iTflie Sheolagtr^/ 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 
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 PRESENTED BY 
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION 
 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/scenesinchusanor00loom_0 
 
lu rushed a stalwart English Officer with drawn sword, threateniug 
 to hew them to pieces, unless they delivered up the man 
 
 who had stolen his cap. p. 110 
 
J 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN, 
 
 MISSIONAKT LABOURS BY THE WAT. 
 
 BY THE ADTHOR OF “ 
 
 LEARN TO SAT NO.” 
 
 PHILADELPHIA; 
 PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 
 NO. 821 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 
 JAMES DUNLAP, Teeas., 
 
 in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court foy the Eastern District 
 of Pennsylvania. 
 
 STESBOirPED BT 
 
 JESPER HARDINQ4 SON, 
 
 NO. 57 BOOTH THIRD STREET, PHILADELPBU. 
 
<D(EDMT1MTS 
 
 Labours by the Way, 
 
 Striking Appearance of Terrace Cultivation, 
 
 The Bund 
 
 Tiughae, 
 
 Our House, 
 
 Chusan under English Magistrates, 
 
 Reading Meetings in the Army, 
 
 Preaching in the Chapel, .... 
 Preaching in the Hospital, . . . . 
 
 The Prayer Meeting, .... 
 
 The Soldier’s Oratory, 
 
 Monthly Concert, 
 
 Captain S 
 
 Lieutenant E 
 
 The Contrast, ....... 
 
 The Dying Sailor, 
 
 The Solitary Burial, . • . . . 
 
 The Young Artilleryman, .... 
 Regeneration more than Reformation, 
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 FAQ! 
 
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 69 
 
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 93 
 
4 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 Samshu, and what it did, . . . . 
 
 The Suicide 
 
 The Midnight Affright, .... 
 Wedded to Forms, .... 
 The Sergeant’s Family, . . . . 
 
 Things not in Keeping at a Funeral, 
 
 Of the Sergeant himself, .... 
 \Miat a Loss is it to lose a Wife, 
 
 Woman’s Mission 
 
 Her Husband is known in the Gates, 
 
 Mrs. C 
 
 The unfaithful Wife, .... 
 
 Sergeant R , and Corporal C , 
 
 The two Friends, 
 
 The last Time, 
 
 A thankful Hearer, .... 
 
 Collateral Benefits of Foreign Missions, 
 
 What Pay do you receive ? . . . 
 
 Worldly Men cannot understand our Motives, 
 The Fashion of this World passeth away, 
 The Author’s Apology 
 
 PIOI 
 
 100 
 
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 191 
 
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 216 
 
 222 
 
 226 
 
 236 
 
 241 
 
LABOURS BY THE WAY. 
 
 By this I mean certain labours per- 
 formed by a missionary of the Board 
 of Missions of the Presbyterian Church 
 while residing atChusan, which labours 
 were outside of those which occupied 
 his principal time and attention, as one 
 sent out especially to preach the gos- 
 pel to the inhabitants of China. 
 
 The period during which the inci- 
 dents narrated in these sketches oc- 
 curred, was between April 1st, 1845, 
 and August 7th, 1846. The materials 
 from which this little work is now com- 
 posed, have long been lying amongst a 
 1 * ( 5 ) 
 
6 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 pile of note-books and journals, ne- 
 glected, and perhaps expecting soon to 
 be forgotten, and to go the way that 
 other rubbish goes. 
 
 The reperusal of these old records 
 has called up a thousand reminis- 
 cences, which were not traced with 
 pen and ink on perishable paper, yet 
 were inscribed on the tablets which 
 are laid up somewhere in the great 
 archive chambers of the memory. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 Before proceeding further, I would 
 like very much, if it were possible, to 
 give you some account of Chusan — of 
 the island itself, with its valleys and 
 hills ; its villages, and mountain-streams, 
 and canals. But I have no idea at all 
 of being able to give you the picture 
 of the scenery as it is even now in my 
 
GENERAL VIEW OF THE ISLAND. 7 
 
 memory. Had I something of the 
 painter’s or the poet’s art, I might at- 
 tempt it; but now in mere dull prose I 
 will simply say, that Chusan is an 
 island about half way up the coast from 
 Canton to where that “great wall,” 
 which bounds the eighteen provinces of 
 China on the north, comes down to the 
 sea. It is about thirty miles east of 
 the mouth of the river on which Ningpo 
 is situated. It is the largest of a very 
 numerous group of islands, and is quite 
 important to the Chinese government 
 as a naval station. The island is 
 about twenty miles long, and averaging 
 ten or eleven miles in width. 
 
 It is beautiful, very beautiful, and 
 always so, whether in summer or in 
 winter ; and wherever one might go, 
 and from whatever point he might view 
 it, there were new attractions. Strangers 
 
8 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 were unbounded in their praise of it ; 
 yet those who had been there the 
 longest, and seen it most, praised it 
 more than the strangers. 
 
 The natural advantages of the scenery 
 seemed to be studied by the Chinese 
 inhabitants, who, with their peculiarly 
 good taste in this respect, added arti- 
 ficial adornments. 
 
 STRIKING APPEARANCE OF TERRACE CUL- 
 TIVATION. 
 
 I well remember the impression 
 made by the first view of the island as 
 we approached it from the ocean. It 
 rose up before us out of the sea ; the 
 hill was high, and began its ascent 
 from the water’s edge; and it was 
 very steep, but entirely green to its 
 summit. Over it, and along its slope, 
 were winding foot-paths in every di- 
 
TERRACE CULTIVATION. 
 
 9 
 
 rection, and in these were people mov- 
 ing hither and thither, and up and down; 
 here a man with broad-brimmed hat, 
 leading a cow by a string in the nose ; 
 there a child tending a goat while it 
 picked the grass by the way-side, 
 followed by her kids. In places 
 where the hill was otherwise too steep 
 for cultivation, it was terraced ; that 
 is, a wall of stone was laid, and the 
 soil thrown in behind it and levelled 
 down, then back of this another wall, 
 and so on. Seen from a distance, one 
 might fancy that they were stairs for 
 giants. 
 
 The island of Chusan is made up of 
 hills and valleys, and some of the hills 
 would in some countries be dignified 
 as mountains. Through the valleys, 
 across the broad plains, along the hill- 
 sides, up the hills, and down again, 
 
10 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 and through the mountain-passes, were 
 roads, and foot-paths, seldom keeping 
 on a straight line for any distance, but 
 curving gracefully. 
 
 There was every variety in the col- 
 ouring of the landscape; for the ele- 
 vated grounds exhibited their little 
 patches of grain and vegetables, and 
 the valleys their fields of different 
 kinds of grain. Here and there were 
 the tombs of wealthy families set off 
 with various figures cut out of stone, 
 and made attractive by ornamental 
 trees ; while the hills near the city 
 were entirely covered with humbler 
 graves. Yonder, in a shaded glen, was 
 a temple, but nearly or quite concealed 
 from distant view by majestic trees, 
 and by bamboo groves on the adjacent 
 hills ; and ever and anon, as you ex- 
 tend your walk, an altar is encountered 
 
TERRACE CULTIVATION. 
 
 11 
 
 in a romantic turn of the road — rude 
 or more finished — or a shrine espied 
 far up a retreating cove, which you 
 have passed twenty times perhaps, and 
 never espied it until now. Here you 
 approach a gentleman’s establishment; 
 here a landlord’s premises with a high 
 wall around it, like all houses of any 
 importance in China, whether in town 
 or country, as a defence from robbers. 
 There you see a public garden with its 
 grotto and fish-pond, its labyrinth of 
 artificial rocks, its dwarf trees, with 
 numerous little pavilions, alcoves, and 
 chambers furnished with couches, on 
 which visitors may lounge, and the 
 opium-smoker inhale that deadly nar- 
 cotic. 
 
 The numerous thatched cottages of 
 the Chinese peasants, surrounded with 
 their walls of earth or with palings, 
 
12 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 were pretty, if viewed from a sufficient 
 distance. 
 
 THE BUND. 
 
 The Levee, or, “ Bund,” as those 
 called it who came from India, was an 
 embankment, somewhat crescent in 
 form, extending, perhaps, two miles 
 from the hills which flanked the valley 
 on either side ; it had served the Chi- 
 nese the double purpose of an embank- 
 ment to keep back the salt waters of 
 the sea from their fields, and, as they 
 had supposed, to keep olF a foreign 
 enemy ; for from one end of it to the 
 other, they had thrown up hillocks of 
 sand, behind which the men, who fired 
 big guns at the enemy’s ships, might 
 retire when the enemy’s balls should 
 come back to them. When the Eng- 
 lish established themselves on the 
 
TINGHAE. 
 
 13 
 
 island, they levelled many of those hil- 
 locks, and made a fine promenade, 
 where might he enjoyed the air fresh 
 from the sea, with a view of the oppo- 
 site islands, and the shipping in the 
 harbour. 
 
 About midway of this levee was 
 the hill on which had been a Chinese 
 fort, but at the time of which I am 
 speaking, it was occupied by the great 
 guns of the English. On one side of 
 this hill were barracks for the troops, 
 on the other side were the trading 
 houses of the foreigners and Chinese, 
 while just on the eastern slope of the 
 hill, and at its foot, was the burying- 
 ground for foreigners. 
 
 TINGHAE. 
 
 The city of Tinghae with its wall 
 and moat, and its four gates corres- 
 2 
 
14 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 ponding to the four cardinal points of 
 the compass, stood in the valley, a 
 mile or more from the harbour, between 
 which and the city was a winding road, 
 paved with broad flat stones, and about 
 midway was a covered bazaar, always 
 filled with a chaffering and chattering 
 multitude, through which the passenger 
 was obliged to elbow his way. 
 
 OUR HOUSE. 
 
 The house in which we lived for a 
 while, in the city, was a little low cot- 
 tage, and the enclosure of the yard 
 was as high as the eaves of the house, 
 so that we had nothing to look out 
 upon but a blank wall of blue brick. 
 In the yard were a few trees, and 
 some artificial rock work. On one 
 side was a street wide enough for one 
 person to meet another quite comfort- 
 
OUR HOUSE. 
 
 15 
 
 ably; on the other a canal with a 
 broad paved walk between it and our 
 wall, and a few willow trees overhang- 
 ing the water. This house had once 
 been the residence, for a few months, 
 of an English missionary, while the 
 war between the English and Chinese 
 was in progress, at which time the 
 Chinese were paying large bounty on 
 English heads; and one of the tradi- 
 tions of those times was, that one night 
 the missionary, hearing a rustling in 
 the narrow yard at the rear of his 
 house, arose from his bed, seized his 
 loaded gun, crept around to the corner 
 of the house, and fired away in the 
 direction of the noise; and immedi- 
 ately there was a scrambling of some- 
 thing over the wall, and a pattering of 
 bare feet up the street, and the mis- 
 sionary sought his bed again. In the 
 
16 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 morning, curiosity prompted him to 
 take a better look by daylight, and 
 where the noise was heard, there he 
 found a bag and a large knife. He 
 was glad to feel his head still on his 
 shoulders. 
 
 CHUSAN UNDER MAGISTRATES APPOINTED 
 BY THE ENGLISH COMMANDANT. 
 
 At the time of which I am speak- 
 ing, Chusan was held by the English. 
 The people on the hills and in the dis- 
 tant valleys, lived pretty much without 
 regard to magistrates, and paid no tax- 
 es; disputes were, to a great extent, 
 settled by arbitration amongst them- 
 selves ; but cases of piracy and rob- 
 bery, and controversies between Chi- 
 nese and foreigners were brought 
 before the English magistrate. The 
 island was held by England as a depot 
 
CHUSAN UNDER ENGLISH MAGISTRATES. 17 
 
 for troops and naval stores; and as a 
 security for the payment of the twen- 
 ty-one millions of dollars, which, in the 
 treaty at Nankin, the Chinese pro- 
 mised their enemy, on condition that 
 the war should not be prosecuted 
 further. Six millions of that sum 
 were for the opium which Commission- 
 er Lin had destroyed at Canton ; 
 three millions to remunerate English 
 merchants for losses sustained by 
 them in consequence of the war, and 
 twelve to the English government, to 
 cover the expenses of the war. And 
 that was one of the subjects which 
 the Chinese common people never 
 seemed to get a really clear conception 
 of — why a nation should be made to 
 pay for being conquered ! 
 
 The troops stationed at Chusan con- 
 sisted generally of one regiment of in- 
 2 * 
 
18 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 fantry from England, and one of native 
 infantry from India. These were na- 
 tives of Hindostan officered by Eng- 
 lishmen — white officers, and jet black 
 soldiers ; besides these, there was a 
 company of artillery, and a detachment 
 of sappers and miners. 
 
 There were occasional changes how- 
 ever; one regiment or company with- 
 drawn, and another put in its place, 
 and recruits were arriving out from 
 home to fill the gaps in the ranks made 
 by war or disease. 
 
 There was no chaplain at the sta- 
 tion, but, as the regulations in the ser- 
 vice required, the Protestant troops 
 were assembled once each Sabbath- 
 day, in a building erected for a chapel, 
 and the “ collects ” of the church of 
 England were read by some one of the 
 officers; and those of the soldiers who 
 
READING MEETINGS. 
 
 19 
 
 were Roman Catholics were marched 
 away to a little chapel of the French 
 priest. 
 
 READING MEETINGS IN THE ARMY. 
 
 There were a few pious officers and 
 men that were not sufficiently fed with 
 the formal reading of the prayers and 
 lessons ; and they had been in the ha- 
 bit of meeting every Sabbath at the 
 quarters of one of the pious officers, 
 where they joined in prayer and sing- 
 ing, and in listening to the word of 
 God, and to a sermon which was read 
 from a printed volume. They found 
 their “ reading meetings ” pleasant and 
 profitable; and this, though many who 
 attended them were members of a 
 church in which there are more forms, 
 and where more stress is usually laid 
 upon having the services of a clergy- 
 
20 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 man in any religious meeting, than is 
 the case amongst some other denomi- 
 nations of Christians. 
 
 Upon our arrival at the island, I 
 was requested to take this service, and 
 on the following Sabbath we met, as 
 had been their custom, at the house 
 
 of a Captain S , in the city. The 
 
 audience, as usual, consisted of a few 
 officers from different companies, a few 
 privates, and two or three missionaries 
 who were on their way to other sta- 
 tions. 
 
 PREACHING IN THE CHAPEL. 
 
 After this we obtained the privilege 
 of holding this service in the chapel, 
 which was near the cantonment. It 
 was very rough in its appearance, as 
 were most of the houses erected by 
 the English, as it was only for tempo- 
 rary use. 
 
PREACHING IN THE CHAPEL. 21 
 
 The seats were narrow planks with- 
 out backs ; but it was capacious enough 
 to hold all the Protestant troops, then 
 on the island, when closely packed. 
 
 A large portion of those who attend- 
 ed at the chapel were such as would 
 not be likely to seek out a little band 
 of worshippers in an upper room in the 
 city. Amongst those present, might 
 be seen a few officers with their fami- 
 lies, a few of the merchants and their 
 clerks, occasionally a stranger; and 
 sometimes officers and people from the 
 ships, and as many of the private sol- 
 diers as chose to attend, unless they 
 were at the time on duty. 
 
 I like to think of those meetings. 
 They were composed of people from 
 different parts of the world, far sepa- 
 rated from their homes. Many of 
 them had been bred religiously, but 
 
22 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 some had almost forgotten early in- 
 structions, and fallen into loose and 
 immoral habits. Many, we hope, in 
 that chapel had the lessons of child- 
 hood brought again to mind, and the 
 religious impressions of earlier days 
 revived; and in some cases, as we 
 have reason to believe, the effect was 
 lasting. 
 
 In our services, w'e had exemplified 
 what is meant by “Christian union;” 
 for while the worshippers were of sev- 
 eral different denominations, the ques- 
 tion was seldom asked. Of what church 
 are you ? but one took his brother by 
 the hand, and all sung together the 
 songs of Zion ; together we offered 
 supplications for common blessings, and 
 together listened to the word of our 
 common Father. 
 
 Those Sabbaths, especially during 
 
PREACHING IN THE HOSPITAL. 23 
 
 the hours of public worship, were sea- 
 sons of calm, spiritual delight. There 
 might be confusion in the barracks not 
 tar off, and most of us in going to the 
 chapel had made our way through the 
 crowds of Chinese, who have no day 
 of rest, and who were busy, as ever 
 are that very busy people, at their 
 wonted occupations. Yet we, in God’s 
 good providence, were permitted to en- 
 joy a day of holy rest, and to engage 
 in service, that might remind us of, and 
 which might help to fit us for, the as- 
 sembly that shall never break up, and 
 the Sabbath that shall never end. 
 
 PREACHING IN THE HOSPITAL. 
 
 Near the cantonments, and close by 
 the sea-shore, was the military hospital 
 — a large brick building of two sto- 
 ries, having three large rooms for the 
 
24 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 sick on each floor, which extended 
 nearly the entire length of the build- 
 ing. 
 
 In this, were generally from eighty 
 to a hundred patients, and sometimes 
 more. 
 
 A few days after landing on the 
 island, I visited the hospital and dis- 
 tributed tracts to such of the patients 
 as would receive them. Shortly after- 
 wards, while on a visit to a poor man 
 who was expecting soon to die, and 
 who had desired to see me, the officer 
 in charge intimating that there were 
 some amongst the invalids, that would 
 he glad of a religious service in the 
 hospital on the Sabbath, permission 
 was obtained from the officer in com- 
 mand of the station, and from that 
 time till the island was restored to the 
 Chinese government, the gospel was 
 
PREACHING IN THE HOSPITAL. 25 
 
 preached in that place every Sabbath- 
 day to the sick and the maimed. 
 
 By standing in the middle of the 
 building, and by opening the doors be- 
 tween the wards, all the occupants of 
 that floor were within the sound of the 
 preacher’s voice ; and as many as were 
 able, or disposed, would come from the 
 low'er to the upper, or from the upper 
 to the lower stor}'-, according as the 
 services were held above or below. 
 And there were some, on the other 
 hand, who, if they were able, would 
 leave the room during the time of the 
 service; for so wicked is man while in 
 his natural state, and so much at en- 
 mit}'^ with God, that there are everywhere 
 to be found those who will endeavour 
 to run away, so as not to hear what 
 God would speak to them by the mouth 
 of his servants. 
 
 3 
 
26 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 Those services were conducted un- 
 der solemn circumstances. The people 
 all now in a strange land, far away 
 from home and kindred ; some had 
 long led a wandering life, and had be- 
 come hardened by many years of mili- 
 tary service in different parts of the 
 world, and by exposure to all the vices 
 of the camp ; while others were young^ 
 and were now eating the bitter fruits 
 of some youthful folly, perhaps for 
 which they ran away from home, en- 
 listed, and were sent far off, and not 
 unlikely would be buried where no 
 friendly hand might adorn or guard 
 their grave, and where no tear of kin- 
 dred would fall upon it. 
 
 In that congregation of the sick, 
 some, doubtless, were at the time re- 
 volving serious thoughts. God had 
 laid his hand upon them, had in a mea- 
 
PREACHING IN THE HOSPITAL. 27 
 
 sure arrested them in their career of 
 sin, and was calling to them in the 
 voice of his providence to stop, and 
 think upon their ways ; and while sit- 
 ting up, or lying on their cots, there 
 was reason to hope there might be a 
 word in season made to sink deep into 
 some heart. 
 
 Seldom was the word of God preached 
 there, but his providence was preaching 
 also. Either there would be a re- 
 cently vacated couch, from which a 
 comrade had been borne to the deposi- 
 tory of the dead, or before us was one 
 whose prospects of recovery were daily 
 becoming less ; or from another quarter 
 of the building Avould come to our ears 
 the groan, or the heavy breathing of 
 one just on the confines of eternity, 
 clinging indeed to this world, but soon 
 to be torn from everything he loved 
 on earth. 
 
28 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 In the midst of such scenes, how 
 could one commissioned to beseech men 
 in Christ’s stead to be reconciled to 
 God, but feel the value of the passing 
 hour, the importance of dealing faith- 
 fully with souls, and an earnest desire 
 that the Holy Spirit might apply the 
 truth ? 
 
 When that public service was con- 
 cluded, tracts were sometimes distri- 
 buted amongst the patients, and as time 
 and occasion favoured, we had private 
 conversation with one and another. 
 
 Occasionally during the week I 
 dropped in, and passed around amongst 
 the sick, if perchance any opportunity 
 might be afforded of speaking a word 
 in season, of administering any com- 
 fort to some disciple of Christ, or of 
 directing some inquiring one to the 
 Lamb of God, that taketh away the 
 
THE PRAYER MEETING. 
 
 29 
 
 sins of the world. At other times 
 messengers were sent to our house in 
 the city with a request from some one 
 who was nigh unto death, and wished 
 to see me ere he died. 
 
 THE PRAYER MEETING. 
 
 There was another service M'hich we 
 very highly prized. It was the Wed- 
 nesday evening prayer meeting, at our 
 own house in the city, attended by such 
 of the pious or inquiring soldiers as 
 could get leave for the occasion. Some- 
 times there was a well-filled room, 
 sometimes only that little number which 
 might remind us of the special promise 
 to the two or three. Many of the com- 
 mon soldiers were quite illiterate men, 
 but we loved to follow them in prayer, 
 for they prayed in simplicity, and great 
 apparent sincerity. They evidently 
 3 * 
 
30 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 enjoyed these meetings ; they felt that 
 it was good to he there. We trust 
 that the pious soldier, by those means 
 of grace, gathered courage and strength 
 to be a more valiant soldier for Christ. 
 
 Prayers were there offered for souls 
 that were labouring and heavy-laden, 
 who sometimes bowed with us. By 
 those meetings, the missionary and his 
 wife were cheered and encouraged in 
 their solitary home — solitary, though 
 they were in the midst of a crowded 
 city. Here they often found occasion 
 to thank God, and take courage. 
 
 The power of religion as manifested 
 in the lives of those few pious soldiers, 
 was not without its benefit to the mis- 
 sionaries, and to the idolaters, amongst 
 whom the}’’ were labouring. 
 
 Satan sometimes injects troublesome 
 thoughts into the hearts of God’s peo- 
 
THE PRAYER MEETING. 
 
 31 
 
 pie, such as these — whether, after all, 
 there is anything in religion — whether 
 there is any use in trying any more to 
 bring men to believe in Jesus — whether 
 it is of any use to instruct the heathen 
 in things pertaining to the kingdom of 
 God. 
 
 Let a person troubled with such 
 thoughts step into a prayer meeting, 
 and witness what enjoyments the 
 saints have in their communion one 
 with another, and with God; let him 
 witness how fervent are their prayers, 
 which are offered as though they be- 
 lieved that they occupied a place very 
 near the mercy-seat; let him notice how 
 feelings of devotion are enkindled, as 
 wdth one voice they offer songs of 
 praise ; let him mark how punctually 
 and regularly they attend — not hin- 
 dered by rain, or the darkness, nor 
 
32 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 turned aside by entertainments which 
 attract the worldly; let him witness 
 this, and he will say that there is some- 
 thing in religion, that Jesus does mani- 
 fest himself to his disciples, as he does 
 not to the world; that he does give 
 them meat to eat, which the world 
 knows not of; and the heathen, when 
 they notice that from month to month 
 they forsake not the assembling of them- 
 selves together, and see with what 
 sincerity they worship an unseen God, 
 and what enjoyment they seem to find 
 in the work of prayer and praise, and 
 what communications of joy and peace 
 they seem to receive; and when, too, 
 they observe their outward conduct, 
 so different from that of many others 
 who come not with them to the place 
 of prayer, are constrained to own 
 that there must be some power in the 
 
They '*vuuld fiatl a quiet place somewlievc by the sea-side, among 
 (he rocks. P- 
 
 
THE soldier’s ORATORY. 33 
 
 Christian religion which is not found in 
 their own. 
 
 THE soldier’s ORATORY. 
 
 As there would nearly every week 
 be some who could not be present with 
 us at the meeting for prayer, and as 
 there were others who felt the need, 
 or desired the pleasures of social 
 prayer more frequently than once a 
 week, they were accustomed to get to- 
 gether in some vacant room, or in the 
 quarters of a pious family in the bar- 
 racks. At other times, they would 
 seek a secluded place in the fields, or 
 amongst the high mounds of the Chi- 
 nese tombs, and the trees which sur- 
 rounded them, or they would find a 
 quiet place somewhere by the sea-side 
 amongst the rocks ; and here it was 
 they had their Bethels and their Pe- 
 
34 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 niels. The hearts of God’s people do 
 somehow always seem to flow together. 
 Whether it be the few disciples in the 
 upper room at Jerusalem, or the women 
 at Philippi, who resorted to the river- 
 side, to the place where prayer was 
 wont to be made, or these devout 
 soldiers, pouring out their hearts in 
 supplication and praise wherever they 
 could find a favourable opportunity; 
 our hearts are with them, the flame of 
 devotion is enkindled in oui* hearts, 
 they are our brethren, and we embrace 
 them in the arms of Christian love and 
 fellowship, and are cheered with the 
 thought that in heaven this love and 
 communion shall be perfect and per- 
 petual. 
 
 As unfriendly to growth in grace as 
 life in the barracks might seem to be, 
 yet those pious soldiers were mani- 
 
THE soldier’s ORATORY. 35 
 
 festly, for the most part, advancing in 
 holiness. In everything pertaining to 
 their religion, they were decided ; they 
 appeared to be marching shoulder to 
 shoulder, presenting a bold front to all 
 their spiritual enemies ; and, doubtless, 
 they had found this the only way for 
 them to do, unless they would be car- 
 ried away by the many influences which 
 were adverse to holiness. 
 
 To perform sentry’s duty was not 
 always to them a disagreeable service, 
 for it afforded them so much time for 
 private meditation. 
 
 They were also ever on the look out 
 for opportunities of doing good. If 
 they found a fellow-soldier that seemed 
 at all inclined to seriousness, or one 
 that was alarmed, or awakened in any 
 way, they stood ready to invite him 
 to the religious meetings. If a com- 
 
36 
 
 SCENES m CHUSAN. 
 
 , rade had been taken ill, and was car- 
 ried to the hospital, the minister was 
 informed of it. The tracts with which 
 they were supplied, they distributed 
 as they found fitting occasion ; and the 
 books which had been profitable to 
 themselves, they recommended to 
 others. And here was the origin of a 
 little circulating library with which 
 they provided themselves through our 
 agency, made up of books of the Pres- 
 byterian Board of Publication, and of 
 the Tract Society, with volumes from 
 the libraries of the missionaries. 
 
 These were made to do good service; 
 they passed around from one to an- 
 other; and on the removal of the gar- 
 rison, were taken on with them to In- 
 dia. How much good that chest of 
 books has done we do not know, nor 
 do we expect to know in this world ; 
 
MONTHLY CONCERT. 
 
 37 
 
 it is enough for us to cast our bread 
 upon the waters, in the belief that it 
 shall be seen again after many days. 
 Bunyan’s “ Pilgrim’s Progress ” and 
 “ Holy War,” were well worn — they 
 were in constant circulation amongst 
 those who liked them for nothing but 
 their quaintness, and their story. 
 
 MONTHLY CONCERT. 
 
 The monthly concert was a meeting 
 which the soldiers seemed well-pleased 
 to attend ; and their contributions were 
 applied towards the support of the 
 little school of Chinese boys in our 
 house. It was gratifying to notice the 
 interest they took in our work, and in 
 missionary operations generally. They 
 desired that others should taste and 
 see that the Lord is gracious. The 
 joys they felt, and the hopes they en- 
 4 
 
38 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 tertained, they would have all to come in 
 possession of. Benevolence is one of 
 the evidences of conversion. Desire 
 for the salvation of souls, is one of the 
 marks of the Christian; and meetings 
 for prayer for the success of Christian 
 missions, for the conversion of the 
 world, are much enjoyed by every 
 child of Grod that is at all enlightened 
 and awake to the interests of religion, 
 and the welfare of his own soul. 
 
 What we have been speaking of 
 were but incidental, or collateral la- 
 bours; our principal work as mission- 
 aries was with the Chinese, studying 
 their language, visiting amongst them 
 from house to house, distributing tracts 
 in their language, and attending to all 
 such labours as could be engaged in by 
 a person in the first months of his 
 missionary life. This was our princi- 
 
MONTHLY CONCERT. 
 
 39 
 
 pal work. But when such a door was 
 opened before us for usefulness amongst 
 people speaking our own language, how 
 could we turn from it? There is rea- 
 son to hope that some of the seed 
 which was sown fell into good ground. 
 A few of the followers of Christ were 
 encouraged. Instruction was imparted 
 to some who were desirous to know 
 what they must do to be saved. 
 Others were visited in their affliction ; 
 and it is believed that occasionally, a 
 few drops of consolation, like a cup 
 of cold water, may have been given to 
 the friends of Him who will say, “ In- 
 asmuch as ye have done it unto one 
 of the least of these my brethren, ye 
 have done it unto me.” Some, on 
 their d}dng beds, were told of the 
 Lajnb of God that taketh away the sins 
 of the world ; and it may be, that in 
 
40 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 an instance here or there, salvation 
 was accepted even at the point of 
 death. Such may possibly have been 
 the case. We have the record in 
 scripture of the conversion of one in 
 similar circumstances ; the thief who 
 prayed, “ Lord, remember me when 
 thou comest into thy kingdom.” But 
 we have no other instance of a death- 
 bed repentance in the Scriptures, and 
 this may teach not to cease labouring 
 and praying for the conversion of any 
 so long as they have life ; but it also 
 teaches the danger of deferring repent- 
 ance till a dying hour, and the great 
 probability that those who have re- 
 jected the offers of mercy all their 
 days, till the very pangs of death be- 
 gin to be felt, will die as they have 
 lived. 
 
CAPTAIN S- 
 
 41 . 
 
 CAPTAIN S . 
 
 Mention has already been made of 
 
 Captain S . A noble man he was 
 
 — a Christian gentleman — a hearty, 
 earnest Christian, and not ashamed of 
 Christ, and not ashamed to own as his 
 brother any one that belonged to the 
 household of faith. He was a member 
 of the church of England. He was 
 a Dublin man, and possessed some of 
 the best characteristics of his nation. 
 His family was with him — a wife and 
 two sweet children. He was a captain 
 in the regiment of native infantry from 
 India, where he had long been in the 
 service of the East India Company. 
 
 His greatest pleasure seemed to be 
 found in doing good. Speaking, with 
 ease and correctness, the language used 
 principally by the natives near Ma- 
 
 4 * 
 
42 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 dras, from which region most of the 
 people of his regiment came, they re- 
 posed confidence in him, and looked to 
 him as their friend, and listened re- 
 spectfully, when on the Sabbath he as- 
 sembled them for religious instruction : 
 He visited the sick amongst them, could 
 talk with them about their homes, and 
 encourage them with the prospect of 
 soon returning to their friends and na- 
 tive land. 
 
 How much good may a Christian 
 man always be doing ! He may he 
 scattering benefits along his path, 
 cheering and encouraging his fellow- 
 men, even by smiles and kind words, 
 becoming none the poorer, but ra- 
 ther growing richer by the benefits 
 which he thus imparts. 
 
 One who has a heart full of kind- 
 ness, will be likely to have his eyes 
 
CAPTAIN S- 
 
 43 
 
 open, watching for opportunities of do- 
 ing good ; he will not pass by on the 
 other side, and allow to remain unre- 
 lieved, or uncomforted, the poor, the 
 stranger, or any sufferer. 
 
 He is ever merciful ; and “ blessed 
 are the merciful, for they shall obtain 
 mercy.” 
 
 This was the kind-hearted captain 
 that greeted us in the spirit of a bro- 
 ther when we landed on the island ; 
 and we anticipated much assistance 
 from him in the religious meetings. 
 But our expectations were to be disap- 
 pointed. It was but a few times that 
 he might worship with the people of 
 God on earth ; but a few times, that 
 we might unite with him in his hearty 
 prayers in our social worship, for He, 
 with whom he had long been walking 
 was about to take him to himself. 
 
44 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 Disease, which he, from his experi- 
 ence and observation for so long a 
 time in India, had feared was creeping 
 on him, now took a violent hold upon 
 his system, and laid him on his couch; 
 and there I found him, when one morn- 
 ing I called to consult with him re- 
 specting a young man that had request- 
 ed to be baptized and received to the 
 communion. A remark of his at the 
 time, indicated how he regarded the 
 trials to which all those are exposed 
 who, in the army, attempt to lead a 
 godly life. He said that he could not 
 conceive of very many reasons why a 
 person in the camp should desire to 
 make a public profession of religion, 
 unless he felt the same to be a privi- 
 lege, and was determined to take up 
 his cross and follow Christ. There 
 was something in his manner of say- 
 
CAPTAIN S- 
 
 45 
 
 ing this, that would give the impres- 
 sion that he expressed what he him- 
 self had experienced; and, doubtless, 
 he had learned some of the many ways 
 in w’hich the Christian may be vexed 
 and worried by those who hate his 
 Master — he had learned that those 
 who will live godly in Christ Jesus 
 shall suffer persecution. 
 
 After some pleasant religious con- 
 versation I left him, hoping shortly to 
 see him well again ; but that was not 
 to be. For, only two days afterwards, 
 word was brought that he was very 
 low, and not expected to recover. I 
 hastened to his house, but the surgeon 
 was unwilling that I should be ad- 
 mitted. 
 
 He was one of those who have not 
 learned that a patient may be bene- 
 fitted, rather than injured, by appropri- 
 
46 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 ate religious conversation ; that a Chris- 
 tian, especially, by being cheered and 
 encouraged with the consolations of 
 religion, will even be more likely to be 
 benefitted by the doctor s prescriptions ; 
 and if he is to die, his d^dng bed will 
 be made easier by hearing of Him who 
 makes all our bed in our sickness, by 
 hearing of the everlasting arms which 
 are placed underneath God’s people, 
 and by being permitted to follow an- 
 other in prayer, when his own thoughts 
 are wandering, and his body and mind 
 too weak for continuous thought. 
 
 All the day was I prevented from 
 seeing this friend ; all the day was his 
 distressed wife alone with him, and 
 he frequently repeating his request that 
 I might be sent for. But about the 
 middle of the afternoon, a message 
 came from the surgeon, to come and 
 see the captain, but “ to be short.” 
 
CAPTAIN S- 
 
 47 
 
 I suppose, that though nominally a 
 Protestant, his notion of a visit to the 
 sick was not much different from that 
 of the Roman Catholics, who wish the 
 services of the priest onl}’’ at the point 
 of death, to administer “extreme unc- 
 tion;” and, very likely, some physi- 
 cians refuse to admit a clergyman to 
 their patients, lest it might convey to 
 them the impression that now the doc- 
 tor has given them up, and, therefore, 
 the clergyman is admitted, and next 
 will come the undertaker. 
 
 Meeting the surgeon in an outer- 
 room, I said, “You request me to be 
 short — about how long a time would it 
 he proper for me to remain with your 
 patient, do you think ?” “ Oh — why — 
 long enough to say whatever form you 
 have,” said he. 
 
 I found our friend very low, hardly 
 
48 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 able to speak; with difficulty he could 
 articulate a few words. He spake of 
 his hope as an anchor to his soul — of his 
 peace as perfect : he could say, I know 
 in whom I have believed : he could 
 leave his wife and children in the 
 hands of a covenant-keeping God. 
 And, said he, ‘‘ soon, very soon, these 
 pains will cease — this distressing thirst 
 will not be felt long — soon, oh, soon I 
 shall be rich. I trust that soon I shall 
 be with Jesus.” 
 
 We read and repeated some passages 
 of scripture ; then bowed in prayer ; 
 and after sitting a few moments in si- 
 lence, I bade him farewell. He was 
 just on the verge of heaven, and 
 waited here but a short time after I 
 left him. 
 
 I tarried a few moments as I with- 
 drew, to speak with the surgeon. He 
 
CAPTAIN S- 
 
 49 
 
 seemed greatly moved — in some dis- 
 tress ; for, said he, “ this is the first 
 officer I have lost by disease since we 
 left India What a creature ! thought 
 I. I had no commission to “speak 
 comfortably” to people in that kind of 
 i sorrow, and so left him; but in my 
 own mind contrasting the characters 
 of these two persons, and their pro- 
 ! spects, and asking what had made 
 them to differ. They were both from 
 a Christian land — had received, in many 
 ' respects, the same education — had 
 1 passed through much the same scenes ! 
 but what had proved to one a savour 
 of life unto life, might to the other, as 
 was to be feared, prove a savour of death 
 unto death. 
 
 That, as you may suppose, was a 
 sad night in our own little dwelling — 
 
 we two alone — strangers, and amongst 
 6 
 
50 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 people of another tongue, and the first 
 friend that we had found, so soon taken 
 from us. Just before night we walked 
 past the house which death had visited, 
 and where were the fatherless children, 
 and the stricken wife. We walked 
 outside the city into a beautiful valley, 
 but everything seemed hung with 
 mourning. 
 
 On the following day was the fu- 
 neral. The widow and children who 
 could not endure the loneliness — the 
 almost speaking loneliness and gloom 
 of their house now left unto them des- 
 olate, came to tarry awhile with us. 
 Afterwards we exchanged with her, 
 she remaining in our house, and we re- 
 moving to hers. 
 
 The colonel of this regiment ap- 
 peared to be a pious man. He regu- 
 larly attended our Sabbath services, 
 
LIEUTENANT E- 
 
 51 
 
 1 but was more reserved in his manners 
 I than the captain. We were beginning 
 to become acquainted with him, when 
 his regiment was relieved, and sent 
 to India, and another sepoy regiment 
 sent to take the place of that which 
 had been removed. 
 
 LIEUTENANT E . 
 
 This was a young Irishman ; lively, 
 
 I pleasant, sociable, and a decided Chris- 
 tian ; and not a man that was disposed 
 to deny his Master, or to follow him at 
 f a distance, if we may judge from the 
 energy and perseverance with ivhich 
 he laboured for the cause of God in 
 such methods as were open to him. 
 His regiment was called “ The Royal 
 Irish,” and it used to seem that he 
 meant to be loyal in every respect; 
 while he served his queen, he would 
 
52 
 
 SCENES LN CHUSAN. 
 
 also be a good subject, and a valiant 
 soldier of the King of Zion. 
 
 His scripture-reading, and Sabbath- 
 keeping, and frequenting of meetings, 
 and absenting himself from the games 
 and Sabbath-day amusements of the 
 other officers, brought upon him many 
 petty persecutions. Even the com- 
 mander of the forces, who, in the 
 main, was kind and cordial, and where 
 he took a liking, a hearty friend, did 
 not encourage the religious ones as he 
 might have done. Though sometimes, 
 on a Monday morning, when many of 
 the men appeared in a bad plight, or 
 did not appear at all, on account of a 
 too free use of liquor obtained while 
 on liberty during the Sabbath, with 
 some hard epithets, and some bad 
 temper, he would single out the few 
 religious ones, and pointing to them 
 
LIEUTENANT E- 
 
 53 
 
 ■would say, with an oath, “Look ye, 
 men ! look to these, my Methodist peo- 
 ple. I wish you were all Methodists, 
 if it were only to keep you from get- 
 ting drunk, and playing the fool on 
 Sundays.” Rumour had it that he 
 gathered his subaltern officers on Sab- 
 bath morning, to examine them in the 
 drill book, and called it his Catechism 
 class. One day, as was said, he en- 
 tered the quarters of lieutenant E , 
 
 and seeing the Bible and drill-book on 
 the table, but the Bible above, he 
 stepped up and reversed them, putting 
 the Bible below, and the drill-book at 
 the top, saying, “ That’s the order, my 
 boy. That’s the order.” 
 
 But our lieutenant held on his way, 
 attending all religious duties, public 
 and private ; encouraging the pious 
 soldiers by his own example, and with 
 5 * 
 
54 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 words of exhortation, or of inquiry as 
 to whether their souls were in health ! 
 He took charge of a selection of reli- 
 gious books which he lent to one and 
 another, and recommended to such as 
 he thought needed, or might be bene- 
 fitted by such instruction, or such warn- 
 ings as the book contained. 
 
 How much good he was doing in his 
 quiet way cannot be estimated. There 
 was the influence of a godly life, acting 
 as an encouragement to the good, and 
 a restraint to the wicked — the effects 
 of any warnings or counsels he may 
 have spoken — and the blessings which 
 may have been obtained in answer to 
 his prayers. And so may every in- 
 dividual be doing good continually. 
 How much better to be exerting a 
 good than a bad influence! and how 
 much better to be up and doing with 
 
LIEUTENANT E- 
 
 55 
 
 our might what our hands find to do, 
 improving our talents to the utmost, 
 than to bury our talents, or live the 
 life of a drone ! 
 
 A military life may seem to us not 
 quite consistent with the peaceful mis- 
 sion of Christ, and the precepts of his 
 gospel; yet we see that God calls his 
 elect from nearly all grades of society, 
 and from people of various occupa- 
 tions : and this, partly, no doubt, for 
 the purpose of showing us that in 
 whatever circumstances we may find 
 ourselves placed, in the providence of 
 God, there we may serve God, and 
 that many temptations and hindrances 
 are no excuse for not living a life of 
 holiness; for, by the examples which 
 we have, God has shown to us that he 
 is willing to give strength equal to our 
 day. We noticed that, as a general 
 
56 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 tiling, the disciples of Christ in the 
 army were more decided and active in 
 religious duties, and seemed to have a 
 greater hungering and thirsting after 
 righteousness, than the same propor- 
 tion of professing Christians not so 
 much exposed to temptation. Buffet- 
 ting the storms, and experience of all 
 kinds of dangers at sea, make the 
 good sailor; and experience in many 
 wars and hardships makes the soldier : 
 and yet that you may be enabled to 
 endure hardness as a good soldier of 
 Jesus Christ, we do not recommend you 
 to resort to the army to get your dis- 
 cipline as Christian soldiers, but would 
 advise rather not to expose yourselves 
 to moral contamination, and ever pray 
 “ Lead us not into temptation.” But, 
 wherever we may be we should have 
 on the whole armour of God, that we 
 may be able to stand in the evil day. 
 
LIEUTENANT E' 
 
 57 
 
 We noticed also that the greater 
 portion of the pious persons that we 
 met in the army, had become so since 
 their connection with it. This may 
 teach us that God’s ways are not as 
 our ways. 
 
 It would not be our way to send a 
 young man into the army, nor to place 
 him in the forecastle of a ship, that he 
 might there find the way of life ; but 
 so, as it seems, God sometimes does, 
 and this partly, no doubt, that he may 
 try his people’s faith, and call out the 
 more earnest prayers of parents and 
 friends. 
 
 It is to bring them to feel that if 
 those wayward ones are saved, the 
 Lord alone can save them ; and thus 
 they are brought to cast themselves 
 wholly on the Lord. Furthermore, 
 these considerations admonish the am- 
 
58 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 bassador of Christ that wherever he 
 may be, still he should remember his 
 commission, and be watching for souls, 
 for in what may seem to him the most 
 unlikely places, there yet may be 
 some of those who are God’s chosen 
 vessels of mercy. 
 
 THE CONTRAST. 
 
 One pleasant peaceful Sabbath after- 
 noon, having just closed the service in 
 the upper ward of the hospital, an ar- 
 tilleryman stepped in from an outer 
 ward, on the same floor, and begged 
 me to call around and speak with one 
 of his comrades, who was near dying. 
 I had heard about this man before; the 
 same comrade who now pointed out his 
 bed, had previously requested me to 
 converse with him, but the man had 
 always avoided me. Often had he 
 
THE CONTRAST. 
 
 59 
 
 been alarmed in view of death, and the 
 judgment : at times, his distress of 
 mind had been very great. But, while 
 suffering thus he would generally re- 
 sort to strong drink to drown his sor- 
 rows, and thus he would grieve the 
 Holy Spirit. Once or twice he had 
 attempted suicide, for he was a misera- 
 ble man ; and more miserable after his 
 debauches, than before them. He was 
 frequently on the sick list ; often in 
 the hospital for a little while at a 
 time ; but now it was evident he was 
 not to leave it again till carried to his 
 narrow house. 
 
 I was approaching his cot, which 
 was in the farthest end of the ward. 
 He saw me coming, and beckoned me 
 away ; and as I drew near he shut his 
 eyes. I addressed him as mildly and 
 tenderly as I was able, but he said, 
 
60 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 “ Sir, I am very weak, and can’t talk.” 
 I answered, “ Then let me talk to you, 
 or read a few verses from the Bible.” 
 “ No, sir,” said he, “ I’m very sick.” I 
 begged him to listen to a few words 
 which Jesus spake to those who were 
 labouring and heavy laden. “ No, sir,” 
 said he, “not now — to-morrow — I 
 need sleep now.” “ My friend, I fear 
 you may not live till to-morrow,” said 
 I : “ I entreat you to think on your 
 condition and danger, and pray to God 
 to have mercy on you.” While I was 
 speaking he turned himself in the bed, 
 to get away from me as much as pos- 
 sible. 
 
 After waiting a few moments, I 
 walked around to the other side of his 
 cot, and began repeating some of the 
 gospel invitations. “ It’s too late, 
 sir,” said hej “it’s too late, it’s of no 
 
THE CONTRAST. 
 
 G1 
 
 I said, “ As you say, you are indeed 
 very sick, and may not have many 
 hours left you, in which to prepare for 
 eternity; and you know that those 
 who die in their sins, w^here God and 
 Christ is, they can never come. But, 
 if, with all your heart, and with true 
 sorrow for sin, like the thief on the 
 cross, you will say, ‘ Lord, remember 
 me,’ he will take you to be with him 
 in paradise.” ‘‘ It’s too late,” he re- 
 peated, “and I wish to be quiet.” I 
 begged him not to speak thus, for 
 while there is life we may hope that 
 there is mercy for us ; even till the 
 eleventh hour, God may be waiting to 
 be gracious. But he only answered, 
 and with some appearance of peevish- 
 ness, “ I had rather not hear anything 
 more about any of these things,” and 
 he drew the bed-clothes over his head. 
 
 6 
 
62 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 It was hard to have to leave him in 
 such a state of mind — a soul just lin- 
 gering a few moments here, and then 
 to try the realities of the unseen 
 world, and not reconciled to God. I 
 asked once more, if I might kneel and 
 pray with him ; but he gave me no 
 answer. I added a few more words 
 and left him. He must have been ex- 
 pecting to die soon — he had been told 
 that he might not see the morning: but 
 he was unconcerned. There seemed 
 to be no fear of hell, or desire for hea- 
 ven. Yet he was not stupefied with 
 medicines, nor was he delirious ; but 
 he was in a moral stupor, and deter- 
 mining to remain so as long as possi- 
 ble. He would not be disturbed. He 
 might be just on the point of falling 
 into the lake which burneth with fire 
 and brimstone, but he would not allow 
 
THE CONTRAST. 
 
 63 
 
 himself to think of its horrors, nor give 
 himself the trouble to raise one cry for 
 mercy. 
 
 The Holy Spirit had striven with 
 him many times, but he had grieved 
 him, and now he seemed to be given 
 up to hal’d ness of heart. 
 
 When the Holy Spirit ceases to 
 strive with the sinner, it is, indeed, 
 too late ; for what hope is there for 
 those concerning whom God has said, 
 “ Let them alone?” 
 
 But in the middle ward, lay another 
 dying man, and within hearing of the 
 man with whom I had been convers- 
 ing; for, on that warm summer even- 
 ing, all the doors and passages were 
 open for the circulation of air. This 
 one had been recently brought to the 
 hospital from the transport ship. Du- 
 ring the fortnight in which he had lain 
 
64 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 where he now was, I had visited him 
 occasionally, and with great personal 
 comfort and edification. His hope was 
 as an anchor to his soul ; he had con- 
 stant joy and peace. Before his life 
 was despaired of, he was resigned to 
 the will of God — willing to suffer, yet 
 desiring to recover, if it might please 
 God to give him health again ; for, hav- 
 ing been sometime absent from his 
 company on the invalid list, he had 
 anticipated much pleasure in being 
 again permitted to enjoy the society of 
 his Christian associates. His Bible and 
 hymn book, and a few tracts, were al- 
 ways on his table, from which he read, 
 or requested another to read to him. 
 He seemed not to think, or to be at all 
 troubled with the thought, that religion 
 might be unpopular with those about 
 him. He seemed to worship God with 
 
THE CONTRAST. 
 
 65 
 
 as little restraint as if he had been in a 
 room by himself. At length he became 
 aware that his prospects for recovery 
 were diminishing, and then all his 
 thoughts were going out toAvards hea- 
 ven ; his soul seemed to be poising its 
 wings, and to seem almost impatient to 
 be gone to the bright world of bliss, 
 lie talked of heaven, of glory, of see- 
 ing God, of being with Jesus. He 
 repeated, and sung, and often without 
 any one to sing Avith him, the hymns 
 which, Avhile in health, he had sung 
 with the people of God. The pious 
 soldiers would, in turn, obtain permis- 
 sion to attend him ; and on this Sab- 
 bath afternoon, as I Avas about leaving 
 the hospital, there were several gather- 
 ing in to see him ; and he at once en- 
 gaged them in singing around his bed 
 his favourite hymns. 
 
 6 * 
 
66 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 And what an effect that had upon 
 the other inmates of the hospital ! 
 Some, indeed, could not endure to re- 
 main where there was even so slight a 
 semblance to heaven as that, but stole 
 away and left the house : — how much 
 more then, would heaven be disagree- 
 able to them ! how could they endure 
 the song of the hundred and forty and 
 four thousand ? But others lay, or sat 
 up on their cots, listening as if in won- 
 der. Some drew near while the hymn 
 was sung, to hear the dying disci- 
 ple speak of his dear Jesus, and tell 
 of his charms ; and to look in his face, 
 lit up as it was, with the hope of im- 
 mortality, and showing that his soul 
 was already revelling in spiritual de- 
 lights. 
 
 When the singing was done, one 
 man whispered to the one next him. 
 
THE CONTRAST. 
 
 67 
 
 “ That’s a Christian — there’s no hypo- 
 crisy there.” Another said, “ I wish I 
 were as well prepared to die.” 
 
 The next morning, pretty early, I 
 visited the hospital, and met the apoth- 
 ecary in the door, who said, “We had 
 a casualty last night,” which was his 
 easy way of saying that another im- 
 mortal spirit had fled — that another of 
 our fellow men had gone to render his 
 account. 
 
 The poor artilleryman had lingered 
 till nearly morning. Probably he de- 
 parted out of this life in the state of 
 mind in which I last saw him. And, 
 I think, another man died during the 
 night, who had also refused to hear 
 anything about the world to come. 
 But he who longed to depart, and be 
 with Christ, waited till the afternoon 
 of that day before Jesus came to re- 
 
68 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 ceive him to himself, to be with him 
 where he is, and to behold his glory. 
 To the last, he was exhorting his bre- 
 thren to faithfulness, and warning the 
 unconverted, and assuring them that 
 religion was not a farce, nor the Bible 
 a cunningly devised fable; and show- 
 ing in his own appearance that his 
 faith was the substance of things hoped 
 for, and the evidence of things not 
 seen. 
 
 What a contrast ! One, while in 
 health, had neglected to secure the one 
 thing needful. On his dying bed he 
 was weak, and the Holy Spirit was not 
 with him, either to help his infirmities, 
 or to comfort him, or to break his hard 
 heart. We fear he died without the one 
 thing needful, and went to the judg- 
 ment without it, is without it yet, and 
 SO will be for ever. 
 
THE DYING SAILOR. 
 
 69 
 
 The other was wise betimes, and 
 chose that good part, and in the hour 
 of trial it was not taken from him ; in 
 his weakness he was enabled to retain 
 it ; amid the temptations and terrors 
 of dissolving nature, when flesh and 
 heart fail, still he held fast to his good 
 part, and carried it with him when 
 borne by angels through the skies. 
 Still, in heaven he has that good part, 
 and never, never — not to all eternity, 
 shall it be taken away from him. 
 
 Reader, would you die the death of 
 the righteous ? Then must you live 
 the life of the righteous. 
 
 THE DYING SAILOR. 
 
 One bright morning of spring, the 
 hospital sergeant called to say that a 
 sailor at the hospital was anxious to see 
 a clergyman. Very soon I started to 
 
70 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 visit him, walking through the busy, 
 noisy streets of the city ; crowding my 
 way through the dense masses of 
 people who were labouring for the 
 meat which perisheth, and many of 
 whom would need to exert themselves 
 to the utmost to gather enough to 
 satisfy the demands of hunger for the 
 day, and feed others that were de- 
 pendent on them. I was going to see 
 a man who was beginning to feel the 
 vanity of all earthly things, and to 
 think of the preparation to be made for 
 leaving the world. When outside the 
 city, I turned olf from the thronged 
 street to reach the hospital, by a wind- 
 ing path through the fields. Here was 
 a field of rice, there a field of barley; 
 here a patch of garden vegetables, and 
 there a field in yellow blossoms. All 
 here was peaceful, the air fragrant, the 
 
THE DYING SAILOR. 
 
 71 
 
 birds happy, but I was still think- 
 ing of the poor sailor with half the 
 circumference of the globe between 
 him and his native land, without loving 
 friends to smooth his dying pillow, 
 without a familiar face to look upon 
 him; with only paid officials, and ser- 
 vants whose hearts had long since 
 grown callous — with only these to look 
 upon him in their round of duty. 
 
 This sick sailor had been removed 
 from a passing ship to another sta- 
 tioned in the harbour; and by permis- 
 sion had been again removed to the 
 hospital. He seemed aware that he 
 had not long to live, and was anxious 
 to get ready to leave the world. His 
 parents, he stated, were “ members of 
 the church;” and he spoke of them 
 with some emotion — said they had well 
 instructed him in his youth; he had 
 
72 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 been “christened and confirmed,” and 
 had tried to live correctly in the main. 
 Indeed he seemed to be trusting too 
 much, as I thought, to his baptism, 
 and confirmation, and moral life; and 
 therefore I spoke of the insufficiency 
 of our own righteousness, that it cannot 
 come into the account at all — of the 
 corruption of our nature ; of our need of 
 Christ’s righteousness ; of the new birth ; 
 of repentance and faith. He did not 
 seem inclined to talk, and I could 
 hardly learn what was his state of 
 mind, or how much knowledge he pos- 
 sessed of the plan of salvation ; but I 
 feared it might not be very clear. I 
 looked upon him stretched upon his 
 couch, and thought of him as nigh 
 unto death, and perhaps, without the 
 one thing needful, and I endeavoured 
 to bring him to see his state, that he 
 might be aroused to earnest prayer. 
 
THE DYING SAHOK. 
 
 73 
 
 He was reminded of the judgment, 
 and that he would need an Advocate 
 there — of the marriage supper, and 
 that there he would need the wedding 
 garment. But these subjects did not 
 seem to interest him as I had hoped 
 they would. It may be that the 
 truths presented were undermining 
 some old hope, and disturbing a false 
 peace. He listened, however, but said 
 little. He looked like one disap- 
 pointed; as though the minister was 
 not doing for him what he expected. 
 He could not say that he felt prepared 
 to die ; nor did he appear willing to 
 set about that preparation. He was 
 told of the necessity of immediate re- 
 pentance, of earnest prayer for the 
 forgiveness of our sins, and that we 
 must look only unto Jesus, crying. 
 Lord, save, or I perish. After prayer, 
 
74 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 and having remained with him as long 
 as seemed profitable, I bade him good 
 morning, hoping to see him again on 
 the following day. But death was 
 nearer than I supposed. I was not to 
 see him again till we meet at the judg- 
 ment : I, to answer for my faithfulness ; 
 he, to answer for the use he made of 
 the knowledge he had of the way of life, 
 for the exhortations he heard, and for 
 the space given him in which to set 
 his house in order. 
 
 The next day we committed the dust 
 to its dust again. Perhaps it was well 
 with him, but I feared not; and I was 
 led to reflect. How many are building 
 on the sand ! How many there are 
 who are unwilling to be disturbed in 
 their carnal security ! Even on their 
 death beds, how many still hug a de- 
 lusion! they endeavour to suppress 
 
THE DYING SAILOR. 
 
 75 
 
 anxious thought, and are pleased with 
 others only as they cry Peace, peace, 
 though there be no peace for them. 
 This disposition is particularly mani- 
 fest amongst the Roman Catholics. The 
 priests have told them that they are 
 safe, and they will believe it. Having 
 confessed and received absolution, they 
 are unwilling to be again disturbed 
 with any doubts whatever. It is not, 
 however, the priest’s words altogether 
 that have quieted them, but the delu- 
 sive influence of the devil, and their 
 preference for any system of religion 
 that wiU afford them indulgence in 
 their mental sluggishness, and moral 
 stupidity. There is reason to believe 
 that some who have been Protestants 
 in understanding, and have really no 
 confidence in the priests, neverthe- 
 less, will on their death-beds receive 
 
76 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 what are termed the Consolations of the 
 Church ; they welcome any one that 
 will sew pillows to the arm holes — 
 that will indulge them in their false 
 hopes. And just so the heathen. 
 They trust in lies, and are impatient 
 when attempts are made to drive them 
 from those refuges. They had rather 
 go to the place of the dead as they 
 are, though they acknowledge that 
 to them the future is all uncertainty, 
 with much of fearful looking for of 
 judgment ; they had rather launch into 
 eternity blindfold, than have any more 
 doubts started in their minds. 
 
 Surely madness is in the hearts of 
 such men while they live. A few 
 days of sleeping and slumbering are 
 bought with a surprise at death, and 
 an eternity of self-reproaches and an- 
 
THE SOLITARY BURIAL. 
 
 77 
 
 THE SOLITARY BURIAL. 
 
 It was during one of those seasons, 
 when, as we found in that latitude, 
 and that position near the sea, the 
 clouds are wont to pour out their con- 
 tents for days together, that I walked 
 just before night down to the harbour, 
 and ran into the office of a mercantile 
 house, on an errand, which I executed 
 hastily, and turned to hurry home be- 
 fore dark, and before the night sentinel 
 should be placed at the city gates ; for 
 I had no lantern, nor did I know the 
 countersign. 
 
 The proprietor of the establishment 
 was not at home; there was only a 
 clerk in the house, and he, though 
 from the land of John Knox, from the 
 land of the Sabbath and the Bible, yet 
 was as hardened and profane a crea- 
 
 i 
 
78 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 ture, as is often to be met amongst 
 those who still wish to be ranked with 
 decent people. He had spent some 
 years in Mexico, some elsewhere, re- 
 ceiving occasional remittances from an 
 uncle at home, who had been appointed 
 his guardian. He drank champagne 
 when he could get it; if that could not 
 be had, then something else — anything 
 but water. He seldom spoke without 
 an accompanying oath, and his pro- 
 fanity was shocking. 
 
 Just as I was at the top of the 
 stairs, to go down, he mentioned that a 
 sick sailor had been sent ashore from 
 an American ship, and was lodged in 
 that house. I did not understand that 
 ‘ he was considered immediately danger- 
 ous. I had no time to spare, if I would 
 get back into the city that night ; and 
 my wife was there alone. I promised 
 
“ Sow let s go aud say ati oration ov-r him, and put 
 liiin to rest. 
 
THE SOLITARY BURIAL. 
 
 79 
 
 myself that I would call the next morn- 
 ing and see this sick sailor. But 
 early the next morning I received a 
 note, stating that the sailor was dead, 
 and desiring me to “ please come and 
 bury him.” All the night it had 
 rained, and it was raining yet, and the 
 clouds were low and black. When I 
 arrived the body was already nailed 
 up in a rough box, and six half-dressed 
 coolies — Chinese labourers — were 
 standing by, waiting to carry it away, 
 and put it into the hole they had been 
 digging. The young Scotchman — 
 young in years, but old in transgres- 
 sion — was there, smoking his cigar. 
 “And now,” says he, “let’s go and 
 say an oration over him, and put him 
 to rest.” 
 
 To me, that was a dismal funeral, 
 though, besides the black clouds hang- 
 
80 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 ing like funeral drapery, there was lit- 
 tle that was befitting a burial ; but to 
 me it was solemn. Oh, that I had 
 taken time last evening to see this 
 man ! thought I. During that rainy, 
 dreary night, and probably alone, he 
 had died. Who was he ? Who were 
 his friends ? Do father and mother, 
 brother or sister, survive to wish and 
 wonder if the wanderer will ever come 
 home ? 
 
 Did he know that he was so near 
 his end ? and how did he meet the 
 king of terrors ? Had he hope ? Was 
 Jesus with him? Was he ministered 
 unto by the angels of the Lord that 
 encamp round about them that fear 
 him, to deliver them? Did heaven 
 open to his dying eyes, that, like Ste- 
 phen, he might see the glory of God, 
 and Jesus standing on the right hand 
 
THE YOUNa ARTILLERYMAJr. 81 
 
 of God? and so, did he peacefully fall 
 asleep, to sleep in Jesus till the morn- 
 ing of the resurrection ? Or, were his 
 prospects for the future as dark as was 
 that dark night, in which his soul was 
 made to quit its house of clay ? 
 
 Let these occuiTences teach me, said 
 I, never to lose an opportunity which 
 offers of speaking a word in season; 
 for this opportunity neglected, another 
 may not be afforded. 
 
 THE YOUNG ARTILLERYMAN. 
 
 Once, having been visiting the sick, 
 and while passing through the hospital- 
 yard to go home, a young man of gen- 
 teel manners, in the invalids’ cap and 
 gown, saluted me by touching his cap, 
 and said, “I have been waiting here to 
 speak with you, sir, and if you please, I 
 would beg the favour of a njoment’s 
 conversation.” 
 
82 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 He then spoke very briefly of the 
 kind of life he had led — of his enlist- 
 ment, of his life in the army, of his 
 conviction of sin, his long-continued 
 seeking and his hope at length, of his 
 willingness, as he thought, to forsake 
 all and follow Christ, and especially 
 of his desire now to profess Christ be- 
 fore the world. Whatever cross there 
 might be for him to bear, he was ready 
 to take it up. 
 
 Learning what I could of his state 
 of mind during that brief interview, I 
 requested him, as soon as convenient, 
 to call upon me, which he did, within 
 a few days; and in the mean time, I 
 had opportunity of learning more about 
 him, through some of those who wit- 
 nessed his daily life in the garrison. 
 
 He entertained some hope that he 
 had experienced a change of heart; 
 
THE YOUNG ARTILLERYMAN. 83 
 
 yet of this he dared not be too confi- 
 dent. To be born again was a great 
 thing, and often, when thinking of it, 
 it seemed to him that a person in whom 
 this work had been wrought, must ex- 
 perience a greater change in his feel- 
 ings, and exhibit a more perfect refor- 
 mation in his life than was to be found 
 in his case. But he could say that he 
 felt differently of late, from anything 
 he had felt in former times. He had 
 now no relish for former amusements. 
 His old associates were not now conge- 
 nial companions. Now, he preferred 
 the society of the people of God. He 
 loved to read the Bible, and it did him 
 good to think it was God’s own word ; 
 he found pleasure in meetings for reli- 
 gious worship. Secret prayer he es- 
 teemed a privilege, and in it he felt 
 that he drew near to God. He was 
 
84 
 
 SCENES IN CHIJSAN. 
 
 willing, yea, he (iesired, as he thought, 
 to take up every cross, and engage in 
 every duty which Christ requires of 
 his disciples. He had, for some time, 
 been wishing for an opportunity to 
 make a public profession of his faith ; 
 and if I was willing, he would regard 
 it a great privilege could he receive 
 baptism, and unite with those who are 
 permitted to remember their Lord in 
 the breaking of bread. 
 
 After this, I saw him frequently : 
 he embraced opportunities for conver- 
 sing on religious subjects ; he was 
 never absent from the meetings except 
 necessarily detained : he was an! eager 
 student of the scriptures ; he searched 
 them, aided by a reference Bible, which 
 w^as furnished him, and which he 
 highly prized. 
 
 After a number of weeks, being 
 pleased with his humility, and hoping 
 
THE YOUNG ARTILLERYMAN. 85 
 
 that he had learned of Jesus, who is 
 meek and lowly in heart, 1 could not 
 longer refuse water that he should be 
 baptized ; and so, at the communion 
 season, which we observed once in two 
 months at our house in the city, on the 
 Sabbath afternoon, on confession of his 
 faith he was baptized, and took his 
 seat with a few who, in an upper 
 chamber receiA^ed the bread and the 
 wine, dedicating themselves aneAv to 
 Christ, and seeking an increase of spi- 
 ritual strength in which to go on again 
 for many days. 
 
 Those communion seasons we wdll 
 never forget. A holy quiet reigned 
 where we were assembled, and each 
 one seemed to feel, 
 
 “ How sweet and awful is the place, 
 
 With Christ within the doors, 
 
 While everlasting love displays 
 The choicest of her stores !” 
 
 8 
 
86 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 Those services were solemn, but 
 they were simple. In the very room 
 where we sat every day — with a little 
 table spread with a simple white cover 
 — the wine and the bread — a few com- 
 municants in red coats, a few in blue, 
 and in buff, a few in citizen’s dress, a 
 few women, now and then a fellow 
 missionary, or an invalid brother or 
 sister, occasionally a stranger, whose 
 home and whose altar were half around 
 the globe from us — a passage of scrip- 
 ture read — a hymn — a few words spo- 
 ken — the elements distributed by the 
 minister. People of different denomi- 
 nations sat at that communion table : 
 Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Baptists, 
 Methodists, and people from different 
 countries. 
 
 Oh, if there are any of my days 
 that may come again, may they be 
 
THE YOUNG ARTILLERYMAN. 87 
 
 like those! It was to sit in the han- 
 quetting house with Christ’s banner 
 over us. We communed with him. 
 He came in and supped with us, and 
 we with him. 
 
 Let me say a few words more re- 
 specting that young man. According 
 to his own account, which I gathered 
 from him from time to time, he was the 
 son of a merchant in London, was 
 trusted with more pocket money than 
 was needful, was more in the streets 
 than was for his good ; his dislike for 
 school increased, and he played the 
 truant frequently ; he was sometimes re- 
 proved and punished, but, for the most 
 part, was entrusted to teachers and 
 governors, his own father having too 
 much business on his hands to look 
 very carefully into the conduct of his 
 own son. To get him away from the 
 
88 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 dissipation of London, he was sent to 
 France, in the care of some relatives, 
 who had gone there to reside, because 
 their income was insufficient to support 
 them in England, in the style to which 
 they had been accustomed, and they 
 were too proud to take a lower grade 
 in society. Here he was still sent to 
 school, and became an elegant French 
 scholar. At length, he was recalled, 
 and put as a clerk in his father’s store ; 
 but being neither so diligent nor faith- 
 ful in business as he ought, he received 
 reproof from his father, which, like a 
 spoiled child, he resisted, and, in fool- 
 ish and wicked anger he threatened to 
 enlist. At first, he applied to the 
 Horse Guards ; but had not interest 
 enough to procure him a berth there. 
 Then, being met by a recruiting officer 
 for the East India company, who flat- 
 
THE YOUNG ARTILLERYMAN. 89 
 
 tered him for his fine form and military 
 bearing, and assured him that young 
 men with talents and education, were 
 promoted rapidly in India; he drank 
 in the compliments, and enlisted, and 
 fancied himself on the road to fame 
 and wealth. But he was transported 
 to India like an}’’ common recruit, and 
 was a private yet. 
 
 In the cantonment, and in the tented 
 field, this young man had time for re- 
 flection which he had not had before, 
 or rather, which had not before been 
 so well improved. The daily lessons 
 in the life of a soldier — the lessons of 
 God’s providence which only harden 
 the many, and prove to them a savour 
 of death unto death, did, in this case, 
 prove to be the means, or one of the 
 means, by which the heart was to be 
 made soft. 
 
 8 * 
 
90 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 Diseases rapidly thinned their ranks 
 upon their first arrival in Chusan, 
 during the rainy season, when they 
 were without barracks, and much ex- 
 posed in their tents, and the earth, 
 on which they slept, was saturated 
 with water. Their provisions were 
 unwholesome, and their numbers were 
 diminished, not so much by the ene- 
 mies’ bullets, as by fevers and dysen- 
 tery. It was not uncommon for the 
 officer of the night, on going his round 
 to relieve the guard, to find that the king 
 of terrors had gone the round before him 
 and called away the sentinel, without sta- 
 tioning another in his place. In those 
 days, the formalities of funerals were 
 dispensed with, and it was customary 
 to detail little squads of men to go 
 around and bury the dead ; which they 
 did by stripping off their belts, and 
 
THE YOUNG ARTILLERYMAN. 91 
 
 interring them without a coffin, on 
 that hill within the city of Tinghae, 
 which became well nigh covered with 
 lowly graves, which had no headstone, 
 nor anything to mark the spot as trea- 
 suring the dust of a fellow being. In 
 the burying-ground, which was after- 
 wards used, on the side of the hill 
 W'hich was crowned with the fort that 
 guarded the harbour, where many 
 monuments were erected, was one 
 placed there by surviving comrades, to 
 the memory of three hundred and fifty 
 non-commissioned officers and privates, 
 of one regiment, who fell by the casu- 
 alties of war and disease. Those were 
 of a different regiment from that to 
 which our young friend belonged ; but 
 they were gathered to the generation 
 of the dead during the same days as 
 those in which his own messmates were 
 
92 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 felling around him, like leaves in au- 
 tumn, Whenever he alluded to those 
 scenes, a soldier though he was, the 
 tears would run down his cheeks. 
 
 This perhaps was the school which 
 God designed he should pass through 
 that he might learn how brittle is the 
 thread of hfe, how uncertain and how 
 unsatisfactory are worldly honours, and 
 what folly it is for a being capable of 
 enjoying immortal life and glory to 
 live for nothing, and perish like the 
 brutes. 
 
 Now he seemed anxious to be living 
 for a better purpose. He searched the 
 scriptures daily, and spent much of 
 his leisure time in profitable reading. 
 He appeared to grow in grace, and to 
 have an increasing desire to be more 
 widely useful. There was evidence 
 that he was faithful in improving his 
 opportunities for benefitting others. 
 
REGENERATION — REFORMATION. 93 
 
 REGENERATION MORE THAN REFORMATION.* 
 
 S , the young man of whom w'e 
 
 have been speaking, had a companion 
 whose history had been somewhat like 
 his own. lie was a person of good 
 manners, and some education. Through 
 the influence of S , he was in- 
 
 duced to attend the meetings. He 
 had broken off his drinking habits, and 
 now professed penitence, hoped he 
 was reformed, and gave such an ac- 
 count of his feelings, hopes, and determi- 
 nations as looked somewhat as though 
 he might be a renewed man ; and he 
 wished to be admitted to -the ordi- 
 nances, and take upon himself the vows 
 of God. 
 
 This request was kindly entertained, 
 but he was advised to wait and test 
 his experience somewhat further. For 
 
94 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 a few weeks he held out well; was 
 regular at the religious services, and 
 attentive and serious when present, 
 and outward 1}^, so far as I could see or 
 learn from others, his conduct was un- 
 exceptionable. But by and by, having 
 come in possession of a small sum of 
 money which he had earned by wri- 
 ting — for he was an excellent penman 
 — temptation and appetite for drink 
 again proved stronger than his resolu- 
 tions ; his feet were in a slippery place 
 and he fell. 
 
 I shall not be likely soon to forget 
 the pain I felt one Sabbath afternoon 
 soon after he had suffered strong 
 drink to overcome him. I was going 
 to the chapel, and he was hurrying to 
 some of those haunts of the drunkard 
 where liquor was sold by the Chinese. 
 The moment he caught a glimpse of 
 
REGENERATION — REFORMATION. 95 
 
 me, he shot down a narrow filthy alley, 
 ashamed to be seen. That evening we 
 were expecting again to meet for com- 
 munion one with another, and with 
 Christ our Head, and to remember 
 him in the breaking of bread ; and 
 this young man, had he continued to 
 appear as well as he did at first, and 
 had he still desired to profess Christ, 
 would undoubtedly have been with 
 us ; but it had already happened unto 
 him according to the true proverb, 
 “The dog has turned to his own 
 vomit again ; and the sow that was 
 washed to her wallowing in the mire.” 
 Another of the stony ground hear- 
 ers, thought I : he heard the word, and 
 anon with joy he seemed to receive it 
 — he heard gladly, and did many 
 things ; but having no root in himself, 
 he endured but for a time. 
 
96 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 Poor fellow ! How I pitied him ! 
 I pitied him, as still in the gall of bit- 
 terness, and bond of iniquity ; for in 
 such case I feared he still was. I pi- 
 tied him, as still led captiA^e by Satan. 
 I pitied him, as still a slave to his lusts. 
 I pitied him, because of the weakness 
 of his resolution, and that Satan and 
 his appetite should find him so easy a 
 prey. 
 
 I remembered how he had appeared 
 to enjoy the few months in which he 
 had abstained from intoxicating drink, 
 and what pleasure he seemed to find in 
 the hope that he might continue to be 
 a man, and never again become a sot ; 
 and seeing how those hopes were 
 dashed, well might I pity him. 
 
 How sad his case ! Thinking of him 
 only as a human being, hoAV sad his 
 case ! He had mental abilities and 
 
REGENERATION REFORMATION. 97 
 
 education that would have adorned a 
 nobler place than his, who has to be 
 marched, and countermarched, halted 
 and wheeled, and marched again, at the 
 sound of fife and drum. But, al- 
 though he was a soldier, he might still 
 have remained a man ; yes, and even 
 have become a brother of the Son of 
 God, had he resisted temptation, and 
 had he hearkened to Him who says. 
 Wash you : make you clean ; put 
 away the evil of your doings from be- 
 fore mine eyes; cease to do evil; 
 learn to do well.” “ Come now, and 
 let us reason together, saith the Lord : 
 though your sins be as scarlet, they 
 shall be as white as snow; though they 
 be red like crimson, they shall be as 
 wool.” 
 
 This young man did not forget the 
 few days of sunshine, which he en- 
 9 
 
98 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 joyed while he was trying to live like 
 a rational being ; and he remembered 
 us, and still expressed thankfulness for 
 the kindness that had been shown him, 
 and for the encouragement he had re- 
 ceived ; but shame kept him from our 
 house, and his friends could not prevail 
 on him to abandon again his drinking 
 habits. 
 
 That was another chapter of reli- 
 gious experience for me to study in the 
 beginning of my ministerial life. 
 Though I did not expect ever to be 
 able to know the heart — not even my 
 own, and much less that of another, 
 for the heart is deceitful above all 
 things — though I did not expect ever 
 to be able to know certainly, whether 
 any person professing to be converted 
 is a genuine believer or not; yet it 
 strengthened the conviction that the 
 
KEGENERATION — REFORMATION. 99 
 
 candidate for church privileges should 
 not be received too hastily, but that 
 time should be afforded for knowing 
 the tree by its fruit. It gave me oc- 
 casion to reflect on the insecurity of 
 any one who is exposed to temptation, 
 and has not grace sufficient for him ; 
 and cannot, or does not, see his need 
 to pray to God, “ Cast me not away 
 from thy presence ; and take not thy 
 Holy Spirit from me.” “ Keep back 
 thy servant also from presumptuous 
 sins ; let them not have dominion over 
 me.” It caused me to be more dis- 
 trustful of mere reformations, and to 
 be less sanguine, in regard to any per- 
 son reported as reformed, until there 
 be some evidence that the heart is re- 
 newed, and that God is working in 
 him to will, and to do of his good 
 pleasure. 
 
100 
 
 SCENES LN CHUSAN. 
 
 Where there is regeneration, there 
 will be a reformation ; but there are 
 many partial reformations without a 
 regeneration. 
 
 His company was detained a few 
 months at Hong Kong, and while there 
 S , in a letter, speaks of his com- 
 rade to this elFect : “ My friend J 
 
 has, for some time, been entirel}'’ sober, 
 and is hoping and, he says, praying 
 also, that he may reform altogether. 
 But I dare not be sanguine, for temp- 
 tations are numerous, and that appetite 
 for strong drink is the hardest thing to 
 be conquered.” 
 
 SAMSHU, AND WHAT IT DID. 
 
 Speaking of the mischief wrought 
 by strong drink, reminds me of an- 
 other painful case, that of private 
 W . For a number of months, he 
 
SAMSHU, AND WHAT IT DID. 101 
 
 was as regular and attentive at all the 
 meetings as any man that came. Not 
 a lisp had 1 ever heard that anything 
 was wrong as to his habits, although I 
 knew that in one corner of the canton- 
 ment was a large building which went 
 by the appellation of the Canteen, 
 where English ale, and London porter 
 were dealt out, and where were always 
 many loungers, drinking and smoking, 
 and fighting their old battles over 
 again. And I knew that almost any- 
 where, around the cantonments, in the 
 city and in the country, were plenty 
 of the Chinese prepared to furnish the 
 soldier with Samshu, which \vas an in- 
 toxicating drink, manufactured from 
 rice. In our walks, it was no uncom- 
 mon thing to meet with drunken sol- 
 diers ; and the Sabbath, being a day 
 in which the men had greater liberty 
 
102 
 
 SCENES IN CHDSAN. 
 
 than on other days, was signalized as 
 a time of more general drunkenness 
 and rioting. But who had ever 
 
 dreamed of private W being 
 
 found in such transgression ? Yet, un- 
 looked for as it might be, one evening, 
 just as the prayer meeting was dis- 
 missed, and the people were about 
 
 leaving, corporal P drew near, and 
 
 said in a low and mournful voice, It’s 
 
 a sad thing, sir, but W has took 
 
 to drink.” And then all was still 
 again. I seem even now to see that 
 little band of men, standing with caps 
 in hand, all gloomy and anxious, as 
 you may imagine a company of peo- 
 ple who have just received some alarm- 
 ing or afflictive intelligence, and have 
 met to consult ; each waiting for an- 
 other to propose some measure, but no 
 one having courage to break the pain- 
 ful stillness. 
 
SAMSHU, AND WHAT IT DID. 103 
 
 Then was illustrated that scripture, 
 ‘‘Whether one member suffer, all the 
 members suffer with it.” They w^ere 
 sorry for what had occurred ; and it 
 was evident that they were desirous 
 of doing what the scriptures enjoin 
 where they say, “Brethren, if a man 
 be overtaken in a fault, ye which are 
 spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit 
 of meekness; considering thyself, lest 
 thou also be tempted. Bear ye one 
 another’s burdens, and so fulfil the 
 law of Christ.” 
 
 The advice given them was, to treat 
 the erring brother kindly, and endea- 
 vour to recover him ; especially to pray 
 for him, and use every effort to draw 
 him away from the haunts of vice, and 
 places of temptation. 
 
 But poor W seemed deter- 
 
 mined, like one who had quite lost 
 
104 
 
 SCENES IN CHDSAN. 
 
 caste, to throw himself away. The 
 next Sabbath day 1 saw him standing 
 in the way with sinners, playing at 
 ball ; though he was careful to keep his 
 face turned away from me. His wife, 
 who was a kind-hearted and simple- 
 minded, but devotedly pious woman, 
 was thrown into great distress by this 
 folly and wickedness in her husband, 
 and entreated all to pray for him. 
 
 Immediately subsequent to this oc- 
 currence, there were commenced some 
 more energetic efforts in behalf of 
 temperance, or total abstinence. A 
 pledge was prepared, and the soldiers 
 circulated it, and obtained a few signa- 
 tures. Books, papers, and tracts on 
 the subject were gathered, and put in 
 circulation, and some good doubtless 
 was accomplished. 
 
 W made his wife and his bre- 
 
SAMSHU, AND WHAT IT DID. 105 
 
 thren happy by signing the pledge, and 
 making confession of his fault. But it 
 was not long till he fell the second 
 time. And again he reformed. 
 When he left the island wdth his regi- 
 ment he was sober, and apparently 
 penitent, and declared that “he’d not 
 drink any more” ever. 
 
 I hardly knew w^hat to think of him. 
 When I remembered his irreproachable 
 behaviour for a number of months, the 
 enjoyment which he appeared to find 
 in religious duties, I hoped in regard 
 to him. When I thought of the ease 
 with which he relapsed into sin after 
 his reformations, I doubted ; and still I 
 doubted when I saw his repentance 
 lighter than I would be glad to see, 
 and too little remorse and self loathing 
 — too little of the shame, and confes- 
 sion, and self-abasement, and desire 
 
106 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 for forgweness, for cleansing, for a new 
 heart, and for reconciliation with God 
 such as David expressed in the 51st 
 psalm. But again I desired to be cha- 
 ritable, for in this world all of us are 
 compassed with infirmity — sanctified 
 but in part. God’s long suffering is 
 great — there is forgiveness with him. 
 Peter was forgiven. David was for- 
 given; but their confession was full — 
 their sorrow was heart-rending — their 
 prayer for forgiveness earnest and 
 humble. 
 
 Did I intimate that I would give an 
 account of Samshu — a full history of 
 it, and what it did? That is more than 
 I would undertake; and the record 
 would be too long, and the pages would 
 be too dark. It would be a narration 
 of family quarrels, and street brawls ; 
 
SAMSHU, AND WHAT IT DID. 107 
 
 of one person beaten to death by his 
 friend, when merry with wine, and 
 that friend paying the penalty for it, 
 when sober. The intoxicating drinks, 
 which the heathen make, do precisely 
 what is done by the liquors which are 
 manufactured in Christian countries. 
 
 Those who tarry long at either, will 
 have wo, sorrow, contentions, babbling, 
 wounds without cause, redness of 
 eyes. 
 
 It filled the guard houses at Chusan. 
 It undoubtedly sent to the hospital 
 more than the diseases of the country 
 would have done, unaided by intem- 
 perate habits in the victims. 
 
 It doubtless gave more to him who 
 rides on the pale horse, than both w^ar 
 and pestilence. It was Satan’s pre- 
 scription to convicted sinners, to help 
 them to forget their fears, to drown 
 
108 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 conviction, and say to the Spirit, 
 “ Go thy way for this time and it 
 passed his victims over to him into the 
 pit more rapidly. It led to self- 
 murders ; and of one such case let me 
 speak. 
 
 THE SUICIDE. 
 
 There was a certain bridge over 
 ■which I never passed without being 
 reminded of a tragical scene which it 
 once witnessed. 
 
 The bridge was of stone, arching 
 over the water, with sculptured lions 
 rampant at each end, and on either 
 side. It had been a “ bridge of sighs.” 
 Once, in the forenoon of a bright sum- 
 mer day, a soldier was seen sitting on 
 this bridge, the arch of which was 
 high over the canal, whose deep chan- 
 nel it spanned. That soldier was 
 
THE SUICrDE. 
 
 109 
 
 known to be in a gloomy state of mind, 
 for strong drink had long been his 
 task-master and tormentor, till it had 
 quite debased and dispirited him. 
 
 Often had he been lodged in the 
 guard-house ; often had he been sub- 
 jected to extra drills, and made to 
 march up and down, exposed to the 
 gaze of all; and sometimes under a 
 broiling sun, in the full dress of win- 
 ter, with knapsack, and all the burden 
 which a soldier ever has to carry on an 
 expedition: and sometimes, severer 
 punishment had been inflicted till he 
 had grown tired of life ; and so weary 
 of the ills he was suffering, he resolved 
 to “fly to others which he knew not of.” 
 
 Thus, on that day, and in sight of 
 his comrades, who were basking in the 
 sun on the wall of the fort, on the hill, 
 he plunged headlong into the water, and 
 10 
 
110 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 ended his earthly existence ; hastening, 
 as it were, uncalled into the presence 
 of his Judge. 
 
 THE mDNIGHT AFFRIGHT. 
 
 Samshu caused us missionaries an 
 alarm in the middle of a summer 
 night. The entire household was 
 startled from sleep by a great hue-and- 
 cry in the streets, and the thoughtless 
 Chinese servants ran, and unbarred the 
 great black two-leaved wooden gates, 
 in order to peep out, just to see what 
 was going on ; when in rushed a stal- 
 wart English officer, with a drawn 
 sword glittering in the moonlight, and 
 throwing himself into gladiatorial atti- 
 tudes, and threatening the trembling 
 Chinese, that he would hew them all to 
 pieces unless they delivered up the 
 person that had stolen his cap ; for, in 
 
THE MIDNIGHT AFFRIGHT. Ill 
 
 the house where he had been drinking 
 and rioting, he had lost this article of 
 his dress, and should this be carried 
 up to head quarters the next day, and 
 the officer’s head not in it, an account 
 of his evening’s adventures might be 
 called for, which he might prefer not 
 to have published. Our Chinese ser- 
 vants, teacher, and pupils were sorely 
 affrighted ; but one of them had suffi- 
 cient presence of mind, and knew 
 enough English words, to tell the offi- 
 cer that a foreigner lived in that house. 
 Whereupon, the gentleman with an 
 epaulet on each shoulder, looking up, 
 saw a man at the window, in his night 
 clothes, but was too drunk to know 
 whether he was near the quarters of 
 his commanding officer, or only in the 
 premises of a poor missionary, yet not 
 so drunk as to forget about court-mar- 
 
112 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 tials, and disgrace. His sword slipped 
 into its scabbard. His voice died 
 away, and he vanished. 
 
 WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 Private B was a man who 
 
 asked more of my attention, and yet 
 was probably less pleased with my 
 services, than any other, with whom I 
 had to do. He was a veteran — a vet- 
 eran in many respects. He had seen 
 service in different parts of the world, 
 and had gone through much hard 
 drinking; and still he survived. Not- 
 withstanding all the bullets of all the 
 enemies he had faced, and all the vices 
 of the camp — the vices of civilized na- 
 tions, intensified by whatever of wick- 
 edness might be learned amongst the 
 heathen, still he was alive. But so 
 much hard service was beginning to 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 113 
 
 tell upon him. He might have been 
 fifty years of age ; was tall, had been 
 a powerful, broad-shouldered, fierce, 
 fear-nought fellow ; such as command- 
 ers count upon either for bold strokes, 
 or for pertinacious resistance. Now, 
 however, he was well nigh worn out. 
 
 Being taken suddenly and severely 
 ill, he wished the “parson” to be 
 called. When I came I found him on 
 a cot in the middle of the lower ward 
 of the hospital, which he occupied otf 
 and on, from that time, for many 
 months, till at length he was carried 
 out to come back no more. 
 
 He welcomed me with many thanks 
 for my condescension and kindness in 
 coming so far to see him, a poor pri- 
 vate, and seemed to speak and act as 
 though he was expecting the visit it- 
 self was to do him some undefinable 
 10 * 
 
114 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 good. He evidently was expecting to 
 hear the “ service for the sick,” or 
 something like it, from a clergyman ; 
 and was putting himself into a passive 
 attitude, as though the parson might be 
 able to apply some unction to the 
 soul, something as his surgeon would 
 to the body ; and he was not prepared for, 
 nor did he seem altogether to under- 
 stand my conversation, nor quite to 
 relish what he did understand. 
 
 1 tried to feel about the heart, but 
 could not discover any soreness there ; 
 nor scarcely any sensitiveness. It was 
 very hard. As well as I knew how, I 
 tried the probe, but the instrument — 
 the sword of the Spirit — either did not 
 reach to the quick, or touched only 
 upon what was indurated, or else a 
 mass of corruption ; for the patient 
 never winced — there were no apparent 
 twinges of conscience. 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 115 
 
 I talked of God, as a holy being, 
 hating every sin, displeased with the 
 least stain of moral impurity ; of his 
 law as reaching to the thoughts and 
 intents of the heart ; of the necessity 
 therefore of regeneration, for only the 
 pure in heart shall see God. I spoke 
 of sin as being in itself vile and loath- 
 some, and therefore we should abhor 
 it, and desire to be freed from it, and 
 pray, “ Take away all iniquity — cleanse 
 me from my sin — create in me a clean 
 heart.” 1 went on to say that, being 
 enemies to God, we should seek a re- 
 conciliation through our Mediator, and 
 so be at peace. Having offended our 
 Maker, and shown him great contempt, 
 in innumerable ways, we ought to re- 
 pent of these, and all transgressions 
 and disobedience, and with grief and 
 hatred of sin, turn from it unto God. 
 
116 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 Having a long catalogue of sins regis- 
 tered against us, and a load of guilt 
 resting on us, and having no means of 
 atoning for the one, or removing the 
 other, we need a deliverer, one to bear 
 our sins, and be our surety ; and such 
 an one is provided in the person of Je- 
 sus Christ : but we must accept him as 
 our Saviour, must trust in him as our 
 sacrifice. We need to have our sins 
 removed from us as far as the east is 
 from the west ; then must we look to 
 Christ to bear them away, and we must 
 make full confession of them, with bro- 
 kenness of heart. 
 
 Again, those who would be approved 
 — fully justified, must have a perfect 
 righteousness ; and as, of ourselves, 
 we have no righteousness whatever — 
 as the good works of the best men are 
 only as filthy rags, we need something 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 117 
 
 infinitely better than anything we can 
 do, for no person can be justified on 
 account of his own righteousness; we 
 need the perfect righteousness of 
 Christ, and this we may have, it may 
 he imputed to us, may be accounted as 
 ours, we may have it as a robe to 
 cover us ; and we must have, if we 
 would be admitted to heaven, for it is 
 the wedding garment, without which, 
 none can be admitted to the marriage- 
 supper of the Lamb ; the righteous- 
 ness of Christ is the garment of the 
 saints, the pure linen, clean and white, 
 in which they are clothed. Moreover, 
 every impenitent sinner is like the pro- 
 digal, and he must come to himself, 
 must see how foolishly and wickedly he 
 has been acting, and must be sensible 
 how wretched, and miserable, and poor, 
 and blind, and naked he is ; he must 
 
118 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 see his rags, and feel some hunger for 
 the bread of life, and must say, “ I 
 will arise, and go to my Father.” 
 
 Yes, the sinner must turn unto God, 
 confessing all his sins, and imploring 
 forgiveness. Now, my friend, will you 
 do this ? Do you understand these 
 truths ? Do you see God as holy, and 
 yourself a sinner, and have you any 
 fear of God, as one who is angry with 
 the wicked every day, and as able to 
 destroy both soul and body in hell ? 
 Do you believe that Jesus is the only 
 Saviour of sinners ; the only Mediator 
 between God and man ? 
 
 Such truths I endeavoured to hold 
 up before him ; and such questions I 
 frequently put to him; but, without 
 eliciting any satisfictory answer. At 
 length, he said, “ But I am in the 
 church, sir. I am in the church. I 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 119 
 
 was christened and confirmed. I have 
 many times taken the sacrament.” 
 
 Well, if you are in the church, said 
 I, do you live the life of a consistent 
 church member ? That is the impor- 
 tant consideration. All who come to 
 Christ must take up the cross and fol- 
 low him ; and must learn of him who 
 was meek and lowly in heart. Have 
 you invariably been striving to do 
 this ? Do you perform all the duties 
 which even your prayer book, of which 
 you speak, requires of you ? Do you 
 endeavour to lead a godly life ? 
 
 “Oh, but, your reverence !” said he, 
 “ there should be allowances made for 
 a person in my situation ; it is so hard 
 leading a godly life in the barracks, 
 and in the camp.” 
 
 It may be difficult, I answered, but 
 there have been godly soldiers, there 
 
120 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 are such now ; and, in whatever cir- 
 cumstances we may be, it is for us to 
 keep a conscience void of offence be- 
 fore God and man. 
 
 “ But, sir,” he replied, “ perhaps 
 your reverence is not aware how very 
 wicked the people are, and how very 
 difficult it is to do everything just 
 right in such a place as this. I think 
 allowances should be made for a sol- 
 dier.” 
 
 Do you attend to secret prayer ? I 
 asked. 
 
 ‘‘ Secret prayer, sir !” said he; “se- 
 cret prayer ! How could a person in 
 the barracks have secret prayer ? 
 Why, sir, let a man kneel down by 
 his cot, and all the boots in the garri- 
 son would come whizzing at his head ; 
 and such oaths and curses, sir !” 
 
 Have you often tried it ? I asked. 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 121 
 
 “Well — no — I can’t say that lhave, 
 sir.” 
 
 There are other places, I said — some 
 quiet spots, that one can find if he is 
 really disposed to pray to his Father 
 who seeth in secret, but who rewards 
 openly. Other people find time and 
 opportunity for private devotion. Do 
 you find such places ? 
 
 “ I can’t say that 1 do,” he an- 
 swered. “ Sometimes I think consider- 
 ably about it, but some mess-mate 
 calls me away, or the bugle calls to 
 duty, or something else prevents, and 
 so I don’t think of it again for some 
 time to come.” 
 
 Are you fond of reading your Bi- 
 ble ? I inquired. 
 
 “ Oh, yes, sir,” he answered, “ I al- 
 ways liked to hear the scriptures, and 
 would your reverence please just to 
 11 
 
122 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 read them now, I think it would do me 
 good.” 
 
 It is well to hear the scriptures read, 
 I replied, but we must not forget that 
 we must so hear, that our souls may 
 live. We must be careful not to be 
 satisfied with being mere hearers of the 
 word, we must be doers also. My 
 Catechism says, ‘‘That the word of 
 God may become effectual to salva- 
 tion, we must attend thereunto with 
 diligence, preparation, and prayer ; re- 
 ceive it with faith and love, lay it up 
 in our hearts, and practise it in our 
 lives.” 
 
 “Yes, sir,” he answered, “that’s 
 true. I have always heard that; I 
 would like to hear you read now.” 
 
 I perceived, from the first, that he 
 was depending upon externals — the 
 church service — the prayer of a minis- 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 123 
 
 ter — hearing the scriptures — anything, 
 indeed, so that it was religion — an 
 outward observance of some religious 
 duty — anything to pacify his con- 
 science. In fine, he desired something 
 that would operate precisely like the 
 going to mass, and to confession, with 
 the Roman Catholics. So I thought, 
 and therefore did not immediately 
 gratify his wishes by reading; though 
 I usually found the simple reading of • 
 God’s own word, with a few brief com- 
 ments and applications, better than 
 anything I could say besides. I 
 turned again to the subject of the new 
 birth, and he as pertinaciously came 
 back to his old refuge. “He had been 
 brought up in the church. His pa- 
 rents were church people ; and he had 
 taken the sacrament.” 
 
 Do you like the services of the 
 
124 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 sanctuary ? said I. Do you find en- 
 joj^ment in religious meetings ? 
 
 “ Oh, yes, to be sure!” he said; “ I 
 generally go to church, when I am 
 where there is a church.” 
 
 I don’t recollect having noticed you 
 at the chapel, and the prayer meet- 
 ings. 
 
 “ But, sir,” he replied, ‘‘we have the 
 service read every Sunday for the sol- 
 diers, and 1 always attend that.” 
 
 Yes, said I, and whether you like it 
 or not, you would be obliged to attend 
 either the Protestant or Catholic cha- 
 pel ; but would you think that a person 
 who was hungering and thirsting after 
 righteousness, would be quite satisfied 
 with just the reading of the prayers, 
 and the lessons, and nothing more, and 
 that but once a week ? 
 
 “ I don’t think I knew about those 
 meetings you speak of,” he said. 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 125 
 
 I answered, Any of those who at- 
 tend would have been glad to have 
 shown you. 
 
 “ Yes, sir,” he answered, “ but a 
 man naturally falls in with his own 
 mess-mates.” 
 
 Perhaps, said I. But will not the 
 children of God find each other, and 
 get together ? will they not love to 
 talk together about heaven, and tell of 
 their joys and sorrows, and watch over 
 each other? There are, as you have 
 said, many temptations in the army, 
 and therefore, so much more need is 
 there for those who are endeavouring 
 to be soldiers of Christ to march to- 
 gether, and to encourage and assist 
 one another, so that they may stand in 
 the evil day. 
 
 After this manner we passed some 
 time together, but I failed to get a par- 
 
126 
 
 SCENES IN CHDSAN. 
 
 tide of evidence that he cared for any- 
 thing but a form. He was religious in 
 his way, he was devout ; very likely 
 he would have given the responses 
 heartily. He was very much like the 
 heathen who often are quite uneasy 
 tiU they have performed certain reli- 
 gious ceremonies, but after that is ac- 
 complished feel easy and pretty safe. 
 
 Private B was desirous of saying, 
 
 or having said over him, some religious 
 formula, he did not seem particular as 
 to what kind it should be. Let it be 
 any external religious ceremony, he 
 could pillow his conscience on it ; and, 
 as results showed, he would be content 
 to die on it. With the least show of 
 a form of godliness, and knowing that 
 his life had been grossly wicked, he 
 was willing to try the dread realities 
 of eternity. 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 127 
 
 I read a few verses of the Bible — 
 offered a short prayer — added a few 
 more words of exhortation, and rose 
 to leave. Notwithstanding my plain- 
 ness, he was ready to overwhelm me 
 with thanks, and earnestly begged me 
 to call again. 
 
 After this I saw him frequently, 
 and endeavoured to be faithful with 
 him, and the preaching on the Sabbath 
 in the hospital was sometimes in the 
 ward in which he lay. 
 
 By and by he began to recover, and 
 in the same degree that he improved 
 in health he seemed to care less for my 
 company. 
 
 He had at times alluded to his for- 
 mer indulgences, his habits of drink- 
 ing, and had excused some of his 
 delinquencies on this ground ; but had 
 always accused the naughty liquor, or 
 
128 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 laid the greatest share of blame on 
 those who bantered him to drink. He 
 had, however, solemnly declared, and 
 that over and over again, that should 
 he get up from that sickness, he would 
 be more regular in his habits, and not 
 touch intoxicating liquor at all. 
 
 When he was about ready to be 
 dismissed from the hospital, I re- 
 minded him of his pledge to leave 
 strong drink alone, and begged him not 
 to forget his promise to attend the re- 
 ligious meetings. “ Oh, sir,” said he, 
 “ you may trust me for that.” 
 
 He was discharged from the hospi- 
 tal ; but, as I greatly feared, he kept 
 clear of the chapel, and I saw nothing 
 of him till another request came to 
 visit him in the hospital. 
 
 With his shattered constitution, and 
 not thoroughly recovered from his for- 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 129 
 
 mer sickness, his sudden excess, and a 
 hot summer’s sun soon prostrated him 
 again. Though more dangerously ill 
 than before, yet he was somewhat less 
 alarmed ; but still he was anxious to 
 see a clergyman, for this idea yet re- 
 mained with him as to what was ne- 
 cessary towards putting his house in 
 order, viz : that he have the visit of a 
 clergyman. 
 
 Again I laboured to show him that 
 he was a sinner, that God is angry 
 with the wicked every day, that he 
 must be born again, and to point him 
 to the Lamb of God that taketh away 
 the sin of the world. But his heart 
 was not opened to receive the truth; 
 he was not convinced of sin, of right- 
 eousness, and of a judgment to come; 
 the god of this world was still blinding 
 his mind, lest the light of the glorious 
 
130 SCENES LN CHUSAN. 
 
 gospel of Christ should shine into his 
 heart. He retreated within his old 
 refuge of lies : he insisted that he was 
 born in the church ; brought up in the 
 church; had been christened, and con- 
 firmed, and had taken the sacrament. 
 
 “We have Abraham to our father,” 
 said some in old times. 
 
 Once more God in his great mercy 
 was pleased to raise him up, but he at 
 once forgot the Lord’s mercies, and 
 cast off fear, and restrained prayer. 
 Like the swine he turned to his wal- 
 lowing; he herded with his own kind; 
 showing by the company he kept, and 
 the pleasures he sought, who must be 
 his companions for ever, unless an 
 entirely new heart were created within 
 him. 
 
 Though frequent inquiries were 
 made respecting him, and though the 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 131 
 
 pious soldiers were requested to watch 
 for opportunities of doing him good, 
 yet he kept out of my way as far as 
 possible, until, on a Sabbath evening, 
 having preached in the upper ward of 
 the hospital, I came down and was 
 passing through the lower ward, and 
 was arrested by a feeble voice, “ Please 
 your reverence! I am glad to see 
 your reverence. I was fearing you 
 would not pass this way.” I went to 
 him, and immediately he said, “And, 
 please sir, could I receive the sacra- 
 ment? I am afraid this is to be the 
 last of me here. I am very weak 
 now. I would like, sir, to take the 
 sacrament. It seems as if I shall not 
 get up again.” 
 
 Again an attempt was made to con- 
 vince him that the sacraments, though 
 means of grace, and very precious 
 
132 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN, 
 
 ordinances to the believer, yet of 
 themselves could not save a sinner, 
 and could not wash away one sin ; and 
 that, moreover, none are welcome 
 guests at the table of the Lord, but 
 those who are his friends, and that 
 there is danger in partaking unwor- 
 thily, for those who do so, not having 
 knowledge to discern the Lord’s body, 
 nor faith to feed upon him, eat and 
 drink judgment to themselves. 
 
 Poor man ! how I felt for him, and 
 endeavoured to pray that his mind 
 might be enlightened in the knowledge 
 of Christ, his will renewed, and he 
 persuaded and enabled to embrace 
 Jesus Christ, freelj^ offered to us in 
 the gospel. But the arm of the Lord 
 was not revealed, and he did not receive 
 my report. He was sinking into the 
 grave j he saw death approaching; he 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 133 
 
 expected soon to launch out into the 
 ocean of eternity, and still he was 
 trusting to his spider’s w'eb : and the 
 nearer death approached, the more 
 eagerly he clutched it, the more in- 
 tently he gazed at it; he would not suffer 
 his mind to be directed to that hope 
 which is an anchor to the soul. A 
 drowning man convulsively catches at 
 a straw; so he at the hypocrite’s hope. 
 
 “Will you please to administer the 
 sacrament to me ?” he again asked 
 eagerly, turning his sunken eyes im- 
 ploringly upon me. 
 
 This seemed the one desire of his 
 heart. The sincere penitent on a sick 
 and dying bed, who has not before had 
 an opportunity of confessing Christ 
 before the world, and of sitting at his 
 table, may very properly be admitted 
 to this ordinance, if it is desired, and 
 12 
 
134 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 from the right motives; but in this 
 case there seemed to be nothing differ- 
 ent from the Roman Catholic’s desire 
 for absolution, and extreme unction; 
 therefore no encouragement was given 
 that the sacrament could be adminis- 
 tered to him, but he was exhorted to 
 think on what the scriptures teach, 
 that many who call Jesus Lord, and 
 sit at his table, will hear him say at last, 
 “I never knew you, depart from me, 
 ye that work iniquity.” But whoso- 
 ever is born again — every friend of 
 the bridegroom — every one that has 
 the garments of holiness — shall as- 
 suredly eat and drink with Christ in 
 his kingdom of glory, whether they 
 have enjoyed the privilege of remem- 
 bering him in the breaking of bread on 
 earth or not. But still he entreated, 
 “ Oh, sir, I think I might take the sac- 
 
WEDDED TO FORMS. 
 
 135 
 
 rament now. I am sorry for all my 
 past sins. I would like to repeat the 
 service after you. It is quiet here 
 just now, sir; or, if you please, I 
 could be removed to the ‘Orderly’s’ 
 room. 
 
 What a distressing case ! A man 
 pleading for the sacrament, as he 
 ought to he pleading for pardon through 
 the blood of Christ — rejecting Jesus as 
 his Saviour, refusing the offers of his 
 salvation, and yet, asking for the bread 
 and the wine, as though these could 
 save him — a drowning man rejecting 
 the hand of one who offers to save him, 
 and trusting to the mere shadow of 
 that deliverer ! So, the Jews still 
 trusted to the lambs, which they of- 
 fered, to take away their sins, and cru- 
 cified Him whom those lambs were only 
 intended to typify. This man, while 
 
136 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 neglecting the great salvation, would 
 be content with merely this favour — 
 if only in this formal manner, by a 
 minister of the gospel he might be re- 
 cognized as one worthy to be enrolled 
 amongst the people of God. 
 
 Yet another week he lingered on the 
 shores of time, his spirit seeming to 
 cling desperately to its clay tenement, 
 and he lived till another Sabbath to 
 renew the same request, but not, it 
 was to be feared, to give any better 
 evidence of repentance, love, and new 
 obedience, with “knowledge to discern 
 the Lord’s body, and faith to feed upon 
 him.” 
 
 How much harm may be done by 
 receiving a person too hastily to the 
 sealing ordinances of the church, if, 
 thereby, he is encouraged to sup- 
 pose that, in our judgment, he is 
 a worthy partaker ! 
 
THE sergeant’s FAMILY. 137 
 
 How difficult to bring a person to 
 abandon an old hope, how poor soever 
 that hope may be ! 
 
 How utterly insufficient is a religion 
 of mere forms, and how many souls are 
 ruined, by being suffered to flatter 
 themselves, that a decent observance 
 of forms is all the religion that is re- 
 quired ! 
 
 THE sergeant’s FAJIILY. 
 
 The wife seemed a good, pious wo- 
 man, and carefull}'- trained her two 
 little daughters, so far as she knew 
 how, or had time, and was very grate- 
 ful for any good instruction given 
 them by others ; and it was surprising 
 how prettily they behaved for children 
 that were born in the army, and had 
 lived nowhere but amongst soldiers. 
 They were taught their Catechism, 
 12 * 
 
138 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 and hymns, and verses from the scrip- 
 tures, and to say the creed and 
 prayers. But their mother was a fee- 
 ble woman. Frequent voyages, changes 
 of climate, much work, and constant 
 care were wearing her out, and, after 
 awhile, she became unable to sit up, 
 and lingered a patient sufferer, till her 
 earthly house of this tabernacle was 
 dissolved, and her spirit was set free. 
 
 I visited her occasionally, and felt 
 glad of any opportunity to speak com- 
 fortably to one of God’s people; for I 
 hoped she was a child of God. It is 
 a privilege to be able to administer 
 consolation, to encourage a pilgrim in 
 his journey, to lift up one that is cast 
 down, to help another to bear his bur- 
 dens, to speak to one on a bed of lan- 
 guishing of Him who can make all his 
 bed in his sickness, who can make all 
 
THE sergeant’s FAMILY. 139 
 
 things work together for good to them 
 that love him, who can make our light 
 afflictions which are but for a moment, 
 to work for us a far more exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory. 
 
 In her sickness, she was the same 
 uncomplaining person she had been in 
 health ; and it was the life which she 
 had led that gave me hope respecting 
 her, rather than anything remarkable 
 in her appearance during her sickness. 
 She had no ecstasies, and not even 
 strong confidence. She had only a 
 trembling hope. She did not appear 
 to have a very full or clear apprehen- 
 sion of the plan of salvation ; yet it 
 was apparent that she trusted in Jesus 
 to save her; for he came into the 
 world to save sinners, and she was a 
 sinner — he came to seek and to save 
 the lost, and she was lost, and felt that 
 
140 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 Jesus was her only hope — he had in- 
 vited those that labour and are heavy 
 laden to come to him, and he would 
 give them rest, and such was her case, 
 and she had no doubt of the truth of 
 Jesus’ words, and that was the rest she 
 desired, and she hoped to find that 
 rest to her soul. And so her Christian 
 friends hoped. They thought of her 
 in dying, as of one falling asleep in Je- 
 sus — resting from her labours, and, as 
 to her body, resting in hope until the 
 resurrection. 
 
 THINGS NOT IN KEEPING AT A FUNERAL. 
 
 When 1 went to attend the remains 
 to the grave, it was with solemn 
 thoughts, and with the prayer that we 
 might find it better to go to the house 
 of mourning, than to the house of 
 feasting ; and full of pity for the mo- 
 
THINGS AT A FUNERAL. 141 
 
 therless children, and with sympathy 
 for the bereaved husband, for there 
 was evidence of the sincerity and 
 depth of his love for her who had been 
 taken from him. 
 
 But how was I shocked on opening 
 the door of the house, and looking in ! 
 for there were congregated all the ser- 
 geants of that regiment, and many wo- 
 men — not weeping like the widows 
 who mourned for Dorcas — but with 
 cheeks flushed with wine, and still 
 passing more around the room, with 
 comments upon its quality, and calling 
 out for some of another kind, and for 
 mulled wine, and the like. 
 
 This sergeant was rather a promi- 
 nent man amongst his peers. He was 
 a senior in years and in service ; and 
 having the charge of the officer’s mess, 
 he was expected to receive more per- 
 
142 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 quisites, and to be able to appear gen- 
 erous. But what an accompaniment 
 to a funeral ! Such was the custom,” 
 was the excuse. 
 
 There are people who seem to be 
 possessed with the idea that, according 
 as they would be considered to hold in 
 estimation the friends they have lost, 
 so must be the liberality manifested 
 in entertaining those who come to the 
 burial. 
 
 A custom prevails in some countries 
 of feasting the friends and neighbours, 
 who have come to bury the dead from 
 the house, so that, while the funeral 
 services are progressing, the kettles 
 are boiling, and the ovens heating ; and 
 while some of the company are gone to 
 the grave, others must stay behind to 
 lay the tables. We appreciate the de- 
 sire, on the part of the afflicted, to ex- 
 
OF THE SERGEANT HDISELF. 143 
 
 hibit generosity and gratitude to those 
 who have come to show kindness to 
 them, and respect to their dead; but 
 we have not much patience with those 
 who encourage the practice, and evince 
 more gratification at the table, than 
 sympathy at the grave. Such prac- 
 tices are too near akin to the “wake” 
 of the Catholic Irish. When, if not 
 in time of such affliction, does the 
 stricken family need to have quiet, and 
 freedom from cares? Why should the 
 house of mourning be changed so soon 
 into the house of feasting? 
 
 OF THE SERGEANT HIMSELF. 
 
 He and his family were in the ship 
 with us during a perilous voyage up 
 the coast of China. He was, in some 
 respects, a devout man, and meant to 
 be religious : he was evidently anxious 
 
144 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 not to miss heaven ; and wished not to 
 he surprised, and off his watch, when 
 death should come. He was not able 
 to attend many of the religious meet- 
 ings, for he had charge of the officers’ 
 mess, which kept him closely occupied 
 at home, and this, on the Sabbath, as 
 well as other days ; he was even more 
 engaged on the Sabbath than any other 
 day of the week, for on that day 
 more company than usual were ex- 
 pected. Whether he was compelled 
 to take that berth or not, I don’t know; 
 but subordinates and privates in the 
 army cannot always do as a well 
 instructed conscience would dictate, 
 and therefore, one would be inclined to 
 think that a person after praying, 
 “ Lead us not into temptation,” could 
 not consistently go and enter the army, 
 except for some special emergency, and 
 
OF THE SERGEANT HIMSELF. 145 
 
 in hopes that it might be for a short 
 time. 
 
 Our sergeant was not ashamed to 
 avoAV his belief in the Christian religion, 
 and his respect for those who endea- 
 voured to follow Christ, and his full 
 persuasion that there was no way of 
 salvation but that pointed out in the 
 Bible. He had some fear of God be- 
 fore his eyes, and was desirous that his 
 family should have religious privileges, 
 and that his children should be brought 
 up in the fear of God ; and yet, like 
 many others whom we meet, his ac- 
 count of himself, as to faith and hope, 
 was not so satisfactory as could be 
 desired. He would not be able to 
 give such an answer to them who 
 might ask a reason for the hope that 
 was in him, as we would like to hear; 
 and, indeed, when conversed with upon 
 13 
 
146 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 this subject, he ever manifested more 
 fear than hope. Meekness and fear 
 were prominent when he was talking 
 of himself ; he appeared not to trust 
 in himself at all, but only in the mercy 
 of God, and merit of Christ. Humil- 
 ity and sincerity were noticeable 
 marks in his character. Always, when 
 present at meeting, he was a model of 
 a devout worshipper, and attentive 
 hearer. 
 
 An air of devotion accompanied his 
 common expressions of civility, which 
 in these days, and in this country, is 
 almost unknown. No person would be 
 long in his company without remarking 
 his reverence for sacred things, and his 
 recognition of God’s providence. Never 
 did he speak of anything as in his ar- 
 rangements for the future, but it was 
 accompanied by an “ If the Lord will ” — 
 
OF THE SERGEANT HIMSELF. 147 
 
 “ Please God, I will do so or so.” He 
 would never answer your inquiries 
 after the health of his family, but he, 
 at the same time, thanked the Lord for 
 the good report he was able to give 
 such as, “We are all well, thank God 5” 
 and this not, as too many do, carelessly 
 and almost profanely, but in a reveren- 
 tial and hearty manner, which evinced 
 that it was from the heart. 
 
 It was pleasing, on one occasion, to 
 witness his spirit and boldness in de- 
 fending the account of the Dairyman’s 
 daughter. The infidel supercargo, and 
 a loose-living young fellow, a passen- 
 ger, were full of their flings at Chris- 
 tianity, and quite glib in their denun- 
 ciations of the religious sects; some- 
 times charging them with manufac- 
 turing stories about pious people, and 
 happy death-beds, and the like ; all 
 
148 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 for the purpose of working upon the 
 feelings of weak-minded people ; as, 
 for instance, said they, that story of 
 the Dairyman’s daughter — that is all 
 fiction — no such girl as that ever lived. 
 The sergeant had been standing by, 
 leaning his broad back against the bul- 
 warks, and listening in silence till they 
 had finished all they had to say about 
 the Dairyman’s daughter; then stepping 
 a little forward and facing them, he 
 said, “ Beg your pardon, gentlemen, 
 but I know something about that mat- 
 ter myself. I am an Arreton man. I 
 was born in the very parish where that 
 young woman lived, who was Elizabeth 
 Walbridge, the Dairyman’s daughter. 
 I have been to the church where she 
 attended, and know the seat she sat in, 
 and many and many is the time that 1 
 have visited her grave. I have more 
 
WHAT A LOSS TO LOSE A WIFE. 149 
 
 than once read that tract you have 
 been speaking of, and I know that it 
 is true, and the facts related in it are 
 common talk amongst the people of 
 that neighbourhood. The account is 
 true, gentlemen, and you cannot prove 
 it false.” 
 
 His air and manner while saying 
 this was that of a man who felt that 
 not only had the authenticity of a 
 favourite book been attacked, but that 
 his religion had been assailed, and an 
 insult offered to his God; and the 
 scoffers quailed before him. No one 
 Avho saw and heard him doubted that 
 he averred the very things which he 
 had seen and heard. 
 
 WHAT A LOSS IS IT TO LOSE A WIFE. 
 
 When the sergeant’s wife was taken 
 from him he seemed greatly cast 
 13 * 
 
150 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 down, and oppressed with grief and 
 care. “What shall I do — how can I 
 attend to these little girls?” he said. 
 Often did he visit the grave, over which, 
 at great expense, he placed a hand- 
 some monument. Not long afterwards 
 he was prostrated by a stroke of the sun, 
 on a field day, on the parade ground. 
 From this he did not fully recover, 
 and his mind seemed not to be quite 
 right; and his accounts running a little 
 into confusion, and having a great 
 press of business crowding upon him 
 in laying in provisions for a sea voy- 
 age, for the mess of which he had 
 charge, he went nearly distracted, and 
 soon we were shocked by the report that 
 he had attempted suicide. When his 
 little girls awoke one Sabbath morning, 
 they shrieked at the sight of their father 
 lying on the floor in his own blood. 
 
woman’s mission. 151 
 
 He had tried to cut his throat, but had 
 only severed, or partly severed, the 
 windpipe. The surgeons took him in 
 hand, and by his loss of blood, and 
 rest in the hospital, he came to his 
 right mind again. He appeared grieved 
 and humbled for his folly and wicked- 
 ness in attempting self-murder, and 
 was thankful that his Maker and Pre- 
 server did not permit him to finish it; 
 and he prayed for forgiveness, and to 
 be kept back from that, and all pre- 
 sumptuous sins in future. 
 
 woman’s mission. 
 
 I do not by any means expect to 
 exhaust this subject, and tell what is 
 the whole of woman’s mission ; nor yet 
 to give what might be termed a lecture 
 on this theme, but merely to allude to 
 a few things that women may do — 
 
152 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 just to hint at what the influence of 
 woman is; and I will simply tell you 
 of some things which I noticed at Chu- 
 san, and indeed which may be obser- 
 ved everywhere, that a good wife, or 
 a good sister, or a good mother is 
 doing more good in the world than 
 can be estimated, and they are doing 
 it in a quiet, unobtrusive way. It is 
 not woman’s mission to • face the 
 cannon’s mouth — to scale the walls of 
 besieged towns — to clear up the fo- 
 rests, or to break up the prairies — to 
 mingle in the crowds at political gath- 
 erings, nor to sit in legislative halls; 
 but by her influence the men are 
 better fitted to discharge their duties, 
 whatever they may be. On their 
 account, for various reasons which we 
 will not now take time to mention, 
 they have increased motives to be in- 
 
woman’s mission. 
 
 153 
 
 dustrious, sober, and virtuous; and by 
 their influence numbers are kept from 
 the many dangers and snares to which 
 those are exposed who have not a 
 home, and who are not under the re- 
 straint, or do not enjoy the refining 
 influences of virtuous female society. 
 We noticed this amongst the troops. 
 Those officers and soldiers that had 
 their wives with them — wives that 
 were what wives ought to be — were 
 more “regular.” 
 
 In the army, the arrangement, I be- 
 lieve, is that when a regiment is to be 
 sent on foreign service, a limited num- 
 ber of women may be taken along; 
 the number will vary according to the 
 nature of the service on which the 
 army is sent. Sometimes it is one 
 woman to a hundred men, and then 
 the soldiers that have wives are per- 
 
154 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 mitted to draw lots, and he to whom 
 the lot falls takes his wife with him, 
 and all others must leave their wives 
 behind. 
 
 When in barracks, the men with 
 families are permitted to have rooms 
 by themselves, and the women are ex- 
 pected to be ready to make themselves 
 useful in the regiment; for their la- 
 bour they are paid, and that pay is 
 needed to provide them family com- 
 forts. 
 
 The men that had good wives — and 
 it must be admitted that there were 
 some wives that were not good, and 
 oh, how repulsive an object, and how 
 to be pitied is a bad woman ! — but the 
 men that had good wives were gener- 
 ally better men, more regular in their 
 habits, more tidy in their appearance 
 than some others : and the same was oh- 
 
woman’s mission. 
 
 155 
 
 servable in the case of those who had 
 left virtuous wives in India, or in Eng- 
 land. I think too it was to be observed 
 that when men had lost their wives^ 
 where they themselves were not gov- 
 erned by settled principles, and the 
 fear of God, they began to decline 
 somewhat in their habits and appear- 
 ance. And what a blessing is it for 
 a child to have a good mother ! And 
 what a calamity to be born of a 
 wicked mother ! These observations 
 we have occasion to note everywhere, 
 but the examples are perhaps more 
 striking in the army. 
 
 Indeed, the army does not seem to 
 be a place for children at all ; yet if 
 there will be children following their 
 fathers to the camp and to the field, 
 then, for the safety of their morals, 
 and for the sake of their souls, may 
 good mothers be sent with them. 
 
156 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 HER HUSBAND IS KNOWN IN THE GATES. 
 
 Whoever might meet with, or have 
 an opportunity to know much of pri- 
 vate S , would, I fancy, find him- 
 
 self soliloquizing thus, “ I wonder if 
 that man has not a good wife some- 
 w^here ; he’s ahvays so clean and tidy 
 — is not often to be found except 
 where duty calls him; never amongst 
 the loungers ; and perhaps she gov. 
 erns him, but if so, it is only by the 
 force of her loA'^e and gentleness, 
 for he holds up his head and always 
 seems happy.” 
 
 And whoever might see little Johnny 
 would know that he had one of the 
 “best of mothers,” for see, he is a 
 little gentleman — how clean ! how 
 happy ! how nicely he answers your 
 questions ! Never rude, playing con- 
 
HER HUSBAND KNOWN IN GATES. 157 
 
 tentedly by himself; never found in 
 the crowd ; never seen w^th those 
 swearing, fighting boys. And when 
 he conducts you into the house where 
 his mother is busy at her work, you 
 see how he loves her, and how she 
 loves him. How quickly and cheer- 
 fully he does whatever, by look or 
 word, she intimates that she would 
 wish to have done ! 
 
 As 3’et his mother has been able to 
 teach him, and he has not been sent 
 to the army school-master. And we 
 are pleased with the appearance of Mrs. 
 
 S , and wonder why providence 
 
 should have caused her lot to fall in 
 the midst of such scenes. We wmnder 
 why a woman worthy of a better lot, 
 (as in our haste we are apt to say,) 
 and who can find so little in the scenes 
 amid which she has to live in sympa- 
 14 
 
158 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 thy with her feelings and taste, should 
 have to bring up her little boy amid 
 so many of the worst temptations that 
 we can think of. But at the same 
 time we are glad of every good exam- 
 ple. We are thankful for every can- 
 dle on its candlestick dispensing its 
 light ; for every city set on a hill ; any 
 salt that has not lost its savour, and 
 that may help to keep the mass from 
 entire corruption. 
 
 But about Mrs. S . We were 
 
 hoping to find her a decided Christian, 
 and enjoying the comforts of the Chris- 
 tian’s hope. But while in all things 
 her life was exemplary, while she 
 loved to read and hear the scriptures, 
 and loved to pray, and carefully in- 
 structed her child, and seemed to have 
 but one wish concerning him, which 
 was that he might be brought up in the 
 
HER HUSBAND KNOWN IN GATES. 159 
 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord ; 
 yet she had no hope for herself, and 
 remained like one who is seeking 
 Christ sorrowing. I occasionally lent 
 her a book such as I thought might be 
 profitable, and conversed with her as 
 well as I knew how. 
 
 It seemed to me that she was fol- 
 lowing Christ, and if so, I wished she 
 might have all the comfort such a hope 
 might yield. I did not, however, tell 
 her my impressions, but trusted that 
 if, indeed, as one labouring and heavy 
 laden, she had come to Christ, he 
 would give rest to her soul — would re- 
 veal himself to her, and cause his love 
 to be shed abroad in her heart — all in 
 his own good time. 
 
 Soon after my acquaintance began 
 in that quiet little family, the wife and 
 mother was taken down with a linger- 
 
160 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 ing, wasting disease. I called upon 
 her many times. She was very grate- 
 ful for such calls, and no one could be 
 more attentive to religious instruction. 
 She seemed to drink in the word of 
 God, to be hungering and thirsting 
 after righteousness, and appeared to 
 regard it a great privilege to unite with 
 another in prayer. Still, however, she 
 expected better evidence before she 
 would presume to hope that she was 
 reconciled to God. She did not re- 
 member any particular time when she 
 had experienced a change worthy to 
 be called regeneration, for that she 
 thought must be a very great change. 
 It seemed to her that for a person to 
 think himself a Christian, he must be a 
 great deal better than she felt herself 
 to be. The strictness of the law, the 
 holiness of God, and the Bible stan- 
 
HER HUSBAND KNOWN IN GATES. 161 
 
 dard of Christian duty seemed to her 
 very high — while she was constantly 
 transgressing some commandment, and 
 coming short in her endeavours to do 
 right. How could a person with so 
 many foolish and wicked thoughts all 
 the time in his mind, have a renewed 
 heart within him ? Then we spoke 
 to her of Paul’s experience, who found 
 a law in his members warring against 
 the law of his mind, and that when he 
 would do good, evil was present with 
 him. We reminded her that Christ is 
 to he our righteousness, that as our 
 sins are laid on him, so is his righteous- 
 ness laid on us, and so we are complete 
 in him. In ourselves, we are, indeed, 
 wretched, and miserable, and poor, and 
 blind, and naked; hut he becomes unto 
 us wisdom, and righteousness, and 
 sanctification, and redemption. 
 
 14 * 
 
162 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 The very thing we need is to feel 
 our wretchedness and poverty, and ap- 
 ply to Christ to supply all we lack ; 
 and we lack everything. 
 
 We conversed occasionally of the 
 marks of the child of God, of his 
 hopes and fears, joys and sorrows. 
 She was told, however, that it is not 
 necessary for a person always to be 
 vexing himself with the question, whe- 
 ther or not he is converted, but to 
 come to Jesus at once, and we may be 
 sure that if we do come to him he will 
 not cast us off. If we confess our sins, 
 God is faithful and just to forgive us 
 our sins, and to cleanse us from all un- 
 righteousness. Christ invites the la- 
 bouring and heavy laden to come to 
 him for rest, and they need not wait 
 for fitness, but come as they are ; for 
 not the righteous, but sinners it was 
 
HER HUSBAND KNOWN IN GATES. 163 
 
 that Jesus came to call. And we have 
 to come to Jesus every day, and all 
 the time ; the faith at first required in 
 coming to him, we need to have in con- 
 stant exercise to keep us near him. 
 We need not only to be born again by 
 faith, but every day we must be living 
 the life of faith. 
 
 She said that sometimes she thought 
 she did try to do all this ; but, she 
 said, she was very ignorant, and feared 
 she never would be able to understand 
 much about these things which belong 
 to the kingdom of God. 
 
 It was pretty evident that, like 
 Mary, she did love to sit where she 
 might hear the words of Jesus ; but, 
 as yet, there was nothing that seemed 
 to say to her that, like Mary, she had 
 chosen that good part that might not be 
 taken away from her : but, as to being 
 
164 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 careful and troubled about many things, 
 she thought she was not ; though for 
 her husband and for her Johnny she 
 allowed that she had some anxiety ; 
 for, when she should be here no more, 
 who would take the care of them that 
 she had done ? Would her dear child 
 be trained in the love and service of 
 God ? Oh, it was so dreadful for her 
 to think that he might forget all her 
 instructions, and learn to curse and 
 swear, and keep company with scoffers! 
 She would be glad to live that she 
 might take care of her family, and do 
 some little good, perhaps, for others, 
 and be better prepared herself to 
 die ; but yet she hoped she might not 
 complain, for God did all things right, 
 and he had always been so good to her 
 — she had so many mercies, so many 
 good things, so many comforts, that 
 
HER HUSBAND KNOWN IN GATES. 165 
 
 many another woman in the barracks 
 did not have. 
 
 She continued much in the state of 
 mind of which I have spoken until she 
 was borne on board a vessel bound to 
 India ; though, as her health declined, 
 there did seem to be some faint dawn- 
 ing of light in her soul. She was 
 asked, if, in view of death she could 
 not say, “ Lord, into thy hand I com- 
 mend my spirit.” She thought she 
 could ; she thought she did. She was 
 told that that was all we could do, and 
 all we need to do ; that the Christian 
 can do no more. The thief on the 
 cross could only say, “ Lord, remember 
 me when thou comest into thy king- 
 dom.” 
 
 She was asked, if she did not like 
 to think of God as a Father, and if she 
 did not wish to be his child. 
 
166 
 
 SCENES IN CHTSAN. 
 
 She answered, that she could truly 
 say she did; and said, moreover, that 
 there was comfort in the thought that 
 there could be such a relation, and felt 
 thankful that we were taught when we 
 pray to say, “ Our Father which art in 
 heaven,” and if she could only feel 
 that she was a child of God she would 
 be so happy. 
 
 An inquiry then was suggested whe- 
 ther there might not be in that desire 
 something of the spirit of adoption, 
 which God sends into the hearts of 
 his people teaching them to cry, Abba, 
 Father. 
 
 I may be right, or I may be wrong; 
 but I have been accustomed to think 
 of her as one whose transgression is 
 hid, whose sin is covered. She seemed 
 desirous to forsake all and follow 
 Christ. 
 
MRS. C- 
 
 167 
 
 She died at sea, I think, and though 
 her body was laid down in the dark 
 and silent chambers of the ocean, yet 
 I have a hope for her that her dust is 
 precious to Christ, and that when the 
 sea gives up its dead, she will have 
 part with those who shall be taken up 
 to be for ever with the Lord. 
 
 MRS. c 
 
 Was so clean and industrious, so 
 kind and obliging, and so ready at all 
 kinds of work, and a truly pious 
 woman withal, that a great many 
 ladies tried to procure her services. 
 Some sent for her to come and live for 
 awhile in their families with the pro- 
 mise of liberal wages. But she was a 
 good wife too; too good a wife to 
 allow her home — her little room — to 
 be for even one night without the 
 
168 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 attractions which her industry and 
 cleanliness, and her own smiles and 
 kind words could give it. She was 
 not willing that her husband should, 
 even for one evening, have an excuse 
 or temptation to seek entertainment 
 elsewhere than at home. How well 
 would it be if all wives were like this 
 one, whose study was to make home at- 
 tractive! Then would there be fewer 
 husbands and sons disposed to look for 
 entertainment in taverns, and saloons, 
 and at theatres and kindred places. 
 
 It was an old Buddhist temple that 
 was occupied as quarters by some of 
 the married people; and though pic- 
 turesque, and neatly kept while they 
 were used as temples, now they were 
 much mutilated and fast going to 
 decay, and the quarters of some of the 
 women were desolate and cheerless 
 
MRS. C . 
 
 169 
 
 enough; and the inmates in some 
 cases would attempt to excuse the 
 untidy appearance of their habitations 
 by saying, “It’s such an old, dirty 
 place, sir — there’s little to encourage 
 one to try and fix up, and it’s for so 
 short a time too, one doesn’t feel like 
 going to much expense to get things 
 to look respectable.” But just along- 
 side of those who thus excused them- 
 selves was the room of Mrs. C , 
 
 clean, wholesome, and cheerful; con- 
 taining, it is true, but few articles of 
 furniture; but these tastefully ar- 
 ranged, and all appeared as if the 
 inmates might be happy. The Bible 
 and hymn book occupied a convenient 
 place, and gave evidence of being 
 kept, not for ornament, but for use. 
 
 It was in this room that the last 
 season of prayer with the little band 
 15 
 
170 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 of praying soldiers and the pious 
 women was held, just before their em- 
 barkation for another country, and for 
 other scenes of duty and of suffering. 
 It was with them a time of weeping. 
 There is sorrow when Christians have 
 to part, but those sorrows are min- 
 gled with joy in the hope of meeting 
 again. 
 
 THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE. 
 
 “Rejoice with those that do rejoice, 
 and weep with those that weep.” It 
 was pleasing to witness how promptly, 
 and as if by a new instinct, the Chris- 
 tian soldiers were wont to practise 
 what is enjoined in these words. 
 
 A young man, a member of the 
 band, whose uniform was a buff coat 
 and pants, with scarlet trimmings and 
 with some polished brass, was a regu- 
 
THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE, 171 
 
 lar attendant at all the meetings. He 
 usually, when present, led the singing ; 
 a young man of a pleasant, honest 
 face, and meek and quiet in his man- 
 ners. 
 
 We had learned that he had a wife 
 at Hong Kong, who, when his company 
 was sent north, was left there because 
 there were not accommodations in the 
 ship for any but the men. 
 
 But by and by there was a report 
 that a vessel with recruits and with re- 
 stored invalid soldiers, and the women 
 left behind, was coming up, and that 
 the musician’s wife was of the num- 
 ber ; and our soldiers talked with each 
 other about it as “ good news.” ‘‘And 
 did you hear,” they would say, “ did 
 
 5mu hear that R ’s wife is coming?” 
 
 The husband’s joy was apparent in 
 his face, and in his lighter step ; and 
 
172 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 all were glad for him, and wished him 
 much happiness in the prospect of a 
 speedy reunion. The south-west mon- 
 soon soon brought the expected ship 
 among the islands ; eager eyes de- 
 scried her from the hill-tops; on a 
 flowing tide she rode into the harbour. 
 There were appointed officers to board 
 her even before she came to anchor, 
 and our friend was soon quite happy, 
 for he heard that his wife was indeed 
 on board ; and soon he had her con- 
 veyed ashore. But, poor fellow ! his 
 rejoicing was to be short. His great 
 joy was to be succeeded by a greater 
 sorrow. The rumour of his wife’s dis- 
 honour followed her ashore ; even her 
 seducer published it, and taunted the 
 injured husband with it. Whata brute ! 
 worse than a brute ! But amongst 
 such loathsome creatures must all 
 
THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE, 
 
 173 
 
 those dwell eternally who fail of ad- 
 mittance into heaven. See Rev. xxii. 
 15. The seducer of the wife taunted 
 the injured husband, and he had no 
 means of resenting; or repelling the 
 insult, or of punishing the crime, ex- 
 cept such as a Christian would not re- 
 sort to. 
 
 And now again we saw how when 
 one member suffers all the members 
 suffer with it. How apparent, and how 
 touching was the sympathy of those 
 Christian brethren ! Their brother’s 
 affliction was an affliction to them ; the 
 sorrow he felt, they, in some measure, 
 felt with him. They felt for him be- 
 cause of the disgrace which had come 
 upon him in consequence of the shame- 
 ful conduct of his wife ; they sympa- 
 thized with him in the shock which 
 his heart had felt. As far as possible 
 15 * 
 
174 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 they would place themselves between 
 him and the brutal fellows who made 
 sport of his affliction. 
 
 How to be pitied was this young man ! 
 He must continue to live with that 
 woman who had forsaken him for 
 strangers, and he must still hear her 
 called his wife, though she had com- 
 mitted that crime which the scriptures 
 make sufficient ground for separation. 
 He would, for a while at least, have 
 to endure the evil ; for in the army, 
 and on foreign service, many things 
 are managed differently from what 
 they are where appeal may be had to 
 the civil courts. 
 
 But he did not neglect religious 
 duties, nothing like these troubles 
 could keep him from mingling with 
 his brethren in the worship of God; he 
 seemed glad of such a refuge and rest 
 
THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE. 
 
 175 
 
 for his stricken spirit. How sorrow- 
 ful he seemed ! how pale and sunken 
 those cheeks, usually so fresh and full ! 
 Still he sung for us, but with a voice 
 which betrayed the sadness of the 
 heart. There was, however, an ex- 
 pression of calm and Christian resig- 
 nation; a something which seemed to 
 say, “It is the Lord, let him do as 
 seemeth him good.” 
 
 He did not speak to me of his trou- 
 bles, nor did I think it best just then 
 to speak to him of them; yet it was 
 practicable and proper so to shape 
 some parts of the religious services, 
 and select such portions of the word 
 of God that such a smitten one as he 
 might receive some drops of the balm 
 of Gilead — might hear of Him who 
 wounds that he may heal — of him 
 who is the refuge of his saints. 
 
176 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 Oh, how hateful and loathsome is 
 the sin which that unfaithful wife com- 
 mitted ! What wretchedness she caused 
 others, and what injury she brought 
 to her own soul! How was joy turned 
 to weeping, and sweetness to gall and 
 wormwood ! 
 
 See, then, and remember how im- 
 portant is that commandment which 
 “forbids all unchaste thoughts, words, 
 and actions.” 
 
 When we see human nature thus, 
 and in other abominable ways devel- 
 oping itself — laying bare some marks 
 of its total depravity — showing what 
 works it delights in; when we see or 
 hear of human beings who are past 
 feeling, and have given themselves 
 over to lasciviousness, and to work un- 
 cleanness, we may almost be ready to 
 deny that we have any part of that 
 
THE SERGEANT AND THE CORPORAL. 177 
 
 nature. But to our shame we must 
 own that by nature our hearts are as 
 vile as those of any people, and should 
 God at any time withdraw his re- 
 straining grace, we would become as 
 sensual and devilish as the worst. 
 Therefore how earnestly should we 
 pray to be kept back from presump- 
 tuous sins ! How should we pray 
 God not to take his Holy Spirit from 
 us, but to create in us a clean heart, 
 and to renew a right spirit within us ! 
 
 This poor woman was a victim of 
 the cholera in India soon after their 
 arrival there. 
 
 SERGEANT R , AND CORPORAL C . 
 
 These were artillerymen, in the ser- 
 vice of the East India company — men 
 in middle life, and never, to my know- 
 ledge, on the sick list. As intimated 
 
178 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 before, it was the intemperate that 
 were most frequently under the sur- 
 geon’s and apothecary’s care. 
 
 Corporal C was lively, always 
 
 in good spirits, communicative, and 
 when he could not think of one thing 
 he could of another; not obtrusive, by 
 any means, but he took a pleasure in 
 relating what he had s^en, presuming 
 that all other people were as much in- 
 terested in hearing, as he in telling ; 
 and though he was apparently uncon- 
 scious of possessing any uncommon 
 powers of description, yet he would 
 lead one on with him amidst all the 
 wild scenes through which he had 
 passed, and his auditors with himself 
 saw, heard, and felt over again what 
 had taken place in the months and 
 years gone by. 
 
 Sergeant R- 
 
 was no less good 
 
THE SERGEANT AND THE CORPORAL. 179 
 
 natured, and no less fond of company 
 than C ; yet, I think, he was some- 
 
 what more particular in the choice of 
 his companions, and regarded his com- 
 rade as a little too much given to talk- 
 ing, and not always quite so serious as 
 he ought to be. 
 
 R seldom undertook a descrip- 
 
 tion ; his tongue could not get loose ; 
 and his references to the past were by 
 
 brief allusions. C lived much in 
 
 the past, R , more in the present ; 
 
 while C also enjoyed the present, 
 
 and was hopeful as to the future. 
 
 I seem just now to see these men 
 walking together in their blue uniform, 
 white belts, the red stripes down the 
 outside of their pants, moving exactly 
 together, their heels striking the pave- 
 ment precisely at the same instant. 
 But, unlike many soldiers, they were 
 
180 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 not absolutely as upright as a palm 
 
 tree, for, while R had seemingly 
 
 a slight inclination backward, C 
 
 had about the same pitch forward, and 
 so they were pretty well matched after 
 all ; for the ardour and impulsiveness 
 of the one was steadied by the mode- 
 ration of the other ; the preciseness 
 of one was set off by the ease of the 
 other. One was conservative, the other 
 sanguine ; one gave you his sober 
 second thought, the other thought 
 quick and spoke quick. 
 
 Both these men were converted in 
 India, through the instrumentality of 
 Christian missionaries there, and they 
 took a lively interest in the missionary 
 work, and read with a relish the mis- 
 sionary periodicals, and were accus- 
 tomed to say that it became them to 
 favour that cause, and to bless the 
 
THE SERGEANT AND THE CORPORAL. 181 
 
 Lord for having sent missionaries to 
 India; else what would have become 
 of them ? They seemed fond of talk- 
 ing of the influence of the gospel in 
 India, of what they had witnessed of 
 its power upon the natives of India, of 
 the change wrought in many of them, 
 and of the influence which was flowing 
 out from the mission schools. 
 
 You may therefore think of these 
 two men as some of the fruits of the 
 incidental labours of Christian mission- 
 aries in India. When you sit down to 
 count up the results of foreign missions, 
 you may reckon up many other things 
 besides those that are recorded in the 
 regular and strictly missionary reports. 
 And let those who are in that work 
 still go on sowing beside all waters. 
 
 Both R and C were mar- 
 
 ried men; their wives were Anglo-In- 
 16 
 
182 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 dians, and still in India. They were 
 faithful husbands, and it was gratifying 
 to hear now and then of their procu- 
 ring presents to send to their wives, or 
 carry to them on their return. 
 
 It was edifying to join with these 
 men in social prayer ; and in social in- 
 tercourse, it was both interesting and 
 profitable to hear from them some ac- 
 count of their Christian warfare. 
 
 R lamented his exposure to so 
 
 much temptation, and his having to 
 live where he must continually see so 
 much wickedness going on. He had 
 no taste for the work of war, and he 
 wished to be in circumstances where 
 he would not be constrained to do 
 what conscience condemned. He was 
 looking anxiously forward to the period 
 when he should get his discharge, and 
 retire to other and quieter pursuits, 
 
THE SERGEANT AND THE CORPORAL 183 
 
 and when there would be less to inter- 
 rupt his meditations on religious sub- 
 jects. But C seemed not to have 
 
 had a thought that he was not enjoying 
 religion then, and where he was, as 
 well as he could at any other time or 
 anywhere. True, there were many 
 things he could wish were different, 
 but ought we not to be content with 
 such things as we have ? Matters 
 might be worse with us than they are, 
 he would argue. He had his Bible, he 
 said, and much quiet time to read it. 
 If in the barracks, when he had got 
 out his book some nois}" fellows should 
 begin playing cards close beside him, 
 why he could soon get away from 
 them and take refuge under the wall 
 of the fort, or make a gun carriage his 
 seat ; or he could pick up a compan- 
 ion and be away for a walk, and they 
 
184 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 two together could talk of what they 
 had enjoyed, and of what they hoped 
 hereafter to enjoy; and in some secluded 
 spot they could kneel and pray ; and 
 those were precious seasons, when 
 they had joys which the world knew 
 not of. Such a man was C , stri- 
 
 ving to serve God everywhere, and to 
 make the best of his circumstances ; 
 and when the bugle sounded “ boot 
 and saddle,” no man was quicker in his 
 
 place than C , or more wide awake 
 
 to do his duty : wherever he might be 
 placed, it should not be said that he 
 was either afraid or indifferent. 
 
 THE TWO FRIENDS. 
 
 S and P , were two young 
 
 men of a regiment of infantry, and 
 generally seen together, when they 
 could obtain liberty at the same time. 
 
THE TWO FRIENDS. 
 
 185 
 
 One was somewhat taller than the 
 other, and when they walked in com- 
 pany it was after the manner of sol- 
 diers on a forced march, with bodies 
 pitching forward, as though they had 
 but a limited time to get to a certain 
 place and back again before the beat 
 of the drum. 
 
 Their parents were members of the 
 Baptist church in England, and they 
 favoured that denomination. They 
 were faithful men, and exemplary in 
 every respect. It was worth some- 
 thing to observe how firmly they re- 
 sisted temptation ; how, like a flint 
 their faces were set, and how steadily 
 they journeyed Zionward; how harm- 
 lessly the fiery darts of the adversary 
 fell upon them, for they were clad with 
 the Christian warrior’s panoply. 
 
 They were young men, and unmar- 
 16 * 
 
 
186 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN, 
 
 ried, and at the age when many excuse 
 themselves from giving attention to the 
 things which relate to the kingdom of 
 heaven, by the plea that youth is the 
 time for enjoyment: that is, for worldly 
 pleasures. But these young men 
 professed to find more enjoyment in 
 religion than they had ever found in 
 all the pleasures of the world, whether 
 in scenes of gaiety, in the wild sports 
 of boys, in any sensual gratifications, 
 or exciting games or exercises. And 
 why should they profess this unless 
 they felt it? 
 
 Why should they adopt the Chris- 
 tian profession in the face of serious 
 opposition, unless they felt it both a 
 privilege and a duty? Why should 
 they persevere in their attendance 
 upon religious exercises, unless they 
 found some delight in them ? 
 
THE TWO FRIENDS. 
 
 187 
 
 If they still loved sport and worldly 
 amusements, the way was open for them 
 to engage in them equally as for others, 
 and the popular current flowed in that 
 way, and the chief study of many of 
 the officers and men seemed to be 
 the invention of new pleasures, and 
 pastimes ; there were horse races and 
 boat races, theatres, billiard tables, 
 sham fights ; and Chinese rope-dancers, 
 and players were employed to afford 
 diversion to those whose time was 
 hanging heavily on their hands ; and 
 if our young friends still had a relish 
 for these things, why did they so uni- 
 formly turn away from them as from 
 that which is distasteful ? 
 
 Why should they choose to be singu- 
 lar, and expose themselves to unnum- 
 bered petty persecutions? To be a 
 meeting-goer, and to pray and sing 
 
188 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 psalms was, in the slang phrase of the 
 army, to be a methodist ; and to be a 
 methodist was to be everything that 
 was spiritless and contemptible. The 
 pious soldier had to bear many annoy- 
 ances, and such opposition as people 
 living in a Christian land, and in the 
 midst of a church-going community, 
 know very little about. 
 
 We do not say, however, that all 
 persons, that may for a time pursue the 
 course which these persons did, are 
 necessarily renewed in heart. But 
 where they give evidence of really 
 loving religious duties, and of loving 
 them more and more, and continuing 
 on and on in the way of holiness, and 
 are endeavouring more and more to re- 
 nounce all ungodliness and every world- 
 ly lust, and to live soberly and rightr 
 eously and godly in this present world, 
 
THE TWO FRIENDS. 
 
 189 
 
 we are encouraged to hope that they 
 have been born again. Often have I 
 asked myself, what \vas there in that 
 little prayer-meeting, the exercises of 
 which consisted in reading the scrip- 
 tures, Avith a short lecture or exhorta- 
 tion, prayer and singing; and this 
 in a quiet room in a retired situation, 
 and unaccompanied with noise and nov- 
 elties which attract many — what Avas 
 there in those meetings that those 
 young men should Avalk one and a half 
 miles on a rainy night, or on a sultry 
 summer evening, and often when they 
 had barely time to get to the place, sit 
 the meeting through, and get back 
 again in season to answer to the roll- 
 call in the barracks ; and this sometimes 
 after the labours of a field day, or 
 other fatiguing exercise, Avhile others 
 resorted to the Canteen to sip beer and 
 tell stories ? 
 
190 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 There must have been for them some 
 enjoyment to be had at those meetings 
 which others could not find there. 
 They found in religious worship plea- 
 sures which the worldling knows 
 nothing of. They had meat to eat of 
 which the world did not know. There 
 must have been some inner life in 
 them which demanded, and which fed 
 upon such spiritual food — which hun- 
 gered and thirsted after righteousness 
 — which found the word of God sweet 
 to its taste — which found congenial 
 society with those who talked of Christ 
 and his doctrines, of the church and 
 the character and duties of its mem- 
 bers, of heaven and its glories; else, 
 how was it they continued to study 
 the Bible, and with an increasing 
 relish? how did they come to have a 
 taste for such writings as those of 
 
THE LAST TIME. 
 
 191 
 
 Doddridge and Baxter, and works on 
 religious experience, on keeping the 
 heart, and biographies of pious people, 
 while others disliked all these things — 
 preferring the beer pot and the pipe 
 and a jovial companion to praying and 
 psalm-singing — preferring newspapers, 
 criminal calendars, turf registers, sto- 
 ries or travels to religious reading ? 
 
 He that is of the earth is earthly — 
 the carnal heart will seek carnal en- 
 joyment; but he that is born from 
 above will be seeking those things 
 which are above. He that is born of 
 God, in proportion as he adA’ances 
 in holiness, will more and more 
 find pleasure in the things which are 
 heavenly. 
 
 THE LAST TIME. 
 
 As the period which had been fixed 
 
192 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 upon for vacating the island drew 
 near, the pious soldiers seemed more 
 intent on improving the religious pri- 
 A'ileges which were now within their 
 reach; they appeared more greedy (if 
 I may speak thus) for religious in- 
 struction, giving the closest attention 
 to preaching, and seeking opportu- 
 nities for private conversation. A 
 few began to attend the prayer meet- 
 ings who had hitherto not been pre- 
 sent ; among these was a young man, 
 indeed he was but a stripling in his 
 appearance, with fair hair, and a 
 beardless face. He had been brought 
 out in the last draft of recruits. From 
 the first he was attentive, and grew 
 more and more interested in religious 
 subjects, till at length he was unable 
 to conceal his distress, for unbidden 
 tears would reveal his emotion; and 
 
THE LAST TIME. 
 
 193 
 
 at times when he tarried for private 
 conversation, after others had with- 
 drawn, his distress was uncontrollable. 
 He had begun to fear that God could 
 not forgive him, for he was so great a 
 sinner, and the more he prayed for 
 pardon, and sought for a reconciliation 
 with God, the more did former sins 
 and present wickedness rise up before 
 him, and he feared that he must be lost. 
 He felt that he deserved to be sent to 
 hell, and he had so long persisted in 
 the ways of transgression, and put off 
 repentance so many times, that now it 
 seemed that God would leave him to 
 perish ; and he was the more led to 
 think so, because for some time he had 
 been trying, as he thought, to obtain 
 peace by confessing his sins, and im- 
 ploring forgiveness, and God would not 
 be gracious ; so that he feared that that 
 17 
 
194 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 scripture was fulfilled in his case which 
 says, “ Because I have called and ye 
 refused, * * * i also will laugh at 
 
 your calamity ; * * * then shall they 
 call upon me, but I will not answer.” 
 He was afraid he had sinned too long, 
 and too grievously, and so many times 
 had turned away his ears when he had 
 heard invitations and warnings, so 
 that now when he called, God would 
 not hear him. 
 
 Some passages of scripture were re- 
 peated, or pointed out to him, in which 
 God assures us that he is plenteous in 
 mercy ; that there is forgiveness with 
 him ; that if we confess our sins, he is 
 faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
 and to cleanse us from all unrighteous- 
 ness. We laboured to convince him 
 of the pity of God for the sinner, that 
 because he loved us he provided a way 
 
THE LAST TIME. 
 
 195 
 
 of salvation, and that there is plente- 
 ous redemption, that the chief of sin- 
 ners need not fear, that Christ is able 
 and willing to save to the uttermost all 
 that come unto God by him. But he 
 continued on in nearly the same state 
 of mind for several weeks, searching 
 the scriptures, reading religious books 
 that, if possible, he might get some 
 more knowledge as to how he might 
 find the way of life, and attending all 
 the meetings. He avoided the com- 
 pany of the ungodly, and kept with 
 the pious people as much as it was 
 possible, and seemed to say, like Ruth 
 to her mother-in-law, “ Thy people 
 shall be my people, and thy God my 
 God.” Still he continued seeking sal- 
 vation — still feeling his sins a burden 
 — still labouring and heavy laden, and, 
 as he thought, striving to come, or to 
 
196 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 learn how he might be able to come, to 
 Christ, that he might find rest to his 
 soul. 
 
 He remained in this state of mind, 
 still striving, or begging to be told how 
 he should strive, to enter in at the 
 strait gate, on till the day previous to 
 that fixed upon as the day for the em- 
 barkation, when he suddenly appeared 
 in my study. 
 
 It was in the middle of the after- 
 noon ; the perspiration was streaming 
 down his face, for the day was hot : 
 his eyes were red with weeping, and 
 as soon as he entered the room he be- 
 gan sobbing — he could not help it — 
 and it was some time ere he could 
 speak. But, b}'’ and by, he began by 
 telling how he had been troubled, and 
 he found his uneasiness and anxiety 
 increasing as the time of their stay 
 
THE LAST TIME. 
 
 197 
 
 here grew shorter. In the place to 
 which they were going there might not 
 he any such religious privileges, as he 
 had now, and he felt more and more, 
 his need of an instructor in religious 
 matters. They were, moreover, to 
 proceed immediately to the seat of 
 war, to go into action, and he was as 
 likely to be killed as any other man ; 
 or the cholera might seize him, or in- 
 deed he might die at any time; and 
 he was not prepared to die. And 
 there were other matters pressing on 
 his mind, and he had longed for an- 
 other interview with me, and, though 
 the men were all on duty, he had ob- 
 tained leave for a short absence. And 
 as he was hurrying up — almost run- 
 ning — he had met the Brigadier at the 
 city gate, who stopped him with, 
 “ Hold, there ! where now ?” to which 
 17 * 
 
198 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 he answered, “ I have leave, sir — I am 
 just going to see the minister.” “Go- 
 ing to see the minister, eh ? Well, my 
 lad, improve your opportunity — make 
 the most of this visit, for it’s your last 
 chance — it’s the last time, my boy.” 
 “ And oh, sir !” said the young soldier, 
 “ oh, sir ! I can’t help thinking of 
 that. It is, indeed 1 know it is the 
 last time that I may come here for in- 
 struction; but what the Brigadier said, 
 made me fear too that may-be this is 
 the last opportunity! can have to pre- 
 pare to die ; and his words that he 
 spake, as I met him at the gate, kept 
 ringing in my ears, and sir — oh, sir! 
 I wish I could know what I ought to 
 do to be saved !” 
 
 I took up those words which had 
 startled him, and which the Spirit 
 seemed to have shot like an arrow into 
 
THE LAST TIME. 
 
 199 
 
 his heart. I endeavoured to impress 
 upon him the importance of that very 
 moment, that then was the accepted 
 time, and the day of salvation. I 
 urged him to submit to God. To say 
 to Jesus, Lord, save me or I perish — to 
 give up trying to save himself and 
 trust in Jesus to save him, which he 
 alone could do, and which he was 
 willing to do, and that just now ; and 
 this, he was told, was his duty whether 
 he was to stay where he was, or go to 
 India — whether he was to live yet for 
 fifty years, or die to-morrow. 
 
 He said, he knew that ; he had been 
 told that many times, but yet he did 
 not see as he was getting any nearer to 
 being a Christian than ever he was, and 
 he had begun to think that may-be 
 there was some particular thing in the 
 way ; and there was one thing he had 
 
200 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 been thinking about, and respecting 
 ■which he had been for many days want- 
 ing to ask me, and it was this, whether 
 it might not be his being a soldier that 
 hindered his getting in at the strait 
 gate ? 
 
 He had thought that may-be God 
 was so displeased with his enlisting 
 that he would never forgive him. 
 “ And, sir,” said he, “ another matter has 
 troubled me. Suppose I go into action, 
 and my shot kills a man, or many men 
 — that is sending men into eternity, 
 and men who are as unprepared to die 
 as I am. Oh, it makes me feel bad — 
 it distresses me, sir. I never thought 
 of these things much before I enlisted, 
 and now I think of them when it is too 
 late. How I wish I had kept clear of 
 the army ! I would like, sir, to have 
 you tell me what you think; can a 
 
THE LAST TIME. 
 
 201 
 
 soldier be a Christian, and can a Chris- 
 tian go into battle, and kill his fellow 
 men, and be a good Christian still ?” 
 
 1 was sorry to have that subject 
 introduced, and to be asked such 
 questions just then, for it was rather 
 a large subject, and he had but a few 
 minutes longer to stay, and besides it 
 looked like a diversion of his thoughts 
 from that on which his mind was so 
 intensely exercised when he first came 
 in; however, I turned to Luke iii. 14, 
 and there showed him John’s answer 
 to the soldiers when they demanded 
 of him, saying, “And what shall we 
 do ? And he said unto them. Do 
 violence to no man, neither accuse any 
 falsely ; and be content with your 
 wages.” It appears, then, I said, that 
 John did not direct them to leave the 
 army, but to acquit themselves faith- 
 
202 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 fully to their masters, to be conscien- 
 tious in the discharge of every duty 
 in the place and circumstances in 
 which providence had cast their lot 
 for the present. I mentioned the case 
 of Cornelius, a captain in the Roman 
 army, who was converted, and by one 
 of the apostles was baptized and re- 
 ceived to the church, and we have no 
 intimation that any objection was 
 raised on the ground of his being in 
 the army. As for myself, I said, I 
 should never choose a military life, and 
 would not wish any of my friends, in 
 ordinary times, to enter the army ; or 
 if I had friends in the army, I should 
 wash them to leave it as soon as they 
 might do so honourably. There have 
 been times, and there may be again, 
 when Christian men were or may be 
 called to take up arms for the preser- 
 
THE LAST TIME. 
 
 203 
 
 ration of their liberties, civil or reli- 
 gious ; but just now he need not trou- 
 ble himself with any of these ques- 
 tions, for here he was ; he was a sol- 
 dier, and it was out of his power for 
 the present to alter his condition ; he 
 was a soldier, and it was better to be a 
 good soldier than a bad soldier ; and 
 as a soldier it was better to be a good 
 man than a bad man ; being a soldier 
 need not make him a bad man ; being 
 a soldier need not hinder him from 
 being an eminently godly man. There 
 have been good soldiers; there are 
 such now. Soldiers have been con- 
 verted, and he might be. Some of the 
 most exemplary Christians that I have 
 ever known perhaps, I have found in 
 the army, and so could he while in the 
 army, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, 
 and the diligent use of every means 
 
204 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 of grace lead a life of eminent godli- 
 ness. Wherever he might be, it was 
 his duty at once to become reconciled 
 to God ; and at the same time it was 
 his duty to acquit himself faithfully 
 in whatever situation providence had 
 cast his lot ; but as soon as a way 
 might be opened for him to get an hon- 
 ourable discharge he might improve it. 
 The mere fact of his being a soldier 
 was not in the way of his becoming a 
 follower of Christ ; that was no reason 
 why he should fear that God could not 
 forgive him. But let us now, said I, 
 think again of what we first began 
 talking about, that now is the ac- 
 cepted time, that now God command- 
 eth all men everywhere to repent. 
 Think that this may indeed be your 
 last time — this may be the last call of 
 God — the Spirit may be striving with 
 
THE LAST TIME. 
 
 205 
 
 you for the last time. So long as you 
 remain away from Christ and without 
 rest to your soul, there is something in 
 the way on }'-our own part; it may 
 not be your being in the army, but it 
 may be some sin you are clinging to, 
 or covering up, or you are depending 
 on some goodness of your own. You 
 must confess all your sins, and forsake 
 them, and trust wholly in the merit 
 and intercession of Christ. Say, “ God 
 be merciful to me a sinner” — look to 
 the Lamb of God to take away }mur 
 sins — say, “ Lord, I believe, help thou 
 my unbelief” — “ Lord, to whom shall 
 I go but unto thee ? thou hast the 
 words of eternal life.” 
 
 But his time was up, and I might 
 not detain him longer. We kneeled 
 in prayer. It was a solemn season : 
 he felt it so. His distress all returned 
 18 
 
206 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 upon him. We arose. He reached 
 one hand for his cap, and gave the 
 other in saying farewell. It was a 
 tearful parting, but I was not without 
 hope that there might be a joyful 
 meeting by and by. He was candid, 
 and apparently determined to seek 
 till he should find, to knock till it 
 should be opened to him. It seemed 
 that the Spirit was leading him; and 
 there was reason to hope that he 
 might be brought into the glorious 
 liberty of the children of God: and 
 when I entreated him finally not to 
 distrust God, but to believe that he 
 was still standing with open arms to 
 receive every prodigal that will return 
 to him, he seemed to believe it, and to 
 feel a pleasure in believing it; and 
 though his face was wet with tears, 
 there seemed, as it were, some rays of 
 
THE LAST TIME. 
 
 207 
 
 hope enkindling in his eyes and play- 
 ing about his lips, like the golden 
 beams of the sun breaking through 
 the clouds, and gilding the rain drops. 
 
 It was not an uncommon thing for 
 the pious soldiers to think about their 
 occupation, and wonder if the army 
 was the proper place for a Christian. 
 One young man particularly used to tell 
 his thoughts, and once repeated what 
 he had heard that Wellington was re- 
 ported to have said, “that a man with 
 nice religious scruples has no business 
 in the army.” But whether Wellington 
 had said that or not, this young man, in 
 common with many others, often found 
 himself placed in circumstances, and 
 ordered on duties, which, had he been 
 his own master, he could not have ap- 
 proved; and it was a comfort to me 
 that I could be able to find a ‘definite 
 
208 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 and a scriptural answer for such trou- 
 bled consciences, such as that already 
 quoted from Luke, and another from 
 1 Cor. vii. 20 — 24, which will do for 
 other relations besides that of the ser- 
 vant. ‘‘Let every man abide in the 
 same calling wherein he was called. 
 Art thou called being a servant? care 
 not for it; but if thou mayest be 
 free, use it rather. For he that is 
 called in the Lord, being a servant, is 
 the Lords freeman: likewise als;o he 
 that is called, being free, is Christ’s 
 servant. Ye are bought with a price; 
 be ye not the servants of men. Breth- 
 ren, let every man wherein he is called 
 therein abide with God.” If the soldier 
 can obtain a release honourably, let him 
 do it; but for the present it is plain 
 that he is to attend to all present 
 duties; always remembering what is 
 
A THANKFUL HEARER. 
 
 209 
 
 required in the Fifth Commandment, 
 That we “preserve the honour, and per- 
 form the duties, belonging to every 
 one in their several places and rela- 
 tions, as superiors, inferiors, or equals.” 
 
 A THANKFUL HEARER. 
 
 Among the many things that were 
 crowded into those busy days, when 
 the foreigners who had been residing 
 at Chusan were preparing to remove, 
 and the Chinese officers were resuming 
 command of the island, and were 
 making the streets to resound, and the 
 people to tremble, with the clang of 
 gongs, and the shrill cry of those who, 
 when an officer goes abroad in his 
 sedan, precede him as heralds, to 
 clear the road, and to “prepare his 
 way we not yet knowing whether 
 we might still remain upon the island 
 18 * 
 
210 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 after it should be given up by the 
 English, or whether we too would be 
 compelled to pack up and hasten 
 aw’ay to join our mission on the main- 
 land — amongst the many interesting 
 occurrences of those days was the re- 
 ceipt of a note from a soldier who had 
 of late been frequent in his atten- 
 dance on divine service, and a close 
 listener when present; with whom, 
 however, I had not a particular ac- 
 quaintance, nor had I conversed with 
 him especially on religious subjects. 
 His note was to thank me for the re- 
 ligious instruction which he had re- 
 ceived, and which he trusted had been 
 blessed to his conversion. He would 
 have come, he said, to thank me in 
 person, and to say good-bye, but was 
 detailed on service from which he 
 could not be excused. He mentioned 
 
A THANKFUL HEARER. 
 
 211 
 
 especially the discourse of a particular 
 Sabbath afternoon as that which had 
 helped him, as he believed, to find the 
 way of life; it was the instruction he 
 needed, and the truth which, as he 
 thought, the Holy Ghost had used on 
 the occasion as his sword, and had 
 made effectual to his salvation. 
 
 He could not be content to leave the 
 country without telling me of this, 
 both that I might be assured of his 
 grateful remembrance, and that I 
 might be encouraged to continue in the 
 same good work, and he begged me not to 
 despair of doing good even to those 
 who, like himself, had not made their 
 case known to me. While, perhaps, I 
 was not quite so confident as he seemed 
 to be respecting that particular sermon 
 as being the truth which was made ef- 
 fectual to his salvation, for he had 
 
212 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 heard much truth besides that, though 
 this may have served to arrest his at- 
 tention at that particular time, and 
 may have set memory and conscience 
 at work to bring other truths into his 
 remembrance, and to set his sins in 
 order before him; yet I looked up 
 that sermon, to see what it was, and 
 found it to be one with which, on some 
 accounts, I was less pleased than any 
 other that I had preached at Chusan. 
 It had been hastily prepared, and I 
 remembered, and still have a clear re- 
 collection of feeling very anxious and 
 troubled while walking to the chapel ; 
 for I knew that it was very slightly 
 “ beaten oil,” though I remember trying 
 to encourage and comfort myself in the 
 fact that there would be much scripture 
 in my discourse. The text I knew 
 was important, and if that could be 
 
A THANKFUL HEARER. 
 
 213 
 
 sent home to any heart, and lodged in 
 any memory, it might accomplish more 
 than all I might be able to say under 
 the most favourable circumstances. I 
 was conscious that my own remarks 
 were altogether common place, but the 
 discourse had much of God’s own truth 
 in it, and in his own words, and this he 
 could bless; and I earnestly prayed 
 that he would not let his word be 
 spoken in vain on that day. 
 
 I remembered also, when the con- 
 gregation had been dismissed, walking 
 back to attend the Chinese service in 
 the city, how I went with desponding 
 thoughts and feeling that I had done 
 very poor service for God that day. 
 I recollected, moreover, that the day 
 itself was quite unfavourable, very 
 rainy, the ground muddy, and the house 
 damp and chilly, and I doubted 
 
214 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 whether there would be many in atten- 
 dance; and so it was ; the audience was 
 very small. But one was there whom 
 God, it seems, had sent to hear the 
 very message which he had been 
 making ready for him. 
 
 Therefore that note of the soldier 
 saying that that unpromising Sabbath, 
 and that, to me, unpromising sermon 
 were to him made precious, and 
 amongst the things which he would 
 not be likely ever to forget — that note, 
 I say, was to me a whisper of encour- 
 agement. It impressed me with the 
 importance, in preaching, ever to make 
 God’s own truth the prominent thing ; 
 and indeed, that is the only thing 
 which we as preachers have to do — 
 to preach the preaching which he bids 
 us, and as much as possible to let God 
 himself speak to the people in the 
 
A THANKFUL HEARER. 
 
 215 
 
 very language of his own scriptures. 
 It encouraged me (and I have many 
 times needed such encouragement) to 
 preach to a few with as much hope and 
 comfort as to a great assembly. It 
 admonished me not to let rain or storm 
 (unless it be quite extraordinary) 
 keep me from the place appointed for 
 worship, for on that ver}'’ rainy Sab- 
 bath, and when few are present, the 
 Holy Spirit may be present to open 
 some heart, and to drop into it the 
 good seed of the word. By it again 
 I was reminded that God’s ways are 
 not as our ways; and that we may in 
 hope continue to sow beside all waters. 
 
 It is not well to despise “ the day 
 of small things.’' That was rather a 
 “ thin meeting” when Philip preached 
 to the eunuch ; and the preacher had 
 to travel a long road to meet the one 
 
216 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 who was in need of his instructions. 
 God, who had his own purposes to ac- 
 complish, knew how to bring the teacher 
 and the disciple together ; and while he 
 opened the mouth of the one to com- 
 municate truth, he opened the heart 
 of the other to receive it. 
 
 COLLATEKAL BENEFITS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 The good accomplished by Christian 
 missions to the heathen is not to be 
 judged of merely by the reports of 
 operations amongst the people on whom 
 the principal labour has been bestowed. 
 Whatever good has been accomplished 
 by the missionary while on his way to 
 his field, — whatever beneficial influ- 
 ence he may exert upon his country- 
 men whom he sometimes meets in the 
 country in which both are strangers, 
 these may be mentioned in the sum- 
 
BENEFITS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 217 
 
 ming up of the results of Foreign 
 missions. If in consequence of the 
 establishment of a Christian mission 
 there are now influences to meet the 
 sailor or soldier in a foreign port, or 
 distant inland station, which may in a 
 measure restrain him from vice to 
 which in former times there were 
 strong temptations — if there are now 
 influences which may help to bring 
 back to his memory the religious in- 
 structions of his childhood, and the 
 serious impressions of his early days, 
 we have, even in this, reason for thanks- 
 giving that the Foreign Missionary 
 enterprise was ever undertaken. Those 
 W'ho have husbands, or brothers, or sons 
 who from taste, or necessity, or philan- 
 thropy go down to the sea in ships, 
 and do business in the great waters, 
 may be glad that in so many of the 
 19 
 
218 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 distant parts of the earth those friends 
 may meet with that which will remind 
 them of the Sabbath and the claims of 
 the Christian religion. And surely it 
 ought to be a matter of thankfulness 
 to the anxious parent whose wayward 
 son is wandering over the sea, or who 
 in a fit of desperation or folly has 
 thrown himself into the army, to 
 know that there are ministers of reli- 
 gion at some of the places to which 
 Grod’s providence may direct the steps 
 of his son. How often may it have 
 occurred that the missionary who may 
 have been in part supported by the 
 widow’s mite, and prospered by the 
 widow’s prayers, may have been moved 
 by the widow’s God to go and speak 
 to her son, whom for this purpose 
 he has brought within the reach of the 
 missionary’s counsel ! God’s thoughts 
 
BENEFITS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 219 
 
 are not like our thoughts. “His 
 ways are in the sea, and his path in 
 the great waters, and his footsteps are 
 not known.” Those who give to the 
 Lord, to them it shall be given back 
 again. Such as give to the Lord in 
 the support of missions may have it 
 given back into their bosoms, by hear- 
 ing in some distant day, or perhaps not 
 till both are gathered home to heaven, 
 that some friend of theirs was met in 
 a foreign land by a missionary of the 
 cross, and by him invited to his house, 
 or to his chapel, and affectionately en- 
 treated to attend to the salvation of 
 his soul: or that some dear one in his 
 last sickness far away and with stran- 
 gers, was found out by a servant of 
 Him who went about doing good, and 
 was ministered unto ; that his dying 
 pillow was smoothed, the chilling death- 
 
220 
 
 SCENES m CHUSAN. 
 
 sweat wiped from his brow, and the 
 “ cup of cold water” held to his burn- 
 ing lips ; his last words gathered up, 
 and his dying messages sent to the not 
 forgotten ones who otherwise would 
 never have known where or how he 
 died. And so it is that “He that hath 
 pity upon the poor lendeth unto the 
 Lord; and that which he hath given 
 will he pay him again.” 
 
 Moreover, missionary labours are 
 aided by whatever good is done to any 
 soldier, or sailor, or foreign resident at 
 the place where the work of the mis- 
 sionary may lie ; for every good Chris- 
 tian is an epistle, known and read of 
 all men. Every person in whom the 
 Holy Spirit has wrought the new birth 
 is an illustration of what the mission- 
 ary preaches, when he says to the hea- 
 then, “ Ye must be born again.” Every 
 
BENEFITS OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 221 
 
 godly example is a constant sermon, 
 and a living commentary on the scrip- 
 tures; and when missionaries have 
 around them many such examples, 
 their hearts are encouraged, and their 
 hands strengthened ; while each new 
 convert is another added to the sol- 
 diers of Christ, to engage in the war- 
 fare against Satan’s kingdom — another 
 added to that great company who are 
 engaged in offering that prayer, “ Thy 
 kingdom come, thy will be done on 
 earth as it is in heaven.” 
 
 Therefore, as we have opportunity, 
 let us do good unto all men, both at 
 home and abroad, and by the way. 
 We are debtors both to Greek and 
 barbarian ; to the heathen and to our 
 countrymen. 
 
 “In the morning sow thy seed, and 
 in the evening withhold not thy hand ; 
 
 19 * 
 
222 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 for thou knowest not which shall pros- 
 per, either this or that, or whether 
 they both shall be alike good.” 
 
 WHAT PAY DO YOU RECEIVE? 
 
 Our intercourse with some of the 
 officers’ families, and with merchants, 
 and people from the ships, was very 
 pleasant. But there were many who 
 were at a loss to understand what 
 could be our motives in coming so far, 
 and subjecting ourselves to so many 
 inconveniences for the small returns 
 which, as they judged, were to come 
 from it. 
 
 A question that was frequently 
 asked us was this, “What pay do you 
 get?” We answered that missionaries 
 from our country received what was 
 considered sufficient to meet their 
 necessary expenses : that those of our 
 
WHAT PAY DO YOU RECEIVE? 223 
 
 Board of Missions then in China were 
 waiting till they should ascertain what 
 the probable yearly cost of living 
 would be, and then their salaries 
 would be fixed accordingly. 
 
 “Indeed!” they would say, “and 
 is that all ? And no provision for old 
 age, or infirmity? A person, you 
 know, breaks down in this climate 
 pretty soon ; and then what is to 
 become of him and his family, if he 
 has made no provision for a rainy day ? 
 Have you then no invalid fund, or 
 retired list, or half pay and rations, or 
 something of that sort — no pensions ?” 
 
 No, we would answer, we have to 
 trust providence both for our daily 
 bread, and for provisions for the 
 future. 
 
 “Well, well,” they would say, “ that 
 is curious, and rather hard too. We 
 
224 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 don’t do things in that way; we mean 
 to be loyal to our queen, to be sure; 
 but then we expect that she will pay 
 US weU for it. Your work is hard, 
 and we would think, very perplexing, 
 and unpleasant; and living in the 
 midst of the natives, and having to 
 associate with them must be very dis- 
 agreeable. We have some rough times, 
 ’tis true, but a good deal of our service 
 is about as you see we have it here, 
 where we have hardly exercise enough 
 to give us an appetite for dinner; but 
 still we have both pay and rations, 
 with a prospect of pensions if we 
 need them, and a chance for glory 
 too.” 
 
 And sometimes they would go on to 
 ask “if we honestly thought there 
 was much prospect of making tolerably 
 good Christians out of such material 
 
WHAT PAY DO YOU RECEIVE? 225 
 
 as we had there — those bare-pated, 
 lying, thieving natives !” as they 
 called them. And then we would 
 have to explain to them that, as to 
 rations, we had to ti’ust in the promise 
 which says, ‘‘Bread shall be given 
 him; his waters shall be sure.” As 
 to pay, we expect to have to wait 
 awhile, but there is a promise that “ he 
 that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing 
 precious seed, shall doubtless come 
 again with rejoicing, bringing his 
 sheaves with him.” As to glory, we 
 ought not to wish for anything more 
 than what Paul had in view when he 
 said, “ I have fought a good fight, I 
 have finished my course, I have kept 
 the faith : henceforth there is laid up 
 for me a crown of righteousness.” 
 
 As to the success of our labours, we 
 have to live and labour in hope, and 
 
226 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 with faith, and in obedience to that 
 command of the Master, “ Go ye into 
 all the world and preach the gospel to 
 every creature.” We hoped that here 
 and there one would be enlightened in 
 the knowledge of Christ, and be turned 
 from his dumb idols to the service of 
 the living God : and we believed that at 
 some time all the nations would be 
 tm’ned unto the Lord. 
 
 WORLDLY MEN CANNOT UNDERSTAND OUR 
 MOTIVES. 
 
 In the cabin of a small naval steamer, 
 on board of which, by courtesy, an 
 invalid friend w^as passenger, who 
 from his state-room overheard, and 
 from whom I received, the substance 
 of what I am about to write — on that 
 steamer, and in that cabin, the officers 
 were at dinner. Some were young, 
 
OUR MOTIVES NOT UNDERSTOOD. 227 
 
 and some had seen service in various 
 parts of the world. They were leav- 
 ing a port where they had spent a few 
 days, and while there, some of them 
 had formed the acquaintance of one of 
 their own country-women, a lady that 
 would rank wdth most of them either 
 as to birth, or wealth, or accomplish- 
 ments ; and she also had seen service 
 in foreign parts, and hard service of 
 many years, but not for the sake of 
 wealth or fame, for she was engaged 
 in the management of a school of hea- 
 then girls, whom she clothed, and fed, 
 and lodged, defraying the expenses of 
 the establishment, in a great measure, 
 from her own resources. 
 
 The meats had been removed, the 
 second course had been discussed, and 
 now the fruit was on, and the wine 
 was passing, when, from a grave person- 
 
228 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 age at the head of the table, comes the 
 abrupt inquiry, as if in soliloquy : 
 “ What could have influenced that lady 
 to come to this country and live in the 
 way she does — a lady of such educa- 
 tion and cultivated manners — with 
 more than a comfortable living at home, 
 respectable connections, from a healthy 
 country, a beautiful town ; while here 
 all her employments and associations 
 are, to my mind, anything but agree- 
 able — the perplexities of an extensive 
 establishment; to have the providing 
 for and the training of such a horde 
 of young heathens ; to go about, as she 
 does, amongst the natives, and sit in 
 their uncomfortable habitations, her- 
 self much of the time in miserable 
 health, with a climate that is ruinous to 
 most constitutions, and much of the 
 time quite disagreeable ! What motive 
 
OUR MOTIVES NOT UNDERSTOOD. 229 
 
 could have brought or can keep such 
 a lady here, I cannot imagine.” 
 
 “ Some early disappointment, sir, I 
 fancy,” said one, pouring out another 
 glass, and with an air that seemed to 
 say. No hard matter for a discerning 
 man like me to divine the cause. 
 “ Some affair of the heart, sir, in 
 earlier days ; only, instead of burying 
 herself in a convent, as was once the 
 fashion, she has devoted herself to this 
 sort of religious life.” 
 
 “ Life in a convent, in some pleasant 
 country, and in a romantic spot, would, 
 to my notion, be far preferable to an 
 isolated existence in this end of the 
 earth, amongst tawny natives, con- 
 tending with fevers, and exposed to 
 dangers,” said another voice. 
 
 “ I imagine, sir,” said another, setting 
 down his glass, and drawing himself 
 20 
 
230 
 
 SCENES IN CiroSAN. 
 
 up like one who had no trouble in 
 solving questions of this nature, “ 1 
 imagine, sir, that the course of this 
 lady may be accounted for, as well as 
 that of many others, and perhaps, of 
 most of those we meet and hear of in 
 different parts of the world, under the 
 general name of missionaries, by an- 
 alysing the religious feeling in man- 
 kind. That which impels the Moham- 
 medan to his prayers, ablutions, and 
 pilgrimages ; the devotees of India to 
 self-torture, and the monk to aU his 
 austerities — the same, it may he, in 
 some over-zealous Protestant, developes 
 itself in voluntarily submitting to the 
 expatriation, exposures, discomforts, 
 diseases, and shortening of life to 
 which these missionaries are exposed.” 
 “ But,” said he at the head of the 
 table, “I can hardly adopt your op- 
 
OUR MOTIVES NOT UNDERSTOOD. 231 
 
 inions, gentlemen, for she appears a 
 sensible person, of correctly balanced 
 mind; cheerful, without any of the 
 tokens of misanthropy; no gloominess 
 or absent-mindedness, or that kind of 
 indifference to the world which char- 
 acterizes a disappointed person that 
 feeds on melancholy, and broods over 
 blighted hopes. And, again, there is 
 none of the extravagance of the reli- 
 gious enthusiast; none of the boasting 
 or parade of the religious devotee; 
 and too much evidence of real genuine 
 sincerity for a hypocrite. Why, to 
 see her in that school, one is reminded of 
 nothing else than a devoted mother 
 amongst her own children — calm, cheer- 
 ful, and doing whatever she finds need- 
 ing to be done, simply because she 
 loves to do it. In visiting her sick 
 neighbours, and teaching from house to 
 
232 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 house, there seems to be only an 
 honest desire to do the poor people 
 good. She keeps about her work just 
 as steadily and hopefully as if she fully 
 expected that her efforts would, at the 
 proper time, bring about the result 
 which she desires. I confess there is 
 something in all this which I do not 
 yet altogether understand; your theo- 
 ries, gentlemen, in my opinion, do not 
 meet this case.” 
 
 And, now, can we account for the 
 course of this lady? Can we find a 
 clue by which to get at the motives 
 which impelled her ? Let the question 
 be answered by our repeating here a 
 few words which we once heard from 
 the lips of one who had given many 
 years of toil and care to the service of 
 the church. At the time to which we 
 refer, he was travel-worn from a long 
 
OUR MOTIVES NOT UNDERSTOOD. 233 
 
 journey, which he had undertaken in 
 order that he might better serve the 
 cause to which he had given many 
 years of labour, and for which he had 
 resigned political honours and rewards. 
 He was addressing a little band of 
 missionaries in the wilderness, who 
 had been long and anxiously expecting 
 his visit. He encouraged the mission- 
 aries by a reference to the command to 
 preach the gospel, the comfort always 
 attending the faithful discharge of duty, 
 and by a reference to the promises. 
 He alluded to the pleasure always at- 
 tending faithful endeavours to benefit 
 others. He spoke of the love of Christ 
 constraining us, his grace assisting us, 
 his cheering presence with us. But, 
 said he, the world cannot understand 
 our motives; they do not know our 
 feelings : therefore some think we are 
 20 * 
 
234 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 zealots. Some almost believe we are 
 mad. 
 
 Thea he related a few lines of his 
 former experience, like this : “ Before I 
 entered upon the duties of the office 
 in which I still am, I was associated 
 in my professional labours with men 
 who were aspirants for political dis- 
 tinction, and perhaps my own pros- 
 pects for honours and wealth were as 
 promising as any of theirs ; and when 
 I abandoned all these, and relinquished 
 an honourable office and its emoluments, 
 for the comparative seclusion, the 
 work, and bare support of one in the 
 missionary service, many of my former 
 associates looked upon me as one bo- 
 come suddenly deranged. Some warmly 
 remonstrated against my throwing my- 
 self away in such a manner. But,” he 
 added, stretching out his hand, in 
 
OUK MOTIVES NOT UNDERSTOOD. 235 
 
 ■which he grasped the Bible, “they 
 had never read this book as I had read 
 it — they did not understand it as I un- 
 derstood it — they did not love it as 1 
 loved it, and of course could not un- 
 derstand how I could be willing to 
 make those sacrifices of human ap- 
 plause, and fame, and wealth, in order 
 that I might be instrumental in spread- 
 ing abroad this book, and the offer of 
 salvation which it contains ; they knew 
 not of the grace Avhich quickeneth, 
 and had not experience of the love of 
 Christ which constraineth us.” 
 
 Worldl}’’ men cannot understand our 
 motives, because they have not read 
 the Bible as we, by the aid of the 
 Holy Spirit, have been enabled to 
 read it. By multitudes our motives 
 will never in this world be understood. 
 They now esteem us mad. But when 
 
236 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 they have passed the boundaries of 
 time, in how very short a space will 
 they perceive that those were mad 
 who laboured for the meat which 
 perisheth, and not for that which en- 
 dureth unto everlasting life ? 
 
 THE FASHION OF THIS WORLD PASSETH 
 AWAY. 
 
 And what has become of all those 
 whose acquaintance we made during 
 the period of which we have been 
 speaking ? Many of the soldiers have 
 been strowed along the track of time; 
 many found graves in China, a few in 
 the sea, and many since in India, and 
 some of these on the fields of battle ; 
 and as those have fallen out of the 
 ranks, recruits have been brought on 
 to fill their places. 
 
 And where now are those who have 
 
THIS WORLD PASSETH AWAY. 237 
 
 disappeared from the face of the 
 earth ? When we knew them, those 
 w’ho gave evidence of having the one 
 thing needful w'ere the few ; while the 
 large proportion were without God, 
 without Christ, and having no good 
 hope, and if they died thus where 
 must they be now ? 
 
 There were men in the diplomatic 
 service of their several countries ; and 
 there were travellers, having their minds 
 on forwarding the interests of commerce 
 or science, or to make a name, or to make 
 a living, and to gratify a fondness for 
 travelling. And there were merchants, 
 and they laboured — laboured hard — 
 and this they did even for such things 
 as “ perish with the using and while 
 still engaged in the pursuit of wealth, 
 some saw what they had gathered 
 slipping from them ; fortune, as they 
 
238 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 chose to call it, did not always favour 
 them ; for in that country, as well as 
 in this, riches had the habit of taking 
 wings and flying away. Some had their 
 possessions taken from them; and some 
 were taken from their possessions. 
 Others are still clinging to their gains. 
 Now and then there was a pious man 
 among them, who honoured the Lord 
 with his substance ; who was the mis- 
 sionaries’ friend, and who did much to 
 assist in the work in which they were 
 engaged ; and of these some have 
 already gone to their reward. There 
 was once in China an eminent exam- 
 ple of a large-minded, and large- 
 hearted Christian merchant. While he 
 lived he was doing good — scattering 
 but still increasing ; into his lap the 
 Lord seemed to be pouring more be- 
 cause he was so good a steward of 
 
THIS WORLD PASSETH AWAY. 239 
 
 what had been entrusted to him. He 
 had some riches, but with them he 
 had that good name which is rather to 
 be chosen than great riches. He 
 “ rests from his labours” now. 
 
 With most of the merchants there, 
 the ruling desire seemed to be that 
 they might amass “ a fortune,” and 
 return home to enjoy it ; and how sad 
 must be the reflections of those who 
 think of what the soul is worth, at 
 seeing death overtaking these, one after 
 another, and finding them nearly in the 
 state of the man of the parable, who 
 said, “ Soul, thou hast much goods laid 
 up for many years — take thine ease.” 
 
 One, a sea captain, having sent his 
 treasure on before-hand, had his neck 
 broken by a falling spar just as he was 
 leaving port homeward bound, in high 
 spirits, and while waving adieu to friends 
 
240 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 on shore. One, while coming in from the 
 last voyage which he was to make, and 
 then retire, though yet in the midst 
 of a vigorous manhood, but with 
 wealth enough to give him plenty to 
 eat, and to drink, and to be merry 
 over, went down with his ship, as is 
 supposed, a little outside the harbour ; 
 the very fate he dreaded, and on ac- 
 count of which dread he had deter- 
 mined to get off from the sea. Three 
 young men, enterprising, in a dashing 
 business, frank, open-hearted, friendly 
 to everybody, yet having a sharp eye 
 to the main chance, were summoned 
 early to their reckoning. Their decease 
 was not far apart, though they died in 
 different parts of the world. And 
 now, as to all those things which they 
 had provided — whose shall they be ? 
 
 There was one — poor man ! — who 
 
THIS WORLD PASSETH AWAY. 241 
 
 made too much haste to be rich — too 
 much haste even for a worldly-wise 
 man. Credit failed him; for in his haste 
 he betrayed too much of the evil eye. 
 When confidence steps out, business 
 ceases to come in. So it came to pass 
 that he, who started with a much fairer 
 prospect than some others who rapidly 
 grew into a lucrative trade, declined in 
 his business ; his goods went piece by 
 piece, then yard by yard, to procure 
 him the necessaries of life ; he was 
 reduced to straits ; and he died, as 
 some think, if not of starvation, yet 
 in consequence of too much fasting. 
 But his proud spirit was whole in him 
 to the very last. 
 
 THE author’s apology. 
 
 It often happens that the story- 
 teller’s memory is longer than the pa- 
 21 
 
242 
 
 SCENES m CHUSAN. 
 
 tience of his hearers. Perhaps it is 
 so in this instance; so let me stop 
 where I am, while by the way of apol- 
 ogy, permit me to add, that I have 
 written these sketches, partly because 
 I love occasionally to bring back the 
 past; partly to preserve for myself, 
 and for whoever else may feel any in- 
 terest in the subject, a record of events 
 that were fast falling into forgetfulness; 
 and partly that whoever may read 
 what I have written — if in this busy 
 age any person can afford the leisure 
 to take up this little bundle of remi- 
 niscences — partly, I say, that they may 
 live over with me those by gone days. 
 I have written too with some hope that 
 these reminiscences may do good in 
 some way ; for they show, though 
 faintly indeed, what the writer felt 
 very strongly when these events were 
 
THE author’s apology. 243 
 
 passing, and what his memory still 
 keeps him thinking on, viz : that reli- 
 gion is everything — that to be a Chris- 
 tian, a follower of Christ and friend 
 of God, is of the first and chief impor- 
 tance — that in a short time all we will, 
 want will be the one thing needful, 
 the good part which cannot be taken 
 away. 
 
 They show that in any lawful 
 calling a man may be a Christian ; that 
 even though in a calling which con- 
 science disapproves, yet if kept there 
 by constraint, we may still live near 
 to God, and enjoy his favour ; and 
 that wherever the Christian may find 
 himself placed he should strive to be 
 doing good, letting his light shine to all 
 around. 
 
 They encourage us to be ever care- 
 ful to observe, and quick to improve 
 
244 
 
 SCENES IN CHCSAN. 
 
 opportunities for doing good, ever 
 ready to drop a word in season ; for 
 “we watch for souls.” They show 
 that private Christians, and those with- 
 out education, may do much in leading 
 others to Christ, and in strengthening 
 their brethren by entreaties, counsels, 
 and a godly example. They teach us 
 not to despise the day of small things, 
 but to be willing to do good by little 
 and little, and not be discouraged 
 though the multitude still turn away 
 from the truth. If out of those seve- 
 ral hundred soldiers there was here 
 and there one to say, “Thy people 
 shall be my people, and thy God my 
 God,” there was joy in the presence 
 of the angels of God over those few 
 sinners that repented. 
 
 That little band of praying soldiers 
 was, in proportion to their regiments, 
 
THE author’s apology. 245 
 
 as generally the church has been in 
 the world. “ Though many are called, 
 few are chosen;” and so we still find 
 it; few believe our report; the arm of 
 the Lord is revealed unto but few; 
 nevertheless we should not grow weary 
 in well doing. 
 
 It is a source of some gratification 
 to be able to call to mind some in- 
 stances in which dying saints were 
 comforted — in which desponding ones 
 were encouraged to look up, and the 
 afflicted enabled to find consolation, 
 and the sick to think of Him who both 
 healeth diseases and forgiveth iniquities. 
 And that is a part of our mission here 
 in the world, to bear one another’s 
 burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ 
 — to speak comfortably to God’s peo- 
 ple. We are, if possible, to help, or 
 to direct each other how to be happy ; 
 
 21 * 
 
246 
 
 SCENES IN CHUSAN. 
 
 to assuage grief; to dry up tears; to 
 be kind ; to do good unto all men as 
 we have opportunity, especially to 
 those who are of the household of 
 faith. 
 
-.a