. Promises and threats were alter- 
 nately employed to induce him to return to his former reli- 
 gion, but both were unavailing. Remaining firm in his deter- 
 mination to serve the Lord, he was at length banished from 
 his father's house, and forced to leave the neighborhood. 
 But his persecutions did not end here. A heathen ceremony 
 was about to be observed, for which a human victim was 
 required, and this young disciple was selected, because he 
 prolessed to be a worshipper of the true God. On the even- 
 ing preceding tlie ceremony the young man had retired, as 
 usual, to a secluded spot near his dwelling, for the piirpose 
 of devotion. AVhile thus engaged, a number of servants of 
 the chief aiid priests approached him, and told him that the 
 king wished to see him, and that they had been sent to 
 invite his return. He was aware of the approaching cere- 
 mony, and knew that a human sacrifice was to be offered, 
 and it instantly occurred to him that he was to be the vic- 
 tim. He therefore replied that he did not believe that the 
 kiug wished to see him, and that it was unnecessary for him 
 
'' NOT ACCEPTING DELIVEKAXCE." 93 
 
 to go. They then said the priest or some of his friends 
 wished to see him ; to which he answered, " Why do you 
 seek to deceive me ? I know that a ceremony approaches, 
 and that a human victim is to be offered. Something within 
 me tells me that I am to he the victim! and your appearance 
 and message confirm my conviction. Jesus Christ is my 
 keeper ; without his permission you cannot hurt me. You 
 may be permitted to kill my body, but I am not afraid to 
 die. My soul you cannot hurt ; that is safe in the hands of 
 Jesus Christ, by whom it will be kept beyond your power." 
 Irritated by this reply, the men rushed upon him, murdered 
 him, and bore his body to the temple, where it was oflered 
 to their god, — South Sea Missions, p. 149. 
 
 "IT IS ALL ^WELL." 
 
 In the early labors of the Moravian missionaries among 
 the North American Indians (1755), the hostile Indians made 
 an attack upon one of their stations at Gnadenhuetten, in 
 the state of New York, killing several of the missionaries by 
 firing into their dwelling, and destroying others by setting 
 fire to the house. One of the missionaries — Sensenian — 
 who fled out of a back door, had the inexpressible pain of 
 beholding his wife perish in the burning building. When 
 surrounded by the flames, she was seen standing with folded 
 hands, and in the spirit of a martyr was heard to exclaim, 
 
 " 'T IS ALL WELL, DEAR SaVIOUR ! " 
 
 "NOT ACCEPTING DELIVERANCE." 
 
 A Christian in Trebizond, who would not deny his Saviour, 
 was beaten until he was speechless ; and afterwards his pei'- 
 secutors asked him, "Do you believe in our customs and 
 church ? " To which he answered, " I am not afraid of those 
 tliat kill the body ; but I fear Him who is able to destroy 
 both soul and body in hell ; and I cannot believe in your 
 church, and worship images." 
 
 Another Christian, in Erzeroom, about the same period, 
 was persecuted and beaten with dreadful severity. Many 
 men rushed upon him at once, and inflicted blows upon vari- 
 ous parts of his body, some with the soles of their boots, 
 some with shoes that had nails in them, and some with sticks. 
 After this they seized him, and carried him before the 
 pasha ; but the steadfast and suffering disciple took a copy 
 of the Gospel under his arm, and when the pasha was sit- 
 ting in judgment on him he said, " I will not adhere to the 
 
94 THE MARTYR SPIRIT OF NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 traditions of the elders, but I will cleave to the cliurcli of 
 the apostles. This is their book. In this I have found the 
 commandment. I will not deny this." Thus these breth- 
 ren endured, in the true spirit of the apostles and martyrs, 
 not denying Christ, nor even following him afar off", to save 
 their own lives. — Miss. Her., 1848, p. 217. 
 
 THE ONLY SON OF THE QUEEN. 
 
 The Queen of Madagascar, the most unrelenting and 
 bloody persecutor of Christians of which modern missions 
 furnish any record, had an only son, her successor to the 
 throne ; and, just as he attained to manhood, he embraced 
 Christianity himself, and became " a faithful brother in the 
 Lord." In defiance of the laws which pronounced slavery 
 and death upon every Christian, the son of the queen met 
 with converts in their places of retreat, and he employed 
 every means in his power to rescue them from impending 
 danger. More than once he was reported to the queen, by 
 her chief officer, as a Cliristian ; but the love of a mother 
 prevailed over the spirit of the pagan persecutor, and the 
 life of the young prince was spared. On one occasion the 
 prime minister, when addressing the queen, said, "Madam, 
 your son is a Christian ; he prays with the Christians, and 
 encourages them in this new doctrine. We are lost, if your 
 majesty do not stop the prince in this strange way." — " But 
 he is my son," replied the queen, " my only, my beloved 
 son ! Let him do what he pleases ! If he wish to become 
 a Christian, let him ! He is my beloved son ! " Thus the 
 characteristic attachment of this people to their offspring 
 was made, under God, the means of preserving the life of 
 this promising young man. — 3Iiss. Her., 1848, p. 245. 
 
 DONE "WITH THE DEVIL. 
 
 An African woman, who had been converted to Christian- 
 ity, and who took great delight in hearing the Gospel, Avas 
 much persecuted by her heathen friends and neighbors, who 
 threatened to kill her unless she would worship the image 
 of the devil as formerly. They even forced her to lie down 
 before the idol. But they could not bow or corrupt her freed 
 spirit ; for, when on her knees before the hideous image, 
 she cried aloud, in the presence of them all, " 0, devil 1 
 I have done with you forever ! I worship the true God 
 alone." — Jo»r. of Miss., Oct., 1852. 
 
INDIANS BECOMING MARTYRS. 95 
 
 "I MUST PKAY." 
 
 The following instance of a determination to obey tlie 
 impulses of a praying spirit reminds one of the example of 
 Daniel, and is scarcely less remarkable, as an example of 
 Christian firmness. While the bloody Queen of Madagascar 
 was enforcing her terrible edicts against the Christians, and 
 putting them to death in large numbers, her prime minister 
 employed a nephew of his to act as spy, and inform him of 
 such Christians in the capital as met together for religious 
 worship. But, in God's mercy to the Christians, this nephew 
 himself had been converted, and was of the number who 
 secretl}' met for i^rayer and praise, contrary to law, though 
 the prime minister knew nothing of the fact. So, without a 
 word of objection, the nephew went on his mission as spy, 
 told them what orders he had received, and begged them to 
 bi'cak up and go home, so that his uncle might not discover 
 and arrest them. He then returned to his uncle, who in- 
 quired, " And where is the list?" He answered that he 
 had none. " Why have you disobeyed my orders ? " asked 
 the prime minister, and added, "Young man, your head 
 must fall, for you show that you, also, are a Christian." — 
 "Yes," he replied, "/ am a Christian; and, if you will, 
 you may put me to death. ; for 1 7nust pray!^' At these 
 words the heart of the queen's minister relented, and the 
 young man was spared. Thus the God of Daniel preserved 
 tliis fearless and faithful servant, when a spirit of cowardice 
 and time-serving would probably have been rewarded with 
 instant death. — 3Iiss. Her., 1848, p. 345. 
 
 INDIANS BECOMING MARTYRS. 
 
 In 1Y82, a scene occurred among the Christian Indians in 
 New York, which, though buried in obscure annals, should 
 be brought to light, as a testimony to the grace of God, 
 which displays its power alike in all countries, and in all 
 conditions. The Moravian missionaries, after immense 
 labors and sacrifices, had gathered considerable congrega- 
 tions at two places in the State of New York, called Gna- 
 denhuetten and Salem. The Governor of New York had 
 afforded to these Indians his protection ; but a band" of 
 white citizens conspired against them, and resolved on their 
 destruction. Their first move was, to gain the confidence 
 of the Indians by various professions of friendship. They 
 then persuaded them to give up all their arms, and every 
 weapon of defence, and even to show them all the places, 
 
96 THE MARTYR SPIRIT OP NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 in jSelds and woods, where they had buried treasures or pro- 
 visions. Having proceeded so far, and being in sufficient 
 force for their object, they suddenly threw off" the mask, 
 and seized and bound their victims, men, women, and chil- 
 dren, without resistance. A council was then held, and it 
 was decided by a majority of votes to put them all to 
 death. Accordingly, one of the conspirators was sent to 
 say to the Indians, that, as they were Christian Indians, 
 they migiit prepare themselves for death in a Christian man- 
 ner, for they must all die the next day. They were filled 
 witli horror on hearing this ; but soon recollected them- 
 selves, and became patient and resigned. Their last night 
 on earth they spent in praj^er, and in exhorting each other 
 to remain faithful unto death ; and, as the morning ap- 
 proached, thej^ employed themselves in singing the j^i'^ises 
 of God (heir Saviour ! 
 
 When the day of execution arrived, the murderers fixed 
 on two houses, one for the men, and the other for the women 
 and children, to which they wantonly gave the name of 
 slaughter-houses. The poor, innocent creatures were now 
 bound with ropes, two and two together, and led into the 
 houses appointed for their destruction, and there they were 
 scalped and murdered, men, women, and children, in the 
 most inhuman manner. Thus no fewer than ninety-six per- 
 sons perished, among whom were thirty-four children ! 
 According to the testimony of the murderers themselves, 
 these Christian Indians met death with wonderful patience 
 and resignation ! They even declared that these must have 
 been good Indians, " for they sung and prayed to their 
 
 LATEST BREATH ! " 
 
 There was in this final triumph no show of human philos- 
 ophy, no infidel bravery, no thought of posthumous fame ; for 
 they were obscure individuals, suft'ering an obscure death, 
 without a thought of even being known in history. It was 
 simply the power of the Gospel — the religion by which 
 apostles and martyrs have triumphed. We liave read of 
 the twenty-three Girondists, wlio sang the Marseilles Hymn 
 on their way to the guillotine, and continued to sing on the 
 scaflbld, their voices growing fewer and fliinter, till the last 
 head dropped. But in all this there was nothing so truly 
 sublime as in the last hours of the Christian Indians, "who 
 sung and prayed to their latest breath ! " — Bro%vn''s Hist. 
 of Hiss., vol. I., p. 320. 
 
CONVERTS MULTIPLIED UNDER PERSECUTION. 97 
 
 CONVERTS MULTIPLIED UNDER PERSECUTION. 
 
 A remarkable illustration of the vitality of the religion of 
 the Gospel, and its capacity to live and increase amid the 
 hottest fires of persecution, is found in the history of the 
 Madagascar mission, as reported in the London 3Ii!<sionanj 
 Magazine. It is well known that from the time of the expul- 
 sion of the missionaries from that island by its bloody queen, 
 to 1851, — a period of seventeen years, — a most rigorous 
 and relentless system of vigilance and punishment was 
 enforced against the native converts. It was empliatically 
 one long reign of terror. Many hundreds were degraded 
 and impoverished ; hundreds more wei-e doomed to perpet- 
 ual slaver}' ; and from forty to fifty suffered death in forms 
 of most aggravated horror. Some died by the sword or 
 spear, others were precipitated from rocks, to be dashed to 
 pieces at once, or to await death amid lingering agonies, 
 while several were burnt alive in the capital of Mada- 
 gascar. During all this season of terror the firmness of 
 the Christians astonished both their friends and enemies. 
 Rarely was one known to deny the faith to save liberty 
 or life. They met for prayer and Bible-reading, in spite 
 of royal edicts ; and, with servitude and death staring them 
 in the face, their numbers multiplied, so that tens were 
 increased to hundreds, and hundreds to thousands. Not 
 less than five thousand were found, in 1851, to be living in 
 the strict observance of the Sabbath, the study of the IIolj' 
 Scriptures, and in united conference and prayer, in the 
 mountains and caves of the island. At this period deliver- 
 ance came through the son of the queen, a decided convert 
 to Christianity, and heir to the throne. 
 
 The firmness and steady increase of the converts, during 
 all this season of horror, is the more remarkable, from the 
 fact that they were wholly deprived of the counsel and 
 sympathy of teachers and missionaries. The missionaries 
 had been banished from the island, and only the tcord and 
 Spirit of God remained to guide and sustain the sufferers. 
 In this respect their case is wholly unlike that of the Wal- 
 denses in the valley of Piedmont, and exceeds it in interest, 
 as it furnishes, on a large scale, an instance of what the 
 Christian religion can accomplish in the soul of man, with- 
 out extraneous aid. The Waldensian Christians, and the 
 Covenanters of Scotland, had with them, in their seasons of 
 trial and sufiering, the prayers and counsels of their beloved 
 pastors and guides ; but the Christians of Madagascar had 
 9 
 
98 THE MARTYR SPIRIT OF NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 neither — nolhing but the word of God and prayer! And 
 yet no Christians ever stood more firmly, or triumphed more 
 completely over the wealvuess of the flesh, the wiles of the 
 devil, and the sword and stake of the persecutor. The 
 infidel and scofler may answer this argument as best they 
 can, 
 
 THE KAREN PASTOR, THAGHE. 
 
 Thaghe was a native Karen convert, and a faithful preacher 
 and pastor, in connection with the American Baptist mis- 
 sion in Burmah. At the close of the war between the Eng- 
 lish and the Burmese, in 1852, in which the English were 
 conquerors, the Burmese officers issued orders that every 
 town and village in the province should be destroyed, the 
 inhabitants driven away, and the country left a desert. 
 How many of them, in this time of tribulation, suffered 
 cruel deaths, there are no means of ascertaining ; but one 
 instance, that of Thaghe, is on record, and is as follows : — 
 
 " It appears that two men, apparently inferior Burmese 
 officers, deliberately plotted the death of the Karen pastor. 
 In the first instance, they seized his two sons and a nephew, 
 which, as anticipated, brought him into their presence, to 
 seek the release of his children. They bound him, and led 
 the whole away to the governor of the town to which his 
 village belonged ; but, on the way, they beat him with thirty 
 stripes, and the young men with twenty-five each. When 
 they reached the presence of the governor, Thaghe's perse- 
 cutor said to him, privately, ' If you kill him now, you will 
 not get much money. Let him go for a little while.' So 
 be was dismissed on the payment of thirty rupees. 
 
 " Subsequently, Thaghe's old enemy reported that all the 
 Christians were about to rise in rebellion, and the governor 
 ordered their immediate apprehension. Forty, with their 
 pastor, were takei\ and put in chains. The next day a few 
 of the chiefs among them were set at liberty, and, the day 
 following, Thaghe was brought out, and, after beating and 
 torturing him in various ways, they told him that on tlie 
 payment of one hundred and seventy rupees he should be 
 set at liberty. He answered that he had no money. They 
 said, ' Your Christians give you one hundred rupees a year, 
 and you must give it up.' He replied that he never received 
 so much, llis persecutors then turned to the cliicfs and 
 
THE KAREN PASTOR, THAGHE. 99 
 
 said, ' If you compassionate your teacher, pay the one hun- 
 dred rupees for him.' This they readily promised to do ; 
 but, as soon as the money was procured, all the prisoners 
 were removed to another town, and delivered over to a 
 superior officer, called a judge. When Thaghe was brought 
 in, the judge reviled him, saying, ' If thy God be possessed 
 of divine power, let him deliver thee from thy chain.' 
 Thaghe replied, ' Should the eternal God not save me in this 
 world, he will in the next.' The judge asked, ' IIow dost 
 thou know? ' He answered, ' The Holy Scriptures say so ; 
 and I know of a truth that he will save me.' The judge 
 continued, ' Through thy skill the white foreigners have 
 made war on our country ; ' and he then struck him five 
 times with the point of his ebow, after which he increased 
 his irons fourfold. Three or four days more were allowed 
 to elapse, when he was brought again into the presence of 
 the judge, who said to him, ' Read now before me from the 
 book of the eternal God, who, thou sayest, will save thee.' 
 Thaghe replied, ' Were I to read, thou wouldst not listen, 
 but do me evil continually.' The judge remarked, ' Let the 
 eternal God, and thy Lord Jesus Christ, save thee out of my 
 hands.' He then took a stick, as thick as a man's wrist, and 
 struck him thirty blows. 
 
 " After a confinement of two days more, his original per- 
 secutor appeared, and Thaghe asked him what he intended 
 to do with him and the other Christians. ' I will kill you 
 all,' was the savage reply, and, at the same time, he kicked 
 him with his heel, as a horse kicks. The man then went to 
 the governor and said, ' My lord, if you will kill all these 
 people, I will give you a hundred rupees.' The governor 
 took the mone}'- and said, ' I cannot endure the future pun- 
 ishment entailed on killing so many persons.' After three 
 days the persecutor brought fifty rupees more to the gov- 
 ernor, and again requested him to kill all the Christians. 
 The governor replied, ' If thou wilt give thy daughter in 
 marriage to my brother here, I will kill them.' The condi- 
 tion was complied with ; and when he had delivered over 
 his daughter, the governor said, ' Now, I believe in this 
 man (the persecutor). If any children of the white book 
 (a common epithet for Chi-istians) come up from below, tell 
 me, and I will kill them.' 
 
 " During this time, the judge brought up pastor Thaghe 
 and beat him every two or three days, while he said to the 
 judge, ' Do not torture mo thus. If thou wilt kill me for 
 
100 THE MARTYR SPIRIT OF NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 worshipping God, do it quickly.' At this juncture the per- 
 secutor, who was absent, sent a report that the English and 
 the children of the white book were approaching, and said, 
 ' They will rescue the teacher and his disciples. Go, tell 
 the governor to kill the teacher quickly.' His messenger 
 went to the governor, and added, ' If thou dost not kill the 
 teacher, they will certainly come and rescue him.' When 
 the governor received the message, he went to the judge, 
 who had Thaghe brought out immediately from confinement, 
 beaten with sixty blows, and then crucified ; reviling him 
 while on the cross, and saying, ' Let thy God come and 
 take care of thee.' He finally disembowelled him on the 
 cross, shot him with two musket balls, had him cut in three 
 pieces, and thrown into a hole that was dug for him. When 
 the original instigator of the deed heard of it, he said to the 
 people around, ' Say not that he was killed, but that he fell 
 into the water and was drowned.' 
 
 " Peace to thy dust, poor Thaghe ! No dear friend wiped 
 the drops of agony from thy dying brow. They all lay 
 bound in the felon's prison, because they were thine, and 
 thou wast Christ's. No Christian brother stood by to receive 
 thy last wishes, and record thy last testimony for the Master 
 for whom thou wast faithful unto death. A heathen Bur- 
 man, an unconcerned spectator of thy sufferings, was the 
 sole biographer of thy last days. No eulogy has been pro- 
 nounced on thy ennobling example. As Stephen was the 
 first martyr in Judea, so wast thou the first martyr in Bur- 
 mah. Like Stephen, thou didst see ' the glory of God, and 
 Jesus standing at the right hand of God.' Unnoted as thou 
 hast been, yet shall thy name be inscribed on the banner of 
 missions, when ' the Lord mustereth the host unto battle ; ' 
 and, when the scoffer asks for the fruit of missions, wo will 
 point him to thy cross, and pronounce thy name, 'J'haghe — 
 ' good fruit.' "—Am. Bap. Hiss. Mag., 1856, p. 388. 
 
 ASAAD SHIDIAK. 
 
 The subject of this notice (see Eeport of American Board 
 for 1827) was a Marouite Roman Catholic; and was, in 
 1825, the teacher of Dr. King, in the Syriac and Arabic 
 languages. He was shrewd, sensible, inquisitive, and capa- 
 ble of appreciating the force of an argument. When Dr. 
 King left Beyroot, there were no indications of Asaad's con- 
 version ; but, soon after, this distinguished Maronite scholar 
 and teacher undertook to answer Dr. King's farewell letter 
 
AS A AD SHIDIAK. 101 
 
 to his friends in Syria ; the object of which was to assign 
 reasons why he (Dr. King) could not join the Romish church. 
 Having made a rough draft of a reply, and copied it to the 
 last topic of argument, he was suddenly turned to the proph- 
 ecy of Isaiah, by consulting a proof passage. While 
 reading this sublime portion of Scripture, he became deeply 
 serious, and was filled with an ardent desire to read the 
 New Testament, and to be actuated by the spirit of the 
 Gospel. lie endeavored to lay aside every selfish bias, and 
 to learn the true meaning of the Bible, While in this state 
 of mind, he was shocked by finding it taught, and defended, 
 in the Romish church, that it is a duly to kill heretics. 
 
 It was not long before Asaad received a letter from the 
 Maronite patriarch, threatening him with immediate excom- 
 munication, unless he ceased from all connection with the 
 Bible men. This being without effect, the patriarch wrote 
 him a second letter, urging him to an interview, and prom- 
 ised to provide an office for him. Next, he sent his own 
 brother to call upon Asaad at Beyroot, and urge him to an 
 interview. The missionaries warned him of the dangers to 
 which he would be exposed if he complied with this request ; 
 but he finally went, met the patriarch, and had many con- 
 versations with him. Asaad maintained the necessity of a 
 spiritual religion, in distinction from forms ; the sufficiency 
 of Scripture, and the absurdity of holding the pope to be 
 infallible. The patriarch was highly displeased with these 
 bold sentiments, and uttered cruel threats, or offered pro- 
 motion, money, and honor, according to the covirse Asaad 
 should pursue. The bishop of Beyroot being pi-esent, 
 threatened Asuad's life in the most angry and violent 
 manner. 
 
 These interviews occurred at the convent of Der Alma, 
 from which, after seven weeks, Asaad returned to the mis- 
 sionaries at Beyroot. As soon as the mother, brothers, and 
 other relatives of this reformer, heai'd of his return, they 
 flocked to him in rapid succession, to persuade him to leave 
 the missionaries, and thus save the family from the insup- 
 portable shame of having him renounce their religion and 
 join himself to foreigners. In about a fortnight, twenty or 
 more of his relations assembled, took him by force, escorted 
 him to the convent of Der Alma, and delivered him up to 
 the patriarch, by whose order he was subsequently removed 
 to Caimobeen, about fifty miles from Beyroot. There, from 
 the first of April, 1825, to March, 1826, this unfortunate 
 9* 
 
102 THE MARTYR SPIRIT OF NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 sufferer endured imprisonment, chains, stripes, and rcviling-s, 
 in succession, and, for a great part of the time, all of them 
 combined. When his relatives were assembled to deliver 
 him up, ho told them plainly that if he had not read the 
 Gospel he never should have known how to explain their 
 conduct ; but he there learned that " the brother shall 
 deliver up the brother to death, and a man's foes shall be 
 they of his own household." One of his uncles said, in a 
 rage, " If j^ou don't go peaceably, we will take your life ; " 
 to which Asaad replied, " Softly, softly, my dear uncle ; 
 blessed are the meek." 
 
 About the middle of May he was in close confinement, in 
 chains, and was daily beaten. In June, having made an 
 unsuccessful attempt to escape, he had a heavy chain put 
 around his neck, the other end of which was fastened to the 
 wall. The patriarch encouraged the common people to 
 visit him in his confinement, and to spit in his face, and call 
 him odious names, in order to shame him and break his 
 spirit. Towards the close of July his mother and other 
 members of the family visited him, at the request of the 
 patriarch. They found him in chains, which they would not 
 believe till they saw it themselves. They sought his release, 
 but in vain. This took place in September, 1826. 
 
 About two months afterwards, Galeb, one of Asaad's 
 brothers, visited Cannobeen, assisted Asaad to escape, and 
 brought him homeward, as far as Kerosan, where the fugi- 
 tive was apprehended, and carried bound to Gzir, where he 
 was detained by the Prince Abdalla, and afterwards restored 
 to the patriarch at Cannobeen. The cruelties of his prison- 
 house now became constant and appalling. One of the 
 visitors declared that he had been beaten daily, till his body 
 was of the color of blue cloth. Another said that he received 
 a blow of a cane on his right hand, by which it was nearly 
 broken, and a blow on his leg, which lamed him nearly a 
 month. In the midst of his suflerings he wrote a kind 
 letter to the missionaries, in which he requested them to 
 comfort Mrs. Dalton, the widow of Dr. Dalton, who died at 
 Jerusalem. This letter was discovered by the patriarch, 
 who exclaimed, " Who is this satan of a Dalton ? Beat the 
 fool on the score of Dalton," at the same time giving him a 
 blow himself, and others following his example. 
 
 During all these months and years of weary suffering, the 
 missionaries did all in their power to effect Asaad's escape, 
 but without success. At length it became impossible to 
 
ASAAD BHIDIAK. 103 
 
 reach him with comforting' messages, or to get a word from 
 him. It was a condition of solitary and unmitigated sufler- 
 ing. Asaad was a dangerous man for Ilomish priests ; 
 capable of writing powerfully, and exposing a corrupt sys- 
 tem, and he must be made a victim of inquisitorial tortures, 
 and final murder. The precise period of his death is not 
 known ; but that he sufiered martyi'dom in prison, under 
 circumstances most appalling, is a well-ascertained fact. 
 
 It was acknowledged on all hands that Asaad would not 
 utter a falsehood. This trait in his character was a prod- 
 igy. According to all that had been known of human 
 nature, in these parts of the world, a man in pi-ison, and in 
 imminent danger of death, would assent to anything, and 
 promise anything, for the sake of escaping from his perilous 
 situation ; and never Avas temptation stronger to deceive 
 and conceal, for the sake of personal relief. In the first 
 place, all his pride of talents, his consistency as a disputant, 
 his power and influence as an author, were opposed to any 
 change in his opinions. Then, all his reverence for his 
 ecclesiastical superiors, his former tutors, associates, friends, 
 and patrons, some of whom were naturally mild in their 
 tempers, and sincerely attached to him, and all his previous 
 habits of thinking and acting, Avithstood his yielding to the 
 convictions of conscience, and the authority of Scripture. 
 Next in order came the anathemas of the church ; the tears 
 of a mother, half distracted at the ruin and infamy of having 
 an apostate son ; the impassioned entreaties, the furious 
 menaces of brothers, uncles, and townsmen, and the general 
 odium of an extensive acquaintance. All these things were 
 preparatory to his being seized by indignant relatives, 
 forcibly conveyed from one convent to another, chained to 
 the walls of a religious edifice, deprived of the New Testa- 
 ment and all other books ; of pen, ink, and paper, and all 
 other means of intercourse ; and there, in this forlorn and 
 abject situation, purposely exposed to the coarse insults of 
 a misled and vicious populace. 
 
 That his physical system should have held out so long, 
 under such suflerings, seems surprising; and, more won- 
 derful still, that his faith and constancy should have endured 
 this terrible ordeal. For, while all was abject and hopeless 
 misery on the one hand, on the other all was honor, promo- 
 tion, emoluments, in case of recantation. He did not recant. 
 He had chosen Christ, and would not disown or dishonor 
 him, even to escape a doom like his. Calm and unruffled 
 
104 THE MAETYR SPIRIT OF NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 he stood amidst this storm of angry passion that surged 
 against him, looking through tears of anguish with a firm 
 hope, and anticipating heaven as his rest and reward. 
 Triumphant and happy Asaad Shidiak! — may thy example 
 stimulate those who are following, in the way thou hast gone, 
 to glory and immortality ! 
 
EXAMPLES OF PIETY AND BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 THE CAFFBE "WOMAN'S TESTIMONY. 
 
 A poor Cafire woman, who was converted under the 
 labors of the Moravian missionaries, and who served faith- 
 fully as a missionary assistant for many years, was at length, 
 about the year 1849, confined to her bed by painful sickness. 
 When the missionary, Mr. Suhl, called one day to see her ; 
 she expressed great joy, and said she felt it her duty to give 
 something' for the cause of her Redeemer. She raised her- 
 self with great exertion, and taking out of her box a piece 
 of paper, in which some money was carefully done up, she 
 gave it to him, saying: "This is for the spread of the 
 kingdom of Christ." On opening the paper, it was found 
 to contain half a sovereign and a shilling, which some visit- 
 ing friends had given her three years before. The mission- 
 ary remonstrated, and said that in her suffering and needy 
 circumstances the Saviour would not require this at her 
 hands, and she had better keep it ; but she replied, "No, 
 no, I give it willingly ; it is dedicated to the Lord ; I don't 
 need it. When my mother died, she left me this box, and 
 now the Lord has given me all this, I know he will not for- 
 get nor forsake me in time to come. And how unworthy I 
 am, that I should be favored to hear the word of Jesus' suf- 
 ferings, while my countrymen and relatives are still in igno- 
 rance and darkness ! 0, may the word of God soon be made 
 known to them!" Mr. Suhl adds: "I could scarcely re- 
 frain from tears myself, and accepted her offering of love, 
 and promised to send it to Cape Town for the purpose speci- 
 fied." She, of her penury, cast in all the living that she 
 had. May not wealthier Christians be reproved and in- 
 structed, by such an instance of self-denying, yet cheerful 
 and heavenly charity? — Jour, of Miss., March, 1850. 
 
106 EXAMPLES OF PIETY AND BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 A GREAT FEAST -NOBLE EXAMPLE. 
 
 An instance of noble and manly firmness, touching the 
 great sins of idolatry, jDolygamy, and slavery, is recorded 
 by Rev. John Williams, in his " Missionary Enterprises in 
 the South Sea Islands," p. 299. The Hapai group, belong- 
 ing to the Friendly Islands, is a cluster of between thirty 
 and forty small coralline islands, all subject to the authority 
 of one principal chief, named Taufaahau. When Mr. Wil- 
 liams first saw him, about the year 1830, he was at the age 
 of thirty, and of most noble appearance and commanding 
 aspect. Having heard of the progress and effects of the 
 Gospel at Tongatabu, also one of the Friendly Islands, this 
 chief determined to visit that island, and form his own judg- 
 ment of the new religion. From his youth he was a remark- 
 able character, and despised the whole system of idol loorship. 
 But, on visiting Tongatabu, he resolved at once to abandon 
 the gods of his forefathers, and place himself under Christian 
 instruction. He returned to his own dominions, and, having 
 destroyed the gods of his own island, he proceeded through 
 the group, exhorting the chiefs to follow his example. He 
 was successful in all but four or five islands, which made a 
 fierce show of opposition, but they were overborne by the 
 bold and determined Taufliahau. Having abolished idola- 
 try, he proceeded to treat other anti-Christian enormities in 
 the same way. A great marriage ceremony was announced, 
 preparations on a vast scale were made, hundreds of hogs 
 and an immense number of turtle being provided ; and the 
 people came from all the neighboring islands. The occasion 
 of this feast was remarkable. Some time before, Taufaahau 
 had a beautiful young woman presented to him. They had 
 been living together for several months, although no mar- 
 riage ceremony had been performed ; for, according to cus- 
 tom, the formal celebration of marriage did not take place 
 till several months after it had been consummated. In the 
 present instance, it being a case of polygamy, the chief 
 determined to send this woman home ; but, before doing it, 
 he would confer upon her all the honor possible, by a 
 splendid marriage ceremony. Mr. Williams says, " We 
 visited the young woman upon whose account these prepa 
 rations were made. She appeared about nineteen j'ears of 
 age, of fine person, handsome features, and agreeable man- 
 ners." The grand ceremony was duly performed ; after 
 which the chief not only sent this woman, but all his wives, 
 to their homes ; thus giving the whole force of his example 
 
UMGIKO'S DECISION. 107 
 
 ag-ainst polygamy. He remained single for a considerable 
 jtime, and when the desired effect had been produced, he 
 selected one of his former wives, to whom he was piiblichj 
 married. Mr, Williams concludes his narrative, which is 
 here somewhat abridged, as follows : " He has maintained 
 a most decided and consistent profession of Christianity ever 
 since he embraced it, and, at the present time, is one of the 
 best and most efficient local preachers in the mission. But the 
 last, though not the least, display of the noble-mindedness 
 and Christian pi'inciple of this remarkable man, was, the 
 circumstance of his emancipating all his slaves! This he did 
 in consequence of having heard from the missionaries that 
 slavery ivas inconsistent icith Christianity. I have been the 
 more minute in these observations because I admire the 
 man, or rather the grace of God in him." 
 
 UMGIKO'S DECISION". 
 
 Umgiko was a South African convert, who had previouslj'' 
 been turned off by his friends to die, as he had sores on his 
 fingers which they supposed could not be healed. In his 
 despair he came to Mr. Grout, who succeeded in restoring 
 him to soundness, and afterwards retained him in his family. 
 One day Umgiko said to Mr. Grout, as he entered the school- 
 room, " I wish to repent of my sins. The sermon you 
 pi'cached on repentance, about two months ago, made such 
 an impression on my mind that, though I have struggled 
 hard against it, I found no peace till I resolved, decidedl}'", 
 to repent of all my sins ; and I have now come to tell you 
 of my resolution. I have contracted for a second wife, but 
 I shall now give her up, though I have paid three cattle for 
 her, which I may lose. I am also ashamed to go unclad 
 any longer. I shall come to you to-morrow with a small ox 
 to purchase clothes — not blankets, but such clothes as you 
 wear. I have long feared man ; but now all the customs 
 of my people, which are bad, I shall abandon, without refer- 
 ence to what people may say. And, that I may no longer 
 be without clothes, I will come and work for you to get 
 them." Umgiko j^roivvZhis sincerity ; for he soon clothed 
 himself, his wife, and his child : stood far above all his old 
 associates, learnt to read with great diligence, was the 
 largest contributor at the monthly praj'ei'-meeting, and, 
 instead of going with a rabble of men and women on the 
 Sabbath, as the custom was, he went steadily along with 
 
108 EXAMPLES OF PIETY AND BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 his wife, leading or carrying their little girl, all clad in clean 
 garments. — Hiss. Her., 1848, p. 373. 
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL'S OFFERING. 
 
 It is the custom with the heathen, in Ceylon, to set aside 
 a portion of their grain for the heathen temple. From this, 
 converted natives have taken the hint, and adopted a similar 
 practice, for a better object. It interested the missionaries 
 much to see how children imitated this form of Christian 
 benevolence. A little girl in one of the mission-schools 
 brought, one Sabbath morning, a basket, containing foiir 
 quarts of rice, as the offering of herself and tlu-ee other girls 
 in the school. Their parents were heathen, and very poor, 
 having no rice-fields of their own ; but these girls would go 
 out with their mothers, and glean in the fields of their more 
 wealthy neighbors ; and this was the Lord's portion of rice 
 which they had picked up, kernel by kernel. Many other 
 little children did the same thing, giving, out of their deep 
 poverty, what they had acquired with so much toil, and 
 while they themselves often went hungry for want of food. 
 — 3Iiss. Her., 1852, p. 232. 
 
 HE HATH DONE WHAT HE COULD. 
 
 An old man in Syria, who was totally blind, and extremely 
 poor, was j^et a truly devoted disciple of Christ, and anxious 
 to be doing what he could for his Redeemer. With the 
 assistance of his son, he kept a school of from twenty to 
 thirty children, in his own house, and daily preached the 
 Gospel of the Lord Jesus. But he was particularly inter- 
 ested in the distribution of the Scriptures iu that land of 
 moral darkness and famine ; and, blind as he was, he pro- 
 cured a little boy to lead him, loaded his donkey with Bibles 
 and tracts, and went from village to village with his precious 
 freight, spreading the light of life among those more be- 
 nighted than he. He used to remark that he was " old, 
 and must work fast, in order to redeem the time." — Hiss. 
 Her., 1841, p. 205. 
 
 ENERGY AS GOOD AS MONEY. 
 It is doubtful whether the records of church-building fur- 
 nish an instance of success, by simph; energy and persever- 
 ance, witliout money, equal to that related by a missionary 
 at the Sandwich Islands. A meeting-house, whose cost, if 
 paid for, would have been equal to six thousand dollars, was 
 
WEAK THINGS TO CONFOUND THE WISE. 109 
 
 built in the fullowing- manner. In the first place, every 
 stone had to be carried by the church-members, on their 
 shoulders, about one eighth of a mile to the building. This 
 was gratuitous labor. The lime was thus obtained ; the 
 coral was taken from the sea, by diving to the bottom in 
 from ten to twenty feet water, detaching a piece, and 
 ascending to take breath, then descending again with a 
 rope, which was made fast to the mass and drawn up. 
 When the canoe was full, it was rowed ashore, and the coral 
 piled on the beach. About thirty-six cubic fathoms having 
 thus been procured, it was next to be burned. For this 
 purpose they had to procure more than forty cords of wood, 
 every stick of which was carried from the mountain, from 
 one to two miles, on the shoulders of church-members. 
 After the wood was procured and tlie lime burned, it had to 
 be taken from the beach up to the building, about one quar- 
 ter of a mile. This was done by the women, in calabashes, 
 each one filling her calabash with lime, and carrying it on 
 her shoulder — in all, about seven hundred barrels of lime. 
 In like manner they carried full as much sand, and about an 
 equal quantity of water. In all, about two thousand bai-- 
 rels of lime, sand, and water, carried solely on the backs 
 of women, in calabashes. This labor was all gratuitous. 
 Then the plates, beams, posts, etc., wdiich supported the 
 work overhead, were still to be obtained. This fell on the 
 men ; and, as the church-members had no cattle, they divided 
 themselves oflFinto companies, and, taking ropes, each com- 
 pany selected their stick, and dragged it from six to ten 
 miles, over ravines and beds of lava. The posts and beams 
 required from forty to sixty men, and thej' could make but 
 one trip a day, working from daylight till dark. Thus all 
 the materials for the church were at length obtained. The 
 masons and carpenters who put up the house were paid by 
 contributions of such things as the church had, — hogs, 
 fish, potatoes, goats, tapas, etc. To get even a faint idea 
 of what this eflbrt cost, it must be kept in mind that there 
 were not forty families in the church whose whole wardrobe 
 and household furniture, taken together, Avould amount to 
 more than twenty dollars. — lliss. Her., 1845, p. 154. 
 
 WEAK THINGS TO CONFOUND THE WISE. 
 
 A few years ago the oflicers of an English ship, which 
 anchored near a missionary station in Ncav Zealand, invited 
 several of the neighboring chiefs to dine with them. They 
 10 
 
110 EXAMPLES OP PIETY AND BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 were soon all seated at the table, and the oflScers began to 
 eat. The chiefs sat in silence, without so much as touc^hing 
 the food. It was very strange, the officers thought ; for the 
 New Zealanders are fond of good eating. Were their guests 
 displeased with them ? Were they afraid of being poi- 
 soned ? Tliey did not know what to make of it, and were 
 growing quite anxious. At length the oldest of the chiefs 
 arose in a reverent, and dignified manner, and asked God's 
 blessing. The mystery was explained. These chiefs had 
 become Christians, and they had learnt that it was a Chris- 
 tian duty to thank God and ask his blessing at meals. They 
 thought, perhaps, that they were dining with heathens, be- 
 fore whom they ought to set a good example. At least, 
 these chiefs, in learning Christianity, had not learnt to make 
 so many exceptions to its rules as nominal Christians often do. 
 
 LOVE OF GOD'S HOUSE. 
 
 An Indian of the Mackinaw tribe, named Shusco, who 
 had been exceeding vile and fierce, and who had obtained 
 great influence as a juggler, at length received the Gospel, 
 and the lion became a lamb. Instead of the savage yell 
 and drunken song, he lisped the name of Jesus. The Sab- 
 bath and the sanctuary were his delight. He used to rise 
 earlier than usual, on Saturday morning, that he might have 
 time to prepare wood and all else, and get rested for the 
 Sabbath. Shusco's seat in church was never vacant, ex- 
 cept from real necessity. Although quite aged and infirm, 
 if he thought himself late, he would go almost upon a run, 
 so great was his anxiety to get into the courts of his God. 
 The missionary said to hini, one day, " Shusco, as you can- 
 not understand anything said in church, why are you always 
 so anxious to attend ? " — " Because," said he, " it is God's 
 house — my Father's house — and I love to sit there and 
 pray, and sometimes I can sing, too." — 3Iiss Her., 1839, 
 p. 62. 
 
 A GOOD DEACON. 
 
 In the Missionary Herald for Aug., 185G, Mr. Perkins, of 
 the Nestorian mission, gives some facts relative to a deacon 
 named Gewergis, showing the power of grace in making a 
 good man out of bad materials. Gewergis had been "a 
 worldly, hardened, wicked man, and even a thief and adul- 
 terer." But he was converted, and the following passage 
 from his life, given by Mr. Perkins, indicates the surpris- 
 ing change wrought in his character. "From the day of 
 
LIBERALITY OF A POOR BLIND GIRL. Ill 
 
 his conversion, he resolved to take Paul as his model, and 
 spend his wliole life and energy in proclaiming' Clirist to his 
 perisliing- fcllow-men. And his people are witnesses how 
 faitlifully he has fulfdled the solemn covenant which he then 
 made with God. How has he travelled the Koordish moun- 
 tains, stair in hand, and his quarto New Testament in a 
 leather ba^ slung over his shoulder, journejung' from Ter- 
 gawcr to Tekhoma, and throug-h the near ranges of moun- 
 tains, scores of times, never shrinking from heat or cold, 
 from rain or snow, from danger at the hands of bloody 
 Koords, and many not less wicked Nestorians, who hated 
 and persecuted him ! At times he came near perishing in 
 terrible storms and tempests on the mountains. Then he 
 would kneel down and i^ray by the roadside, and the clouds 
 would break away, and the storm would abate, seemingly 
 in answer to his prayers. At other times he came near 
 being drowned in swollen and rapid rivers ; but then, too, 
 the Lord delivered him. Well might we apply to him the 
 language of Paul, ' In journeyings often, in perils of waters, 
 in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in 
 perils among the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in 
 the wilderness, in perils among false brethren, in weariness 
 and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in 
 fastings often, in cold and nakedness.' " 
 
 LIBERALITY OF A POOR BLIND GIRL. 
 
 The Baptist Missionary Herald has the following affecting 
 fact. A blind girl brought to a clergyman thirty shillings 
 for the missionaries of the society. The clergyman, sur- 
 prised that she should offer him so large a sum, said to her, 
 " You are a poor blind girl ; you cannot afford to give thirty 
 shillings to the society." — "I am, indeed, sir," said she, 
 " as you may see, a blind girl, but not so poor, perhaps, as 
 you may suppose me to be, and I think I can prove to you 
 that I can better aflbrd to give these thirty shillings, than 
 those girls can who have eyes." The clergyman was, of 
 course, very much struck with her answer, and said, " I 
 shall be glad to know how you make that out." — " Sir," 
 she answered, "I am a basket-maker, and, being blind, I 
 can make baskets as well in the dark as in the light. Now 
 I am sure, sir, in the last dark winter, it must have cost 
 those girls that have eyes more than thirty shillings to buy 
 candles to see to make baskets ; and so I think I have 
 proved that I can afford this money, and now I hope that 
 
112 EXAMPLES OP PIETY AND BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 you will take it all for the missionaries." — Eng. Bap. Miss. 
 Her., Uarch, 1821. 
 
 THE CONVERTED CHIEF AND HIS "WIVES. 
 
 The facts given below are gathered from the journal of 
 Eev. Mr. Livingston, of the London Missionary Society, 
 stationed for many years among the Bakwain tribe in West- 
 ern Africa. They show that the Gospel, when it takes pos- 
 session of even so dark a mind, can overpower that most 
 cherished of all heathen sins, polygamy, and under circum- 
 stances which, if any, might afford an apology for the cus- 
 tom. Sechele, the subject of the narrative, was a distin- 
 guished chief of his tribe, and a celebrated rain-doctor ; 
 and he was, withal, notorious for his cruelty and reckless- 
 ness of human life. All suspected witches, especially, he 
 put to death without mercy. It is remarkable that such a 
 man, as soon as the missionary came among his people, 
 should have attended school and all the religious services 
 " with unwearying regularity." Mr. Livingston says : — • 
 " The first indication of deep feeling Avhich I observed in 
 the chief, was when, sitting together under our wagon du- 
 ring the heat of the day, I endeavored to describe to him 
 the great white throne and the judgment-seat. He said, 
 ' These words shake all my bones — my strength is gone.' 
 The existence of our Lord previous to his appearance 
 among men, and his divine nature, were facts which greatly 
 surprised him. As his knowledge increased, he professed 
 among his own people a firm belief in the truth of revela- 
 tion, and great thankfulness that the Gospel was sent to 
 him, while so many remained in darkness." 
 
 The narrative next proceeds to a point of peculiar interest, 
 and, while it illustrates the power and purity of the Gospel, 
 it may shed light on the question of missionary policy in 
 regard to the sin in question. " The greatest sacrifice he 
 had to make was the renunciation of polygamy. Of all 
 other sins, the natives had an idea that they were wrong ; 
 but this practice they never regarded as sinful. His super- 
 fluous wives were decidedly the most amiable females in 
 town — our best scholars, too, — and, hoping that their 
 souls might also be given to us, we did not feel called upon 
 otherwise to press the point in question than by publicly 
 endeavoring to declare the whole counsel of God. Two of 
 them were the daughters of under chiefs, through whoso 
 influence, on the death of his father, Sechele succeeded to 
 
A STRAY SHEEP IN THE JUNGLES. 113 
 
 tTae chieftainship. This circumstance made his parting with 
 thc-m assume the appearance of ingratitude, and led him to 
 propose to remove to some other country for four years, in 
 order that they might, in the interval, forget him and be- 
 come married to others. From the evident change in his 
 disposition, and improvement of his character, and the fact 
 of his sending two of his wives to their parents, with the 
 message that the ' Word of God had come between him 
 and their daughters,' followed by the expression of his de- 
 sire to observe the laws of Jesus, we no longer hesitated to 
 receive him into our communion. A third wife was taken 
 to her own tribe, because she had no relatives among the 
 Bakwains, and she left us with many tears. A fourth, 
 although in the same situation, we thought should remain, 
 since she had a little daughter. Each wife was allowed to 
 take awaj' all the property which belonged to her, and the 
 chief gave them all presents of new clothing previous to 
 sending them home to their friends. 
 
 " On the morning after it was known that the chief had 
 renounced his waives on account of the Gospel, a general 
 consternation seemed to seize both young and old ; the town 
 was as quiet as if it had been Sunday ; not a single woman 
 was seen going to her garden. Pechos (or councils) were 
 held during the night, in order to intimidate him, and make 
 him renounce his purpose ; but, after being tried in various 
 ways for a period of two months, he stood firm, and wo 
 proceqded to administer to him the ordinance of baptism. 
 Many of the spectators were in tears on the occasion ; but 
 these were, in general, tears of sorrow for the loss of their 
 rain-maker, or of grief at seeing the closest ties of relation- 
 ship to him completely broken." — London 3Iiss. Mag., 
 1849, p. 115. 
 
 A STRAY SHEEP IN THE JUNGLES. 
 
 A Brahmin of distinction, named Dondaba, in Belgaum, 
 Western India, embraced the Gospel, and was baptized, in 
 connection with the Church Missionary Society, England. 
 By this act he lost possession of his houses, his fields, his 
 wells, his toife, and his children. Such was the inexorable 
 law of caste. On being asked how he bore his sorrows, 
 and if he was supported under them, he replied, "Ay, I 
 am often asked that, but I am never asked how \ bear my 
 joys, for I have joys within, with which a stranger intermed- 
 dles not. The Lord Jesus sought me out and found me, a 
 10* 
 
114 EXAMPLES OF PIETY AND BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 poor strayed sheep in the jung-les, and he brought me to fcis 
 fohi, and he will never leave nie. To whom else should I 
 go, if I were to leave him ? " — " Twenty years subsequent 
 to this event," says the narrator, " I met Dondaba. The 
 venerable man had outweathered every storm, and was an 
 humble Christian still. lie had, for the first time, recently 
 got a copy, in Mahratta, of the prophecy of Isaiah, and ho 
 was almost sure that it must have been written after the 
 death of Christ,— rei'erring to that wonderful fifty-third chap- 
 ter. He did not sleep till he had read the prophecy through. 
 Having been invited to attend a missionary meeting at 
 Bombay, nearly four hundred miles off", and been offered a 
 horse for the journey by a pious man, he reflected a little, 
 and said, ' My Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, never rode, 
 and I will walk as he did, and bless God that I am going to 
 a missionary meeting.' " — Jour, of Hiss., Feb., 1862. 
 
 THE INDIAN" CHIEF AND THE MISSIONARIES. 
 
 A chief of one of the North American Indian tribes once 
 related in the hearing of a Baptist clergyman (Rev. Dr. 
 Stowe), of Boston, a series of deeply interesting facts, 
 which had occurred in his own experience, and which are 
 given as related by him. He was the son, he said, of a dis- 
 tinguished chief, and succeeded to his father's office and 
 authority. His earliest recollections of life were recollec- 
 tions of suffering. When he was about twelve years of age 
 he went on a war expedition with his father. The tribe 
 were successful, having scalped and killed numbers of their 
 enemies. They returned, and obtained a keg of whiskey 
 to celebrate their victory. They sat down on the shore of 
 one of the vast American lakes, under the shadow of a hill 
 which projected some distance into the lake, in the form of 
 a promontory. There they had poured out libations to the 
 evil spirit, the god of war ; and they were about to com- 
 mence drinking, when one of the Indian runners came up 
 to the chief, in great haste, and whispered something in his 
 ear. The chief started, and told some of his men to cover 
 the whiskey with a blanket, to prevent it from being seen. 
 Looking round, he then saw two grave and venerable look- 
 ing men coming round the shore of the lake. He knew 
 them to be Christian missionaries. They came to him and 
 addressed him. They told him of the story of Christ, who 
 came from heaven, not to destroy, but to save his enemies ; 
 not to kill them, but to give his life for theirs. The old 
 
THE INDIAN CHIEF AND THE MISSIONARIES. 115 
 
 chief tlircw his blanket over his head. His son (who told 
 the story), noticing that his father's frame was all agitation, 
 looked under the blanket, and saw the big tears rolling 
 down his checks. " I never saw a tear on my father's face 
 before," said he. " It filled me with astonishment, and I 
 could not conceive what had brought the tears into his 
 eyes. The missionaries asked my father if he would go to 
 their station and learn more about the love of this Great 
 Spirit. The tribe agreed to go, and then my father, the 
 chief, said, ' Take that barrel of whiskey, and pour it into 
 the lake.' He knew that whiskey and the Gospel could not 
 go together. The order was obeyed ; the whiskey was 
 poured into the lake." It was early in the day, and the 
 sun was rising with beautiful clearness over the surface of 
 the lake, when the old chief, his son, and the two mission- 
 aries, got into the first canoe, forming together a continuous 
 line. As they were rowing over the lake, one of the mis- 
 sionaries began singing this hymn : 
 
 " Jesus my all to heaven is gone," &c. 
 
 The Indians understood enough of the English language to 
 get the import of the whole of this hymn. They had already 
 heard the story of Christ ; and so intensely interested were 
 they, that their souls were filled with these new thoughts. 
 No sooner had the missionaries concluded the hymn, than 
 they lifted their paddles, and said, " Sing it again." This 
 was done ; but even then they were not satisfied ; and so 
 the missionaries, as they crossed the lake, sung repeatedly 
 of what was uppermost in the minds of the savages : 
 
 " Jesus my all to heaven is gone, 
 He whom I fix my hopes upon," &c. 
 
 When they came to the other side of the lake, the dealers 
 saw the Indians with the missionaries, and said to the chief, 
 "Where are you going?" He replied, " I am going to 
 hoar about Him who came from heaven to save his ene- 
 mies." — " You fool ! " said the dealers, " do you know what 
 these missionaries mean to do with you ? They have a 
 large enclosure at the station, with a stone wall ; you can 
 only enter by a narrow gate ; and, when they have got you 
 in, they will put combustibles around you, set fire to them, 
 and, after burning j'ou, take possession of your territory; — 
 that is what they mean to do with you." The old chief felt 
 
116 EXAMPLES OP PIETY AND BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 anxious, but said, " At any rate, I will go and see." They 
 travelled two days ; and, on coming near the missionary 
 station, the old chief, taking his son aside, said to him, 
 " Do you and the rest lie down in yonder swamp, and, if 
 anything happens to us, hasten back to the village, and take 
 care of the women and children ; but come here every day, 
 in the afternoon, to see, if you can, what is going on." 
 The chief entei-ed the station. The tribe came for two 
 days, as he had directed, but all was quiet. When they 
 returned on the third day there w^as a sound of distress. 
 " 0," said the young chief, in giving the account, "I heard 
 my father's voice, as I never heard it before, crying earnestly 
 for mercy. I thought they were burning him. I rushed in 
 with my companions, and found him on his knees in pi'aj'er, 
 pi-aying the Great Spirit to send down converting grace 
 into his heart. As soon as he saw me, he clasped me in his 
 arms, and began to pray with me to the Great Spirit, and 
 we rejoiced together in the hope of mercy. We then went 
 back to the village, and, 0, what a change was produced ! 
 The women and children were all gathered around us, and 
 we told them the story of Him who came down from heaven 
 to save his enemies. We had the hymn, ' Jesus my all to 
 heaven is gone,' translated into our language ; we had por- 
 tions of the Testament also translated ; and all my recollec- 
 tions are of joyousness, while the prospect became bright." 
 The young chief added that his mother, formerlj^, when sick, 
 had no one to care for her body or soul ; but now she was 
 taken care of till she died ; and, as long as she had her 
 voice, was often heard singing, 
 
 " Jesus my all to heaven is gone." 
 
 — London Miss. Mag., 1853, p. 147. 
 
 EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS TO HEAR THE "WORD. 
 
 So great was the desire in the Sandwich Islands to 
 attend places of religious meeting, and hear the word, that 
 at times the sick and infirm were brought on litters, or on 
 the backs of their friends. The blind, too, were led by a 
 string, a stick, or a strip of kapa. " The sightless husband 
 follows the wife, the wife the husband, the parent the child, 
 and the lillle child leads the afflicted parent or the trembling 
 grandsire to the place of prayer." Says the missionary, 
 " It is affecting to see this class of people patiently thread- 
 ing their way over hill and dale, and through jungle, slough 
 
KONAI DAS, A MODEL CHRISTIAN. 117 
 
 and river, iu order to hear the word of life, and see the light 
 of the world. One blind man — Bartimeus — followed me 
 thirty miles, over rivers and precipices, on the most difficult 
 road I ever travelled, to hear the Gospel, and pray for tlie 
 peace of Jerusalem. I would have pronounced it incredible 
 that he should have passed safely over such a road, if 1 had 
 not seen it. He is a devoted and good man, and says, 
 ' My natural eyes are blind, but my soul sees.' " — Hiss. 
 Her., 1841, p. 196. 
 
 KONAI DAS, A MODEL CHRISTIAN. 
 
 A case of conversion like that of Konai Das conveys to 
 the mind some most useful lessons, both as showing by 
 what means God often works, and how his Gospel triumphs 
 over the most adverse circumstances. The narrative is 
 given by Rev. Mr. Stul)bins, the scene of whose labors was 
 in Northern India, chiefly at Berhampore. While on a mis- 
 sionary tour, he met with this man, who asked him for a 
 book, and who read it off with a fluency which was quite 
 unaccountable. "But," says Mr. S., "the mystery was 
 soon explained. W en we visited Konai Das's district, 
 about a year and a half ago, we distributed books in the 
 principal villages, but, this man's village being a small one, 
 we did not go there. lie saw some who had the books, 
 however, and begged them. He got the tracts, ' God is a 
 Spirit,' and ' The Confuter of Caste ; ' also the Gospel of 
 John, and the volume of 'Poetical Tracts.' These he read 
 with deep interest, and soon began to dispute with the 
 people of his village, declaring that caste was all a lie, and 
 the invention of the devil ; that the gods they worshipped 
 were all false, and that the works he had performed in the 
 name of religion were vain and wicked. Brahmins and 
 others tried to convince him that by reading the Christian 
 books he was blaspheming the gods ; but they were soon 
 silenced. His wife became alarmed, and declared she 
 would burn his books ; but she was soon taken with the 
 cholera, when her friends came around her, and began to 
 repeat their incantations. But Konai Das said to her, 
 ' Why do you call upon those vile gods ? Hold your noise ; 
 I will not hear them. My hope is in Him who comforted 
 the weeping sisters, when he raised their brother Lazarus 
 from the grave ; even in Jesus is my hope.' Shortly after 
 this his child was taken sick, but he would have nothing to 
 do with any but Jesus Christ. He was very anxious to find 
 
118 EXAMPLES OF PIETY AND BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 the Christians (foi* he had not yet seen a missionary), and 
 once he came to Berhampore ; but the people derided liim, 
 and told him all sorts of lies. He said he had often prayed 
 that we might come to his village, and now the Lord had 
 sent us. He made up his mind to come and reside with us, 
 and hoped his wife would come too ; but he added, ' If she 
 does not, I cannot help it ; / cannot afford to go to hell 
 because she might ivish it.' He gave a very clear account of 
 his conversion and of his hope in Christ ; but said, ' I have 
 often felt .very anxious about one thing, and that is, about 
 the blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin. I do not 
 know the meaning of this.' I explained it to him ; upon 
 which he exclaimed, with an ecstasy of joy, ' 0, now I 
 understand it ; I thought when Christ was crucified his 
 blood might have been caught and preserved, and that it 
 required in some way to be applied to the sinner.' Surely, 
 such a case as this demands our gratitude and praise. 
 Here is a man in the midst of heathenism, one who had 
 never seen a missionary or native Christian, yet daily pray- 
 ing to Christ for salvation and eternal life." 
 
 Konai Das went to Berhampore, not long after, to receive 
 baptism. He said he tried to prevail upon his wife to 
 accompany him, but she refused, and entreated him not to 
 lose caste by eating with the Christians. He went without 
 her, and was admitted to church fellowship. Several 
 months later he had an interview with his wife, and tried to 
 induce her to go with him. She consented — if he would 
 leave in the night; but he replied, "No! we are not 
 thieves ; we have injured no one ; we fear no one ; and I 
 have done nothing that we need be ashamed of; and we 
 will not leave in the night." His mother came and tapped 
 him under the chin, saying, " My son ! my son ! make up 
 your mind to stay with us, and we will by some means get 
 you into caste again. I will give three rupees." And his 
 wife said, " I will sell all the ornaments I have, and you 
 will only have to go to Pooree and see Juggernaut." To 
 which he replied: " I have no objection to go to Pooree, 
 but I can never worship Juggernaut." But the mother 
 said : " We do not wish you to worship the idol with your 
 viind; only worship him a little with your body." He 
 was steadfast, and left without his wife, sajing that 
 "when her mind was disposed to come he should be de- 
 lighted, but he would not force her away." He became 
 a fluent, zealous and faithful native preacher, furnishing an 
 
EFFORTS TO OBTAIN A BIBLE. 119 
 
 illustrious example of the power of divine truth, in calling 
 a man out from healhenism, by the simple means of reli- 
 g'ious reading, and giving him strength to bear the loss of 
 all Ihings for the sake of Christ and the Gospel. — Gen. 
 Baptist Bejws., 1853, p. 484. 
 
 ALL THAT HE HAD. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Pitman, missionary to the Uervey Islands, says 
 that one day, as he was standing at his door, a deacon came 
 with his grandson, a child about six years of ago. On 
 being inquired his errand, he said, pointing to the boy, 
 " Something for the society he has to oflFer ; " when the lad 
 put into the missionary's hand a dollar. Looking at him, 
 and seeing he was ill-clothed, the missionary said, " This is 
 too much ; give a part of it, and buy a garment with the 
 remainder." — "No, no," said the good man, "it is prop- 
 erty devoted to the spread of the Gospel. From the bark 
 of a tree, his grandflither will beat him out some native 
 cloth for a garment ; but he cannot get more money." The 
 last dollar was given to spread the Gospel, not to replace a 
 tattered coat. What a lesson to impress upon the mind of 
 a boy in a heathen land ! How many fathers and mothers 
 do as well in a Christian country ? — Jour, of Ilissions, 
 Aug., 1852. 
 
 THE NEW ZEALANDER AND THE BIBLE. 
 
 A New Zealand convert, who had leai'nt something of the 
 preciousness of truth, applied to the missionary for a Bi- 
 ble. The missionary replied, " I have disposed of all my 
 Testaments at the different stations ; but, if you will accom- 
 pany me to Waikalo, and wait till the ship comes, you shall 
 have one." — " 0, yes ; that I will ! " was the reply. He 
 accordingly left his tribe, his friends, and his home, and 
 accompanied the missionary a distance of two hundred and 
 fifty miles, to procure a copy of the Scriptures. 
 
 EFFORTS TO OBTAIN" A BIBLE. 
 
 Some of the most extraordinary manifestations of the 
 power of Christianity appeared in the native Christians of 
 Madagascar, during the persecutions to which they were 
 subjected. The following is an instance: "A poor man, 
 in a very feeble state of health, who had not been able to 
 quit his house for five months, on hearing that the teachers 
 were about to leave, and supposing it was his last chance 
 
120 EXAMPLES OF PIETY AND BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 for obtaining the Bible, determined on the attempt to walk 
 to their residence, a distance of sixty miles. He started, 
 and, though feeble in bod}^ he did not rest till he had made 
 the journey, and obtained for himself a complete copy of 
 the sacred volume. On receiving it, he pressed it to his 
 bosom, and exclaimed, " This contains the words of eternal 
 life, and I will take as much care of it as of my own life." 
 lie was soon obliged to flee to the forests to escape the 
 sword of persecution. — Narrative of Persecutions in Mada- 
 gascar, p. 146. 
 
 MISSIOKTARY HARMONY — ITS INFLUENCE. 
 
 In Dibble's History of the Sanchvich Islands occurs the 
 following passage, illustrative of the influence exerted on 
 heathen minds by an example of Christian union, and of a 
 meek and forgiving spirit. lie says: "One of the first 
 things which impressed the people favorably, in regard to 
 the missionaries, was the union which prevailed among 
 them. The expression was very common, and became a 
 proverb among them, ' The missionaries have but one aim 
 in all that they do ; there is no division among them.' 
 Then they noticed that the missionaries were industrious, 
 toiling night and day, with no ostensible object but to con- 
 fer blessings upon others. They especially marked the 
 meek and unrevengeful character of the missionaries when 
 provoked by enemies. A certain foreigner treated one of 
 the missionaries with gross insult and abuse ; but he took 
 no notice of the abuse. The foreigner was weak and stag- 
 gering from intoxication. The crowd that was looking on, 
 remarked, 'This man is weak ; the missionary could easily 
 punish him, but sjiows no disposition to be revenged.' 
 Others said, ' The word of God is verified, which speaks of 
 meekness and forgiveness ; for this drunken man insults the 
 teacher, but he does not resent it.' Instances of this kind 
 had great influence. Even the heathen have their eyes 
 open to the conduct of ministers, and are nice judges of 
 consistency ; and there is no jealous}'^ that cannot be lived 
 down by a uniform and Cliristian deportment." 
 
SINCERITY AND FIRMNESS OF CONVERTS. 
 
 BEAIilTY OF HINDOO CONVEBSIONS. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Lacy, long a missionary in Orissa, India, has 
 borne the following testimony to the character of the Hin- 
 doo converts. He says : " In the majority of instances of 
 native converts it is impossible to attribute their conver- 
 sion to other than sincere motives. They were men of 
 caste, credit, and consideration, among their countrymen ; 
 and, in embracing Christianity, they have become, in the 
 estimation of their countrymen, the offscouring of all things. 
 They have become absolute outcasts ; persons with Avhom 
 none would hold communion — w^hom no one would touch. 
 
 This loss of credit and character was not a result with 
 which they were unacquainted ; they came to it with a full 
 knowledge of it, and with a keenness of feeling and appre- 
 hension respecting it, of the extent of which we can com- 
 paratively be no judges. They have approached the crisis, 
 nevertheless, steadily and resolutely. The importance and 
 the excellence, as well as the necessity, of Christianity, 
 have gradually developed themselves to their minds, till 
 they have overcome and overborne every obstacle and every 
 opposing consideration and consequence. The same remark 
 is true as to their means of subsistence. Many of them 
 were respectably situated in life ; some not necessitated to 
 work at all. They had, therefore, to renounce the means of 
 easy and comfortable subsistence for an uncertainty. At the 
 time they became Christians they knew not how they should 
 live, and their teachers knew as little how they would be 
 able to subsist. The native converts have suffered the loss 
 of all things for Christ's sake. The love of wife, and 
 children, and parents, and brothers, and sisters, and friends, 
 dwells as strongly in their bosoms as in any others ; yet 
 
122 SmCEEITY AND FIRMNESS OF CONVEETS. 
 
 these they have forsaken when called upon to do it, for the 
 sake of professing Christ and uniting with his people. 
 What more, I ask, can be required, as marks of sincerity in 
 any people professing Christ ? '' As many cases of Hindoo 
 conversion are related in this volume, the above testimony 
 is deemed important, as evidence of their reality. — Sutton's 
 Orissa and its Evangelization, p. 368. 
 
 CONVEKSION OF EREBON. 
 
 Erebon was the first convert baptized in Orissa, India. 
 He had been a very wicked man. His vices had sunk him 
 almost to the grave, and his wretchedness led him to attempt 
 self-destruction. He determined to spend his days in the 
 jungle, and left home for that purpose, but was brought 
 back by his friends. The wretched youth was seeking for 
 something which heathenism could not furnish. While in 
 this state, some of the native teachers met him, and said, 
 " Come with us, and we will do you good." One of them 
 prayed with him, and while praying his emotions and tears 
 choked his utterance, and he could not proceed. This cir- 
 cumstance made a deep impression on Erebon's mind. He 
 was enlightened to see his sins, and at length determined 
 to be one of the disciples of the Lord. " Come what may," 
 he said, " let reproach, or tribulation, or persecution, be my 
 lot, this people shall be my people, their God shall be my 
 God, and I will live and die with them." He kept his pur- 
 pose, and subsequently, in the presence of a thousand spec- 
 tators, young and old, rich and poor, he was baptized and 
 admitted to the mission church. — Orissa and its Evangeli- 
 zation, p. 177. 
 
 THIRTEEN" YEARS IN CHAINS. 
 
 A Hindoo met a missionary one day, and had ten minutes' 
 conversation with him. On parting, the missionary gave 
 him a tract and a New Testament, and heard no more of 
 him. The Hindoo read the books, and began to feel that 
 he -was a sinner, and needed some better Saviour than a 
 dumb idol. Gradually he left off worshipping idols, and 
 no longer paid anything towards the support of the temple. 
 Soon he said, " I Avant to go and see the missionary again." 
 He had several grown-up children, and they exclaimed, 
 " No, you shall not go, for you will only receive more tracts, 
 and you will disgrace us among our people." At the same 
 time they brought letters, and bound him hand and foot, so 
 
GRACE TRIUMPHANT. 123 
 
 that the poor man could not stir. No Christian was near to 
 encourage him or to instruct him ; but Christ was near, and 
 his faith did not fail. He still resolved that, as soon as his 
 fetters were unloosed, he would find his way to the Chris- 
 tian teacher. For tkiiieen years he was kept in chains ! 
 Many would have said, before that time, " 0, loosen my 
 chains, and I won't think any more about the missionary ! " 
 But the Hindoo man had read the New Testament too well 
 to forget it. At length a wedding was about to take place 
 in the family, and his children were anxious that he should 
 go to it ; so they unchained him. He took good care to 
 put the tracts and the Testament in his cloth under his 
 arms, without the knowledge of his friends. He went to 
 the place where the marriage ceremony was to be performed, 
 and, when they were all busy and excited in the festival, he 
 gave them a slip, and made the best of his way to the mis- 
 sionary's house, which was twenty -five miles oif. When 
 he arrived there, the missionary did not remember him. 
 He looked at him from head to foot, but could not recall 
 him. No wonder ; it was fourteen years since he had seen 
 him, and then only for ten minutes. The man said to him, 
 " 1 wish to be a Christian." He was asked, "What do 
 you know about Christianity ? " He said, "Ask me some 
 questions, and I will tell you what I know." The mission- 
 ary asked him some questions, and he answered them all 
 very correctly. Of course the missionary was very much 
 surprised, and he inquired of the man how he had gained 
 his knowledge of Jesus. He replied, "Did you not, when 
 you passed by my village, fourteen years ago, give me some 
 tracts ? They taught me that Christ is the only Saviour ; 
 and I was unhappy as long as I was a heathen. I have for 
 some time left oft" idol-worship, and I should have come to 
 you before now, to tell you that I believed in Jesus, but I 
 have been chained to my house." He then showed the 
 wounds which the fetters had made on his hands and feet. 
 The missionary was surprised and rejoiced, and, after some 
 further conversation with him, in the course of a few weeks, 
 baptized him in the name of the Lord Jesus. — Missionary 
 Repository, 1846, p. 102. 
 
 GRACE TRIUMPHANT. 
 
 Among the distinguished converts at Nicomedia was 
 priest Haritoon, whom the enemy were much chagrined 
 at losing, and extremely anxious to win back to their com- 
 
124 SINCERITY AND FIRMNESS OF CONVERTS. 
 
 panionship and service. Individuals of the party opposed 
 to the Protestants had frequent interviews with him, of 
 several hours each, "in which they used every argument 
 which ingenuity and flattery could devise. lie was told 
 that he might believe what he pleased, and act as he liked. 
 All they wanted of him was merely to appear in the church ; 
 or, if he could not do that, simply to say that he was with 
 them (the Armenians) in heart. They also promised him, 
 if he would join them again, that a rich and influential Ar- 
 menian of Constanlinople would give him a monthly sti- 
 pend ; and, if he pleased, he might also go to this individ- 
 ual's house, and live at his ease, having an abundance to 
 eat and drink." 
 
 Tliis was not unlike the temptation which the devil ad- 
 dressed to Christ ; but, by the grace of Christ, it was firmly 
 resisted. An anathema was soun pronounced against him, 
 in which he was called, and was afterwards styled, " Tchick 
 Ilaritoon," which was equivalent to saying, " Ilaritoon is 
 no longer ; he is a nonentity." In allusion to this phrase- 
 ology, he said to his persecutors, " You pronounced me a 
 nonentity — a thing of utter naught. Of what use can a 
 thing of naught be to you ? Why give yourself so much 
 trouble to secure one to your party, who is no longer in 
 existence ? I am dead, — dead to you, dead to the Arme- 
 nian nation, dead to the Armenian church. And pray of 
 what use can a dead man be to you ?" Let Christians learn 
 hence how to silence the tempter, by being of no more ac- 
 count in his service than a dead man. — Miss. Her., 184*1, 
 p. 12G. 
 
 DEATH BETTER THAN DENTTIWG CHRIST. 
 
 While the cholera was raging in Southern India, a native 
 Christian gave a strong evidence of his devotion to Clirist, 
 — a devotion the more striking, says the missionary, to 
 those who know the great timidity of natives of the Sharar 
 caste. A dear child of this man was attacked, and died of 
 cholera ; and, soon after, his other children were attacked 
 with the same disease. While this man was in this dis- 
 tress, a heathen came to him, and declared that the only 
 way to save himself and the remainder of his family alive, 
 was to sacrifice to tlie idols, and to renounce Christianity, 
 producing instances of some Christians liaving thus stopped 
 the evil. " Well," said the Christian, with a firmness which 
 the heathen neighbor did not expect, "if this is the only 
 
LUKHEIN-DAS. 125 
 
 •y'rt.y to escape death, I will rather have myself and all my 
 family die here on the spot. I will not deny my Saviour, 
 neither will any of my family deny him." — Miss. Her., 
 3Iarch, 1831. 
 
 LUKHEIN-DAS. 
 
 This man was a Hindoo, a wandering bjn-agee (devotee), 
 led captive by horrible delusions, and his curses against 
 those who displeased him were most bitter, and in some 
 instances excited a fear and dread which resulted in death. 
 When at the age of fourteen, he began to read the shasters, 
 and to study the two principal ways to bliss — the way by 
 meditation, and the way by works. He spent much time 
 with Pundits, Brahmins, and Boishnobs, eat intoxicating 
 and stupefying drugs, became quarrelsome and insolent to 
 his mother and his neighbors, and in this way wandered 
 about, creating great confusion. At length he began to 
 steal, commit fornication, and covet other men's wives and 
 property. He became alarmed, finally, at his own enormi- 
 ties, and wondered how sin could be pardoned ; but the 
 Bhagabot said, " No one can commit so many sins that 
 Krisha's name cannot destroy." And another book said, 
 "Eating a piece of food offered to Juggernaut, the size of 
 a grain of sand, even the sin of killing a Brahmin is de- 
 stroyed ; how then can any other sin remain ? " His fears 
 were quieted, and he continued in his old courses, resorting, 
 meanwhile, to all sorts of penances, incantations, pilgrim- 
 ages, &c., to atone for his sins. In the midst of his career, 
 and while on a pilgrimage, he received a Christian tract and 
 the ten commandments, from Seebo Saho, a distinguished 
 luitive convert. Lukhein-das says, in giving his own his- 
 tory, under the eye of the missionar}^, "These I sketched 
 over, and could not forbear saj'ing, these contain good 
 words ; I will read these carefully ; they are full of excel- 
 lent instruction. I one day read the ten commandments in 
 the hearing of Madhu-das, and he said, 'These are the books 
 of the demons, — go not astray with these.' Others said, 
 ' They destroy people's castes.' Others said, 'In the four 
 ages of the world our religion and practices have existed ; 
 we will follow them.' In this way all united to despise the 
 holy book." 
 
 Lukhein-das says, "I was grieved in my mind, and said, 
 I will worship my new Lord, and will be a disciple of Jesus 
 Christ ; you Juggernaut, Kadhu, Krishna, Rama, Gobinda, 
 11* 
 
126 SINCERITY AND FIRMNESS OF CONVERTS. 
 
 Kesabe, Doitari, Mahadeb, Chundi, Chamudi, Boirab, Gd- 
 nesh, Kalee, and all you three hundred and thirty millions 
 of gods ; you ten incarnations of Vislmoo, with the other 
 forty-two incarnations ; you gooroos, brahmins, devotees ; 
 you stones, wood, rivers, muntras, juntras ; you bades and 
 badantes ; you songs bhagabot, ramayun ; you holy places, 
 Kasi, Brundabun, Dvvarica, &c. ; Gunga" bathing. Jugger- 
 naut darsana, BrumJia gyna, — all these are deceitful and 
 vain ; in them is no salvation fur the soul." His heathen 
 friends and neighbors, hearing these words, said, "Lotus 
 attend to our worship, and not hear his words." But Luk- 
 hein-das said, " Hear what this book is ; as God is pure and 
 sinless, without spot, so is this book, and those are cleansed 
 from sin who follow its instructions. It is written in this 
 book that God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him shall not 
 perish, but have everlasting life. Whosoever receives this 
 truth, will obtain salvation ; but whosoever rejects it, will 
 dwell through endless ages in hell. Behold, ye holy men, 
 and men of all castes, behold and meditate on this book, 
 and seek that ye may find." Not long after this, he met 
 Seebo Saho, the convert before mentioned, and said to 
 him, in answer to a question, " I have had many gooroos, 
 and have associated with many devotees, but have not 
 ascertained how salvation may be obtained. I have adopted 
 Abadhut's rope, smeared myself with ashes, eaten from the 
 vessels of all castes, have rejected all ideas of caste, have 
 visited holy places, have been in hard fastings, watchings, 
 fears, sorrows, afflictions, and distresses often, but have 
 found no salvation." One day, travelling with Seebo, they 
 came to a house where a great contention arose, in conse- 
 quence of Seebo's declaring that the religion of Jesus Christ 
 was the only true religion. Of this event Lukhein-das says, 
 "I told Seebo the people would revile; but said. Never 
 mind ; if I die, be it so ; why should we turn again to the 
 woi'ship of Vishnoo ? " And, he continues in his narrative, 
 "Our spite against the gods daily increased, and we de- 
 clared that in all this world there is no Saviour but the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. On one occasion, a boishnob inquired 
 who was the Saviour. I said. Behold, Babba Jee, you 
 worship wood and stones, you wear necklaces, you offer 
 many sacrifices, but in none of tliem can you obtain salva- 
 tion. I then told him of the true sacrifice. 
 
 "At this time," says Lukhein, "we received a tract, 
 
LUKHEIN-DAS. ' 127 
 
 called the Life of Christ, and read, ' The multitude delight 
 in darkness.' This darkness, said Seebo, is sin, at the 
 thought of which we both wept. I then said to him, Broth- 
 er, what is your mind ? Behold, brother, Jesus Christ 
 gave his life for sinners ; he delivered himself up to be a 
 sacrifice. Thinking on these things, my mind has become 
 distressed. Behold, brother, we are great sinners ! In 
 this sinful world, until now, how much have we strayed, — 
 how many sins committed, and who shall number our thefts 
 and adulteries ? Eemembering these things, together we 
 wept and lamented, and charged our souls to beware of sin, 
 and to regard the holy book. * * At this time, an order 
 from the raja came, saying, that as he had heard that we 
 had read the Padre Sahib's (missionary's) books, the people 
 were to beat us, and drive us away, wherever we might sit, 
 Seebo then said, if we should stay here, the raja will cause 
 us to be taken and beaten, and what else he will do we 
 know not. I replied, who is he, and what can he do ? He 
 may afflict our bodies, but he can never hurt our souls. 
 Why should we fear a mortal, though he be a raja ? Rather 
 let us fear Him who is able to seat us in heaven, or send us 
 to hell. Rising earlj'^, I again remembered the Lord, put 
 ray things together, and left those with whom I had been 
 staying. On the way we talked much about religion. That 
 night we remained hungry, and slept in a hut. At Bhoy- 
 erpore we inquired for the Christians, but the people, revil- 
 ing, said, we know nothing about them. One day, knowing 
 not whither to go, we went and seated ourselves at the foot 
 of a hadomba-tree, against Padre Sutton's house. * * Then 
 Lacey and Sutton Sahibs, with Rama-Chundra, Krupa Sind- 
 hu and Doitaree, came to us ; Lacey Sahib inquired whence 
 and for what we had come. I said, my house is at Olassa, 
 in Madhupore ; this is my companion (Seebo). We have 
 received and read your books. The Jewel Mine of Salva- 
 tion, a Gospel, the Ten Commandments, and various other 
 books, I have read for several years ; during which time I 
 have been opposed and persecuted by all castes ; but my 
 wish still was to leave them. The raja and his people have 
 opposed us ; but let them oppose, — our wish is to live accord- 
 ing to this religion, therefore have we come. Do, my dear 
 Sahib, tell us how we may obtain salvation. Lacey Sahib 
 then gave much instruction concerning time and eternity, 
 body and soul, sin and holiness, the birth, miracles, death, 
 resurrection and ascension of Christ." 
 
128 SINCERITY AND FIRMNESS OF CONVERTS. 
 
 Lukhein-das and Seebo-sabo, were subsequently baptized, 
 and from that day forward went on their way rejoicing. — ■ 
 Oriasa and its Evangelization, p. 192. 
 
 MOKE THAN MEAT AND DRINK. 
 
 A woman in India, supposed to be seventy years old or 
 more, having come to the knowledge of the truth, was 
 called to meet a most severe test of her sincerity. Her 
 husband had died, and the relatives had deprived her of all 
 her eflects — even the necessaries of life. The man with 
 whom she lived neglected even to provide her food ; and, 
 on being remonstrated with, replied, " Why should 1 care 
 for her ? Do what you will, she will soon die ; what 's the 
 use ? " Her relatives told her that if she would forsake 
 Christianity, and return to her heathen profession, they 
 would give her food and clothing ; but she replied, " If you 
 give me food I will thankfully eat it ; but, if you will not, 
 1 will go hungry ; only I will not renounce the Lord. I do 
 not know much of Christianity, it is true, but I know 
 enough of it to place all my trust in it. I can beir to go 
 hungry ; hut I cannot and loill not renoiince the Lord." 
 How like in spirit, and even in phrase, is the answer of this 
 old Hindoo Christian, to that of the three Jews : " If it be 
 so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the 
 burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine 
 hand, king ! But, if not, be it known unto thee, king, 
 that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image 
 thou hast set up." — Miss. Reg., 1853, p. 406. 
 
 HOW TO REASON UNDER TEMPTATION. 
 
 Priest Haritoon, a distinguished convert to Christianity 
 at Constantinople, had many severe contests with the 
 bishops and priests of the Armenian church, in which they 
 labored, by threats, argument, and artifice, to bring him to 
 submit to the church and " confess." His answer on one 
 of these occasions is thus described by himself; "They 
 continued to press me, saying that all these things about 
 which I made difficulties, were foolish things, and that I was 
 in danger of being unnecessarily punished. I replied, that 
 I was ready cheerfully to receive the infliction of all their 
 threats upon me. If I submit to your requisitions, I said, 
 1 shall dwell in sorrow and mourning all my days, and I 
 shall perish in despair, and lie under the condemnation of 
 eternal fire. If, on the other hand, for the glory of Christ, 
 
THE BRIBE REJECTED. 129 
 
 I do not submit, I shiill always live in jo}^, and terminate my 
 life, whatever deatli may come upon me, in the hope of the 
 glor}' of Christ, and of being a partaker of the inheritance 
 of saints, ft)r which, also, I am ready." Would all Chris- 
 tians under temptation reason thus, how few, comparatively, 
 would deny Christ, or apostatize from his service ! Subse- 
 quently, Priest Haritoon endured the most bitter and cruel 
 treatment at the hands of the Catholic Armenians ; but his 
 faith and constancy never forsook him, but, on the contrary, 
 he steadily affirmed, "For the wonderful name of Christ, I 
 am, God helping me, ready to submit, and even to shed my 
 blood, if the Lord shall so will." — Miss. Her., 1846, p. 222. 
 
 THE BRIBE REJECTED. 
 
 Moodookrishnan, a young man of Conjeveram, near Ma- 
 dras, became serious in connection with the school under 
 the care of the missionaries of the Free Church of Scotland, 
 and thus wrote to one of them : " As I was overlooking 
 (studying) the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Old 
 Testament, the Spirit of our Lord descended on my soul, 
 and cast out the devil which dwelt in my mind." lie left 
 his relatives, Api'il, 1850, and came to the missionaries at 
 Madras, seeking baptism. He was sent back to the school, 
 where his father and friends seized him, put him in irons, 
 compelled him to receive the idolatrous mark on his fore- 
 head, took from him his Bible, and tore it to pieces, and 
 otherwise insulted and abused him. His father said to him, 
 " What is your desire ? If you want money or marriage, I 
 will do it for you." He answered, " Though j^ou give me 
 a thousand rupees and a fine marriage, who wants them ? I 
 don't want them." The father said, "I will buy and give 
 you fine clothes, and give you some money to do whatever 
 you like, if you will put on your mark." The son said, " I 
 will not." He at length found means to escape, and came 
 again to Madras, agitated and almost breathless, having had 
 no food for many days. lie was pursued by his enraged 
 father ; but the missionaries now resolved to protect him. 
 He would not go with his father, nor even see him alone ; 
 and the latter on leaving the room spit at him three times 
 in token of contempt, and cursed him. This interesting 
 convert was soon after examined in the presence of his 
 fellow-students, more than a hundred in number, and his 
 answers showed a surprising familiarity with the Scrip- 
 tures, and an understanding of the doctrines of grace, which 
 
130 SINCERITY AND FIRMNESS OF CONVERTS. 
 
 greatly astonished the missionaries, and deeply impressed 
 all who heard him. 
 
 NOT MAD. 
 
 At Lagos, in the Bight of Benin, where missionary labor 
 has but recently'- commenced, a Sunday-school girl, named 
 Ige, requested her missionary, Kev. Mr. White, of the 
 Church Missionary Society, to come and take away her 
 idols, as she wished to have no more to do witii them. He 
 went accordingly, and she brouglit her idols and laid them 
 at his feet. Ige's priestess, hearing of this, hastened to her 
 in the hope of reclaiming her. "1 hear," said she, "that 
 you have become a book-woman (Christian). " Yes," Ige 
 replied, " I have served idols long enough, and now I deter- 
 mine to try this new mode of worshipping God." — "I beg 
 you," said the priestess, "not to do so, else we shall be no 
 longer friends." — " Though you may hate me on this ac- 
 count," continued Ige, "yet 1 love you, and would recom- 
 mend to you this new religion." — " Are you mad ? " said 
 the woman. — ^ " You may think so," replied Ige, "but I 
 pray that you will one day become as mad as myself." In 
 spirit and terms this answer of Ige is like that of Paul to 
 Festus, "I am not mad;" and his reply to Agrippa, "I 
 would that thou wert altogether as I am." 
 
 POWER OF A CONSISTENT EXAMPLE. 
 
 Two females accidentally met, on a stormy Sabbath, in a 
 church in Hungary, under the ministrations of the mission- 
 ary of the Free Church of Scotland. One of these was a 
 converted Jewess, and, in conversation with the other, a 
 stranger, she related some most interesting facts respect- 
 ing a lady of distinction, whom she had often brought with 
 her to meeting. The lady in question was a Roman Cath- 
 olic, and the wife of an Austrian official, who was also a 
 Catholic. On learning the history and happy experience 
 of the converted Jewess, she determined to read the 
 Bible for herself ; and, having procured a copy, she read it 
 daily, with earnest supplications that she might be made to 
 understand it and feel its power. Daily she called her chil- 
 dren around her, and read the Bible to them with prayer, 
 but always in secret, dreading the consequences if the mat- 
 ter should become known to her husband. One day, how- 
 ever, he came home unexpectedly, and surprised her at her 
 usual occupation. " What book is that ? " said he, seizing 
 the volume in her hand. " It is the Bible, my dear — the 
 
GOD OR MAMMON — A HINDOO'S CHOICE. 131 
 
 word of God/' she meekly replied. "No such book shall be 
 read in my house, I command you ; " and, at the same time, 
 he dashed the sacred volume on the floor, and stamped on 
 it with his foot. After speaking a great deal more, much 
 enraged, although generally an affectionate husband, he 
 went away, she endeavoring to pacify him, and to convince 
 him that it was their duty, as well as privilege, to read and 
 search the Scriptures. Notwithstanding this trial she con- 
 tinued to read and pray for several months, her eldest son 
 often asking her to read to him. The husband at various 
 times expostulated with her ; but at length he ceased, as if 
 he considered further resistance useless. One day he came 
 in and found his wife alone, and said to her, " I have ob- 
 served, my dear, how patiently and meekly you have borne 
 my anger, while endeavoring to oppose j'our religious con- 
 victions. I have seen the peace and consolation you have 
 found in your faith ; come, let us in future read the Bible 
 together, for I feel that a book which produces such blessed 
 effects can be no other than the word of God." Thus did 
 an example of consistent reading and praying, and of meek 
 and patient endurance of contradiction, appeal to the sober 
 convictions of an opposer, and bring him to a cordial and 
 earnest study of the Scriptures.— Jour, of Miss., Dec, 1851. 
 
 GOD OR MAMMON -A HINDOO'S CHOICE. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Mullens, of the London Missionary Society in 
 Calcutta, relates that a native young Hindoo, of intelligence 
 and rank, became interested in Christianity, and pursued his 
 inquiries for thirteen j^ears, reading a great many works 
 upon the subject. lie had a young wife, to whom he taught 
 the truths of the Gospel, and, by the blessing of God, she, 
 outstripping her husband in the apprehension of true reli- 
 gion, received the Gospel in its power ; and in turn urged 
 him most earnestly to come out on the Lord's side. " Let 
 us live in a hut," she said, "rather than remain among 
 idolaters." She died an avowed Christian, and triumphing 
 in her Redeemer. Her husband's impressions were deep- 
 ened, and he resolved to follow her advice. He left his 
 family, took a house of his own, and informed his family of 
 his intentions. His father, a well-known gentleman in Cal- 
 cutta, was strongly opposed, and offered him two thousand 
 pounds per annum, and twelve thousand pounds in ready 
 money, if he would abandon his purpose. But the son did 
 not hesitate a moment, and was publicly baptized in the old 
 
132 SINCERITY AND FIEMNESS OF CONVERTS. 
 
 mission church. For a long time before this, his friends, 
 observing' his tendencies, placed in his way infidel books, 
 such as Strauss's Life of Jesus, and the writings of Emerson 
 and Theodore Parker. He read them all, but he resisted 
 them all, as he did his father's bribes, and chose Christ for 
 his portion. — Amer. Miss., vol. vi., p. 19. 
 
 FOBSAKING ALL. 
 
 A man of the name of Narapot Singh, of the Brahminical 
 caste, in India, received, at the decease of his father, an 
 estate worth about one hundred thousand rupees. Soon 
 after this event Narapot came to Calcutta, and there em- 
 braced Christianity. According to the Hindoo law he was, 
 by this act, divested of all his property, which was claimed 
 and held by the other heirs. He was advised that any eflbrt 
 to recover it would be useless, and he submitted cheerfully 
 to the loss, rather than go back to idolatry. At the time 
 this record was made twenty years had elapsed, during 
 the whole of which he had suffered this great deprivation 
 patiently, being employed as a native preacher in Calcutta, 
 under the patronage of the London Missionary Society. 
 Thus in heathen lands Christianity finds converts who, more 
 decidedly than is often done in Christian lands, literally 
 forsake all fur Christ. — J^ng. Bap. Miss. Her., Oct., 1831. 
 
 THE POOR ARMENIAN- AND HIS BIBLE. 
 
 In a little Armenian neighborhood in the island of Cyprus, 
 consisting of only thirty houses, the Spirit of God so oper- 
 ated, through his word, that nearly all the people were 
 aroused, and many were converted to Christ. Among these 
 was one poor man who attracted the special notice of the 
 missionary, who says of him : " There he was, a hard-work- 
 ing, poor man, toiling in his little shop to support his 
 numerous family, with his Bible by his side, which he 
 always kept open while at work. ' There,' said he, point- 
 ing to the volume, ' there is all my consolation and joy ; I 
 sit here, and my eye is constantly passing from my work to 
 my Bible, and from my Bible to my work.' When I spoke 
 of persecution, he said it might come, but could not change 
 matters. 'For,' said he, 'I say to all men, look at this 
 book, and, if what I say is not according to its contents, 
 here is my neck, cut it off.' " The scene here described is 
 worthy of being put upon canvas, for the instruction of all 
 Christians — a poor, hard-working Armenian in the island 
 
A GOSPEL HERO. 133 
 
 of Cyprus, just emancipated from his blindness, toiling in 
 his little shop, with the Bible open before him, and deriving' 
 from it comfort and courage, and strength to defy all that 
 the worst enemies of the truth can do. — Miss. Her., 18i7, 
 p. 151. 
 
 A GOSPEL HERO. 
 
 As an instance of the unconquerable firmness with which 
 the Gospel can inspire a regenerated soul, just from heathen- 
 ism, Dr. Dufi' mentions the following, in his "Missionary 
 Addresses," p. 32. After giving the particulars of the two 
 first conversions under his labors, he says : " The case of 
 the third one that was baptized, and who now conducts an 
 institution in one of the upper provinces, was somewhat 
 peculiar, from the trying circumstances attending his sepa- 
 ration from his friends. It was about nine in the evening, 
 and if any one here has been in that far distant land, he will 
 know what the external scene was, when I tell him that it 
 was on the banks of the Ganges, and under the full efful- 
 gence of an Indian moon, whose brightness almost rivals 
 the noonday glory of the sun in these northern climes. 
 Two or three had resolved, as friends, to go along with 
 this individual, and Avitness a spectacle never before seen 
 by us, and, perhaps, not soon again to be seen by Euro- 
 peans. It was heart-rending throughout. Having reached 
 the outer door of the house, the elder brother of this young 
 man advanced towards him, and, looking at him wistfully, 
 began first to implore him, by the most endearing terms as a 
 brother, that he would not bring this shame and disgrace 
 upon himself and his family, which was a most respectable 
 one. Again and again did he earnestly appeal to him, by 
 the sympathy, and the tenderness, and the aflection of a 
 brother. The young man listened, and with intense emo- 
 tion simply replied, ' that he had now found out what error 
 was, and that he had now found out what truth was, and 
 that he was resolved to cling to the truth.' Finding that 
 this argument had failed, he began to assert the aulhorily of 
 the elder brother — an authority sanctioned by the usages of 
 the people. lie endeavored to show what power he had 
 over him, if he cruelly brought this disgrace upon the iam- 
 ily. The young man still firmly replied : 'I have found out 
 what error is, I have found out what truth is, and I have 
 resolved to cling unto the truth.' The brother next held out 
 bribes and allurements. There was nothhig that he was 
 12 
 
134 SINCERITY AND FIRMNESS OF CONVERTS. 
 
 not prepared to grant. There was no indulgence whatever 
 wliich he would not allow him in the very bosom of tlie fam- 
 ily, — indulgences absolutely prohibited, and regarded as 
 abhorrent, to the Hindoo system, — if he would only stop 
 short of the rash and awful step of baptism, the public 
 sealing of his foul and flital apostasy. The young man still 
 resolutely adhered to his simple but emphatic declaration ! 
 
 " It was now, when every argument had finally failed, that 
 his aged mother, who had all the while been present 
 within hearing, though we knew it not, raised a hoiol of 
 agony — a yell of horror, which it is impossible for imagina- 
 tion to conceive. It pierced into the heart, and made the 
 very flesh creep and shiver. The young man could hold out 
 no longer. He was powerfully affected, and shed tears. 
 With uplifted arms, and eyes raised to heaven, he forcibly 
 exclaimed, 'No, I cannot stay!' And this was the last 
 time he ever expected to hold converse with his brethren 
 and his mother. 
 
 " I could not help feeling then, and have often thought 
 since, how wonderful is the power of truth ! — how sover- 
 eign is the grace of God ! If it be said that the Hindoo 
 character is griping and avaricious, divine grace is stronger 
 still, and is able to conquer it. If it is yielding and fickle, 
 — ay, fickle as the shifting quicksands, divine grace can give 
 it consistency and strength. If it is feeble and cowardly 
 divine grace can make the feeble powerful, and convert the 
 coward into a moral hero. What signal testimony do such 
 triumphs bear to the power of the everlasting Gospel ! " 
 
 THE CAFFKE WOMAN'S EELIGIOM". 
 
 A Caffre young woman, who had embraced Christianity, 
 renounced, at the same time, her heathen customs and dress, 
 and put on European clothing as a sign of her change of 
 religion. Her brother, still a heathen, wanted her to accom- 
 pany him to a heathen dance. She resolutely refused. He 
 thereupon brought a stick, and threatened that he would 
 compel her to go with him. She still refused, and he beat 
 her, tore off her clothes, and continued the whipping till his 
 stick broke. She never faltered, nor uttered a cr}', nor spoke 
 a word of reproach. He went to get another stick, when 
 some native women (heathen) interposed, thinking that she 
 had suffered enough. He then covered her with some 
 heathen dress, and upon this she wept and sobbed bitterly, 
 as though she was returned back to heathenism. " Why 
 
A CHRISTIAN HEROINE. 135 
 
 didn't you cry before ? " said her brother. "When I beat 
 you, you were silent; now I dress you, you weep." Some 
 time rolled by, and the brother came again to visit her. lie 
 would not enter the hut, being probably ashamed of his 
 conduct, and afraid he should meet with reproach. But he 
 quite mistook her disposition ; he had not learned Christi- 
 anity. She knew how to forgive ; she went out and met 
 him at the entrance, gave him her hand, and with it a sister's 
 kiss. That subdued him; — such meekness and kindness, 
 after so much abuse and suffering, conquered the untamed 
 Caffre, and secured to her henceforth an uninterrupted at- 
 tendance upon the instructions of the missionary. — 3Iiss. 
 Mag., 1851, p. 151. 
 
 THE DISCIPLE IN" INDIA. 
 
 Nothing can be more unjust than the suspicion, sometimes 
 thrown out, that conversions in India are in form only, and 
 not sincere and real. In confirmation of this, Mr. Clarkson, 
 in his " India and the Gospel," p. 264, observes, " There 
 is, oftentimes, deep relative humiliation, arising from the 
 dissolution of caste. No Enghsh mind can appreciate the 
 mastery of pride and prejudice which a converted Brahmin 
 must exercise, in order to sit down with comfort at one 
 table, and partake of food with the lowest outcast. The 
 sacrifice of feeling, the subjection of every high thought to 
 Christ, is, in such cases, incalculable by any standard of 
 ours. Nothing but Christian love and evangelical humility 
 could effect this. We are repeatedly called to witness strik- 
 ing illustrations of their exercise." This testimony is im- 
 portant, as showing that the cases of Christian firmness amid 
 the hottest fires of persecution, given in the present volume, 
 are no other than genuine fruits of the Gospel and the Spirit 
 of God. 
 
 A CHRISTIAN HEROINE. 
 
 A young Hindoo ladjs of a high native family, in Calcutta, 
 having read the Scriptures, and acquired a leaning towards 
 Christianitj'', was persecuted by her friends, and, for her 
 safety, was sent with a female friend to Benares. She there 
 continued studying the Bible, and on her return to Calcutta 
 she made known her intention to embrace the Christian 
 religion, and receive baptism, and proceeded to put herself 
 under the protection of her Christian friends. It was so rare 
 a thing for a Hindoo lady of high caste to take such a step, 
 
136 SINCERITY AND FIRMNESS OF CONVERTS. 
 
 that it produced a great commotion in the family. Thi-eats 
 and promises were freely used. She was offered one 
 thousand pounds to return to her Hindoo friends, and 
 assured that she should be treated with the greatest kind- 
 ness. At the same time she was told that she should be 
 subjected to every evil, even death itself, if she refused 
 these offers. But she continued unmoved by all. She said 
 to the relative who offered her the tempting bribe, " If you 
 were to give me ten millions of rupees, what good would 
 they do me when what I want is the forgiveness of my 
 sins, and the salvation of my soul ? And, as to your threat- 
 ening to kill me, you may do it, but you cannot kill my 
 soul." The missionary. Rev. Mr. Cuthbert, describes this 
 Christian heroine as a lady of fine personal appearance, 
 intelligent, a good writer, and something of a poet. She 
 ■was put under the protection of the civil authorities, and 
 remained steadfast. — Ghurxli Missionary Gleaner, 1853, 
 p. 39. 
 
 MYAT KYAU, THE BURMAN. 
 
 Myat Kyau was a signal instance of the power and sover- 
 eignty of divine grace, which chooses and moulds its 
 subjects in a wonderful and mysterious manner. He was by 
 birth and religion a Buddhist, but, being of an inquiring and 
 thoughtful mind, he entertained strong suspicions that the 
 religion of his ancestors was a baseless fabric. He sought 
 for some creed on which he might more safely rest the 
 interests of his soul, but he groped long in darkness. He 
 first became the disciple of a Brahmin ascetic, and, for two 
 or three years, practised various austerities ; but he could 
 not rest in these. He then said, " There must be, some- 
 where, a revealed religion ; I will inquire of the Mohamme- 
 dans." He had not then seen a Christian teacher, nor 
 heard the name of Christ. He went to a mosque, and there 
 heard of " one God, and Mohammed his prophet." The 
 idea of one eternal, imcreated, omniscient Creator struck 
 his mind with great force. A I'ay had broke through the 
 clouds of heathenism upon his soul. He listened to the 
 Koran, hoping to find there a system of morals by which he 
 could obtain the divine favor. But he was disappointed, 
 and left the mosque, determined to inquire further for a 
 revelation of this Eternal Being. He next went a few times 
 to a Roman Catholic place of worship. There he heard the 
 name of Christ as a Saviour ; but he was directed to pray 
 
MYAT KYAU, THE BURMAN. 137 
 
 to Mary, and Peter, and the other apostles, and an endless 
 succession of saints. This seemed to him but another vari- 
 ety of heathenism, especially the worship of the Virgin, and 
 he said, " If I must worship a human being as God, I would 
 rather worship Gaudama, a man, than this woman ; and, as 
 for Roman images, I cannot see that they have any more 
 claim to divine honors than Burman images." 
 
 For a long time after this, Myat Kyau was in a depressed 
 state ; till at length the troubles of war brought him and 
 his family to Maulmain, an important station of the Ameri- 
 can Baptist Board, in Burmah. Here he became acquainted 
 with Dr. Judson, and listened to his preaching. Day after 
 day he tarried at the place of worship from morning to 
 night. One prejudice after another was removed ; clouds 
 broke away from his horizon ; he saw and fell the truths of 
 Christianity ; the Holy Spirit had touched his soul with his 
 quickening influences. He had discovered the pearl of 
 great price, and he determined, at any cost, to secure it ; 
 and he soon found that he must part with all he had to 
 obtain it. His family and friends observed the change, and 
 their hatred of Christianity was aroused. His brother told 
 him plainly that he would renounce him as a brother ; his 
 wife that she would abandon him if he was baptized ; his 
 two sons, and an adopted son, that they would no longer 
 call him father. They made no ado when he turned ascetic, 
 or was about to become a Mohammedan, or a Roman Catho- 
 lic ; but that he should become a Christian, they could not, 
 and would not, put up with. 
 
 He told his trials to the missionary, but did not waver in 
 his purpose. Wife and children were dear as a right hand 
 or a right eye, but Christ was the one altogether lovely. 
 He said, " If friends forsake me because I adhere to Christ, 
 I cannot discard him for their sake. I will even persuade 
 them, if possible, to become his disciples. I will pray for 
 them ; but I cannot follow them in the way that I know 
 leads to eternal deatli." For several months alter his bap- 
 tism, he suffered all the desolation of being cast out, 
 despised, and hated, by his dearest relatives ; but, finally, 
 to his inexpressible joy, and in answer, no doubt, to his 
 unceasing prayers, his wife and one of his sons, and his 
 adopted son, renounced idolatry, and embraced the Christian 
 faith. 
 
 Soon after his conversion, Myat Kj^au was appointed to 
 the work of an evangelist, and his labors were abundant and 
 12* 
 
138 SINCERITY AND FIRMNESS OP CONVERTS. 
 
 successful. There was scarcely a village or hamlet in the 
 province of Maulmain that did not hear the Gospel from his 
 lips. He accompanied Dr. Wade several years in all his 
 labors, shrinking from no service or sufiering. 
 
 Myat Kyau was chiefly instrumental in bringing to the 
 notice of the missionaries that remarkable people, the 
 Karens, and in commencing among them a work which gave 
 them a written language, and which planted among them, 
 in his lifetime, nearly a hundred churches, with some twelve 
 thousand members. Being honored with the office of col- 
 lector of the customs among the Karens, for a large district, 
 under the Burman government, he became acquainted with 
 their character and language ; and he said to Dr. Wade, 
 often, " The Karens are not like these Buddhists ; they 
 have no idols, no priests, and, if the teachers would go and 
 preach to them, great numbers would listen and believe the 
 Gospel." By these remarks Dr. Wade was induced to visit 
 one of their villages, to see for himself. The village deter- 
 mined on was Don Yan, some twenty miles up the Salweu. 
 Myat Kyau, of course, accompanied him. When they 
 approached the place, the people hid themselves, fearing 
 that they were government officers ; but they were soon 
 assured to the contrary, when one of them said, " Teacher, 
 have 3^ou brought God's book for the Karens ? Our ances- 
 tors have taught us that God once gave the Karens his 
 word, written on leather (parchment), but the Karens were 
 careless and lost it ; that he gave it also to the white for- 
 eigners, who, by and by, they said, would come and give it 
 again to the Karens. Have you brought it ? Will you 
 give it to us ? " Dr. Wade replied, " Yes, I have brought 
 God's book, and wish to give it to the Karens." A deeply 
 interesting conversation took place in regard to the Karen 
 language, &c., Myat Kyau acting as interpreter. After 
 spending about two weeks in the place, Dr. Wade and his 
 coHjpanion left. 
 
 The foregoing events occurred in 1834. In 1854, Dr. 
 Wade says, "The other day, after a lapse of more than 
 hoenty years, I visited this place again. The man and his 
 wife, in the house where we stopped, were both living, and 
 had become Christians, with ten out of eleven of their 
 children. In the village was a flourishing church of eight}'- 
 six members." 
 
 Immediately after the first visit. Dr. Wade commenced, 
 with Myat Kyau's aid, the work of reducing the Karen 
 
PSALM-SINGING AGAINST PERSECUTION. 139 
 
 language to writing, which, in due time, was accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Myat Kyau was eminently a j-jvaying man. " When we 
 were traveUing by boat," says Dr. Wade, " as he held the 
 helm, he would be constantly chanting in words of prayer 
 and praise. When we had stopped for the tide, or to cook, 
 and wished to go on again, he would be missing, and so 
 often that I inquired the cause, and found that he had been 
 in some retired place praying. lie has been known to con- 
 tinue all night in prayer, without being aware of the lapse 
 of time, till cock-crowing reminded him that the day was 
 breaking. He continued to go to his zayat (chapel) daily 
 and preach, until some time after he became totally blind, 
 getting a child to lead him ; and when he was disabled from 
 going, by his increasing infirmities, he would still sit in the 
 veranda of his house, and preach to all he could get to 
 listen." 
 
 He died a peaceful and happy death, though he could 
 talk but little. He had no dread or fear, but longed for the 
 time of his departure, that he might be with Christ, and 
 teacher Judson, and the whole assembly of the glorified. 
 His remains were followed to their resting-place by a large 
 concourse of people of all classes, heathen and Christian ; 
 and among them all his memory is blessed. — Am. Bap. 
 Mag., 1854, p. 377. 
 
 PSALM-SINGING AGAINST PERSECUTION, 
 
 During the bloody persecutions which were waged against 
 the Moravians, about 1724, and when multitudes were flee- 
 ing from Moravia, the following circumstance occurred. 
 More than a hundred and fifty of the brethren were assembled 
 in a house for praj^er and worship, when a police officer 
 entered the room, having a number of assistants Avith him, 
 for the purpose of arresting the praying people and dragging 
 them to prison. When the armed posse entered the place 
 of meeting, the brethren began to sing, with loud voices, 
 the following stanza of one of Luther's hymns : 
 
 " If the whole world with devils swarmed. 
 
 That threatened us to swallow, 
 We will not fear, for we are armed, 
 
 And victory must follow. 
 We dare the devil's might, 
 His malice, craft, and spite ; 
 
140 SINCEKITY AND FIRMNESS OF CONVERTS. 
 
 Though he may us assail, 
 He never shall prevail. 
 
 The word of God shall conquer." 
 
 The officer commanded silence, but they kept on singing 
 the verse over and over ; which so confounded him that he 
 gave over, threw down the books he had collected and in- 
 tended to destroy, and ran out of the house. — Holmes's Hist, 
 of the Brethren, p. 184. 
 
HEATHEN WITHOUT IDOLATRY. 
 
 NO GOD. 
 
 It has been often said that every nation and tribe on 
 earth has some God — some object of worship. In oppo- 
 sition to this idea, Rev. Mr. Mofiat, after some twenty years' 
 observation in South Africa, under the patronage of the Lon- 
 don Missionary Society, makes the following statements : 
 " The situation of the missionary among the Bechuanas (a 
 numerous and scattered tribe in the interior of South Africa, 
 north of the Orange I'iver) is peculiar, differing, with slight 
 exception, from any among any nation on the face of the 
 earth. lie has no idolatry to arrest his progress, and his 
 mind is not overwhelmed with the horrors which are to be 
 found in countries where idols and idol temples are resorted 
 to by millions of devotees. * * lie seeks in vain to find 
 a temple, an altar, or a single emblem of heathen worship. 
 No fragments remain of former days, as mementos to the 
 present generation that their ancestors ever loved, served, 
 or reverenced a being greater than man. A profound silence 
 reigns on this awful subject. Satan has been too successful 
 in leading captive a majority of the human race, by an almost 
 endless variety of deities. But he has employed his agency, 
 with fatal success, in erasing every vestige of religious im- 
 pression from the minds of the Bechuanas, Hottentots, and 
 Bushmen, leaving them without a single ray to guide them, 
 or a single link to unite them to the skies. Thus the mis- 
 sionary could make no appeal to legends, to altars, or to an 
 unknown God, or to ideas kindred to those he wished to 
 impart. During years of apparently fruitless labor, I have 
 often wished to find something, by which I could lay hold 
 on the minds of the natives, — an altar to an unknown God, 
 the faith of their ancestors, the immortality of the soul, or 
 any religious association ; but nothing of the kind ever 
 
142 HEATHEN WITHOUT IDOLATEY. 
 
 floated in their minds." They looked on the sun, as Mr. 
 Campbell very graphically said, loith the eyes of an ox. Mr. 
 Moffat argues this fact from the language of these people, 
 there being in it nothing to indicate the existence of an idea 
 respecting God, or any kind of worship or sacrifice. Mr. 
 Moflfiit says : "I am aware that the popular opinion is that 
 man is a religious creature ; that, wherever he is to be 
 found, there are also to be traced the impressions, and even 
 convictions, of the existence of a God. Such were my own 
 views when I left my native land ; and, entertaining such 
 views, I persuaded myself, or, rather, tried to persuade my- 
 self, that I could discover rays of natural light, innate ideas 
 of a Divine Being, in the most untutored savage." After 
 struggling long against his preconceived notions, he was 
 forced to the opposite conclusion ; and he quotes Dr. Van- 
 derkemp and Mr. Campbell, who were familiar with that 
 field, as having made, reluctantly, the same admission. 
 Mr. Moffat adds, that the testimony of such as have been 
 brought to a knowledge and experience of the Christian 
 religion, should be decisive on this point ; and he gives the 
 following out of many examples that might be quoted. 
 The question was asked an intelligent native convert, 
 "How did you feel in your natural state, before hearing 
 the Gospel ? How did you feel upon retiring from private 
 as well as public crimes, and laying your head on the silent 
 pillow ? Were there no fears in your breast, no spectres 
 before your eyes, no conscience accusing you of having 
 done wrong, no palpitations, no dread of futurity ? " — 
 "No," said he; "how could we feel, or how could we 
 fear? We had no idea that an unseen eye saw us, or that 
 an unseen ear heard us. What could we know beyond our- 
 selves, or of another world, before life and immortality 
 were brought to us by the Word of God ? " This declara- 
 tion was followed by a flood of tears, while he added, " You 
 found us beasts, and made us men." — Miss. Labors and 
 Scenes in South Africa, p. 243. 
 
 THE INFIDEL'S IDEAL MAW. 
 
 Among the instances of human nature left wholly to 
 itself, unbiased by any power of religion, is that mentioned 
 by a missionary of the American Baptist Board in Burmah. 
 In describing the inhabitants on an island of the coast, he 
 says : " Those modern infidels who dream of perfection if 
 they can only wipe out -.W systems of religion might find a 
 
THE KARENS. 143 
 
 splendid field here, all cultivated to their hands. I am now 
 surrounded by about three hundred souls, men, Avomen and 
 children, entirely free from all religion. They have no God, 
 no temple, no priest, no liturgy, no holy day, no prayers. 
 In their domestic habits they are free from all conventional 
 rules. They are very poor, too ; have no house, no garden, 
 no cultivated field, no domestic animals but dogs. I never 
 saw such abject poverty, such an entire destitution of all 
 the comforts of life." — Miss. Her., 1839, p. 119. 
 
 THE KAKEWS. 
 
 The Karens, called, also, the wild men of Burmah, dif- 
 fered, when the missionaries found them, from nearly all 
 other heathens, in that they had no form of religion, and no 
 priests. They believed in the existence of God, and in a 
 future state, and had some singular traditions or prophecies, 
 among them, of a brighter day that was coming, when 
 teachers would come to them from a distant land, and lead 
 them in the way of truth. When, therefore, they first 
 heard of the arrival of missionaries, they said with joy, 
 " These are the very men we have been so long waiting for 
 to teach us the true religion." They came in crowds, from 
 distant forests and mountains, to listen to the word of life ; 
 and many of them believed. Nearly the whole race have 
 since received the Gospel. They have abandoned their 
 wandering mode of life, and have built a village, called, in 
 their tongue, Malah, or City of Love. Many other towns 
 have also been built ; and the people maintain themselves 
 by regular industry, cultivating the ground, and pursuing 
 the most necessary trades. In all Burmah there are about 
 one hundred and ten native assistants of the Baptist mis- 
 sion, all but twenty-six of whom are of the Karen race. 
 Thus early and suddenly has a whole people been converted 
 to Christianity. — Daij Spring, Aj^ril, 1850. 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS PREEMINENT. 
 
 The fact usually quoted, and, indeed, almost the only one 
 in illustration of the truth indicated above, is that of Kay- 
 arnak, the Greenland convert, in connection with the Mora- 
 vian missionaries. It has been not a little surprising and 
 gratifying to find that that is only one of a multitude of 
 cases equally striking, and equally illustrative of the posi- 
 tion which the preaching of the cross ever has, and must 
 hold, in the evangelization of the world. Valuable and 
 essential as other truths may be, this is a doctrine without 
 which the heathen conscience cannot be reached, nor any- 
 thing like a permanent reformation effected. 
 
 PRAYER OF A CONVERTED HINDOO. 
 
 Parbotee was a man of title, a Brahmin, and a thorough 
 devotee of the Hindoo laws and superstitions. On first 
 hearing of the new shaster, or Bible, he was much offended ; 
 but he was subsequently impressed with the truth, by the 
 ministry of Thomas and Carey, confessed and forsook his 
 superstitions and sins, and embraced the religion of Christ. 
 A prayer which he offered soon after, on the eve of a jour- 
 ney, was thought remarkable for its simplicity and fervor, 
 and is thus given by the missionaries : 
 
 "I performed tlie rites of the Ganges; I called tliis 
 good. I worshipped wood and stone ; I called this good. I 
 heard the shasters of men, that are all false and vain ; I 
 called this good. Lord, I am a most wretched creature to 
 this day ; -1 know nothing — nothing ! I have spent all my 
 days in wickedness, and have not obtained the least knowl- 
 edge of God. 0, put far from me these e\\\ things ! 0, 
 make them depart far from me ! I have hearkened now to 
 
THE African's remedy. 145 
 
 thy word ; I will hear ihem no more. I will not the least 
 regard the idols of wood and stone any more — vanity, 
 lies ! Lord, I will hear no more at all of these shasters of 
 the Hindoos ; they are false and vain. Wretched sinner ! 
 Save me ! 0, save, save, save me ! Give, give, 0, give, 
 give, Lord I Give me to know — hell, what? — heaven, 
 what ? Without the blood of Christ I shall never be saved. 
 Without the flesh of Christ I shall never live. Lord, what 
 is the meaning of this ? I know not what it is. How 
 can I get the blood of Christ ? 0, teach me ! I will do 
 anything thou sayest. Caste! what? Home! what? 
 Friends! what? Life! what? What is anything ? All is 
 nothing, but thee. I want no money ; I want nothing bnt 
 thee. 0, what a wretched sinner I am ! 0, tell me thy 
 way ! 0, tell me by moonshi ; tell me by the shaib 
 (missionary). We are going to Calcutta. Many, many 
 wicked things are there. 0, keep us all while we stay 
 there ! 0, that I had but love ! 0, that I had but faith ! 
 0, that I had forgiveness ! 0, that I had but those things 
 which thy people have ! Like them, — 0, give me like 
 them ! Loi-d, how many evil things are in my mind every 
 day ! I am a wicked, blasphemous wretch ! I have shame 
 in me, — wicked shame before the people, and wicked fear 
 of men ! Far, 0, far away from me put far away my sins ! 
 Forgive me, and teach me what I shall do ! I will do any- 
 thing. 0, that I did but know what to do ! 0, give — give 
 — give Lord ! AVhat shall — what can I do ? " — Rist. of 
 Bap. 3Iiss. Soc, vol. i., p. 26. 
 
 THE AFRICAIir'S REMEDY. 
 
 A native African teacher, as Rev. Mr. Moffat relates, 
 made the following address to one of his audiences : " We 
 are all sick," said he, " and crippled, and blind. This book," 
 holding the Bible in his hand, " says so ; and we know that 
 the book is true, because we feel it to be verily the case. 
 Some have sickness in the head, some in the feet, some in 
 the heart, some in the liver, and some have (he falling sick- 
 ness! Jesus Christ tolls us that all these sicknesses come 
 out of the heart. Does your head ache ? Here is medicine 
 to heal it, and mend it, too, if it be cracked. You know 
 when we are sick in the stomach, we want medicine to 
 vomit up the bile. We have all bile within us, which makes 
 us loathe food. Hei-e is medicine to cause us to vomit up 
 pride and love of sin. Are you blind ? are your eyes sore so 
 13 
 
146 DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS PRE-EMINENT. 
 
 that you cannot bear the light? Here is eye-salve," refer- 
 ring to the text in Revelation. " We tell you that Jesus 
 Christ is the light of the world, but your eyes cannot bear 
 the light. Here is a doctor that will open your eyes. Are 
 you crippled ? do you stagger and fall ? Here is a staff to 
 hold you up. It is an old staff always new. All the saints 
 who have gone to heaven have found it to be a good staff. 
 Old people, when they die, leave their staves behind them ; 
 but this staff you take with you through the valley of the 
 shadow of death. This book tells us where we can get all 
 these things, and a multitude more, and all for nothing. 
 Brethren, our fathers never saw a book like this ; they 
 never heard news like this." 
 
 AN INDIAN'S OFFERING. 
 
 A missionary was once preaching to an Indian congrega- 
 tion, in one of the south-western states, on the subject of 
 Christ and him crucified, describing the scene of Gethsem- 
 ane, and pointing to the unbefriended sufferer on the cross. 
 The congregation were much affected, and soon a tall son 
 of the forest, with tears on his red cheeks, approached the 
 pulpit and said, "Did Jesus die for me — die for poor In- 
 dian ? Me have no lands to give to Jesus ; the white man 
 take them away. Me give him my dog and my rifle." The 
 minister told him Jesus could not accept of those gifts. 
 " Me give him my dog, my rifle, and my blanket ; poor In- 
 dian, he got no more to give — he give Jesus all." The 
 minister replied that Jesus could not accept them. The 
 poor, ignorant child of the forest bent his head in sorrow, 
 and meditated. He raised his noble brow once more, and 
 fixed his eye on the preacher, while he sobbed out, " Here is 
 2DOor Indian ; ivill Jesus have him ? " The Spirit had done 
 his work, and he who had been so poor, sat at the feet of 
 Jesus, heir to the treasures of heaven. His offering was 
 that which the poorest maj"- make as well as he, and which 
 the richest must make. — Jour, of 3Iiss., April, 1850. 
 
 A DEVOTEE LEAVING ALL. 
 
 Mr. Smith, of the Baptist mission at Benares, India, 
 relates an interview with a Brahmin, who was sitting and 
 moving his beads, with a crowd of admirers around him. 
 The missionary addressed this Brahmin, instructing him 
 respecting the love of Christ towards sinners ; at wliich he 
 appeared much affected, and said, " 0, sir, do take me with 
 
THE FOUR KINGS. 147 
 
 you, and instruct me more in the way of salvation, for I 
 have not seen any way of salvation in the Hindoo religion." 
 He was told that he miglit follow if he wished to ; and im- 
 mediately the Brahmin arose before the multitude, gathered 
 up his things, and followed the missionary, to the amaze- 
 ment of the crowd, who said he was mad. — Eng. Baptist 
 Miss. Her., April, 1819. 
 
 THE FOUR KINGS. 
 
 In January, 1840, Rev. Wm. Gill, of the London Mission- 
 ary Society, gave some account of the progress of the Gos- 
 pel in the South Sea Islands, and particularly in the island 
 of Rarotonga. Auxiliary missionary societies had been 
 formed in several islands, and a meeting was called in Raro- 
 tonga for the same purpose. Contributions poured in from 
 men, women, and children, in the form of arrow-root, fowls, 
 baskets, sea-shells by the poor children, breast-ornaments, 
 ear-drops, and other heathen finery, besides a considerable 
 sum of money. Many speeches were made by the natives, 
 and one by an old man, who in the da,js of his heathenism 
 seldom appeared without human flesh hanging to his hook! 
 He said he had "lived to behold new and wonderful things 
 
 — the gathering together of the people to send the word 
 of the true God to the heathen. Formerly," he said, "we 
 used to assemble, but it was either to plan attacks of mur- 
 der, or to flee from attacks made by the enemy ; but now 
 the darkness has fled, and the true light has shone upon us 
 
 — Jesus the Lord from heaven. The spears of our wars 
 are lost, and we have the sword of the Spirit. We bring 
 with us our wives and our children, and we feel that our 
 hearts are filled with love one towards another. We not 
 only love those of our settlement, but we love all, and we 
 meet to show our love to those who are as we were, having 
 no God and no hope. This is a wonderful event." Another 
 old man said, " I have lived during the reign of four kings. 
 Li the first I was but young ; we were continually at war, 
 and a fearful season it was. During the reign of the 
 second we were overtaken with a severe famine, and all 
 expected to perish. Then we ate rats, and grass, and this 
 wood, and the other wood, and many other unmentionable 
 things. During the third we were conquered, and became 
 the peck and prey of the two other settlements of the island. 
 Then, if a man went to fish, he rarely ever returned, or if a 
 woman went any distance to fetch food, she was rarely ever 
 
148 DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS PRE-EMINENT. 
 
 seen again. Then wc were visited by another King — a 
 fourth King — a great King — a good King — a powerful 
 King — a King of love — Jesus the Lord from heaven ! He 
 has gained the victory — he has conquered our hearts ; we 
 are all his subjects ; therefore we now have peace and plenty 
 in this world, and hope soon to dwell with him in heaven." 
 — London Miss. 3Iag., 1841, p. Y. 
 
 WANTING TO CONFESS, 
 
 Not many years ago, as a lady was sitting in the veranda 
 of her Burmese house, a jungle boy came bounding through 
 the opening in the hedge which served as a gate-way, 
 and, approaching her, inquired with eagerness, "Does 
 Jesus Christ live here ? " He was a boy about twelve 
 years of age, his hair matted with filth, and bristling in 
 every direction like the quills of a porcupine, and a dirty 
 cloth of plaided cotton disposed in a most slovenly man- 
 ner about his person. "Does Jesus Christ live here?" 
 he asked, as he hastened up the steps of the veranda, and 
 crouched at the lady's feet. " What do you want of Jesus 
 Christ ? " she asked. — "I want to see him ; I want to con- 
 fess to him." — "Why, what have you been doing, that 
 you want to confess?" — "Does he live here?" he con- 
 tinued, with great emphasis; "I want to know that. Do- 
 ing? why, I tell lies, I steal, I do everything bad. I am 
 afraid of going to hell, and I want to see Jesus Christ, for 
 I heard one of the Loogyees say that he can save us from 
 hell. Does he live here? 0, tell me "where I can find 
 Jesus Christ! " — " But he does not save people from hell if 
 they continue to do wickedly." — " I want to stop doing 
 wickedly," said the inquirer; "but I can't stop; I don't 
 know how to stop. The evil thoughts are in me, and the 
 bad deeds come of evil thoughts. What can I do ? " — 
 " Nothing but to come to Christ, poor boy, like all the rest 
 of us," the lady softly murmured ; but she spoke this last 
 in English, so the boy only raised his head with a vacant 
 " B-ha-lai ? " — "You cannot see Jesus Christ now," she 
 added, and was answered by a sharp, quick cry of despair, 
 " But I am his humble friend and follower," said the lady, 
 at which the face of the little listener brightened, and she 
 continued: "He has commissioned me to teach all those 
 who wish to escape from hell, how to do so." The joyful 
 eagerness depicted in the bo3''s countenance was beyond 
 description. " Tell me, tell me ! 0)i!y ask j^our master, 
 
CHRIST MORE THAN KRISHNA. 149 
 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, to save me, and I Avill be your ser- 
 vant for life ! Do not be angry ! Do not send me away 1 
 I want to be saved ! Save me from hell ! " The next day 
 this boy was introduced to the little bamboo school-house, 
 in the character of the wild Karen boy ; and such a g-reedy 
 seeker after truth and holiness had been seldom seen. 
 Every day ho came to the white teachers to learn something 
 more concerning the Lord Jesus and the way of salvation ; 
 and every day his feelings enlarged, and his face gradually 
 lost its look of indescribable stupidity. He was at length 
 baptized, and commemorated the love of that Saviour he 
 had so earnestly sought. He lived a while to testify his 
 sincerity, and died in joyful hope. He had "confessed," 
 and had found a deliverer from those sins from which he 
 could not free himself. The lady died also, and she and the 
 wild Karen boy have met in the presence of their common 
 Redeemer. — Church Miss. Gleaner, 1852, p. 93. 
 
 "THE GOD OF MY CHILD." 
 
 A Hindoo came to a missionary, begging to be taught the 
 religion of Jesus Christ. " Why do you wish this ? " said 
 the missionary. — "Because," said he, "I lately became 
 ill, and when I was so weak and sick that I did not think I 
 could ever get well again, I remembered the peace, the pa- 
 tience, and even the joy, that shone from the face of my 
 child before she died. Ah ! said I to myself, that child 
 believed in Jesus Christ. There must be something very 
 good in this belief, since it can make people so happy and 
 peaceful, even when they feel that they are dying. And 
 so I have come, and I wish to be taught about your God 
 and the God of my child." — Juv. Hiss. 3Iag. 
 
 CHRIST MORE THAN" KRISHNA. 
 
 The following impressive testimony to the truth and puri- 
 fying power of the Gospel was given by a converted Hin- 
 doo named Gungram, and is related by Rev. Mr. Clarkson, 
 of the London Missionary Society, in the 3Iissionary Maga- 
 zine for April, 1853. Addressing his countrymen, he said, 
 " We do not want you to receive what we ofler on our mere 
 word. We have tried the power of this medicine for the 
 sin of the world, and, having found it effectual to ourselves, 
 oflier it to you. Look at me : I was formerly a great liar — 
 was always deceiving and telling lies in my trade. I was 
 also little conscious that in doing so I was committing great 
 13* 
 
150 DOCTEINE OF THE CROSS PRE-EMINENT. 
 
 sin. This word came to me. As I received it and under- 
 stood it, I learned to hate lying. Still 1 did not at once 
 abandon it, as the habit was so strong. But as I learned 
 still more and more, and prayed more and more, and knew 
 the death of Christ for sin more and more thoroughly, I was 
 enabled to leave oft' the sin. I do not say that 1 am as yet 
 free from sin ; but this I say, that if 1 lie I sincerely repent 
 of it, and am made very imhappy till I have obtained par- 
 don. And so, likewise, with other sins. I do not say that 
 I am perfect ; but I do say that I have actually left ofi" those 
 sins which formerly I practised, so that if I were to do 
 what is sinful I should be rendered miserable. Now, I 
 never learned purity from reading about Krishna's wicked 
 conduct, as recorded in the shasters. I never learned to 
 hate any sin, from all my knowledge of the gods of India ; 
 but from this word — the word of Jesus Christ, the Saviour 
 of sinners, who died for us — I have learned, and hope to go 
 on learning, till I shall be taken away from sin altogether." 
 Mr. Clarkson asks, " Was it not worth while crossing the 
 Atlantic and Indian oceans, to hear such genuine testimony 
 from an intelligent native ? Verily, I did rejoice, and will 
 yet rejoice." 
 
 BUT ONE WAY. 
 
 An intelligent Hindoo came one day to inquire of the 
 missionary concerning the word which he had heard 
 preached. He said he then heard, for the first time, 
 the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, and was convinced 
 that this was the true way. He had been on pilgrimage, 
 he said, done penance, heard the shasters, and gone through 
 all the fooleries of Ilindooism, but had yet found no remedy 
 for the disease which he wished to cure. He desired to 
 hear the word of God daily, as the missionaries preached it, 
 that he might know the right way. — 3fiss. Her., February, 
 1834. 
 
 IMPORTAKT TESTIMONY. 
 
 Rev. William Clarkson, many years missionary in India, 
 makes the following important statements in his India and 
 the Gospel, p. 185. He says : " We would vindicate, in 
 the most absolute sense, the entire comprehensibility of the 
 Gospel by the most untutored Hindoo. The Gospel is 
 adapted to him, not as he is to be, or might be, but as he is. 
 We would disclaim every demand for a preparatory process 
 as necessary to the comprehension of the Gospel. We say, 
 with emphasis, that the Gospel, in the hands of the evan- 
 
EXPERIENCE OF THE MORAVIANS. 151 
 
 gelist, 'apt to teach,' ready to explain it by suitable illus- 
 trations, and consequently able to touch the springs of con- 
 science, is alone effectual to the end of conversion. We ask 
 for education, but not to prepare the way for the Gospel ; 
 we believe the Gospel makes a way for itself. We say, with 
 confidence, that the aboriginal of India's mountains and 
 forests, who never saw a written character, is fully compe- 
 tent to understand the fundamental truths of the Gospel. 
 The following incident will illustrate these remarks. I had 
 pitched my tent on the banks of the Mye, amongst the 
 Kolis, an aboriginal tribe, reputed by Montgomery Martin 
 'savage and irreclaimable.' I preached day after day, the 
 doctrines of repentance towards God and faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. These doctrines I illustrated in every way 
 I thought adapted to reach the consciences of the people. 
 One day, after addressing them on these subjects, I asked 
 them, ' Do any of you weep on account of your sins ? ' To 
 my utter deUght, a young Koli-, about twenty-two years of 
 age, a farmer, said with considerable feeling, ' I weep on ac- 
 count of my sins. Ah ! my eyes do not weep, but my soul 
 weeps on account of my sins.' I replied, ' If so, what do 
 you wish to do ? ' He said, ' To believe in Jesus Chi'ist.' — 
 ' What do you know of Jesus Christ ?' asked I, with intense 
 interest. — ' I know that he died for my sins.' This Koli had 
 never heard the Gospel but from me, and had only listened 
 to me for two or three times. Probably he had not heard 
 me speak more than four hours altogether. That man was 
 baptized, and is a consistent believer at the present time." 
 
 EXPEEIENCE OF THE MORAVIANS. 
 
 In June, ItSS, Rev. John Beck, a Moravian missionary 
 in Greenland, was translating some parts of the New Testa- 
 ment, when the natives expressed a wish to know the sub- 
 ject on which he was writing. He read a portion of the 
 Scripture to them, and gave a concise account of the crea- 
 tion of the world, the fall of man, and the work of redemp- 
 tion as effected by our Lord and Saviour. In discoursing 
 on the latter point, he was enabled to speak with peculiar 
 affection and pathos. He then read to them, from the Gospel 
 of St. Luke, the history of Christ's agonj' in the garden. 
 AVhen ho had ceased, one of the company named Kayarnak, 
 stepped up to the table, and in an earnest manner exclaimed, 
 " llow was that ? Tell me that once more, fur I do desire to 
 be saved." Expressions like these had never before been 
 
152 DOCTRINE OF THE CEOSS TRE-EMINENT. 
 
 heard from a Greenlander, although five years of missionary 
 labor had been performed among them, and Mr. Beck, with 
 emotions of indescribable joy, endeavored to set before his 
 auditors the principal scenes in the life and death of Christ, 
 and to explain the way of salvation through him. The other 
 brethren also joined in testifying of the preciousness of 
 Christ as a Saviour ; and, while a few disliked the subject, 
 and withdrew secretly, others placed their hands on their 
 mouths in token of astonishment, and earnestly solicited 
 that they might bo taught to pray. The desire which they 
 manifested for religious instruction was such as had never 
 before been witnessed in Greenland; and, when the people 
 dispersed, they promised to come again, and to make their 
 countrymen acquainted with the wonderful things they had 
 heard. The effect did not pass away, for Ka3\arnak and his 
 family became sincere Christians, and were admitted to the 
 church. On his death-bed, in 1741, Kayarnak exhibited 
 great calmness and jDcace, and said to his afflicted relatives, 
 " Why do you weep on my account ? Are you not aware 
 that when believers die they go to Jesus and become par- 
 takei's of everlasting joy ? As I was the first of our nation 
 who Avas converted by his grace, he has determined that I 
 should be the first to enter into his presence. lie knows 
 how to provide for you in my absence ; and, if you remain 
 faithful to the end, we shall surely meet again, and rejoice 
 forever before the throne of God and the Lamb." — Mora- 
 vian Journal, Library of Am. Board. 
 
 A NOBLE DEFENCE. 
 
 The utter insuflSciency of false systems to meet man's 
 spiritual wants, and the perfect adaptation of the Gospel to 
 this end, are illustrated in the case of a native of Madras, 
 in Southern India, who was converted under the labors of 
 missionaries of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. lie was 
 of high caste, and a man of distinction, named Tambrian ; 
 and, on being arrested for the crime of embracing Chris- 
 tianity, he put on his heathen robes, only that he might be 
 identified at the office as the head of his order, and nobly 
 said, "Sir, I am a man well known in JMadras, having re- 
 sided in this city since 1824. I was born in the province 
 of Tanjore. I was united when very young to the sect of 
 Siva, in whose robes I appear before you this day. For 
 many years I was engaged in travelling, by way of Delhi 
 and other great cities, to the holy places of the Hindoos. 
 
"did doorga die for sinners?" 153 
 
 I dwelt three years at Casi, in Bengal; thence I travelled 
 along- the coast to Madras, by way of Juggernaut. I vis- 
 ited all the holy places in the south of India, and went by 
 way of Raniiseram to Ceylon, — visited Manaar, Colombo, 
 Kandy, the holy place called Katteragam, on the east side 
 of Ceylon, and returned by Batticaloe, Trincomale, and 
 Jaffna, to the continent. Fifty years of my life have been 
 thus spent. I sought all heathen books, hut found nothing 
 for the soul. I have taught many hundred disciples, as you 
 know (for the magistrate knew him well, and congratxdated 
 the missionary on having such a convert). I found nothing 
 in heathen books, in heathen temples, in heathen ceremo- 
 nies, to sati!fy tJie soul. I met witfi this minister (pointing 
 to the missionary, Mr. Carver), and he opened to my under- 
 standing the way of salvation, the treasure of the Scrip- 
 tures. They suited my dissatisfied heart. I went again 
 and again to the missionary; I determined to abandon hea- 
 thenism. By heathenism I got money in abundance, and 
 honor. I was worshipped by my disciples ; but my soul 
 shrunk back at the blasphemy against the God of whom I 
 had heard. I knew not how to escape from my heathen 
 friends and disciples, who were about me on every side, 
 when this minister, sir (looking at the magistrate with 
 great respect and firmness), — this minister, sir, offered rae 
 an asylum, a place in the mission premises. There, sir, I 
 went of my own free choice. There I was when the heathen 
 made the violent attempt to carry me away by force. There 
 I wish to remain, and be baptized in the name of Jesus ; to 
 teach others also of this Saviour, as some little attempt to 
 remedy the evils of having taught so many heathen disci- 
 ples a false way in times past." Having thus "answered 
 for himself," he was released from custody, and allowed to 
 pursue his chosen way. — Miss. Her., Maixh, 1838. 
 
 "DID DOORGA DIE FOR SINNERS?" 
 
 On the 29th of Dec, 1800, Mr. Carey wrote, "Yesterday 
 was a day of great joy. I had the happiness to desecrate 
 the Gunga, by baptizing the first Hindoo, namely, Krishno, 
 and my son Felix. Krishno was distinguished for his piety 
 and good sense. Being met by a European in the street, 
 and asked what good he got by his profession of Christian- 
 ity, he answered, that ' he got nothing but much joy and 
 comfort ; it was the work of love.' He was sorely perse- 
 cuted by the Brahmins. His daughter, Golok, embraced 
 
154 DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS PRE-EMINENT. 
 
 Christianity, and was forcibly seized and carried away by 
 her idolatrous husband. As he was urging her along and 
 beating her, she cried aloud, in passing a police station, ' I 
 have heard of the love and sufferings of Ckrisl ; these things 
 have laid hold of my mind ; 1 have become a Christian from 
 choice, and am not willing to go with this man.' Krishno's 
 method with the heathen around him is thus described. 
 A man says, ' Well, Krishno, you have left off all the cus- 
 toms of your ancestors, — what is the reason V lie replies, 
 ' Only have patience, and 1 will inform you. I am a great 
 sinner. I tried the Hindoo worship, but got no good. 
 After a while 1 heard of Christ, — that he was incarnate, 
 labored much, and at last laid down his lile for sinners. I 
 thought, what love is this ! And here 1 made my resting- 
 place. Now say, if anything like this love was ever shown 
 by any of your gods ? Did Doorga, or Kalee, or Krishna, 
 die for sinners ? You know that they only sought their 
 own ease, and have no love for any one.' Self-prompted, 
 Krishno erected a house for God immediately opposite to 
 his own. This was the first native place of worship in 
 Bengal." — Hist. Bap. Miss. Sac, vol. vi., p. 69. 
 
 "TWO WOKDS OVEBCOME." 
 
 The simple-hearted Christians of Caffre land have exhib- 
 ited some beautiful traits of character since coming under 
 the power of the Gospel. The missionary, Rev. Mr. Calder- 
 wood, relates that on calling for a collection in behalf of a 
 charitable object, a poor widow came forward with fifteen 
 shillings in her hand. He was afraid to take it, and hinted 
 that it was too much. She replied, "The Lord has done 
 much for me." She soon brought five shillings more, say- 
 ing, "Her heart would not let her rest till she had made up 
 the pound." On the same occasion, the missionary said to 
 a native teacher, who was very poor, "I don't think you 
 can do much more than you now do." " His reply," says 
 the missionary, "entered deeply into my soul." He said, 
 " Two words overcome ; one is, ' Ye are redeemed, not with 
 corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious 
 blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish.' 1 see," he 
 added, "that bucks die, horses die, cows die, all earthly 
 things die, but God has redeemed us with something far 
 more precious than these. God has done great things for 
 us ; / must try. The other word is, ' What is a man prof- 
 ited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? ' 
 
TSCHOOP, THE INDIAN. 155 
 
 I see," said he, " the soul is indeed iprec\ous, — I must tiy." 
 Such' signs of religious life and intelligence among the 
 Caff'res, but lately regarded as more degraded than any- 
 other people on earth, show that none are past hope who 
 can be reached by the Gospel. —io«(/on 3Iiss. Mag., 1846, 
 p. 10. 
 
 A GOOD RESOLVE. 
 
 At a synod of Moravian Brethren, held at Quitopehill 
 (probably in Pennsylvania), in 1U8, it was resolved, "To 
 continue to preach nothing to the heathen (Indians) but 
 Jesus and him crucified, repeating the same testimony of 
 his Gospel, till the hearts of the heathen are awakened to 
 believe ; being fully convinced that the power of the cross 
 is the word of God, which alone is able to bring souls from 
 darkness to light ; and that the missionaries should never 
 reject any heathen, not even the most abandoned and profli- 
 gate, but consider them as persons to whom the grace of 
 Jesus Christ ought to be ofiered." 
 
 "IS ALL THIS TKUE?" 
 
 A Hindoo, in Northern India, who had heard a catechist, 
 and become somewhat impressed, was put under religious 
 instruction, and made good progress in the knowledge of 
 Christian doctrine. He manifested great abhorrence of his 
 former heathen practices, and expressed a desire to receive 
 baptism. When the catechist read to him the account of 
 the jailer's conversion, he wept much, and said, " 0, sir, I 
 am a great sinner ; no one can tell the number of my sins I " 
 On another occasion, when the catechist read to him and 
 explained the Saviour's sufferings and death, he expressed 
 great surprise, and said, " 0, sir, is all this true ? Is it true 
 that Jesus died for all sinners ? Is it true that he died for 
 me ? " The catechist replied, " It is true." " Then," said 
 he, " I have great joy in my heart ; this is indeed a great 
 salvation ! " When the missionary asked him, on the morn- 
 ing of his baptism, what was the principal thing that struck 
 his mind in our religion, after thinking a short time, he re- 
 plied, "The chief thing is, ihat Jesus died and rose again!" 
 — Am. Miss., vol. vi., p. 19. 
 
 TSCHOOP, THE INDIAN". 
 
 In 1T39, Christian Henry Ranch, a Moravian missionary, 
 . was sent to the Indians in North America, particularly to 
 
156 DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS PRE-EMINENT, 
 
 the settlements on North River, N. Y. At first they were 
 suspicious of him, and determined to kill him ; but, observ- 
 ing how quietly he lived, and how unconcernedly he slept 
 among them, they said, " This cannot be a bad man ; he 
 fears no evil, not even from us who are so savage." Hav- 
 ing gained the confidence of the Indians, he preached to them 
 Christ Jesus, and was soon permitted to witness the bless- 
 ing of God on his labors. One case of conversion in partic- 
 ular, that of an Indian named Tschoop, was recorded as very 
 striking. He had been one of the greatest drunkards in his 
 tribe, but was completely reformed ; and in giving an account 
 of his conversion he" said : " I have been a heathen, and have 
 grown old among the heathen ; therefore I know how the 
 heathen think. Once a preacher came, and began to tell us 
 there was a God. We answered, saying, ' Dost thou think 
 us so ignorant as not to know that ? Go back to the place 
 from whence thou camest.' Then another preacher came 
 to us, and began to say, 'You must not steal, nor lie, nor 
 get drunk.' To him we answered, ' Thou fool, dost thou 
 think we do not know that ? Go learn first thyself, and 
 then teach thy own people to leave off these practices ; for 
 who are greater drunkards, or thieves, or liars, than thiue 
 own people ? ' Thus we dismissed him. After some time 
 brother Ranch came into my hut, and sat down by me. He 
 then spoke to me as follows : ' I am come to you in the 
 name of the Lord of heaven and earth. He sends to inform 
 you that he will make you happy, and deliver you from that 
 misery in which you now lie. For this purpose he became 
 a man, gave his life a ransom, and shed his blood for us.' 
 When he had finished his discourse, he lay down upon a 
 board, fatigued by his journey, and fell sound asleep. I then 
 thought with mj^self, what kind of a man is this ? There 
 he sleeps, — I might kill him, and throw him out into the 
 woods, and who would regard it ? But this gives him no 
 care or concern. At the same time I could not forget his 
 words. They constantly recurred to my mind. Even when 
 I slept, I dreamed of that blood whicli Christ shed for us. 
 I found tliis to be something diflercnt from what I had ever 
 heard before, and I interpreted Christian Henry's words to 
 the other Indians. Thus, through the gi'ace of God, an 
 awakening was begun among us. I say, therefore, breth- 
 ren, preach Christ Jesus, uur Saviour, and liis sufi'erings and 
 death, if you would have your words to gain entrance among 
 the heathen." — Browii's History of Missions, vol. i., p. 262. 
 
EXPERIENCE OF A HINDOO. 157 
 
 "JUST WHAT I HAD BEEN SEEKING FOR." 
 
 A Hindoo convert in Northern India, under the London 
 Missionary Society, in giving his experience, said, "To the 
 best of my recollection, when I was about the age of twenty- 
 five, I first felt that I was a sinner and needed salvation, 
 and, being desirous of obtaining the favor of God, I made 
 long pilgrimages to Kagee, Ramaishvara, Tripetty, Tirna- 
 mally, Madura, Juggernaut, Conjeveram, and Ramagherry, 
 paying homage to the idols at these places, and washing in 
 the rivers held sacred by the heathen. A period of seven- 
 teen years I spent in following lies, seeking peace to my 
 troubled conscience, but all in vain. Of this time I spent 
 five years in the worship of Vishnoo, and had my shoulders 
 burnt with Chakraukita. For seven years I performed the 
 worship of Siva. The rest of the time I spent in the adora- 
 tion of idols of my own making. But I daily felt increase 
 of sorrow and trouble of conscience in consequence of find- 
 ing that after all my pains I could not obtain peace of mind, 
 and that God was not pleased to reveal himself to me. 
 While I was in this troubled state of mind, Mr. Flavel came 
 to me one day, and asked me why I was taking so much 
 trouble in worshipping those lifeless images which I had 
 made myself On my telling him I wanted to find God, and 
 could not, he invited me to come to his house the next day, 
 and he would show me a sure way. I went to his house, as 
 I promised to do, when he spoke to me a long time about 
 the vanity of idols, and showed to me the way of obtaining 
 peace of conscience through the blood of Christ, the Saviour 
 of mankind. This was just what I had been seeking for, 
 and I felt great joy. I felt at once the truth of his arguments 
 against idols, for I had my own experience to teach me that 
 they could do me no good. I was so fully persuaded that 
 I had wasted my life and strength in vanity and lies, that I 
 went at once, after my conversation with Mr. Flavel, and 
 broke the idols to pieces, aud threw the fragments into the 
 tank. I took oflF all the marks of idolatry from my body, 
 and returned home to my family, informing them that I had 
 at last found what I was in search of these many years 
 back ; that God had sent his servant to teach me the way of 
 happiness, and that I was fully convinced that it was the 
 right way. My relations were greatly provoked that I had 
 determined to forsake the gods of our fathers, and they were 
 constantly persecuting and abusing me. But the Lord has 
 given me grace to bear all patiently. The more 1 have heard 
 U 
 
158 DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS PRE-EMINEXT. 
 
 the deeper have been my convictions that I am in the right 
 path. Peace of conscience I have found from believing in 
 Christ. Since the time I renounced idolatry I have found 
 true pleasure in serving the Lord. I cast my soul at his 
 feet, and look to his sufierings and death for the pardon of 
 my sins and my acceptance with God." — Hiss. Herald, 1838, 
 p. 390. 
 
 DR. DUFF'S METHOD. 
 
 Missionary labor and experience have demonstrated again 
 and again the fact, that it is not by any mere culture of the 
 intellect, nor by simply teaching the being and attributes 
 and law of the one God, that the heathen conscience is 
 reached and the heart changed, but by the clear enforcement 
 of the doctrine of Christ crucified. The testimony of Dr. 
 Duff on this point is of great force, especially as he, more 
 than most missionaries in India, has bestowed attention upon 
 the educalion of Hindoo youth. Dr. Duff did, as he fully 
 explains, labor to enlighten the numerous young men under 
 his care, on the existence of the true God, and on the evi- 
 dences of revealed religion ; and he says, " On the subject 
 of miracles these young men night after night brought for- 
 ward the old and now exploded arguments of Hume ; and 
 night after night, on the banks of the Ganges and for the 
 edification of Hindoos, had I to combat the plausible reason- 
 ings and deductions of that great but misguided man." But 
 he continues : " The evidences in favor of Christianity as a 
 revelation from God, having been admitted by several as 
 irresistible, and by others no longer opposed, we last of all 
 came to the grand terminating object of all our labors, viz., 
 the announcement of the message itself, the full and free 
 declaration of the essential doctrines of the Gospel. It was 
 then, and then only, as might have been expected, that vital 
 impressions began to be made. Hitherto we were engaged 
 in the removal of obstacles that opposed our entrance into 
 the temple of truth. Having now reached the threshold, we 
 crossed it in order to discover and admire the beauties of 
 the inner workmanship. Hitherto the intellect was chiefly 
 called into exercise. We had now something suited to the 
 feelings and the conscience. Accordingly, it was when 
 unfolding, in simple and absolute dependence on divine 
 grace, the Scripture doctrines of the sinfulness, depravity, 
 and helplessness, of human nature, that the heart of the first 
 convert became seriously affected under a sense of the guilt 
 
A LABRADOR CONVERT. 159 
 
 and vileness of sin ; and when unfolding the inexpressible 
 love of the divine Redeemer to our apostate world, that 
 another heart was touched, yea, melted under the display 
 of such infinite tenderness. Thus it was that the Gospel 
 triumphed; and the doctrine of the cross, brought home to 
 the heart and conscience, and sealed by the divine Spirit, 
 maintained its high preeminence as the only antecedent to 
 the conversion of a soul to God." — Dr. Duff's Hiss. Ad- 
 dresses, p. 31. 
 
 " TELL ME THAT AGAIN." 
 
 The following is one of the numerous facts which go to 
 show that no truth so quickly and surely arrests the heathen 
 mind as that of Christ crucified. A missionary, of the Lon- 
 don Missionary Society, on riding into a large bazaar street, 
 in Southern India, one morning, soon found himself sur- 
 rounded by a large number of persons, with intelligent, 
 smiling faces, eager to know what had brought a white man 
 there. An Englishman was a perfect lion among them. 
 " It was a day," says the missionary, " of incessant talk- 
 ing." They said, " We have been waiting twelve years 
 for a missionary to come among us, and now you have 
 come, we will not let you go until you promise to establish 
 a school amongst us." The secret of their intelligence and 
 interest was, that they had formerly received religious 
 tracts, and had read them with attention and profit. " One 
 handsome chitty," says the writer, " greatly interested me. 
 He conversed with me for a considerable time, and mani- 
 fested much candor. Speaking to him of the forgiveness 
 of sin, by Jesus Christ, his mind struck in with great eager- 
 ness, and he said, ' What is that you say ? Tell me that again ; 
 explain that to me; I want to hear that repeated.' " — Lon. 
 Miss. Mag., 1849, p. 58. 
 
 A LABRADOR COJiTVERT. 
 
 The first person who was truly converted at Hopedale, a 
 Moravian station in Labrador, was a woman who was a 
 sinner — so notorious, indeed, as to be shunned, even by 
 her heathen countrymen. She heard, one evening, a dis- 
 course on the words, " The Son of man is come to seek and 
 to save that which was lost ; " and was so struck with it, 
 that she said to herself, " Can it, indeed, be true that the 
 Saviour came to save even such wicked creatures as 1 am ? 
 Here is none so vile as II" She remained on her seat in 
 
160 DOCTRINE OP THE CROSS PRE-EMINENT. 
 
 the chapel, buried in thought, till every one else had 
 departed ; and, when reminded that she ought to leave it, 
 she i"an on to the neighboring hills, fell on her knees, and 
 cried out, "0, Jesus! I have been told that thou earnest 
 to save even the vilest ; if this be true, give me also to 
 know it. Behold, I am the vilest of all, let me also be 
 saved and made happy. 0, forgive all my sins ! " She 
 soon found peace, and returned to the settlement so changed 
 in her whole being, as to strike with wonder all who knew 
 her. So deep was her sense of moral vileness that she felt 
 unfit for the society of Christian people, and actually 
 remained, for the first night, as an outcast, at the entrance 
 of the low porch or gangway of one of the Esquimaux 
 houses — a place to which the dogs are ordinarily allowed 
 free access. — U. B. Miss. Intel., 1844, p. 416. 
 
 THE OFFENCE OF THE CROSS. 
 
 Says Rev. William Clarkson, in his " India and the Gos- 
 pel," p. 115, " There is a doctrine which, on the battle- 
 field of India, challenges an extraordinary opposition from 
 all the Indian religionists. It is the doctrine of the cross. 
 This great doctrine kindles more enmity, excites more dis- 
 cord, rouses into energy more passion, than all the other 
 doctrines of Scripture. It is 'the offence of India.' Fre- 
 quently it is said, ' All you say about the one God is true 
 enough, and him we ought to worship ; but wdiat have we 
 to do with Christ ? Why do you not give up preaching so 
 much about him ? ' The remark of a Madras missionarj'^ is, 
 we fear, too applicable to India generally : ' They will 
 listen attentively to a discourse on the unity and perfections 
 of God — authority, spirituality, extent of the law, the day 
 of judgment, torments of hell, joys of heaven ; but they 
 cannot tolerate the cross. At the name of Jesus, their lip 
 curls with contempt, their G\e flashes with rage, and their 
 mouth is filled with blasphem3\' Such objections as the 
 following are urged, ' Has not our God likewise become 
 incarnate again and again ? and has he not done almighty 
 works to save iis ? AVho is this Christ, that, for his sake, 
 we should renounce all our own accredited saviours ? If 
 he be, indeed, almighty, why does he not convert all ? and 
 what need of your preaching to us ? ' " 
 
 And yet, this doctrine, as missionaries all testify, and facts 
 show, is the power of God to salvation, and that, without 
 which, all other truths would fail of their effect. 
 
THE REMEDY FOUND. 161 
 
 A CAUSE OF ^^TEEPING. 
 
 A young man in Madagascar, who had warmly espoused 
 the cause of the Redeemer, was observed by his Christian 
 companions to shed tears at every mention of the name of 
 Jesus. A missionary, to whom this was mentioned, took 
 particular notice of the circumstance, in subsequent conver- 
 sations with him, and bore testimony to the fact. One of 
 his Christian friends asked him, one day, how it was that his 
 tears always gushed forth when he mentioned the name of 
 Jesus. He replied, " How can I do otherwise than feel, 
 while I mention the name of that beloved Saviour who suf- 
 fered and died on the cross for me?" — Nar. of Persecu- 
 tions in Madagascar, p. 172. 
 
 THE REMEDY FOUISTD. 
 
 An important testimony, as to the superiority of the 
 Christian doctrine, is given by a converted Hindoo, named 
 Yesoo, belonging to a village near Ahmednuggur. He had 
 been a man of distinction, and always a very moral man, so 
 considei'ed, which gave him great influence with his people. 
 He had belonged to many sects of Hindoos, hoping to find 
 some system of religion that would be satisfactory, and, for 
 ten years previous to his embracing Christianity, he was 
 connected with the Kubeer Punthee sect, a comparatively 
 pure system of Hindooism, as it denies any other than the 
 one living and true God, and treats the stories of Hindoo 
 incarnations as mere fables. The founder of this sect was 
 a Mohammedan, and from this source the followers of 
 Kubeer derived some knowledge of Abraham, Moses, David, 
 and Jesus, and of their character as prophets of God. 
 Before joining this sect, Yesoo once went to Benares, 
 distant eight hundred miles, and brought from thence, with 
 great labor, a shoulder-load of the sacred water of the 
 Ganges. With part of this water he gave his mother a 
 saci'ed bath, and the remainder he carried to Punderpoor, 
 one himdred and twenty miles further, where he bathed the 
 image of a god — an act of great merit with the Hindoos. 
 As a follower of Kubeer, and a distinguished teacher of that 
 sect, he made his hundreds of disciples in Ahmednuggur, 
 Poena, Bombay, Nassick, and other places, and exerted a 
 commanding influence over a large class of the community 
 who did not receive his teachings. He became acquainted 
 with the missionaries at Ahmednuggur in 1844, and then 
 first heard of Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of the world. 
 14* 
 
162 DOCTRINE OP THE CROSS PRE-EMINENT. 
 
 He was prepared, by his dissatisfaction with otiier systems, to 
 embrace Christianity ; and, in a few short months, he began, 
 under faithful instructions, to preach to his disciples salva- 
 tion through Christ alone. He told them that he had been 
 deceiving them hitherto ; that an awful load of guilt rested 
 upon him for this ; that he could only hope for pardon by 
 applying to Jesus Christ ; and he urged them to apply to 
 the same Saviour for salvation. After his conversion he 
 spoke freely of the modes of deception which he formerly 
 practised to obtain money of his disciples ; and, having been 
 intimately acquainted with the teachers of numerous systems 
 of Hindooism, he exposed the " hidden things of darkness," 
 and modes of deception, by which they led the people to 
 look up to them as possessed of superhuman power. He 
 declared that every religion with which he had become 
 acquainted, among the Hindoos, was maintained by fraud 
 and deceit, and that Christianity was the only religion he 
 had ever found, free from all deceptive practices, and rest- 
 ing on the simple declarations of God for support. It is 
 easy to see how missionaries, and, indeed, all ministers, 
 may turn such facts to the advantage of Christianity. — 
 3Iiss. Her., 1845, p. 96. 
 
 TURNTWG FROM MARY TO CHRIST. 
 
 The remarkable case of conversion given below shows, 
 not only the power of the Gospel, but also the fact that, 
 short of this, there is nothing which can effect such a 
 change. The subject of this change was an Armenian, 
 named Hosvep. He was connected with one of the highest 
 families in Constantinople, but was extremely vicious — a 
 drunkard and debauchee of the lowest class. To appear- 
 ance, there was the least possible hope that truly spiritual 
 ideas would ever occupy his polluted mind. " But his very 
 excess of iniquity," says Mr. Dwight, " seemed all at once 
 t© strike him with terror, and he resolved to lead a religious 
 life. At that time he had never yet heard the pure Gospel 
 preached, and, being entirely ignorant of God's righteous- 
 ness, he went about to establish his own righteousness. In 
 order to atone for his sins and purify his heart, he retired 
 to a distant monastery, with the confident expectation that 
 such a seclusion from the world would, as a matter of course, 
 bring peace of mind and sanctity of cliaracter. Not finding 
 his hopes realized in this respect, he withdrew entirely from 
 the society of men, and lived for a time as a hermit, in the 
 
TURNING FROM MARY TO CHRIST. 163 
 
 midst of an uninhabited wilderness. He soon found, how- 
 ever, that, even by this severe mode of bodily infliction, his 
 soul was not purified, and there was nothing to meet his 
 great sense of want. He returned to the capital, and, con- 
 cluding that the defect was in the form of religion under 
 which he had been brought up, he embraced the Roman 
 Catholic faith, and became chief singer in one of their 
 churches. This was his situation when he heard of the 
 American missionaries, and found his way to them. From 
 them he heard the Gospel preached, unmixed with human 
 traditions, and immediately embraced it with his whole 
 heart, as the very thing for which he had been ignorantly 
 seeking for so long a time." 
 
 He began to labor immediately, and earnestly, for the 
 salvation of his brother, who was an infatuated Catholic 
 Armenian, and who bitterly opposed, for a time, all efforts 
 to instruct him in a better way. On one occasion, he 
 answered Hosvep's argument by spitting in his face ; to 
 which ttie latter calmly replied, " It is of no consequence ; 
 you will one day learn to do better." At length the brother 
 was led to feel his need of an infinite Saviour, and to turn 
 from Mary to Jesus Christ, as the only sufficient Mediator 
 for sinners. He became a joyful believer, and endured the 
 most trying persecutions for Christ's sake. His patience 
 under sufferings, and his triumphant death, are recorded in 
 the journal referred to below. 
 
 Another striking incident is connected with the history of 
 these two individuals. The death of the brother last named 
 was caused by a fright. He was quietly seated in his shop 
 one day, when two or three of the roughest and most dan- 
 gerous enemies of the Protestants appeared before him, 
 apparently to take his life. The fright which this gave him 
 caused a hemorrhage of the lungs, from which he never 
 recovered. But, here again, behold the power of divine 
 grace. The cruel and ferocious man, who was chiefly instru- 
 mental of Hosvep's death, was led, from curiosity or hos- 
 tility, to enter the place of Protestant worship one Sabbath, 
 and the truths which he there heard went to his heart, and 
 resulted in his conversion ; and thus, from being a bitter 
 and terrible persecutor, he became one of the persecuted ! 
 This man, on leaving the churcli that Sabbath, went directly 
 to his ungodly companions, and told them that he had found 
 the truth, and that his mind was fully made up to join the 
 Protestants, who knew and followed nothing but the Bible. 
 
164 DOCTRINE OP THE CROSS PRE-EMINENT. 
 
 Subsequently to his conversion, he was, on one occasion, 
 speaking' to some evang-elical friends of his former wicked- 
 ness, and mentioned, among other things, his going to the 
 shop of a Protestant one day, with a view of beating him ; 
 but that he was completely disarmed by the sweet manner 
 and soft answers of the individual, and left him without 
 doing anything more than to frighten him. When told that 
 that individual was Hosvep, and that the fright had been 
 the cause of his death, the poor man was overwhelmed with 
 grief, and burst into tears, saying, "What shall I do ? I 
 have been his murderer 1 " 
 
 Such a death as Hosvep's, so happy and triumphant, 
 though nothing new to Christians in America, was new to 
 the people of Turkey ; and several who saw him in his sick- 
 ness, and heard him converse, though indifferent or opposed, 
 were led from that time to cast in their lot with the Prot- 
 estants. 
 
 Such was the train of blessed results which flowed from 
 the conversion of the first Hosvep ; and they furnish some 
 of the most striking px'oofs of the power of the Gospel over 
 every other system, as a religion for man, of whatever creed 
 or country, in his lost and guilty state. — Hiss. Her., 1847, 
 p. 37. 
 
 ■WHY CHRIST IS AN OFFENCE. 
 
 The fact is thus explained by one who has long been 
 familiar with the workings of the heathen mind in India : 
 " The cross sweeps away the vast accumulation of merits, 
 and deprives the Hindoo of his chief riches. ' What,' he 
 indignantly asks, ' are my washings in a thousand streams 
 useless ? Are all my gifts, and offerings, and prostrations, 
 and repetitions of sacred names, of no account in the work 
 of my salvation ? Is it of no avail that I have trodden the 
 weary way to such and such a shrine ? — that I wear the 
 sacred insignia of discipleship to such a deity ? Is it noth- 
 ing, that I have expended wealth in building wells, temples, 
 houses of rest for travellers ? Is it nothing, that I have sup- 
 ported Brahmins, and feasted them at great expense ? ' " 
 
 Thus it is seen that the heathen oppose Christ for the 
 same reason pi'ecisely that he is opposed in Christian lands, 
 namely, that he sets aside all their round of duties, and 
 makes them stand for nothing, as grounds of justification 
 and hope. — Glarkson's India and the Gospel, p. 177. 
 
THE CONVERTED CAFFRE. 165 
 
 THE TRUE TEACHER. 
 
 About the year llii, a Xortli American Indian, named 
 Abraham, converted under the labors of the Moravian 
 Brethren, was assailed by a trader, who endeavored to per- 
 suade the Indian that the Moravian missionaries were not 
 pnvileged teachers. To this Abraham answered, " They may 
 be what they will, but I know what they have told me, and 
 what God has wrought in me. Look at my poor country- 
 men, there, lying drunk before your door. Why do you 
 not send 'privileged teachers' to convert them, if they can? 
 Four years ago I, also, lived like a beast, and not one of 
 you troubled yourself about me ; but, when the Brethren 
 came, they preached the cross of Christ, and I have expe- 
 rienced the power of his blood, according to their doctrine, 
 so that I am free from the dominion of sin. Such teachers 
 we want." — Hist. Ilora. Miss., p. T8. 
 
 NOT MOHAMMED, BUT CHRIST. 
 
 Great intei'est was awakened, in 1839 and subsequently, 
 by the conversion of a Mohammedan, at Singapore, named 
 AH, who was employed as Malay teacher to the missiona- 
 ries. He often expressed himself thus: "The religion of 
 Jesus is the only true one given to men, because it searches 
 the heart, and works that change in man ivhich the Koran, 
 and the study I have given to it for twenty years, could not 
 produce." In a letter giving his experience, he says he 
 was often constrained to exclaim, "Who can cleanse me 
 from these sins ? Mohammed cannot cleanse me ; how 
 much less can my father and mother ! In vain have I, year 
 after year, learned the Koran, for it cannot deliver me from 
 my sins. None but Jesus Christ can do this." — Lon. 3Iiss. 
 Mag., 1810, p. 161. 
 
 THE CONVERTED CAPPRE. 
 
 Among the most savage and seemingly incorrigible of the 
 human race the Gospel gains some of its most signal tri- 
 umphs. An instance of this occurred in South Africa, at 
 the station of Rev. Mr. Hood, of the London Missionary 
 Society. A Caffre, who had heard a missionarj^ preach on 
 the wrath to come, was much troubled in mind, though he 
 did not understand fully the meaning of the language. He 
 was, therefore, brought to Rev. Mr. Hood, missionary, from 
 whom he obtained more just views of his lost state, and 
 asked what he must do. Mr. Hood preached to him Christ 
 
.166 DOCTEINE OF THE CROSS PRE-EMINENT. 
 
 crucified, the Saviour of sinners. The anxious Caffre listened 
 with eagerness, and, fixing an anxious eye on the preacher, 
 said, " Sir, I am old and stupid ; tell me again." And, 
 being told again, the tears rolled down the sable cheek of 
 this man of noble and athletic frame, and he confessed his 
 astonishment at the love of God, and the compassion of the 
 Saviour. He resolved to come and live near the mission- 
 ary, that he might hear again and again the glad tidings. 
 But his property consisted in cattle, and there was no 
 ground for grazing near the station ; — what could he do ? 
 He told his difiiculty to the missionary, and added, " I am 
 a Caffre, and I love my cattle ; but I '11 part with the last 
 one I have, if that stands in the way of my coming to hear 
 the word." Matters were arranged, and he took up his 
 abode on missionary ground, where he was regarded as a 
 consistent and devoted Christian. How literally did he act 
 up to that precept, " If thine eye offend thee" I &c. " I '11 
 part with the last one I have." Noble resolve ! — just like 
 a true Christian. English statesmen have called the CaflTres 
 "a race of irreclaimable and treacherous savages." But 
 here is one of them, acting much less like a savage and a 
 heathen, probably, than many of his proud British accusers. 
 And such have hundreds of them become since, under the 
 preaching of Christ crucified. — Jour, of Miss., Dec, 1851. 
 
THE NEW HEART -ITS ONE TYPE IN MANY 
 FORMS AND DIALECTS. 
 
 As regeneration is by one Spirit, so there is in it a cer- 
 tain measure of uniformity. There is a class of inward 
 experiences and of outward manifestations, which always 
 and everywhere pertain to the subjects of this change. In 
 India or Africa, in Greenland or the South Sea Islands, in 
 Palestine or Labrador, in the American forest or the New 
 England home, the convert speaks of the same convictions 
 of sin, flies to the same cross, rejoices in one hope, aban- 
 dons idolatries and corruptions, and counts all things loss 
 for Christ. The matter arranged under this head is intended 
 to set forth, in a strong light, this important fact. In these 
 brief narratives, we hear the Hindoo and the Hottentot, 
 the^- Arab and the Esquimaux, the Dyak, the Copt, the Red 
 Man, and the nominal believer, all speaking, in essentially 
 one tongue, of the wonderful things of God. Then, with 
 this unity of personal religious experience, there is great 
 circumstantial variety. The means, forms, dialects, and all 
 the outward conditions of this new life, are as endlessly 
 diversified as are the habits, customs, complexions, and 
 languages, of the nations and tribes of the earth. This 
 unity of experience, under so many forms, is peculiar to 
 the Gospel. It appears under no other system than that 
 of Christianity, and under none but the evangelical view 
 of Christianity. The change, the regeneration, the new 
 creature, so well defined, which we are contemplating in 
 its singular diversities, does not result from Hindooism, 
 
168 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 Mohammedanism, or Romanism ; nor is it any more the 
 fruit of the so-called " Liberal " systems of Christendom. 
 It is the orthodox or evangelical form of doctrine alone that 
 penetrates the dark recesses of the heathen heart, reveals 
 to that heart its sin and ruin, and brings it, whether in the 
 jungles of India, in the wilds of Africa, or on the desolate 
 Greenland coast, to one and the same view of itself, of 
 Christ, of the atonement, of prayer, a holy life, and a 
 future state of rewards and punishments. If any one 
 doubts whether other and laxer systems may not be as effi- 
 cacious and saving as the evangelical, let him bring them to 
 the test of experiment. Let him array his preachers of scep- 
 ticism, of liberalism, of no regeneration, no Holy Spirit, no 
 Almighty Saviour, against the fortifications of heathen idol- 
 atry and superstition, and watch for the victories and revo- 
 lutions, which evangelical pi'eaching secures. He will 
 watch in vain ; and the /ads presented in this work furnish 
 a demonstration, not only that the evangelical sects and 
 their missionaries have a true view of the Gospel and its doc- 
 trines, but that they have the oidy view which can ever 
 awaken and regenerate the heathen mind, or secure any 
 really great and saving benefits to mankind. This, and this 
 alone, as seen in the light of experience and manifold fruits, 
 is the " faith once delivered to the saints." 
 
 THE TWO HEARTS. 
 
 It is found to be very common for the heathen, under 
 conviction, to speak of having two hearts — the bad heart 
 and the good heart. Several cases are recorded in the 
 present volume, though found in different countries and of 
 different nations. The following is an instance. A woman 
 in West Africa, who had been enlightened by the Scriptures, 
 Avas much distressed, and said, weeping, that she " had two 
 hearts that troubled her so mucli that she did not know what 
 to do. One was the new heart, that told all things that she 
 had ever been doing. The same heart told her that she 
 must go to Jesus Christ, and tell him all her sins, as she 
 had heard at church ; but lior old heart told her, ' Never 
 
NATIVE CHURCHES AT WOKK. 169 
 
 mind ! God no save black man, but only white man. How 
 you know he died for black man ? ' Iler new heart said : 
 ' Go, cry to him and ask ! ' Old heart tell me, do my work 
 first, fetch water, make fire, wash, and then go pray. When 
 my work done, then me forget to pray. I don't know what 
 to do." The missionary read and explained to her the sev- 
 enth chapter of Romans, and when he came to the verse, " 0, 
 wretched man that I am, &c./' she said, "Ah, massa, that 
 me — me no know what to do." He then added the words 
 of St. Paul, "I thank God through Jesus Christ," and ex- 
 plained to her the love of Christ. She was deeply afiected, 
 and has continued to follow the Saviour ever since. — Quar- 
 terly Papers of Gh. Miss. Soc, 1821. 
 
 NATIVE CHURCHES AT "WORK. 
 
 It has been the aim of missionaries, as far as practi- 
 cable, to train the native Christians to habits of giving. In 
 Tinnevelly, Southern India, in 1852, the Christians con- 
 tributed nine hundred rupees to the Bible Society. From 
 Travaucore they remitted three hundred and forty-eight 
 rupees. (A rupee is about fifty cents.) At Nagercoil, and 
 two neighboring stations, the same year, the collections 
 amounted to six hundred and seventy rupees. At some 
 stations there is a Book Society ; at some, a Dorcas, or a 
 Poor Fund. In the Nagercoil mission subscriptions are 
 gathered as a contribution to the Home Society, and for 
 several years they have amounted to a thousand rupees, 
 enough for the support of twelve readers. Throughout 
 Tinnevelly there are societies to aid the building of village 
 churches. An immense number of such churches have been 
 erected by their aid. Many, that have no money, contribute 
 lumps of sugar. The catechists and more wealthy men 
 give liberally. One catechist, in the Propagation Society's 
 jubilee, gave four months^ salary! and when the missionary 
 objected, thinking it was too much, he said, " I must give 
 it, in thankfulness for what I have received from the mission, 
 and for the education of my children in the knowledge of 
 the Gospel." The same man, on collection days, has been 
 known quietly to give his two boys two rupees each to put 
 into the box. One man, on several such occasions, has given 
 twenty-five rupees. Rev. W. Clarke, of Palmacotta, says, 
 " I have obtained a carefully prepared statement of the 
 sums of money contributed by the Tinnevelly Christians to 
 15 
 
170 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 their different societies, during' tlie last four years (1852 to 
 1856), and it proves the astonishing fact, that the Christians 
 of eleven stations, twenty-one thousand in number, con- 
 tributed, during that period, no less than seventeen thou- 
 sand rupees ! If we reckon those of the seven other 
 stations, containing fourteen thousand people, as liberal in 
 an equal degree, it will exhibit the sum total given by the 
 whole Christian community in the province of Tinnevelly, 
 as amounting to more than twenty-eight thousand rupees in 
 those four years." — Am. Bap. Miss. Mag., 1856, p. 189. 
 
 THE CONVERTED NEGRO AND HIS PIDDLE, 
 
 A slave in the island of Jamaica, of unusual intelligence, 
 and a fine player on the violin, was brought under divine 
 truth, through the labors of the English Baptist missiona- 
 ries, and became a decided Christian. Fearing that his 
 instrument might prove a snare to him, he broke it. Soon 
 after, his master told him that he should want him, before 
 long, to play his favorite instrument. lie replied, "Fiddle 
 broke, massa." — "It must be mended, Sam." — "Broke 
 all to pieces, massa." — "Well, we must get a new one, 
 Sam." — " Me tink dat no good, massa ; he soon broke." 
 The master, suspecting that this breaking of fiddles had 
 something to do with religion, to which he was no friend, 
 said, "I hope you do not go to pray, and run after these 
 mad-headed folks, Sam." — "To tell de truth, me gone, 
 massa." His master now threatened to flog him ; to which 
 he returned answer, "Dat no good, massa; whip no flog 
 de word out." His master now removed the refractory 
 slave from his comfortable position as a house-servant, to 
 work in the field, under a burning Jamaica sun. He was 
 now in the midst of three hundred slaves, to Avhom he soon 
 began to talk about religion, inviting them to go and hear 
 his minister. His master, hearing of this, was still more 
 incensed, and, calling him up, said, "How dare you trouble 
 my negroes ? I will have no praying negroes." — " Me no 
 tink they are troubled, massa. Do dey work much worse, 
 or are dey more saucy, massa?" — "That is nothing to 
 you; how dare you trouble my negroes ? " — " To tell de 
 truth, massa, me tink dat de bread dat is good foi- my soul, 
 is good for my broder neger ; and me tink dat if it is a good 
 ting for me to escape hell, it is good for broder neger; and 
 if heaven is a good place for me, it is good for broder ne- 
 
THE WILL. 171 
 
 ger ; and me pray ; and me pray for rich massa, and me tink 
 dat if my rich massa would once go and hear de missionary, 
 he would always go afterwards." At all this the master 
 was angry, but sent the negro parson, Sam, from his pres- 
 ence with nothing worse than threatening words. — English 
 Bap. Miss. Papers, 1828, p. 104. 
 
 ANOTHER TONGUE. 
 
 At a missionary meeting in Takopota, New Zealand, in 
 1850, several addresses were made by men, who, a few 
 3'ears before, were cannibals, feasting on the flesh of mur- 
 dered men and women. One of them said, "There is but 
 one great thing, that is the Gospel. Why have we left off 
 eating one another ? It is because the Gospel has come to 
 us. Why have our evil practices been discontinued ? It is 
 of the Gospel. Why do our quarrels end without blood- 
 shed ? It is from the Gospel. The Gospel is good for the 
 body as well as the soul." Another said, " It is written in 
 the Acts that the}' were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
 began to speak with other tongues. This is another tongue 
 
 — another language. Our language before was for war and 
 bloodshed ; murder was our delight. Now this is another 
 tongue ; it is the language of peace and joy — of love, and 
 of the Gospel." A third said, "In old times, when Levi 
 Mokora and other chiefs got up to speak, it was for murder, 
 war, and bloodshed. What has caused this difference in 
 these chiefs ? What has caused this difference in our as- 
 semblies ? Is it not the Gospel ? Then let us send the 
 Gospel to others." — Fresby. For. Hiss., 1852, p. 171. 
 
 THE WILL. 
 
 In one of the reports of the London Hibernian Society 
 is the following anecdote of a little boy, who was going to 
 school with the Bible under his arm. He was asked by a 
 person who met him, what book he had ; to which he re- 
 plied, " It is a will, sir." — "What will ?" — " The last 
 will and testament that Jesus Christ left to me, and to all 
 who desire to claim a title in the property therein be- 
 queathed," answered the boy, — "What did Christ leave 
 you in that will?" — "A kingdom, sir." — "Where does 
 that kingdom lie ? " — " It is the kingdom of heaven, sir." 
 
 — "And do you expect to reign as a king there?" — ■ 
 "Yes, sir, as joint heir with Christ." — "And will not 
 every person get there, as well as you?" — "No, sir; 
 
172 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 none can go there but those who claim their title to that 
 kingdom upon the ground of the will." To other questions 
 the boy gave equally intelligent and satisfactory answers, as 
 to the reason and ground of the hope that was in him. — • 
 Miss. Her., 1828, p. 161. 
 
 THE WEGRO'S TESTIMONY FOR CHRIST. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Coulcart, of the Baptist mission in Jamaica, 
 furnishes the following instructive and curious narrative. 
 After giving ari account of a great religious interest, he 
 adds : — "A Guinea negro, whose experience we lately heard, 
 observed respecting himself, that from the time he came 
 from the Guinea coast, ' him no able to take a word ; if any 
 one offend him, me take knife, me take tick, me no satisfy 
 till me drink him blood ; me now able to take twenty word. 
 Den me tief, me drink, ebery bad ting me do. Somebody 
 say, me must pray. Me say no ; what me pray for ? rum 
 best pray for me ; give me someting good for eat, dat bet- 
 ter dan pray.' — 'What made you change your mind, 
 then ? ' asked the missionary. — ' Massa, me go to church 
 one Sunday, an' me hear massa parson say, Jesus Christ 
 came and pill him blood for tinner. Ah, someting say, you 
 heara dat ? him pill him blood I Ah ! so ! Den me de tin- 
 ner, me de tief, me de drunkard ! Him pill him blood for 
 Guinea neger ! ! ! Jesus die for poo' neger fore he 
 know him ! ' thinking, adds the missionary, as seems quite 
 natural to them, that Jesus becomes acquainted with them 
 just then, because he is just then telling them all they have 
 done." — £'np'. Bap. Miss. Her., April, 1822. 
 
 THE NE"W CREATURE. 
 
 " I understand," said John Sunday, the converted Indian 
 chief, to a congregation he was called to address at Plym- 
 outh, in the year 1837, "that many of you are disap- 
 pointed, because I have not brought my Indian dress with 
 me. Perhaps, if I had it on, you would be afraid of me. 
 Do you wish to know how I dressed when I was a pagan 
 Indian? I will tell you. My face was covered with rod 
 paint. I stuck feathers in my hair. I wore a blanket and 
 leggins. I had silver ornaments on my breast, a rifle on 
 my shoulder, a tomahawk and scalping-knife in my belt. 
 That was my dress then. Now, do you wish to know why 
 I wear it no longer ? You will find the cause in 2d Corin- 
 thians, fifth chapter, and seventeenth verse. 'Therefore, 
 
god's work must be done, 173 
 
 if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; old things 
 are passed awaj- ; behold, all things are become new.' 
 When I became a Christian, feathers and paint done away. 
 I gave my silver ornaments to the mission cause. Scalping- 
 knife done away ; tomahawk done away. That is mj'' tom- 
 ahawk now," said he, holding up a copy of the ten com- 
 mandments in the Ojibwa language. " Blanket done away. 
 Behold," he exclaimed, in a manner in which simplicity and 
 dignity were combined, "behold, all things are become 
 new." — Am. 3Iiss., vol. iv., p. 8t. 
 
 GIVE "WHEN" MOVED TO IT. 
 
 On one of the estates in British Guiana there was a man 
 who had long been noted for his cruelty, and who was 
 dreaded by everybody. Under the preaching of the Gos- 
 pel by the missionary he was converted, and gave very de- 
 cided proofs of devotion to his Saviour. On hearing a ser- 
 mon in behalf of a charitable object, and having but two 
 "bits," about eighteen pence, he lamented that he had not 
 more, for he felt as if he " could give the world to that 
 Saviour who had redeemed him." The next morning a man, 
 who owed him a little more than three shillings sterling, 
 brought it to him, and, as soon as he got it, he carried it to 
 one of the members, and told him to carry it to the chapel 
 the next Sabbath, and add it to the collection. The brother 
 replied that he had better keep it and deliver it to the min- 
 ister himself. He quickly answered, " No, no ; you must 
 take it ; I cannot take it home myself; if I put it past, my 
 heart may change before next Sabbath. It is the Lord's, 
 and to him I have given it." A valuable suggestion to 
 ministers and Christians ; for how many rob the Lord's 
 treasur}^ and rob their own souls of a blessing, by with- 
 holding their chanty, when prompted to give, and "putting 
 it past till their hearts have changed." — Missionary Chron- 
 icle, 1835, p. 75. 
 
 GOD'S "WORK MUST BE DONE. 
 
 A missionary in the West Lidies, Rev. Mr. Davies, called 
 over the names of his congregation one Sabbath, to ascer- 
 tain how much each could raise. In describing the scene, 
 he ssiys, "I happened to call the name of Fitzgerald Mat- 
 thew. ' I am here sir,' he instantly replied ; and at the 
 same time I saw him hobbling with his wooden leg out of 
 the crowd, to come up to the table pew, where I was stand- 
 15* 
 
174 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 \ng. I wondered what he meant, for the others answered 
 to tlieir names without moving from their pUices. I was 
 struck with his earnestness. On coming up, he put his 
 hand into one pocket, and took out a handful of silver, wrap- 
 ped in paper, and said, ' That 's for j/ie, massa.' ' 0,' I said, 
 'keep your money at present; I don't want it 7iow ; I onlj'' 
 wanted to know how much you could afibrd to give ; I will 
 come for the money another time.' — ' Ah, massa,' he replied, 
 'God^s ivork must be done, and I may be dead ;' and with 
 that he plunged his hand into another pocket, and took out 
 another handful of silver, and said, 'That's for my wife, 
 massa.' Then he put his hand into a third pocket, and 
 took out a somewhat smaller parcel, and said, ' That 's for 
 my child, massa,' at the same time giving me a slip of 
 paper, which somebody had written for him, to say how 
 much the whole was. It was, altogether, near three pounds 
 sterling — a large sum for a poor field negro, with a wooden 
 leg ! But what he had said was to me worth more than all 
 the money in the world. Hardly ever have I been so im- 
 pressed with anything as with the simple expression of 
 this poor negro, ' God's woi'k must be done, and I may be 
 dead.'" — Jf las. Bepository, 1846, p. 84. 
 
 THE ARMENIAN" CONVEKTS. 
 
 An extensive and powerful religious awakening occurred 
 among the Armenians, in 1844, some sixteen villages having 
 been visited simultaneously by the Holy Spirit, and in them 
 all some persons led to seek a pure Gospel, and to rejoice 
 in its light. Like all the regenerate, they began at once to 
 breathe after God and a knowledge of his ways. Like all 
 truly converted persons, they feared the Lord, and thought 
 upon his name ; they met together for prayer, for reading 
 the Scriptures, and for conversation on the great things of 
 the kingdom of heaven. So wonderful and striking is the 
 fact, that when God's Spirit visits men's hearts with regen- 
 erating power, whether in India or Africa, among those 
 wedded to the dead forms of a corrupt Christianity, or those 
 living under the clear light of the Gospel, the elfects are 
 precisely the same, in the soul's longing after God, after the 
 Scriptures, after seasons of prayer, communion with saints, 
 and a pure and simple worsliip. But yet, in heathen lands, 
 there are phenomena attending conversions, not often seen 
 in Christian countries. In describing this difference, Mr. 
 Goodell, of Constantinople, says : " In America so many are 
 
FAITH AND JOY OP THE HINDOO CONVERT. 175 
 
 I rought up, as we may say, in the suburbs of Christianity, 
 a ad spend their lives so near the boundary-line, that it is 
 hardly perceived when they pass, or whether they do in 
 fact ever pass, into the kingdom of light. But in these 
 countries it is dift'erent. Here the change is marked. To 
 take a man right out of Satan's kingdom, — from the very 
 midst of all the darkness, and ignorance, and pollution, and 
 sin of manj^ generations, and bring him away into the glo- 
 rious kingdom of Christ, — into all the light, and truth, and 
 purity, and liberty, of the sons of God, — is, indeed, like 
 bringing him into a new world. To all his acquaintance 
 and former associates it is like the shock of an earthquake, 
 and there is a deep sensation felt for many miles around." — 
 3Iiss. Her., 1845, p. 112. 
 
 FAITH AITD JOY OF THE HINDOO COITVEIIT. 
 
 In his learned and discriminating work on " India and the 
 Gospel," p. 262, Rev. William Clarkson says: "The following 
 is one of the numerous illustrations of the faith, and hope, 
 and joy, of the Indian convert. Delho, a converted Koli, 
 of Gujurat, had left his village and his relatives, and joined 
 our church. One Sabbath morning he came up to me, and, 
 after having given me the Christian salutation, ' Kushalti,' 
 (peace), said, ' 0, what delight is there in the word of God I 
 1 am filled with joy. It is written," I will give to thee the 
 keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the gates of hell shall 
 not prevail against thee." What blessed words ! These 
 are the fearless hiding-places to which one may resort. 
 How sad to flee away from such — to betake one's self to a 
 small piece of straw, rather than to dwell in our Father's 
 house ! ' He again said, ' I have been praying, " Lord, let 
 thy kingdom come — let thy kingdom come ! Let tliy glory 
 come speedily ! " What can I or any one do, sinful and 
 helpless ? Those only can walk whom God makes to walk.' 
 He then read, ' Let him take up his cross and follow me.' 
 He smiled with great delight, and said, ' The word of God 
 is a very powerful word ; who can bear it ? No one can 
 bear the yoke without God's help. God can do all things, 
 but we can do nothing.' I said to him, 'To-day is the 
 Lord's day; rejoice in it.' He said, 'From the day that 
 Delho had the word of God in his hand, he has continually 
 rejoiced.' This dear, good man was shedding tears nearly 
 all the time, and kept his book before his eyes to conceal 
 them. Surely, it may be said of such, ' Blessed art thou, 
 
176 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee ; but my 
 Father which is in heaven.' " 
 
 WE HAVE GOT THE ROOT. 
 
 The following instructive little narrative is told in the 
 Juvenile Missionary Magazine. Several Christians, natives 
 of Tahiti, called on one of the missionaries, and told him of 
 a conversation they had just had with a Roman Catholic 
 priest. They said the latter had shown them a large tree 
 (artificial) with the root, the trunk, the branches, the twigs, 
 and explained to them the meaning of it. At the root was 
 a lamb, and that, said the priest, meant the Saviour, the 
 Lamb of God ; and the tree, he added, represented the 
 Eoman Catholic Church. At the bottom of the trunk, next 
 above the root, was Peter, the first bishop of Rome, said he, 
 and next to Jesus Christ. " Yes," said the Tahitians, "we 
 know about Peter ; we have got two letters of his, which 
 we read in our Testament. That was the man who denied 
 his Master ; but the Saviour looked on him, and that look 
 melted his heart, and the Saviour forgave him. But who 
 are all these," said the Tahitians, "rising upon the trunk 
 of the tree above Peter ? " — " 0," said the priest, "they 
 are the Popes, the successors of Peter." — " Ah, we don't 
 know about them," said the natives ; " but never mind, 
 ■WE 'vE GOT THE ROOT. And what are the straight branches 
 that go off from the trunk?" asked the inquisitive Tahi- 
 tians. " They are the different orders of the church, monks, 
 friars, &c." — "We don't know them either," said the peo- 
 ple, "but go on ; we 've got the root, so we can do Avithout 
 them. But pray," they asked, "what are these twigs, 
 dropping off at the extremities ? " — " Ah," said the priest, 
 " they are the heretics, and they are falling quick into the 
 flames below." — "Indeed," said the Tahitians, "then 
 whereabouts are we?" — " 0," said the priest, "you are 
 there," pointing up to one corner; "there's Luther — a 
 decayed twig — he is dropping off, you see, into the flames, 
 and there 's where you and your missionaries will go, for 
 you are all heretics." — "Ah, well," said the Tahitians, 
 "such is your picture, and such is the meaning of it you 
 give us ; but, however, we 've got the root, and so we think 
 we cannot be very far wrong, and we mean to keep to 
 that." 
 
THE LAW IN THE MEMBERS. 177 
 
 DECISION IN A LITTLE GIRL. 
 
 A little girl in Ceylon, belonging' to one of the mission 
 schools, was converted, and received the name of Harriet 
 when she was presented for baptism. At home she wonld 
 call her father and mother and others together, and read the 
 Scriptures, and pray with them. She met with much opposi- 
 tion in this course from her grandfather, who was a wicked 
 man, and who, while she was engaged in the family devo- 
 tions, or after they were finished, would seize her by the 
 hair of her head, and drag her about and beat her, and 
 order her not to pray again. But his attempts to stop 
 her failed ; for she told him that God was to be obeyed 
 rather than man, and jDcrsevered. Harriet died when she 
 was eleven years old, praj'ing and rejoicing. She was one 
 of five who died in the same house within eight days, her 
 cruel grandfather being one of the number. — 3Iiss. Her., 
 Aug., 1834. 
 
 NICODEMUS AND THE GREAT "WHEEL. 
 
 Nicodemus was the name of an Indian convert, under the 
 Moravian missionaries in North America, as early as 1742. 
 He proved a very faithful Christian helper, and died in 
 peace, saying, " I am poor and needy, and therefore amazed 
 at the love of my Lord Jesus Christ, who is always with 
 me." Once, when he was looking at a mill at Gnadenhut- 
 ten, he addressed a missionary thus : " Brother, I discover 
 something that rejoices my heart. I have seen the great 
 wheel, and many little ones ; every one was in motion, and 
 seemed all alive ; but suddenly all stopped, and the mill 
 was as dead. I then thought, ' Surely, all depends upon 
 one wheel ; if the water runs upon that, everything else is 
 alive ; but, when that ceases to flow, all appears dead. 
 Just so it is with my heart. It is as a dead wheel. But, as 
 soon as Jesus' blood flows upon it, it gets life, and sets 
 everything in motion, and, the whole man being governed 
 by it, it becomes evident that there is life throughout. But, 
 when the heart is removed from the crucified Jesus, it dies 
 gradually, and at length all life ceases.'" — Hist. Mora. 
 Miss, in North America, p. 104. 
 
 THE LAW IN THE MEMBERS. 
 
 A converted negi-o in Jamaica, after speaking of his joy- 
 ful state of mind, added, " But things do not remain in this 
 state. I don't know what it is, but I must confess, it then 
 
178 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 appears to me as though i heard anotlier voice, and had 
 another will — as though I had Iwo heartn! I am forced to 
 do the very opposite of what I desire to do ; I am angry at 
 myself. 1 would fliin follow the Lord, and hate the world, 
 and 3'et I am drawn to go in two opposite ways." The 
 missionary replied to him by reading the seventh chapter 
 of Romans. — llora. Church Miscellany, 1850, p. 129. 
 
 SIMILES ON" THE LOVE OP GOD, 
 
 In the early labors of the Moravian missionaries among 
 the North American Indians, occurred the following inci- 
 dent. After a sermon, wliich treated of the great love of 
 God to man, in the incarnation and death of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, a strange Mahikan (Mohegan) asked an Indian sis- 
 ter whether all the people at church had a feeling of this 
 great love of God. She answered, " I cannot tell you wheth- 
 er all feel it; but those who believe and love our Saviour 
 feel it certainly. I will introduce a simile. Suppose there 
 was a very delicious meal prepared in this room, and many 
 people attending ; those only who eat can say that the 
 victuals taste well ; the others cannot say so. Thus it is 
 with our Saviour. Only those who have tasted of his love 
 can speak of it, and they never forget it." The Mahikan 
 replied, " Your simile is just. Now I will, likewise, tell 
 you something. When my first child was born, I was anx- 
 ious to see it. When I saw the child, I thought, ' This child 
 God has made,' and I loved it so much that I could not for- 
 bear looking at it continually. Soon after, the child died, 
 and I mourned to that degree that nothing could comfort 
 me. I had no rest day nor night, and my child was always 
 in my thoughts, for my very heart cleaved to it. At last I 
 could bear the house no longer, but ran into the woods, and 
 almost lost my senses. The Indians then advised me to 
 take an emetic to get rid of my sorrow. I complied, but 
 the love for my child, and my sorrow for its loss, were not 
 removed, and I returned to the woods. There I beheld the 
 trees and the birds, and considered that the same God cre- 
 ated them who made my child. I then said, 'Thou, God, 
 who madest all things, I know not where thou art, but I 
 have heard that thou dwellest in heaven. Thou hast taken 
 ray child, take ni}'' sorrow and grief likewise from me ! ' 
 This was done, and then I could forget my child. From 
 this I conclude, that those who love God are disposed to 
 him as I was to my child, whom I so dearly loved ; they can 
 
AN INSTRUCTIVE EXPERIENCE. 179 
 
 never forget him, nor find rest and pleasure in anything 
 else." — Hist. Ilora. Miss, among North American Indians, 
 p. 208. 
 
 AN INSTRUCTIVE EXPERIENCE. 
 
 At a prayer-meeting in Orissa, India, a convert, named 
 Gunga, a native preacher, related the following as his own 
 experience during the preceding month. After alluding to 
 the last communion, and the comfort he derived from it, he 
 says: "I took my Lord home with me to my house, and 
 there, in the citadel of my heart, I had sweet communion 
 with him. 0, I was fed ! I was fat ! I was filled with joy ! 
 I was glorious ! Well, so I remained for fifteen or sixteen 
 days. I placed my watchmen at every door, — a watchman 
 at the door of my lips, a watchman at the door of my eyes, 
 a watchman at the door of my ears, a watchman at every 
 door. And all my watchmen were wakeful and vigilant. 0, 
 how happily my days passed ! I went to the bazaar to 
 preach, and I spoke with aflection and boldness. Thus for 
 sixteen days did I enjoy uninterrupted pleasure with the 
 Lord, in the citadel of my heart, while my watchmen with 
 sleepless vigilance guarded all the avenues to my soul. 
 Thus passed the first half of the month. Well, at the ex- 
 piration of sixteen days, the enemy made a vigorous and 
 sudden attack upon me, and this attack was by means of a 
 word of angry abuse from a certain person. 0, this word 
 was one of his fiery darts ! This arrow fell into, and burned 
 my ear. This arrow was so fiery and dreadful, that my 
 watchman became afraid, and fled from his post. This fiery 
 arrow burned its way into my heart, and set me all on fire. 
 Immediately I snatched up similar arrows, and returned 
 arrow for arrow, word for word, till I became as bad as the 
 aggressor — till I became defiled with sin, and filled with 
 burning rage, and was on fire of the devil. And now I lost 
 my peace ; my Lord was gone from me, and I went and sat 
 down under the lime-tree in my garden, and there I mourned. 
 So soon as the heat of the contest was over, alas ! to what 
 a miserable condition was I reduced ! I looked here and 
 looked there, but could find no rest ; my pleasure and my 
 Lord were gone ; my sweet experience was burned to ashes. 
 For several days I was very sorrowful, and wept much, and 
 I went into my garden, and sat down under my lime-tree, 
 and tried to pray. The enemy now came to me, and said, 
 ' What are you weeping about ? You sob and cry like a 
 child You are utterly fallen — you are gone ; give it up, 
 
180 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 and cease to weep.' I now went heavily about all I did, 
 and I staj^ed from the bazaar for three days. I was over- 
 whelmed with gloom and dejection. I sought pardon of 
 the Lord with diligence and importunity, and that pardon 
 I obtained. My Saviour has now fully restored my peace. 
 Thus 1 have told you my experience through the past 
 month ; and I close by telling the church that my Lord is 
 again in the citadel of my heart, and that my watchmen are 
 again at their posts. When my Lord came back, he said 
 to me, ' Why did you allow the watchman at your ear to 
 run away?' God has forgiven me, — let all the brethren 
 forgive me." — Sutton's Orissa and its Evangelization, p. 
 375. 
 
 A TESTAMENT BETTEB. THAN A HOUSE. 
 
 In the island of Iluaheine, one of the Society Islands, a 
 native convert had his house burnt, and was himself con- 
 siderably injured in attempts to save his little property. 
 He called on the missionary to procure some dressings for 
 his wounds, and, on receiving words of sympathy for his 
 misfortune, he said, "True, it is some work to build a 
 house, but though I have lost my house, / have saved my 
 Testament,^' pulling it out of his bosom, and exhibiting it 
 with great satisfaction. — Miss. Her., 1825, p. 21*7. 
 
 KEDEEMED OUT OP EVERY LAND. 
 
 Says Rev. Mr. Freeman, a delegate to the various sta- 
 tions under the care of the London Missionary Society, " I 
 have seen men of many kindreds, tribes, and tongues, sit- 
 ting down together in the kingdom of God; — Europeans 
 of many lands ; Americans ; the native tribes of Africa ; 
 Hottentots, Caffres, Bechuanas, Corannas, Griquas, Zulus ; 
 and then Malagasy, and native tribes of Mauritius ; and 
 Cingalese, and men of Egypt, and Syria, equally partakers 
 of that grace which brings salvation to both the civilized 
 and the savage." What an illustration of the truth, that, 
 in all nations, whoso feareth God and worketh righteous- 
 ness is accepted of him ! 
 
 FIDELITY IN PRAYER. 
 
 A missionary of the Church Missionary Society, in South- 
 ern India, relates of a native convert and catechist, Thomas, 
 that he came to hira one evening saying, joyfully, " I have 
 very good news to tell. I have made out that my wife fears 
 
PIETY IN THE NEGRO DIALECT. 181 
 
 God more than she fears me. The other day, when she was 
 engaged in secret prayer, I called her, with a view to try 
 if she is more attentive to her duties to God, than to her 
 duties to me ; but, to my great jo}', she did not move. I 
 called louder and more imperatively, a second and a third 
 time ; still she gave no answer. Some minutes after, she 
 came out of the room, and told me in fear, ' Be not angry 
 that I did not answer immediately, when you called, — I 
 was prating.' " — Hiss. Her., March, 1834. 
 
 PIETY IN THE NEGRO DIALECT. 
 
 Eev. Mr. Burchell, of Montego Bay, Jamaica, found, on 
 his return to that place, a high degree of religious interest 
 among the negroes, who crowded to the cliapel on the 
 Sabbath, offering the most devout and earnest thanks, in 
 language like the following : " Massa Jesus, we tank dee ! 
 Massa Christ, we soul bless dee, — dee take we shepherd 
 home, dee give him strengt, dee bring him back, — bless de 
 Lord, we soul ! Now, Massa Jesus, bless we shepherd ; 
 help him to peak dy word, — help him to peak to ebery 
 sinner in de four corners ob dis Montega Bay, dat dey may 
 hear and fall down before we Saviour." Mr. B. asked one, 
 named Peter, if he loved Jesus Christ ; to which he an- 
 swered, " Massa, me love Christ ? — dat me do, to me very 
 heart." But how do you know that you love Christ ? 
 " How me know ? Massa, Christ no de Son of God ? Him 
 no come into dis world and pill him blood for poor neger ? 
 How me know me love Christ ? Who me love, me no love 
 him ? Who worth love, if him no woi't ? Me love him. 
 Massa, me feel it, dat how me know." 
 
 A pious old negro, at Kingston, Jamaica, was inquired of 
 by Rev. Mr. Caultart, if he ever prayed. His answer was, 
 " Yes, massa, how can me lib widout pray ? " But, it was 
 answered, many do live without prayer, and once you did 
 not pray ; to which he replied, " Yes, massa, but since me 
 know meself, me no able to lib if me no pray." He was 
 asked to lead in a short prayer, when he said he " did not 
 know how to peak to one great God who make all tings ; " 
 and added, " But do, 0, dow great God, cut de string ob 
 dy poor neger's dumb tongue, dat him may peak de trut ! 
 0, open him blind eye, dat him may see into him own 
 heart ! Lord, open him deaf ear, dat him may hear a Jesus 
 peak to hiin, an take Jesus, de Son of God, into him heart 1 
 Lord, dy poor neger come to dee, neber let him go again. 
 
 Id 
 
182 THE NEW HEART ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 Elold him fast, hold him fast, good Lord, for Jesus' sake." 
 — Eng. Bap:: Hiss. Her., June, 1828. 
 
 A NEW NAME. 
 
 A Moravian missionary in Labrador says, "The Esqui- 
 maux, after their baptism, when they receive a new name, 
 manifest, for the most part, such an aversion to the very 
 remembrance of their former heathenish condition, that 
 nothing- affronts them more than to be called by their old 
 Esquimaux name. Their former life thej^ are Avont to look 
 upon almost literally as a state of death." — U. B. Miss. 
 Intel, 1844, p. 420. 
 
 A SLEEPING FRIEND. 
 
 An itinerant native teacher in New Zealand asked an old 
 woman, " Do you know what it is to pray ? " — " Do you 
 mean long prayers, as those sometimes used in public wor- 
 ship V — " No, short prayers, like that of the publican, — 
 'God be merciful to me a sinner.'" She replied, "That 
 prayei^ is my sleeping friend," — meaning that she used it 
 night and morning, and all times. 
 
 HEART UTTERANCES. 
 
 Eev. Mr. Richardson, of Jamaica, records the following 
 simple utterances of piety, as heard by him at a meeting 
 where the converted negroes were accustomed freely to 
 express their religious feelings : 
 
 Said one, " I know truly I great sinner indeed. I sin 
 through day, through night. 1 know, if God not been mer- 
 ciful to me, him sent me to place of punish long 'fore this. 
 I feel all better inside now ; me never feel so before. I 
 nothing to look back to in the world, at all, at all. I give 
 up me wholly heart to God." 
 
 Another, speaking of the greatness of his sins, remarked, 
 "Me one crucify the Lord Jesus. But him come down from 
 heaven to die for we poor sinners. Him me only hope ; I 
 put me wholly trust in him." 
 
 Another remarked, in their sententious, broken stylo, "I 
 consider, and say, God too good to we sinners. The world 
 make we fool ; the world deceive we. God no make we 
 sin ; we bring sin to we self. The world too strong for 
 we ; our own goodness won't save we. We all dry 
 bones ! " 
 
 Said one, " Once I come to hear word, and jest as I go out 
 
A NOBLE ANSWER. 183 
 
 I throw it away. But now I come and hear it, and when I 
 go away I consider on it, and it do me good. I consider 
 my heart not as it was before time. I carry my heart to 
 God, and ask liim to make it all right. I do think it right 
 now, and I pray him keep it right till I die." 
 
 Another, evidently under deep conviction, spoke as fol- 
 lows : " I had malice in my heart once, and I thought I 
 would keep it till I die. But lately I find my heart trouble 
 me very much. I begin to feel I must give up my malice, 
 and all me sins. I think once I was sealed up entirely, I 
 was so wicked. Sometime my sins almost make me crazy. 
 I can't say I quite a Christian now, but I hope I shall look 
 deeper, and make good work, and put away all mj'' sins." 
 
 Mr. Richardson adds, "I have purposely selected such 
 remarks as were expressed in the most intelligible English, 
 that they might be the better understood. These broken, 
 imperfect heart utterances betokened a work of the Divine 
 Spii'it, enlightening the soul, and giving birth to new hopes 
 and joys." — Am. Miss., vol. ix., p. 26. 
 
 A NOBLE ANSWER. 
 
 At a period when the funds of the Board failed, and re- 
 trenchment became necessary, Mr. Ward, of the Madura 
 mission, called the teachers of the schools around him, and 
 told them frankly how the case stood. "Here," said he, 
 " are so many rupees — about half as many as I had last 
 year. What shall I do ? If each one of j^ou say, I want 
 all I am entitled to, I must dismiss at once at least four 
 schools. I will leave you for a few moments to talk over 
 the matter, and when I come in you can tell me what is 
 your decision." Returning in about half an hour, he in- 
 quired of the oldest teacher what conclusion they had ar- 
 rived at. He replied parabolically, thus : " If a father has 
 ten sons, and unfortunately loses half his property, will his 
 sons allow him to turn away five of their number to starve, 
 while the rest are supported in comfort? No! these sons 
 will consent to live ua less, and to have the parent divide 
 the amount equally among them. This is our decision. We 
 are willing to live on rice congee, rather than have any of 
 our number dismissed." This generous and spirited answer 
 was extremely gratifying, as an evidence of the true spirit 
 of missions, and as enabling the missionary to commence 
 the ten schools, as usual, without the dispersion which had 
 seemed inevitable. — Miss. Her., 181-2, p. 180. 
 
184 THE NEW HEART— ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 BELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 The following extracts are from letters written chiefly to 
 Rev. William Yate, missionary in New Zealand for the six 
 years preceding 1833, by native converts or inquirers. They 
 were written at his request, and published " as illustrative 
 of the workings of natural feeling, and also of the opera- 
 tions of divine grace." The translation, Mr. Yate says, 
 has been made as close and literal as the English idiom 
 would allow. The first extract is from the letter of Wa- 
 hanga, who saj^s : 
 
 " Sir, Mr. Yate : Listen to my speech to you. Great is 
 my heart towards God, because he has taken care of me all 
 my days, and has shown the greatest extent of love for me. 
 It is good for me to be sanctified by him, and, by being bap- 
 tized, to be let to go into his holy church on earth, in order 
 that when I die, I may be taken into his church above in 
 the heavens. Who can bear the pain of the fire which 
 burns forever ? I want to make haste to Jesus Clirist, 
 that I may be saved from it. As the wind digs up the 
 waves of the sea, so the devil digs up sin in my heart. He 
 is always, always, this day and that day, at work there. If 
 I wake in the middle of the night, he wakes also, to contend 
 with me, and to hold fast my soul, that I may not fly to my 
 Saviour." 
 
 Another, Pahuia, the wife of Wahanga, writes, in closing 
 her epistle, " You say that, bad as it is, Jesus Christ will 
 wash my soul in his blood, and make it good and clean. 
 That is what I want. I want to be admitted into his church, 
 and to be made his child, and to be taught his lessons out of 
 his book, and to be taken care of by him, and to be done 
 what with — done what with — done what with ? Thou, 
 Lord Jesus, say what ! Mr. Yate, listen ; this is all from 
 me, — from Pahuia." 
 
 Kaheke, the son of a chief, writes : " I wish to ask you 
 how I am to be brought to stand nearest to the presence of 
 the Saviour. Perhaps by baptism I may be brought near ; 
 perhaps by praying for a new heart. Mr. Yate, you say 
 how. Let me take upon me a new name ; for, though the 
 native chiefs scoff at me, and say, ' Who is Kaheke, that 
 he should believe ? it is all nonsense,' I am not ashamed 
 of saying to everybody, that Jesus died for my sins, and is 
 my Saviour and my God." 
 
 The letter, from Avhich the following is extracted, was 
 evidently written with some true experience of the guilt 
 
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN NEW ZEALAND. 185 
 
 and perverseness of the natural heart ; and the truth is told 
 with a boldness and force, indicating not only honesty, but 
 the originality and strength of the New Zealand intellect. 
 The writer's name is Warerau. lie says : "I am only 
 evil — I am altogether sin. Sin is in my head, and sin is 
 in my heart. The works, the words, the thoughts, the all 
 things in my mind, are sin. And I love lying words more 
 than truth. I cannot help sometimes crying at the sinful- 
 ness of my heart towards God, and because my heart is 
 inclined to tease the Saviour every day, and not to do his 
 bidding. Do you remember telling me, in the blacksmith's 
 shop, when you and Mr. Clarke were making the plough, 
 and when Pompey was kicking in the yard, that my heart 
 was more stubborn than that horse's ? I was angry, then, 
 and I thought Mr. Davis tells lies ; but no, it is true. I 
 am stubborn to my teachers ; I am stubborn with God ; I 
 am stubborn to do evil; I am deaf to do good. How shall 
 I escape the anger of God for the evil of my heart ? I am 
 not able to write, for I have no thoughts towards Jesus 
 Christ ; my thoughts turn more towards the father of lies. 
 Will you not pray that Jesus would pour out his Holy 
 Spirit upon me, that I may watch, and pray, and believe, 
 and have belief fastened in my heart ? " 
 
 Henry and Rebecca Wahanga write as one : " My soul 
 is happy, because it knows something of the love of God ; 
 and 1 wish to know more, and to do his bidding. My 
 old heart is not carried away yet ; it remains inside me, 
 and when I am on my bed at night, my heart says, ' Henry, 
 do something that is not good to-morrow.' And then my 
 thoughts think about it ; and then my thoughts tell me that 
 it was wrong ; and my heart tells me I am an unbelieving, 
 bad man ; and then Satan comes and tells me I am none of 
 Jesus Christ's, but of his, and shall go to his place, and do 
 his work forever, and ever, and ever. Mr. Yate, what do 
 you think ? " 
 
 John Taua writes : " I have been many moons thinking 
 about the holy feast which Jesus Christ gave to his disci- 
 ples, and told everybody to eat in remembrance of him. It 
 is not a native's feast, for in New Zealand everybody eats as 
 much as he is able, and this is a feast of belief. If my body 
 were hungry, I sliould not be satisfied with a piece like a 
 crumb, nor with a drop that will go in a cockle-shell ; but 
 my soul is satisfied, my heart is satisfied, though it be a 
 crumb, and a drop. The thoughts within me yesterday 
 16* 
 
186 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 were perhaps right, perhaps wrong-. I said to myself, ' I 
 am going" to eat and to drink at a table placed before us by 
 the great Chief of the world. I must be very good, and 
 must make myself good within, or, when he sees me, he will 
 show that he is angry.' And then I thought, 'I will not 
 think anything that is not riglit, nor do anything that is not 
 straight to-day, and then God will see that my heart is be- 
 coming good.' But, Mr. Yate, perhaps you will, and per- 
 haps you will not, believe it. I thought no good thoughts, 
 and did no good works all day, and yet I was still, and not 
 angry with mj'self — not at all. Now, my teacher, you say 
 what I am to do before the next Lord's supper." 
 
 From the chief, Hotaiwa : — " Finished is the road 
 through the wood, for your horse and you to come to my 
 residence at Mangakahia. Come, come, come ; we are 
 waiting to hear you say it is a good road. Perhaps you 
 will say it is good — perhaps bad. We were thirty-five 
 men, three weeks and four days, and we all say, ' No, no 
 payment must we have for this work.' It is a road for the 
 teachers to come to teach us, and tell us about Jesus Christ. 
 This is our payment — this is our satisfaction. You have 
 only been four times to Mangakahia ; but now the road is 
 made you must come every moon, that we may not forget 
 your words, nor your books, nor the catechism, which you 
 teach us." 
 
 From Heniy George Watkins Warn : — " We native men 
 all knew, before you came to our land, that the spirit lives 
 after the body is dead ; but our thoughts and our words 
 were not straight about it. I will say what my thoughts 
 now are. If I believe on Jesus Christ, and lean on him, 
 and altogether inside of my heart believe him, and then do 
 his bidding, my spirit will not be driven into darkness at 
 last. But if I believe jokingly, and my belief does not 
 make me do the bidding of Jesus Christ, then I think I 
 shall not see God ; I shall be full of fear to look at him, and 
 no joy will ever come to my heart. This is my thought 
 about the last. Now, my father, who art good to me, and to 
 my two children, Caroline and Cosmo, saj'- you, is this right ? 
 I want every day to be tauglit, and to have my heart more 
 Christified, as I shall not live long. JNfy sickness in my 
 throat is killing me, and before you come back from Eng- 
 land to this New Zealand land, I shall die. Remcnilx'r, I 
 have been your bo}' ever since you first came to the Keri- 
 keri ; and, if I die before you come back, my childreu are 
 
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN NEW ZEALAND. 187 
 
 to be yours, and you are to teach them all about God and 
 Jesus Christ, that if I go to hell I may not see them there ; 
 and if I go to heaven, as I have thoughts in me which say 
 that I shall, I may see them, and you, in that happy place ; 
 when I shall not say my neck is bad, nor my heart cold 
 towards God. This is my farewell letter to you, before you 
 go to England." 
 
 From Hongi : — " Here I am, sitting in the veranda of 
 my house at Ohaiawai, thinking within me that I shall not 
 see your face again, nor hear the sound of your horse's feet. 
 The soles of his feet, with you upon his back, will not leave 
 a mark behind them on my ground again till I am dead, and 
 Paitaro is become the head chief Perhaps I shall die, per- 
 haps not. You say you shall return ; but I am thinking no. 
 You will not leave again your good country for this bad 
 country, and this very bad and unbelieving people." 
 
 From Hamo Kohi Rawiti : — " Our father, Mr. Yate. Be 
 strong in contention with your friends in England, whom 
 you say you are going to ask to build us a house of prayer 
 at the Waimate. Why are English people loving in their 
 hearts to us native men, whom they have not seen ? Why 
 do they wish i;s to have a large house of prayer here ? Is 
 it God that makes them love us, and give their money to 
 help us ? We will cause the sweat to run down our bodies, 
 when making bricks to build God's house with ; and we 
 will work by day and by night to build it and make it large, 
 if you will say how. Go in peace, Mr. Yate ; go to Eng- 
 land, and pray for us, while we pray for ourselves. Per- 
 haps we shall forget to pray for ourselves, perhaps not. 
 This is all from your son." 
 
 From Wariki, to Mr. Clarke and Mr. Yate : — "I wish to 
 know, and am saying within me, if I have prayed with 
 my heart. Say you, if I have prayed to God with my 
 heart, should I say no, and not do his bidding, as the Bible 
 says we must, and tells us how ? And should I flutter 
 about here like a bird without wings, or like a beast with- 
 out legs, or like a fish whose tail and fins a native man has 
 cut off, if I had love in my heart towards God ? 0, I wish 
 I was not all lip and mouth in my prayers to God ! I am 
 thinking that I may be likened to stagnant water, that is 
 not good, that nobody drinks, and that does not rim down 
 in brooks, upon the banks of which kumera and trees grow. 
 My heart is all rock, all rock, and no good thing will grow 
 upon it. The lizard and the snail run over the rocks, and 
 
188 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 all evil runs over my heart. Mr. Clarke and Mr. Yate, 
 teach me more of the Gospel of God, that I may try if I 
 cannot do good, and not do evil. Perhaps God does not lis- 
 ten to native speaking* ; perhaps he does not open his ears 
 to the native language, and therefore he does not hear my 
 prayers. Perhaps, if I talked English, he would listen to 
 what I ask ; perhaps he would not. I am jealous of my 
 sayings ; I am fearful that I say wrong ; I know that I do 
 wrong. Tell me how to work right, and to think straight." 
 
 From William, to Mr. Clarke: — " I have great desires 
 for another book ; my wife always wants to read mine when 
 I am reading it myself; and she reads it in the morning, in 
 the middle of the day, and all day. I have said to her, ' I 
 must tie up my Bible in my garment, and take it to all 
 places that I go to, and when I am tired, I sit down in the 
 fern and read it.' Do you say if you will let me have 
 another Bible for my wife, and one for Paparangi, who can 
 now read. Paparangi has a large pig for a payment, and I 
 will work for my wife's book." 
 
 The letters, from which the foregoing are but a few ex- 
 tracts, were written some twenty years ago, when the 
 degree of native cultivation and intelligence were by no 
 means what they are now. Under the circumstances, their 
 style and spirit are altogether remarkable. The force of 
 intellect which they exhibit shows what the New Zealander 
 is capable of becoming. Their frankness, meek simplicity, 
 and tone of affection, indicate a heart susceptible of the 
 highest degree of Christian refinement. And, what is of 
 peculiar interest, they furnish proof of a clear knowledge 
 of leading scriptural truths, an experience of the plagues 
 of the natural heart, and an understanding of the doctrines 
 of regeneration by the Spirit, and salvation by Christ. 
 Many and important are the reflections which arise, on the 
 perusal of such epistles from a people but lately despised 
 as a worthless and hopeless race of cannibal savages. 
 
 THE DEVIL'S FLAG. 
 
 It has always been a custom with Hindoo idolaters to 
 wear their hair long, and fastened in a knot at the back of 
 their head. With this they bind up one or more of the 
 sacred flowers which it is customary to offer to the idols of 
 their worship. A high-caste Brahmin, as stated in the 
 London Misdonary 31agazine for 1841, who had recently 
 been converted to Christianity, was advised to cut off this 
 
VIEWS EESPECTING THE DEAD, 189 
 
 hair ; to which he replied very promptly, " Yes, it is the 
 deciVs flag." According-ly, the Hag was immediately cut 
 off, and vso great was the change made in his appearance, 
 that his friends hardly knew him. A well-educated Hindoo 
 youth said to him, one day, " What, 3'ou, a learned Brah- 
 min, give up your religion?" The Brahmin rejoined, "I 
 have not given up my religion ; I am now come into my 
 religion ; before, I was out of it." The devil has as many 
 different flags as he can tempt Christians to use, and if all 
 would be as prompt to take them down as this Brahmin was, 
 the cross would suffer less reproach. 
 
 THE TWO AFBICANS. 
 
 Said an African, who had just learned to read the Bible, 
 " I cannot sleep when I have got hold of a new chapter ; " 
 to which his companion replied, "I have a right to speak 
 first. Don't you know that, as regards me, I light my fire, 
 lie down beside it, and read by the light which it yields, till 
 I can hold out no longer for sleep." 
 
 VIEWS RESPECTING THE DEAD. 
 
 Christians are apt to forget their immense obligations 
 to the Gospel, for the light it sheds on the grave and the 
 state of the departed. Something of this is seen in the 
 altered views and feelings of a New Zealander, upon the 
 occasion of the death of a member of the mission school, — 
 an interesting girl, named Anna. As soon as she expired, 
 the mother, uncle, and other relatives, set up a loud wail- 
 ing, after the manner of the heathen, and would have gone 
 on with a heathen funeral. The missionary remonstrated, 
 and tried to inculcate Gospel views ; after which, the step- 
 father of the deceased came forward, and said, "I have a 
 word to say; I wish this girl (Anna) to be left here; she 
 belongs to the school, and with the school she must now 
 lie." The uncle now became calm, having been under pre- 
 vious Christian instruction, and said, "Yes, it is all right; 
 she must lie here with the school." Then, with a slow, 
 solemn step, he moved to the head of the corpse, and, sit- 
 ting down, continued his speech : "This is a branch; she 
 has gone to the root. Christ says, ' I am the vine, ye are 
 the branches.' Yes, I say, she is a branch, and she has 
 gone to Jesus Christ. I have no feelings as to where she 
 should lie. If it were my old customs, I would have taken 
 
190 THE NEW HEAET — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 her to Wangaroa ; but now she is merely dust. He made 
 Adam of the dust, and she will return to the dust ; but her 
 spirit goes to the Saviour. Why should we make so much 
 of the body ? The spirit is the only thing really worthy of 
 thought. Go, Anna, go to your Saviour ! — go along the 
 road of faith. Yours was the good departure." The mis- 
 sionary, Mr. Maunsell," of the Church Missionary Society, 
 says, " I was so struck with the suddenness of the speech, 
 and with the high dramatic effect of the whole proceeding, 
 that I particularly noted every word of it." — Chh. Mias. 
 Gleaner, 1853, p. 65. 
 
 A SOUTH SEA ISLAND WITNESS. 
 
 After the inhabitants of Rurutu, a South Sea Island, had 
 embraced Christianity, and publicly destroyed their idols, a 
 public meeting was held in the Christian chapel, which was 
 beautifully lighted up for the occasion. Addresses were 
 made by natives, of which several specimens are given. 
 The two following will suffice to indicate the surprising 
 clearness and maturity of mind, acquired so soon after 
 emerging from the darkness of paganism. Tuahine, a 
 deacon, said, "Thus the gods made with hands shall per- 
 ish. There they are, tied with cords ! Yes, their very 
 names also are changed 1 Formerly, they were called the 
 ' gods ; ' now they ai'e called evil spirits. Their glory, look ! 
 it is bird's feathers, soon rotten ; but our God is the same 
 forever." 
 
 Another native speaker said, "Look at the chandeliers 1 
 Oro (an idol) never taught us anything like this I Look at 
 our wives, in their gowns and bonnets, and compare our- 
 selves with the poor natives of Rurutu, when they were 
 drifted to our island, and mark the superiority ! And by 
 what means have we obtained it ? By our own invention 
 and goodness ? No ! it is to the good name of Jesus we 
 are indebted. Then let us send this name to other lands, 
 that others may enjoy the same benefits." — Williams's Miss. 
 Enterprises in South Sea Islands, p. 62. 
 
 NO FIGHTING OVER THE BIBLE. 
 
 Dui'ing a public excitement in the Sandwich Islands, the 
 king sunmioned a council, with the intention of deposing 
 Kinau, the heiress of Kaahumanu. But she met him in 
 the council, and said, " We cannot fight with the word of 
 
THE INDIAN CONVERT AND THE SABBATH. 191 
 
 God between us, but we cannot approve of your rejecting 
 it." After this there was no quarrel, but instead of it the 
 king confirmed Kinau in her authority next to himself. 
 
 AFRICAN SIMPLICITY. 
 
 No people are more susceptible of gratitude for favors, or 
 more affectionate towards their teachers, than the Africans. 
 Says Rev. Mr. Beal, missionary in West Africa, after a short 
 absence from his station, " We were heartil}^ welcomed by 
 our people, many of whom came to express their pleasure 
 at our return. ' Massa stay long, Missis stay long, this 
 time,' &c. All were ready to tell us that ' plenty missiona- 
 ries come,' there having been a fresh arrival. One observed, 
 'Ah, white man he no fear dead (death) like black; if he 
 see danger so, he can't go ; but white — this come he die ; 
 t'other come again. Ah, true, white he love we poor black 
 too much ; hope God will spare them life.' Another said, 
 when gathering a few pence for the society, and one or two 
 began to make some demur, ' What, you go grudge two or 
 three copper ? Society send missionary here many year to 
 we. Mr. Renner come, he die ; Mr. Greber come, he die ; 
 Mr. Davie come, he die ; Mr. Bates come, he die ; and 
 plenty more for we ; ' and, with a great deal of energy, he 
 added, ' What you can think about ? Black can do this 
 fashion ? We can send we child — he die ; we can send 
 t'oder one again? No, neber.' " — Chh. Miss. Bee, 1842, 
 p. 214. 
 
 THE INDIAN CONVERT AND THE SABBATH. 
 
 John Brown, a Cherokee, and brother of Catharine and 
 David Brown, was among the first converts to Christianity 
 in that nation. The Bible was to him an exceedingly pre- 
 cious book, and he took it in the strictest sense for his rule 
 of conduct. This was illustrated in his regard for the Sab- 
 bath. He lived upon a public road, and his house was an 
 asylum for travellers. Before his conversion, he had been 
 in the habit of entertaining them on the Sabbath, but now, 
 from studying the fourth commandment, he began to doubt 
 the propriety of this course. Anxious to settle the ques- 
 tion, he rode three miles to Mr. Potter, the missionary, and 
 as soon as he entered the house he requested Mr. Potter to 
 get the Bible and read the commandments till he should 
 tell him to stop. When he came to the word stranger, in 
 
192 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 the fourth commandment, he said, "That's the place, — 
 stranger, — what that mean?" Mr. Potter explained, but 
 expressed no opinion in this particular case, wishing to 
 leave the inquirer to the dictates of his own conscience, 
 with the commandment before him. Mr. Brown soon settled 
 the question, and took his stand resolutel}^ refusing to be a 
 partaker in other men's sins. This often brought on him 
 severe censure, but he was not to be sliaken from his pur- 
 pose. When a traveller represented himself as suttering, 
 he would give him something to eat, but would take no 
 pay, because he would not trade on the Sabbath. About a 
 week before his death, he called his family around him, and 
 exhorted them all to live near to God, and especially to 
 remember the Sabbath day to keep it hol}^, stating several 
 particulars which should be attended to before the day of 
 rest began. 
 
 "WHEN I WOULD DO GOOD," ETC. — Rom. 7: 21. 
 
 " I have no rest day nor night," said a converted New 
 Zealander to a missionary, " for the wickedness of my 
 heart ; it is always contending for evil. Until you came 
 and made known among us the word of God, we had noth- 
 ing of this sort ; now one heart is continually teasing the 
 other to do wrong, and the other to do right, and between 
 them both, I have no rest. I wish to do right, but I do 
 not understand all this quarrelling." Such, essentially, 
 was the experience of the great apostle to the Gentiles. As 
 in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man. 
 — Pres. For. Miss., 1853, p. 4. 
 
 PE.ECIOUSNESS OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 An old negro in the West Indies, residing at a considera- 
 ble distance from the missionary, but exceedingly desirous 
 of learning to read the Bible, came to him regularly for a 
 lesson. He made but little progress, and his teacher, almost 
 disheartened, intimated his fears that his labors would be 
 lost, and asked him, " Had you not better give it over ? " — 
 " No, massa," said he, with great energy, "me never give 
 it over till me die ; " and, pointing with his finger to John 
 3: 16, — "God so loved the world," &c., — added, with 
 touching emphasis, "It is worth all de labor, to be able to 
 read dat one sina-le verse." 
 
THE NEW COMMANDMENT ILLUSTEATED. 193 
 
 AN" ARMENIAN'S IDEA OF SINCERITY. 
 
 A pious Armenian, at Constantinople, in a confession 
 made to a bigoted priest, refused to follow the' usual form 
 of confession, but lamented his sins against God, in not 
 keeping his commandments, and quoted the Scriptures which 
 include all under sin, and which teach that a profession, and 
 sajang Lord, Lord, ai'e nothing without obedience ; and he 
 added, as a further admonition to the priest, " If a child 
 always says to his parent, father, but when the father says, 
 bring me water, the child does not bring it; or gives him 
 some other command, and the child does not obey, is not 
 that child worthy of chastisement ? Is it of any use for the 
 child always to say, father, father, so long as it is disobedi- 
 ent?"— i/m. Her., Dec, 1836. 
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE SABBATH. 
 
 A little girl, belonging to one of the schools at the Madura 
 mission, was directed by her mother to prepare materials 
 for cleansing the house on the next day, which was the 
 Sabbath. The daughter remonstrated, saying, " Why, 
 mother, to-morrow is the Sabbath ; how can we work on 
 that day ? " The mother replied that the house would be 
 unclean, and how could they live in it. " But it is God's 
 command, mother," the little girl replied, "that we should 
 do no work on the Sabbath, and that we should sanctif}'' 
 that day ; " and she repeated the fourth commandment. 
 "And besides, mother," she said, "if our hearts are clean, 
 we shall not be troubled about the impurity of the house." 
 The result was, that no work was done on the Sabbath, and 
 the mother soon gave evidence of a change of heart. — 3Iiss. 
 Her., 1S41, p. 135. 
 
 THE NEW COMMANDMENT ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 During the terrible persecutions in Madagascar, a com- 
 pany of native Christians, overjoyed at the escape of one 
 of their number from death, joined, imprudently, in some 
 public demonstrations of delight. The queen and some of 
 her officers, seeing them marching, in white dresses, were 
 very much astonished ; and the queen inquired who they 
 were. The officers told her that those in white were native 
 Christians; and they added, "You would be surprised at 
 the love of those people one for another. When any one 
 of them happens to be in distress, they all feel distress ; 
 17 
 
194 THE NEW HEART — ITS ONE TYPE. 
 
 and, when any one is happy, they are all happy. When 
 any are poor and destitute, they form a society to assist 
 them," — meaning that they collected money for each 
 other's relief. The queen saw, by this, the uncompromis- 
 ing character of the religion she had to contend with, and 
 resolved on firmer measures of resistance. — Narralive of 
 Persecutions in Madagascar, p. 102. 
 
 A CHRISTIAM" INDIAN'S ■WISH. 
 
 Martin Luther, a Christian Indian, of the Ojibwa tribe, 
 addressing a religious meeting, said, " I wish that all of us 
 who are Christians were like little children. When children 
 are afraid, they run to their parents. So I wish we might 
 run to God. And I wish all I now see were like men half 
 frozen. When we are travelling in the winter, and see a 
 little fire at a distance, we go to it and warm ourselves. 
 When there is but a little, we huddle around it ; so I wish 
 we might come to God, and be warmed by his love, and 
 partake of his mercy and goodness." — 3Iiss. Her., 1843, 
 p. 353. 
 
 SINGULAR PROOF OF DECLENSION. 
 
 The earliest converts to Christianity in Africa were very 
 earnest and regular in their private devotions. They had 
 no closets, or rooms for retirement, but each had a separate 
 spot in the thicket, to which he used to go. The several 
 paths to these little bethels, became distinctly marked ; 
 and, when any one began to decline in the ways of God, 
 it was soon manifest to his fellows, and they would re- 
 mind him of his duty, by saying, " Broder, de gi^ass groiv on 
 your path yonder.^' 
 
 DENOMINATIONAL DISTINCTIONS LOST. 
 
 A missionary of the English Baptist Board, writing from 
 Sumatra, soon after the arrival of himself and others at that 
 place, says, " lie re the distinctions of Baptist, Independ- 
 ent, Churchman, &c., are all lost in that of Christian, 
 amongst those who have felt the power of divine grace. 
 When a vessel comes to an anchor in this harbor, the first 
 inquiry amongst them is, whether or not there are any of 
 the denomination of Christians on board. If so, every 
 other distinction is lost ; yea, not even asked or spoken 
 of, and he is received as a brother in Christ. This you will 
 
THE TERM " BRETHREN." 195 
 
 say is a truly delightful feature in the place ; and you will 
 believe me when 1 say that nothing appears to us so weak 
 and pitiable in our native country, at this distance, as the 
 strife and contention among different denominations of pro- 
 fessing Christians. This must be a work of the devil." — • 
 Eng. Bap. Miss. Her., March, 1820. 
 
 THE TERM "BRETHREN." 
 
 The following speech was made by a native of Mangaia, 
 one of the South Sea Islands. Addressing the church-mem- 
 bers, he said, "Brethren," — and, pausing a moment, he 
 continued, " Ah ! that is a new name ; we did not know 
 the proper meaning of that word in our heathenism. It is 
 the evangelia a' Jesu' that has taught us the true meaning 
 of the word ' brethren.' But am I here — here in the midst 
 of the church of Jesus ? What a marvel ! I marvel, you 
 marvel. I here I It is the boundless love of God. You all 
 know me." Pointing to a man about his own age, he con- 
 tinued, "Do you not remember the man whom we killed on 
 yonder hill, and whose body we cooked and eat?" He 
 mentioned three others by name, whom he and others of the 
 church had thus devoured in cannibal feasts ; and then, with 
 tears running down his cheeks, he exclaimed, " 0, the love of 
 God ! how far beyond all measurement ! These hands have 
 killed eleven men during the reign of Satan here, and whose 
 bodies, with those of many others, I have eaten in our feasts. 
 And is it true that I am here ? Why, even you young men 
 know me. I was a wild savage long after the Gospel was 
 preached in this land. I was one of seventy others who blis- 
 tered their breasts over the sacred fires of Tangaroa's temple, 
 and I vowed the vow of death to the word of Jesus. I was 
 among the number who burnt down the house of those who 
 received that word ; and the chapel, the scliool-houses, and 
 missionary's house, we burnt to the ground, and only desired 
 to burn him in it. But the work of God was more mighty 
 than I, and I am here. I think I have loved God some three 
 or four years past, but have not been able to profess that 
 love by joining the church until now. Whenever I have 
 thought of doing so, the sin and guilt of my cannibalism have 
 always prevented me." — Pres. For. Miss., 1857, p. 330. 
 
A RELIGION OF INTEGRITY AND HONOR. 
 
 Heathen converts to Christianity, on receiving the Gospel 
 in the simplicity of faith, receive with it the lessons of 
 truth and honesty. Getting religion from its pure fountain, 
 from the Gospel, and not second-hand from the prevalent 
 maxims and practices — the low standards, of a nominally 
 Christian people, they get but one standard, one rule, one 
 precept ; and therefore they furnish, not unfrequently, some 
 of the purest and highest specimens of Christian integrity 
 ever to be met with. These examples are numerous in 
 missionary fields, yet only a few of them are quoted, for 
 want of space. They are sufficient, however, to illustrate 
 the principle in question. 
 
 TOO HONEST FOK HIS BUSINESS. 
 
 Among the converts at Aintab was a jeweller, who had 
 gained a comfortable subsistence for his family. But after 
 he received the truth of Christ, he felt constrained to quit 
 his trade, and seek a support in some other way, because 
 the jewellers would not allow him to carry on his trade un- 
 less he would be a partaker of their sins. " They had a 
 custom, that when a person came to buy or pay for an arti- 
 cle, who did not know its value, the jeweller would tell him 
 it was worth so much (})crhaps twice its value), and send 
 him round to ask the rest ; and they, having an understand- 
 ing to aid each other in cheating the ignorant, would all say 
 it is worth so much ; and he wlio should be honest enough, 
 in such a case, to tell the truth, would make enemies of all 
 the trade, and they would soon find a way to get rid of 
 him." The missionary adds, " In this country, people ;ire 
 
HONESTY IN NEW ZEALAND. 197 
 
 not free to follow what business they choose, as in Amer- 
 ica. Every trade has its regulations, and no man can work 
 at any trade without permission from its chief." The man 
 in question had embraced a religion which admitted of no 
 such deception, and he abandoned his occupation, without 
 knowing what he should do. He had not made the discov- 
 ery, which many in the American churches seem to think 
 they have made, that one can embrace the Christian religion, 
 and still practise deception in trade, by taking advantage 
 of the ignorant, and getting twice as much for articles as 
 they are worth. — Hiss. Her., 1848, p. 133. 
 
 EONESTY IN NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 The account given below of strict and almost universal 
 integrity, among a people once thought the most savage 
 and degraded on earth, will appear truly surprising. The 
 statement is by Rev. Mr. Yate, long a missionary of the 
 Church Missionary Society in New Zealand, and perfectly 
 familiar with the matter of which he treats. In a note to 
 his work on this mission, p. 194, he says: " 1 will here 
 remark on the degree of security which I have enjoyed du- 
 ring my past residence in New Zealand. My domicil has 
 often been left, for many days together, lockless, barless, 
 and latchless ; with nothing more to secure the door from 
 being burst open than a chair placed against it. In all 
 possible ways, when on visits among the natives, has my 
 travelling apparatus been exposed in an open tent, yet 
 nothing was ever missing. It is true that among some 
 strange natives, who came from a great distance, and with 
 whom we were altogether unacquainted, some petty thefts 
 have taken place. But, whether at home or abroad, I have 
 for the most part reposed the utmost confidence in their 
 honesty. In my journeys, moreover, I have gone over 
 many thousands of miles, by night and by day, usually 
 alone, and never met with a suspicious look from any native 
 of the country. I have, indeed, heard of people being 
 stopped on the road ; but, upon inquiry, I found that they 
 were either runaway sailors, or escaped convicts, whom 
 the natives were pursuing, to take them back to their ves- 
 sels, or to give them up into the hands of justice. I have 
 also been accustomed to place the greatest dependence on 
 those natives whom I sent on messages, or employed in 
 carrying letters or parcels to any part of the island. I 
 never knew a case where a native has been entrusted by me 
 
 n* 
 
198 A RELIGION OF INTEGRITY AND HONOR. 
 
 with a messag-e, a parcel, or a letter, but he has faithfully 
 performed his errand. Not a week has passed without my 
 having to make communications to Europeans living at a 
 distance from Waimate, and whatever might be the value 
 of what was to be sent, I had no hesitation in giving it in 
 charge to a bush native, if I could find one ; that is, a na- 
 tive who has not been accustomed to Europeans, but has 
 all his life resided among his own people." 
 
 TRUTH AND HONOR BEFORE OFFICE. 
 
 A Hindoo, named Bheeka, who had been converted under 
 the missionaries at Ahmednugger, was so consistent and 
 upright in his whole deportment, that even those who hated 
 him could say nothing against him. His sterling regard 
 for truth and honor were strikingly developed in the dis- 
 charge of his duties as gate-keeper to the village of Bho- 
 kur, a little distant from Ahmednugger. As gate-keeper, 
 he was also village messenger, and was required to re- 
 main near the gate, in the neighborhood of which the 
 principal rest-house of the village was situated, so that 
 when any traveller, and especially any government oflBcer, 
 arrived, he might obtain for him whatever he needed, or 
 call any person in the place whose presence might be de- 
 sired. When the officer came to collect the revenue, the 
 gate-keeper was sent off at once for the head man of the 
 village ; but it was a standing custom with the latter, if he 
 happened to be in circumstances which rendered it undesir- 
 able to see the revenue officer, to send back word that he 
 was " not at home," or had " gone into the fields," or was 
 on a visit to " another village." Such was the word which 
 the head man of Bhokur sent by Bheeka to the officer, sup- 
 posing Bheeka to be like other messengers, ready to lie to 
 please his employers and keep his place. Bheeka, however, 
 had entered another school of morals, and he went directly 
 and reported to the officer that the head man was at his 
 house, but had direcled him to say that he was not at home t 
 This of course enraged the head man, but he learnt to send 
 no more such messages by Bheeka. Furthermore, when an 
 officer of the government came, it was the duty of the gate- 
 keeper to furnish him with fuel. The town or village was 
 bound to provide this gratuitously ; but the custom had 
 been, from time inmicmorial, for the gate-keeper to take fuel 
 without leave from the houses of the villagers, wherever he 
 could find it. This, however, Bheeka could not do, consist- 
 
THE GIRLS THAT WOULD NOT LIE, 199 
 
 ently witli the rules of honor and integrity which Chris- 
 tianity had taug'ht him, although it was custom, and it was 
 not for himself the fuel was wanted, but for a public officer. 
 And yet, if he did not get the fuel according to usage, he 
 was sure to be beaten. Under these circumstances, he 
 prompUy resigned his office, with all its emoluments, which 
 were considerable, and very valuable in his circumstances. 
 From this bright example of a recent convert from heathen- 
 ism, let those be rebuked who, amid the light and intelli- 
 gence of Christian communities, hesitate not to tell official 
 lies and commit government iniquities for the sake of office 
 and its spoils, instead of resigning both for truth and a good 
 conscience. — Miss. Her., 18-44:, p. 409. 
 
 MISSIONS AND CRIME. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Philip, of the Cape of Good Hope, states that 
 the Honorable Justice Burton informed him, after a circuit 
 tour, that he had made three journeys over the colony as a 
 circuit judge ; that during these circuits he had nine hun- 
 dred cases before him, and that only two of these cases were 
 connected with Hottentots who belonged to missionary 
 institutions, and that neither of them were aggravated 
 cases. On a comparison of the population at the mission- 
 ary stations with that of the rest of the colony, which was 
 under the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court, the fact stated 
 by the judge makes the proportion of the crimes as one to 
 foi'ty-nine. — Anecdotes of London Tract Society, p. 168. 
 
 THE GIRLS THAT WOULD NOT LIE. 
 
 Two little Armenian girls, in Constantinople, ten and 
 twelve years of age, who had been instructed in the Scrip- 
 tures, loved their Bibles very much, and prayed together 
 every night and morning. One day the father of these 
 girls, for they were sisters, received a call from some one 
 ho did not Avish to see, and he directed the eldest of them 
 to go and tell the peison that he was not at home. " But, 
 papa," she replied, " that would be telling a lie." — " What 
 then ? " said the father. " It is a very little thing. You 
 have only to say that I am not at home." — " But, papa," 
 she replied, " the Bible says it is wicked to tell Hes, and 
 I cannot tell a lie."* The father was very angry, and, call- 
 ing his second daughter, he bid her go and say the same ; 
 to whicli she replied, "Papa, I cannot, for it is wicked to 
 lie." The father was enraged and astounded, and com- 
 
200 A RELIGION OF INTEGRITY AND HONOR. 
 
 plained to their teacher that his daughters could not obey 
 him in so small a matter, and he did not know what had 
 possessed them. — 3Iiss. Her., Aug., 1836. 
 
 THE PEIEST AND HIS LITTLE BOY. 
 
 An Armenian priest, at Constantinople, being called on 
 by a neighbor for an article which he did not wish to lend, 
 told his son, a mere lad, to go and say that he had no 
 such article in the house. The boy, who was a member of 
 the mission school, replied, " But we have it ; there it is," 
 pointing to it. — "I know it," said the father; "but do 
 you go and tell him that we have it not." — "I cannot," 
 replied the boy, "for that would be telling a lie." — 
 " What," said the enraged priest, " are you going straight 
 up to heaven, and will you ' leave me to hold on by your 
 heels ? ' " which was equivalent to saying, " Do you, a 
 mere boy, pretend to intimate that you are going to be 
 more holy than me, your father, and a priest?" — 3Iiss. 
 Her., August, 1836. 
 
 BELIGION IW BUBUTU. 
 
 Capt. Chase, who commanded an American whale-ship, 
 and touched at a South Sea island, named Rurutu, for a 
 supply of yams, makes the following statement : 
 
 "The natives gave us all the assistance in their power, 
 from the time the ship sti'uck to the present moment. The 
 first day, while landing the things from the ship, they were 
 put into the hands of the natives, and carried up to the 
 native mission house, a distance of half a mile, and not 
 an article of clothing was taken from any man belonging to 
 the ship, though they had it in their power to have plun- 
 dered us of everything tliat was landed ; which fully proves 
 the honesty of the natives of this island." Had Capt. 
 Chase landed at Rurutu before the Gospel was introduced 
 there, he and his crew would not only have been plundered, 
 but killed and eaten. — ■ Williams's Missionary Enterprise in 
 South Sea Islands, p. 63. 
 
 INTEGRITY OF THE ZULUS. 
 
 The Zulus, of South Africa, as described by Mr. Grout, 
 in 1842, had no system of idolatry to be battled down, — 
 they were not idolaters at all. They were not intemperate, 
 such a thing as a Zulu being intoxicated, having never been 
 heard of till the whites, within a short time, brought brandy 
 
INTEGRITY OF THE ZULUS. 201 
 
 'into the country, and even then it was not known that an 
 appetite had been formed for it in a single instance. They 
 were free from licentiousness, to a degree not equalled, it 
 was believed, by any people on the globe, pagan or Chris- 
 tian. They practised polygamy ; but, as they knew no law 
 against it, it did not lead to dissipation. They would not 
 steal. Mr. Grout's goods lay under a shed four months, 
 day and night, without door or window, and were often 
 handled by the natives, and though many articles were fan- 
 cied by them very much, nothing was ever taken. Such 
 was found to be the native simplicity of that section of the 
 African race, — a race, it would seem, fitter to be Chris- 
 tianized than enslaved. — Hiss. Her., 1842, p. 339. 
 
NATIVE DEATH-BED SCENES. 
 
 THE DYING INDIAN BOY. 
 
 Rev. D. T. Jones, missionary to one of the North Ameri- 
 can Indian tribes, relates the following affecting story of an 
 Indian boy, who had been edncated at the Indian school, 
 and baptized by the name of Jack Spense. Mr. Jones says : 
 " I found him dying of consumption, and in a state of the 
 most awful poverty and destitution, in a small birch-rind- 
 covered hut, with nothing but a few fern leaves under him, 
 and an old blanket over him, which was in a condition not 
 to be described. After recovering from my surprise, I said, 
 ' Poor boy, I am very sorry to find you in this state ; had 
 you let me know, you should not have been lying here.' He 
 replied, ' It is very little I want now, and these poor peo- 
 ple get it for me ; but I should like something to lie upon, 
 as my bones are very sore.' I then asked him concerning 
 his state of mind ; when he replied that he was very happy ; 
 that Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, had died to save him, 
 and that he had the most perfect confidence in him. Observ- 
 ing a small Bible under the corner of his blanket, I said, 
 ' Jack, you have a friend there ; I am glad to see that ; I 
 hope you find something good there.' Weak as he was, he 
 raised himself on his elbow, held his Bible in his attenuated 
 hand, while a smile played on his countenance, and slowly 
 spoke, in precisely the following words : ' This, sir, is my 
 dear friend. You gave it me when we all went down to 
 Mr. Cochran's. For a long time I read it much ; and often 
 thought of what it told. Last year I went to see my sister 
 at Lake Winnipeg, about two hundred miles off, where I 
 remained about two montlis. When I was about half way 
 back through the lake, I remembered that I had left my 
 Bible behind me. I directly turned round, and was nine days 
 by myself, tossing to and fro, before I could reach the house ; 
 
THE LAST HOURS OF A HINDOO. 203 
 
 but I found my friend, and determined that I would not 
 part with it again ; and ever since it has been near my 
 breast, and I thought I should have it buried with me. But 
 I have thought since I had better give it to you when I am 
 gone, as it may do some one else good.' He was often 
 interrupted by a sepulchral cough, and sunk down ex- 
 hausted. I read and prayed, the hut hardly affording me 
 room to be upright, even when kneeling. The evening sun 
 was pouring its rays through the holes in the bark-covered 
 hut ; and 1 could not but exclaim, on coming away, ' What 
 a scene for the pen of a Leigh Richmond ! ' " — Juvenile Miss. 
 Hag., 1847, p. 161. 
 
 THE LAST HOURS OF A HINDOO. 
 
 Of hundreds and thousands of Christian Hindoos may it 
 be said, in reference to their death, " And they passed 
 clean over Jordan." Contrast the dying Hindoo as a 
 heathen, with the dying Hindoo convert to Christ. With- 
 out conscience in active exercise, with no perception of 
 the future, no real faith in the dogmas even of his own 
 system, the heathen's mind is chiefly troubled about the 
 possessions ho is leaving, and the ties which are about to be 
 severed. Money, jewels, ornaments, occupy the solitude 
 of the dying. Lands and houses engross the thoughts. All 
 are to be left. The dying man or woman is dismayed. 
 Not so with the Christian convert. There is joy in his 
 death, — a calm surrender of all to God, — a committal of 
 his family to his providence, — an entreaty of relatives and 
 friends to accept the offer of the Gospel. An illustration is 
 furnished in the case of a native named Samuel Flavel. 
 When first attacked, he said that he had felt fear at the strug- 
 gle which awaited him, but that he had been graciously de- 
 livered from it. " I am not able to talk much," he said, " on 
 account of the pain; pray with me — speak with me." — 
 " Do you feel that the Saviour is near you ? " said one. "Yes," 
 said he, " and he is a sweet comforter. My body is very 
 weak, but my soul is very joyful. I am now like the pil- 
 grim passing over the great river, and soon shall reach the 
 other side." He sometimes spoke in Tamul, at other times 
 in English; and, when his strength was well-nigh gone, in 
 those broken accents and in that mixture of languages which 
 could not be understood. All however, seemed to be express- 
 ive of confidence in God, through the atonement of the 
 Saviour. When his dear wife and children, with much weep- 
 
204 NATIVE DEATH-BED SCENES. 
 
 ing, came and spoke to him, he said, " The signs of death 
 appear, but I am prepared for heaven ; do you, also, seek to 
 be prepared." To the catechists he said, " I have laid many 
 prayers at the feet of Jesus for the spread of the Gospel in 
 this dark land ; who will see the answer to these pray- 
 ers ? " About an hour before his death, he asked the peo- 
 ple to go and pray for him. When they returned, the cou- 
 liict seemed to be at an end. Seeing his brethren in the 
 room, he looked at Mr. Thompson, as if wishing him to come 
 nearer, and then, with uplifted hands, closed according 
 to the manner in which the natives show respect, and a 
 countenance, though haggard from disease, still retaining 
 a portion of that benignity which ever characterized him, 
 he fixed his eyes intently on him, whilst his lips uttered 
 a few brief sentences, evidently intended as a farewell, 
 though their import was not exactly understood. He 
 soon after fell asleep in Jesus. — Clarkson''s India and the 
 Gospel, p. 266. 
 
 THE CHOCTAW -WIDOW. 
 
 Hotonah, a young Choctaw widow, was hopefully con- 
 verted to God in the summer of 1833, and was a most 
 exemplary Christian, though she lived but a few months. 
 Early one morning, two days before her death, she said to 
 her friends, " I shall not assist you in planting ; I am going 
 to die." She soon after exhibited symptoms of disease, 
 and said, " I shall die this day ; I wisli to see my child and 
 my brother," — who were at school. While they were sent 
 for, she said, " Father, mother, I go before you to the good 
 world. We, as a family, have lived together in peace, trust- 
 ing and loving our heavenly Father. I will salute you all 
 for the last time," — calling upon them to take her by the 
 hand. " I bid you adieu till the judgment-day ; then we 
 shall meet and salute again." When her child was brought 
 she took it by the hand, and said, " I do not cast you away 
 from me ; I only go before you to heaven. Follow me, my 
 child ; do surely follow me. My father, my mother, mourn 
 not for me. I go not mourning or in sorrow. I die rejoic- 
 ing ; it is well with me." • — Mis!i. Her., Aug., 1834. 
 
 ELIZA.— A SORE CONFLICT. 
 
 Eliza had been for several years a member of the girls' 
 boarding-school at Madras. The missionary who attended 
 
ELIZA. — A SOKE CONFLICT. 205 
 
 upon her in her last sickness gives the following account 
 of her experience, one remarkable feature of which was, 
 her dreadful couflict with the great enemy of souls. He 
 says : 
 
 " Two daj's before her death, in the evening, she became 
 suddenly full of distress and alarm, and her body full of agi- 
 tation. She cried out, ' 0, I am afraid ! I am afraid ! lie 
 is standing close to my car, and is continually saying to me. 
 There is no salvation for you ! there is no salvation for you ! 
 0, I am afraid ! I am trembling ! This is very fearful ! How 
 is this ? 0, Jesus ! have I not believed in thee ? Have I 
 not been baptized into thy name ? Have I not received 
 the teachings of thy servants ? Am I not thy child ? 0, 
 how is this '( This is very fearful to me.' She was exhorted 
 not to let Satan deprive her of her hope, but to abide firm 
 in her faith. The Scriptures were read to her, and prayer 
 ■was oflered, and after a considerable time her mind became 
 more calm, and her hope returned, and she offered up the 
 following prayer : ' 0, sweet Jesus, I taste that thou art 
 good ! Thou hast fed me in green pastures, and hast re- 
 freshed me at the fountain of life. When we were only 
 infants, our father and mother left us ' (alluding to the early 
 orphanage of herself and another child), 'but even as thou 
 hast said. Although a mother may forget her sucking 
 cliild, I will not forget thee, — so didst thou appoint for us 
 honored ladies and gentlemen, as fathers and mothers, to 
 take care of us and bring us up. 0, sweet Jesus, for that 
 I praise thee ! Thou, for my sins, didst suffer much ; thou 
 didst shed thy precious blood, and give thy life ; and thou 
 dost now pray for me before thy Father's face. Thei'efore, 
 do thou have pity on me, and wash me from my sins. Thou 
 hast cleansed me by thy blood ; thou hast made me holy 
 by thy blood ; thou hast redeemed me by thy blood ; there- 
 fore 1 praise thy holy name. 0, death ! where is thy sting ? 
 0, grave ! where is thy victory ? ' The missionary, in clos- 
 ing this affecting narrative, adds : " Such deaths as this 
 cheer us much ; they assure us that our work is real, and 
 that God is with us." Such a death may well assure every 
 Christian — yea, the sceptic, even — of the reality of a reli- 
 gion which can give such a victory over the great tempter, 
 and such sweet trust and peace in a dying hour, and that, 
 too, in the case of a youth but lately delivered from heathen 
 ignorance. — Miss. Mag., Sept., 1852. 
 18 
 
206 NATIVE DEATH-BED SCENES. 
 
 ANN" ■WAIAPtr, 
 
 Ann Waiapu was a most interesting Ciiristian convert, 
 as described, in her life and death, by Rev. Mr. Yate, her 
 missionary and pastor. (See p. 298 of his New Zealand.) 
 " One day," he says, " as I was standing in the next room, 
 I heard her thus address her husband : ' James, do not keep 
 Mary and William from going to heaven. Take them to 
 church ; never take my girl on board ship ; but let them 
 both go to God, the great and the good.' As she grew 
 weaker, praise for that everlasting love wherewith Christ 
 had loved her, was the burden of her song. ' Ah ! Mrs. 
 Kemp,' said she, as that kind woman was smoothing her 
 pillow, ' good-by ; I am going to Jesus Christ, who loves 
 me ; I shall see him now. I have seen with my heart ; and 
 now I love him with my heart. It is not my lips only that 
 believe, but belief is firmly fixed within me.' After listen- 
 ing to an explanation of the nature of the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, she said, ' Yes, Jesus did, indeed, die upon 
 the cross for me ! and but for him I should now die a native 
 death, and go to a place of darkness and punishment. Mr. 
 Yate, do you tell me — shall I be carried up to the house 
 of prayer on the next sacred day ? and will you let me and 
 James eat of the bread, and drink of the cup, concerning 
 which the Saviour said. Do this in remembrance of me ? ' 
 She then added, ' What are we to remember ? ' I replied, 
 ' That Jesus loved us, and died for our sins.' — ' Ah 1 I shall 
 never forget that,' was her quick reply. Her request being 
 granted, she said, ' Then, James, get a litter ready, that I 
 may be carried up to the house of God on Sunday, for I 
 desire to try his love.' She was, accordingly, carried up 
 to the sanctuary, for the last time, and a deeply affecting 
 scene it was. A little before her death, she said, ' Jesus 
 Christ is mine, Mr. Yate, and I am Jesus Christ's. I know 
 him now — I know him now ; he is come here,' — fixing her 
 hand upon her heart, — ' and he will not go away again any 
 more.' I asked her if she wished to return to the world, 
 and be restored to health ? ' What ! ' was her reply, ' and 
 Jesus Christ sometimes with me, and sometimes not ; and I 
 sometimes thinking evil, and sometimes thinking good 1 
 No, no, no I Mrs. Kemp will be a better mother to my 
 babies than I shall be. I will go.' She grew insensible 
 after this, and her last words were, ' James, I am going ; 
 I am full of pain ; I am going above, away from pain.' I 
 
ANN WAIAPU. 207 
 
 was never more persuaded of the happiness of a departed 
 spirit, than of that of our deceased sister." Nowhere 
 does the religion of the Gospel appear more divine, effi- 
 cacious, and lovely, than at such death-bed scenes in a 
 heathen land. 
 
TAXES IMPOSED BY IDOLATRY. 
 
 The sums required for the support of idolatry, its tem- 
 ples and altars, its priesthood, pilgrimages, and various 
 offerings, ai'e enormous. And they are borne with surpris- 
 ing patience, and even cheerfulness and delight. It is all a 
 system of merit — the blind devotees of wood and stone 
 thinking thus to j^urchase salvation. Christianity imposes 
 no such burdens — institutes no such draining process, but 
 asks only enough to give the Gospel to all people. A hun- 
 dredth, even a thousandth part of the tax which idolaters 
 bestow upon their gods and temples, put into the Lord's 
 treasury by all who know him and his salvation, would 
 meet every demand of missionary societies, and so augment 
 their work as almost at once to give the Gospel to all 
 people. The statements furnished on this point are for 
 instruction and admonition, and may awaken the inquiry, 
 whether, if the heathen offer thus freely for the sin of their 
 own souls, Christians should not jneld up their treasures 
 with equal readiness and zeal for Him who hath redeemed 
 them with his blood. 
 
 EXPENSES OF BUDDHISM, 
 
 Buddhism is, probably, the most complete and stupendous 
 system of self-righteousness the world ever saw. Among 
 the greatest works of merit which it inculcates, are the 
 casting, moulding, and cai'ving of images of Buddh, building 
 temples for the images, uttering the name of Buddh with 
 reverence, — the greater the repetitions, the more merito- 
 
COSTLY TEMPLES. 209 
 
 nous, — devoting- themselves to his system of priesthood, 
 exalting his sacred books, and feeding and clothing his 
 priests. There are, in the city of Bangkok (Siam), not less 
 than one hundred Buddhist temples, containing, on an aver- 
 age, one hundred priests each, making ten thousand priests 
 for the city. Many of these temples cost each fifty thousand 
 dollars. The annual cost of feeding and clothing these ten 
 thousand priests, at the very moderate estimate of fifteen 
 cents per day, is five hundred and forty-seven thousand five 
 hundred dollars. The whole number of Buddhist priests in 
 the kingdom cannot be less than fifty thousand. The whole 
 expense of building and supporting these temples, and of 
 feeding' and clothing this multitudinous and lazy priesthood, 
 falls, of course, upon the people ; and, strange to say, they 
 sustain the enormous burden, under the conviction that it is 
 more blessed to give than to receive. Alas ! that they, in 
 their blindness, should act upon that principle with more 
 alacrity and self-denial than even those who receive it as a 
 Christian precept. — Amer. Miss., vol. ii., p. 5. 
 
 COSTLY TEMPLES, 
 
 In India immense sums have been expended on edifices 
 consecrated to the worship of idol gods. The country of 
 Tanjore is described by Mr. Winslow as being full of pago- 
 das and temples, some of them of magnificent dimensions, 
 and of the most costly materials. Each temple is sur- 
 rounded by walls, in the centre of each side of which is an 
 immense gateway, surrounded by a pyramidal tower, of 
 great height, covered with sculpture to the top, in the 
 figures of gods, men, beasts, and nondescript animals. In 
 the large temples these towers, which are often considered 
 as the pagodas, are two or three hundred feet high. Mr. 
 Winslow refers to Dr. Duff's description of one of them, 
 visited also by himself. It is at Seringham, and is a mile 
 square, with a tower of immense height in the middle of 
 each side wall. The pillars of the gatewaj^s of the towers 
 are single pieces of stone, forty feet high, and five feet 
 square. The roof of a terrace in the enclosure is supported 
 by one thousand pillars, each of one solid block of stone, 
 very finely carved with figures of the gods and other 
 devices. Siva, the god of the place, is formed entirely of 
 gold, in solid pieces, and is fifteen feet high. The platform, 
 on which the image stands, is also of gold. The ornaments 
 of this god are in proportion to his size, and the quantity of 
 18* 
 
210 TAXES IMPOSED BY IDOLATRY. 
 
 emeralds, pearls, and other precious stones, which adorn 
 him, is immense. No jeweller's shop in London could ex- 
 hibit anything like it. About six thousand Brahmins live 
 in the precincts of the temple. The whole g-ives an idea of 
 the vast resources which heathen worship demands, and 
 the oppression and poverty to which it reduces the millions 
 of its votaries. — Journal of Missions, Feb., 1850. 
 
 ENORMOUS BURDEN. 
 
 The sacred books of the Hindoos are divided into vedas, 
 shasters, and puranas ; and the reading of these, or hearing 
 them read, is one of the most meritorious of their observ- 
 ances, and enormously expensive. The reading calls together 
 great numbers of people, who ofler various presents or sums 
 of money to the readei's, or brahminical priests. Rich men 
 often expend on these occasions not less than one hundred 
 thousand rupees, or five hundred thousand dollars ! 
 
 HEATHEN LIBERALITY. 
 
 The freedom with which the heathen often lavish expense 
 upon their idols and idol-worship, is illustrated in the case 
 of a Hindoo, named Baboo Rammohun, who spent fifty thou- 
 sand rupees at a single carnival. Another Hindoo on the 
 same occasion sacrificed five hundred goats and fifty buffa- 
 loes. How few Christians ever serve the true God at an 
 equal sacrifice ! — 3Iiss. Her., 1853, p. 211. 
 
 QUARTER OF A MILLION FOR A TEMPLE. 
 
 In Ahmedabad, a prosperous and wealthy city of Gujerat, 
 India, a lady, widow of a rich merchant, erected, about four 
 years since, a Jain temple, at the enormous expense of sev- 
 enty thousand pounds sterling! — more than a quarter of a 
 million of dollars ; — and this was but a portion of her entire 
 wealth. It is no uncommon thing, there, for a single mer- 
 chant to expend thirty, forty, and fifty thousand pounds 
 sterling, on such edifices. Thus cheerfully do the heathen 
 meet the monstrous exactions of idolatry upon its votaries. 
 
 FIFTY BAGS OF MONEY. 
 
 A missionary in India says : " I once visited the rajah of 
 Birdwan, and found him sitting in his treasury. Fifty bags 
 of money, containing one thousand rupees each, were })laced 
 before him. 'What' said I, 'are you doing with all this 
 money ? ' He replied, ' It is for my gods.' — ' How do you 
 
THE CRAFT IN DANGER. 211 
 
 mean that ? ' I rejoined. ' One part is sent to Benares, where 
 1 have two fine temples on the river-side, and many priests 
 who pray for me ; another part goes to Juggernaut, and a 
 third to Gaya.' Thus one native is spending twenty-five 
 thousand dollars annually, fi-om his income, upon idols and 
 Brahmins." — Journal of Missions, Dec, 1850. 
 
 NO WORSHIP WITHOUT MONEY. 
 
 A missionary in China gave a minute description, in 1850, 
 of an extraordinary idol temple, then recently built. It was 
 erected in Canton, within the grounds of one of the largest 
 Buddhist monasteries in the city, and contained five hundred 
 images of the worthies, saints, and remarkable personages 
 belonging to the Buddhist faith. These images were all the 
 size of life and in a sitting posture, and, being freshly gilded, 
 were considered very attractive. The writer says, " We see 
 no signs of decaying idolatry in the erection of such an edi- 
 fice as this, but many instances like it might be brought for- 
 ward to show tliat Buddhism still maintains great power over 
 the people. It has been calculated that/our hundred millions 
 of dollars are annually spent in China for idolatrous pur- 
 poses ; and I think the amount not much exaggerated. This 
 gives a dollar for each individual — a great contrast to the 
 total of contributions for all benevolent objects in the 
 United States. Not only are large temples numerous in the 
 city, but we everywhere see shops for selling things used 
 in worship, and people hawking them through the streets. 
 No one thinks of worshipping any god or ancestor, without 
 spending money in so doing ; favors are to be bought from 
 the gods, and the thousands of makers and carvers who are 
 maintained by idolatry are interested in upholding the sys- 
 tem." — Jour, of 3Iissions, Sepf., 1851. 
 
 THE CRAFT IN DANGER. 
 
 The manufacture of incense in China is an immense and 
 profitable business. The incense-stick is an odoriferous 
 bark, ground up, and then compounded with some adhesive 
 substance which renders the powder capable of being formed 
 into sticks of all sizes. It is computed that ten thousand 
 persons in each province derive a support from making in- 
 cense-sticks, and that in the eighteen provinces about half a 
 million of people derive a direct subsistence from the exist- 
 ence of idolatry. Besides incense-dealers, there are priests 
 without number, and makers of gilt paper and shrines and 
 
212 TAXES IMPOSED BY IDOLATRY. 
 
 candles and gods. These all are of course ready to cry 
 out, " Our craft is in danger," when idol-worship is assailed 
 and the true God made known to the people. It is on the 
 same principle that enmity and opposition are roused when 
 the "craft" of the slaveholder and the rum-dealer are as- 
 sailed. — Miss. Her., 1845, p. 374. 
 
 CHEERFUL GIVERS. 
 
 A forcible argument for the liberal and cheerful support 
 of religious teachers, was brought forward by Bartimeus, a 
 blind man, the first convei't on Maui, and the first native 
 who was baptized in the Sandwich Islands. He was a man 
 of extraordinary powers of mind, and often drew compari- 
 sons and made allusions and appeals, with astonishing force. 
 At a public meeting in behalf of schools he said : " I have 
 been twice educated. In the time of dark heai'ts I learned 
 the huda (a native amusement consisting of singing, drum- 
 ming and dancing, accompanied with shocking licentious- 
 ness) ; and the lua (the art of murder and robbery) ; and 
 the kake (a language unintelligible to any but those who 
 are initiated into its mj^stei'ies). I learnt mischief in those 
 days ; and did it cost me nothing ? Had we not to pay 
 those mischievous teachers? Ah, think of the hogs and 
 kapa, the fish and awa, and other things we used to give 
 them 1 And we did it cheerfully. We thought it all well 
 spent. But how is it now ? Here are men of our own blood 
 and nation, whose business it is to teach us and our chil- 
 dren good things, the things of God and salvation, how to 
 read our Bibles, geographies, arithmetics, &c., and ought 
 we not cheerfully to support them ? How can they teach, 
 if they have nothing to eat and nothing to wear ? Will 
 they not soon get tired of this ? Who can work when he is 
 hungry ? Let us take hold and help, and do it cheerfully." 
 — Miss. Her., July, 1838. 
 
 ZEAL FOR JUGGERNAUT. 
 
 Pilgrimages to reputed hol}^ places, such as the conflu- 
 ence of rivers, hot springs, or other natural phenomena, and 
 also to celebrated idols, or the tombs of saints, have ever 
 been popular in India. But perhaps no pilgrimage was 
 ever so extensively practised and so generally famed, as 
 that to Juggernaut. This idol has its temple and seat in 
 Poore, about three liundred miles Irom Calcutta, south-west, 
 a place containing about thirty thousand inhabitants. 
 
WILLING OFFERINGS. 213 
 
 Within the town, enclosed by a wall twenty feet high, arc 
 more than fifty temples, of which that of Juggernaut is 
 chief The zeal with which the worship of Juggernaut is 
 maintained is easil}' explained. There are some six hun- 
 dred and forty officers of the temple, four hundred families 
 of cooks, one hundred and twenty dancing-girls, and three 
 thousand priests, all of whom are supported by the fees and 
 contributions of the pilgrims, and by the sale of holy food ; 
 for which they receive about eight times as much as it costs. 
 It is regarded as sinful for pilgrims to eat any other food I 
 and this monopoly is very gainful. The great wealth thus 
 amassed furnishes a powerful motive to deceive the people 
 with all sorts of lying wonders. Besides the fees and perqui- 
 sites which the officers, priests, cooks, and others, receive 
 lawfully, there are immense offerings made continually to the 
 idol, in food, clothing money, jewelry, &c., which are, of 
 course, appropriated by these hangers-on, — a sort of office- 
 holders, who often confess that they care nothing for Jug- 
 gernaut, but are only engaged in his service as a matter of 
 speculation! The festivals occur once a month, the princi- 
 pal one being in June or July, and agents are sent out by 
 the priests, officers, &c., with the most villanous fabrica- 
 tions concerning tlie greatness of Juggernaut, to induce 
 pilgrims to come in and bring their offerings. Truly, it 
 costs something to be a devotee of this idol. The demands 
 of Christianity, even if fully met, would not subject its 
 friends to a hundredth part as much real inconvenience or 
 sacrifice. — Orissa and its Evangelization, p. 120. 
 
 THE IDOL'S POKTIOK". 
 
 It is the custom among the Hindoos, when gathering in 
 their harvest, before it is removed from the threshing-floor, 
 to take out the portion for their god. Ilowever poor, how- 
 ever much in debt, however small the crop may be, the 
 god's portion is first given. Nor is it a small portion, 
 grudgingly bestowed. It is a liberal and cheerful consecra- 
 tion of property to idul-worship, which, if imitated in Chris- 
 tian lauds, would fill the Lord's treasury to overflowing. 
 
 "WILLING OPFEKINGS. 
 
 A whole family laying their wilh'ng offerings upon the 
 altar of religion is a pleasing sight ; and perhaps some may 
 be admonished to perform this duty by seeing with what 
 cheerfulness a heathen family offered their gifts to a sense- 
 
214 TAXES IMPOSED BY IDOLATRY. 
 
 less idol. It was a Hindoo family, all moving together 
 towards the temple, the father carrying a fowl in his hand ; 
 a daughter, on his shoulder, carrying a cocoanut ; a son, 
 walking by his father's side, with three sweet potatoes for an 
 offering ; the mother, holding in one hand a dish of rice and 
 sugar, with some flowers, and with the other hand supporting 
 a little child, who is about to offer a plantain. Thus they 
 all, even to the smallest, had something to give ; a beauti- 
 ful scene, truly, liad they all been thus going in company 
 to the sanctuary of the true God. May not the scene be 
 improved by those who profess to be enlightened Christian 
 worshippers ? 
 
 THE SICK GOD, 
 
 The utter nonsense and stupidity of heathenism is set in 
 a glaring light by the following incident related in the 
 Youth's Day-Spring, in 1851. Two missionaries, one Eng- 
 lish, and the other American, were walking around the 
 " Temple of Siva," or " Great Pagoda of Tanjore, India," 
 where they noticed the people carrying out one of the brass 
 idols in procession ; and it being a warm, sunny day, it be- 
 came heated. Some one happened to touch it, and, perceiv- 
 ing that it was very warm, concluded it must have a fever ! 
 The rajah, or king, being present, sent for a physician. He 
 came, and told them they need not be troubled, for the god 
 was well enough. But the king called him a fool, and sent 
 him home, and ordered that another physician should be 
 called. When he came, he told them the god was very 
 sick — had a high fever, and remedies must be applied im- 
 mediately, or he would die. So he directed them to put 
 him in a shady place, and washed him with some cool 
 liquid, and when he was well cooled off the doctor pro- 
 nounced him curecZ/ And the rajah gave him three thou- 
 sand rupees — about fifteen hundred dollars — for saving 
 the life of his god. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT OP AN IDOL-MANUFACTURER. 
 
 In 1823, the following advertisement appeared in a Can- 
 ton paper, China, inserted in a regular business way, and 
 with as single an eye to the profits of trade as if it had been 
 an advertisement of tea or silk. It ran thus : — "I, Achen 
 Tea Chinchen, a lineal descendant of Coup Boi Rache Chin- 
 chen, the celebrated sculptor and carver in wood, who, 
 through his unremitting studies to promote rational relig- 
 
ADVERTISEMENT OF AN IDOL-MANUFACTURER. 215 
 
 ious worship, by the classical touches of his knife and chisel, 
 has been honored by emperors, kings, and rajahs of the 
 East, and supplied with superior idols for public and domes- 
 tic worship, now humbly offer my services in the same the- 
 ological line, having travelled from hence, at a considerable 
 expense, to perfect myself in anatomy, and in copying the 
 most graceful attitudes of the human figure, under those 
 able masters, Nollekens and Bacon. Achen Tea Chinchen 
 is now in possession of casts of the most approved models 
 and Elgin marbles. He is ready to execute to order idols 
 from twelve feet high, well proportioned, down to the size of 
 a marmoset monkey, or the most hideous monster that can 
 be conceived, to inspire awe or reverence for religion. My 
 charges are moderate. For an orang-outang, three feet 
 high, seven hundred dollars ; ditto, rampant, eight hundred ; 
 a sphinx, four hundred ; a bull with hump and horns, six 
 hundred and fifty ; a bufialo, eight hundred ; a dog, two 
 hundred ; ditto, couchant, one hundred and fifty ; and an 
 ass, in a braying attitude, eight hundred. The most dura- 
 ble materials will be used. Of statuary granite, brass, cop- 
 per, I have provided sufficient to complete orders to any ex- 
 tent. Perishable wood shall never disgrace a deity made 
 by my hands. Posterity may see the objects of their 
 fathers' devotions unsullied by the inclemency of the 
 seasons, the embraces of pious pilgrims, or their tears on 
 the solemn prostrations before them. Small idols for do- 
 mestic worship, or made into portable compass for pilgrims. 
 The price will be proportionate to the size and weight. No 
 trust ; ready money. Any order, postpaid, accompanied 
 by a drawing and description of the idol, will be promptly 
 attended to, provided one half the expense be first paid, 
 and the remainder secured by any respectable house in 
 Canton." 
 
 This singular and disgusting advertisement indicates very 
 clearly the fact that idol-making was, and is now, a craft 
 by which multitudes have their gains ; and also the fact 
 that idolatry is a most expensive system, its devotees being 
 obliged to purchase their gods at an enormous cost, as indi- 
 cated by the above prices. — 3Iiss. Mag., 1854, p. 148. 
 
SURPRISING RESULTS. 
 
 "WHAT THE MISSIONAKIES HAVE DONE. 
 
 When Jantze Spielman, a Hottentot of Betlielsdorp, was 
 asked by Major Colebrook what the missionaries had done 
 for them, he answered: "When they came amongst us, 
 we had no other clothes than filthy sheep-skins ; now we 
 are dressed in English manufactures. We had no written 
 language ; now we can read the Bible, or get it read for us. 
 We were without religion ; now we worship God with our 
 families. Then we had no idea of morality ; now each is 
 faithful to his own wife. We were given up to profligacy 
 and drunkenness ; now industry and sobriety prevail 
 amongst us. We had no property ; and now the Hotten- 
 tots of Bethelsdorp have fifty wagons and a corresponding 
 number of cattle. We were exposed to be shot like wild 
 beasts ; but the missionaries placed themselves between us 
 and the muskets of our enemies." — Rev. B. N. NoeVs 
 Christian 3Tissions, p. 2'78. 
 
 MEMORIES OF A SOUTH SEA ISLANDER. 
 
 Eev. W. Gill, at the anniversar}' of the. English Wesleyan 
 Missionary Society, in 1855, made the following remarks 
 concerning the missionary work in the South Sea Islands : 
 " There have been triumphs more extended, but there have 
 not been triumphs more complete. I sometimes think that 
 if wo could gather together in one assembly all the heathen 
 that have died in Christ since this society was instituted, 
 the effect would be most astounding. But, although we 
 cannot gather them together, there they are ; the fact is 
 still the same. Thirty-one years ago the first missionary 
 landed on the island of Rarotonga. Twenty-nine years 
 ago the first European missionary landed on the group of 
 islands from which I came. In the year 1834, the first 
 
THE CHANGE IN EIMEO. 217 
 
 Cliristian church was formed, six in number. Since then, 
 in that small island, one thousand members have died in 
 Christian communion, concerning whom we have as much 
 hope as your ministers can have of you when you die. Last 
 year, before I left Rarotonga, we thought we should like to 
 have a united communion service. We gathered together 
 the communicants from different villages, and altogether 
 about fifteen or sixteen hundred persons assembled. After 
 the communion addresses were made by the people. The 
 young men, called the ' Gospel-born generation,' having 
 been born since the Gospel was introduced into the islands, 
 spoke freely. They declared that they would maintain the 
 profession of their fathers, and many of them said, ' Here 
 are avc ; send us among the heathen.' Last of all a man, 
 amidst a noble band of deacons, got up. He was the first 
 native Christian who landed on Rarotonga, thirty years 
 ago, to tell the people that Jehovah was the true God, and 
 Jesus Christ the true Saviour. As he rose, he pointed to 
 an old man, and said, ' 0, I remember the day I landed, 
 thirty years ago, when you tore my shirt from my back, and 
 wanted to tear my flesh from my bones ! 0, what have I 
 lived to see 1 Then you were naked, savage, cannibal men ; 
 but now you are clothed, and in your right minds.' He 
 then pointed to a man at his side, a fine, tall, athletic fel- 
 low, some fifty years of age, and said, ' Rei ! 0, brother 
 Rei ! do yoxi not remember when you stood on yonder reef, 
 and poised your spear at me when I landed ? You meant 
 to thrust it into me, and you did not then know why yon 
 did not. But here we are.' He then took up a Bible, which 
 had just come from England, — a translation complete, into 
 the language of the island, — and, as he held it up in his 
 hands, tears ran down his cheeks. He could not speak for 
 a minute or two, but at length he said, ' 0, when I look at 
 this book, I feel as good old Simeon felt when he said, 
 "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for 
 mine eyes have seen thy salvation." ' " 
 
 THE CHANGE IN" EIMEO. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Orsmund, a missionary at Eimeo, in the 
 South Seas, states that he overheard several chiefs convers- 
 ing among themselves, as follows : 
 
 " But for our teachers, our grass on the hill, our fences 
 and houses, would have been fire-ashes long ago ; " mean- 
 ing that the ravages of war would have continued to deso- 
 
218 SURPEISING RESULTS. 
 
 late the land. " But for the Gospel, we should now have 
 been on the mountains, squeezing moss for a drop of water, 
 eating raw roots, and smothering the cries of our children, 
 by filling their mouths with dirt, grass, and cloth. Under 
 the reign of the Messiah we stretch out our feet at ease, eat 
 our food, keep our pig by the house, and see children, wife, 
 and all, at table in the same house. We did not know 
 more than our ancestors, our kings, and our parents ; and 
 we were all blind, till the birds flew across the great 
 expanse, with good seeds in their mouths, and planted them 
 among us. We now gather the fruit, and have continual 
 harvest. It was God who put it into the hearts of those 
 strangers to come to us. We have nothing to give them ; 
 but we are a people of thorny hands, of pointed tongues, 
 and we have no thoughts. If God were to take our teach- 
 ers from us, we should soon be savage again. They are 
 the great roots to the tree on the high hill. The wind 
 strikes it, twists it, but cannot level it to the ground, for its 
 roots are strong. Our hearts delighted in war, but our 
 teachers love peace, and we now have peace." — Anecdotes 
 of London Tract Society, p. 182. 
 
 THE GOSPEL YN A DARK FIELD. 
 
 The following facts show how little the wisdom of this 
 world can calculate the forces and triumphs of the Gospel 
 of Christ. In 1839, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt, and Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lythe, arrived in the Feegee Islands, as missionaries of the 
 English Wesleyan Society. Soon after their arrival, they 
 were informed that a great feast was about to take place. 
 The position of the mission-house was such that Mr. Hunt 
 witnessed from his yard the whole transaction. Eleven 
 human victims, saved for the purpose from a horrible mas- 
 sacre that had been inflicted upon a neighboring town, were 
 dragged along the ground, by ropes around their necks, to 
 the very front of the mission-house, where, after the cus- 
 tomary ceremonies were over, they were cut up and cooked, 
 one of them only two or three yards from the mission- 
 grounds, and then devoured, to glut the cannibal appetite 
 of these brutal savages. After all the parts but the head 
 had been consumed, the king's son knocked at the mission- 
 ary's door (which was opened by ]\Ir. Hunt), and demanded 
 wliy their windows were closed. Mr. Hunt told him, " to 
 keep out the sight as well as the smell of the bodies they 
 were cooking." The savage instantly replied, in the 
 
THE GOSPEL IN A DAEK FIELD. 219 
 
 presence of the missionaries' wives, that if it occurred 
 again he wouki knock them on the head and eat them ! It 
 happened, about this time, that Mr. Wilkes, of the exploring 
 exp(;dition, was at the islands, and was personally knowing 
 to these occurrences ; and it was in view of these that he 
 remarked, in his journal, " I know of no situation so trying 
 for ladies to live in, as the Feegee Islands ; and it is not to 
 be supposed, under this state of things, that the success of 
 missionaries will be satisfactory, or adequate to their exer- 
 tions, or a sufficient recompense for the hardships, depri- 
 vations, and struggles, which they and their families have 
 to encounter." 
 
 Such were the reasonings of one who estimated things 
 after the standard of this world. No wonder it seemed to 
 him a "*forlorn hope." " Wait," said Judson, when he 
 found himself in the midst of heathen ignorance and degra- 
 dation, " and if we live twenty years you may hear from us 
 again." 'Not half of twenty years had elapsed when the 
 devoted missionaries to the Feegees were heard from. They 
 addressed themselves to their task with a faith which the 
 world could not appreciate. In less than ten years they 
 said, in a report, " It is cheering to observe that where siu 
 much abounded, grace hath much more abounded. Many 
 of the worst cainiibals in the Feegee Islands have been con- 
 verted to God ; and a multitude of the common people, and 
 some of the chiefs, have been brought to a saving knowledge 
 of the truth. The New Testament is translated into one of 
 the Feegee dialects, and soon to be in the hands of teacher 
 and people." Mr. Lythe, of whose hopeless task Mr. Com- 
 mander Wilkes spoke, wrote about the same time, " There 
 has been a gracious outpouring of the Spirit at the towns of 
 Wathewathe and ^Vaitambu. Mary Jane, the wife of 
 Zephania Lua, chief of Wathewathe, and daughter of the 
 king, has been soundly converted. Immediately after the 
 blessed change, she went to the king, and besought him, 
 with filial importunity, at once to embrace religion, stating 
 that she had just now found its reality. About forty per- 
 sons followed the example of this woman, and embraced 
 religion." Mr. Hunt also, in speaking of this work of 
 grace, wrote, " To describe what followed is impossible. 
 Some of the worst cannibals in Feegee were suddenly seized 
 with the most powerful conviction, and a sight of their 
 state and danger threw them into an agony of sorrow. 
 They wept and wailed most piteously. They now under- 
 
220 SURPRISING RESULTS. 
 
 stood truths which they had long heard without effect ; 
 doubts and difficulties were removed by the faith-inspiring' 
 Spirit ; the fact of their acceptance with God was made clear 
 and satisfactor}'." 
 
 These accounts come from the very men whose situation 
 and exposure among savages many were ready to deplore, 
 and of whose enterprise Captain Wilkes thought " the suc- 
 cess could not be satisfactory, or the recompense sufficient 
 to reward the sufferings, trials, and hardships they would 
 be called to endure." On that very ground — on the soil 
 where was held that horrid carnival of human flesh, in less 
 than ten years, chiefs and people were converted to God, 
 and illustrating, in their Christian worship and mutual love, 
 the infinite power of the Gospel of Christ. — Am. Miss., 
 vol. II., p. 11. 
 
 A SUDDEN- KBVOLUTIOIsr. 
 
 A great moral change, such as is never effected but by 
 the Gospel and the grace of God, was witnessed at Has- 
 beiya, and is thus alluded to by Rev. E. Smith. After 
 noticing the place of worship, the large congregation, and 
 the fact that it was the first Sabbath the missionaries had 
 spent at that place, he says : " How strange and exciting 
 our circumstances I It seemed almost a dream. Here we 
 were, in this wild corner of Syria, always peculiarly lawless, 
 and now entirely without a government ! Before us was a 
 considerable congregation, brought up in the gross and 
 deeply-seated superstitions of the Greek church, but now 
 abandoning, with a suddenness almost miraculous, all their 
 fasts and feasts, their image and saint worship, and 
 worshipping God with us, after the simple form of Protest- 
 antism ! Yet, not a hand was raised to molest us, and we 
 went through our worship with as much quiet and security 
 as if we had been in the heart of New England." These 
 people were of all ages, and some of them quite wealthy, 
 though a majority of them were poor. A remarkable feature 
 of this movement was, that in almost every instance the 
 men were joined by their wives, and a divided house was 
 Bcarcely known. — lli^is. Her., 1845, p. 18. 
 
 ^WHAT CHRISTIAN ENERGY CAN ACCOMPLISH. 
 Dr. Carey, the pioneer missionary of the English Baptists, 
 without early classical training, brought up to manual labor, 
 and who did not enter on his missionary work till he was 
 
AN IMPARTIAL GOSPEL. 221 
 
 somewhat advanced in life, learned thirty-eight languages, 
 that he might translate the Bible into them. In the house 
 which he occupied at Serampore, near Calcutta, are still to 
 be seen, in manuscript, his Sanscrit Dictionary, in five fohos, 
 of seven hundred pages each, and his Bengali Dictionary, 
 and other large works, any one of which is enough to give 
 any ordinary man a world-wide reputation. The oriental 
 characters, as written by him, are so perfect that it requires 
 a close examination to be convinced that they are not 
 printed. Besides all this, and other missionary work, he 
 acted as professor in the British East India government 
 college, as translator for the government, and superintended 
 an indigo plantation — all that he might obtain the means 
 for supporting the mission. — Clih. Miss. Gleaner, 1855, 
 p. 60. 
 
 THE ISLANDS REJOICING. 
 
 The London Missionary Society, in its Annual Report for 
 1855, makes the following summary : " The distant isles of 
 the Pacific were the first fields of labor on which the fathers 
 of our society entered ; and, to iihoxxi jifty of these abodes 
 of darkness and death, containing nearly one hundred 
 thousand souls, its faithful missionaries have, during suc- 
 ceeding years, conveyed the light of life. And, in addition 
 to the multitudes who have died in the faith of Christ, there 
 are, at the present time, upwards oi seven thousand members 
 in the fellowship of the church ; many of whom have been 
 redeemed by grace from the lowest depths of degradation 
 and misery." 
 
 ATsT IMPABTIAL GOSPEL. 
 
 Rev. Baptist W. Noel, in his work on "Christian Mis- 
 sions," p. 272, in summing up the efi'ects of missions, says : 
 " There would be no end to the instances which might bo 
 adduced, of heathens brought to a saving knowledge of the 
 truth. If we may trust to accounts of those devoted men 
 who have labored to save their souls, then South Sea Island- 
 ers, and West Indian Negroes, Greenlanders, Esquimaux, 
 and North American Indians, Hottentots, and Cafitres within 
 the Colony of the Cape, Griquas, Namacquas, and Bechu- 
 anas beyond the frontier, natives of India, of Ceylon, and 
 of Burmah, Malays, Chinese, Brahmins, and despised Pari- 
 ahs, priests of Oro, and abandoned Areois, the most degraded 
 of the heathen and the most bitter, have been so converted 
 19* 
 
222 SURPRISING RESULTS. 
 
 to God that they have lived well, died well, leaving to those 
 who knew them best the complete conviction that they had 
 really loved the Lord, and that they had gone to be forever 
 in his presence." 
 
 ■WITNESSES FOB MISSIONS. 
 
 In one of the islands of the Southern Seas, Tonga, you may 
 go into a place of Christian worship, and if you are " given 
 to exhortation," you will ascend the pulpit, and on the 
 stairs you will see two curiously carved images supporting 
 the pulpit rails. They were once the gods of that people. 
 If you are simply a fellow-worshipper, and you kneel down 
 at the communion rail of the same chapel, you will notice 
 that the very rail is supported by shafts of spears, which the 
 warriors among that people once used against each other. 
 
 Touch next at the West India Islands. The emancipa- 
 tion of the black population from the galling fetters of 
 slavery was not so much brought about by the Christian 
 energy and eifort of the men at home, as it was by the prep- 
 aration of the negro mind for freedom, by the instrument- 
 ality of the missionaries. Go to death's own shore, — 
 Western Africa ; go to death's own city, — Sierra Leone ; 
 and if you want to worship the great God and Father of all, 
 you may do so in a chapel built out of the masts and spars 
 and plaidcs of condemned slavers ; while hundreds and thou- 
 sands who worship there have been liberated with a better 
 and holier freedom than any man or set of men can confer. 
 If you want to see the results of missionary labors, go to 
 Ashantee, the most murderous and blood-thirsty of the na- 
 tions of the earth ; and there Wesleyan Methodist mission- 
 aries have pursued their aggressive warfare, while their 
 nerves have been shocked with the sights of corpses rolling 
 in the street, headless bodies, and heads scattered around 
 them. But a missionary visited them, and his first convert, 
 on his dying bed, said to him, " I hear you preach last 
 night about heaven. I could not be there, but I am going 
 to heaven itself; and, when I get there, I will go to my 
 Saviour, and throw myself at his feet, and thank him for 
 his mercy in sending a missionary to this land to tell me of 
 the truth. Then will I come back to the gate, and sit d(jwn 
 until you come; and then I will take you to my Saviour's 
 throne, and say tliat you are the man who first told me of 
 the cross of Jesus." — Am. Miss., vol. i., p. 71. 
 
A CONTRAST. 223 
 
 BURNING IDOL-HOUSES. 
 
 A great and sudden reformation took place in Niua, one 
 of the Friendly Islands, in 1836, under the direction of a 
 Wesleyan missionary. A native teacher from the mission 
 school, accompanied by several others, opened a school on 
 the island ; and soon they were joined by a considerable 
 number of the inhabitants, though the chief was opposed to 
 their efforts. The little band continued united, and their 
 number was frequently augmented from the idolatrous party. 
 Some months alter this, the chief of a neighboring island, 
 friendly to Christianity, visited the place, for the purpose 
 of persuading the opposing party to cast off the Ij'ing vani- 
 ties of heathenism. lie succeeded in his object. The brand 
 was then applied to the houses of the gods, previously held 
 sacred, and they were entirely consumed. Previous to the 
 introduction of Christianity among this people, their cruelty 
 towards each other and their conquered enemies was horri- 
 ble beyond description ; but, after the events just described, 
 they were equally remarkable for their love to enemies, 
 bowels of mercies, and readiness to forgive. — London 
 Missionary Register. 
 
 A CONTRAST. 
 
 Rev. John Williams, whose protracted and successful 
 labors in the South Sea Islands have been the admiration 
 of Christendom, thus speaks of a particular field, — Raro- 
 tonga, one of the Ilervey Islands. lie says, " In reference 
 to Rarotonga, I cannot forbear drawing a contrast between 
 the state of the inhabitants when I first visited them in 
 1823, and that in which I left them in 1834. In 1823, I 
 found them all heathens ; in 1834, they were all professing 
 Christians. At the former period, I found them with idols 
 and maraes ; these, in 1834, were destroyed, and in their 
 stead tliere were three spacious and substantial places of 
 Christian worship, in which congregations, amounting to 
 six thousand persons, assembled ever}' Sabbath day. I 
 found them without a written language, and left them read- 
 ing in their own tongue 'the wonderful works of God.' I 
 found them without a knowledge of the Sabbath : and when 
 I left them, no manner of work was done during that sacred 
 day. When I found them, in 1823, they were ignorant of 
 the nature of Christian worship ; and when I left them, in 
 1834, I am not aware that there was a house in the island, 
 where family prayer was not observed every morning and 
 
224 SUEPRISING EESULTS. 
 
 every cvoui'ng. I speak not this boastingly, for Hin arm 
 liatli g'otten him tlie victory, and He shall have the glory. " 
 Mr. Williams adds : " What has been said of Rarotonga, is 
 equally applicable to the loJiole of the Ilervey Island group ; 
 for, with the exception of a few at Mangaia, I believe there 
 does not remain a single idolater, or vestige of idolatry, in 
 any one of the islands. I do not assert that all the people 
 are real Christians ; but I merely state the delightful fact 
 that the inhabitants of this entire group have, within the 
 space of ten years, abandoned a dark, debasing, and san- 
 guinary idolatry, with all its horrid rites ; and, if nothing 
 more had been effected, this would compensate for all the 
 privations and labors by which it has been accomplished." 
 — Williams's Miss. Enter, in South Sea Islands, p. 511. 
 
 A REVIVAL SCENE. 
 
 During a revival on one of the Sandwich Islands, all 
 classes crowded to the place of public worship, two thou- 
 sand being generally present. The children thrust them- 
 selves in, where they could find a little vacancy. Old, 
 hardened transgressors, who had scarcely been to the house 
 of God for the whole fifteen years that the Gospel had been 
 preached at that place, were now seen in tears, melting 
 down under the power of omnipotent truth. " Tlie blind," 
 says a missionary, " whom we had never seen before, we 
 now saw, as we went to the house of God, led along some- 
 times by a parent, a child, or a grandchild. Cripples also 
 sometimes aflected our hearts deeply, as we saw them 
 laboring to get to God's temple, as hard as some have done 
 to reach that of Juggernaut. Two of these were seen, and 
 may be seen every day, crawling on their hands and feet to 
 every meeting." — Jfes. Her., 1839, p. 153. 
 
 POLYGAMY YIELDING TO CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 The missionaries of the London Missionary Society, in 
 the island of Lifu, Western Polynesia, found not only can- 
 nibalism, but polygamy, to be generally prevalent among 
 the natives. After laboring on the island about two years, 
 cannibalism entirely disappeared ; and polygamy, still more 
 difficult to eradicate, vanished under the light of a pure 
 Gospel. Especially was this a dillicult vice to root out, 
 when, as in Lifu, the wives were virtually the servants or 
 slaves of the husband, and did all the most laborious work. 
 
THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. A CONTRAST. 225 
 
 The missionaries say, in 1852, "There are about seventy 
 candidates lor baptism, all of wliom have abandoned this, 
 and every other heatlien practice." Of three hundred mem- 
 bers of the "Friday meeting," not one continued in the 
 practice of polygamy ; and it was a condition of admission, 
 that this practice should be laid aside. This has been the 
 principle, invariably, it is believed, upon which the mission- 
 aries of the London Society have treated this vice. — Lon. 
 Miss. Mag., 1853, p. 185. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY VS. IWFIDELITY. 
 
 In 1822, Dr. Carey wrote from his mission field in India : 
 "About fifty years ago, one of the sovereigns of Europe 
 was employed in writing fourteen volumes of lampoons on 
 Christianity. Voltaire, in all his multifarious, much-read 
 publications, constantly made Christianity the butt of his 
 ridicule and sarcasm. The Encj'^clopedists attacked Chris- 
 tianity in a more grave manner. Gibbon and Plume did the 
 same, and a host of novelists, writers for the theatre, and 
 pamphleteers, followed in the rear; if not actually saying, 
 as the Abbe Baruel asserts, ' Ecrasez VInfame,' at least 
 acting up to the spirit of what is charged upon them by 
 that waiter. Noio, sovereigns on their thrones declare 
 themselves on the side of religion, and encourage Bible 
 societies and other associations to do good ; while all ranks, 
 from the noble to the slave, unite to promote the same object. 
 Who that loves God or man can behold the present state of 
 things, without thanks to God ?" — Eng. Bap. Miss. Her., 
 March, 1823. 
 
 THE SAND^WICH ISLANDS. — A CONTRAST. 
 
 " Once they were a nation of thieves. They were trained 
 to the art. Chiefs kept men practised to steal. Robbers 
 lurked in all places of concealment. Plunder was the object 
 in the murder of crews and the breaking up of ships. Thiev- 
 ing was the great annoyance of foreign residents and the 
 early missionaries. But for many years the evil has existed 
 to a less extent than in most Christian lands. The experi- 
 ence of the writer took him entirely by surprise. He was 
 at one time entirely alone among them, in one of the most 
 secluded and least instructed parts of Hawaii. The most 
 abundant opportunities for pilfering were daily occurring, 
 but not in one instance was his conhdeuce misplaced. lie 
 
226 SURPRISING RESULTS. 
 
 has given open bureau drawers, filled with clothing, and 
 pails and blankets, filled with many things tempting to a 
 native's eye, to be carried by strange men and women and 
 children over a foot-path of twelve miles, all along which 
 were convenient places of concealment ; but he never knew 
 that an article was taken. Missionaries have been accus- 
 tomed for many years to go from the difierent islands to 
 General Meeting, taking their families with them, and leav- 
 ing their houses unguarded. Only in three instances has 
 house or property been disturbed. These were of recent 
 occurrence ; and, in one or two cases, the evidence was 
 conclusive that foreigners were the instigators, or the 
 thieves. 
 
 " Idolatry once filled the land with terror. It rent the 
 air with shrieks of alarm, or yells of savage delight. It 
 drenched the altars and bathed the feet of monstrous gods 
 with human blood. It gathered shameless crowds to an 
 obscene and cruel worship. It crushed the people under 
 its fearful tabu. But where the priest strangled human vic- 
 tims, the preacher now offers Christ. Where wildly rung 
 the revelry of excess, is now spread the table of commun- 
 ion. All over the islands the Sabbath is remarkable for 
 its stillness. Large congregrations assemble for religious 
 instruction in every district. Children are everywhere 
 gathered into Sabbath-schools. Adults are associated in 
 Bible-classes. Daily morning prayer-meetings, and weekly 
 or semi-weekly lectures and conferences, are attended in 
 most of the churches. Most of the children of the nation, 
 and most of the members of the churches, commit one 
 verse of the Bible every day. Thousands ask the blessing 
 of God on their daily food. As many observe morning and 
 evening fomily worship. A missionary society has been 
 formed from among the native churches, which has two 
 missions under its care, one in the King's Mill group, in 
 Micronesia, and one at the Marquesas Islands ; and, accord- 
 ing to their ability and numbers, it may be safely said that 
 the Sandwich Island churches are giving more for benevo- 
 lent purposes than any other body of Christians on the 
 globe." 
 
 The foregoing contrast is from "The Past and Present 
 of the Sandwich Islands," by Rev. T. D. Hunt, former 
 missionary to the islands, and now pastor of a church in 
 San Francisco 
 
CHANGES IN THIETY YEARS. 227 
 
 ■WONDERFUL RESULTS IN" NE"W ZEALAND. 
 
 In 1846, an English paper said: "What human likeli- 
 hood was there thirty, or even twenty years ago, that New 
 Zealand, savage, pagan, cannibal, would in so short a time 
 be placed, at the desire of her own chiefs, under the protec- 
 tion of the British crown ; that pagan customs and barba- 
 rous rites would be rapidly disappearing ; that large bodies 
 of her population would be Christian in profession, and not 
 a few Christians in heart and in life ; children trained in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord ; cluu'ches built, the 
 Bible extensively read and devoutly studied, the Christian 
 Sabbath kept holy, a considerable number of clergymen 
 officiating with all the regularity of an English parish to 
 large congregations, and administering the Lord's Supper 
 to many of tlie converted and consistently-walking aborig- 
 ines ; that a bishopric would be established, and now a col- 
 lege projected for training schoolmasters, catechists, and 
 pastors, both from among the converted aborigines, and 
 from that considerable body of young persons, the children 
 of the missionaries and of other Europeans resident in New 
 Zealand — natives, though not aborigines? The population 
 of New Zealand is computed at one hundred and ten thou- 
 sand, and of these, forty thousand attend divine service 
 under European and native teachers — a much larger pro- 
 portion than will be found in many English towns." — Amer- 
 ican Missionarij, vol. i., p. 46. 
 
 CHANGES IN THIRTY YEARS. 
 
 Says the Missionary Register for 1853, p. 483: "On 
 the 8th of August, 1822, the Rev. William Williams, now 
 Archdeacon Williams, received the instructions of the com- 
 mittee on his departure for New Zealand. On the 6th of 
 August, 1853, the archdeacon's son, Rev. Leonard Williams, 
 received the instructions of the committee on his departure 
 for the same mission field. During this period a great 
 change has been accomplished in New Zealand. The in- 
 structions of the 8th of August, 1822, expressly stated that 
 there was not then a single Christian convert amongst the 
 natives of New Zealand. At the present moment the rem- 
 nant of heathenism left among them is so small as not to 
 interfere with their being pronounced a professedly Chris- 
 tian people. A corresponding iiiilnence has been exercised 
 on the national character. Cannilialism is extinct, and the 
 sanguinary spirit that gladly availed itself of every pretext 
 
228 SURPRISING RESULTS. 
 
 to break forth in deeds of blood, is laid. The New Zealand- 
 ers have exchanged the spear and club for the ploughshare 
 and the reaping-hook ; and tribes, which once wasted the 
 districts of their neighbors, are diligently employed in the 
 cultivation of their own. Christian Sabbaths and Christian 
 ordinances are generalized all over the island, and this na- 
 tional profession is inclusive of a large proportion of gen- 
 uine godliness. If it be asked by what means the change 
 has been accomplished, we answer, by the preaching and 
 teaching of 'Jesus Christ and him crucified,' and God's 
 blessing on the same." 
 
 SOUTH AFKICA TEN YEARS AGO. 
 
 Some dissatisfaction and discouragement having been 
 expressed in I'egard to the mission of the American Board 
 in South Africa, the missionaries in that field answered 
 these fears by the following statement of facts : " Ten 
 years ago there were no churches, and not more than one 
 or two converts connected with the mission. Now there 
 are eight churches, embracing about one hundred and 
 ninety-five members in good standing, fourteen of whom 
 have been baptized during the past year. Among a nation 
 of inveterate polygamists, where ten years ago the true 
 family relation, with its obligations, was unknown, there 
 are now about one hundred married men residing at our 
 stations, each the husband of one wife only, the majority of 
 whom have been married by a Christian minister, in accord- 
 ance with civilized usage. Of these one hundred families, 
 there are sixty or more in which both the husband and wife 
 are professors of religion, and about twenty others where 
 the husband alone is a professor, making an aggregate num- 
 ber of about eighty households where the family altar has 
 been erected. Between sixty and seventy of these families 
 have exchanged the barbarous Caffre hut for dwellings bet- 
 ter adapted to the ends of civilized life. Among a people 
 who, but a short time since, were without a written lan- 
 guage, there are now about two hundred and fifty connected 
 with our mission who are al)lc to read the word of God in 
 their own tongue. In order to show American Christians 
 that these people are gradually progressing in civilization, 
 we will add, that the natives at four of our more advanced 
 stations are the owners of seven large wagons, twelve carts, 
 and nine ploughs, and, until within a few months, they pos- 
 sessed nearly two hundred and fifty trained oxen. An epi- 
 
DR. LIVINGSTON AND AFRICA. 229 
 
 demic among' cattle has reduced this number. At the older 
 stations every year shows a decided advance in civiliza- 
 tion ; and nothing, in a worldly point of view, so tends to 
 pi'omote civilized tastes, habits, and employments, as these 
 wagons, carts, and ploughs." — Miss. Her., 1857, p. 30. 
 
 A NATION REGENERATED. 
 
 At a meeting in London for the reception of the great 
 African explorer. Dr. Livingston, one of the speakers. Sir 
 H. Rawlinson, remarked, in reference to the labors of mis- 
 sionaries, that " he himself had witnessed the reclaiming of 
 an entire nation, — if he might call that a nation which con- 
 sisted of from thirty thousand to forty thousand families, 
 the Nestorian Christians, — enveloped in the deepest bar- 
 barism twenty years ago ; and now, by the aid of a little 
 band of American missionaries, he saw them taking their 
 stand amongst the civilized nations of the world. Their 
 literature had revived, schools were established throughout 
 the country, a journal was printed and published in their 
 own native Syriac language. And when he rejflected on 
 that example, he could w^ell understand that in Southern 
 Africa the same results might be expected in God's own 
 time." — London 3Iiss. Mag., 1857, p. 12. 
 
 DR. LIVINGSTON AND AFRICA. 
 
 Among the results of missionary labor, the author cannot 
 omit to mention the important tours of discovery made by 
 Dr. Livingston, and reported in the London Missionary 
 Chronicle, for January, 1857. Dr. Livingston has spent 
 sixteen years in Africa, under the patronage of the London 
 Missionary Society, and of his labors the Chronicle says : 
 
 " He left his station at Kolobeng, two hundred miles 
 north of the Kuruman, on the first of June, 1819, accompa- 
 nied by Messrs. Oswell and Murray, in quest of the ' oft- 
 reported lake beyond the desert.' Notwithstanding their 
 privations, they held on their way until the Ith of Juh^ 
 when they struck on the magnificent Youga; and, after 
 ' winding along its banks nearly three hundred miles,' their 
 perseverance was rewarded by the sight of the Lake Ngami. 
 Not being provided with a boat, and the chief of the Bata- 
 vana keeping his men beyond their reach, the travellers 
 were not able to gain the northern side. An attempt to 
 form a raft was unsuccessful. The jealousy of the native 
 chiefs had not yet been overcome. 
 20 
 
230 SUEPEISING RESULTS. 
 
 "A second journey was undertaken in April, 1850. Mrs. 
 Livingston and family, and Sechale, the chief of the Bak- 
 wains, were now added to the party, but the prevalence of 
 marsh-fever in the lake region compelled them again to 
 return. 
 
 " Undaunted by former difiQculties, Dr. Livingston com- 
 menced a third journey, in September, 1851 ; and this time 
 he and Mr. Oswell succeeded in overcoming all obstacles, 
 and in reaching the town of Sebitoane, the chief of Mako- 
 lolo. They were now introduced to numerous and powerful 
 tribes, living in large villages, in a fertile country, and pos- 
 sessing great herds of cattle and abundance of grain. Un- 
 like the tribes further south, the Banyeti, Dr. Livingston 
 says, are excellent smiths, making o.x and sheep bells, 
 spears, knives, needles, and hoes, of superior workmanship. 
 Iron abounds in their country, and is of excellent quality. 
 They extract it from the ore, and they are famed as canoe- 
 builders. Other tribes are famed for their skill in pottery 
 This seemed an inviting field for missionary labor, but Dr. 
 Livingston wished to find a higher elevation and a more 
 congenial climate, and this led to his fourth journey. 
 
 " But, preparatory to this his last effort to reach the inte- 
 rior. Dr. Livingston accompanied his wife and family to Cape 
 Town, and sent them to England. On the 8th of June, 
 1852, he once more girded himself for his great undertak- 
 ing ; and, after almost insurmountable hardships, he suc- 
 ceeded in reaching St. Paul de Loando, on the west coast 
 of Africa, in latitude five degrees south, or about thirty 
 degrees north of the Cape. His health suffered severely, 
 and it was feared his work was done ; but he once more 
 rallied, and then, with a devotion to his object never sur- 
 passed. Dr. Livingston traversed the entire continent, and 
 reached Quilimane, on the eastern coast, on the 26th of 
 May, 1856, — a feat probably without a parallel in the his- 
 tory of adventure. In these several journeys. Dr. Living- 
 ston has traversed nearly eleven thou.^and miles, over coun- 
 tries in which, for the greater part, the foot of the white 
 man had never trod.'' 
 
 The explorations and discoveries of Dr. Livingston, being 
 of a missionary character, and of immense importance to 
 Afi'ica and to the civilized world, this brief record has been 
 thought proper in this place. Full and elaborate reports 
 will appear from the pen of the distinguished missionary 
 himself. 
 
CHARACTER OF PAPAL MISSIONS. 
 
 Catholics have ever been ready to claim for their church 
 an unequalled zeal and self-sacrifice in the propagation of 
 the Gospel among the heathen ; and Protestants have been 
 too ready to admit the claim. Rome has, indeed, sent her 
 emissaries into every corner of the globe ; but they have 
 gone to Romanize and secularize, not to Christianize, — to 
 proselyte in evangelical fields, not to convert from heathen- 
 ism. Rome cannot point to a single spot, in all heathendom, 
 where her servants have led the way, dispelled the dark- 
 ness, cultivated the field, and made it as the garden of the 
 Lord. Papal missionaries have entered Protestant vine- 
 yards, sown seeds of discord, corrupted converts, and made 
 more and worse opposition to the Gospel, than even idolatry 
 itself. The following facts are introduced as showing this, 
 and as showing that Rome has neither part nor lot in the 
 work and reward of evangelizing the heathen world. The 
 facts are taken from many fields, and the volume might 
 have been filled with similar statements, from the most 
 reliable sources. A few pages only, on this point, have 
 been deemed necessary. 
 
 CLAIMING OTHER MEN'S LABORS. 
 
 Says the Church Missionary Gleaner, for 1850, in speak- 
 ing of New Zealand : " Poperj'^ is very busy just now, com- 
 passing sea and land to make proselytes. It is thus that 
 she walks to and fro throughout the wide circle of Prot- 
 estant missions. There are dreary wastes of heathenism, 
 where, if her object were to do good, she might go and 
 
232 CHARACTER OF PAPAL MISSIONS, 
 
 teach. But the little gardens, which the Protestant mission- 
 aries have fenced in from tl)e wilderness, seem in a special 
 manner to attract her attention. There her priests are sure 
 to come. Perhaps she thinks it well that we should go 
 and do the rough work, dig up the roots, remove the stones, 
 bring the ground into order, form the little channels which 
 will make it a well-watered garden, and then, when all looks 
 wx'll, Rcnne comes and tells us, ' I have permitted you to do 
 so much, but now you must leave ; this is my property ; 
 the nations are my inheritance ; especiall}'' the converts you 
 have baptized belong to me ; for all baptized persons are 
 mine.' If the Protestant missionaries think this unreasona- 
 ble, and demur, she slanders them, and does all she can to 
 hinder the work ; and it is very clear that the Church of 
 Rome would rather see the nations all heathen, than brought 
 under the care of Protestant missions. Rome has been thus 
 busy in New Zealand. A Romish bishop reached those dis- 
 tant islands just as the natives generally were beginning to 
 improve, and open to Christian instruction. The mission- 
 aries had, at that time, about thirty-five thousand under 
 their teaching. The Romish bishop, in his letters, written 
 immediately on coming to the island, set them all down to his 
 own account ! saying, ' Almost all the natives of the north 
 island belong to the Catholic church.' He found it much 
 easier, however, to write the New Zealand converts Roman- 
 ists, than to make them so. They had learnt to read (per- 
 haps there is no instance on record of a people acquiring 
 the art of reading so rapidly), and they had just been sup- 
 plied with the New Testament by the British and Foreign 
 Bible Societj^ and thus they were well fortified, and proved 
 more than a match for the priests." 
 
 MINISTERS OF WICKEDISrESS. 
 
 So much has been said of the zeal and sacrifices of Popish 
 missionaries, as if they were really in earnest to convert the 
 world, that it may surprise some to know what sort of tidings 
 they carry to the people. The following is a specimen, taken 
 from the journal of Rev. Mr. Emerson, Missionary of the 
 Board at the Sandwich Islands. He says : " With the large 
 mass of those who join the Papists, there is little other 
 reason for it, than that their religion imposes few restraints, 
 allows of almost everything that their carnal minds would 
 crave, and makes promises of eternal life, positive and sure, 
 to characters too vicious and profligate to be associated 
 
LEAVES THE HEATHEN AS IT FOUND THEM. 233 
 
 with Christians on any terms of fellowship. Rum and awa- 
 driiiking are said by the priests to be no fault. Adultery 
 becomes a fault only when detected. The Sabbath-day is 
 not specially sacred, not more so than some other festivals. 
 Gambling, card-playing, horse-racing, &c., are not criminal 
 on the Sabbath. These last have been done by the priests 
 themselves, in order to show that they are not sins." 
 Another missionary at the same islands, says, "The Popery 
 which has been introduced here is gross in theory, and 
 abominable in practice. Adulterers and drunkards are all 
 admitted to their church at once. All apostates from our 
 churches, even the vilest, are not only admitted, but are the 
 best of their converts, and the only teachers they have for 
 their schools. An Irish priest said to me that he could 
 have true faith, and gel drunk, and lie, habitually." Such is 
 the good news which is carried to the heathen by this class 
 of missionaries. — J/m. Her., 1842, pp. 246, 286. 
 
 MUTILATING THE WOKD. 
 
 The priests of the Romish church make sad havoc with 
 the Word of God, in the fields of missionary labor. A mis- 
 sionary of the London Missionary Society, in India, in his 
 journal of 1851, saj^s, "We are obliged to distinguish our 
 religion from Popery, which is propagated here in some of 
 its worst features. In their ten commandments, they have 
 omitted the second altogether, and divided the tenth into 
 two, in order to retain the complete number." The same 
 writer adds, that, in the Roman Catholic villages, which are 
 numerous, " the people pursue their common employments 
 on the Sabbath." 
 
 KILLING HERETICS. 
 
 A Maronite monk (Catholic) advised a man on Mount 
 Lebanon to shoot his brother, for becoming a heretic, that 
 is, a Protestant ; and, when he remonstrated with him, he 
 answered, with great glee, that the Pope and the Council of 
 Trent had sanctioned the massacre of St. Bartholomew ! 
 
 LEAVES THE HEATHEN AS IT FOUND THEM. 
 
 The missionaries at New Zealand wrote, in 1838, " Roman 
 
 Catholicism is endeavoring to raise its head in New Zealand. 
 
 The worshippers of images have set up their standard ; it 
 
 does not appear that more is required from their converts 
 
 20* 
 
234 CHARACTER OF PAPAL MISSIONS. " 
 
 than an acquiescence in modes of worship. Tlieir ceremony 
 of baptism consists in suspending' a piece of copper from 
 tlie neck This, they tell tlie natives, will constitute them 
 Christians till their death ; and, after their death, by present- 
 ing that piece of copper at the gate of heaven, it will pro- 
 cure for them admittance there ! The system of Popery 
 leaves the people, as it found them, in gross ignorance and 
 darkness, and under the influence of every evil passion. 
 The wiser natives see its fallacy too well to embrace its 
 doctrines." In 1840, a Roman Catholic bishop used great 
 eiforts to make proselytes among the natives. Among other 
 things he told them that " the Protestant missionaries were 
 only the pioneers of colonists who would murder the natives, 
 and take away their land from them ; that the Testament 
 was a stolen book, and that was the reason why the mis- 
 sionaries always carried it under their arm." — Missionary 
 Guide-Book, p. 295. 
 
 EKC OUR AGING VICE. 
 
 A Catholic priest in Honolulu displayed great zeal in 
 propagating Romanism among the natives who had begun 
 to receive correct notions of Christianity. He proscribed 
 the Bible, as translated hy the American missionaries, and 
 circulated a tract, in which wei'e some passages of Scrip- 
 ture, but much more of tradition. He encouraged the 
 natives in the use of tobacco, wine, and brandy, discour- 
 aged marriage, and told them that the missionaries were 
 living in adultery. In the island of Oahu, the reasons given 
 by many natives for leaving the missionaries and joining the 
 Catholics, were, that the former were opposed to rum and 
 tobacco, and the illicit intercourse of the sexes, while the 
 Catholic priest did not object to any of these things. — Miss. 
 Her., 1840, p. 3V3. 
 
 THE BISHOP AND THE NATIVE. 
 
 The emissaries of the Pope, always busy around mission- 
 ary stations, are often over-matched in argument liy the 
 simple natives who have been instructed in the Word of 
 God. The following instances occurred in New Zealand. 
 A baptized native, named Samuel, met, in a public place, 
 tlie Roman Catholic bishop and a priest. Opening his cat- 
 echism, he called their attention to the second command- 
 ment, and told them, "Our teachers tell us that these are 
 the commandments of God, taken from his word, the Bible. 
 
^ HEATHENISH PEIESTS. 235 
 
 Now, this tells me that I must not bow down to idols, 
 which you evidently do ; and I find, moreover, that you 
 have not got the second commandment among the others, 
 but that it is altogether omitted. I, therefore, do not be- 
 lieve that your religion is true, and we do not like it. You 
 also say that our missionaries are adulterers, because they 
 are married, and are living with their wives ; but, if you 
 call them adulterers, you must call Peter an adulterer ; for, 
 it says, here, in my Testament, that Peter^s tcife's mother 
 was sick of a fever." 
 
 "Well, Samuel," said the missionary, "what did the 
 bishop say to all this ? " — " 0," he replied, " the form of 
 his face became quite changed ; he could not look at me, 
 but turned the other way, and, with the priest, walked to 
 the other end of the pa." 
 
 Another missionary in New Zealand, about the same date, 
 says, "The Romish bishop one day met with one of our 
 natives, and, speaking about us missionaries, he said, ' They 
 have houses, and wives, and children ; all their love is for 
 them ; but, we have none ; therefore all our love is for you.' 
 Our native replied, ' Is it, then, wicked for a missionary to 
 have a wife and children ? ' lie said, ' I am an apostle 
 and bishop of Christ, and I tell you it is.' The native 
 answered, ' St. Paul was also an apostle, and he said, a 
 bishop ought to be the husband of one loife.' The bishop 
 said no more." — Church Missionary Record, 1841, p. 100. 
 
 HEATHENISH PRIESTS. 
 
 The Papists of Dindigul and vicinity (India) are as igno- 
 rant and heathenish as the heathen. Not only do the priests 
 pay no attention to education, but they discourage their 
 receiving any. A small church is built in a village, a few 
 images ai-e placed in it, and the people are taught to fall 
 down and worship them. Like the heathen, they have 
 their favorite gods and goddesses, such as Anthony, Xavier, 
 Mary, and Bridget. They pray to them, they trust to th(>m 
 for protection, they expect to reach heaven through their 
 intercession. In addition, at stated times, they bring out 
 the statue of some saint, and boil rice before it, smoke fur/e 
 as the heathen do to their idols, celebrate mass, and perform 
 comedies and tragedies of departed saints, the tragedy for 
 Easter being a blasphemous representation of tlie crucifixion 
 of Christ. To extend such a religion, priests are swarming 
 into the country, and placing themselves down wherever 
 
236 CHARACTEE OF PAPAL MISSIONS. 
 
 the Gospel is preached, and especially wherever it is gain- 
 ing success ; and they abstain from the use of no means to 
 carry their end, which can take efi'ect on an ignorant mind. 
 — Jour, of Hiss., Sept., 1851. 
 
 A CRAZY PROTESTANT. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Clarke, stationed at Arabkir, states that an 
 Armenian priest, at a village a little distant, having been 
 suspected of turning Protestant, Avas severely threatened 
 by the bishop (a Catholic) if he persisted in that way. 
 But the priest not only continued to read the New Testa- 
 ment and religious tracts, hut jj reached the Protestant fiaith 
 to his people. On coming into the city one day, to call on 
 Mr. Clarke, he was seized and carried before the bishop, 
 who closely questioned him as to the reasons of his conduct. 
 The priest said, "I must preach to my people what the 
 Gospel contains." — "You shall not preach the Gospel," 
 said the bishop ; "I forbid you." — "1 must preach it," an- 
 swered the priest. The bishop, full of wrath, struck him 
 on one side of his face. The priest turned the other side to 
 the bishop, and he struck that also, and proceeded to beat 
 him with a stick, and caused him to be put in chains. The 
 next day he was brought before the bishop, and forbidden to 
 preach the Gospel. The priest drew from his bosom a Tes- 
 tament, and was proceeding to pi'ove that he was acting 
 in accordance with its spirit, when the bishop seized the 
 Testament, and beat him with it, saying, " Will you dare 
 thus to teach me ? " and he beat him also with a large stick. 
 The persecuted priest found means to inform the missionary 
 of his condition, and that he wished to declare himself a 
 Protestant. Accordingly measures were taken for his pro- 
 tection, though all the priests in the city, ten in number, 
 came forward and testified that he was crazy! And the 
 reasons assigned for this were, 1st, that he preached the 
 Gospel ; 2d, that he did not require his people to observe 
 the ceremonies of the church, such as praying to the Virgin, 
 kissing the pictures of the saints, &c. ; 3d, that he confessed 
 to the people that he had often deceived them, and taken 
 their money from them wrongfully, and would do so no 
 more. "Are you not crazy," said they, "when you will 
 not take money ? " After the priest had returned to his 
 own village, tlie bishop sent anotlier i)riest and a rich Arme- 
 nian to persuade him to return to the old church. The 
 command of the bishop was, "As much money as is ne- 
 
FRANCIS XAVIER'S BIBLE. 237 
 
 cossary, g-ive ; " and they offered him two tliousand piastres. 
 The faithful priest replied, " If you will believe and em- 
 brace the Gospel with all the heart, I will beg- two thousand 
 piastres for you." The bishop was terribly enraged at the 
 loss of this priest (crazy as he was!), and in his wrath he 
 said, " If any man will kill that priest I will pardon his sin." 
 — Jour, of Miss., May, 1854. 
 
 HOW PAPISTS EDUCATE. 
 
 Says a missionary at Madura, " In America, and in some 
 parts of Europe, when Papists are charg-ed with educating 
 only so far as they are compelled by surrounding intelli- 
 gence, and with openly promoting ignoiance where they 
 can, they loudly complain that they are slandered. But 
 how is it in India? Here they have had a large population 
 under their control for centuries ; and in what are they 
 different from the heathen ? They are indeed less afraid of 
 the Bible, and sometimes refuse to give it up to be burnt. 
 They have a vague impression that it is in some way con- 
 nected with the Christian religion ; but no thanks to the 
 priests for this. The Papists are the same lying, cheating, 
 sensual, degraded people as the heathen ; and with all this 
 the priests seem to be content ; but, if a boy wishes for an 
 education, they are at once ai'oused to wrath." Such, in 
 regard to education and morals, are the results of papal mis- 
 sions, so much applauded by Catholics, and by many Protest- 
 ants who ought to be better informed. — Iliss. Her., 1845, 
 p. 379. 
 
 CATHOLIC ARGUMENT. 
 
 A missionary, in making a tour through Xew Mexico, 
 observed, hanging on the wall at To Zuke, a cruel whip, 
 having the appearance of much use ; and, on inquiry, he 
 found that it was kept for the purpose of flogging those 
 who refused or neglected to make the sign of the cross. — 
 Jour, of Miss., Jan., 1851. 
 
 FRANCIS XAVIER'S BIBLE. 
 
 When the great emperor, Agbad, invited men of all relig- 
 ions to come to him, Xavier, the celebrated Catholic mis- 
 sionary to the East, came with the rest to tell him what 
 Christianity is. The emperor's mind was open for the 
 reception of the truth ; he was dissatisfied with Mohamme- 
 danism. But Xavier, instead of giving him the truth as it 
 is, manufactured a New Testament for him, filling it with 
 
238 CIIAEACTER OF PAPAL MISSIONS. 
 
 all manner of legends out of the Persian records. The em- 
 peror read it, and, with the simplicity of heart and honest 
 sagacity which really belonged to him, returned it to the 
 Jesuit, saying, "If this be your shaster, I have got enough 
 of such legends already, without coming to you to get more." 
 • — Journal of Hiss., December, 1851. 
 
 JESUIT OPPOSITION. 
 
 A missionary at Madura, says, " We meet with opposi- 
 tion from the French Jesuits. They still manifest all the 
 spirit of persecuting Rome, and all that is wanting is civil 
 power to carry it out. Some time ago, the priest assem- 
 bled his people at Silliquireputty, where we have a small 
 village congregaticm, and made them promise not to give 
 to our people, water, fire, wood, or any of the necessaries 
 of life. This shows what they would do, had they the 
 power." — JJfm. Her., 1849, p. 199. 
 
 ISrO TKANSLATIOIfS. 
 
 It is three hundred years since Rome entered on the 
 work of missions ; within this period she has made con- 
 verts among people speaking sixty or seventy different 
 languages ; but not a single instance is known other having 
 translated the Scriptures into the language of the people 
 where she has her missions. — Jour, of Miss., July, 1851. 
 
 CATHOLIC "WEAPONS. 
 
 Mobs, threats, and brick-bats, have constituted leading 
 arguments among the missionaries of the Romish church. 
 So it was at Madras. In 1841, Mr. Winslow established 
 at Royapooram, a station of the Madras mission, an evening 
 meeting, in a bungalow, on the premises of a respectable 
 native merchant ; and upon this a persecution arose, in 
 describing which, Mr. Winslow says : " The Romanists im- 
 mediately began to annoy us, and to send letters threaten- 
 ing our lives. They threw stones, both in times of meeting 
 and at other times, at the family ; set up a noisy meeting in 
 the adjoining house ; and disturbed us by offensive-smelling 
 lights and fireworks, as well as by the noise of bells and 
 other instruments ; and, when this was stopped by the 
 authorities, they burnt the bungalow, with the furniture it 
 contained." Such was the mission of Rome's hirelings in 
 that place ! But the native merchant remained firm, and 
 the persecution entirf^ly failed of its object. 
 
CATHOLICS AND SCHOOLS. 239 
 
 POPISH MISSIONAKIES AND CASTES. 
 
 Rev, Mr. Addis, of Coimbatoor, Iliudostan, speaks of the 
 emissaries of Kome as presenting a worse obstacle to the 
 Gospel, than even Mohammedanism, or heathenism itself. 
 He says : "In one place in this province, the Romish bishop 
 and his missionary clergy made a public entry, with a largo 
 procession, carrying flags and crosses, and accompanied by 
 a band of music, torches, fireworks, &c. Cloths were 
 spread for the bishop to walk upon, and he is all but wor- 
 shipped by his adherents. In order to ingratiate them- 
 selves with the Brahmins and higher classes, these priests 
 keep up a kind of caste usage lite the heathen. This is likely 
 to give them great acceptance ; and, together with their 
 shows, &c., makes a great impression, not merely upon the 
 simple-minded, but also upon those who think themselves 
 far above the vulgar." — 3Iiss. Mag., 1849, p. 41. 
 
 KAGE AGAIKST THE TfE"W TESTAMENT. 
 
 Mr. Smith, of Ceylon, speaks of being surrounded by Ro- 
 manists, who are so much under the control of their priests, 
 that little can be done for them ; and he relates the follow- 
 ing instance of a priest's zeal in destroying the Scriptures. 
 This priest was called to perform extreme unction for a per- 
 son near his end. When he entered the house, he saw a 
 New Testament on the shelf in the room, and asked what it 
 was. On being told that it was a New Testament, he took 
 it down, tore it in pieces, and trampled it under his feet, 
 before performing the ceremony. This is the kind of Chris- 
 tianity which the heathen get from missionaries of the papal 
 church. — Miss. Her., 1851, p. 44. 
 
 BIB LE-BUKNING. 
 
 A company of emeers in Mount Lebanon, spurred on by 
 the papal priests, gathered and burned the few copies of 
 God's word which had been given and sold among the peo- 
 ple. One young emeer went to the Greek school, and vio- 
 lently seized all the psalters he could find, and committed 
 them to the flames. — Miss. Her., July, 1837. 
 
 CATHOLICS AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 The hostility of Romanists to the education of the people 
 is more apparent in heathen than in Christian lands. In the 
 Sandwich Islands, says a missionary journal, " the priests 
 are doing all in their power to check the progress of knowl- 
 
240 CHARACTER OF PAPAL MISSIONS. 
 
 edge and of truth among the people. They have taken a 
 bold stand against the school laws, which require that all 
 children of a suitable age shall attend some school, and that 
 the teachers shall be graduates of the seminary. The priests 
 pay no regard to these laws, but set up opposition schools, 
 and appoint teachers from their own pupils, though they 
 have nothing to teach, but a few pages containing the outlines 
 of popish mummeries." — Miss. Her., 1842, p. 150. 
 
 THE JESUIT AWD THE CUTTLE-FISH. 
 
 Dr. W. II. Harvey, professor of botany in Trinity College, 
 Dublin, in a letter from one of the Friendly Islands, speaks 
 of the Romish priests there as too corrupt to gain even the 
 confidence of the natives. Dr. II. says : " In one of the con- 
 troversies (between native converts and Catholics), which 
 were more numerous formerly than now, when the Jesuit 
 had, in- the course of the discussion, shifted his ground and 
 changed his assertions more than once, the native contro- 
 versialist, in his reply, called the Jesuit a ' feke ' (cuttle- 
 fish), because he changed color. This tickled the fancy of 
 the other natives, who were all familiar with the habits of 
 the cuttle-fish, which formerly was one of their gods. So 
 the word feke has become the common synonyme for Jesuit ; 
 and they illustrate the nickname by ludicrous comparisons 
 of the habits of both animals, the cuttle-fish, Avith his 
 many grasping arms, sticks fast by its suckers to the object 
 it attacks. Its large mouth and sharp jaws are hidden under 
 the arms, and only found out when it bites and devours. 
 Its great staring eyes are ever looking for prey. It has a 
 habit of squeezing its body into narrow holes, where it sits, 
 ready to pounce on a passing fish. It squirts out clear 
 welter as it swims at ease, and throws dirt all around it 
 when attacked, and then scuttles off under cover of the 
 fouled water. It lays down flat, and takes the color of the 
 stone it lies on, when it is cowed, and has no other means 
 of escape. Thus they chaffer among themselves, as they 
 point at the feke. For years the Jesuits made scarcely 
 any impression, and but for the joint influence of Frencli 
 intimidation, bribery, the allowance of a relaxed morality, 
 and the toleration of semi-heathenish customs, they would 
 have been left with scarcely any disciples." — Journal of 
 Miss., 1856, p. 2Y. 
 
POPISH EMISSARIES AT FERNANDO PO. 241 
 
 THIRTY-TWO POPISH EMISSARIES AT FERNANDO PO. 
 
 The English Baptists, United Presbyterians, and others, 
 have a mission at Fernando Po, West Africa, about one hun- 
 dred and twenty miles from Old Calabar, where they have 
 been quietl}"^ pursuing their work for several years. The 
 place belongs to Spain, but has never been cared for, or vis- 
 ited by any of her religious functionaries, till recently. In 
 May last, a small Spanish schooner, direct from Cadiz, arrived 
 with no less than thirty-two Roman Catholic missionaries. 
 The band consisted of five priests, nine catechists, eight sis- 
 ters of charity, and ten artisans and agriculturists. They 
 were under the guidance of Don Miguel Martinez y Lauz, 
 who was chaplain to the Queen of Spain, and wore the star 
 of the order. Sa3^s the "Scotch United Presbyterian" for 
 August, 1856, " Clarence, the chief town of Fernando Po, has 
 become a place of some importance, since the increase of the 
 palm-oil trade on the coast, the establishment of monthly 
 steamers, and the institution of missions in various localities, 
 as most of the ships visit the harbor. So long as there were 
 no missions, no regular trade, and no attempt made to intro- 
 duce civilization, popish Spain left these islands to the unin- 
 terrupted influence of superstition and heathen darkness. 
 But now that the Bible and the trading ship, the missionary 
 and the merchant, have begun to instruct the long neglected 
 natives, and to develop the resources of these important re- 
 gions, the man of sin, ever watchful, sends his confederated 
 bands to arrest or to mar the good work, and to cover over 
 the dense stratum of native superstition with a layer of glit- 
 tering crosses. It is said that the Queen of Spain has devoted 
 thirty thousand pounds to missions for the Gulf of Guinea, 
 and that these thirty-two missionaries — only the advanced 
 brigade — are to be followed by three men of war, the senior 
 officer of which is to take the command of the island." This 
 movement of the Papists, though threatening in appearance, 
 is in keeping with tlieir whole line of conduct, and does not 
 in the least discourage the missionaries of the cross. 
 21 
 
THE GOSPEL A BLESSING PRESENT AND 
 TEMPORAL. 
 
 "GOOD "WILL TO MEW." 
 
 That the Gospel, in its spirit and fruits, is good will to 
 men, instead of wars and fightings, is strikingly shown in 
 the following fact. A powerful chief in New Zealand, who 
 had been brought under the power of the Gospel, being 
 threatened with a warlike attack from a neighboring tribe, 
 went out one morning to reconnoitre the enemy's camp ; 
 and, while he lay concealed among the fern, he perceived 
 the principal chief of the enemy coming towards him for a 
 similar purpose. The enemy was well armed, but the Chris- 
 tian chief had no weapon ; he therefore kept his place of 
 concealment until he observed his enemy sit down on the 
 shore at a little distance, with his back towards him. lie 
 then crept from his hiding-place, and, unperceived, sprung 
 like a tiger upon the back of his adversary, turned him over, 
 wrested his weapon from his hand (a double-barrelled gun), 
 and, tying his hands, made him march before him to his own 
 camp. AVhen tliey had nearly reached it, he ordered his 
 prisoner to stand. He did so, expecting this was the signal 
 for his instant death. But great was his surprise, when the 
 conqueror unbound his arms and restored his weapons, bid- 
 ding him to bind him, and drive him in the same way, as a 
 prisoner, to his camp, which was accordingly done. When 
 they entered it, the people set up a shout on beholding their 
 chief leading in so important a prisoner ; and it was with 
 difficulty that he could restrain tjjem from instantly putting 
 to death the supposed captive. But he persuaded them to 
 have patience till he could tell them the whole story, when 
 they might put him to death if they wished. Seating his 
 people in a circle around him, he then related to them the 
 
A BLESSED FREEDOM. 243 
 
 circumstances of his own capture and release by their sup- 
 posed enemy, and how the latter had ordered himself to be 
 thus bound and driven to their camp. The simple and aflect- 
 ing story raised a g'eneral shout of admiration in favor of 
 the prisoner, and resulted in an immediate proclamation of 
 peace between the two chiefs and their tribes. — Ghh. 3Iiss. 
 Record, 1840, p. 281. 
 
 A BLESSED FREEDOM. 
 
 The missionaries in Jamaica, since the emancipation, fur- 
 nish some curious and instructive specimens of freed negro 
 speeches. On one occasion, at a first of August celebra- 
 tion, in connection with the missionary stations, the follow- 
 ing address was made by the senior deacon of a mission 
 church, — "a good man, in whom was no guile." He said : 
 " 1 have very few words to tell, — you see this ? " — holding 
 up a cat-of-nine-tails. " You young people don't know this, 
 but plenty of my old brothers and sisters they know it well ; 
 they know that time when you hear nothing but the whip 
 going bam, bam, bam — slash, slash, slash, from morning 
 to night. Plenty before me now, not born in that time. 
 Plenty to-day buy new hat, new handkerchief — myself buy 
 one new surtout ; but let me ask you, if this day no been 
 come, would you able to buy them and wear them ? No ! 
 In old time, if you have a Bible, and manager see it, you 
 know what you will catch to-morrow — you will catch this," 
 
 — pointing to the cat. "If we want to go to chapel, at 
 Souvenir, what did we have to do ? Many times me put 
 all my clean clothes in a small bundle, and walk to chapel 
 in my dirty clothes. In case manager see me, he see my 
 dirty clothes, he think I am going to work. Then, when 
 we get near chapel, we just go in bush, change our clothes, 
 and go to Mr. Smith's chapel. When chapel done, we go 
 back, and put on all our dirty clothes again, for fear of 
 massa. Then we go pretend catch fish — catch crab ; but, 
 0, if manager see we go to chapel, to-morrow we catch this 
 flogging. One 3'oung man tell me, that time they flog us 
 BO, it was because we were foolish. Poor fellow ! he can 
 talk so now there is no flogging ; but stop till he get the 
 whip, and the driver put it on well, he will no call we fool- 
 ish again. Before time every little thing was stocks, stocks 
 
 — driver, driver ; but now we are free; and who is the 
 somebody that can take that from you ? No, we shall never 
 see that day when the freedom lost again." 
 
244 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 SPIRITUAL -WEAPONS MIGHTY. 
 
 Tlio island of Mare, Western Polynesia, has been the 
 snbject of remarkable changes within a few years. It is 
 divided into four j^olitical sections, of which two, Suacko 
 and Kuarna, under one chief, form the Christian division. 
 Seine, the old chief, was not friendly to Christianity, but 
 protected the missionaries during his life. After his death, 
 his three sons said, " Now our father is dead, who led us 
 astray, let us cast off old customs and evils, and turn to 
 the word of God." They themselves set the example by 
 dismissing their numerous wives, abandoning all heathen 
 practices, observing the Sabbath, &c. Their example was 
 extensively followed. Some time after these occurrences, 
 a very interesting event took place. The heathen party 
 assembled at the boundary of the two districts, and sent a 
 challenge to the Christian party to come and fight with 
 them. One of the brothers, a chief, went to meet them, 
 and said to them, " We are not afraid of you ; we are not 
 afraid of men, but we are afraid of God ; w^e desire the word 
 of God, and will not fight." He denounced war and heathen 
 practices, and commended to them the word of God and the 
 religion it teaches, exhorting them to cast off the one and 
 embrace the other. The hostile party were so far overcome 
 b}^ this mode of warfare, that they returned quietly to their 
 own homes, and there was no fighting. Some of the heathen 
 party tried to provoke the other by calling them cowards, 
 but the Christians were steadfast in their love of peace, and 
 so the matter ended. — London Miss. 3Iag., 1853, p. 181. 
 
 THE INDIAlSr AND THE SABBATH. 
 
 A Dakota Indian, not himself a member of the church, 
 but very intelligent and friendl3^ and the first of that nation 
 who learnt to Yead, while speaking to the missionar3% Dr. 
 Williamson, of the faults of some of the communicants, gave 
 in the following testimony, as related by Dr. \V. Alluding 
 to the use of whiskey, and especially the violations of the 
 Sabbath, he said : " I am astonished that they should do so ; 
 they cannot prosper. Why do you not cast them out of 
 the church ? I am a bad man, and do not belong to the 
 church, but I have suffered so much from whiskey and 
 working on the Sabbath, that I am determined to have noth- 
 ing more to do with whiskey, and to neither move nor hunt 
 on the holy day. Last fall, when going out for the winter 
 hunt, I touk with me whiskey to get horses, and the Great 
 
THE ■WHALE-SHIP AND THE CANNIBALS. 245 
 
 Spirit was angry with mo, and my wife became diseased in 
 one of her ankles. She was unwell all winter ; and now, 
 at the end of eight moons, is only beginning to walk. 
 The winter we went to Crooked River, though we had corn, 
 we were in haste to get venison, and travelled on the Sab- 
 bath in going there ; and, consequent!}'-, starved all winter. 
 There were deer, but we could not shoot them. Beavers 
 and otters were plenty in the river, and I knew how to trap 
 as well as any man, but 1 could not catch them. Since that 
 time I was travelling one Sabbath, and my cart (he was the 
 only Indian in the place who had a cart) turned over, and 
 my guns were both broken. At another time I went out to 
 hunt on the Sabbath, and my gun burst, tearing my hand. 
 I determined I would do so no more, and I have rested 
 when the bufialoes were thick all about my tent. But liei'e, 
 lately, when I was resting on the Sabbath, and had deter- 
 mined not to hunt, though the buffaloes were in sight, 
 Giiciye came, chasing a fat cow close by, and, before I 
 thought, 1 called for my gun, and, as I raised it, before 1 
 got it to my eye, it went off, I know not how, and instead 
 of killing the cow, the bullet passed through the foot of my 
 friend, wounding also the horse he rode. I have spent 
 much time and medicine in attending on him, and yet they 
 threaten to kill me." Such was the testimony of one of the 
 best minds among the Dakotas, as to the unprofitableness 
 of working or journeying on the Sabbath. — Miss. He)'., 
 1845, p. 167. 
 
 THE ■WHALE-SHIP AND THE CANNIBALS. 
 
 A New England whale-ship foundered in a gale, some 
 years ago, in the Pacific Ocean. Her crew took to the 
 boats ; and, after toiling for several days and nights, two 
 of the boats came in sight of an island. One of them was 
 run through the surf, and the crew jumped on shore, making 
 signs to the natives to oxpi'css their destitute condition. 
 But no pity dwelt in those savage breasts. Rushing upon 
 the exhausted seamen with their clubs, they instantly killed 
 them, and made preparations to feast upon their bodies, for 
 they were cannibals. Seeing the fate of their companions, 
 the other boat's crew pulled hastily away from that dreadful 
 spot ; and, after almost incredible sufierings, were picked 
 up by a friendly vessel and saved. 
 
 Some years passed, and another ship was wrecked in the 
 same seas, and near the same island. Her commander had 
 21* 
 
246 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 been second mate of the former ship, and was saved with 
 the boat's crew which witnessed the destruction of their 
 shipmates by the cannibals. Again he approached the 
 ishuid, a wrecked mariner, and reduced by hunger and 
 exhaustion to a feeble and emaciated state. He recognized 
 the fatal shore, and told his companions of the cannibals 
 who dwelt beyond it. But they were too weak to put out 
 to sea again. To do so was to die. They could but die if 
 they landed ; and, perhaps, the savages might be merciful. 
 Perceiving none of the natives, they hauled their boat up on 
 the beach, and sought the shelter of the adjoining woods, 
 in the hope of finding fruits or berries for subsistence. But, 
 once in the woods, their fears increased. They moved 
 stealthily along, alarmed at the cracking of the diy bushes 
 beneath their feet, and at the rustling of the leaves. Death 
 seemed to speak in every sound, and to leer upon them 
 through every opening glade of the forest. Cold sweats 
 gathered on their sunburnt brows ; and more than once 
 they halted, and consulted on the propriety of returning to 
 the boat ; but as often they resolved to advance, especially 
 as they found themselves ascending a wooded hill, which 
 they hoped might furnish them with a nook or cave in which 
 to hide. Thus trembling they proceeded. They approached 
 the summit of the hill, which was bold and rocky. The 
 foremost of the party ventured from the shelter of the trees 
 to view the island. Cautiously he stole, step by step, to 
 the mountain's brow, until his eye caught sight of the 
 village below. Then, he literally sprang into the air, 
 clapped his hands, and shouted, 'Safe! Safe I SAFE!' — 
 ' What is the matter? ' asked his companions, who thought 
 him crazy. 'We are s^afe, I tell you toe are mfe!' pointing 
 to the village on the plain below. Looking down, the now 
 joyful seamen beheld a church, lifting its modest front above 
 the huts of the natives. Then they shared in the transports 
 of their companion. Thoy leaped, they wept, they 
 embraced. They knew by that church that the missionary 
 was there. The}' knew that where he lived and labored can- 
 nibalism must be dead. They accorditigly descended to 
 the plain, and found, instead of a cruel death, the utmost 
 kindness, perfect security, and a generous hospitality." 
 Had those wrecked mariners been sceptics or infidels, would 
 they have needed any further proof of the humanizing and 
 renovating power of tlie Gospel, or of the utility of mis- 
 sions ? — Fres. For. Miss., 1853, p. 197. 
 
THE POOR MAN AND HIS TREE. 247 
 
 BLESS THEM THAT CURSE. 
 
 la 1852, the niissioiiaiy station occupied by Dr. Living- 
 ton, South Africa, among the Bechuanas, was completely- 
 pillaged, and many lives destroyed, by the Dutch Boers, 
 who had emigrated into that country. A short time after 
 this event, a company of the Boers called at an out-station 
 of the mission, on the Kolong river, and, in conversation 
 with the native Christians, declared their approval of the 
 outrages committed upon the mission. A native asked, on 
 what authority they, the Boers, dared to kill and plunder 
 tribes, who were, with respect to them, guiltless before God 
 and man ? Another native took up the subject, and addressed 
 the Boers thus: " Are you not afraid to pass through our 
 country ? The people, who have been killed by your rela- 
 tions in the interior, arc our friends. We ai'e of one nation. 
 Are you not afraid to come among us after what has taken 
 place ? You have to be thankful to the word of God that 
 you are alive this day. We have received the doctrine of 
 God, and, but for the fear of God, but for the number of 
 believers in this place, you would have been dead men 
 where you now stand. We should have put you into our 
 hands and consumed you. We thank God that we have 
 been taught to love and pity all men." This testimony, 
 the missionary, Dr. Moffat, says, is true. The Boers were 
 allowed to depart in peace ; but were obliged to go back 
 the way they came, as the chief would not allow them to 
 pass through his territories. What could more forcibly 
 illustrate the spirit and fruits of the Gospel ? — Miss. Mag., 
 1853, p. 63. 
 
 THE POOR MAN" AND HIS TREE. 
 
 A circumstance occurred at Huahine, one of the Society 
 Islands, so analogous to the poor man and his ewe lamb, 
 and so illustrative of the benefits of Christianity among a 
 heathen people, that it is worth recording. In the autumn 
 of 1822, the Queen of Tahiti visited Huahine with her 
 attendants. The latter, wishing for some timber, were 
 directed by the queen to cut down a bread-fruit tree, which 
 grew in the garden of a poor man. This poor man, on 
 learning his loss, went to a magistrate and lodged a com- 
 plaint against the queen. The case was promptly attended 
 to, and the next morning the magistrate was seen sitting in 
 the open air, beneath the branches of a tree, and before him, 
 on a finely woven mat, sat the queen and her attendants. 
 
248 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 Near tlie queen stood Teuhe, the poor man, and around 
 them all the police officers. Turning to Teuhe, the magis- 
 trate inquired for what purpose they were convened. The 
 poor man said that in his garden grew a bread-fruit tree, 
 whose shade was grateful to the inmates of his cottage, and 
 whose fruit contributed nearly half the year to the support 
 of his family ; that yesterday it was cut down, as he was 
 informed, by order of the queen. He knew that they had 
 laws, and he had thought they protected the poor man's 
 property as well as that of the kings and chiefs ; and he 
 wished to know whether it was right that the tree should 
 have been cut down without his consent. The magistrate 
 turned to the queen, and asked if she had directed the tree 
 to be cut down. She answered, " Yes." He then asked 
 her if she did not know that they had laws. She said. Yes ; 
 but she did not know as they applied to her. The magis- 
 trate asked her if there were any exceptions in favor of 
 chiefs, or kings, or queens. She said. No, and immediately 
 despatched one of her attendants for a bag of money, which 
 she threw down before the poor man as a recompense for 
 his loss. " Stop," said the justice, " we have not done 
 yet." The queen began to weep. " Do you think it was 
 right," continued the magistrate, " to cut down the tree 
 without asking the owner's permission ? " — "No, it was 
 not right," said the queen. Then, turning to the poor 
 man, he asked, " What remuneration do you require ? " 
 Teuhe answered, " If the queen is convinced that it was 
 not right to take a little man's tree without his permission, 
 I am sure she will not do it again. I am satisfied, I require 
 no other recompense." His disinterestedness was applauded. 
 The assembly dispersed ; and, afterwards, the queen sent 
 him privately a present equal to the value of the tree. — 
 South Sea Missions, p. 232. 
 
 CHRISTIAlSriTY AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The people of Tahiti, having received Christianity, and 
 being about to form a government, met in assembly, and 
 sent a message to the queen, to know upon what principles 
 they were to proceed. She sent back a copy of the New 
 Testament, saying, " Let the principles of this book be the 
 foundation of all your proceedings." 
 
HOUSE OF WORSHIP IN TAHITI. 249 
 
 A SAILOR'S OPIIsriON OP MISSIONS. 
 
 Said Rev. Mr. McLeod, at a meeting of the London Mis- 
 sionary Society: "Having read, iu the account of some 
 voyage, things to the discredit of missions, I shortly after 
 met with the captain of a ship that voyaged to the South 
 Seas, and I asked him, ' Do 3'ou think that missions have 
 done much good in the South Seas ? ' lie looked at me, 
 and said, ' I do not know what you know about missions, 
 but I will tell you a fact. Last year I was wrecked on one 
 of tliose islands, and I knew that eiglit years before an 
 American whaler had been shipwrecked on the same island; 
 that the crew had been murdered ; and no doubt you may 
 judge of my feelings, when we anticipated that we should 
 either be dashed to pieces on the rocks during the night, 
 or, if we survived till morning, subjected to a dreadful 
 death. As soon as the day broke, I saw a number of 
 canoes, manned, pulling away between the island and the 
 ship. We prepared for the worst consequences. Judge of 
 our amazement when the natives came on board in a Euro- 
 pean dress, and spoke to us in English ! In that very island 
 I heard the Gospel on the Sabbath-day, and sat down at the 
 communion-table, and sang the same psalm that I had sung 
 in Scotland.' He added, ' I do not know what j'ou think 
 of missions, but I know what I think of them.' " — Jour, of 
 Miss., Sept., 1854. 
 
 HOUSE OP WORSHIP IN" TAHITI. 
 
 One of the largest houses of worship ever built for Chris- 
 tian worship was erected by King Pomare, of Tahiti, after 
 his conversion to Christianity. It was seven hundred and 
 twelve feet long, by fifty-four wide. The roof was sup- 
 ported by thirty-six massive pillars of the bread-fruit tree ; 
 and the sides by two hundred and eighty smaller ones. The 
 walls were composed of boards fixed perpendicularly in 
 square sleepers, and were either smoothed with a plane, or 
 polished by rubbing with coral and sand. The buiUling con- 
 tained one hundred and thirty-three windows, and twenty- 
 nine doors. The floor was covered with long grass, and 
 the area was filled with plain, but substantial benches. The 
 rafters were bound with braided cord, colored in native 
 dyes, or covered with white matting, the ends of which hung 
 down several feet, and terminated in a broad fringe. The 
 chapel contained three pulpits, two hundred and sixty feet 
 apart, but without any partition between. It was called the 
 
250 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 Royal Mission Chapel, and was first opened in May, 1819. 
 A sermon was preached in each pulpit, at the same time, 
 to an audience each of more than two thousand hearers. 
 When Pomare was asked why he built so large a house, he 
 inquired, "Whether Solomon was not a good king, and 
 whether he did not build a house for Jehovah, superior 
 to every edifice in Judea, or in the surrounding countries." 
 
 — South Sea Mission, p. 170. 
 
 HOW TO KETURN A BLOW. 
 
 Mr. Marsh, of Mosul, relates of an Armenian, named 
 John, that, when living at Constantinople, he was hired, by 
 persecuting Armenians, to strike a watchmaker. Tiie lat- 
 ter, upon receiving the blow, nobly prayed, " 3Iay God 
 bless you." This remarkable answer was efiectual ; for, 
 said John, in allusion to the affair, " I could not strike 
 again, and at night I said to the money, ' Instead of my 
 eating you, jon will eat me.' " John soon gave occasion 
 for friends and foes to say of him, " Behold, he prayoth ! " 
 Thus was the power of a soft answer strikingly illustrated. 
 
 — 3Iiss. Her., 1850, p. 269. 
 
 ANTI-HUMAISr SACRIFICE SOCIETY. 
 
 The frightful extent to which human sacrifices had been 
 carried, in West Africa, so roused the attention of mission- 
 aries, and other white residents, that, in 1850, after many 
 preliminary meetings, and much discussion, in which African 
 head men took an active part, a society was formed for the 
 suppi'ession of this horrid practice, and called the " Anti- 
 Human Sacrifice Society." The law was duly proclaimed 
 at Old Calabar, Creek Town, and other important places. 
 The news of tliis most important affair soon spread among 
 the people, causing great joy. The king, Archibong, and 
 his chiefs, have proved, in general, sincere friends to the 
 new law ; and late accounts show that, with comparativel}'- 
 few exceptions, human sacrifices have ceased, and the 
 frightful flow of blood from this cause has been stayed. It 
 is one of the greatest triumphs the Gospel has aciiieved iu 
 Africa. — United Pres. Bee, 1850, p. 107. 
 
 SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE LAW OF GOD. 
 
 Some Europeans in New Zealand had engaged natives to 
 accompany them on a journey, and carry their luggage. 
 The Sabbath overtook them on the road ; the Europeans 
 
THEY SHALL LEARN WAR NO MORE. 251 
 
 wished to proceed ; but the natives said, " No, it is Sab- 
 bath, we must rest." The travellers went forward without 
 their native attendants, and refused to pay them when they 
 bad accomplished the journey with the luggage, because 
 they would not travel on the Sabbath. The natives in- 
 quired, " What are we to do with the law of God ? " and 
 received for answer, " What have we to do with the law of 
 God ? what is that to us ? " One of the natives retorted, 
 by saying, " You have much to do with that law. Were it 
 not for the law of God, we should not have exercised the 
 forbearance we have, on your refusal to give us paj'ment. 
 We should have robbed j'ou, and taken all you possessed, 
 and sent you about your business. You have that much to 
 do with the law of God." — Juvenile Missionary Magazine, 
 1847, p. 128. 
 
 THEY SHALL LEAKN" "WAR NO MORE. 
 
 In Samoa, one of the South Sea Islands, where the labors 
 of missionaries have been eminently successful, a native 
 convert, at a public meeting, spoke as follows: "Happy 
 are we of this generation ; formerly, we used to lie down at 
 night with trembling hearts, saying, ' Perhaps I shall be 
 surprised before the morning by the club of the enemy.' 
 Now, we lie down without fear, and sleep in peace." 
 Another said, " How delightful are our meetings together 
 now ! Formerly, when we met, our hearts were full of envy, 
 strife, and anger, and we concerted measures for war and 
 plunder ; now, we meet in love and peace, as one family, 
 and worship the true God." A third remarked, " What a 
 delightful feeling is this compassion which now fills our 
 hearts ! Formerly, there was no compassion among us but 
 that of the mouth ; we uttered compassion with our mouth, 
 while our hearts were full of hatred and murder ; but now 
 we know what true compassion is, and the great happiness 
 which springs from it." Words like these from Samoans, 
 whose words agreed with their deeds, beautifully illustrate 
 and verify many of the glowing predictions of inspired 
 truth. 
 
 The missionary. Rev. Mr. Murray, adds as follows : 
 "" Among the many happy results which have flowed from 
 the introduction of the Gospel to these islands, none is more 
 remarkable than the complete abandonment of war in all the 
 islands, except a few small ones to the windward, where no 
 European missionary has yet been. Before the commence- 
 
252 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 ment of missionary operations, the islands were in a state 
 of perpetual hostility. Even so late as 1830, there was a 
 dreadlul war in Upolu, at the conclusion of which numbers 
 of men and women, and even children, were thrown alive 
 into immense fires, and consumed, in order to satiate the 
 rage of their enemies. Noiv, the weapons of war, and 
 instruments of death are seen stuck into the roof of their 
 lowly huts, covered with dust, and going to decay ; or they 
 are converted into implements of industry, or disposed of 
 to visitors as articles no longer to be desired." Such are 
 the fulfilments of the divine prediction, that, under the 
 reign of the Messiah, men shall learn war no more. — Lond. 
 Mias. Mag., 1840, p. 102. 
 
 MISSIO]SrARIES BETWEEN" HOSTILE ARMIES. 
 
 Rev. William Yate, Church missionary in New Zealand, 
 relates the following fact, which occurred in that island : 
 "The shedding of the blood of one tribe by another was 
 always considered an imperative appeal for vengeance ; 
 and, under such circumstances, two thousand New Zealand 
 warriors, on either side, were assembled in battle-array. 
 They were all well armed, within musket-shot of each other, 
 and so equally matched that a general slaughter must have 
 been the result of a contest. The chiefs saw tliis inevitable 
 consequence, and some were desirous of making peace ; 
 but ancient custom forbade their doing so, until vengeance 
 had been taken for the injury inflicted. They at length sent 
 for the missionaries, who, they said, had been 'for fifteen 
 years talking about peace,' to see what they would do. 
 The missionaries obeyed the summons, and, as mediators, 
 pitched their tents between the hostile parties! At first they 
 could accomplish nothing, on account of divisions in the 
 councils of the chiefs. At last they induced them to com- 
 mit the decision of the question — for peace or war — to 
 one individual. They did so, and selected a ' chief of great 
 importance, but a dreadful savage.' To him the mission- 
 aries now addressed themselves. The}'' set before him the 
 consequences of the Avar, even if victory crowned it, and 
 pointed out to him the evil of it in the sight of God. In 
 the result, ho decided for peace ; and these tribes have 
 been ever since the firmest friends and allies of any in the 
 country." 
 
INFLUENCE OP A RELIGION OF MERCY. 253 
 
 DK. PHILIP'S TESTIMONY. 
 
 The London Missionary Society early planted missions in 
 Africa, among the CaflVes, Griquas, Bnshmen, Bechnanas, 
 and Namaquas, and of these missions, in 1828, Rev. Dr. 
 Philip declares : 
 
 " While the missionaries have been employed in locating- 
 the savages among whom they labor, teaching them indns- 
 trious habits, creating a demand for British manufactures, 
 and increasing their dependence on the colony, there is not 
 a single instance of a tribe, thus enjoying the labors of a 
 missionary, making war against the colonists, either to in- 
 jure their persons or deprive them of their property. While 
 the Caftres, who command about one hundred and fifty miles 
 of our frontier, have only been the scourge and terror of the 
 colony of the Cape, those who have enjoyed the labors of 
 missionaries are, without a single exception, friendly to its 
 security and interests." — Rev. B. W. Noel's Christian 
 Missions, p. 279. 
 
 IM-FLUENCE OF A KELIGION OF MEECY. 
 
 The beauty and eflScacy of Christianity, as a religion of 
 mercy, is finely illustrated in the following incidents. After 
 the conversion of Pomare, king of Tahiti, he was visited by 
 Tamatoa, king of Raiatea, one of the Society Islands, on 
 matters of business. So much was he impressed with the 
 conversation of Pomare and the missionaries, that, on return- 
 ing to his own island, he renounced idolatry, and requested 
 teachers and books for himself and people. But the idola- 
 trous chiefs and people resorted to arms in defence, of their 
 gods. They determined to put all tlie Christians to death, 
 and for this purpose they erected a house, and enclosed it 
 with the trunks of cocoanut and bread-fruit trees, intending 
 to thrust the Christians into it, and burn them alive. Tama- 
 toa sent frequent overtures of peace, but the invariable 
 reply was, "There is no peace for god-burners, till they 
 have felt the efiects of the fire which destroyed Oro," — 
 alluding to the fact that Tamatoa had destroyed the idols, 
 Oro being the chief. Early on the morning of the day fixed 
 upon for the accomplishment of their design, the heathen 
 party, with flying banners, the shout of the warriors, and 
 the sound of the trumpet-shell, bore down in an imposing 
 attitude upon the aftVighted Christians ; while tliey, on their 
 bended knees, were supplicating the protection of God 
 
254 THE GOSrEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 against the fuiy of their enemies, whose numbers, frightful 
 preparations, and superstitious madness, rendered them 
 peculiarly formidable. While the idolaters were landing, 
 the Christians rushed to the shore, and extended their little 
 army as i'ar as it could reach. This bold and unexpected 
 movement filled the assailants with consternation. After a 
 short resistance, they threw away their arms, and fled for 
 their lives, expecting to meet with the same barbarous 
 ti'eatment which they would have inflicted, had they been 
 the conquerors. Perceiving, however, that those who had 
 fallen into the hands of the Christians sustained no injury, 
 they voluntarily came forward and threw themselves on the 
 mercy of the victors. As the prisoners were conducted into 
 the presence of the chief, a herald, who stood by his side, 
 shouted, "Welcome! welcome! you are saved by Jesus, 
 and the influence of the religion of mercy which we have 
 embraced ! " When the chief who had led the heathen 
 party was conducted, pale and trembling, into the presence 
 of Tamatoa, he exclaimed, "Am I dead '( " Ilis fears were 
 soon dispelled by the reply, "No, brother; cease to trem- 
 ble, you are saved by Jesus." Not content with sparing 
 the lives of the prisoners, the Christians soon prepared a 
 feast for them, consisting of a hundred baked pigs, and a 
 large quantity of bread-fruit. But so overcome were the 
 prisoners by the kindness with which they wei'e treated, 
 that but few of them were able to partake of food. While 
 they were at the table, one of them rose and declared his 
 determination never again to worship the gods who could 
 not protect them in the hour of danger. He said, " We were 
 four times the number of the praj'ing people, yet they have 
 conquered us with the greatest ease. Jehovah is the true 
 God. Had we conquered them, they would have been burn- 
 ing in the house we made strong for the purpose. But, 
 instead of injuring us, or our wives or children, they have 
 prepared for us this sumptuous feast. Theirs is a religion 
 of mercy. I will go and unite myself to this pef)ple." A 
 similar feeling pervaded the whole company. They united 
 in thanking God for the victory he had given the Christians. 
 On the following morning the Christians and heathens joined 
 their eflbrts in demolishing the gods ; and, three days aiter 
 the battle, every vestige of idolatry was destroyed. — South 
 Sea Missions, p. 202. 
 
WORSHIP AND ARMS. 
 
 CHKISTIANITY AND SLAVERY. 
 
 255 
 
 Eev. Mr. Ellis, missionary in Tahiti, being asked by the 
 aborigines' committee, " Have they any slaves there ? " 
 replied, "No, not since Christianity has been introduced; 
 formerly, captives taken in war were made slaves." — 
 " Then Christianity, among- other good eftects," it was 
 asked again, "has led to the abolition of slavery among 
 them?" to which Mr. Ellis emphatically answered, "They 
 never considered the two things compatible." 
 
 To the above may be added another fact, both found in 
 D. J. East's " Western Africa," pp. 251, 253. _" The Wes- 
 leyan missionaries among the Little Namaquas, in Southern 
 Africa, drew up some 'general laws and regulations,' for 
 the government of a Christian community of natives, which, 
 they had been instrumental in gathering. Mr. Beecham, m 
 the course of his evidence before the aborigines' commit- 
 tee, referring to these laws, says : ' I discover evidence of 
 the care which has been taken to guard against the intro- 
 duction of slavery, the laws having been drawn up while 
 slaver-ij was in existence. It was enacted, " That, to prevent 
 anything like slavery being carried on in this place, every 
 new-year's day, all who are, or may be taken as servants, 
 shall' be assembled together, and be free to serve their old 
 masters, or hire themselves to others, if they please, under 
 a proper contract." Here, then, in the very face of slavery, 
 laws are enacted for its suppression, and the most effectual 
 means are taken to secure the people in after years from its 
 galling yoke.' " 
 
 "WORSHIP AND ARMS. 
 
 On one occasion, King Pomare, of Tahiti, was suddenly 
 surprised by a party of idolatrous enemies, who had deter- 
 mined to cut off him and his Christian associates at a blow. 
 It was the Sabbath, and they were assembled for worship. 
 As the enemy approached, a cry was heard in the house, " It 
 is war ! " this produced a sudden panic. Pomare, how- 
 ever, commanded silence, and ordered the services to pro- 
 ceed, saying that their trust was in Jehovah. A hymn was 
 sung, and a prayer offered. Happily they had remembered 
 the warnings given them by the missionaries, to beware of 
 treachery, and had brought their arms ivith them. The foe 
 arrived, and the friends of Christianity fought for their dear- 
 est interests ; and when they were prevented by the nature 
 
256 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 of the ground from coming- into immediate action, tliey 
 kneeled down among the trees and bushes, and supplicated 
 divine aid. They were victorious. The leader of the enemy 
 was soon slain, and his party routed. Fomiire forbade a pur- 
 suit, and commanded the dead to be decentl}^ buried, and 
 the women and children to be kindly used. These lenient 
 proceedings had the happiest effect, for the idolaters rightly 
 attributed them to the new religion, which they said must 
 be good. They immediately sent in their submission to 
 Pomare, and requested teachers. — Hiss. Her., 1825, p. 
 294. 
 
 SONS OF THE WORD — A SUEPKISE. 
 
 While Rev. John Williams was laboring in the South 
 Seas, he took occasion to call at Tutnlia, one of the Society 
 Islands, whei'e a most interesting occurrence took place. 
 It is thus related by Mr. W. in his " Missionary Enterprises 
 in South Seas," p. 318. He says : " On entering the mouth 
 of the spacious and beautiful bay, we were boarded by a 
 person who introduced himself as a ' son of the woixl.' We 
 gave him a hearty welcome, and learned, in reply to our in- 
 quiries, that in this district about fifty persons had embraced 
 Christianity, had erected a place of worship, and Avere anx- 
 iously waiting my arrival. I determined immediately to 
 visit the spot, and with this intent we lowered our little 
 boat and approached the shore. When about twenty yards 
 from the beach, as the heathen presented rather a formida- 
 ble appearance, I desired the native crew to cease rowing, 
 and unite with me in prayer, which was our usual practice 
 when exposed to danger. The chief, who stood in the 
 centre of the assembled multitude, supposing that we were 
 afraid to land, made the people sit down under the grove 
 of bread-fruit, cocoanut, and other trees which girt the 
 shore. The chief then waded into the water nearly up to 
 his neck, and took hold of the boat, when, addressing me 
 in his native tongue, he said, ' Son, will you not come on 
 shore ? Will you not laud amongst us ? ' To this I replied, 
 'I do not know that I shall trust myself; I have heard a sad 
 account of you in this bay, that you have taken two boats, 
 and that you arc exceedingly savage ; and perhaps, when 
 you get me into your possession, you will either injure my 
 person, or demand a ransom for my release.' — ' 0,' he ex- 
 claimed, 'we are not savage now; we are Christians.' — 
 ' You Christians ! ' I said ; ' where did j'^ou hear of Chris- 
 
SONS OF THE WORD — A SURPRISE. 257 
 
 tianity?' — '0/ he replied, 'a great chief from the white 
 man's country, named Williams, came to Savaii (a neigh- 
 boring island) about twenty moons ago, and placed some 
 tama fai-lotu (workers of religion) there, and several of our 
 people who were there began, on their return, to instruct 
 their friends, many of whom have become sons of the word. 
 There they are ; don't you see them ? ' Looking in the 
 direction to which he pointed, I saw a group of about fifty 
 persons, seated under the wide-spreading branches of large 
 tou and other trees, apart from those whom he had ordered 
 to sit down along the beach. Every one of this group had 
 a piece of white native cloth tied around his arm. I in- 
 quired of the chief what this meant ; when he replied, 
 ' They are the Christians, and that cloth is to distinguish 
 them from their heathen countrymen.' — 'Why,' 1 immedi- 
 ately exclaimed, ' I am the person 3='ou allude to ; my name 
 is Williams. I took the workers of religion to Savaii about 
 twenty moons ago.' The moment he heard this, he made 
 a signal to the multitude, who sprang from their seats, 
 rushed to the sea, seized the boat, and carried both it and 
 us to the shore. Upon landing, Amoamo, the chief, took 
 me by the hand, and conducted me to the Christians ; and, 
 after the usual salutations, I inquired where they had heard 
 of Christianity. Upon this, one of their number replied, 
 that he had been down to the workers of religion (to the 
 island of Savaii), had brought back some knowledge, and 
 was now engaged in imparting it to his countrymen. ' And 
 there is our chapel,' said he, ' don't you see it ? ' Turning 
 to the direction in which he pointed, I saw a small rustic 
 place of worship, which woidd hold about eighty or a hun- 
 dred people, peeping through the foliage of the bananas and 
 bread-fruit trees, in which it was embowered. Accompanied 
 by this man and two or three others, I asked him, on reach- 
 ing the chapel, who performed service there on the Sabbath. 
 To this he replied, ' I do.' — ' And who,' I inquired, 'has 
 taught you?' — 'Why,' said he, 'did you not see a little 
 canoe by the side of your boat, when we carried you on 
 shore just now ? That is my canoe, in which I go down to 
 the teachers, get some religion, which I bring carefully home, 
 and give to the people ; and, when that is gone, 1 take my 
 canoe again, and fetch some more. And now you are come, 
 for whom we have been so long waiting ! ' Such eagerness 
 and unwearied painstaking, to acquire and disseminate the 
 word of life, by a people who had not received a missionary, 
 22* 
 
258 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 is quite surprising-, and illustrates the sovereignty of God, 
 in sometimes working in advance and independent of 
 his servants." 
 
 "WHAT THE MISSIONAKIES DO. 
 
 A New Zealand chief remarked, " What are the mission- 
 aries come to dwell with us for ? They are come to break 
 our clubs, and establish peace here. They are come to 
 break in two our clubs, to blunt the points of our spears, 
 to draw the bullets from our muskets, and to make this 
 tribe and that tribe, this tribe and that tribe, love one 
 another, and sit as brothers and friends. Let us give our 
 hearts to listening, and we shall dwell in peace." A'good 
 idea of the effects which the Gospel actually produces. 
 
 PROTECTION TO LIFE AND PBOPEE.TY. 
 
 The following important testimony is given to the influ- 
 ence of missions in extending commerce, and in affording 
 protection to the lives and property of mariners. The ex- 
 tract is from the excellent work of Rev. Baptist W. Noel 
 on Christian Missions, p. 288. He says: " English ves- 
 sels are traversing every sea, and stress of weather and other 
 causes make it necessary that they should touch on even 
 the most unfriendly coasts. In various instances this has 
 proved fatal to them. The crew of the Boyd was killed 
 and devoured on the coast of New Zealand. The crew of 
 the Charles Eaton was killed and devoured in Torres 
 Straits. When the Alceste was wrecked in the Straits of 
 Gaspar, it was plundered and burnt by the Malays, who 
 assembled also in numbers to attack Captain Maxwell and 
 his crew. In 1824 it was the intervention of a Methodist 
 missionary alone which saved the passengers and crew of 
 the Endeavor schooner, in Wangaroa Bay, New Zealand. 
 And on that coast, in 18.35, the whaling brig Mercnry was 
 plundered, stripped of its sails and rigging, and left to drift 
 upon the rocks. But the difference in those islands which 
 have come under missionary influence is thus described by 
 Mr. Williams : ' From the period when the adventurous 
 Magellan, the discoverer of the Pacific Ocean, was massa- 
 cred, intercourse with the uncivilized tribes has been at- 
 tended with the most tragical consequences. Of this the 
 most affecting proof is found in the fate of many former 
 navigators, as well as in the distressing circumstances con- 
 nected with Captain Frazer of the Stirling Castle, Captain 
 
PROTECTION TO LIFE AND PROPERTY. 259 
 
 D'Oylcy of the Charles Eaton, the Corsair, the Oldham, and 
 many other ships ; but no British ship has ever been taken, 
 nor one drop of British blood shed, at any island after its 
 inhabitants have become Christians. From one hundred to 
 one hundred and fifty sail of shipping touch annually at one 
 or other of our mission stations, anchor with perfect secur- 
 ity, procure fresh beef at two pence per pound, and othei 
 provisions equallj^ cheap to refit as in the ports of our own 
 country. In case of shipwreck, our toil-worn countrjnnen, 
 instead of being barbarously murdered, are treated with the 
 greatest hospitality, and the property all saved. Upwards 
 of twenty sail of shipping touched last year at one of the 
 islands discovered a few years ago by your petitioner. One 
 of these ships was wrecked, but the crew was, by the gra- 
 tuitous exertions of the converted natives, rescued from the 
 grave, the stores and cargo were all preserved, and when 
 the captain brought the preserved cargo away, after hav- 
 ing expressed his gratitude to the missionaries for what 
 they had done, assured them he had not lost a single vail! 
 This is the eighth or tenth vessel that has been wrecked at 
 one or other of the missionary stations, and in every in- 
 stance the crews and property of our countrymen have been 
 preserved.' " 
 
 Having quoted these remarks of the celebrated London 
 missionary, John Williams, Mr. Noel proceeds: "It is 
 further obvious that when a vessel touches on any coast to 
 obtain provisions or other commodities, its trade with the 
 natives is directly advantageous to this countr}'. In New 
 Zealand, the provisions, spars, and flax, taken by English 
 and American trading vessels, ai'e bought by English goods, 
 by muskets and powder, by blankets and English cloths, 
 by cutlery and all sorts of iron ware. Where ports are in- 
 accessible, there is no trade ; where the nations are heathen, 
 the trade is insignificant, because there is little which the 
 natives wish to buy, and less which they can sell ; but, when 
 they become Christians, they iiubibe new tastes, contract 
 the wants of civilized life, and raise such commodities as 
 may form an export trade to supply them. In this manner 
 about a Imndred thousand converted natives in the South 
 Pacific, at the lowest computation, have already procured 
 and are wearing articles of British manufacture. And the 
 same eflects have been shown to follow the preaching of the 
 Gospel among the Hottentots of the Cape, and among all 
 
260 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 the tribes of tlie frontier to whom the Gospel has been car- 
 ried." 
 
 After speaking of the effects of Christian missions on trade 
 and commerce in India and the Chinese empire, Mr. Noel 
 adds: "On these accounts, a just consideration of the 
 future interests of the British empire ought to lead commer- 
 cial men, capitalists, and legislators, to encourage Christian 
 missionaries to the utmost. This was so distinctly seen by 
 the Common Council of London, acting as a commercial 
 bod}^ that they voted five hundred pounds to Mr. WilHams 
 towards the expenses of a missionary voyage which he was 
 about to make among the unexplored islands of the South 
 Pacific." 
 
 A NEW ZEALAND SCENE. 
 
 Says Rev. Wm. Yate, in his " New Zealand," p. 191 : " A 
 prospect more pleasing cannot meet the eye of the philanthro- 
 pist, than the sight of the British plough breaking up the des- 
 erts of New Zealand, and the youth of New Zealand them- 
 selves the drivers of that plough, and the conductors of the 
 whole business, after they have received the instructions from 
 their teachers and friends. The introduction of ploughs and 
 harrows, all of which were made at the Waimate (in the north 
 of New Zealand), constituted an era in the history of the coun- 
 try. Till these implements were brought into use, the people 
 little knew what their land was capable of producing. Fur- 
 ther, all the blacksmith work necessary in a farming estab- 
 lishment, for carts, wagons, drays, ploughs, harrows, etc., 
 was done here. Three wells, upwards of fifty feet deep, 
 have been dug ; a dam has been erected, and a Tace cut for 
 the mill ; all the bricks, boards, and timber, used in the sta- 
 tion, have been carted from the places where they were 
 respectively made and sawn ; all the stores, household fur- 
 niture, coals, etc., brought in from the Kerikeri, a distance 
 of ten miles ; and numerous other works have been com- 
 pleted or are now in hand. The whole of this has been 
 accomplished l\y about forty youths, who never before were 
 accustomed to labor, and amidst all the difficulties attendant 
 on efforts made in an uncivilized land." 
 
 MISSIONS AND COMMEKCE. 
 The immense benefits which missions have rendered to 
 commerce have been too little understood and appreciated, 
 partly because the facts are contained in journals little ac- 
 
MISSIONS AND COMMERCE, 261 
 
 cessiblc to the trailing public, and especially because of a 
 general indifference to the subject. The following facts arc 
 worthy of note. They are from " Williams's Missionary En- 
 terprises in the South Sea Islands/' p. 515, and onwards. As 
 showing what missions have done in those Islands, to open 
 channels of commerce and trade, he mentions the following 
 as among the arts and productions which have followed in 
 the channels of Christianity. They are smith's work, 
 house-building, ship-building, lime-burning, turning, chair, 
 sofa, and bedstead making, growth and manufacture of 
 tobacco, sugar-boiling, printing, etc. ; also, vegetable pro- 
 ductions, as oranges, lemons, limes, pine-apples, coffee, 
 cotton, indigo ; and to these are added various kinds of 
 animals and fowls, which are now common in tlie island. 
 Mr. Williams speaks of some twenty native vessels which 
 were sailing from island to island, fetching cargoes of pearl 
 and pearl shells, and exchanging them with English and 
 American vessels for clothing and other articles. The fact 
 is mentioned (and it is a vital one) that the missionaries 
 were at Tahiti many years, during which they built and fur- 
 nished a house in European style, but not a native imitated 
 their example. As soon, however, as they were brought 
 under (he influence of Christianity, the chiefs, and even the 
 connnon people, began to build neat plastered cottages, 
 and to manufacture bedsteads, seats, and other articles of 
 furniture. The females had long witnessed the dress of the 
 missionaries' wives, but lohile heathen they greatly preferred 
 their own, and there was not a single attempt at imita- 
 tion. No sooner, however, were they brought under the 
 influence of religion, than all of them, even to the lowest, 
 aspired to the possession of a gown, a bonnet, and a shawl, 
 that they might appear like Christian women. In the South 
 Sea Islands alone, many thousands of persons are at this 
 moment wearing and using articles of European manufac- 
 ture, by whom, a few years ago, no such article had been 
 seen. Indeed, in the more advanced stations, there is 
 scarcely an individual who is not attired in English cloth- 
 ing, which has been obtained in exchange for native prod- 
 uce. * * In a very few years, should our labors be suc- 
 cessful, the natives of these islands will be taught to pre- 
 pare hundreds of tons of cocoanut oil, and large quantities 
 of arrow-root, annually ; to manufacture sugar, to cultivate 
 their land, and to supply our shipping with provisions 
 Thus, wherever the missionary goes, new channels are cut 
 
262 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 for the stream of commerce, and it is surprising that any 
 individual, at all interested in the commercial prosperity of 
 his country, can be otherwise than a warm friend to the mis- 
 sionary cause. 
 
 " The shipping of our country, too, derives as much advan- 
 tage from missions as its commerce. This will appear if it 
 be recollected that the intercourse between Europeans and 
 the untaught islanders of the Pacific is always dangerous, 
 and has often proved fatal. The adventurous Magellan fell 
 at the Ladrone Islands ; Captain Cook was barbarously mur- 
 dered at the Sandwich group ; the ship Venus was taken at 
 Tahiti ; M. de Langle and his companions were killed at the 
 Samoas ; the Port au Prince was seized at Lefuga ; and the 
 crew of the Boyd was massacred at New Zealand. And 
 now at all these islands, with the exception of the Ladrones, 
 there are missionary stations, whither numbers of vessels 
 direct their course annually, the crews of which look forward 
 with delight to the hour Avhen their anchor shall be dropped 
 in the tranquil lagoons, and they find a generous welcome 
 and a temporary home. That outrages do still occur where 
 there are no missionaries, Captain Beechy's account of his 
 intercourse with the inhabitants of Easter and Gambler Isl- 
 ands, and the massacre of the entire crew of the Oldham at 
 Wallace's Island, with other similar events of more recent 
 occurrence plainly demonstrate, whilst the fact that, in those 
 islands or ports where missionaries are settled, such acts of 
 violence have been prevented, is established by evidence 
 equally decisive." 
 
 Little did the author of the above statement — Eev. John 
 Williams — apprehend, when penning his facts, that he 
 should himself furnish an illustration of the insecurity of life 
 in places where the Gospel has not exerted its humanizing 
 influences. He fell, by the hand of savage violence, in the 
 island of Eromanga, one of the New Hebrides' group." 
 
 THE "WRECKED SAILORS AND THE CANNIBALS. 
 
 The following occurrence, of recent date, beautifully illus- 
 trates the kindly influences of Christianity, in providing a 
 safe asylum for the distressed mariner. The ship " Lad}'- 
 Howden" sailed from California for Sidney, on the *7th of 
 April, 1850, and on the 22d of May was wrecked on a coral 
 reef near Onega, one of the Feegee Islands. The men took 
 to their boats, and pulled towards the shore, a distance of 
 seven miles. After getting so near as to see the land, they 
 
THEY SHALL LEARN WAR NO MORE. 263 
 
 lay for a while on their oars, discussing whether to steer for 
 the Isle of Pines, nine hundred miles distant, or to go ashore 
 and stand the chance of being devoured by cannibals. The 
 latter course was adopted. " We hoisted our ensign," says 
 Mr. Plumpter, one of the passengers, " and gave it a cheer, 
 upon which the natives launched a canoe, and came off, giv- 
 ing us a hearty shake hands. We were astonished. The 
 natives soon got hold of the boats and drew them ashore. 
 We were met by several natives, who conducted us to a hut, 
 where an ample supper of yams and cocoaniit cakes was 
 provided. Before retiring, they had prayers in their native 
 language, and, as they sang their evening hymn, I felt a 
 calm devotion, to which, I regret to say, I had long been a 
 stranger. I need not say that I was agreeably surprised to 
 find, that, instead of being among cannibals, I was among 
 devout Wesleyan Methodists, brought to the knowledge of 
 the truth by the Wesleyan missionaries. What gratitude I 
 felt for those brave soldiers of the cross, who came into 
 these distant lands to teach the will of God to these be- 
 nighted people ! " — Am. Miss., vol. vi., p. 13. 
 
 THEY SHALL LEARN "WAE, NO MORE. 
 
 The peace that shall reign on the earth when the religion 
 of the Gospel becomes universal, is beautifully shown in the 
 change wrought in the South Sea Islands, by the introduc- 
 tion of Chi'istianity. The love of peace, said the mission- 
 aries in 1822, among the natives, seems to exceed their 
 former delight in war ; and their desires to perpetuate it 
 are continually strengthened. Their feelings in regard to 
 it are expressed in terms like the following : " Let our hands 
 forget how to lift the club or throw the spear. Let our 
 guns decay with rust, we do not want them. Though we 
 have been pierced with balls or spears, if we pierce each 
 other now, let it be with the word of God. How happy are 
 we now ! We sleep not with our cartridges under our lieads, 
 our muskets by our side, and our hearts palpitating with 
 alarm. We have the Bible, we know the Saviour ; and if 
 all knew him, if all obeyed him, there would be no more 
 war." Their weapons, at the period referred to, were 
 either destroyed, or converted into implements of hus- 
 bandry ; or, if suffered to retain their former shape, it was 
 only as a relic of former days. — SouiJi Sea Missions, p. 234. 
 
2G4 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 DB. KANE'S TESTIMONY. 
 
 The lamented Dr. Kane, in his " Arctic Explorations," bears 
 the following- testimony to the influence of missionary labors 
 in th(jse frozen and unfrequented regions. He says : 
 
 "The labors of the Lutheran and Moravian missionaries 
 have been so far successful among these people, that but 
 few of them are now without the pale of Christiauit}'^, and 
 its reforming influences have affected the moral tone of all. 
 Before the arrival of these sell-sacrificing evangelists, mur- 
 der, incest, burial of the living, and infanticide, were not 
 numbered among crimes. It was unsafe for vessels to touch 
 upon tlie coast ; treachery was as common and as much 
 honored as by the Polynesians of the Eastern seas. Crantz 
 tells of a Dutch brig that was seized by the natives, at the 
 port of Disco, in 17-40, and the whole crew murdered ; and, 
 two years later, the same fate befell the seamen of another 
 vessel that had accidentally stranded. But for the last 
 hundred years Greenland has been safer for the wrecked 
 mariner than many parts of our coast. Ilospitalit}^ is the 
 universal characteristic, enjoined upon the converted as a 
 Ciiristian duty, but everywhere a virtue of savage life. 
 J^'rom Upernavik to Cape Farewell, the Esquimaux does not 
 hesitate to devote his own meal to the necessities of a 
 guest. The benefits of the missionary school are not con- 
 tined to the Christianized natives ; and it is observable that 
 the virtues of truth, self-reliance, and generous bearing, 
 have been inculcated successfully with men who still cher- 
 ish the wild traditionary superstitions of their fathers. 
 Some of these are persons of strongly-marked character, 
 and are trusted largely by the Danish officials." 
 
 G-EOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 
 
 Distinguished honor has been awarded to Dr. Livingston, 
 for the geographical and scientific discoveries made by him 
 during his missionary tours in Africa. The testimonials 
 below were offered at a public meeting in London, and 
 reported in the "London Missionary Magazine," for January, 
 1857. They set in a very clear light the relation of mis- 
 sions to science, and the vast obligations the world is under 
 to Christianity and its missionaries, for its advancement in 
 the various branches of knowledge. 
 
 At the meeting referred to, the president, the Earl of 
 Shaftsbury, read a letter from Thomas Maclear, Esq., the 
 Astronomer Koyal at the Cape of Good Hope, in which he 
 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 265 
 
 says : " You may like to hear that I received from my 
 friend, Dr. Living'ston, a complete copy of his astronomical 
 observations for geographical positions on the late track of 
 his perilous but triumpliant journey across the continent, 
 from Loando on the west to Quilimane on the east coast. 
 To this highly gifted man, geographical science is deeply 
 indebted. The numV)er of observations is astonishing, when 
 we consider the difficulties he had to encounter. He 
 observed for latitude and longitude at every interesting' 
 point, particularly at the confluence of the rivers with the 
 Zambesi, the bendings, the falls, the more important villages, 
 &c. In short, he has opened up, geographically speaking, 
 that hitherto unkno\^'n section of the continent. But he has 
 done more. He has geographically described the character 
 of the country and its inhabitants ; and, altogether, his col- 
 lection of facts would fill a volume of deep interest to 
 science, to commerce, and last, not least, to humanity." 
 
 At the same meeting, the president remarked, " Those 
 great researches and operations of his (Dr. Livingston), 
 will be accompanied and followed by great and mighty 
 benefits to the whole human race. The result — the first 
 great result — will be an enlarged intercourse of all nations, 
 increasing civilization, the carrying of the word of God to 
 nations ' sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.' It 
 will open also great branches of legitimate commerce, and 
 that commerce will carry in its train all the branches of 
 civilization." 
 
 Rev. Dr. Vaughn said : " History shows us that there is 
 no nation upon the foce of the earth, at the present moment, 
 bearing the Christian name, that may not be regarded as 
 the fruit of Christian missions. It will be clear as daylight, 
 my lord, that we, at this moment, should have been in a 
 state of barbarism as trulj'' as the remote generations from 
 whom we have descended, but for the labors of Christian 
 missionaries. This is a great truth, lying out upon the sur- 
 face of Europe. It does not admit of dispute." 
 
 Sir Roderick I. Murchison, President of the Royal Geo- 
 graphical Society, ofiered a resolution, and remarked that 
 " The society with which he Avas connected had been no 
 idle spectators of tlie career of Dr. Livingston, and had 
 sought, upon all occasions, to assist his labors. It gave 
 him great satisfaction to perceive that the meeting last 
 night, of the Geographical Society, was by far one of the 
 most numerous and influential which the society had ever 
 23 
 
266 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 held. They had there the representatives of Russia, Sar- 
 dinia, Portugal, and of many other states. It is impossible 
 to do justice to the value or extent of the discoveries which 
 had been made by Dr. Livingston. The unarmed and unas- 
 sisted exertions of the missionary, contrasted most favorably 
 in their results with those attempts made at discovery by 
 armed men, and companies provided with every facility for 
 travelling. On behalf of all scientific men, he returned their 
 grateful thanks, not only to Dr. Livingston, but to the Lon- 
 don Missionary Society, which had been the means of 
 accomplishing more than it had cost the country thousands 
 upon thousands of pounds to achieve on former occasions. 
 For no man who preceded Dr. Livingston, had traversed 
 half the space in the far distant and benighted regions of 
 South Africa that ho had done." 
 
 Sir II. Rawliuson next took the platform, and observed : 
 " It was not, perhaps, generally known, how much the 
 science of Geography was indebted to the missionary's 
 exertions ; but if tliey examined the history, either of Asia 
 or Africa, they would find that, from the remotest ages to 
 the present day, all great discoveries had been made by 
 missionaries." 
 
 The strong language of approval, applied to the London 
 Missionary Society and its servants, will apply also to other 
 and kindred societies, as promoters of science, commerce, 
 and all the improvements on which national progress and 
 happiness depend. Such is Christianity, in its legitimate 
 results, blessing the life that now is, as well as that which 
 is to come. 
 
 TVKECKED SAILORS AND THE ESQUIMAUX. 
 
 In the summer of 1849, the ship Graham, while convey- 
 ing stores to the York factory, for the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, met with large masses of ice, and finally sunk. Iler 
 crew took to the ship's boats, and for fourteen days pur- 
 sued their perilous way along the coast, suffering the 
 greatest hardships. One of these boats was lost, and all 
 in her perished. The other, after eleven days more of 
 intense suffering, fell in with two Esquimaux in a canoe. 
 The Esquimaux approached the boat with caution at first ; 
 but, on ascertaining the real situation of the strangers, they 
 at once jumped on board, took the oars from their weakened 
 hands, pulled them on shore, caught a suppFy offish, which 
 they quickly cooked, and treated them with the greatest 
 
RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE IN INDIA. 267 
 
 kindness and attention. The news of their arrival soon 
 spread among tlieir party of thirty or forty men and women, 
 who proved to be natives of Okkak, a Moravian missionary 
 settlement on the coast of Labrador. As the shipwrecked 
 crew appi'oached the shore, the whole of these Christian 
 people assembled at the landing-place, and greeted them 
 with hj'mns of praise to God for their preservation. They 
 then conveyed them to their tents, and supplied their 
 wants. What a different reception might they have met 
 with, had the Gospel never visited these shores ! Mariners 
 have special reason to thank God for the establishment of 
 Christian missions in the pagan regions which they are 
 obliged to visit, or into which they may be driven. — Jour, 
 of Miss., 1850, p. 23. 
 
 EIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE IN INDIA. 
 
 Many instances are recorded, in this volume, of extreme 
 persecution, and the loss of all things, endured by Hindoos 
 embracing Christianity. British law, however, enlightened 
 and guided b}^ the Gospel in the hands of missionaries, 
 has of late put an effectual check upon this spirit of intol- 
 erance and cruelty. Of this measure the " Friend of India " 
 thus spoke in 1850 : 
 
 " This is the great charter of religious liberty no.w about 
 to be established for the first time throughout the British 
 dominions in India. The new law will establish the rights 
 of conscience in India, and enable any man to profess the 
 creed he prefers, without the fear of being thereby deprived 
 of all the property to which he would otherwise have been 
 entitled. It was idle to talk of anything like liberty of 
 conscience, while the provisions of the Hindoo law formed 
 part and parcel of our code. The present act is, of course, 
 a complete abrogation of that portion of the shaster which 
 was intended to keep the land of India forever bound to the 
 support of Hindooism, by ordaining that no one should en- 
 joy the fruits of the soil, who did not adhere to the Hindoo 
 religion. But the legislation of Menu belonged to the age 
 of Hindoo conservatism, when the rights of conscience were 
 as little understood as in the days of St. Dominick, and it 
 would be preposterous to suppose that it should continue in 
 force in the present age, when India has come into the pos- 
 session of those Avho pride themselves on honoring those 
 rights. We are fully aware that the feeling of abhorrence 
 towards all who embrace Christianity is almost incredibly 
 
268 THE GOSPEL A BLESSING, ETC. 
 
 intense in the Hindoo community ; and we can easily ac- 
 count for the feelings of indignation which the new law will 
 for a time engender. But it is a law of essential justice and 
 equity, and no eflbrt which the Hindoos can make will turn 
 government from its purpose." 
 
 The above law is understood to have gone into practical 
 operation in British India, thus shielding the more recent 
 Hindoo converts to Christianity from the most appalling 
 suiferings in this life, and illustrating, in another form, the 
 temporal benefits of the Gospel. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 "THEIR FOOT SHALL SLIDE IN" DUE TIME." 
 
 Deut. 32 : 35. "I have trusted also in the Lord, there- 
 fore I shall not slide.'' — Ps. 26 : 1. " The law of his God is 
 in his heart ; none of his steps shall slide. But as for me, 
 my feet were almost gone ; my steps had well-nigh slipped.'' 
 — Ps. 13 : 2. These texts are strikingly illustrated in the 
 following narrative of a missionary in Northern Hindostan, 
 Rev. Joseph Warren : " During my journey in the Hima- 
 layas, I was often reminded of these and other similar pas- 
 sages of Scripture. The mountain roads are very narrow. 
 They are not often wide enough for more than two men to 
 walk together, and we generally find it easier to follow in 
 single file. I never saw the men who carry loads walking 
 two abreast. There are ascents and descents so steep as to 
 require the traveller to plant his foot firmly and carefully, 
 in order to prevent his falling — sliding — down the hill. In 
 some places the road leads around the side of the mountain, 
 or along the bank of a torrent, with a precipice either per- 
 pendicular, or nearly so, immediately on one side of it, of 
 hundreds of feet in height. Sometimes the sharp ascent or 
 descent is combined with the precipice on one side ; and a 
 further complication of the difficulty is made by both a slope 
 of the road towards its outer edge, and a chalky or frialilo 
 kind of stone in the pathway, aflbrding no safe hold to the 
 feet. In many of these places, the traveller looks down a 
 giddy slope of a hundred, a thousand, or two thousand feet, 
 on which no foothold could be found ; with the conscious- 
 ness that a false step, or a breaking of the bank under his 
 feet, would precipitate him into the ravine below, without 
 his having the least ability to prevent the catastrophe. 
 Once, when riding along the bank of a ravine filled with 
 stones, I came to a place where the bank above the road 
 
270 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURES. 
 
 had slipped down and filled the pathway, excepting about 
 eight inches at the outer edge. As the ravine was not very- 
 deep, and therefore did not look very nervous, I rode around 
 the heap, and my horse's hind feet broke down the remain- 
 der of the pathway. He carried me safely over, however, 
 but I could not help saying to myself the words quoted 
 at the head of this article : ' My steps had well-nigh slip- 
 2:>ed.' A great part of the wilderness in which the children 
 of Israel journeyed is mountainous ; so is the greater part 
 of Judea. The figures derived from this fact are very ex- 
 pressive. No one can feel their full meaning, iinless he has 
 had some experience of mountain paths." — Pres. For. 
 Miss., 1854, p. 180. 
 
 THE RECEIPT OF CUSTOM. 
 
 Matthew 9 : 9. " And as Jesus passed forth from thence, 
 he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of 
 custom " (or rather at the custom-house). Any person may 
 see this ancient custom exemplified to this daj'^, at the gate 
 of Smyrna. The mirigee, or collector of customs, sits there, 
 in the house allotted him, and receives the money which is 
 due from various persons and commodities entering into 
 the city. The exactions and rude behavior of these men are 
 just in character with the conduct of the publicans men- 
 tioned in the New Testament. I was myself, the day before 
 I left Turkey, grossly insulted by a man of this class, be- 
 cause he chose to suppose that the mule on which I was 
 riding was liable to pay duty. A terrible fracas took place, 
 in which some Franks, who came to my assistance, tore the 
 animal away from him by main strength. When men are 
 guilty of such conduct as this, no wonder they were detested 
 in ancient times, as were the publicans, and in modern times, 
 as are the mirigees. — Harlley's Researches in Greece, p. 216. 
 
 "CURSED BE THE MAIST," ETC. 
 
 In India, the birth of a boy is greeted, both by parents 
 and relatives, with the liveliest manifestations of jo3^ So 
 in Arabia — whenever a son is born, one of the domestics, 
 after announcing it hastily to the faniil}^ runs to the door, 
 which she beats with all her might, to attract notice, ex- 
 claiming all the while, " A male child ! a male child ! a 
 male child is born." In Persia, when such an event takes 
 place, some confidential servant is generally the first to get 
 the information, when he runs in great haste to his master, 
 
TELLING THE FLOCKS. 271 
 
 exclaiming, " Good news ! " by which he secures to himself 
 a gift. No such joy attends the birth of a daughter. She 
 is despised as soon as born, and often destroyed. To these 
 facts, or customs like them, allusion is made, Jer. 20 : 15, — 
 " Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, 
 saying, A man-child is born unto thee ; making him very 
 glad." — Py-es. For Miss., 1853, p. 4. 
 
 KETURN OF THE STORK. 
 
 The passage below, from the journal of Mr. Perkins, of 
 the Nestorian mission, gives force and meaning to one of 
 the most beautiful of Scripture allusions. He says, Febru- 
 ary 24 : " The stork that has its nest on a sycamore-tree 
 directly above my study window, returned from his annual 
 pilgrimage. The Mohammedans pay great deference to the 
 stork, and treat it with special care and kindness, and her 
 return is a welcome event to all, as it is the unerring an- 
 nouncement of the return of spx'ing. There is a belief and 
 saj'ing among Mohammedans, that this sagacious bird 
 will not frequent the premises of infidels (Christians), as they 
 are unworthy of its confidence. The noble fowl perched 
 above my study window, and, conspicuous to all sections of 
 the city, must, therefore, impress these superstitious people, 
 with an idea of uncommon sanctity in us, for Christians. 
 An instructive religious lesson is always suggested by the 
 return of this fowl. Says Jeremiah, ' Yea the stork in the 
 heavens knoweth her appointed time, but my people know 
 )iot the judgments of the Lord.' Strange, that the fowls 
 should obey their instincts with so much certainty, while 
 the people of God follow neither reason nor revelation, in 
 regarding the signs of the times, and what conerns their 
 well-being."— J/«6S. Her., 1840, p. 485. 
 
 TELLING THE FLOCKS. 
 
 Jeremiah 23 : 13. In Greece the shepherds count their 
 flocks by admitting them one by one into a pen. This is 
 the custom to which Jeremiah alludes : " In the cities of 
 the mountains, &c., shall the flocks pass again under the 
 hand of him that telleth them." General Jarvis tells me 
 that Ibrahim Pasha counted the Greeks who surrendered to 
 him at Navarino, in the same manner. — Earllei/s Researches 
 ill Greece, &c., p. 364. 
 
272 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 SKINS OF WINE. 
 
 Judges 4:9. I observe that the peasants in Greece not 
 only still carry their wine to market in skins, but also their 
 milk. Such, in all probability, was the botlle of milk which 
 Jael opened for Sisera. Tivo bottles of ivine {1 Sam. 25 : 18) 
 appear to an English reader but a trifling present for David 
 and his numerous companions ; but two skins of wine, which 
 they doubtless were, are something much more considera- 
 ble, being a load for an ass or a mule, as I have often wit- 
 nessed. — Hartlefs Researches in Gr'eece, &c., p. 356. ' 
 
 "WASHING HANDS. 
 
 2 Kings 3 : 11. "Here is Elisha, the son of Shaphat, 
 which poured water on the hands of Elijah." An article 
 in one of the Church Missionary Papers for 1832, says : 
 " The Oriental method of washing is universally difiTerent 
 from that practised in the west. Nowhere is water previ- 
 ously poured into a basin, but the servant pours water upon 
 the hands of his master. The custom of washing hands 
 before dinner prevails also to this day. The servant goes 
 round to all the guests, with a pitcher and a vessel to re- 
 ceive the water falling from the hands, and performs the 
 oflSce here attributed to Elisha. The same service is 
 repeated when the repast is ended." 
 
 OLIVE-GRAFTING. 
 
 Romans 11 : 17, 20, 23, 24. My friend showed me a 
 few wild olives, but by far the greater number are such as 
 have been grafted. lie informs me that it is the usual prac- 
 tice in Greece to graft, from a good tree, upon the wild 
 olive. I also noticed the manner in which the vine is cut, 
 or purged (John 15 : 2). Only two or three of the principal 
 sprouts are permitted to grow up from the root ; the rest 
 are cut off ; and this practice is often called by the Greeks 
 cleaning. — Hartlefs Researches in Greece, &c., p. 314. 
 
 CAST THY BREAD UPON THE WATERS. 
 
 Eccl. 11:1. Rev. William Fox, in his " History of the 
 Wesleyan Missions in Western Africa," p. 480, saj's : 
 " The rice farms are in low, swampy savannas, and the 
 seed is not sown till a considerable quantity of rain has 
 fallen, and the earth is thus moistened and covered by a 
 partial inundation, caused by the heavy rains and over- 
 flow of the rivers. It is highly probable that the passage 
 
PRICKS IN YOUE EYES. 275 
 
 borhood run to chase away the thieves. For two or three 
 months this poor watchman fulfils his painful employment, 
 in the midst of rains, thunders, and lightnings." 
 
 THE COimUPTIBIiE CHOWW. 
 
 Rev. S. S. Wilson, of the London Missionary Society, 
 who spent sixteen years in Malta and Greece, remarks, 
 while at Nemea : "This city, this very locality on which I 
 now stand, was one of the four sites of the famous Olympic 
 contests, celebrated every three years in honor of Jove. At 
 the Nemean games the Argives presided, and the only prize 
 was a crown. To this crown allusion was made by St. Paul: 
 ' Now they contend for a corruptible crown, we for an incor- 
 ruptible.' Corruptible, or fading, indeed, it was, for it was 
 often made of laurel orpars/t'^." 
 
 THE BOAR OUT OF THE WOOD. 
 
 Psalm 30 : 13. " The boar out of the wood doth devour 
 it." My friend, the Rev. Mr. Leeves, was proceeding, in 
 the dusk of the evening, from Constantinople to Therapia. 
 Passing a vineyard, he observed an animal of large size 
 rushing forth from among the vines, crossing the road, and 
 taking to flight with great precipitation. The Greek syro- 
 gee (guard) who was riding first, exclaimed, "Wild boar! 
 wild boar ! " and really it proved a wild boar, who was re- 
 treating from the vineyards to the woods. " What has the 
 wild boar to do in the vineyard ? " inquired Mr. Leeves. 
 " 0," said the syrogee, " 'tis the custom of the wild boars 
 to frequent the vineyards, and to devour the grapes. And 
 it is astonishing what havoc a wild boar is capable of effect- 
 ing during a single night. What with eating, and what 
 with trampling under foot, he will destroy an immense 
 quantity of grapes." — Church Miss. Rec, April, 1832. 
 
 PRICKS IN" YOUR EYES. 
 
 Numbers 23 : 55. " Pricks in your eyes, and thorns in 
 your feet." (2 Cor. 12 : Y.) People in the East, in conse- 
 quence of their tight clothing, of the exposed state of their 
 leet, and the narrowness of the paths, have a great dread 
 of thorns. Those who carry the palankeen, or who travel 
 in groups, often cry aloud, " Mullu, Mullu ! " — a thorn, a 
 thorn ! The sufferer soon throws himself on the earth, and 
 some one, famous for his skill, extracts the thorn. Does 
 a person see something of a distressing nature, he says. 
 
274 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 practised. But tlie following extract from a journal of Rev. 
 John Hartley, missionary in the Mediten-anean, presents a 
 parallel case : 
 
 "The Armenian brides are veiled during the marriage 
 ceremony ; and hence deceptions have occurred in regard 
 to the person chosen for a wife. I am informed that on 
 one occasion a young vVrmenian at Smyrna solicited in mar- 
 riage a younger daughter, whom he admired. The parents 
 of the girl consented to the request, and every previous 
 arrangement was made. When the time for solemnizing 
 the marriage arrived, the elder daughter, who Avas not so 
 beautiful, was conducted by the parents to the altar, and 
 the young man was unconsciously married to her. And it 
 came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was the elder 
 daughter ! The deceit was not discovered till it could not 
 be rectified, and the manner in which the parents justified 
 themselves, was precisely that of Laban. ' It must not be 
 so done in our country, to give the younger before the first- 
 born.' It is really the rule amongst Armeinans, that 
 neither a younger son nor daughter be married, till their 
 elder brother or sister have preceded them. It was in con- 
 versation with an Armenian, of Smyrna, that this fact was 
 related to me. I naturally exclaimed, ' Why, that is just 
 the deception which was practised upon Jacob.' — 'What 
 deception ? ' he exclaimed, for he was ignorant of the Old 
 Testament. Upon giving him a relation of Jacob's mar- 
 riage, he assented to it at once, as a circumstance in no 
 way impossible." — Harlleifs Researches in Greece, &c., 
 p. 207. 
 
 A LODGE IN A GARDEN. 
 
 In the Missionary Herald for February, 1824, is a striking 
 illustration of the following passage in Isaiah 1 : 8, — " The 
 daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a 
 lodge in a garden of cucumbers." Speaking of Eastern 
 countries, the writer says : " At the beginning of the rainy 
 season great quantities of melons, cucumbers, and gourds, 
 are planted to serve for the principal food of the inhabitants ; 
 but, as the plants grow in tlie open country, it is customary 
 to raise a little mound in the middle of the field, with a 
 small hut upon it, to furnish shelter for the guard, who is 
 to drive away thieves, aiul especially monkey's, which come 
 there in great numbers for plunder. In case of invasion, 
 the guard gives a signal, and all the peasants in the neigh- 
 
EATING TOGETHER. 279 
 
 country, that ' a stranger will they not follow, but will flee 
 IVdin him ; for they know not the voice of strangers.' The 
 shepliord told me that many of his sheep are still ivild ; that 
 they had not yet learned their names ; but that, by teach- 
 ing, they would all learn them. The others, which knew 
 tlieir na'mes, he called tame. IIow natural an application 
 to the state of the human race does this description of the 
 sheep admit of! The Uood Shepherd laid down his life for 
 the sheep, but many of them are still wild — they know not 
 his voice. Others have learned to obey his call, and to fol- 
 low him ; and we rejoice to think that, even to those not 
 yet in his fold, the words are applicable, 'Them, also, I 
 mnst bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be 
 one fold and one Shepherd.' " — Church Missionary Record, 
 1830, p. 96. 
 
 SEKPENT-CHABMIIirG. 
 
 The charming of snakes by means of music, particularly 
 the pipe, is very common throughout Malabar. This is 
 confined to a class of people called Korawara. They also 
 pretend to cure the bite of the most venomous serpents. 
 People of this description are to be met with in many parts 
 of India. There is a striking aflhiity between this custom 
 and some of the facts mentioned in Scripture. — Jer. 8 : H, 
 — " For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among 
 you, which will not be charmed." — Eccl. 10 : 11. " Surely 
 the serpent will bite without enchantment." — Miss. Her., 
 Nov., 1834. 
 
 BOLSTER AND CRUISE OP "WATER. 
 
 1 Samuel 26: 11. "His bolster and the cruise of 
 water." Thus did Saul sleep with his head on the bolster, 
 and a vessel of water by his side ; and in this way do all 
 Eastern travellers sleep at this day. The bolster is round, 
 and about eight inches in diameter, and twenty in length. 
 In travelling it is carried rolled up in the mat on which the 
 owner sleeps. In a hot climate a draught of water is very 
 refreshing in the night ; hence a vessel, filled with w;iter, 
 is always kept near where a person sleeps. — Juvenile Mis- 
 sionary Herald, 1846, p. 81. 
 
 EATING TOGETHER. 
 
 Eating together as a token of friendship, in the East, 
 appears to be still a custom, as in the time of our Saviour. 
 Says a missionary in the Holy Land: "We feel ourselves 
 
276 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 " That was a thorn in my eyes." A father says of his bad 
 son, " lie is to me as a thorn." A person going- to live in 
 an unhealthy place, or where there are quarrelsome people, 
 is said to be " going to a thorny desert." — Juvenile Mias. 
 Her., 1847, p. 88. 
 
 Job 7:2. " As a servant earnestly desireth the 
 shadow," &c. The people of the East measure time by the 
 length of their shadows. Hence, if you ask a man what 
 o'clock it is, he immediately goes into the sun, stands erect, 
 looks where his sliadow terminates, then he measures the 
 length with his feet, and tells you nearly the time.. Thus 
 they earnestly desire the shadow, which indicates the time 
 for leaving their work. A person wishing to leave his toil, 
 says, " IIow long my shadow is in coming." If he is asked, 
 " Why did you not come sooner ? " he replies, " Because I 
 waited for my shadow." — Juv. Miss. Hay., 1847, p. 263. 
 
 PBAYITsTG IN THE CORNERS OF THE STREETS. 
 
 Matthew 5 : 6. "They love to pray, standing in the corners 
 of the streets." Both Hindoos and Mussulmans offer their 
 prayers in the most public place ; as at the landing-places 
 of rivers, in the public streets, and on the roofs of boats, 
 without the least effort at concealment. — Juv. Miss. Mag., 
 1849, p. 30. 
 
 THE BARLEY HARVEST. 
 
 " The barley harvest," says a missionary in Greece, "is 
 now going forward. As Argos has the greatest extent of 
 corn land in the Morea, at least at present, a great number 
 of persons are assembled here from all parts, in order to 
 glean. I see tlie young women, in particular, returning 
 from their employment, with large quantities upon their 
 backs. Here, then, we find a custom prevailing, similar to 
 that in which Ruth was engaged. — Ruth 2 : 3." — Church 
 Miss. Bee, 1830, p. 113. 
 
 CAMPING OP LOCUSTS. 
 
 Nahum 3: 17. "Thy crowned are as the locusts, and 
 thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the 
 hedges in the cold day ; but, when the sun ariseth, they 
 flee away, and their place is not known where they are." 
 Nothing could be more accurate than this description of the 
 grasshoppers. I observed this appearance, on a journey 
 from Constantinople to Smyrna by land. Early in the morn- 
 
BEHOLD IT WAS LEAH. 273 
 
 in the Old Testament alludes to the sowing of rice, when it 
 is said, ' Cast thy bread upon the waters ; for thou shalt 
 find it after many days ; ' for in some instances this ' bread,' 
 or rice, is literally ' cast upon the waters,' and it is certainly 
 'found after many days,' with a very large percentage or 
 return." 
 
 TREADING OUT THE CORN". 
 
 "The manner of this operation," says Mr. Johnston, 
 missionary at Trebizond, " seems to be universally the 
 scriptural one. The sheaves are spread down upon a hard, 
 circular floor of earth in the open field, and pairs of oxen 
 are driven round upon it, dragging after them a kind of sled, 
 consisting of two broad boards joined together, the under 
 side being thickly set with sharp stones. Upon this the 
 driver stands, with whip or goad in hand, which he uses 
 freely, but permits his animals to eat as much as they 
 choose. I never saw a single ox muzzled while employed 
 in treadirig out the corn." — Hiss. Her., Oct., 1837. 
 
 THE CAMEL'S FURNITURE. 
 
 Genesis 31 : 34. "Now Rachel had taken the images, 
 and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them." 
 Is not the camel's furniture the large seat, or pack-saddle, 
 which we observe invariably upon the back of camels ? 
 AVhen taken off at the close of the journey, it would equally 
 afford a place of concealment for the images, and a conven- 
 ient seat for Rachel." — Church Missionary Papers, No. 
 65, 1832. 
 
 SHIBBOLETH. 
 
 Judges 12:6. " Then said they unto him, Say now 
 Shibboleth ; and he said Sibboleth, for he could not frame 
 to pronounce it right." 
 
 The Greeks have not the sound sh in their language ; 
 hence they are liable to be detected, like the Ephraimites. 
 I was struck with this circumstance in learning Turkish 
 from a Greek tutor. Pasha, he pronounced Pasa ; sldmidi, 
 he called simidi; Dervish, he called Dervis, etc. Shibbo- 
 leth he would, of course, pronounce Sibboleth. — Hartley's 
 Researches in Greece, &c., p. 210. 
 
 BEHOLD IT -WAS LEAH. 
 
 Genesis 29 : 25. " And it came to pass, in the morning, 
 behold it was Leah," &c. It appears almost impossible to 
 Europeans, that a deception like that of Laban's could be 
 
274 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 practised. But the following' extract from a journal of Rev. 
 John Hartley, missionary in the Mediterranean, presents a 
 parallel case : 
 
 " Tiie Armenian brides are veiled during the marriage 
 ceremony ; and hence deceptions have occurred in regard 
 to the person chosen for a wife. I am informed that on 
 one occasion a young Armenian at Smyrna solicited in mar- 
 riage a younger daughter, whom he admired. The parents 
 of the girl consented to the request, and every previous 
 arrangement was made. When the time for solemnizing 
 the marriage arrived, the elder daughter, who was not so 
 beautiful, was conducted by the parents to the altar, and 
 the young man was unconsciously married to her. And it 
 came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was the elder 
 daughter ! The deceit was not discovered till it could not 
 be rectified, and the manner in which the parents justified 
 themselves, was precisely that of Laban. ' It must not be 
 so done in our country, to give the younger before the first- 
 born.' It is really the rule amongst Armenians, that 
 neither a 3'ounger son nor daughter be married, till their 
 elder brother or sister have preceded them. It was in con- 
 versation with an Armenian, of Smyrna, that this fact was 
 related to me. I naturally exclaimed, ' Why, that is just 
 the deception which was practised upon Jacob.' — 'What 
 deception ? ' he exclaimed, for he was ignorant of the Old 
 Testament. Upon giving him a relation of Jacob's mar- 
 riage, he assented to it at once, as a circumstance in no 
 way impossible." — Hartleifs Researches in Greece, &c., 
 p. 207. 
 
 A LODGE Ilf A GARDEN". 
 
 In the Missionary Herald for February, 1824, is a striking 
 illustration of the following j^assage in Isaiah 1 : 8, — " The 
 daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a 
 lodge in a garden of cucumbers." Speaking of Eastern 
 countries, the writer says : " At the beginning of the rainy 
 season great quantities of melons, cucumbers, and gourds, 
 are planted to serve for the principal food of the inhabitants ; 
 but, as the plants grow in the open country, it is customary 
 to raise a little mound in the middle of the field, with a 
 small hut upon it, to furnish shelter for the guard, who is 
 to drive away thieves, and especially monkeys, which come 
 there in great numbers for plunder. In case of invasion, 
 the guard gives a signal, and all the peasants in the neigh- 
 
EATING TOGETHER. 279 
 
 country, that ' a strang-er will they not follow, but will flee 
 from him ; for thc}^ know not the voice of strangers.' The 
 sliepherd told me that many of his sheep are still loild ; that 
 they had not yet learned their names ; but that, by teach- 
 ing, they w^ould all learn them. The others, which knew 
 their names, he called fame. How natural an application 
 to the state of the human race does this description of the 
 sheep admit of! The Good Shepherd laid down his life for 
 the sheep, but many of them are still wild — they know not 
 his voice. Others have learned to obey his call, and to fol- 
 low him ; and we rejoice to think that, even to those not 
 yet in his fold, the words are applicable, 'Them, also, I 
 must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be 
 one fold and one Sheplierd.' " — Church Missionary Record, 
 1830, p. 96. 
 
 SERPENT-CHARMING. 
 
 The charming of snakes by means of music, particularly 
 the pipe, is very common throughout Malabar. This is 
 confined to a class of people called Korawara. They also 
 pretend to cure the bite of the most venomous serpents. 
 People of this description are to be met with in many parts 
 of India. There is a striking affinity between this custom 
 and some of the facts mentioned in Scripture. — Jer. 8:17, 
 — "For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among 
 you, which will not be charmed." — Eccl. 10 : 11. " Surely 
 the serpent will bite without enchantment." — Miss. Her., 
 Nov., 1834. 
 
 BOLSTER AND CRUISE OP "WATER. 
 
 1 Samuel 26: 11. " Ilis bolster and the cruise of 
 water." Thus did Saul sleep with his head on the bolster, 
 and a vessel of water by his side ; and in this way do all 
 Eastern travellers sleep at this day. The bolster is round, 
 and about eight inches in diameter, and twenty in length. 
 In travelling it is carried rolled up in the mat on which the 
 owner sleeps. In a hot climate a draught of water is very 
 refreshing in the night ; hence a vessel, filled with watei", 
 is always kept near where a person sleeps. — Juvenile Mis- 
 sionary Herald, 1846, p. 87. 
 
 EATING TOGETHER. 
 
 Eating together as a token of friendship, in the East, 
 appears to be still a custom, as in the time of our Saviour. 
 Says a missionary in the Iloly Land : "We feel ourselves 
 
280 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 quite secui-e among the Arabs, as a sheikh of the port had 
 received us into his tent, and eaten with us in ours. This 
 made him our friend, as nothing- can be more sacred to an 
 Arab than the person and property of one with whom he 
 has eaten bread. It is even said, tliat, if enemies eat to- 
 gether, by chance or otherwise, tiieir animosities cease, and 
 they become friends. The custom of binding friendship by 
 eating together, must have been alluded to in the affecting 
 expression, " He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up 
 his heel against me." — 3Iiss. Her., 1841, p. 205. 
 
 A LODGING-PLACE IN THE -WILDERNESS. 
 
 " 0, that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place ! " &c. 
 Kev. Mr. Kincaid, American Baptist missionary in Arracan, 
 writes : " As we went up the stream the hills became more 
 lofty, and yet many of them were cultivated to the very 
 summit. Occasionally, we saw a house, large enough for 
 three or four persons to sleep in, perched in the top of a tree 
 thirty or forty feet from the ground. It was truly pictu- 
 resque to see a house, or more properly a lodge, constructed 
 in the top of a tree growing on the very summit of a hill 
 five or six hundred feet high. In these the keepers of the 
 field lodge, and are secure from tigers and elephants. The 
 latter, in particular, are numerous among these mountains. 
 These airy buildings are constructed, among these moun- 
 tains, beside paths leading from one part of the country to 
 another. They illustrate a passage in Jeremiah 9 : 2, — '0, 
 that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring 
 men.' " — Amer. Bap. Mag., 1842, p. 27. 
 
 A SHEEP IN COURT. 
 
 A man in India was arraigned, a few months since, for 
 stealing a sheep. He was brought before the judge, and 
 the supposed owner of the sheep was also present. Both 
 of these men claimed the sheep, and had witnesses to prove 
 their claim, so that it was difficult for the judge to decide 
 to which the sheep belonged. Knowing, however, the cus- 
 tom of shepherds, and the habits of the animal, he resorted 
 to the Ibllowing expedient. He had the sheep brought into 
 court, and sent one of the men into an adjoining room, 
 while he told the other to call the sheep, and see if it would 
 come to him ; but the poor animal, not knowing the "voice 
 of a stranger," would not go to him. In the mean time, 
 the other claimant, who was in an adjoining room, growing 
 
A ROLL OF A BOOK. 277 
 
 ing, the locusts were seen congregated in the bnshos by the 
 road-side, in a close mass, which it woukl be difficult to ex- 
 press in better words than ' camping in the hedges.' They 
 appeared to be assembled with all the precision of military 
 tactics. But, when the sun arose, they lied away, and their 
 place was not known where they were. — Church Missionary 
 liecord, 1832. 
 
 LETTING A BED THROUGH THE ROOF. 
 
 Mark 2:4. " And when they could not come nigh unto 
 him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was, 
 and, when they had broken it up, they let down the bed 
 whereon the sick of the palsy lay." When I lived in Egina, 
 I used to look up, not unfrequently, at the roof above my 
 head, and contemplate the facility with which the whole 
 transaction might take place. The roof was constructed in 
 this manner : A layer of reeds, of a large species, was 
 placed upon the rafters. On these a quantity of heather 
 was strewed. Upon the heather, earth was deposited, and 
 beat down into a compact mass. Now, what difficulty 
 would there be in removing, first the earth, then the 
 heather, next the reeds ? Nor would the difficulty be in- 
 creased, if the earth had a pavement of tiling laid upon it. 
 No inconvenience could result to the persons in the house, 
 from the removal of the tiles and earth ; for the heather and 
 reeds would intercept anything which might otherwise fall 
 down, and would be removed last of all. 
 
 A ROLL OP A BOOK. 
 
 Ezekiel 2 : 9, 10. " And when I looked, behold an hand 
 was sent unto me ; and lo, a roll of a book was therein ; 
 and he spread it before me, and it was written within and 
 without." In the monastery of Megaspelaion I observed 
 two beautiful rolls of this description. They contained the 
 liturgies of St. Chrysostom, and that attributed by the 
 Greeks to St. James. You began to read by unfoMing ; and 
 you continued to read and to unfold, till at last you arrived 
 at the stick to which the roll was attached. Then you 
 turned the parchment round, and continued to read on the 
 other side of the roll, folding it gradually up, till you com- 
 pleted the liturgy. Thus it was written ivilhin and xoithout. 
 — Church Ilissionary liecord, 1832. 
 24 
 
278 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 MODE OF SALUTATION. 
 
 In Syria, if you meet a friend in the morning, he says, 
 "May your morning be happiness." You reply, "And 
 yours be peace." He asks again, "How is your condi- 
 tion?" You answer, " If it please God, you are happy." 
 You say, "Thank God, I am happy." — "And how is your 
 pleasure?" He answers, "May God give you peace." 
 When he leaves you, he says, " By your permission, I de- 
 part." You reply, " Go in peace." He adds, " And God 
 give you peace." In travelling, the salutation is, " May 
 God be with you." Reply, " And God keep you." If you 
 call at a person's door, he says, "You are welcome ; do 
 me the favor to walk in." Reply, " May God increase your 
 bounty." Answer, " And God give you long life." Salu- 
 tations of this kind were, no doubt, as freely used as now 
 in that country, when our Saviour labored and journeyed 
 there. And accordingly iTe; gave the benediction of "peace," 
 but not as the world giveth, — not as a heartless form, a 
 mere custom. He meant it. It was from the heart, and 
 was a substantial, endia^ing peace. Others might offer the 
 salutation, but had no power to confer the blessing. He 
 could give the peace which he wished to his friends. — Miss. 
 Her., 1841, p. 204. 
 
 THE SHEEP HEAR HIS VOICE. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIOX OP JOHN 10: 3. 
 
 A missionary of the Church of England writes as follows, 
 from the Morea, within the Mediterranean mission : " I 
 have met with an illustration of a passage of Scripture 
 which interests me. Having had my attention directed to 
 the words of John 10 : 3, — ' The sheep hear his voice, and 
 he calleth his own sheep by name,' — I asked my man if it 
 was usual in Greece to give names to the sheep. He in- 
 formed me that it was, and that the sheep obeyed the shep- 
 herd when he called them by their names. This morning 
 I had an oppoi-tunity of verifying this remark. Passing by 
 a flock of sheep, I asked the shepherd tlie same question 
 which I had put to my servant, and he gave me the same 
 answer. I then bade him call one of his sheep ; he did so, 
 and it instantly left its pasturage and its companions, and 
 ran up to the hand of the shepherd with signs of pleasure, 
 and with a prompt obedience which I had never before 
 observed in any animal. It is also true of the sheep of this 
 
GEEAT IS DIANA. 281 
 
 impatient, and probably suspecting the nature of the cxper- 
 iinout which was going on, gave a kind of "cluck," upon 
 which the sheep bounded away towards him without a mo- 
 ment's delay. This "cluck" was the way in which he had 
 been used to calling his sheep, and it was at once decided 
 that he was the real owner. Thus we have presented to 
 us, incidentally, a beautiful illustration of John 10 : 4, 5,- — ■ 
 " And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And 
 a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him ; for 
 they know not the voice of strangers." 
 
 THE OX-GOAD. 
 
 A missionary remarks, " I have seen, in Egina, and other 
 parts of Greece, that kind of ox-goad described by Maun- 
 drell, as illustrative of the instrument with which Shamgar 
 killed six hundred men. — Judges 3 : 31. It is often eight 
 or nine feet in length, and is furnished at one end with the 
 goad, and at the other with a large weapon, like a piece of 
 iron, which is used for cleaning the ploughshare. It was, 
 no doubt, this latter part of the instrument which Shamgar 
 used as a battle-axe, and thus killed so many of his ene- 
 mies." — Church Missionary Record, 1830, p. 98. 
 
 GREAT IS DIANA. 
 
 Acts 19 : 28. The Kev. John Hartley, in his " Missionary 
 Researches in Greece and the Levant," thus illustrates the 
 force of this passage, and the verses connected with it • 
 " Nothing at Ephesus was so interesting as the remains of 
 the theatre. It was here that the multitude, collected by 
 Demetrius and his craftsmen, excited the uproar which 
 threw the whole city into confusion ; and the situation of 
 the building aflbrds illustration of that remarkable occur- 
 rence. The theatre, like other ancient structures, is seated 
 on a steep declivity; the scats having been formed in suc- 
 cessive tiers on the slope of a lofty hill, and the whole 
 building being open to the sky. I have no doubt that up- 
 wards of thirty thousand persons could have conveniently 
 seated themselves in the theatre of Ephesus. Before them, 
 they had a view of the most striking description. Across 
 the Market-Place, and at no great distance, they belield 
 that splendid temple, which was one of the ' Seven Won- 
 ders of the World,' and which was dedicated to the great 
 goddess Diana, ichoni all Asia and the world ivorshipped. 
 There can be little doubt that Demetrius would avail him- 
 21* 
 
282 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 self of the sight of this splendid object, to inflame to the 
 highest pitch the passions of the multitude. We may im- 
 agine their eyes fixed on this famous temple, and their 
 hands directed towards it, while they all, ivith one voice, about 
 Jlie space of two hours, cried out, Great is ' Diana of the Ephe- 
 sians! ' The very situation of the theatre would add to the 
 tumult. On the left hand, and at no great distance, are the 
 steep and rocky sides of Mount Corissus, forming a natural 
 and lofty rampart, which completely shuts out all prospect 
 in that direction. The shouts of twenty thousand people, 
 striking against this mountain, would be reechoed with loud 
 reverberations, and not a little augment the uproar. The 
 high situation of the theatre, on Mount Prion, accounts 
 also for the ease with which such an immense multitude 
 was assembled. From every part of Ephesus, on that side, 
 the inhabitants would have a view of the people rushing 
 into the theatre, and taking their seats on that lofty eleva- 
 tion, and would, of course, themselves run with impetuosity 
 to see and hear the cause of the assembly. Under these 
 circumstances, it is by no means matter of wonder that the 
 attention of the town-clerk was excited, and that he felt 
 Jiiraself called upon to interpose his autliority." 
 
BREAD UPON THE WATERS. 
 
 SEED SOWN IN TAHITI. 
 
 A MOST remarkable instance of fruit gathered after many 
 years,. — furth-er particulars of which are given in another 
 place, — occurred in the island of Tahiti, under the labors 
 of the London Missionary'- Society. The king, Pomare, and 
 a few of his subjects, had embraced Christianity, but they 
 were sorely persecuted by subordinate chiefs, who made a 
 war upon the king, backed by an idolatrous multitude. Po- 
 mare and his friends gained a complete victory in an obsti- 
 nate engagement ; and, after the battle, the king directed a 
 number of his people to proceed to the temple in which Oro, 
 the great national idol, was deposited, and to destroy the 
 temple, altar, idols, and every vestige of idolatry. This 
 order was executed to the letter, and in a short time Pomare 
 M'as by universal consent restored to supreme authority in 
 his dominions. He had spared all his conquered subjects 
 in the late battle, which was a new thing ; and which led 
 them to inquire, " Where can the king have imbibed these 
 new principles of forbearance and humanity ? " They were 
 so much impressed with this strange exhibition of mercy, 
 that they determined to embrace the new religion them- 
 selves. And now, of their own accord, they proceeded to 
 the work of exterminating idolatry. The fimily and district 
 temples and altars, as well as those which were national, 
 were demolished, the idols destroyed by the very men who 
 had so lately fought* in their defence, and in a short time 
 there was not one professed idolater remaining. The peo- 
 ple earnestly invited the missionaries to come and instruct 
 them in the Christian religion ; schools were established, 
 houses of public worship erected, and the Sabbath was 
 observed as a divine institution. The missionaries, over- 
 come with joy, hastened to give thanks to God, with feel- 
 
284 BREAD UPON THE WATERS. 
 
 ings which could not be described. The journalist of those 
 remarkable events says : "In that one year the missionaries 
 reaped the harvest of sixteen laborious seed-times, sixteen 
 dreary and anxious winters, and sixteen unproductive sum- 
 mers. Aged priests and warriors with their spelling-books 
 in their hands, might be seen sitting on the benches in the 
 schools, by the side of some smiling little boy or girl, by 
 whom they were now taught the use of letters. Others 
 might be seen employed in putting down the houses of their 
 idols, and erecting temples of the Prince of peace, working 
 in companionship and harmony with those whom they had 
 so recently met on the field of battle." — South Sea Missions, 
 p. 152. 
 
 DK. JUDSON'S FAITH. 
 
 Dr. Judson was at his station six years before he baptized 
 a single convert. After three of these years had elapsed, he 
 was asked, in view of the little apparent progress he had 
 made, what evidence he had of ultimate success. " As 
 much," he replied, " as that there is a God who will fulfil 
 his promises." This faith was not unrewarded. Thirty-one 
 years after his first baptism, seventy churches had been 
 formed in his field of labor, averaging one hundred members 
 each. — Jour, of Miss., July, 1851. 
 
 THE T"WENTY POUNDS. 
 
 There lived in England a widow, who was the mother of 
 two sons. They were wayward, disobedient and profligate. 
 Her income was barely sufficient for the necessities of life, 
 and the expensive habits of her sons threatened her with 
 penury and want. Fearing that slie should be reduced to 
 extremities, and unable to aid the cause of missions, she 
 resolved, while she could, to make a contribution of twenty 
 pounds to that object. Iler friends remonstrated, and 
 painted in lively colors her gloomy prospects, but her pur- 
 pose was formed, and speedily executed. The twenty 
 pounds were paid to the treasurer, and her heart was at 
 rest. Meantime, the sons proceeded in their vice, from bad 
 to worse, till one of them enlisted in the army, and Avas 
 stationed in Bengal. Not long after his arrival in the East 
 Indies, this prodigal was brought to a saving knowledge 
 of the truth, and by one of the Baptist missionaries, either 
 at Serampore or Calcutta, was baptized, admitted to the 
 church, and soon called to the Gospel ministry! His dis- 
 
THE MORAVIANS AT THE CAPE. 285 
 
 charge from the army was procured, and he was associated 
 with tlie missionary band, and labored with them in the 
 Gospel. His health failing, he returned to England, and 
 there the writer of this sketch had the unspeakable pleasure 
 of pleading the cause of missions on the same platform with 
 him. But the widow, the mother, — what of her ? Had 
 she sunk under the pressure of her manifold troubles into 
 the grave, where the weary are at rest ? 0, no. She had 
 sown liberally, and she was privileged to reap liberally. 
 For a time every mail that arrived from India filled her 
 with apprehension and dread. She feared that her unhappy 
 son might be hurried on by his passions to the perpetration 
 of some crime that would disgrace and ruin him. At length 
 a letter arrived of unusual size. She opened it with a trem- 
 bling hand. Her eyes ran rapidly over its contents. She 
 had scarcely finished it, when, with streaming eyes and 
 clasped hand, she fell upon her knees, exclaiming, " 0, the 
 TWENTY POUNDS ! 0, THE TWENTY POUNDS ! " Unable to Con- 
 tain the joy that filled her heart, she called her friends and 
 neighbors together, and bid them rejoice with her, for the 
 dead was restored to life, the lost was found. Not long 
 after the intelligence of her son's conversion, she was per- 
 mitted to embrace him ; and, as her arms were thrown about 
 his neck, she sobbed aloud, " 0, the twenty pounds ! 0, 
 THE twenty pounds ! " — Aiii. Miss., vol. IV., p. 26. 
 
 THE MOBAVIANS AT THE CAPE. 
 
 In 1736, a mission was commenced by the Moravians, 
 among the Hottentots, at the Cape of Good Hope, and sev- 
 eral of the natives were hopefully converted, and baptized. 
 But the government interposed serious obstacles, and the 
 work was abandoned in 1V43, after a continuance of seven 
 years. In 1791, nearly half a century having elapsed, the 
 mission at the Cape was resumed by three Moravian breth- 
 ren. Soon after entering upon their work, they were grat- 
 ified and surprised to find some of the children of those who 
 had been baptized by Mr. Schmidt, the first missionary, and 
 these received the missionaries with joy, and erected huts 
 near the cottage of their teachers. Others followed, and 
 within a year manj' had been baptized, and a large congre- 
 gation gathered ; thus demonstrating tliat the labors of Mr. 
 Schmidt, though long forgotten by the world, were the 
 foundation of a great and glorious work. — 3Ii-'<s. Her., 
 February, 1838. 
 
286 BREAD UPON THE WATEES. 
 
 SEED BURIED TVSTENTY YEARS. 
 
 About tlie year 1830, an Armenian, residing near the 
 Black Sea, went on a pilgrimage, with thousands of others, 
 to Jerusalem. There he met a man by the name of Yakob 
 Agha, who had been taught by the missionaries, and had 
 embraced the truth as it is in Jesus. From him the Arme- 
 nian pilgrim gained some knowledge of the better way ; 
 and, on returning to his home, instead of carrying with him 
 crosses, beads, relics, &c., as was customaiy, he carried 
 evangelical tracts and portions of the word of God. These 
 he continued to study, especially the Bible ; but he had no 
 one to teach him, or even to sympathize with him in his 
 newly awakened desire for the truth. In this coui'se of 
 solitary study and pursuit of truth he persevered more than 
 iwenly years, before he saw the face of a missionary. In this 
 condition ho was at last found by Mr. Powers, of the Amer- 
 ican Board, to whom his history was related. lie had once 
 possessed great wealth, but long continued persecution had 
 despoiled him of his possessions, and left him destitute. He 
 had borne all with meekness, and his case shows with re- 
 markable clearness, not only the immense good which a 
 tract or book may do, but also that the good results may 
 lie hidden from human observation many years, and at last 
 astonish us with their magnitude and value. — 3Iiss. Her., 
 1852, p. 198. 
 
 FRUITS OF ONE GIFT. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Ward, as he passed through a village oppo- 
 site Calcutta, left at a native shop a Bengalee New Testa- 
 ment, that it might be read by any who chose to read it in 
 the village. About a year afterward, three or four of the 
 most intelligent of the inhabitants went to Scrampore, to 
 inquire further respecting the contents of tlie book left in 
 their possession. The result was, that six or eight of them 
 soon made a public profession of Christianity. One was an 
 old man, named Juggernath, who had long been a devotee 
 to the idi)l of that name in Orissa, had made many pilgrim- 
 ages thither, and liad acquired sucli a name for sanctity, 
 that a rich man in Orissa was said to have ofJered him a 
 pension for life, on condition of his remaining with him. 
 On his becoming acquainted with the New Testament, he 
 first hung his image of Juggernaut, which he had hitherto 
 worshipped, on a tree in his garden, and at length cut it up 
 to boil his rice. He remained steadfast in his profession of 
 
THE PROFITS OF GIVING. 287 
 
 Christianity till his death, Avhicli happened about eight j^ears 
 after. Two others, Kishnoo-das and Sebeck-ram, published 
 the doctrines of Christianity to their countrymen in the most 
 fearless manner, while at the same time their demeanor was 
 such as to secure universal esteem. Kishnoo-das died re- 
 joicing in Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of men ; and 
 Sebeck-ram was laboring, at the date of this narrative, in 
 and about Calcutta, explaining- the Scriptures to many who 
 resorted to him. — Miss. Her. ,'1828, p. 292. 
 
 SOVEREIGNTY OF GRACE. 
 
 In 1830, a man by the name of Baker sailed from Massa- 
 chusetts, on a whaling voyage. He had known and heard 
 the Gospel from a child, but had resisted its power. lie 
 touched at the Sandwich Islands, and there fell into the 
 society of the missionaries of the American Board, and 
 heard them preach. He went on his voyage, and subse- 
 quently stopped at Bombay. The truth which he had heard 
 at the islands had wrought upon his mind ; and while at 
 Bombay he sought again the missionaries, gave decided 
 evidence of being a converted man, and was received to the 
 mission church in that place. 
 
 Such is one of the sovereign ways in which the grace of 
 God operates. Here was a man, born and educated in one 
 of the most eidightened Christian communities on earth, 
 commencing a voyage round the globe, still unregenerate, 
 touching at an island remote from his native land, and (here 
 first getting abiding convictions of the truth. Then, at an 
 opposite point of the globe, these convictions are revealed 
 to another set of missionaries, a change of heart is mani- 
 fested, and Christ and his cause are openly espoused. Who 
 can tell when or how God will bless his word ? " In the 
 morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not 
 thine hand, for thou knowest not which shall prosper, this 
 or that."— i^ep. of Am. Board, 1831, p. 25. 
 
 THE PROFITS OF GIVING. 
 
 When the Sandwich Islands' mission was started, a wheel- 
 wright in Massachusetts was called upon to contribute for it, 
 and was told that his quota would be a dollar. lie paid it, 
 but with the feeling that the dollar was thrown away. 
 Many years after, in 1850, this same reluctant and scep- 
 tical giver received an order from the Sandwich Islands 
 
288 BREAD UPON THE WATERS. 
 
 for twenty carls, at ninety dollars apiece, thus getting, as 
 one of the temporal benefits of that mission, a cash job of 
 eighteen hundred dollars. — Jour, of Miss., Feb., 1851. 
 
 MR. SCHAUFFLER AND HIS BOOKS. 
 
 A striking illustration of the necessity of working by faith, 
 is given by Mr. SchauflQer, missionary to the Jews. Pass- 
 ing through Odessa, a Russian port on the Black Sea, in 
 1832, Mr. Schauflfler found there some hundreds of Hebrew 
 and Hebrew-German New Testaments, and some thousands 
 of religious tracts in the same language. These had been, 
 ten years before, intrusted to a person for distribution 
 among the Jews in that quarter. But in consequence of the 
 removal of that person, and the misconduct of another, they 
 never reached their destination, and Mr. Schauflfler found 
 the books in the hands of an auctioneer, of whom he pur- 
 chased them for a pittance. At the time he bought them, 
 some Jews were trying to obtain them, with the design of 
 committing them to the flames. Mr. Schauflfler preserved 
 these treasures against the time when they should be spe- 
 cially needed, and in 1842 he committed them to the hands 
 of Rev. Mr. Melville, of Odessa, for distribution, there being 
 an extraordinary spirit of inquiry among the Jews there at 
 that time. Upon this Mr. Schauflfler remarks : " Twenty 
 years these books were preserved, and rescued and kept 
 against the day when they should be gladly received ! — a 
 striking proof of our duty and privilege to walk and work by 
 faith, and to sow in hope, with the unshaken expectation 
 that the harvest will and must come." — 3Iiss. Her., 184:3, 
 p. ItO. 
 
 A HIDDEN" GEM DISCOVERED. 
 
 In the Quarterly Papers of the English Baptist Mission- 
 ary Society, for April, 1829, is given the ibllowing narrative : 
 A gentleman who was spending a few weeks in the city of 
 Shiraz, in Persia, was invited to a party, when the conver- 
 sation turned upon the subject of religion, and he was 
 called upon to give an account of the Christian faith. 
 Among the guests was a person who took but little part in 
 the conversation, and who appeared to be intimate with 
 none but the master of the house. Says the gentleman in 
 question, "He watched every word that I uttered, and 
 once, when I expressed myself with some levity, he fixed 
 his eyes upon me with such a peculiar expression of sur- 
 
A HIDDEN GEM DISCOVERED, 289 
 
 prise and reproof, that I was struck to the very soul, and 
 felt a straiif^e, mysterious wonder who this person could be. 
 I asked privately, one of the party, who told me he had 
 been educated for a moolah (Mohammedan priest) but had 
 never officiated ; that he was a man of considerable leai-n- 
 ing', and much respected, but lived retired, and seldom 
 visited his most intimate friend. He had come on this 
 occasion, expecting to meet an Englishman, as he was 
 much attached to the English nation, and had studied their 
 language and learning. This increased my curiosity, and I 
 determined to call on Mahommed Rahem (for that was his 
 name) which I did a few days afterward, and found him 
 reading a volume of Cowper's poems. This circumstance 
 led to an immediate discussion of the merits of English poe- 
 try, and European literature in general. I was perfectly as- 
 tonished at the clear and accurate conceptions he had formed 
 upon these subjects, and at the precision with which he 
 expressed himself in English." The narrative goes on to 
 say, that the conversation continued for two hours, and 
 finally turned upon the subject of religion, when, upon 
 inquiry, Rahem avowed himself a Christian. The narrator 
 says, " I should vainly endeavor to describe the astonish- 
 ment which seized me at this declaration." It soon ap- 
 peared that the English gentleman had possessed himself of 
 a secret which had hitherto been kept concealed, except 
 from a few who participated in the sentiments of the Per- 
 sian Christian. " And whence came this happy change ? " 
 he inquired. The answer was readily given as follows : 
 
 " In the year 1823 there came to this city an English- 
 man, who taught the religion of Christ with a boldness 
 hitherto unparalleled in Persia, in the midst of much scorn 
 and ill-treatment from our moolahs, as well as from the rab- 
 ble. He was a beardless youth, and evidently enfeebled by 
 disease. He dwelt among us for more than a year. I 
 was then a decided enemy to Infidels, as the Christians are 
 termed by the followers of Mohammed, and I visited this 
 teacher of the despised sect, with the declared object of 
 treating him with scorn, and exposing his doctrines to con- 
 tempt. Although I persevered for some time in this beha- 
 vior towards him, I found that every interview not only 
 increased my respect for the individual, but diminished my 
 confidence in the faith in which I was educated. His 
 extreme forbearance towards the violence of his opponents, 
 the calm and yet convincing manner in which he expressed 
 25 
 
290 BREAD UPON THE WATERS. 
 
 the fallacies and sophistries by which he was assailed, for 
 he spoke Persian excellently, gradually inclined me to listen 
 to his arguments, to inquire dispassionately into the subject 
 of them, and finally to read a tract which he had written in 
 reply to a defence of Islamism by our chief moolahs. Need 
 I detain you longer ? The result of mj^ examination was, 
 a conviction that the young disputant was right. Shame, 
 or rather fear, withheld me from avowing this opinion. I 
 even avoided the society of the Christian teacher, though 
 he remained in the city so long. Just before he quitted 
 Shiraz, I could not refrain from paying him a farewell visit. 
 0,ur conversation — the memory of it will never fade from 
 the tablet of my mind — sealed my conversion. lie gave 
 me a book ; it has ever been my constant companion ; the 
 study of it has formed my most delightful occupation ; its 
 contents have often consoled me." 
 
 " Upon this," says the English narrator, " he put into my 
 hands a copy of the New Testament in Persian, on one 
 of the blank leaves of which was written, ' There is joy in 
 heaven over one sinner that repenteth.' — Henry Martyn." 
 
 Thus multitudes are probably saved by the labors of 
 Christian missionaries, of whom little or nothing is known 
 in this world. 
 
 THE CHINESE CONVICTS. 
 
 Mr. Read, missionary of the American Board at Ahmed- 
 nugger, visited some Chinese convicts, who were confined 
 as state prisoners on the hills a little distant. But he was 
 ignorant of their language, and could not converse with 
 them. One day, soon after, six of these convicts sent a 
 Hindoo sepoy, their keeper, to Mr. Read, to say that they 
 wished to be baptized and become Christians. Mr. Read 
 visited them again, and conversed Avith them through an 
 interpreter, and found that they were really anxious to be 
 baptized, though they did not fully understand the nature 
 of Christianity. At a subsequent visit, he inquired how 
 many of them could read, and whether they had any books. 
 They replied that there were a number of readers among 
 them, and that they had one book, which one of them said 
 he received from "that good man. Dr. Morrison, of Can- 
 ton." This book proved to be a h-acf, which Dr. Morrison 
 gave to this man in Canton. This tract was carefully pre- 
 served by the recipient during three or four j'ears, and 
 when, with twenty others, he was transported to the west- 
 
god's hand in the south sea islands. 291 
 
 ern part of Hindoostan, for some public offence, the tract 
 was carried with him, and became the means of Christian 
 instruction to the whole company. They received other 
 books, applied themselves to the study of the Ilindoos- 
 tanee language, and Mr. Head had no reason to doubt the 
 sincerity of their desire to embrace Christianity. What 
 other good may have resulted from this single tract, on the 
 restoration of these Chinese Chi'istians to their native 
 country, is known only to Him who hath said, " Cast thy 
 bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many 
 days." — iliiss. Her., Feb. and March, 1835. 
 
 SEED-TIME AND HARVEST. 
 
 The first missionaries were sent to New Zealand in 1814, 
 and the first native was not converted till 1825, after the 
 labors of eleven years, and the second was two years later, 
 in 1827. This was the seed-time ; now came the harvest. 
 In 1845 the communicants at the East Cape numbered 
 1,484 ; and, in 1849, they amounted to 2,893. As to the 
 temporal benefits of this mission, an eye-witness writes : 
 " Nine years ago there was not, that I know of, a grain of 
 wheat grown in this district (the eastern) ; now, upon a 
 moderate calculation, there cannot be less than three thou- 
 sand acres grown by natives. Nine years ago there was 
 not a steel mill in the whole range of my journey ; now the 
 natives have more than two hundred mills among them. 
 Nine years ago there was not a ship belonging to a native ; 
 now they have more than thirty vessels, of from ten to 
 thirty tons' burden, which they have purchased at a cost of 
 little less than eight thousand pounds. Nine years ago 
 they had neither a horse nor a cow amongst them ; now 
 they have a number of both. And it must be borne in 
 mind that this property has been procured hj their own 
 industry — not by presents made to them by the government, 
 or by any other parties." — Jour, of Missions, Nov., 1851. 
 
 GOD'S HAND IN THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 
 
 The fathers and founders of the London Missionary Soci- 
 ety commenced their labors in the South Sea Islands on a 
 liberal scale. They purchased a ship, and sent out twenty- 
 five missionaries, to commence their labors simultaneously 
 at the Marquesan, Tahitian, and Friendly Islands. This 
 vessel was commanded by Capt. Wilson, whose history, in 
 this connection, deserves special notice. lie had suflered 
 
292 BREAD UPON THE WATERS. 
 
 incredible hardships while in the merchant service in India, 
 luiving been taken by the French, driven on foot five hun- 
 dred miles, naked, bai"efoot, and wounded, loaded with 
 irons, and thrown into a horrible prison called the " black 
 liole," nearly starved to death, and ranch of the time 
 chained to another prisoner ; in repeated instances the pris- 
 oner chained to his arm died, and the corpse was removed, 
 only to give place to another body scarcely alive, — and 
 thus he survived for tiventy-two months ! His deliverance 
 having been effected, he suffered yet other perils of an 
 appalling nature ; but without any recognition of God or 
 his providence. He was, through all, an unconverted man, 
 and an infidel! But, in spite of reverses, he had acquired a 
 fortune, and had returned to England, determined to sit 
 down in easy contentment. His passage from India to 
 England was in a ship with a Baptist missionary, Mr. 
 Thomas, who had frequent discussions with him, and was 
 led to remark that he should have more hope of converting 
 the Lascars to Christianity, than Capt. Wilson. At length, 
 however, by a series of most singular providences, he was 
 led to abandon his infidel principles, and to become an 
 eminent and consistent Christian. Subsequently to this, 
 a number of the Evangelical Uagazine fell in his way, and 
 as it happened to contain an article on some scheme for a 
 mission to the South Sea Islands, he immediately thought 
 that, possibly, his services might be needed, and, if so, he 
 would give up his comforts, and encounter once more the 
 stormy ocean. Thus was this man raised up, inured to 
 hardship, and converted by grace, to take command of this 
 most important, and at that time novel and hazardous 
 undertaking. 
 
 But the hand of God is still further visible in the mission 
 to those islands. In the same ship Duff, at a later period, 
 a reinforcement of thirt^y additional laborers went to these 
 isles of the sea. But reverses came. The Duff was cap- 
 tured by a Bonaparte privateer, the property of some of 
 the missions was destroj^ed, several missionaries died, and 
 most of the others, after suffering incredible privations, 
 fled to New South Wales ; and so the entire enterprise, at 
 all three of the abovenamed groups, seemed near to aban- 
 donment and utter defeat. 
 
 A few brethren at Tahiti, however, never abandoned their 
 posts, and others returned after a while. But, worse than 
 all their other trials, they seemed to be laboring in vain. 
 
A SEEIES OF FEUITS. 293 
 
 For sixteen years, notwithstanding- untiring zeal, incessant 
 journeys and fetigue, and faithful conversations and preach- 
 ing, no spirit of inquiry was awakened, not a conversion 
 took place, war continued as frequent and cruel as ever, 
 and idolatry as universal and abominable ! The heavens 
 seemed to be brass, and the earth iron. At length, how- 
 ever, God's time to commence the work of conversion 
 came ; and he commenced it, as is worthy of note, in such a 
 manner as to secure all the glory to himself The mission- 
 aries, at the time the work commenced, were driven away 
 from the island of Tahiti by war, and cut off from all com- 
 munication with it. Two native servants, formerly in the 
 families of the missionaries, had received, unknown to them, 
 some favorable impressions, and had united together for 
 jji'ayer. To these some other natives had attached them- 
 selves, so that, on the return of the missionaries to Tahiti, 
 at the termination of the war, they found a considerable 
 number of " pure Aetna," or praying people ; and they had 
 little else to do but to help forward the work which God 
 had so wonderfully and unexpectedly commenced. Another 
 fact demanding observation is, that the directors of the 
 society, in London, seeing that so little could be done, were 
 on the point of abandoning the mission ; but a few opposed 
 the measure, enlarged their subscriptions, and one. Rev. 
 Matthew Wilkes, declared that he "would rather sell his 
 garments from his back than that the mission should be 
 given up ! " A season of special prayer was held, letters 
 of encouragement were sent to the missionaries, and while 
 the vessel that carried these letters was on her passage to 
 Tahiti, another vessel was conveying to EngUmd the glo- 
 rious news of God's work, the overthrow of idolatry in the 
 island, and, as a pledge of this, having on board the rejected 
 idols of the people ! — Williams's Missionary Enterprises in 
 South Sea Islands, p. 33. 
 
 A SERIES OF FRUITS. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Winslow, of Madras, mentions in a letter the 
 following striking and encouraging facts : " About thirty 
 years ago, the Rev. Mr. Taylor, of Belgaum, India, taught 
 a lad who came to his school to read English, and encour- 
 aged him to read the Bible in English. This lad became a 
 man, and obtained, in connection with the police or court, 
 some goverrmient office. He continued to read his Bible, 
 and taught his children, even his eldest daughter, to do the 
 26* 
 
294 BEEAD UPON THE WATERS. 
 
 same. This daughter, from reading the Bible, became a 
 believer in it. A young man, who was for a time educated 
 in the Free Church school at Madras, but was removed by 
 his friends through fear that he would become a Christian, 
 went to different parts of the country, and at length to 
 Belgaum. He had before some religious impressions, 
 which were there revived. He became acquainted with tlie 
 girl just mentioned, aud married her. The next step was 
 for them both to avow themselves Christians. The father 
 of the girl at first opposed them, but could not avoid seeing 
 that it was the proper fruit of his own teaching. The 
 young couple, to avoid persecution, came to Madras, where 
 they now are. A younger brother followed them, resolved 
 to forsake all to become a Christian. He and another per- 
 son were baptized at the Free Church, the last Sabbath but 
 one. The father, it is said, is inquiring." — Jour, of Miss., 
 Aug., 1850. 
 
 U]SrLOOKED-FOR TESTIMONY. 
 
 While Rev. Messrs. Clarkson and others, of the Gnzeratt 
 mission, India, were making an extensive tour in the sur- 
 rounding districts, they, on one occasion, after preaching 
 to a large crowd of people, were visited in their tent by a 
 Sadhu, who volunteered his testimony to the truth of what 
 had been said. Mr. Clarkson was much surprised, and 
 asked him whence he had obtained his knowledge of the 
 Gospel. He answered, " From a book received years ago 
 in the Broach district." As he left, he whispered to the 
 missionary, " The new birth is of the Spirit, and not of the 
 flesh," referring to a tract he had read on the new birth. 
 Mr. Clarkson very forcibly'- adds, " These scattered seeds of 
 divine knowledge, who shall say ivhere they may not some 
 day germinate ? these scattered principles of truth, who 
 shall say ivhea they may not be quickened by the life-giving 
 Spirit ? " 
 
 KEMNANTS OP BRAINARD'S FLOCK. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Byiiigton, in a letter respecting Indians west 
 of Missouri, in 1834, says: "I have, here in this part of 
 the world, found some of the children of David Brainard's 
 church-members. My heart has been so full ever since I 
 found them, that I have hardly thought of anything else." 
 Mr. B. proceeds to describe his meeting with an old Indian 
 woman, who spoke good English. On inquiring her origin, 
 
SOWING AND REAPING. 295 
 
 she said she belonged to David Brainard's people. At her 
 side sat her sister, also a member of the chureh, and both 
 could read their Bibles, which they had kept through all 
 their wanderings. Their father, and mother, and grand- 
 mother, they said, were members of David Brainard's 
 church. Mr. Byington asked them what their grandmother 
 said about Brainard. They replied, " She said he was a 
 young man ; he was a lovely man ; he was a staff"; he was 
 a staff to walk with. lie went about from house to house 
 to talk about religion ; that was his way ; " and much more 
 to the same effect. Mr. Byington adds : " I seemed to be 
 nearer to Brainard as a laborer than I ever expected to be. 
 I had often inquired for the remnants of his flock, and now 
 I saw them. Truly my heart was full." — Miss. Herald 
 December, 1834. 
 
 POOD FOR FAITH. 
 
 At a meeting of missionary brethren in Constantinople, 
 at the house of Mr. Goodell, Mr. Schauflfler stated that a 
 tract had been published in Germany, giving an account of 
 Dr. Judson's labors at Ava ; that this tract had fallen into 
 the hands of some Jews, and had been the means of their 
 conversion ; that it had reached Trebizond, where a Jew 
 had translated it for the Jews of that place ; that it had 
 awakened a deep interest among them ; that a candid spirit 
 of inquiry had been manifested ; and that a request had 
 been made for a missionary to be sent to them from Con- 
 stantinople. What a comment on the word of inspiration, 
 " In the morning sow thy seed " ! etc. — llemoir qfjudson, 
 p. 36. 
 
 SOWING AND HEAPING. 
 
 " There was a period in my ministrj'^," said the devoted 
 Andrew Fuller to a friend, " marked by the most pointed, 
 systematic effort to comfort my serious people ; but the 
 more I tried to comfort them, the more they complained of 
 doubt and darkness. I knew not what to do, nor what to 
 think, for I had done my best to comfort the mourners in 
 Zion. At this time it pleased God to direct my attention 
 to the claims of the perishing heathen in India. I felt that 
 we had been living for ourselves, and not caring for their 
 souls. I spoke as I felt. My serious people wondered and 
 wept over their past inattention to the subject. They be- 
 gan to talk about a Baptist mission. The females, especially, 
 began to collect money for the spread of the Gospel. We 
 
296 BREAD UPON THE WATERS. 
 
 met and prayed for the heathen ; met and considered what 
 could be done amongst ourselves for them ; met and did 
 what we could. And, whilst this was going on, the lam- 
 entation ceased. The sad became cheerful, and the de- 
 sponding calm. No one complained of a want of comfort. 
 And 1, instead of having to study how to comfort my flock, 
 was myself comforted by them. They were drawn out of 
 themselves. That was the real secret. God blessed them, 
 while they tried to be a blessing." — Am. Hiss., vol. iv., p. "II. 
 
 HALF A CENTURY'S LABOR IN" INDIA. 
 
 The modern era of missions in India begins with the found- 
 ing of the Serampore Baptist Mission in l'r99. Within a 
 few years stations were established in Calcutta, Madras, 
 Bombay, and began to push outward into all the Presiden- 
 cies of liindoostan. The beginnings were slow but sui-e. 
 One societj'', then another- — one missionary, then another, 
 landed on the coast, and took up their posts on the great 
 battle-field of idolatry. At the close of the year 1850, — fifty 
 years after the first blow was struck, — the stations at which 
 the Gospel was preached were two hundred and sixty in num- 
 ber, and engaged the services of four hundred and three mis- 
 sionaries, belonging to twenty-two missionary societies. 
 These missionaries had founded threehundred and nine native 
 churches, containing seventeen thousand three hundred mem- 
 bers, or communicants. At the same period the missiona- 
 ries were superintending thirteen hundred and forty-five day- 
 schools, embracing eighly-three thousand seven hundred hoys ; 
 seventy-three boarding-schools, containing nineteen hundred 
 and ninety boys, chiefly Christian, who resided upon the mis- 
 sion premises ; and one hundred and twenty-eight day- 
 schools, with fourteen thousand boys and students, receiving 
 a sound scriptural education, through the medium of the 
 English language. In the department of female education, 
 the efforts of these missionaries cmbi'aced, at the close of 
 the fifty years, ninety-one boarding-schools, with two thou- 
 sand four hundred girls, taught in the vernacular languages ; 
 and three hundred and fifty-four day-schools, with eleven 
 thousand five hundred girls. The Bible had been translated 
 into ten of the languages of liindoostan, not reckoning the 
 Serampore versions ; and twenty-five printing establishments 
 were maintained for the creation of a Christian literature 
 for India. 
 
 If those who, in the pride of worldly wisdom, mocked and 
 
TWENTY YEARS IN ARMENIA. 297 
 
 derided the Baptist brethren in 1T99, could witness the pres- 
 ent gigantic operations, before which idols, shasters and 
 superstitions, are fast retreating, they would be constrained 
 to give glory to God, even though they themselves should 
 wonder and perish. — Lon. 3Ess. Chron., 1852, p. 31. 
 
 TWENTY YEAKS IN" ARMENIA. 
 
 In 1853, Rev. Mr. Powers, of the mission to the Arme- 
 nians, wrote: "The reformation now in progress among 
 the Armenians maybe dated back to 1833 — just twenty 
 years ago. At that time the whole mission to the Arme- 
 nians consisted of two families, occupying a single house on 
 the shores of the Bosphorus ; now the whole force of the 
 mission, consisting of American missionaries, native preach- 
 ers, and helpers, amounts to over one hundred persons, 
 occupying some twenty different posts. 
 
 "Then, the missionary was without friends, and almost 
 universally looked upon as an enemy to the truth, an infidel, 
 a pest, whose influence was evil and only evil ; now, he is 
 surrounded by friends, and his character is no longer 
 assailed. 
 
 " Then, the missionary found himself in the midst of a 
 moral waste, surrounded by those who, for their vices, were 
 snares and traps unto him ; now, a little garden is springing 
 up under his fostering care, adorned with plants of right- 
 eousness. 
 
 " Then, not an individual was known in whose piety the 
 missionary had sufficient confidence to invite him to the 
 Lord's table ; now, there are fifteen regularly organized 
 churches, with three hundred and fifty-one communicants. 
 
 "Then, the first formal sermon had not been preached. 
 It was not till five years afterwards, in 1838, that, with all 
 quietness and avoidance of publicity, in an upper cliamber, 
 the first regular and formal preaching service in either of 
 the languages spoken by Armenians was commenced. Now, 
 no less than fifteen chapels are open every Lord's day, 
 where the Gospel is preached with the same formality and 
 fearlessness as in more favored lands. 
 
 "Then, there was no toleration for Protestantism; and 
 some of us will never forget the extreme delicacy of our 
 position as Protestant missionaries, the jealousy with which 
 our movements were watched, the efiorts that were made 
 for our expulsion from the country, and the embarrassments 
 and trials we encountered for years while groping our way 
 
298 BREAD UPON THE WATERS. 
 
 by the guidance of hints and cautions ; now, the Royal 
 Charter of Rights, securing to the sultan's subjects the free 
 toleration of religious opinions and worship, places us and 
 the cause of truth on firm vantage ground. 
 
 " In view of all that has been accomplished in this dark 
 land, for the revival of a pure Christianity, we can only say, 
 ' this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.' " 
 — Jour, o/ilfiss., 1854, p. 20. 
 
MYTHOLOGIES, MAXIMS, PROVERBS, SAYINGS, 
 
 ETC. 
 
 HINDOO SCIENCE. 
 
 The Hindoo sacred books treat not only of religious mat- 
 ters, but even of the sciences. Astronomy, geography, law, 
 medicine, &c., must be believed in, as taught in the shasters, 
 or Hindooism, as a system of faith, is rejected. The follow- 
 ing are some of the items of this faith : " That the earth is 
 sustained on the head of an immense serpent ; that, in the 
 centi'e of Jambudwipa and of the whole earth. Mount Meru 
 rises to the height of 84,000 yojanas, or 673,000 miles, that 
 Jambudwipa is 800,000 miles wide, and that it is surrounded 
 by seven immense seas of salt water, sugar-cane juice, ardent 
 spirits, milk, &c., with their intervening continents, and an 
 immense region of solid gold beyond ; that the diameter of 
 the earth's circumference is some 4,000,000,000 miles, or 
 more than sufficient to fill up with solid matter the whole 
 earth's orbit ; that the earth is stationary, and that the sun, 
 moon, and planets, revolve around it ; that the sun is 
 800,000 miles from the earth, the moon double that distance, 
 and Mercury, Jupiter, &c., at an immense distance beyond." 
 These, and a thousand other things equally absurd, are 
 taught in the Hindoo sacred books, and are an essential 
 part of Hindoo2S??i. Therefore, when the missionaries teach 
 the true science of astronomy, &c., they assail the Hindoo 
 religion, and, so far as they demonstrate these sciences to 
 the intelligent youth of India, they create an utter contempt 
 for the teachings of the shasters, and a rejection of the 
 authority of these pretended revelations, in heart, if not iu 
 outward form. — Miss. 3Iag., 1852, p. 154. 
 
300 MYTHOLOGIES, MAXIMS, ETC. 
 
 HINDOO HISTORY OF THE CRBATIOTJ". 
 
 As a missionary in Nagercoil, India, was teaching a com- 
 pany of natives concerning the great truths of Christianity, 
 a man, more learned than the rest, went and brought a 
 cadjan book (one of the sacred books of the Hindoos), and 
 read the first part, containing the history of the formation 
 of the world. It was as follows : " God Allah took upon 
 himself three divinities, intending to make himself known 
 to the world. Afterwards he took upon himself six. He 
 made the earth by one of them ; by another, a good pearl ; 
 by another, a bottle ; by another, a great well, which has 
 four springs, from one of which honey had sprung ; from 
 another, milk ; from another, musk ; and, from another, the 
 good water. The Allah commanded four angels to keep 
 that well. The one spring was about 50,000,000 of miles 
 far off from the other. Afterwards he made a peacock, and 
 commanded it to swallow the said pearl ; the peacock swal- 
 lowed it. God, the Allah, made a tree full of fruits and flow- 
 ers, which was called Agtho, and told the peacock to sit 
 upon that tree, asking, ' What do you want ? ' The peacock 
 said, ' I want fruit.' He gave orders to the peacock to eat 
 the fruit only. The peacock, having eaten the fruit, and 
 asked water from God before he gave it, God commanded 
 the peacock to wander 350,000,000 years, because he did 
 so." Incredible as it may seem, it is yet true, that men, 
 yea, a whole nation of men, receive such absurd stoi'ies with 
 implicit confidence, and incorporate them with their religious 
 faith. — London Miss. Mag., 1840, p. 173. 
 
 A PERSIAN SIMILE. 
 
 " Forgive thine enemies, and be to thy bitterest foe like 
 the sisoo tree, which perfumes with its odors the axe which 
 brings it level with the ground." 
 
 ^^s^ISDOM OP the Malays. 
 
 In the quarterly paper of the English Baptist mission- 
 aries, at Bencoolen, among the Malays, some account is 
 given of a curious native work, called " The Crown of all 
 Kings." In point of style and morality, it is said to be the 
 best book the Malays have among them. The following 
 extracts, furnished by the missionaries, will show that this 
 people, though heathen, are not altogether destitute of 
 wisdom. Their maxims furnish instruction even to more 
 enlightened people. 
 
WISDOM OF THE MALAYS. 301 
 
 " The vehicle of human life never stops ; it is always 
 moving- ; but man does not know it. Every breath of man 
 is like a step in his journey ; every day is like passing- a 
 valley ; every month is like a mile ; every year is like a 
 league." 
 
 " Every breath that is emitted from the body of man is 
 like a stone broken down from the house of life, for every 
 breath diminishes the time which he has to live. By another 
 mode of reckoning, every breath is like a step, by which 
 we recede further from the world, and approach nearer to 
 eternity." 
 
 " Some wise men have said, this world is like a dream, 
 and all the inhabitants of the world are like persons asleep ; 
 and when they awake, they find that nothing remains of all 
 those things about which they have been dreaming." 
 
 " Some wise men have said, this world is like lightning ; 
 as soon as it is seen it disappears." 
 
 " Some wise men have said, this world is like an old 
 woman profusely ornamented, and arrayed in beautifully 
 colored garments ; seen at a distance her appearance is cap- 
 tivating, and those who do not know her are enamored with 
 her, but those who know her, despise her." 
 
 " Some wise men have said, this world is like an inn on 
 the road, with two doors ; those who come to this inn to- 
 day, enter at one door, and to-morrow, when they leave, go 
 out at the other." 
 
 " Some wise men have said, this world is like an elegantly 
 built house, which pleases every one who beholds it. It is 
 ornamented with gold, silver, and precious stones, and 
 adorned with carpets and hangings ; it contains an abun- 
 dance of suitable clothes, and is supplied with thousands of 
 luxuries for eating and drinking. The owner of this house 
 is a rich, liberal nobleman. Guests are continually coming 
 to his house, which is full of most valuable treasures, and 
 the most pleasant dainties. Those who are wise and pru- 
 dent among the guests, know that the house is not theirs, 
 and that none of the property which it contains is theirs, 
 and they are only guests, who are not to remain long, but 
 are soon to leave the house, without being permitted to take 
 any of the property with them when they depart. Now, 
 these wise men, by the favor of the owner of the house, eat 
 of the dainties which the house affords, and wear the clothes, 
 and also take with them such a portion of the dainties as 
 they need, as provisions for their journey. When they 
 26 
 
302 MYTHOLOGIES, MAXIMS, ETC. 
 
 depart, the owner of the house shows his approbation of 
 their conduct ; he is pleased with them, and they with him, 
 and they go in peace. But the unwise, ignorant, and fool- 
 ish guests think that the house, with all its ornaments, 
 property, and dainties, has been given to them, and that 
 they shall possess the house, and all that it contains, for- 
 ever. They, therefore, sit down for a long time in ignorance 
 and idleness, without eating of the dainties which the house 
 affords, or putting on any of the clothes, as they are allowed 
 to do by the owner of the house ; erroneously thinking that 
 the house and all that it contains are theirs, and that they 
 can do with them as they please. Now, while they are 
 living in this house, and unwilling to leave it, those who 
 have the care of the house order them to depart ; but they 
 refuse, and when they are not allowed to remain, and force 
 is used to expel them, they wish to take with them all the 
 property which the house contains. But those who have 
 the charge of the house will not allow them to take any- 
 thing ; they again refuse to depart ; and all present laugh 
 at their want of wisdom. They are then expelled by force, 
 and, having no means of helping themselves, they leave the 
 house, with all the property and dainties which it contains, 
 with sorrow and concern ; weeping and regretting that they 
 did neither eat of the dainties, nor take with them any pro- 
 vision for the way. The owner of the house is also angry 
 with them, for their folly and impudence, and the fools 
 depart, hungry, sick, oppressed with a thousand griefs, and 
 quite empty-handed ; not being able to take with them any 
 of those things which they thought their own." — Eng. Bap. 
 Miss. Her., March, 1824. 
 
 THE DTAK EELIGION". 
 
 The Dyaks of Borneo have a belief in a future state, and 
 it is a part of their system that at death, and on the passage 
 into the other world, there is a fiery stream to be crossed, 
 over which are two bridges ; one broad and spacious, to be 
 used by tliose Avho are free from sin, the other extremely 
 narrow, or rather rising up to a sharp edge, over which the 
 course of the sinner lies. The guards on this side demand 
 of every passenger whether or not he has ever been guilty 
 of sjn. Those who are clear are then allowed to pass on ; 
 but if a guilty person professes innocence, he is immediately 
 seized and convicted of his crimes, and, in attempting to 
 pass the river (on the thin-edged bridge), he is drawn into 
 
SOUTH SEA ISLAND SIMILES. 303 
 
 the stream and carried away by the fiery element. This, 
 though a heathen notion, may seem to illustrate the extreme 
 folly of those who, taught by revelation, attempt to go to 
 heaven with their sins, or by some system of deception. — 
 J/^^■.^•. Her., 1844, p. 318. 
 
 A HEATHEN'S IDEA OF FATE. 
 
 A missionary in Southern India encountered a learned 
 Brahmin, when a discussion commenced about the worship 
 of idols. The Brahmin defended the practice ; and, when 
 driven to his wit's end, took shelter behind iron-handed 
 necessity, or blind destiny ; saying that Brahm had written 
 all his actions in his brain, so that he must do as he did, 
 whether he would or not. The missionaiy showed him the 
 foolishness of this idea, and asked him whether he would 
 not complain if he were to give him a good beating, or if 
 thieves were to plunder his house. " 0, yes, I should," 
 was his reply. " But," said the missionary, " how could I, 
 or others, be to blame for such treatment of you, if Brahm 
 has written it all in our brains, so that we must do so 
 whether we will or not ? " — " 0," said he, " if Brahm has 
 written it in your brains, then you are authorized to do it ; 
 but," continued he, " Brahm has also written in my brain 
 to complain about you." In this way the Brahmin reasoned 
 for a while ; but w^as effectually silenced by the reply that 
 if Brahm had written the actions of the thief, the robber, 
 and the adulterer, in their brains, he must, of course, be a 
 very wicked god himself, and not at all worthy to be wor- 
 shipped, but rather to be despised for compelling men so to 
 act. 
 
 Did not this Brahmin reason as sensibly as those do, who, 
 with the Bible in their hands, so interpret the divine decrees, 
 sovereignty, &c., as to make God the author of a necessity, 
 or fate, under which men do as they do ? and is not this 
 putting the God of Christianity on a level with the Brahm 
 of the Hindoo? — Church 3Iissionary Record, 1834, p. 68. 
 
 SOUTH SEA ISLAND SIMILES. 
 
 The South Sea Islanders are exceedingly fond of the 
 simile, and other forms of illustration ; and their use of these 
 is often very forcible. There is a fish, common in the 
 tropics, called aumea, which is remarkable for its large 
 mouth and open gills. By the natives it is believed the 
 food seized by the former passes out at the latter, and in 
 
304 MYTHOLOGIES, MAXIMS, ETC. 
 
 allusion to this, a chief, when delivering an important com- 
 mission, would say to the hearer, "Do not imitate the 
 aiimea ; " and, when exhorting each other to a cordial and 
 profitable reception of religious truth, they would fre- 
 quently remark, " Do not let our reception of the word of 
 life resemble the eating of the aumea, but let it sink into 
 the heart." 
 
 They have a proverb, the literal translation of which is, 
 " The roaring of the sea, and the listening of the urchin, or 
 echini." This has its origin in the fact that, for several 
 hours before a storm, a hollow roar is heard upon the reef, 
 when the sea-urchin, or echinus, prepares for the tempest 
 by liastening to a place of security, and fixing itself so 
 firmly to the rock that the bursting billows cannot detach 
 it. The saying has the force and meaning of Solomon's 
 proverb, " The prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth 
 himself" 
 
 A current expression in many of the islands, in reference 
 to any boast, or display, is, E upaupa tumu ore ia : " That 's 
 a splendid thing without a foundation." — Williams''s Miss. 
 Enter, in South Sea Islands, p. 462. 
 
 MUSSULMAN FAITH. 
 
 The Mussulmen have a great feast, at which they sacrifice 
 thousands of sheep, believing that great merit is attached 
 to such an offering. In one of their sacred books is the fol- 
 lowing sentence, which every Mussulman is reqiiired to 
 believe, namely : " That there is a bridge, thinner than a 
 hair, and sharper than a sword, extended over hell ; that 
 all the people must pass over it ; some of whom go as quick 
 as lightning, some as swiftly as a horse can run, some at 
 the rate of a horse in a common walk, some of them creep- 
 ing along very slowly, pressed down with the load of their 
 sins on their backs, and some of them falling and sliding 
 into hell." Many of the Turks believe that, if they make 
 this sacrifice, they can pass this narrow bridge safely, 
 mounted on the victim that was slain. — Missionary Herald, 
 Ap)ril, 1837. 
 
 THE NEW ZEALANDERS' IDEAS OP THE EVIL SPIRIT. 
 
 The ideas of the New Zealanders, with respect to Wiro, 
 the evil spirit, are, in some respects, in accordance with the 
 Satan of the Scriptures. They say he is a liar, and the 
 father of lies ; that he tempts to murder and cannibalism ; 
 
IDEAS OF THE DEVIL. 305 
 
 urges to adultery and fornication ; incites to theft, witch- 
 craft, self-destruction, and every description of crime ; and 
 that there is no sin but what is put into the heart by him ; 
 that he laughs when men weep ; rejoices when they are 
 sorrowful ; and dances when they are on the way to war ; 
 that blood is a feast in which he delig-hts ; and that, as he 
 feeds upon the souls of men, so has he taught the New 
 Zealanders to feed upon their bodies. They believe that 
 he is a great spirit, everywhere present, and at all times 
 engaged in mischief; that, when men lie down to sleep, he 
 hovers round their pillow, and makes them dream of evil ; 
 when they rise, he rises too ; when they walk, he walks 
 with them. If they go upon the sea, he sits upon the stern- 
 post of the canoes ; sings their songs, joins in their dances, 
 chants their sacred services ; and, when guests are invited, 
 he comes unasked and unwelcome. Tlris is the evil spirit, 
 with whom they believe they have to associate forever in 
 the Reinga — future state of the wicked. — Yates's New Zea- 
 land, p. 145. 
 
 MICE IN THE MOOISr. 
 
 Among the Dakota Indians, a very common, if not uni- 
 versal, opinion in reference to the phases of the moon, is, 
 that a great number of very small mice commence nibbling 
 on the full moon, and continue their work until it is de- 
 voured. Then they say, "The moon is dead," — Miss. 
 Her., 1839, p. 60. 
 
 PECULIAR DEVIL. 
 
 In the Bassa country. Western Africa, there are numerous 
 " devil-houses," where sacrifices are ofiered to his satanic 
 majesty, in the belief that he is all-powerful, and that his 
 wrath must be appeased. But what is most peculiar is, 
 that these evil deities are numerous, so much so that it is a 
 common belief and saying that " every (own has its peculiar 
 devil." 
 
 IDEAS OF THE DEVIL. 
 
 In the island of Java the devil is an object of constant 
 dread, and their superstitious fears are carried to a great 
 extent. On being asked why they did not cut a certain lot 
 of bamboos, the finest anywhere to be seen, they said, 
 " The devil is in them, and, if we cut them, he will come 
 out and hurt us." When a house is on fire, they bring all 
 26* 
 
306 MYTHOLOGIES, MAXIMS, ETC. 
 
 the looking-glasses they can, and hold them around the 
 building. They suppose the devil has done the mischief, 
 and that, if he sees his face in a looking-glass he will be so 
 frightened at its ugliness as to fly away. So, also, at the 
 birth of an infant, looking-glasses are brought, so that the 
 devil, seeing himself, will flee away, and not hurt the child, 
 — 3Iiss. Her., 1838, p. 368. 
 
 HINDOO THEOLOGY. 
 
 One of the Hindoo sacred books contains a long list of 
 sins and their punishment, of which the following is a spec- 
 imen : " He who eats during an eclipse, shall, in the next 
 state of existence, be afflicted with a distressing constitu- 
 tional disease. He who excites enmity among friends, shall 
 be a fish. The female domestic, who disobeys her mistress, 
 shall be a crocodile. The woman who, while cooking, 
 secretly eats any of the food, shall be a cat. He who ridi- 
 cules his parents, shall be a monkey. He who exposes to 
 ridicule the secret foibles and failings of others, shall be a 
 carrion-eating crow. " — Hiss. Her., June, 183T. 
 
 CHINESE SAYINGS. 
 
 Some of the ordinary sayings of the Chinese are sarcastic 
 enough. A blustering, harmless fellow, they call a "paper 
 tiger." When a man values himself overmuch, they com- 
 pare him to " a rat falling into a scale and weighing itself" 
 Overdoing a thing they call " a hunchback making a bow." 
 A spendthrift they compare to " a rocket which goes off at 
 once." Those who expend their charity on remote objects, 
 but neglect their family, are said to "hang a lantern on a 
 pole, which is seen afar, but gives no light below." — I^ciy- 
 Spring, 3Iarch, 1850. 
 
 ANGRY SAINTS. 
 
 When Mr. Perkins, of the Nestorian mission, remonstrated 
 with priest Shimon for joining the Papists, he said they 
 gave him money, but that he was angry with the mission 
 on account of some supposed neglect; and added, "Two 
 thirds of our saints died of anger ; and, under the influence 
 of anger, a man will even run into hell-fire." — Ilissionary 
 Herald, 1844, p. 255. 
 
PROVEEBS. 307 
 
 THEORY OP THE TIDES. 
 
 The tides, say the Hindoo philosophers, began to ebb and 
 flow at the time when the great ocean was churned by the 
 united hands of the gods and Asuras. Previous to this time 
 the ocean had been as tranquil as the surface of a lake in 
 the stillness and serenity of a mild summer evening. Now 
 the Suras, being desirous to drink the water of immortality, 
 applied to Narayana, who directed them to churn the great 
 ocean, in the following words : " Let the ocean, as a pot of 
 milk, be churned by the united labor of the Suras and Asu- 
 ras ; and when the mighty waters have been stirred ujd, the 
 Amrita shall be found." The mighty mountain Mandara, 
 which standeth eleven thousand yojauas above the earth, 
 and eleven thousand more below its surface, was to serve 
 for the churning-stick ; the lord of serpents, Anata, was to 
 be the rope ; and Indra, the king of the gods, was to churn 
 the ocean. But Indra, finding the mountain too heavy, said 
 unto Kurma Raja, the king of the tortoises, upon the strand 
 of the ocean, " My lord is able to be the supporter of this 
 mountain." The tortoise replied, " Be it so ; " and it was 
 placed upon his back. So, the mountain being set upon the 
 back of the tortoise, the operation of churning the ocean, 
 was regularly begun. Now Kurma Deva, being fatigued with 
 the enormous weight of the mountain which whirled on his 
 back, began to breathe fast ; and the force of his breath was 
 such that at each expiration the waters of the ocean rushed 
 forward, and at each inspiration they rolled backwards ; and 
 in this manner the tides began to ebb and flow in the ocean, 
 — Jour, of Miss., 1854, p. 3. 
 
 PROVERBS. 
 
 The people of India are very fond of proverbs, or short, 
 pithy sayings, and these form an important part of their 
 national literature. Rev. Mr. Ward, in his " India and the 
 Hindoos," from which we quote, gives sevei'al pages of 
 these sentences, taken, he says, from a volume containing 
 nearly two thousand of the same general character. Only 
 a few can be inserted here, but enough to indicate the spirit 
 and genius of ancient Hindoo writings : 
 
 Are all men men ? or are all stones rubies ? 
 Though a man may remove to the distance of fifty miles, 
 his sin is still with him. 
 
308 MYTHOLOCxIES, MAXIMS, ETC. 
 
 If one only knows the matter, it is a secret ; if two, it is 
 public. 
 
 Time passes away, but sayings remain. 
 
 Even the monkey thinks its own young precious as gold. 
 
 When faults are scrutinized, relationships cease. 
 
 Truth will conquer, but falsehood will kill. 
 
 The deeds of a bad man will burn himself 
 
 Marry the daughter on knowing the mother. 
 
 There is no flower that insects will not visit. 
 
 Courage is tried in war, integrity in the payment of debt 
 and interest, the faithfulness of a wife in poverty, and friend- 
 ship in distress. 
 
 Little things should not be despised ; many straws united 
 may bind an elephant. 
 
 A wise hearer is not affected by the speaker, but by the 
 oration. 
 
 A man who, without malice, takes up and dwells upon the 
 faults of others only to excite laughter, is like a man who 
 would kill his neighbor that he might see his body quiver in 
 death. 
 
 Every one looking downwards becomes impressed with 
 the idea of his own greatness ; but looking upwards feels 
 his own littleness. 
 
 The effect of moral action will terminate on the actor. 
 
 The greatest enemy is preferable to uncertain friendship. 
 
 Mr. Ward well remarks, that these, and similar counsels 
 respecting benevolence, virtue, &c., if duly observed, would 
 change Ae face of society in India. They are, however, a 
 dead letter, being little known or admired, except in books. 
 
 "HONEST AS A PROTESTANT." 
 
 A imiversal disregard of triith characterizes every class 
 of people in Turkey. No one there expects a man to speak 
 the truth, when his worldly interests seem to require a lie. 
 The Protestants, however, who take the Bible for their guide, 
 make conscience of telling the truth, even to their own hurt ; 
 and they have acquired such a reputation among the Turks 
 for truth and honesty, that the phrase, " As honest as a Prot- 
 estant," has become a proverb. Would the phrase, " Hon- 
 est as a Christian," have an equal force and meaning in the 
 commercial and business circles even of New England ? 
 
THE CUEAL. 309 
 
 THE CUB.AL. 
 
 The literature of Ilinclostan abounds with volumes on 
 ethics and casuistry, variously expressed in the language 
 of poetry, pi'overb, fables, narrative, and didactic counsel. 
 Many of the sentiments contained in these works are ex- 
 tremely defective, and even ruinous, while others are worthy 
 of admiration for their wisdom. At the head of this latter 
 class stands that extraoixlinary production, the Cural, for 
 which the Hindoos consider themselves indebted to Tiru- 
 vuHavar, deemed an incarnation of wisdom. This rare col- 
 lection of precepts is more than fifteen hundred years old, 
 and, conveyed in a style of genuine poetry, has lost none 
 of its favor among the people. Portions of this work have 
 been translated into English, by several oriental scholars, 
 from one of which, made by Mr. Ellis, of the Madras civil 
 service, the following stanzas are selected : 
 
 " As ranked in every alphabet the first, 
 The self-same vowel stands, so in all worlds 
 The Eternal God is chief. 
 
 " Of virtue void, as is the palsied sense. 
 The head must be, that bows not at his feet. 
 Whose eight-fold attributes pervade the world. 
 
 " As the hook rules the elephant, so he, 
 In wisdom firm, his earthly passions rules 
 Who hopes to flourish in the soil of heaven. 
 
 " No greater gain than virtue canst thou know ; 
 Than virtue to forget no greater loss. 
 
 " Refer not virtue to another day ; 
 Receive her now, and, at thy dying hour. 
 She '11 prove thy never-dying friend. 
 
 " Know that is virtue which each ought to do ; 
 What each should shun is vice. 
 
 •' If love and virtue be thy constant guests, • 
 Domestic life is blest, and finds in these 
 Its object and reward. 
 
 " Before their scornful foes 
 
 Bold as a lion those dare never walk. 
 
 Whose fame is sullied by their wives' base deeds. 
 
 *' Of all the world calls good, no good exists 
 
 Like that which wise and virtuous offspring give. 
 I know no greater good. 
 
310 MYTHOLOGIES, MAXIMS, ETC. 
 
 *' Sweet is the pipe, and sweet the lute, they say ; 
 They who have never heard their children's tongues 
 In infant prattle lisp. 
 
 " What bolt can love restrain ? What veil conceal ? 
 One tear-drop in the eye of those thou lovest 
 Will draw a flood from thine. 
 
 " To honor guests with hospitable rite. 
 Domestic life with all its various joys 
 To man was given. 
 
 " Though courtesy rejoice the heart, yet words 
 Of kindness, which dress the face in smiles, 
 Will more avail. 
 
 " Discourteous speech when courteous may be used. 
 Is like the rich appetite which culls 
 Fruit immature, leaving the ripe untouched. 
 
 " Small as a grain of millet 
 
 Though it be, large as the towering palm 
 A benefit to grateful eyes appears. 
 
 " Though every virtue by his hand expire. 
 Yet may he live ; but, by the stroke he dies, 
 When murdered gratitude before him falls. 
 
 " That virtue, which in all relations holds 
 Unchangeable its nature, that alone 
 Deserves the name of justice. 
 
 " It is the glory of the just to stand. 
 Like the adjusted balance, duly poised, 
 Nor swerve to either side. 
 
 " Though unrestrained all else, restrain thy tongue, 
 For, those degraded by licentious speech, 
 Will rue their tongue's offence. 
 
 " The wound may heal, though from a burning brand, 
 And be forgotten ; but the woimd ne'er heals 
 4- burning tongue inflicts." 
 
 — Wai'd's India and the Hindoos, p. 169. 
 
DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 The dying experience of some of the most eminent of 
 missionaries is omitted in the following pages, because their 
 record is in published memoirs, to be found in every Sab- 
 bath-school and family library. Of the last hours of some 
 others, equally distinguished, no mention is made here, — 
 they having died under circumstances which rendered free 
 communication with friends, in the final hour, impossible. 
 The examples that are given, will, it is believed, be found to 
 be instructive and precious memorials, and serve to kindle 
 in the heart of the reader higher aspirations after a religion 
 so full of hope and immortality in the final hour. 
 
 DR. WILSON, 
 
 Dr. Alexander E. Wilson, missionary of the American 
 Board in Western Africa, died October, 1841, after a dis- 
 tressing sickness of nine days. He said he did not then, 
 nor had he ever, for one moment, regretted his coming to 
 Africa. Sending for a company of young men, whom he 
 had been accustomed to instruct nightly at his house, he 
 said to them, calling each by name, " I am about to die ; I 
 am going to Jesus Christ ; and I beg you will never forget 
 those things which I have taught you ; but attend to them, 
 and try to meet me in heaven." At a later period, he said, 
 with great solemnity, " Well, the Lord is about to take 
 down this tabernacle, but, blessed be God, we have a build- 
 ing of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens." He requested his missionary friends, who stood 
 around him, to sing the hymn, "There is a fountain filled 
 with blood ;" and also, "Jesus, dear friend, to thee I lift 
 
312 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 mine eyes." About an hour before his death, he was asked 
 if he knew the persons around him ; to which he answered, 
 " No, no, no." But, on being asked if he knew the Saviour, 
 he said, " Yes, dear, precious Saviour, I look to him." 
 These were his last words, and he soon ceased to breathe. 
 ^Miss. Her., 1842, p. 171. 
 
 MBS. "WALKER. 
 
 Mrs, Walker was a native of Dracut, Mass., and embarked 
 at Boston for Cape Palmas, Dec, 1841. She died in three 
 months after landing on the coast of Africa. When told 
 that she must soon die, though she was not aware of such 
 a result, she did not appear at all disturbed. But the 
 thought of home and friends rushed upon her mind, and she 
 exclaimed, " 0, my father and mother, and brothers and 
 sistei's ! " She proposed having prayers, during which, 
 though all others were affected to tears, she was perfectly 
 calm. The cloud had passed away from her mind. When 
 she was too low to complete a sentence on any worldly 
 subject, she would converse upon death and a coming woi'ld 
 with perfect calmness, and in the possession of her usual 
 faculties. The girls of the mission-school being called to 
 her bedside, she talked to them with an earnestness and 
 affection which seemed to come from the portals of the 
 heavenly world. When her husband asked her what he 
 should write to her friends, she said, "Tell them that I do 
 not now, on my dying bed, regret coming to Africa." After 
 this she was unable to converse, and sunk to rest as the 
 summer's sun fades away into the twilight of heaven. — 
 3Iiss. Her., 1843, p. 31. 
 
 REV. MR. DIBBLE. 
 
 Mr. Dibble was a native of New York, and entered upon 
 missionary labor in the Sandwich Islands in 1831, and died 
 at Lahainaluna, in Jan., 1845. At one time, while bleeding 
 profusely at the lungs, he remarked, " IIow sweet it is to 
 have a Saviour at such a time as this ! " On the last day of 
 his life, he said to a friend, who called to give him a loaf of 
 bread, " I think I shall not eat that bread ; " then, turning 
 to his wife, he added, " I have now nothing more to do but 
 to bless my wife, and bless my children, and go to bed, and 
 draw up my feet like good old Jacob, and go home." In 
 the evening of the same day, he appeared to be dying, but 
 raising himself up as from sleep, he said, " I thought I was 
 
REV. CHARLES LACEY. 313 
 
 (lead ; I have come back." Then followed a melting scene, 
 the bidding- flxrewell to his wife and children. "He did it 
 with much heavenly composure," says a missionary brother, 
 " as he assured us that he was going- home to his father's 
 house, where he hoped soon to meet them all. When his 
 eldest daughter took his hand, he roused all his energies, 
 and drew her to him with an earnestness that implied he 
 Avould take her with him to heaven. The night was occu- 
 pied in prayer, in repeating appropriate passages of Scrip- 
 ture, and in singing such hymns as 'Jerusalem, my happy 
 home ; ' and at three o'clock in the morning his soul passed 
 over Jordan into the promised rest. So happy and peace- 
 ful was his death, that the feelings of all pi-esent might be 
 described in that sweet and touching verse, 
 
 0, for the death of those 
 
 Who slumber in the Lord ! 
 0, be like theirs my last repose, 
 
 Like theirs my last reward ! ' " 
 
 — Miss. Her., 1845, p. 361. 
 
 REV. CHARLES LACEY. 
 
 Mr. Lacey was a missionary of the General Baptist Soci- 
 ety (London), and at the time of his death, January, 1853, 
 was stationed at Cuttack, India. An account of his last 
 hours, prepared by a fellow-laborer, Mr. Buckley, appeared 
 in the "Missionary Register" for June, 1853, and is in- 
 structive and profitable. A few days before his death, he 
 said, " I feel that I am in the Lord's hands. His will be 
 done. If it be his will that I should go, I am willing ; if 
 not, I am willing to remain a little longer. I am in his 
 hands ; this, this is my resting-place." With much feeling 
 he afterwards said, " I know in whom I have believed," kc. 
 Ho expressed his hope in Christ, adding, that sometimes he 
 liad such views of the depravity of liis heart, — of its length, 
 its bn.'adth, its depth, its height, — that he was almost driven 
 to despair. Yet, when he had the most awful views of sin 
 and its deserts, he felt that the blood of Clirist could cover 
 all, and that, confiding in him, no one could condemn. His 
 friend, ]\[r. Buckley, referred to his having been devoted to 
 the service of God for many years, and spoke of the grace 
 that had enabled him for twenty-eight years Hiithfully to 
 proclaim the blessed Gospel in that country ; to which the 
 dying missionary replied, after a little hesitation, "Some- 
 27 
 
314 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 thing of that kind may be said, and of course the grace of 
 God must be aclcnowledged ; but when 1 tliiiik of the past 
 it condemns me. It is true I have done a little, bat I see so 
 much more that I might have done, that I feel no satisfac- 
 tion whatever in the review ; my best works have been sin- 
 ful." On the Monday morning before his death, after the 
 most intense sufferings, he said to his brother Sutton, " The 
 clouds of darkness are overwhelming me." A hope was 
 expi-essed that it was not so; to which he replied, "I am 
 thankful to hope that Christ is with me ; " and, added, " Lord 
 be with me ; be with me now ; every moment be with me." 
 A brother mentioned the verse, " I give unto them eternal 
 life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck 
 them out of my hands." This appeared to give him comfort, 
 and he added, " The promises in him are yea, and in him 
 amen." The next day he said to his old friend, Rama 
 Chundra, "To live is Christ; to die is gain." The day 
 before his death, Mr. Buckley repeated Baxter's dying 
 words, "I have pain, but I have peace." — "Ah," he said, 
 " what a nice blessing is peace ! " and repeated our Lord's 
 words, " My peace I leave with you ; my peace I give unto 
 you ; not as the world giveth give I unto you," dwelling 
 especially on the last words. When his sufferings were 
 very severe, Mr. B. said, " It is hard work ; the Lord sup- 
 port you, dear brother." — "I fully recognize that as the 
 desire of my heart," was his affectionate reply. Again, in 
 a time of great pain, he said, " IIow long, how long, how 
 long before the Lord will come ? IIow long will he cast me 
 into this fiery trial ? He will bring me out triumphantly,^^ 
 repeating the last word with great decision ; and, continu- 
 ing, "I believe he will, I hope he will, I know he will." 
 On this day he made his will, and addressed his parting 
 counsels to one and another. Mr. B. says, " I was at his 
 side when he gave his last solemn charge to his children to 
 meet him in heaven, and he appealed to me. ' Brother 
 
 Buckley, you have heard what I have said, and what 
 
 has said in answer ; now remember it my child.' " He was 
 exhausted. It was an affecting scene. In addressing his 
 sorrowing wife, he spoke of the trials that had bei'alleu 
 them in pursuing the journey of life together, and affec- 
 tionately kissed her. She repeated a part of the hymn, 
 
 " AVe 've no abiding citj' here, 
 We seek a city out of sight." 
 
MR. BUSHNELL. 315 
 
 He said, " Yes, it is a city which hath foundations, whose 
 liuildor and maker is God. It is a house not made with 
 liands, eternal in the heavens." On the last evening of his 
 life, a female attendant repeated the verse, " None of them 
 that trust in him shall be desolate." He replied, "He is all 
 1 require — all justice — all mercy — all love — all truth — ■ 
 all power. He is all that is necessary fully to complete my 
 salvation. Why should I fear and tremble to trust in him ? 
 AVhy should I not boldly cast myself upon him ? I will ; " 
 then with greater emphasis, "/ will — that I loill; there 
 will I rest." On Mrs. Buckley's expressing her sorrow at 
 the parting, he said, "My work is done. K Jesus had 
 more work for me to do, would he call me now — do you 
 think he would ? " He took a composing draught, which 
 the doctor sent him, and said, " Lord, now lettest thou thy 
 servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine 
 eyes have seen thy salvation ; " and, giving his weeping wife 
 a parting kiss and a tender " good-by," he fell asleep to wake 
 no more. 
 
 MRS. BUSHNELL. 
 
 Mrs. Bushnell was a native of Salem, Westchester Co., 
 New York. In June, I83T, she sailed for West Africa, as a 
 teacher of the Methodist Episcopal Board. She was mar- 
 ried to Rev. Mr. Stocker, of the Methodist Episcopal mis- 
 sion in Liberia, in 1839, and was soon left a widow. Her 
 relation was then transferred to the American Board's mis- 
 sion at Gaboon, and in 1842 she was married to Mr. Bush- 
 nell. She died in February, 18.50. In the near prospect of 
 death she said, with tears, " Tell young Christians in Amer- 
 ica that my dying testimou}' is, that the missionary work is 
 blessed work, even in Africa." During the last week of her 
 life she was able to converse but little, but she said enough 
 to show the state of her mind. "Blessed Jesus! Sweet 
 Heaven ! I shall soon be there and see the King in his 
 glory;" and similar remarks were frequently falling from 
 her lips. A little before her death she complained of feeling 
 strangely, and with a sweet smile said, "Perhaps my 
 heavenly Father is coming to release me. If so, praise him, 
 0, praise him ! and if not, praise him too. Blessed heavenly 
 Father, dear Saviour, art thou coniing? Welcome, Jesus, 
 take me to thyself! A few hours later, after gazing for 
 some time upwards, she broke forth in an ecstasy, of joy, 
 saying, "Jesus is precious, 0, how precious ! I have got a 
 glimpse of him this morning — such a view as I have long 
 
316 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 been desiring. He says I am his and he is mine. Now let 
 those pains return, and I can bear them, for Jesus is with 
 me." After this she showed no signs of uneasiness, and 
 soon ceased to breathe. — Miss. Her., 1850, p. 280. 
 
 MRS. TODD. 
 
 Mrs. Todd, wife of the missionary of the American Board 
 in Southern India, died June 1st, ISS"!. On her death-bed 
 she uttered many expressions like the following : " Jesus, my 
 all ; he is my all ; 1 see him altogether lovely, all bright and 
 glorious, all bright and glorious ! Crown him Lord of all ! 
 I cannot tell you my thoughts, but I can tell Jesus how 
 much I love him. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly ; come 
 now and take possession of my heart ! " 
 
 KEV. JAMES mCHARDS. 
 
 Mr. Richards was a native of Abington, Mass., and a 
 graduate of Andover Theological Seminary. He was an 
 associate with Mills, Meigs, Poor, Bard well, &c., in the 
 earliest missionary movements, and embarked for Ceylon in 
 the autumn of 1815. In that field he labored joyfully for a 
 brief period, and died in 1822, at the age of thirty-eight. Of 
 his last hours Rev. Myron Winslow thus speaks: "Have 
 just returned from being two nights with brother Richards. 
 His spirit still seems hanging on the precious promises, and 
 turning, like the needle to its pole, to the great centre of all 
 his hopes and desires. He repeated last night, with much 
 emphasis, 
 
 • By faith I see the land, 
 
 The port of endless rest ; 
 My soul, thy sails expand, 
 
 And fly to Jesus' breast.' " 
 
 One day later Mr. Winslow found him " on the wing for 
 eternal glory." His language was, " I long to depart, and 
 pray that I may have patience. I think I am not deceived. 
 No, he is the chief among ten thousand. I never had such 
 views of the Saviour as I have had for a few days past." 
 He soon added, "It is one of my greatest trials that my 
 body is so weak, and my mind so dull, that I forget my 
 mercies ; but in heaven I shall not forget, no, never. There 
 I shall remember all ; there I shall sing — there I shall sing 
 glory to God. I have sometimes had as much joy in singing 
 the praise of God here as my body could bear, — what will 
 it be in heaven! " After asking some questions as to Mr. 
 
MR. AND MRS. PORTER. 317 
 
 Winslow's religious experience, he said, " I have long had 
 a degree of quietness, and been free from distressing doubts, 
 and lately I have tried to examine myself more thoroughly. 
 I have a comfortable hope ; on any other subject I should 
 say I am certain.'^ A few days after this he said, " It is 
 good to sutler. It gives me some faint idea of what the Sa- 
 viour bore for me. Thanks, eternal thanks, to that grace which 
 snatched me from the jaws of the devourer ! When I get 
 home, how will I sing the praises of him who will have 
 washed away all my sins I Crown him — yes, I'll crown 
 him Lord of all I " After a season of great distress he said, 
 " 0, Lord Jesus, come quickly ! If this be dying, I must 
 say, 0, the pains, the groans, the dying striie ! Lord is it not 
 enough ? " In the night his wife told him she thought 
 his sj^mptoms indicated a speedy termination of his suf- 
 ferings, and perhaps that was the last night. — " Well, my 
 dear," said he, " j^ju will unite with me in thanksgiving 
 to God for so pleasant a prospect. Retire to rest, and gain 
 strength for the trial." Dr. Scudder soon came in, and said 
 to him, " It is almost over, brother Richards." Joy beamed 
 in his countenance as he replied, "Yes, brother Scudder, I 
 think so — I hope so. Lord Jesus, come quickljM " lie 
 inquired for his son James, his only child, and, taking him 
 by the hand, said, " M}' son, your papa is d^'ing ; he will 
 very soon be dead. My son, remember three things, — be a 
 good boy ; mind your mamma; and love Jesus Christ." lie 
 also gave him a small pocket Testament, telling him to read 
 much in it, and obey it. After a few nioments, looking 
 round upon those present, he said, "Tell brother Scudder 
 — going," and spoke no more. — lliss. Her., 1824, p. 234:. 
 
 MR. AND MBS. PORTER. 
 
 Rev. Rollin Porter was a native of New York, and was 
 married to Miss Nancy Ann Sikes, a native of Connecticut. 
 They sailed for the Gaboon, South Africa, March, 1851. 
 After a few months of faithful labor in that field, tliey both 
 went to their reward, scarcely divided in their death. They 
 were both prostrated with fever at the same time, and Mrs. 
 Porter, hearing one evening that her husband was not ex- 
 pected to live till morning, wished to be taken to him, and 
 was carried to his bedside in a rocking-chair. He revived a 
 little, and "there," says one who was present, "the last 
 words were uttered between the most aflcctionate couple 
 I ever kuew. Those tones are still ringing in my ear — 
 
318 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 'Farewell, my love, till we meet in heaven.' Mrs. Porter 
 was then carried back to her room. She could hear her 
 husband's last hard breathing, and said, ' If I was a little 
 stronger I could go and look at him once more while he 
 lives ; but the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I 
 not drink it ? ' Just at this crisis, a beautiful little daugli- 
 ter died, and led the way to heaven. In one hour her father 
 was with her. Mrs. Porter lingered a day or two, and then 
 joined her loved ones in bliss. Her last messages to distant 
 friends were, ' Tell my brothers, and that dear little sister, 
 that their sister did love the Saviour ; that he was near to her 
 in the last dread hour ; that she wants to meet them in hea- 
 ven. Tell my pastor that I want him to take that dear 
 little Bible again, and that its precious promises have cheered 
 and comforted me in hours of trial. Tell my dear parents and 
 sisters that the Saviour calls, and I am glad to go. I go to 
 loved ones thei'e, and in a little while the rest will come.' 
 She was much distressed for a while, and said, ' This is death, 
 this is death ; but it is not hard to die ; Jesus can make a 
 dying bed feel soft as downy pillows are.' Becoming a little 
 insensible, she murmured to herself such expressions as 
 these : ' Many mansions did Jesus say he had gone to pre- 
 pare ? — mansions, and for such as I ? — The great white 
 throne, — Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, — I will wait his 
 time, — 'T is sweet to know no will but his.' These were 
 her last words ; and after three hours of apparent insensi- 
 bility, she drew a last faint sigh, and all was over, — she had 
 reached her home." — Jour, of Hiss., April, 1852. 
 
 DR. WILLIAM CAREY. 
 
 Dr. Carey was the first missionary to India, and died June 
 9th, 1834, having labored in that field forty-one years. His 
 last will was found to contain the following characteristic 
 provision : "I direct that, before every other thing, all my 
 lawful debts may be paid ; that my funeral be as plain as 
 possible ; that I may be buried by the side of my second 
 wife, Charlotte Emilia Carey ; and that the following inscrip- 
 tion, and nothing more, maj^ be cut on the stone which com- 
 memorates her, either above or below, as there may be 
 room — viz. : 
 
 'WILLIAM CAREY, born august 17, 1761 ; died 
 
 ' A ■wretched, poor ami helpless worm, 
 On thy kind arms I fall.' " 
 
 — Hist. Bap. 3Iiss. Soc, vol. i., p. Bll. 
 
REV. G. TURNBULL. 319 
 
 MRS. W^OLCOTT. 
 
 Mrs. Wolcott, of the Beyroot mission, died Oct. 2Gth, 
 1841. Perceivings the indications of her approaching end, 
 she observed, " This is death. I shall soon be in eteruit3^" 
 Then, turning her face gently upward, she uttered, at such 
 intervals as her extreme sufferings would permit, the fol- 
 lowing sentences, very deliberately and distinctly: "Lord 
 Jesus, receive my spirit. I lay my soul at thy feet. Grant 
 it some humble place before thee. Lord Jesus, receive my 
 spirit. I give thee this soul in all its pollution ; I can make 
 it no better ; it is all that I can do. Conduct me through 
 the valley of the shadow of death. May thy rod and thy 
 staff comfort me. Pain, and distress, and anguish — but 
 may I soon be with Jesus ! " Her voice failed, but after a 
 wdiile she rallied a little, and said, "I feel this morning, 
 when I am able to think at all, that Jesus Christ is the por- 
 tion of my soul. There is none other for me." These were 
 her last expressions while her mind was clear. — Hiss. 
 Her., 1842, p. 91. 
 
 REV, G. TURNBULL. 
 
 Rev. Gilbert Turnbull was a missionary of the London 
 Missionary Society, stationed at Bangalore, in the Madras 
 presidenc}^ India. He had been in the service but a short 
 time, and died at the age of twenty-nine, at Sydney, New 
 South Wales, whither he had gone for his health. The fol- 
 lowing sketch is taken from a letter written by his wife soon 
 after his decease. 
 
 His medical adviser, seeing how fast he was sinking, ap- 
 peared much affected, and said, " that I could give you 
 something to relieve you I " Upon wdiich he looked steadily 
 at him, and said, " 0, Mr. W., no human means can now 
 avail me anything ; I 'm going fast. 0, yes, 1 shall quickl}' 
 be with Jesus, and see him as he is ! 0, the blessedness 
 of having sought him in health ! His blood alone cleanseth 
 from all sin ; I feel it has cleansed me, the chief of sin- 
 ners." Awaking from a doze, and seeing his wife weeping 
 by his side, he said, "Don't grieve, love; our union has 
 been short, and marked by much affection and trial ; but 
 I 'm going to my precious Saviour, and there we shall soon 
 meet, never more to separate." For some hours he seemed 
 fast sinking, but he spoke a little at intervals. Once he 
 said, "I am in the dark valley, but I fear no evil ; Jesus is 
 with me ; his rod and his staff support and comfort me. 0, 
 
320 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 notliing will do for a dying sinner but Jesus — he alone." 
 Then, raising his arms, he said, with aloud voice, " Witness, 
 ye believers, what it is to die in Jesus — all peace — all 
 safety — all joy ! His dear, precious blood alone can cleanse 
 from sin — can give comfort in the hour of death." Then, 
 extending his arm towards heaven, he exclaimed, " Ct)nie, 
 Lord Jesus, come quickly ! I long to see thee as thou art ! 
 "Why tarry thy chariot wheels ? 1 am ready. take me to 
 thyself! " For a time he seemed to be in prayer, after 
 which, opening his eyes, and resting them on his wife, ho 
 said, " blessed assurance that wc shall soon meet above, 
 never more to sorrow nor to separate." Several times he 
 attempted to sing, but found himself unable. He asked 
 his wife to read to him the hymn commencing, " There is a 
 land of pure delight," and, when she had finished, he said, 
 " 0, I am almost there ! I can already see the delectable 
 mountains, and ere long shall eat of their precious fruits." 
 About nine in the evening he requested that the family 
 might be called. On entering the room, one of them said 
 to him, "My dear brother, you will soon be home now." 
 To which he replied, " yes, very, very soon ; the Spirit 
 is calling me to come away : I shall be asleep in Jesus be- 
 fore morning ; how sweet that will be ! " He rested well 
 during the night, and in the morning a friend asked him if 
 he felt happy ; to which he replied, "0 yes, the Lord is 
 taking me to himself, and by a pleasant path." During 
 the day his mind was wandering, but about eight o'clock in 
 the evening he revived, and said, " I 'm just at home. 0, 
 I shall soon be with my Saviour ! " He breathed with diffi- 
 culty for a few minutes, and then said, faintly, " My heart 
 and my flesh faileth." Then, rousing all his remaining 
 strength, he uttered, in a loud and distinct voice, " But 
 thou art the strength of my heart, and my portion forever." 
 These were his last words. Ho breathed easy for a few 
 minutes, and quietly fell asleep in Jesus. — London Jlfis- 
 sionary Magazine, 1839, p. 169. 
 
 MRS. BURGESS. 
 
 Mrs. Burgess was the wife of Rev. Ebenezer Burgess, of 
 the Ahmcdnuggur mis.sion, and died June, 1841. To the 
 last moment her mind was clear, and as active and happy 
 as in her healthiest days. Her disease, cholera, terminated 
 suddenly, and without much pain. She said, " It seems an 
 easy thing to die." At another time she said to one by her 
 
REV. MR. LAWSON. 321 
 
 bedside, "I have no fear of death ; the sting of deatli has 
 been taken away." Her husband was absent on a short 
 tour, and did not return till after her death. Alluding to 
 him, she said, with much feeling, " My husband, my poor 
 husband ! but he is a man of God, and God will take care 
 of him ; I know he will ; I feel that he will." After this, 
 she lay in silence a few moments, and then, lifting her 
 eyes to heaven, she exclaimed, " 0, to God be all the glory, 
 all the glory, all the glory ! " Soon after this she sunk in 
 the arms of death. — Mi^s. Her., 184:2, p. 421. 
 
 MRS. GRANT. 
 
 Mrs. Grant, wife of Doct. Grant, of the Nestorian mis- 
 sion, died Jan., 1839, after a sickness of ten days. In the 
 immediate prospect of death, rejoicing that she had a house 
 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, she said, " It 
 is all through grace! I renounce myself entirely. It is 
 through the riches of God's mercy in Christ Jesus that I 
 shall enter heaven." Being in great pain, she said, "This 
 is nothing to what Christ suffered for me." And again, 
 " 0, the presence of Christ ! It is everything ; it is heaven 
 to the Christian, and the Lamb is the light thereof." She 
 often repeated that beautiful verse of the twenty-fifth 
 Psalm, " Though I walk through the valley of the shadow 
 of death, I will fear no evil," &c., and added, "What a 
 precious support, to lean upon Christ, while we pass 
 through the dark valley I " At another time she said, " To 
 think of dying, and living freed from sin and suffering in 
 the presence of God, is most delightful — it is rapturous ! " 
 — Miss. Her., 1839, p. 281. 
 
 REV. MR. LAWSON. 
 
 Mr. Lawson was a missionary of the English Baptist 
 Missionary Society, at Calcutta, where he died Oct., 1825. 
 His closing experience shows the sustaining power of reli- 
 gion in a manner too impressive to be omitted. The record, 
 prepared by a missionary who attended him, says : 
 
 " He this morning addressed his children and missionary 
 associates with much proprietj^ and pathos, and, in his 
 messages to absent friends, manifested much affection 
 and divine support. He told Mr. Penny, ' Tell Bro. Carey 
 that I am now passing through the valley of the shadow 
 of death, and that I have the presence and assistance 
 of my Redeemer. I have strength equal to my day.' 
 
J- 
 
 322 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 He said to Rro. Yates, respecting* Mr. Hoby, 'Yon know 
 Bro. Hoby ; 1 knew him some time before you, and I trust 
 we both had the same spirit as to the mission. He well 
 knows what a poor, trembling', and almost despairing- creature 
 I used to be ; but tell him, iell him, that you saw me die, 
 and that I had peace in mj^ last moments. Tell him that I 
 saw nothing frightful in death, but found light and comiort 
 while passing through the dark valley.' He said also to 
 Bro. Yates, 'If I must sa}'- an3'thing about the improvement 
 of my death, I think I should like it to be from 1 Tim. 
 1 : 15, "This is a faithful saying"," &c., as most suitable to 
 my experience.' When asked if Bro. Yates should pray, 
 he said, ' Yes, but let us sing first.' He then selected that 
 beautiful hymn, 
 
 ' Jesus, I love thy charming name,' 
 
 and gave it out, and sung himself the first two and the last 
 verses. It was exceedingly aff'ecting to hear his tremulous 
 voice, at this his last efibrt to sing on this side eternity, 
 repeat the last verse, so very appropriate to his circum- 
 stances and congenial to his feelings : 
 
 ' I '11 speak the lienors of thy name, 
 With my last laboring breath, 
 And, dying, clasp thee in my arms, 
 The antidote of death.' 
 
 After this he rapidly declined, and on hearing the hope ex- 
 pressed that he could say 'The will of the Lord be done,' 
 he replied, ' I would rather say, Noto let me die ; noio let 
 thy servant depart in peace.' When it was added, ' When 
 you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you 
 need fear no evil,' he immediately caught the allusion to 
 the twentj'^-first Psalm, and replied, ' No, the Lord is my 
 shepherd, I shall not want. He even noto maketh me to lie 
 down in green pastures.' To Bro. Penny, who asked him 
 how he felt, he said, ' I am well ; I have still a good hope ; 
 I am on the foundation.' At another time he said, 'I have 
 not the smallest idea of recovery, and therefore do now 
 most solemnly commit my soul into the hands of my Sa- 
 viour. Blessed be God that he ever called me by his 
 grace I ' It was added, ' Yes, blessed be he ; for where he 
 hath given grace, there he hath promised to give glory ; ' 
 to which he replied, ' Yes, he hath loved me with an ever- 
 
MRS. PARIS. 323 
 
 lasting love, and therefore with loving kindness hath he 
 drawn me.' He soon after this became incapable of 
 thought, and said no more." — Eng. Bap. Miss. Her., Sept., 
 1826. 
 
 MRS. SCUDDER. 
 
 Mrs. Scndder, wife of Dr. Scudder, was born in the city 
 of New York, August, 1795, and was married January, 
 1816. They arrived in Ceylon, Dec, 1819. They removed 
 to Madras in 1836, and in that city Mrs. Scudder died, 
 Nov. 19th, 1849. After being informed that her disease 
 was fatal, she said, " My only burden in dying is the 
 thought that three of mj'- children (out of ten) are in an 
 impenitent state." When nearer her end, she remarked, in 
 respect to herself, " I am a poor, miserable sinner, full of 
 imperfections ; heaven will be glorious, because there will 
 be neither sin nor imperfection there." Twice, with great 
 emphasis, she said, " What a wretched place is a death-bed 
 to prepare for eternity ! What a miserable being should I 
 now be, if I had not Jesus to rest upon ! " and then added, 
 "Precious Saviour!" Again she said, "I have had 
 seasons when I felt that I knew I loved the Saviour, and 
 that he was precious to me." Again and again she ex- 
 claimed, " Blessed Saviour ! " On one occasion she said, 
 " Thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I have de- 
 sired to love thee ; " and she repeated the followhig lines : 
 
 " Jesus, lover of my soul, 
 Let me to thy bosom fly ; 
 While the billows near me roll, 
 While tlie tempest still is nigh." 
 
 She repeated, also, the following verse, " Yea, though I 
 walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear 
 no evil, for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff, they 
 comfort me ; " and she added, " Surely, goodness and 
 mercy have followed me all the days of my life." Just 
 before she died, she opened her eyes and exclaimed, with 
 peculiar energy, " Glorious heaven ! glorious salvation ! " 
 Soon after this, she voluntarily closed her eyes, and sweetly 
 fell asleep in Jesus. — 3Iiss. Her., 1850, p. 73. 
 
 MRS. PARIS. 
 
 Mrs. Paris was a native of Albany, N. Y., and embarked 
 with her husband for the Sandwich Islands, in November, 
 
324 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 1840. She died at Ililo, February, 184T. On being told 
 that there was no hope of her recovery, she lay silent for 
 five or ten minutes, and then, calling her husband to her 
 side, she said, " You must not be anxious about me. I 
 commit all to the Lord, to live or to die. I have had a 
 strong desire to be spared, for jour sake and that of our 
 dear little ones ; they will need a mother's care, instruc- 
 tions, and watchfulness. But not my will, but his be done, 
 lie has always been good to me, — infinitely better than I 
 deserve ; let us leave all with him ; his time is best." 
 When asked respecting her spiritual state, she replied, " I 
 have no distressing fears ; I know that I love the Saviour, 
 and that he loves me. I sometimes shrink from the thought 
 of death, and the cold grave ; but, when I look beyond, all 
 is calm — all is peace. The Saviour himself is gone to pre- 
 pare us mansions in heaven, and he has said, * I will come 
 again and receive you to myself.'" — "It is a precious 
 thought," it was remarked to her, "that we shall meet 
 again in our Saviour's likeness, no more to part, no more 
 to suffer, no more to sin." — "0 yes," she exclaimed, " it 
 is a precious, a glorious thought ! We shall meet again, 
 and meet with the whole family of Christ. He is the head, 
 we are the members. We shall all be joined to our living 
 head." After a short pause, she said, " The Saviour can 
 give us such a view of his glory, as to remove all fear of 
 death." Her husband said to her one morning, a little be- 
 fore her death, "It is very repugnant to our natural feel- 
 ings to look into the grave, and see our bodies crumbling 
 to dust." — "Yes," said she, "but I look beyond the 
 grave ; I shall be satisfied when I awake with God's like- 
 ness. I long to depart ; to go and be with my blessed 
 Saviour." Heai-ing the phrase, "the dark valley and 
 shadow of death," she inquired, " What does that mean ? 
 I do not understand it. I look upon death very differently. 
 Jesus will come and take the soul to himself. It will be 
 released from its crumbling house of clay, and wafted to 
 the realms of immortal glory. The valley does not look 
 dark to me now, but perliaps it may. But I think it will 
 not be dark to me anywhere, if my Saviour is with me ; 
 and he will never, no, never leave me." On another occa- 
 sion, and during a night of great pain, she would often 
 say, " It is just right. It is my Father ; I love to lie pass- 
 ive in his hands — to know no will but his." Again she 
 said, " 0, how sweet, how precious, are the promises of 
 
MES. CASTLE. 325 
 
 God ! I love to take him at his word. Ilis word is truth — 
 everlasting truth ; it can never, never fail." One night, 
 when near her end, she urged her husband to seek rest in 
 sleep, to which he objected, fearing she might die at any 
 moment. "0," said she, "you ought not to say so; it 
 would be a blessed end to swoon away into the arms of 
 my Saviour, and awake in his image. Do not be afraid. If 
 Jesus should come and take me away from your side, with- 
 out a struggle or groan, you would not grieve." Her hus- 
 band asked her if she had any preference as to where she 
 should be buried ; to which she replied, "No, my thoughts 
 have been above. It is but little consequence what becomes 
 of this body ; I leave that with you." Then, breaking out, 
 she exclaimed, 
 
 *' 0, for a sight, a pleasing sight, 
 
 Of our Almighty Father's throne ! 
 There sits our Saviour, crowned with light. 
 Clothed in a body like our own." 
 
 She then said to her husband, " When the hour of my 
 departure comes, I wish to have all silent and still. It is 
 often thought that everybody must crowd around the dying 
 bed. I wish to have my children, one on each side of me, 
 and you by my pillow. I wish them to see their mother 
 die, when all is calm, and there is nothing to distract." 
 
 On another occasion Mr. Paris read, " On Jordan's 
 rugged banks I stand ; " and spoke of Bunyan's river of 
 death, remarking that she now stood on the brink of that 
 river ; to which she replied, " I do not like that view of 
 death. Our blessed Saviour has told us that he Avill come 
 again for his own, and receive them to hiinself I love to 
 believe his words, and to commit my soul to him. If he 
 take me to himself, death is swallowed up in victor3\ What 
 are all the dark valleys and rivers, if Jesus is with us ! " 
 
 " Morning was breaking upon the mountains of Hawaii, 
 and a morning of immortal brightness was dawning on her 
 soul. Her mortal powers gently gave way ; the silver curd 
 was loosed, and she quietly left us for the bosom of her 
 Saviour." — il/tss. Uer., 1847, p. 364. 
 
 MRS. CASTLE. 
 
 Mrs. Angelina D. Castle, was a native of Plainfield, N. Y., 
 and sailed for the Sandwich Islands with her husband, Mr. 
 S. N. Castle, in the autumn of 1830. Iler term of mission- 
 
 28 
 
326 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 aiy service was short. A little before her death she said to 
 her husband, " I can hold out but a little long-er. Tell my 
 parents I die young-, and in an uiiexpucted manner, but I 
 do not regret having devoted myself to the missionary 
 work." To a sister who stood near, a few hours before her 
 death, she remarked, " I am anticipating a delightful change 
 in being transported from earth to heaven, from the society 
 of friends to that of angels." This was her general state 
 of mind ; but at times she suffered severe mental conflicts. 
 On the Sabbath before her death, she said, " 1 see I am not 
 fit for heaven yet ; pray for me that I may not be devoured 
 by the adversary'-, for I am distressed with temptations." 
 During the last day or two, however, nothing was heard 
 from her but expressions of tranquillity and triumph. As 
 her hour drew near, she was in distress, amounting to 
 agony, and yet, gasping for breath, she whispered, " If 
 heaven be thus glorious. Lord sing." The liymn, "Jeru- 
 salem, my happy home," was sung, and also, " When languor 
 and disease invade." AVithin five minutes of her death, 
 she once or twice distinctly whispered, " Precious ; " and, 
 in reply to her husband, who said, " Having loved his own, 
 he loved them to the end," she replied, " No doubt of 
 that." With this she ceased to breathe. — Hiss. Her., 
 1842, p. 240. 
 
 REV, H. M. ADAMS. 
 
 Mr. Adams was born in Enosburgh, Vt., in Nov., 1823, 
 graduated at Amherst College in 1851, and sailed for Africa 
 in the autumn of 1854. He was connected with the Ameri- 
 can mission in West Africa a little less than two years, and 
 died at his post. A narrative of his sickness and death 
 is given by a fellow-laborer, Mr. Bushnell, who says, 
 " Such a sleep, or rather, awakening into eternal life, it has 
 never been my privilege to witness before." Sa3's the nar- 
 rative, " About the middle of the fourtl» day, his sight and 
 speech having be(Mi for several hours paral3^zed, he revived, 
 and broke forth in a most rapturous strain, describing, as 
 with an angel's voice, the glorious visions which wore 
 opened to his view, and the ecstasy that filled his soul. For 
 more than half an hour he continued in this blissful state, 
 rejoicing and longing to depart, comforting those who were 
 weeping around him, and describing the bright and glorious 
 future which he saw for this mission, and for poor, dark 
 Africa ; and then closed, by saying, ' Now let me go ; yes, 
 
REV. H. M. ADAMS. 327 
 
 I am going; my speech on earth is finished.' Those who 
 witnessed the closing scenes say, ' The full realil y ca,n never 
 be felt but by those who wore present, who heard with their 
 ears, and saw with their eyes, seeing his face as it had been 
 the face of an angel.' " Another brother, Mr. Walker, writes : 
 " All say that there was no appearance of aberration of 
 mind, and no excitement of the imagination, but the 
 whole scene was marked by the calm placidity which char- 
 acterized our dear brother in all he did and all he said. 
 
 " After he had been quiet for some time, exhausted, but 
 apparently engaged in silent prayer, suddenly starting up, 
 witli great animation, he exclaimed, ' I hear music — beau- 
 tiful music — the sweetest melodies ! I see glorious sights ! 
 I see heaven ! Yes, the gates are open ; let me go. I want 
 no more of earth ; detain me no longer : let me go ! I started 
 once, but I saw demons. I saw the chains of hell, and was 
 afraid ! But now 1 see another view, — 0, how beautiful ! 
 0, wonderful, wonderful views I have ! 0, the love of 
 Christ, the love of Christ, to save such a sinner as I have 
 been ! I have been very unfaithful to him, and yet he gives 
 me such sweet visions of glory as these ! ' 
 
 " Addressing those who stood around his bed, he said, in 
 tender accents, ' I see you now, and my tongue is unloosed. 
 I see you wiping your eyes. Weep not for me. I am 
 happy. I am sorry for you, brethren, to leave you to toil 
 on alone. Would that you could be with me here ! Be 
 faithful, and God will bless you. I have been praying most 
 earnestly for this mission, and trying to gain evidence that 
 it will not be broken up.' 
 
 " After some conversation, starting again, he exclaimed, 
 with emphasis, ' Yes, God has showed me — I knew he 
 would — what he is going to do for Africa. Africa shall be 
 I'edeemed ! Brethren, glorious times are coming ! These peo- 
 ple ivill be converted, and all this land shall be the Lord's ! 
 Tell Christians in America that it will. 0, why will they 
 not cease wrangling, and wake up, and know the blessed nei---; 
 of engaging in this work ! ' The boys belonging to the school 
 coming in, arrested his attention, and ho raised his voice, 
 and cried out, * Banabame, bishambe, bishambe, bishambe ! ' 
 (My children, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful ! ) Then, ad- 
 dressing them in English, he said, ' I want you all to become 
 Christians, and go and teach your countrymen. Why do I 
 linger? I am going; I am going; the cords of life are 
 breaking ! 0, the pain — no, the bliss of dying ! There is 
 
328 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 no pain. Blissful, blissful, blissful! Who could have thought 
 that /should have seen these glorious views ! Wonderful, 
 wonderful, wonderful things I see ! ' A cup of water was 
 handed him, and he remarked, ' You are very kind. A cup 
 of cold water, given in the name of Christ, shall not lose 
 its reward. I am satisfied ; my thirst is quenched with 
 the waters of life. Sweet waters, beautiful fountains are 
 there I ' 
 
 " At another time, he said, ' I shall be the first missionary 
 buried at Nengenenge, and I am glad it is so, and hope my 
 ashes will be the seed of a church here. I rejoice that I 
 came to Africa ! How wonderful that I should have been 
 permitted to engage in this work, and then be brought to 
 enjoy such visions of glory as these ! The bliss of this hour, 
 alone, is a recompense for a life of toil and suffering. I am 
 going ! — I am going ! — but I have no fears ; all is bright.' " 
 
 Thus this missionary servant passed to his rest. Mr, 
 Bushnell says, " Our brother was a man of God, indeed. 
 He walked with God, and is not, for God has taken him," — 
 Jour, of Hiss., 1856, p. 89. 
 
 EEV, SAMUEL AVHITNEY, 
 
 Mr. Whitney was one of the first missionaries of the 
 American Board to the Sandwich Islands. He spent about 
 twenty-six years in that field, and died in 1855, at the age 
 of fifty-three. As he gradually failed, under the influence of 
 his disorder, he felt that he was dying, and requested that 
 he might be raised up. He then said, with great emphasis, 
 "And is the victory won? Glory, glory, glory! Hail, 
 glorious immortality ! Can it be that this is death ? That I, 
 a poor wretch, who all my life have been afraid of death, 
 have come to this ? Here all is peace, and light, and joy. 
 The Saviour has me by the hand, leading me along. I soon 
 shall be in heaven." His attendant remarked, " There is a 
 blessed assembly of friends there." — "Yes," he said, 
 " and, more than all that, Jesus is there. He has never 
 forsaken me ; he is near, he is with me now." — Report of 
 American Board, 1846. 
 
 REV. J. S. EVERETT, 
 
 Mr. Everett, for many j^ears missionary of the American 
 Board at Constantinople, died March 1st, 1856. In a letter, 
 descriptive of his last hours, Mr. Hamlin says : "A solemn 
 and holy joy filled his soul. He expressed a willingness to 
 
REV. J. S. EVERETT. 329 
 
 live and labor for Christ, but he desired to depart and be 
 with him. He had the fullest confidence in Christ as his 
 Saviour. To liim he committed the whole work of liis sal- 
 vation, with such unquestioning faith, that he had no more 
 doubt, apparentl^^ of his salvation, than of his existence. 
 His reiterated language was, ' I know in whom I have be- 
 lieved.' 'I have not a shadow of doubt.' 'I have no 
 fear of death ; why should I have ? Christ hath abolished 
 death ; he hath brought life and immortality to light.' 
 
 " I have never been permitted to witness a death-bed 
 scene more entirely calm and peaceful, more full of holy 
 confidence in Christ, of patience, love, joy, and hope, and 
 of all the graces of the Spirit, than marked tlie six restless 
 days and nights through which our brother Everett passed 
 to his rest. During tlie last two days his mind was pecu- 
 liarly clear, and his whole soul was absorbed in contempla- 
 tions of heaven, and in the wonders of that redeeming love 
 which now pervaded all his powers of thought and feeling-. 
 After expressing his delightful anticipations of soon meet- 
 ing his wife and two children, with other departed mission- 
 ary friends, he said to me, 'We have had many pleasant 
 hours together in our missionary life ; but we must now 
 separate for a little while. It will be for a very short period. 
 You will soon finish j'our work, and then we shall meet in 
 heaven ! 0, blessed God ! 0, blessed Saviour ! 0, blessed 
 company of the redeemed ! Can such a man as I am behold 
 such eternal glories ? ' Again, in the same frame of heavenly 
 contemplation, he exclaimed, ' 0, the riches of the love of 
 Christ ! It is unspeakable. I have no words to express it. 
 I do not think so much now of the departed ; it is He, their 
 Master, whom I desire to behold.' 
 
 " He was about to leave his four motherless children in a 
 strange land, to the exclusive care of a doubly-bereaved sis- 
 ter. Their sainted mother had dedicated them to God ; he 
 had renewed that dedication. He said he felt sure that he 
 should meet all his children in heaven, 'Sumner, Ellen, 
 Lizzie, and' (his voice failing, he rallied his waning powers, 
 and, conquering the conqueror, said, clearly) ' Susie ! Not 
 one of them will be wanting.' He thus left them with the 
 most delightful and unreserved confidence in a covenant- 
 keeping God. The shades of death were gathering fast 
 about him. The beautiful hymn, ' Asleep in Jesus,' which 
 his wife desired to have sung in her last moments, was sung 
 at his x'equcst. A brief petition was offered ; and then we 
 28* 
 
330 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 waited with almost breathless silence to see the flickering' 
 lamp of life go out. To our surprise, his voice was to be 
 heard once more. Life again beaming- from his eye, he said, 
 as his sister was bending ovan* him, ' 0, death ! where is thy 
 sting' ? 0, grave ! where is thy victory ? ' His next act of 
 worship was not with us, but with the church triumphant. 
 lie 'fell asleep,' but so gently was it, that we could not 
 mark the moment of his departure.'" — Journal of Missions, 
 1856, p. 42. 
 
 MRS. HENRIETTA A. L. HAMLIN". 
 
 Mrs. Hamlin was a native of Vermont, was married to 
 Rev. Cyrus Ilamlin, missionary of the American Board at 
 Constantinople, and died in 1850, in the island of Rhodes, 
 to which place she had resorted for health. Being aware 
 that she would not long survive, preparation was made for 
 baptizing her infant child. The dying mother, her five 
 daughters, and the husband and father, constituted the 
 entire company. This affecting scene being over, they 
 conversed of heaven and its employments. " 0, what a 
 consolation in death," she exclaimed, "to look forward to 
 such a gracious God, and such a glorious heaven ! " Of 
 this sacred hour her husband remarks, " I can truly say it 
 was the happiest evening I ever passed in her society. 
 Yes, knowing that my children would soon, very soon, be 
 motherless, and I bereaved of an incomparable and most 
 affectionate wife, I still felt an elevated happiness which 
 seemed to have no alloy, I said to myself, ' The battle is 
 fought, the victory is won ; henceforth there remains noth- 
 ing but the crown of glory.' " 
 
 Mrs. Hamlin failed rapidly, and passed through a period 
 of fearful agony. Although too weak to lift a spoon to her 
 mouth, she turned and writhed with pain. On hearing the 
 sufferings of the Saviour alluded to, she exclaimed, " 0, what 
 suflerings, what sufferings were his ! Mine are nothing ; 
 and, besides, so much less than I deserve. I have had great 
 mercies through all mj'^ sickness." Two days afterwards she 
 expressed a stnnig desire to go and be with Christ ; and 
 seemcid so happy that her husband thought she was free, 
 also, from bodily pain, till at evening she remarked that she 
 had been near suffocation all day. The closing scene at 
 length came. Her distress for breath suddenly left her, 
 when she said, " I can breathe freely now. How gracious 
 the Lord has been to me I Do join me in praising him ! " 
 
MRS. MARY W. WINSLOW. 331 
 
 Her husband offered thanksgiving for this relief; and, 
 after a moment's pause, she said, " Blessed Saviour ! " 
 and seemed wrapt in contemplation of Him, whose glo- 
 ries she was so soon to behold. Her husband says, "I 
 knelt and kissed her, and said, ' Farewell, my dear Henri- 
 etta I May the Lord Jesus send his angels to guide you 
 to himself She returned my kiss, and said, ' How de- 
 lightful — delightful the thought! but, can we be sure 
 that he always sends them, and to one so unworthy ? ' 
 I was about to reply, when she added, in a voice singularly 
 sweet, ' The Lord bless my husband ; the Lord bless my 
 children, and my unworthy self She attempted to say 
 more, but death sealed her lips, and in a few minutes she 
 slept in Jesus. I fell down and gave thanks to God for 
 such a sweet and happy release, and for the consolation I 
 had in regarding her as already with the Lord." — Jour, of 
 Miss., 1851, p. 15. 
 
 MRS. MARY W. WINSLOW. 
 
 Mrs. Winslow (Mary W. Billings) was born in Conway, 
 Massachusetts, in 1810, became the wife of Rev. R. 0. 
 Dwight, and accompanied him as missionary to the East. 
 Mr. Dwight died suddenly, of Asiatic cholera, and she was 
 subsequently married to Rev. Miron Winslow, of Madras. 
 She died in April, 1842. Lj'ing just on the verge of the 
 grave, she said, " I have never regretted coming to India, 
 though I have suffered greatly from ill-health." She was 
 in a sweet frame of mind, though in great bodily suffering. 
 She said, " The righteousness of Christ is all my hope. 
 Christ is all. I have no raptures ; but all is peace. I seem 
 to be going gently down the banks of the river ; Jesus is 
 with me. How precious his blood and righteousness ! " 
 Reminding her husband of the hymn they had sung together 
 on the preceding Sabbath, — 
 
 " Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, Tve love, 
 But there 's a nobler rest above," — 
 
 she said, "I shall soon be where congregations ne'er break 
 up. 0, the delights of an eternal Sabbath ! " A little 
 later she requested a favorite hymn to be sung, beginning, 
 " When I can read my title clear," and she dwelt much on 
 the last stanza, 
 
 " There I shall bathe my weary soul 
 In seas of heavenly rest, 
 
332 DYING TESTIMONY OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 And not a ■wave of trouble roll 
 Across this peaceful breast." 
 
 This accorded with her feeling's, and filled her soul with 
 joy. " What a hope," she exclaimed, " for weary pilgrims, 
 that their conflict with sin and sorrow will soon cease, and 
 tliey will be holy ! Glorious hope ! We are saved by hope." 
 She expressed anxiety for her children, and said to her hr.s- 
 band, " See that you bring all the children home." As her 
 spirit was just departing, her husband and Miss Scudder 
 once more sung, "Rock of Ages." Iler breath and pulse 
 were nearly stopped, her extremities were cold, her eyes 
 were almost fixed ; but, when they came to the line, " When 
 my eyelids close in death," she unexpectedly opened them 
 widely, and looked upon her husband and friends with a 
 look of full intelligence, and love, and happiness. She then 
 gently closed them, and all was over. "Thus," says Dr. 
 Scudder, " passed away a veiy sweet and trusting spirit, 
 'looking unto Jesus.' " — Jour, of Miss., 1853, p. 11. 
 
 DB. JUDSOMT. 
 
 Rev. Adoniram Judson, so well known to all the friends 
 of missions, has left on record a dying testimony which 
 cannot be too much or too praj^erfully pondered. The sub- 
 joined account is from the statements furnished by his wife : 
 
 " Only a little while," he repeated, mournfully ; " this 
 separation is a bitter thing ; but it does not distress me 
 now as it did ; I am too weak." — " It is the opinion of the 
 mission," I remarked, "that jou will not recover." — "I 
 know it is," he replied ; " and I suppose they think me an 
 old man, and imagine it is nothing for one like me to resign 
 a life so full of trials. But I am not old, at least in that 
 sense — you know I am not. 0, no man ever left this 
 world with more inviting prospects, with brighter hopes, or 
 warmer feelings — warmer feelings!" — he repeated, and 
 burst into tears. To some suggestions, which I ventui-ed 
 to make, he replied, " It is not that — I know all tliat, and 
 feel it in my inmost heart. Lying here on my bed, when 
 I could not talk, I have had such views of the loving 
 condescension of Christ, and the glories of heaven, as I 
 believe are seldom granted to mortal man. It is not be- 
 cause I shrink from death that I wish to live ; neither is it 
 because the ties which bind me here, though some of theni 
 are very sweet, bear any comparison with the drawings I at 
 
DR. JUDSON. 333 
 
 times feel toward heaven ; but a few years would not be 
 missed from my eternity of bliss, and I can well afford to 
 spare them, both for your sake, and for the sake of the poor 
 Burnians. I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired of 
 the world ; yet, when Christ calls me home, I shall go with 
 the gladness of a boy bounding away from his school. 
 Perhaps I feel something like the young bride, when she 
 contemplates resigning the pleasant associations of her 
 childhood, for a yet dearer home — though only a very 
 little like her — for there is no doubt resting on viy future." 
 
 " Then death would not take you by surprise," I re- 
 marked, " if it should come even before you could get on 
 board ship ? " — " 0, no," he said, " death will never take 
 me by surprise — do not be afraid of that — I feel so strong 
 in Christ. lie has not led me so tenderly thus far, to for- 
 sake me at the very gate of heaven. No, no ; I am willing 
 to live a few j^ears longer, if it should be so ordered ; and, 
 if otherwise, I am willing and glad to die now." The next 
 day Mrs. Judson inquired if he still felt as when she con- 
 versed with him on the night previous ; to which he replied, 
 " 0, yes ; that was no evanescent feeling. It has been with 
 me, to a greater or less extent, for years, and will be with 
 me, I trust, to the end. I am ready to go to-day — if it 
 should be the will of God, this very hour ; but I am not 
 anxious to die — at least, when I am not beside myself with 
 pain." 
 
 Beyond this, little is said of Dr. Judson's last hours, and 
 nothing more needed to be said. He died at sea, and was 
 lowered to his ocean-grave. — Amer. Bap. Mag., 1851, p. 2. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NARRATIVES. 
 
 The mattei- arranged under this head is such, in general, 
 as did not belong, appropriately, to either of the preceding 
 chapters ; though a few items have been inserted here which 
 would have appeared elsewhere had they been met with in 
 season. As a conclusion to the work, such a chapter as the 
 present was found indispensable, in order to avoid the omis- 
 sion of passages which seemed valuable, from their novel, 
 instructive, or suggestive character. 
 
 A QUESTION FOR CHBISTIAlSrS. 
 
 At a public gathering of natives near Madura, Southern 
 India, after the missionary had read to them part of the 
 tract entitled " Good Opportunity," the men asked where 
 Christ or his followers were. " It is now," said they, " the 
 fourth age of the world, and never till the missionaries came 
 liere did we hear of this religion. Where has it been all 
 this time ? Who, and how many, are its followers ? Where 
 do they live ? If it was intended for us, why have we not 
 known it before ? Have all our ancestors who died without 
 it gone to hell ? " They were told that most of the people 
 in America and in Europe were professedl}'' Christians ; 
 upon which one of them exclaimed, " What 1 and suffer us 
 to go to hell for so many ages without even coming to tell 
 us about it! What kind of religion is that?" — Hiss. 
 Her., 1840, p. 156. 
 
 FACTS FOR THE FRIENDS OF MISSIONS. 
 
 The principal English missionary organizations, are : the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, the Society for the Prop- 
 agation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the London Mis- 
 sionary Society, the Baptist Missionary Society, the Wes- 
 leyan Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society, 
 
PEAYER ALWAYS ANSWERED. 835 
 
 the Societyfor Promoting Christianity among- the Jews, the 
 Home Missionary Society, the Colonial Missionary Society, 
 the Irish Evangelical Society, the Moravian Missionary 
 Society, the City of London Missions. These societies 
 embrace about all the missionary contributions of the Brit- 
 ish Christians ; and the amount contributed to them all in 
 fifty years, from 1800 to 1850, was fourteen and a half mil- 
 lions of pounds (£14,500,000), — more -than sixty millions 
 of dollars. A noble monument, surely, to British Christian- 
 ity ! But there is another fact to be laid by the side of this. 
 During the same period of fifty years England expended for 
 war upwards of twelve hundred millions of pounds ! — about 
 ninety times as much in learning men to destroy soul and 
 body, as in eflecting human salvation! The war expenses 
 of England for one year — 1851 — were estimated at £15,- 
 555,171 ; that is, the English people paid more in one year 
 for war, by one million of pounds, than was paid in fifty 
 years for the cause of missions by all the abovenamed mis- 
 Bionaiy societies! — Am. Miss., vol. vi., p. 14. 
 
 A FAMILY OF MISSIONAHIES. 
 
 There is a small kingdom in the Germanic Confederation 
 which sends out more missionaries, in proportion to its 
 numbers, than any other land in the world. It is the king- 
 dom of Wirtegaberg, in the south-west of Germany. Says 
 Mr. Schauftler, of Constantinople, "There died lately in 
 West Africa, one of the missionaries educated at Basle, 
 brother Dauble, who labored in connection with the mission- 
 ary society of North Germany. His elder brother died last 
 year, in the east of Bengal, where he had labored as a mis- 
 sionary. A third brother is preparing for the missionary 
 work in the institution at Basle. Two sisters of the family 
 are married to missionaries in Africa and America, and a 
 third sister is ready to leave her country to go to West 
 Africa. The father of this devoted family has five children 
 more, and says the Saviour may have more of them for his 
 work if he will." — Jour. o/Mis.^., July, 1854. 
 
 PKAYER ALWAYS ANSWERED. 
 
 Mrs. Judson, in a letter, says of Dr. Judson, that after 
 she had read to him, on one occasion, from a religious jour- 
 nal, an account of a scries of happy results that had flowed 
 from his labors, "his eyes were filled with tears; but still 
 he spoke playfully, and in a way that a little disappointed 
 
336 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NAERATIVES. 
 
 me. Then a look of almost unearthly solemnity came over 
 him, and, cling-ing- to my hand, as though to assure himself 
 of being really in the world, he said, ' Love, tliis frightens 
 me. I do not know what to make of it. What ! why what 
 have you just been reading to me ? I never was deeply 
 interested in any object, I never prayed sincerely and 
 earnestly for anything, but it came — at some time — no 
 matter at how distant a day — somehow, in some shape, it 
 came. And yet I have always had so little faith ! May 
 God forgive me ; and, while he condescends to use me as 
 his instrument, wipe the sin of unbelief from my heart.' " 
 This interesting scene occurred about a fortnight before Dr. 
 Judson's death. — Ilemoir of Judson, p. 36. 
 
 CHEISTIANS INSTRUCTED BY A HEATHEZST. 
 
 A missionary in India, passing near some tank-diggers, 
 who were getting ready to repair a road, noticed that one of 
 them looked towards the sun in a posture of worship, and 
 then took up his crowbar and touched his forehead with it, 
 by way of religious reverence, before he began to dig. The 
 man, being asked why he paid such reverence to the sun, and 
 to his crowbar, replied that, as without the light of the sun 
 he could not work, and without the instrument he could not 
 dig, and, as he was dependent on both for his daily bread, he 
 worshipped them. What a lesson to those who know their 
 dependence on God for all things, and yet never worship him 1 
 Will not the heathen rise up in judgment against such ? 
 
 TKAINITTG CHILDREN FOR THE MISSIONARY "WORK. 
 
 Mrs. Grant, the wife of Dr. Grant of the Nestorian mis- 
 sion, wrote a letter, from her foreign field, to a pious lady 
 in New England, but suppressed it, owing to the great 
 d(!licacy she felt in speaking of anything pertaining to her- 
 self In the letter, which was published after her decease, 
 she said, " I like to see children begin early to contribute 
 to the missionary cause, from their own little stores. I 
 well remember an incident which occurred when I was 
 seven years old. Indeed, to it I trace my present employ- 
 ment in the missionary field. ]\Ir. and Mrs. Stewart Averc 
 about to depart for the Sandwich Islands from an adjoining 
 town. A box was proposed by the ladies of our village, — 
 Cherry Valley, N. Y., — and the things were mostly prepared 
 and packed at our house. My mother, to encourage benev- 
 olent feelings in me, desired me to put into the box a pair 
 
NEW ZEALAND TASTE IN DRESS. 337 
 
 of mittens of which I was very foud. After a little struggle 
 I o-ave them up ; and, from that moment, felt a deep interest 
 in"the Sandwich Islands mission. I always hailed the arrival 
 of the ' Missionary Herald ' with joy, and eagerly seized it to 
 find the accounts from that mission. I was accustomed to 
 regard those islands as the probable field of my future labor ; 
 foi" I anticipated, even from that early period, with much 
 pleasure, the time when I should engage in the missionary 
 Avork." — 3Iiss. Her., 1839, p. 281. 
 
 NEW ZEALAND TASTE IN" DRESS. 
 
 The New Zealanders, after beginning to adopt the Euro- 
 pean modes of dress, in imitation of the mission families, 
 furnished occasion for much innocent amusement. Rev, 
 Mr. Yate says, " At times they cut a most grotesque appear- 
 ance in their new clothing ; as, how many articles soever a 
 man possess, he will frequently manage to have them all on 
 at once. His trousers, perhaps, will be tied round his 
 neck, his shirt put on as trousers, and his jacket the wrong 
 way before, or turned inside out. The women, if they 
 happen to have two or three gowns, will put them all on ; 
 and they will manage so to arrange their dress, as to have 
 some part of each visible. I am now alluding, not to those 
 who reside in the mission families, but to those who reside 
 in their own native villages. I have seen a person come 
 into chapel, at whose monstrous appearance I had the 
 greatest difficulty to restrain a smile. The sleeves of an 
 old gown had been drawn on as a pair of stockings ; two 
 small baskets fastened on the feet as shoes ; and one gown 
 over another, so placed that you could see the flounce of 
 one, the body of a second, the sleeves of a third, and the 
 collar of a fourth ; with a piece of an old striped shirt 
 thrown carelessly over the shoulders as a shawl, or a pair 
 of trousers hung round the neck as a boa ; but so arranged 
 as not to conceal any other article of dress. I have seen a 
 person, thus decked and adorned, enter a chapel in the midst 
 of service, without exciting the slightest attention from the 
 assembled congregation, to whom it did not appear at all 
 strange ; but it is now very seldom, even in the most dis- 
 tant villages, that we meet with any specimens of this kind, 
 as we have invariably endeavored to correct their taste, 
 and the wives of missionaries, in supplying them with tliese 
 articles, have given them directions how to wear them." — 
 Yale^s New Zealand, p. 159. 
 29 
 
338 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NARRATIVES. 
 
 AN INDIAN" CHIEF'S CONCLUSION. 
 
 Much difficulty was experienced at one time by the mis- 
 sion, among' the Sioux Indians, from the opposition of one 
 of their cliiefs. Much effort was made to reclaim him, and 
 convince him of the fully and wickedness of idolatry, and of 
 the trutli of Christianity ; and, finally, he so far yielded as 
 to say that he should be "willing- to embrace the religion 
 of the missionaries, if he could do it loilhoiit abandoning his 
 oivn! " An answer truly characteristic of the natural heart 
 everywhere. — Miss. Her., 1849, p. 212. 
 
 A PUZZLING QUESTION. 
 
 Mr. Bushnell, of the Gaboon mission, West Africa, wrote, 
 under date of April 20, 1850, concerning an old head-man, 
 who desired to have a missionary in his town. On being 
 told that there were no more missionaries, he asked, " Why 
 don't you make a book and send to America for more mis- 
 sionaries ? I think plenty live there." — " Yes," said Mr. 
 Bushnell ; " but their country is cold, and yours is hot ; if 
 they come perhaps they will die." The old chief hesitated 
 a little, and then replied, " Frenchman's country no be cold 
 country too ? Plenty Frenchmen come here. Why don't 
 they fear ? Englishman's country no be cold country ? 
 But many Englishmen come here to make trade. Why no 
 fear to he sick and die ? Why do missionaries fear to 
 come ? " The old heathen had no philosophy to explain 
 why missionaries should fear to go on their business where 
 others dared to go for trade and gain. 
 
 "ANYTHING TO DISTKACT THE BRAIN." 
 
 A midshipman of an English man-of-war, while stopping at 
 the Sandwich Islands, wanted some rum, but, owing to the 
 force of public sentiment, he was afraid to speak the name. 
 He accordingly went from shop to shop, among the traders, 
 asking, " Do you keep anything here ? " — " What thing ? " 
 asked the grocer. " Anything to distract the brain? " He 
 was answered, " No ; " and went off sadly disappointed, 
 denouncing it as a "wretched dry place." — Miss. Herald, 
 1846, p. 355. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH BAPTIST MISS. SOCIETY. 
 
 The first publication of this society commences with the 
 following words : " The origin of this society will be found 
 in the workings of our brother Carey's mind ; which, for the 
 
A SUBTLE QUESTIOX. 339 
 
 last nine or ten years, has been directed to this ohject, with 
 very Httle intermission. His heart appears to have been 
 set upon the conversion of the heathen, before he came to 
 reside at Moulton, in 1786." A sister of Mrs. Carey also 
 testified that " she had again and again observed him in 
 the attitude of intense thought, the subject of which, as it 
 afterwards appeared, was the state of the heathen world. 
 She had often seen him standing, for an hour or more, in the 
 middle of a path in his garden, abstracted from outward 
 objects by the workings of a mind that had begun to devote 
 itself to a vast and newly-contemplated project." Dr. Ry- 
 land adds, " As to the origin of a Baptist mission, I believe 
 God himself infused into the mind of Carey that solicitude 
 for the salvation of the heathen, which cannot fairly be 
 traced to any other source." — Hist, of Bap. 3Ess. Soc, vol. 
 L, p. 5. 
 
 THE SELF-DENIAL BOX. 
 
 At an annual missionary meeting in London, in 1847, one 
 of the speakers related some facts in regard to a juvenile 
 missionary society in his own congregation, called the 
 " Youthful Branch Society." Children not more than eight 
 years old belonged to it. One of these, a little boy, came 
 to his mother, saying, " We have some superfluities in the 
 course of the year ; may we put them into the box for the 
 missionaiy, and call it the self-denial box?" 
 
 A SUBTLE QUESTION. 
 
 A curious fact is related by Dr. Wright, of the Nestorian 
 mission in Persia, relative to Avine-drinking. The custom 
 is strictly forbidden by Mussulmans, and, while some care- 
 fully regard the law, others raise very nice questions of 
 casuistry. For instance, one of the most scrupulous of their 
 number, asked, " If a drop of wine were to fall into a well 
 one hundred yiirds deep, if afterwards the water should 
 fail, and the well be filled up with earth, and a grain of 
 wheat be planted in that earth, and the product of that grain 
 be eaten by a sheep, and that sheep mingle with a flock, 
 would the whole flock become impure ? " This rigid casuist 
 declared, " For my part, I believe it would, and I would 
 never taste of the meat." Into nonsense, approximating to 
 this, will an uneducated conscience often carry the reason- 
 ings of much more enlightened people, on the temperance 
 and other moral questions. — Miss. Her., 1843, p. (U. 
 
340 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NARRATIVES. 
 
 SWEABERS BEPKOVED. 
 
 A Cejionese youth, member of a school in connection with 
 the Wesleyan mission, was converted, and subsequently 
 employed to teach the native language to the missionary. 
 Eeturning" one day from his usual employ, he met a party 
 of English sailors, who were much intoxicated, and were 
 using very profane language. Being greatly shocked at 
 this, he ran into the midst of them, saying, " What for you 
 wicked men make swear, and take God's name in vain F " 
 This unexpected address astonished them, and they ex- 
 claimed, " Why, the Methodists are come to this country 
 also ! " and turning to the young man they asked, " Are you 
 a Methodist ? " — "I don't know," he replied, " what that 
 is ; but I will go and ask the missionary what I am." He 
 continued to address them, asking, "Have you got a Bible ? 
 because, if you not got Bible, I will go and ask missionary to 
 give you one. There you learn that commandment. Thou 
 shalt not take -the name of the Lord thy God in vain ; and so, 
 when you know, you not make swear again, and do bad." 
 The rebuke Avas well received, and they promised not to 
 swear any more. 
 
 BEGINNING OP THE MORAVIANS. 
 
 The Moravian Brethren, having for several years labored 
 to propagate tlie Gospel in European countries, wore led to 
 interpret the command of Christ, " Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature," as binding on 
 them, and they longed for an opportunity of obeying it. In 
 this spirit they consulted together, as early as 1128, on the 
 practicability of converting Greenlanders, negro slaves, and 
 other barbarous nations, to the faith of Christ. They saw 
 little prospect at that time of realizing their hopes, but they 
 were encouraged by Count Zinzcndorf, who declared it to 
 be his confident persuasion that the Lord would open to the 
 Brethren a door of utterance among the heathen. Two years 
 after this, a circumstance occurred which prepared the way 
 for the accomplislmient of their desires. Count Zinzendorf, 
 being in Copenhagen, on a public occasion, his domestics 
 became acquainted with a negro from the West Indies, whose 
 account of the deplorable condition of the slaves in that coun- 
 try greatly quickened the desire of the Brethren to preath 
 the Gospel to them. Two young men, Leonard Dober and 
 Thomas Lenpold, were particularly stirred up to devote 
 themselves to this service. Many objections were i-aised, 
 and the opposition delayed them a whole year, till finally, 
 
THE TESTAMENT AND THE DOG. 341 
 
 at the sug-g-estion of Count Zinzendorf, it was ag-reed to have 
 the question decided by lot, "agreeably to the practice of 
 tlie ancient Brethren's church." This being- done, the lot 
 decided that they should go, and these brethren commenced 
 the first foreign mission of the Moravians in 1832. The 
 next year two of the Brethren, greatly moved by the exam- 
 ple of Dober and Leupold, burned with desire to preach the 
 Gospel to the Greenlanders, and one year later, in 1833, 
 Matthew Stach and Frederick Boenisch started on a mission 
 to that frozen and desolate region. Such were the begin- 
 nings of a S3"stem of missionary labors, unequalled in respect 
 to early struggles and hardships, and unsurpassed in zeal, 
 patient continuance, and success. — Holmes's Hist, of (he 
 Brethren, p. 215. 
 
 "ORDER OF THE GRAIN" OF MUSTARD-SEED." 
 
 A society with this name was formed in its Academy at 
 Halle, about 1710. The order was formed at the sugges- 
 tion of Count Zinzendorf, then a student in that institution, 
 and only ten or twelve years of age. The fundamental rules 
 of this order were, " that its members should steadfastly 
 maintain the doctrine of Jesus, and walk worthily of it ; ex- 
 ercise charity towards their neighbors, and more especially 
 endeavor to promote the conversion of Jews and heathen." 
 That Zinzendorf, a 5'oung nobleman, destined for worldly 
 honors, should, at that early age, have engaged with his fel- 
 low-students in the exercises of religion, and have formed 
 with them the " Order of the grain of mustard-seed," — in 
 part a missionary society, — sufficiently^ shows the bent of his 
 mind, and accounts for the remarkable events of his life, and 
 the leading part he acted as patron and leader in the Church 
 of the United Brethren. At the age of seventeen Zinzendorf 
 was removed by his friends from Halle to Wittemburg, that 
 he might be rid of the company of the "Pietists," as all 
 those were contemptuously called, who inculcated the neces- 
 sity of vital and practical religion. 
 
 THE TESTAMENT AND THE DOG. 
 
 One day a poor Bechuana (there is a large tribe of that 
 name in Western Africa) came to Mr. Mofl'at, of the London 
 Missionary Society, with the sad story that his dog had torn 
 his Testament to pieces, and had actually eaten some of the 
 leaves. He was the more grieved about this, because, he 
 said, the dog had been very useful to him, guarding his 
 property from wild beasts and hunting them, and now he 
 29* 
 
342 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NAREATIVES. 
 
 feared the animal would be good for nothing'. Mr. Moifat, 
 not quite understanding hira, told him he need not be con- 
 cerned, for he could get another Testament. But the simple- 
 minded African replied, " I am afraid the dog will be of no 
 further use to me, for the words of the New Testament are 
 full of love and gentleness, and after the dog has eaten them, 
 it is not likely that he will hunt or fight for me any more." 
 Of course he soon found out his -mistake. But what would 
 this converted African say, if he knew that thousands in 
 Christian lands were all their lives feeding, as it were, on 
 the leaves of the Bible, without being made any m6re gentle 
 and Christ-like than was the senseless dog ? 
 
 A SINGULAR MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 A missionary of the London Missionary Society was 
 invited by a slaveholder in Jamaica, to come and instruct 
 his slaves. lie went, and on getting his plantation audi- 
 ence together, commenced preaching to them from a pas- 
 sage which referred to Sabbath-breaking. He bore down 
 quite hard on this sin, the slavemaster all the while looking 
 disturbed and angry ; and when the discourse was ended he 
 rose from his seat, under great excitement, and said, " I don't 
 believe that. Now, my negroes, stop ; I brought this man 
 here to teach morality and industry— th-At is, that you are not 
 to steal from your owner, nor to be idle while you ax'e at work ; 
 but instead of that he has been finding fault with me, which, 
 to say the least, is ungentlemanl}'' conduct. Now," said he, 
 " I will expose the fallacy of all that he has said. lie has 
 told you it is wrong to violate the Sabbath ; but he must 
 have forgotten that the law respecting the Sabbath Avas 
 given some thousands of years before the West India Idand^^ 
 ivere discovered, and therefore it could have no adaptation to 
 fJial part of the world! " Tiie missionary answered this sage 
 cavil, and when he had done, tlie slave audience — about 
 three hundred — burst into loud laughter, one of them say- 
 ing, "Ah, massa parson have been too many for buckra." 
 — Land. Mias. Mag., 1844, p. 92. 
 
 A PRAYING MACHINE. 
 
 In the Church Missionary Gleaner, England, a description 
 was given, a few years since, of a praying machine, much in 
 use among the Tartars and Lamas. This machine consists 
 of a wooden, iron, or copper cylinder, over which is wound 
 a narrow roll of paper or cloth, on which their idols and 
 
GOOD OUT OF EVIL. 
 
 343 
 
 symbols are painted, and on which also their prayers, 
 either printed or written, are contained. This machine, 
 being- properly set in a frame, is turned by a handle, and 
 thus the prayers are " told," with as much sincerity and 
 sense probably, as the devotee of Popery counts his beads. 
 This machine is called a mani, and is of various sizes, some- 
 times being very large, for the service of the temples, and 
 sometimes small enough to carry about in the hand. The 
 people have such manis, or prayer-wheels, built even in 
 small streams close to their houses, so that the water, by 
 turning the wheel, performs the necessary prayers for them. 
 The thought is unavoidably suggested that some Chris- 
 tians, better taught, drag through their devotions in so 
 tedious and reluctant a manner, that they would apparently 
 be glad of a machine going by water, to "do up" their 
 religion for them. 
 
 THINKING ABOUT THE SHEEP. 
 
 A missionary, while reading a tract to a company of 
 people in Southern India, observed that from time to time 
 some went into the next house for a moment, and when one 
 returned another went. When the tract was half read, a 
 woman, who had expressed great readiness to hear, came 
 forward and said, " Sir, we should like to hear more, but 
 we have something to do. We have this evening killed a 
 sheep, and are just making it ready. Now, our hearts are 
 thinking about the sheep, and so we cannot liearken well to 
 what is read. Gome, therefore, at another time, when we 
 shall be able to attend with our hearts." All the others 
 confirmed this, and joined in the request. The missionary 
 told them they might die before he came again, and then 
 they could do no more for their souls ; to which they 
 replied, "That is true, but now we are thinking of our 
 sheep." IIow like the heathen are many in Christian lands 
 
 — ever " thinking of the sheep," when the word is preached I 
 
 — Church Miss. Becord, 1834, p. 66. 
 
 GOOD OUT OF EVIL. 
 
 When the terrible persecution against the Protestants 
 broke out in Constantinople, about 1846, it drove all the 
 persecuted to Pera, where the missionaries resided, and 
 whore they had opportunities for mutual sympathy and 
 religious improvement. There "they pra3^ed, and fasted, 
 and wept, and rejoiced together ; and it seemed a special 
 
344 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NARRATIVES. 
 
 providence tliat compelled them, men, women, and children, 
 to be not onl}'- ' of one accord,' but 'in one place.' " Three 
 years after this, great changes occurred in Pera. The mis- 
 sion families at that place were dispersed, and also the 
 Protestants who had fled thither for safety. Says Mr. 
 Goodell, " Our prayei'-meeting^ our singing-meetings, our 
 maternal meetings, our family gatherings, our social inter- 
 views, and all other such pleasant and profitable seasons as 
 we have enjoyed together these man}^ years, are now inter- 
 rupted." This dispersion was caused, not by persecution, 
 but by frequent fires, drought, &c. Meanwhile, persecution 
 had ceased, and there was toleration in Constantinople and 
 all its suburbs. Now, therefore, the exiled Christians could 
 return to their homes and their friends, without fear or mo- 
 lestation, to exert the salutary influence for which their 
 three years of peculiar advantages had prepared them. 
 Herein was the hand of God visible. Persecution had been 
 wonderfully overruled for the furtherance of the Gospel ; 
 many were acting as faithful witnesses for the truth in their 
 own neighborhoods, and light was difi'used where darkness 
 might still have reigned, but for that madness of the ene- 
 mies of the Gospel, which God thus caused to praise him. — 
 3Iiss. Her., 1849, p. 28. 
 
 THE WONDERS OF A CHIP. 
 
 In his description of the building of a chapel in the island 
 of Rarotonga, South Seas, Rev. Mr. Williams relates the 
 following amusing incident. He says : "I had come to the 
 work one morning without my square, and I took iip a chip, 
 and, with a piece of charcoal, wrote upon it a request that 
 Mrs. Williams would send me that article. I called a chief, 
 who was superintending his portion of the work, and said 
 to him, 'Friend, take this, go to our house, and give it to 
 Mrs. AVilliams.' He was a singular-looking man, remarka- 
 bly quick in his movements, and had been a great warrior ; 
 but, in one of the numerous battles he had fought, had lost 
 an eye, and, giving me an inexpressible look with the other, 
 he said, ' Take that ! she will call me a fool, and scold me, 
 if I carry a chip to her.' — ' No,' 1 replied, ' she will not ; 
 take it, and go immediately ; I am in haste.' Perceiving 
 me to be in earnest, he took it, and asked, ' What must I 
 say ?' I replied, 'You have nothing to say ; the chip will 
 say all I wish.' With a look of astonishment and contempt, 
 he held up the i)iecc of wood, and asked, ' How can this 
 
TRUTH TAUGHT BY AN OATH. 345 
 
 speak ? has it a mouth ? ' I desired him to take it imme- 
 diately, and not spend so much time in talking* about it. 
 On arriving' at the house, he gave the chip to Mrs. Wil- 
 liams, who read it, threw it away, and went to the tool- 
 chest, followed by the chief, who appeared determined to 
 see the result of this mysterious proceeding. On receiving 
 the square from her, he said, ' Stay, daughter, how do you 
 know that this is what Mr. Williams wants ? ' — ' Why/ 
 she said, ' did you not bring me a chip just now ? ' — ' Yes, 
 but I did not hear it say anything to you.' — ' If you did 
 not, I did,' was the reply; 'for it made known to me what 
 he wanted, and all you have to do is to return with it as 
 quickly as possible.' With this the chief leaped out of the 
 house, and, catching up the mysterious piece of wood, he 
 ran through the settlement with the chip in one hand, and 
 the square in the other, holding them up as high as his arms 
 would reach, and shouting, as he went, ' See the wisdom of 
 the English people ; they can make chips talk — they cau 
 make chips talk ! ' On giving me the square, he wished to 
 know how it was possible thus to converse with persons at a 
 distance. I gave him all the explanation in my power ; but 
 it was so much of a mystery that he actually tied a string to 
 the chip, hung it round his neck, and wore it for some time. 
 AVe frequently saw him, surrounded by a crowd, who wei'e 
 listening with intense interest, while he narrated the won- 
 ders which the chip had performed." — Williams's llissioH' 
 arij Enterpri>:es in South Sea Islands, p. 126. 
 
 A LIAR'S DEFENCE. 
 
 A native of Ceylon, of high rank, was called on to give 
 evidence at a trial, and swore such complete falsehoods, 
 that he was imprisoned for perjury. He applied to the Eng- 
 lish governor, and, with surprise, asked why he should be 
 punished for what his people did. " My father," said he, 
 "was a liar, and my grandfather was a liar, and my great- 
 grandfather was a liar, and we are all liars. It is the cus- 
 tom of my countr3^ Why should I be punished ? " 
 
 TRUTH TAUGHT BY AN OATH. 
 
 A poor African, who, according to his own expression, 
 had previously "no thoughts," and considered himself "a 
 mere thing " and never suspected even that there was a 
 Creator of himself and others, fell in with a profane man, 
 who swore by the Almighty God. He inquired who that 
 
346 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NARRATIVES. 
 
 ■was by whom he swore, and was answered that it was the 
 King of heaven, by whom all things were made. lie ridi- 
 culed the idea, and said there was no such King. But he 
 was assured that the missionaries taught these things iu 
 Natal. He immediately made his way to Mr. Marsli, and 
 became most inquisitive about God and his soul ; put him- 
 self constantly in the way of hearing the preaching of the 
 Gospel ; learned to read ; and now gives evidence of being 
 truly a regenerated soul. Mr. Marsh says, " He was at 
 once anxious for his friends ; ami four of my younger boj's 
 are with me through his influence ; and, as I hear their 
 praying voices from behind tiie hill, in the cold dew of the 
 morning, I, too, am encouraged to pra}'', with more hope, 
 that they, also, may become the children of God." — Amer. 
 Miss., vol. IV., p. 42. 
 
 OPIUM AND MISSIONS. 
 
 "An opium-smoker," says a missionary in China, " cannot 
 be trusted, nor safely admitted to the church ; " and he adds, 
 " It is an astounding fact that the money which Christian 
 nations have received from this nation for this one article, 
 far exceeds all the money which has been expended by all 
 Protestant missions, in all parts of the heatlien world, since 
 the days of the Reformation. The amount of money yearly 
 drawn from the empire, in exchange for opium, exceeds 
 thirty millions of dollars." — Hiss. Her., 1851, p. 152. 
 
 A NIGHT IN PBISON. 
 
 During the persecutions in Constantinople and vicinity, 
 twelve of the evangelical Christians were seized by the 
 Turkish police-officers and thrown into prison. This was 
 done on pretence of crime, and merely to vex those of " that 
 way." They remained in prison one night, and were then 
 liberated. The enemy meant it for evil, but God overruled 
 it for good. The twelve brethren were confined in one 
 room, and they spent most of the time in singing and prayer, 
 " and the prisoners heard them." Four times in the course 
 of the night did the Turkish officer in command send for 
 one of them to come up to his room, to answer questions 
 in regard to this so-called " new wa}'' ; " and he heard more 
 about the Gospel that night than he had in all his life before, 
 though it was not known that, like the jailer at Philippi, he 
 truly rc^pcnted of his sins. Their fellow-prisoners were of 
 
A PERSECUTOR AWAKENED. 347 
 
 different nations ; and among them were some noisy and 
 blaspheming- Greeks, who ridiculed these evangelical men, 
 and told the Turkish prisoners that they were infidels. The 
 Turks replied to the Greeks, " These men are good men, 
 and 3^ou are the infidels ; for these men have prayed to God 
 several times in the course of the night, but we have not 
 seen you pray once."* The Greeks said, " We pray in our 
 hearts." — "No," replied the Turks, "we cannot believe 
 that you pray in your hearts, so long as you utter so many 
 blasphemies with your mouths. Look at these men whom 
 3'ou call infidels. They not only do not utter blasphemies, 
 but all their words are good words. You are infidels, and 
 they are good men." — "Surely," says Mr. Dwight, "it 
 is worth while for men to be put in prison, when such oppor- 
 tunities are given for preaching the word. How often do 
 Satan's emissaries overshoot the mark I " — Miss. Her., 1846, 
 p. 273. 
 
 "WHEW TO BEPEWT. 
 
 A Sandwich Islander came to Mr. Richards one day with 
 the inquiry, " When is the good time for the exercise of 
 i-epentance ? " The missionary answered, "Now, and at 
 all times." He inquired again, " Is it proper to i-epent at 
 midnight ? " — " Yes." — " Is it proper in the moi-ning ? " 
 — " Yes." — "Is it proper at noon ? " — " Yes." — " Is it 
 proper in the evening ? " — " Yes." — "Isit proper to repent 
 lying down ? " — " Yes." — " Is it proper to repent standing 
 up?" — "Yes." — "Is it proper when I am in the sea 
 bathing ? " — " Yes." — " Is it proper when I am in my 
 canoe fishing ? " — " Yes." Then he exclaimed, " That is 
 very good ; then I will always repent." — Hiss. Her., 1826, 
 p. 145. 
 
 A PERSECUTOB A"WAKE]SrED. 
 
 Mr. Dwight, of Constantinople, relates that a very rude 
 young man, of great muscular power, being strongly opposed 
 to the evangelical Armenians, took with him several "lewd 
 fellows, of the baser sort," and went out one Sunday, with 
 large sticks, to a place in the field where he knew prayer was 
 wont to be made, determined to inflict bodily chastisement 
 upon the brethren. On arriving there, the leader of the 
 meeting, who was the particular object of their hatred, fixed 
 bis eyes on this j'oung man, and, calling him by name, held 
 the New Testament up before him, and said, " Is there any- 
 
348 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NARRATIVES. 
 
 thing wrong in this book, that you wish to prevent us from 
 reading it ? " The young man was immediately overcome ; 
 he threw away his weapon, and forthwith became a serious 
 inquirer after the truth. He was hopefully converted ; and, 
 ill his turn, was persecuted by those who were formerly his 
 companions in wickedness. — Ilisi. Her., 1844, p. 356. 
 
 A PEKSECUTOB SERVING THE CHUHCH. 
 
 The Armenian patriarch unwittingly did good service for 
 the cause of Christ, at one time, by bitterly persecuting the 
 evangelical portion of the Armenian community. Not con- 
 tent with issuing his anathemas, he proceeded to shut up 
 the shops of a large number of men, and turned them oiit 
 of employment. Of this number many were young men, 
 from eighteen to twenty-two years of age, who betook them- 
 selves to the mission seminary at Bebek, there to discipline 
 their minds and store them with useful knowledge ; to study 
 the Bible and the doctrines and history of the church, and 
 become qualified to wage with the oriental apostasy an 
 uncompromising and aggressive war. Thus, while the 
 patriarch exulted in having interrupted the trades and cut 
 ofl' the income of the evangelists, this portion of them were 
 sent, by this very means, to the source of an infinitely richer 
 merchandise and a higher employment. This is one of the 
 many illustrations, furnished by persecution, that a man 
 may accomplish a vast amount of good, indirectly, and yet 
 be himself all the while increasingly guilty and worthy of 
 condemnation. " If," says Mr. ilamlin, " the patriarch 
 shall live to see these young men able and successful pastors 
 of Protestant churches, he will bitterly regret the madness 
 of his present course." — Hiss. Her., 1846, p. 303. 
 
 GIVING AND FEELING. 
 
 A missionary, in a report of his field of labors, says, " I 
 can imagine some one saj'ing, as he reads this report, 
 ' Well, I will give five dollars to tlio cause ; I can give this 
 amount and not feel it.' Suppose, my Christian brother, 
 you should give twenty dollars, and feel it.'' 
 
 AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN. 
 
 John ITunt was a singularly stupid ploughboy, who could 
 scarcely be intrusted with such simple crraiids as are usu- 
 ally performed by ploughboys. Oiten he might be seen 
 Hitting 0)1 the gate of a field staring into vacuity. All at 
 
AN OFFERING TO SWA3IY. 349 
 
 once, when the love of God touched his heart, ihe powers 
 of a noble, dormant intellect were aroused. He quickly 
 learned to read and write ; began to preach, and was recom- 
 mended as a candidate for the ministry. When he came up 
 to London for examination, every one said, " He is too raw 
 — he must go home again," except Dr. Hannah, who 
 begged to take him a while, on trial, at the theological insti- 
 tution ; " for," said the doctor, " I believe there is some- 
 thing in him." He was right. John Hunt commenced a 
 course of theological study ; corrected his barbarous dialect ; 
 studied the Greek Testament on his knees, with prayers 
 and tears ; preached with amazing zeal and power ; proved 
 himself a suj^erior linguist ; went as missionary of tlie Wes- 
 leyan Society to the Feegee Islands ; reduced the barbarous 
 jargon of those islands to a grammatical form ; turned 
 thousands from darkness into light ; and expired, saying, 
 " that I could run up to the top of Vewa hill, and fill the 
 whole island with a shout of glory ! " — Am. Miss., vol. vin., 
 p. 86. 
 
 AN OFFERING TO SWAMY". 
 
 During the extreme money-pressure of 1837, when the 
 American Board was obliged to curtail its operations for 
 want of funds, the mission schools at Ceylon were many of 
 them disbanded, and not less than five thousand children, 
 under instruction, were turned out, and exposed to all the 
 corruptions and dangers of heathenism. In a description 
 of this sad scene, one of the missionaries saj^s, " After my 
 usual lessons with the readers in the schools yesterday, I 
 gave each a portion of the Bible as a present. I told them 
 the reason, exhorted them to read it, not to enter into 
 temptation, to keep the Sabbath holy, prayed with them, 
 commending them to the friend of little children, and then 
 sent them away — from me, from the Bible-class, from the 
 Sabbath-school, from the house of prayer — to feed on the 
 mountains of heathenism, with the idols under the green 
 trees ; a prey to the roaring lion, to evil demons, and to a 
 people more ignorant tlian they, even to their blind, deluded, 
 and deluding guides ; ami when I looked after them as they 
 went out, my heart failed me. 0, Avhat an oflering to 
 Swamy — fice tliousand children ! " It was shown by the 
 missionaries that to have continued the schools, from which 
 these five thousand children were thrust out, up to the com- 
 mencement of another year, when the fiinds would have 
 30 
 
350 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NARRATIVES. 
 
 allowed of their continuance, would have cost the mission 
 not more than two hundred pounds. So that on the Amer- 
 ican churches rested the responsibility of making this dread- 
 ful sacrifice to Swamy — for the consideration of two hun- 
 dred pounds ! — 3Iiss. Her., May, 1838. 
 
 MAKE HASTE. 
 
 In New Zealand, an old man, speaking' of the need of 
 missionaries, said, " Make haste ! make haste ! my sun is 
 fast going down." When Rev. Mr. Jones, an English mis- 
 sionary, was about to return from the scene of his labors, 
 one of the North American Indians sent with him this mes- 
 sage to England, showing by his gestures, while he spoke, 
 how deeply he was in earnest. " Tell them to make haste ; 
 time is short, and death is snatching awaj'' our friends and 
 relations very fast. Tell them to make haste." 
 
 A PENITENT AS GOOD AS DEAD. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Grout, missionary of the American Board among 
 the Zulus, reports the following speech, made to him by a 
 native. It is a fine description of the sense in which a 
 Christian, is dead to the world, and useless for all the pur- 
 poses of sin and wrong, and a witness to the reality of con- 
 versions in that land. The Zulu said : 
 
 " Teacher, white man ! We black people do not like the 
 news which you bring us. We are black, and we like to 
 live in darkness and sin. You trouble us ; you oppose our 
 customs ; you induce our children to abandon our practices ; 
 you break up our kraals, and eat up our cattle ; you will be 
 the ruin of our tribe. And now me tell you to-day, if you 
 do not cease, we will leave you and all this region." Upon 
 Mr. Grout's explaining that the missionaries were only 
 seeking their good, the African said, " But j^ou teach re- 
 pentance and faith ; and a penitent, believing man is to us 
 as good as dead. lie no longer takes any pleasure in our 
 pursuits, and no longer labors to build up his father's kraal, 
 but leaves it, and joins the church ; and then he tries to 
 lead others away to the station after him. And as to our 
 cattle, our girls and our women are our cattle ; but you 
 teach that they are not cattle, and ought not to be sold for 
 cattle, but to be taught and clothed, and made the servants 
 of God, and not the slaves of men. That is the way you 
 eat up our cattle. Many have left us and been engulfed 
 at the station, and more wish to leave us. And now if you 
 
INFANTS TAUGHT IDOLATRY. 351 
 
 continue these labors and instructions, we shall just leave 
 you, and go to another country." It is hard for the wicked 
 to live where the Gospel is faithfully preached and exempli- 
 fied. — Eeport of American Board, 1853, p. 48. 
 
 ORIGIN" OP MONTHLY CONCERT. 
 
 At a meeting of the Baptist Association in Nottingham, 
 Eng., in 1784, it was resolved to set apart an hour, on the 
 first Mondaj' evening of every month, "for extraordinary 
 praj'er for the revival of religion, and for the extending of 
 Christ's kingdom in the world." This suggestion proceeded 
 from the venerable Dr. Sutcliflf, the intimate friend and 
 associate of Carey. It had much to do in preparing the 
 mind of the latter for the great work on which he was to 
 enter, and has resulted in a religious observance as impor- 
 tant and extensive as the cause of missions itself, — Hist, of 
 Eng. Baptist 3Iiss., vol. i., p. 10. 
 
 A QUESTION OF CONSCIENCE. 
 
 An Armenian priest came to Mr. Dwight, of Constanti- 
 nople, with a question which had caused him much per- 
 plexity. He said, " I am an evangelical Christian. I know 
 that many things in my church are lies. I am called upon 
 to do many things as a priest, which my conscience tells 
 me are wrong. For instance, a man comes to me with 
 twenty or a hundred piastres, and asks me to say mass for 
 the soul of his deceased father. Now I know that this is 
 all a lie, and that, if I receive the money and perform the 
 mass, I deceive the people, and my conscience tells me 
 this is wrong. But, on the other hand, I have no other 
 means of support. What is it my duty to do ? " He was 
 told to do nothing against the Gospel and his own con- 
 science. Do not Protestant Christians often resort to 
 iniquity and lies, with the plea that it is their "means of 
 support," without even so much conscience as the priest, 
 who raised the question of "duty?" — Hiss. Her., April, 
 1837. 
 
 INFANTS TAUGHT IDOLATRY. 
 
 A missionary in Northern India was struck with the pains 
 taken by heathen mothers to instil the name and reverence 
 of their gods into the minds of their infants. Many he saw 
 doing this, even before their children could articulate, 
 teaching them to join the cry, " jai sitala," and when they 
 could not say sitala, they were content to have them say 
 
352 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NAERATIVES. 
 
 ihe rest, "jai/' — victory. The missionary adds : "Could 
 Christian mothers stand on the banks of the Ganges, and 
 see the eflibrts thus spent in training the very tirst g'ernis of 
 intellect to the habits of idolatry, I think they would be 
 stirred up to more dih'gence in giving a right direction to 
 the earliest germs of intellect in their own offspring." — 
 3Iiss. Her., 1841, p. 215. 
 
 ABILITY AND DISPOSITION". 
 
 Even at this day the Moravian Brethren furnish pastors 
 for a body of heathen converts equal to five times their 
 own number. If Protestant Britain had done as much for 
 the cause of Christ, eighty-five millions of heathen converts 
 would now be under Christian discipline in Protestant mis- 
 sionary stations ; while from these stations the whole 
 heathen world would be receiving instruction, since the 
 proportion of missionaries to the heathen would be as three 
 hundred and forty thousand to six hundred millions ; that 
 is, there would be one missionary to every eighteen hun- 
 dred of the heathen, and there would be numbers of native 
 teachers besides. Should any one ask, Where is the money 
 to come from ? we may answer. Where were the funds pro- 
 vided by which the early Christians, who were, almost 
 without exception, poor, carried the Gospel into all the 
 world ? What were the resources of the brethren of Ilerrn- 
 hut (Moravians), which enabled them, when only six hun- 
 dred in number, and they poor exiles, to plant within ten 
 years Christian missions in the West Indies, in North Amer- 
 ica, in Tartary, Greenland, in North Africa and West Africa, 
 at the Cape of Good Hope, and in Cej'lon ? They were 
 rich in zeal, in faith, in courage, in love to God and man, 
 and that made them give much of their little, and made 
 their contributions, though small, support man}'- laborers. 
 With these examples before us, we may not talk of the want 
 of money, so much as the want of grace. — Christian Mis- 
 aions to the Heathen, p. 311. 
 
 WHERE LAST OF ALL, 
 
 A Hindoo, of a thoughtful, reflecting turn of mind, but 
 devoted to idolatry, lay upon his death-bed. As he was 
 himself about to plunge into a boundless, unknown future, 
 he cried out, " What will become of me ? " — " 0," said a 
 Brahmin, "you will inhabit another body." — " And where 
 shall I go then I'' " — " Into another." — " And where 
 
THE CAFFRE AND THE BISHOP. 353 
 
 then ? " — " Into another, and so on through thousands of 
 millions of years." Darting across this whole period, as 
 though it were but an instant, the dying man cried, "And 
 M'here shall I go then ? " Paganism could not answer, and 
 he died agonizing under the inquirj^, " A\"here shall I go last 
 of all ? " 
 
 THE DEVIL AND RUM. 
 
 The natives of Western Africa regard the devil as the 
 author of all providence, and they resort to many supersti- 
 tious observances to conciliate his favor. Particularly, 
 they never open trade on board of a ship, without pouring 
 a libation of rum into the water, as a portion wliich they 
 believe the devil is particularly pleased with. — Hiss. Her., 
 June, 1834. 
 
 ADMOlSriTION TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 Those who shrink from missionary labor in circumstances 
 that peril health and life, should consider what perils and 
 deaths are encountered in the pursuits of history and science 
 merely. In the space of less than forty years no less than 
 seventeen separate expeditions were sent from Europe, with 
 their principal object to ascertain the course and termination 
 of the Niger. Eleven of the leaders of these expeditions, and 
 eight other gentlemen of education who accompanied them, 
 besides some scores of their attendants, sacrificed their 
 lives to the enterprise. And the greatest minds in Europe 
 deemed the object worthy of all it had cost ; and when the 
 Landers proclaimed the work accomplished, the world ad- 
 mired and praised the devoted enthusiasm of all these 
 martyrs to the spirit of geographical research. Let the 
 sons of the church be rebuked, who dare not go to save the 
 souls of men where so many have cheerfully gone to solve 
 a problem in geography. — Miss. Her., Jan., 1836. 
 
 THE CAFFEE AKD THE BISHOP. 
 
 In 1856, Right Rev. John Armstrong, of the " Society for 
 the Propagation of the Gospel " (London), stationed at 
 Grahamstown, South Africa, made a missionary tour, in the 
 course of which he met with a company of CaflTres, when 
 the following incident occurred: "As the whole party lay 
 stretched along the ground by the fire, the conversation 
 turned on war. One of the j^oung men, in a thoughtful 
 kind of way, put a decidedly puzzling question. ' You 
 
354 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NARRATIVES. 
 
 missionaries/ ho said, 'are always preaching against war, 
 and telling us to listen to you. Now, why do not the Eng- 
 lish listen to you themselves, and give up war ? ' Then, 
 after musing with himself, he said, ' lie wished the mis- 
 sionaries had a river of their own, and then he would go 
 and live with them apart from the English and the Cafires, 
 who love fighting.' The river, the missionaries, and peace 
 — such was this poor native's ideal; and yet, how often 
 have 1 been told that the Caffres are a hopeless race I" — 
 Notes from South Africa, p. 49. 
 
 THE HEABER WITH HIS BASKET OP IDOLS. 
 
 We read of men, in the days of the prophets, who "wor- 
 shipped the Lord, and served their own gods ; " and it is 
 likely that in all times there are some who bring their idols 
 into God's presence, with a cool impudence, of which the 
 following is but a fair illustration. The incident occurred 
 in China. The missionary was speaking in the Chinese, 
 from the text, "Who hath hardened himself against Ilim 
 and hath prospered ? " One of the ways pointed out, of 
 hardening themselves against God, was the worship of 
 idols. Just as the missionary was speaking of this way, a 
 man came into the court where he was i:)reaching, with two 
 lai'ge baskets, suspended with ropes from the ends of a 
 bamboo yoke which lay across his shoulders ; and these 
 baskets wevefuU of little idols ! Yes, there was a man with 
 two baskets full of idols, listening to a preacher of the 
 Gospel who was saying that those who worshipped such 
 things hardened themselves against God ; and yet he was 
 as unconcerned as if the truth had no application to him. 
 On being invited to set down his baskets outside the court, 
 and take a seat with the other people present, he did so, 
 and listened attentively to the end of the services. He 
 then took up his baskets of idols again, and went on his 
 way, — a good representation of those who hear the Gospel 
 with their idol sins close at hand, ready to hasten to them 
 as soon as the services are over. It is a good sign when a 
 hearer is enough aAvake to feel that the preacher means Jam ; 
 and all the better if he takes fright at the idea that his gods 
 are aimed at. 
 
 AN ANCIENT NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 Mr. Perkins, of the Nestorian mission, relates that while 
 at Bilee jai, a village of fifty families, the priest brought to 
 
THE GOLD MINE OF INDIA. 355 
 
 him and his companion, Mr. Stocking, a beautiful copy of 
 the New Testament, written on parchment, dating back six 
 hundred and eight years. Mr. Perkins adds, "This is 
 about the date of all the parchment copies of the Scriptures 
 that we have seen among the Nestorians. Like all their 
 manuscript copies, it had not the book of Revelation, nor 
 the two last epistles of John, nor the epistle of Jude, nor 
 the account of the woman taken in adultery. We were 
 surprised to find in it a very good table of a harmony of the 
 Gospels, the divisions being marked (not, of course, in 
 chapter and verse) by the letters of the alphabet, and tliese 
 letters marking corresponding subjects, arranged horizon- 
 tally in four columns, the name of each evangelist being at 
 the head of his respective column. This was an effort at 
 biblical classification and simplification worthy of note, 
 when Ave think of its origin, among the cliff's of the Koor 
 dish mountains, more than six hundred years ago." This 
 New Testament, Mr. Perkins says, is greatly valued and 
 reverenced by the people of the village. Money would not 
 purchase it. They say, " It is our treasure." — Miss. Her., 
 1850, p. 91. 
 
 A SHARP REPROOF. 
 
 A heathen, in India, upon hearing a European read 
 some chapters of the Gospels, which he highly approved, 
 eagerly inquired, " Are these really your shasters ? " Be- 
 ing assured that they were, he added, " Why did you not 
 let us have them long ago ? You always had access to our 
 shasters, why then did you keep back yours?" — Evan. 
 Mag., vol. xxvi., p. 473. 
 
 THE GOLD MINE OF INDIA. 
 
 While a body of Baptist clergymen were deliberating, at 
 Keltering, Eng., in 179.3, about a mission to India, Rev. 
 Wm. Carey was asked whether he would accompany to that 
 country a Mr. Thomas, who had been there as surgeon in 
 the army, and who was desirous of returning as a mission- 
 ary. He answered in the alBrmativc ; and, while the}"- 
 Avero deliberating, Mr. Thomas himself, whom Mr. Carey 
 had never seen, entered the room. Mr. Carey hastily rose, 
 and they fell on each other's necks and wept. Rev. An- 
 drew Fuller, who was one of the company, afterwards 
 wrote, " From Mr. Thomas's account, we saw there was a 
 gold mine in India, but it seemed almost as deep as the 
 
356 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NARRATIVES. 
 
 centre of the earth, and the question was asked, ' Who 
 wouUl venture to explore it?' — 'I will go down,' said 
 Mr. Carey to his brethren, 'but remember that you must 
 hold the roiDGs.' — We solemnly engaged to do so, nor 
 while we live will we desert him." — Bist. of Eng. Baptist 
 Miss. Soc, vol. I., p. 20. 
 
 AN UNSELFISH RELIGION. 
 
 At a meeting of Baptist clergymen, held at Keltering, 
 Eiig., Oct., 1792, after resolving " to act together in society 
 for the purpose of propagating the Gospel among the 
 heathen," and adopting the name of " The Particular Bap- 
 tist Society," an address was with perfect unanimit}'^ agreed 
 upon, and widely circulated, in which they say, "Though 
 this society honestly acknowledged that its founders were 
 of the Particular Baptist persuasion, we are sure it was not 
 the interest of a party they wished to promote, but the 
 gloiy of our divine Lord, and the salvation of immortal 
 suuls. Hence it was proposed at first, if no opening was 
 found for a Baptist mission, to have requested the Presby- 
 terian and Moravian brethren, who had already been em- 
 ployed in laboring among the heathen, to accept some 
 assistance from our subscriptions ; for, by the leave of the 
 God of heaven, we were determined to do something 
 towards propagating his Gospel in heathen lands." 
 
 This spirit was worthy of the unselfish religion of the 
 cross, and worthy of Carey, and Fuller, and Ryland, and 
 Sutclifif, those early projectors of what has since become 
 one of the most powerful and efficient missionary organiza- 
 tions in the world. — Hist, of Bap. Miss. Soc, vol. i., p. 4. 
 
 SAD MEMOEIAL. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Mason, American Baptist missionary in Bur- 
 mah, in one of his journals, makes the following mournful 
 reflection : " How many good brethren and sisters have 
 found premature graves in these burning climes since the 
 sunny day that IVIrs. Mason and myself passed up the 
 llooghly ! The thought refuses to come without a tear. 
 There they sleep ! one beneath the fragrant-flowered mesua, 
 another beneath the fan-leaved palm, and a third among the 
 tall grass, that moans a requiem in the wind, like the soft 
 tones of an Eolian harp. There is scarce!}' a ' river un- 
 known to song,' throughout the wide-spread realms of 
 India, whose banks are not consecrated by the bones of 
 
A PLEASING TESTIMONY. 357 
 
 Bome devoted missionary." Sad as this reflection is, it is 
 yet a bright record in behalf of the Gospel and its devoted 
 sen'ants, whose feet have pressed the soil of every clime, 
 and who have braved perils that W'Ould have appalled the 
 heart of any but a Christian missionary. — Am. Bap. Mag., 
 
 1843, p. 282. 
 
 CONSERVATISM OF A ZULU. 
 
 The following' conservative and decisive appeal was made 
 to Mr. Grout, missionary of the American Board, by a 
 Zulu, South Africa : " See what your religion costs you. 
 Yon must buy clothes to wear, which are only an impedi- 
 ment to all action, and buy soap to wash them, and thread 
 and needles to patch and mend them. You must be always 
 building upright houses, which are cold and uncomfortable, 
 and must buy dishes to cat in ; must work in the garden, 
 just like a woman. And then perhaps you must be hungry, 
 and waste much time in going to meeting and learning to 
 read. But we live in idleness, which is both agreeable and 
 manly. Our wives dig the gardens. Our houses are warm. 
 With our money we buy cattle, which give us food and 
 rejoice our eyes, instead of buying clothes, which soon 
 Avear out, and are only in the way while they last. And, 
 instead of going to read and to worship, we go to hunt and 
 to dance ; and we lie basking in the sun, and take snuif, 
 and smoke our pipes, and drink beer, and do many other 
 things." — Report of Am. Board, 1853, p. 48. 
 
 A PLEASING TESTIMONY. 
 
 In the annual report of the English Baptist Society for 
 
 1844, a missionary in Calcutta is heard saying, " Next Sab- 
 bath I expect to be at Serampore, where a Carey and a 
 Marshman found refuge, not from native violence, but from 
 Englishmen bearing the name of Christians ; where a JNIar- 
 tyn, a Brown, and a Buchanan, contemplated India's wel- 
 fare ; where a Chamberlain, a Judson, and a Newell, found 
 Christian hospitality, and were refreshed. The spirit that 
 animated them, still remains ; we are all one here ; we can- 
 not afford to be jealous ; the common foe is too strong ; and 
 the missionaries are bound together, neither by creeds nor 
 human ties, but by the fear of God and the love of Jesus." 
 
 We admire this noble instance of charity and love ; such 
 a spirit is e.-isenlial, we think, on heathen ground ; but can 
 ministers in Christianized America or England, any better 
 
358 MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND NARRATIVES. 
 
 "afford to be jealous," encompassed as thej^ are with mam- 
 mon-worshippers, dead formalists, and carping* infidels ? 
 The lesson which these missionaries teach is of universal 
 importance, and should become the settled rule and policy 
 with Christians of all denominations, in all lands. 
 
 A CHRISTIAN'S KETOET. 
 
 A native Burman preacher, named Ko Shwai, having 
 attracted considerable attention by his bold utterances of 
 truth, was summoned into the presence of the governor, 
 and asked, " Do you worship the foreigner's God ? " His 
 reply, in the presence of the whole court, was noble : "Do 
 you call that sun a Burman show or foreigner's sun ? So 
 of the eternal God," &c. Not unfrequently he was abused 
 and insulted, but he never resented. As he sat one day, 
 preaching, a passer-by threw a club or stone, and hit him. 
 " May the most excellent blessing be upon you! " was his 
 only answer. — Am. Bap. 3Iag., 1843, p. 8. 
 
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