n BV 2087 .H64 Holt, Edwin. Anecdotes of Christian missions ANECDOTES CHRISTIAJV MISSIONS COMPILED, AT THE EEQUEST OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE SOUTHERN BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS, BY REV. EDWIN HOLT, LATE SECRETARY OF THE BOARD BOSTON PUBLISHED BY CROCKER & BREWSTER, 47, Washington Street. NEW YORK:— LEAVITT, LORD, AND CO., 180, Broadway. 1837. Entered according to act of Congress, in tlie year 183G, BY EDWIN HOLT, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. THIS VOLUME II 3DeltfcateTJ to ttje SOUTHERN CHURCHES, WHOSE KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE OF THE MISSIONARY CAUSE DESIGNED TO PROMOTE. PREFACE Having been honored with the appointment of Secretary to the Southern Board of Mis- sions, the compiler sought to qualify himself for the station by searching the records of past years, in quest of missionary intelligence. He was richly rewarded for this toil by the diver- sified facts that were found to illustrate, in am- ple profusion, the various features of the mis- sionary enterprize. He was not unwilling to receive the suggestion of throwing together in this manner a body of anecdotes or illustrations of Christian missions. The following statements are not vague and unauthenticated stories, that have acquired bulk and embellishment in passing from hand to hand, till they are fitted only to amaze the credulous. They are traced in all instances to a respectable source, and are made public as facts deserving entire confidence. It is believed that these narratives may cor- rect some of the mistaken impressions which, unhappily, retard the progress of the missiona- VI PREFACE. ry cause. "Nothing but powder and ball," said an European officer "can civilize these savages." The tribes to which he referred have since derived from the labors of mission- aries the improvements of civilization as well as the consolations of Christianity. Such facts - are the best refutation of the charge that mis- sions can never be useful. And there are too many who view the effort to evangelize the na- tions only as a splendid crusade, beheld only in the bright haze of bewildering romance. The actual state of the enterprise is no more seen by them than the desired stream is by the parched traveller, whom the mirage of the desert deludes. The ensuing narratives will aid the benevo- lent visionary to form juster conceptions of the work of the world's conversion, by holding up to his view some of the unromantic perils and privations incident to a life of missionary toil These reahties may serve to touch and des- troy, by a talismanic spell, the beauteous but airy structures of a busy imagination. The christian may find in the following statements, matter of personal interest aside from their subserviency to the formation of the spirit of missions. By him, specimens of spirit- PREFACE. Vll ual workmanship of fine finish, and of endur- ing value, must be prized as much as frag- ments of rare sculpture, or master pieces in painting are, by the artist. The annals of mis- sions furnish the christian with admirable models among pagan converts, unblessed with the high culture which we enjoy, are to be found examples of christian excellence and zeal that should put us to the blush. While it is the desire of the compiler to sub- serve the purposes heretofore specified, it has been his chief aim to furnish materials that may aid the formation of a missionary spirit,' among churches which, in consequence of their destitution, or their remoteness from the central points of religious intelligence, are com- paratively unacquainted with the progress of the Redeemer's kingdom. It has been his lot to plead the cause of missions among church- es in this situation, and he has felt at every step the need of such a diffusion of missionary intelligence, as it is the chief design of this volume to promote. He has found the at tempt to arouse missionary zeal, where infor- mation has not been circulated, very much like the attempt to build up a cheering fire without fuel: and it was his belief that a body Vm PREFACE. of Statements like the following might be suc- cessfully used to impart to the less favored portions of the christian community, some ad- equate conceptions of the need, the practi- cability and the immense importance of the missionary enterprize. These narrations are grouped together under distinct heads, un- encumbered with details of mere local and temporary interest. They have been gleaned from uninviting records which all have not the disposition, and many have not the leisure to examine. It was the earnest desire of the compiler, to aid by this means in imparting additional inter- est to the monthly concert of prayer, and to other missionary meetings. Churches could be induced to observe the monthly concert if they were furnished with missionary intelli- gence, to awaken interest in the exercises of that occasion. The following narratives might be employed for the purpose. These state- ments might be read in regular order at such meetings by any layman, in the absence of a minister, and thus one of the chief objections to the observance of the monthly concert in the more destitute churches would be obviated. Portsmouth^ Jan. 1837. THSOLOGIG::iLi' -^-r TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE NEED OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. SECTION 1. The inexcusableness of the heathen. SulTerings of a Hindoo devotee, - - - 13 Pagan inhumanity in India, - - - - - 15 Inhuman obduracy of the heathen, - - - 16 Hindoo revenge, ------- 17 Crimes of an Armenian Convent, - - - 18 Human victims offered to sharks, - - - - 20 'Affecting scene in India, - • - - - - 21 Distress of a mother, - - - - - - 21 The heathen are without natural affection, - - 22 Infanticide in China, ------ 24 Example of a revengeful spirit, - - - - 24 ' Cruelty towards the infirm among the South Sea island- ers, -------- 25 A mother persuaded to murder her only son, - - 26 A boy murdered by his father, - - - - 27 Human sacrifices in Africa, - - - - - 28.^ Human sacrifices at the South Sea Islands, - 29 Human sacrifices in ancient Britain, - - - 29 -< Three boys fattened for slaughter, - . - 31 CONTEHTS. SECTION 2. The worthlessness of pagan rites and belief. Where shall I go last of all, - - - - - 33 Worship of devils, - 34 The heathen have no good God, - - . - 34 Idolaters can worship any thing, . . - 35 Prayer mills of Tartary, - - - - - 36 The heathen instructed in fatal errors by Europeans, 37 A pagan gratified in his wishes and still unhappy, - 38 Superstition of the Chinese, - - - - 39 Punishment of a planet, - - - - - 40 Hindoo views of caste, - . ... 41 SECTION 3. The heathen possess a knowledge of duty that leaves them without excuse. Admissions of a Greenlander, - - - - 43 Singular admission of guilt, - - - - - 45 Musings of an Indian, ----- 46 Resistance to the light of truth among pagans, - 46 The law of God openly rejected by pagans, - 47 Remorse of an Indian, ------ 48 The folly of pagan worship admitted, - . . 49 CHAPTER II. THE SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION OF MISSIONS, SECTION 1. The readiness of the unevangelized to re- ceive christian instruction. Efforts of the Mongolians to obtain the Christian Scriptures, 50 CONTENTS. XI Thirty seven gods renounced for One, - • 54 A Greenland family, ------ 54 Eagerness of South Sea islanders to obtain the Scriptures, -------55 Attachment of an African to the word of God, - 56 Renunciation of idolatry at the Sandwich islands before the arrival of missionaries, ... 57 Success of missionary labors at the same islands in two years, ------- 59 Subsequent success at the same islands, - - 61 Distribution of Matthew's Gospel in Ceylon, result- ing in the conversion of a native priest, and his ad- mission to the Christian ministry, - - - 61 Success of missionary labors in Ceylon, - - 62 Results of the donation of a New Testament in a village in India, ------ 63 Decline of idolatry in India, .... 65 Reflections of a South African, - - - - 66 Tuahine, a distressed inquirer, - - - . 67 Thrilling appeal from the Burman mission, - - 68 Happy influence of a copy of the New Testament in India, --------70 Extensive interest awakened among Hindoos near Delhi, by a few copies of the New Testament, - 71 SECTION 2. The more indirect benefits of missions. The rights of a poor man protected from royal oppression, -------75 A discourse on theft leads to the restoration of pilfered property, 76 Christianity imparts a thirst for instruction to the islanders of the Pacific ocean, - - - 78 Errors in pagan astronomy corrected in Ceylon, 78 XU CONTENTS. Opposition disarmed by christian mildness, - - 80 A Mohammedan shaken in his belief, - - 82 An African convinced of the truth of the Scriptures, 83 A Chinese convinced of the erroneousness of idolatry, 85 A company of Africans marching- out to pray, - 86 The Ceylonese delivering' to a missionary their badges of idolatry, 87 Family w^orship in Ceylon, ----- 88 Missions diminish crime, - . - - 89 A heathen temple displaced by a christian church, 90 Observance of the Sabbath at the South sea islands, -.-.-.--91 Improved condition of the South Sea islanders, - 92 SECTION 3. Remarkable conversions. A priest of Buddhu, ----- 94 A Tahitian, powerfully affected by a verse in the Gospel of John, - - . - 96 A native priest at one of the South Sea isl- ands, -------- 97 Conversion and martyrdom of a Turk, - - 98 Kaiarnack, ---..-- 104 Africaner, ------.. 105 Partobee, 107 Abdallah and Sabat, 109 Tschoop, - 113 A Hindoo devotee, ---... 115 A heathen philosopher at Nice, - - . 116 Mirza Mahomed Ali, ------ Hg The Mohammedan merchant, - . - . 123 Cupido, 124 A native priest of Ceylon, - . - , 125 Anundo, 128 CONTENTS. SECTION 4. Scriptural knowledge, Christian principles , and death-bed sayings of converted heathen. An Indian's views of the way of salvation, - 131 Illustrations of Scriptural truths by a Greenlander, 132 Kapiolani's remarks, . . - - . 134 Puaa's inquiries, ...--. 136 A Hindoo female happy in the knowledge of Christ, 138 Firmness of converts in Madagascar, ... 139 A North American Indian softened by the Gospel, 142 Implements of war converted to peaceful and sacred purposes, ....... 142 Two praying natives saved from drowning, - 144 Tlie spirit of revenge overcome by christian prin- ciple, 145 Benevolent sympathy of converted Greenlanders, - 148 Remarks of a dying Hottentot, ... 149 Last sayings of Maoae, . _ - - . 151 Death of a Hindoo convert, .... 152 Death bed expressions of two converted islanders, - 153 The dying Tartar and his son, ... 153 Peaceful death of Brindelbund, - - - - 154 Pompey, ...---- 155 Triumphant death of a converted Brahmin, - - 156 The Siberian leper on his death bed, - - 157 CHAPTER III. THE PRIVATIONS AND PERILS OF MISSIONARIES. A missionary perplexed but not in despair, - . 159 Hardships of the first missionaries at the South Sea islands, ... - - - 160 XIV CONTENTS. Arraignment of a missionary at Ava, - - 161 Dr. Judson's imprisonment, .... 163 The mission house at Lahaina assailed by Eng- lish seamen, - .... - 166 Assault upon the missionaries at Oahu by Amer- ican seamen, ....... 168 111 treatment of Moravian missionaries in Greenland, 169 Narrow escape of a Moravian missionary in South America, --.--.. 171 Design against the life of a Moravian Bishop, - 173 Exposure and courage of Francis Xavier, - 174 Another instance of Xavier's perils, ... 176 A missionary attacked by a tiger, ... 178 Narrow escape of Count Zinzendorf, ... 179 Persecution of Catholic missionaries in China, - 180 A missionary slain in the eighth century, - . 181 A Catholic missionary slain at his post, - - 182 Martyrdom of a Catholic missionary in Japan, - 183 A mission family burned alive, ... 184 Shipwreck of a numerous mission family, and loss of lives, .-...-- 186 CHAPTER IV. THE HlNDERANCES TO THE SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. SECTION 1. The example and influence of nominal Christians. Remark of a Hindoo dancing girl, - - _ 188 Remark of a Hindoo merchant, ... igg Remark of a North American Indian, - - . 189 COWTKNTS. Intelligent Chinese object to European Idolatry, 190 Strong- prejudices of a Siberian, - - - - 192 Christianity shut out of a pagan village by an Eu- ropean, --.-..- 182 SECTION 2. Apathy and groundless fears of the friends of Christ. Reproof from a Nair, . - - . - 193 The fears of an Ecclesiastical body in England, - 193 Origin of the London Missionary Society, - 194 Origin of the English Baptist Missionary Society, - 197 Origin of the American Board of C. F. M. - 199 The former apathy of Christians reproved by con- verted Hottentots, 200 SECTION 3. Prejudices and opposition encountered by converts. Prejudices of the South Sea islanders, - - - 202 A converted pagan offered up as a human sacrifice, 203 Conspiracy to massacre the praying people of Tahiti, 205 An assembly of worshipping converts attacked by armed pagans, ..--.. 206 Opposition to missionaries in Palestine, - - 208 Papal opposition to missionary efforts, - - 209 Obstacles to the elevation of the female sex in India, 211 Inveterate opposition to the instruction of Hindoo females, ....... 212 Difficulties attending the renunciation of caste, - 213 Opposition encountered by a Hindoo convert, - 215 Persecution of Apavas a converted Hindoo at Ma- dras, - 219 Firmness of a Hindoo woman under persecution, - 220 Martyrdom of a Turkish woman, - - - 221 XVI CONTENTS. Persecution of converts in Japan, _ . . 222 Edict of the Chinese Emperor against Christianity, in 1812, - 224 The principal man of a pagan village put to death for favoring Christianity, - . . - . 225 CHAPTER V. MISSIONARY ZEAL. Zeal of Gordon Hall, 227 Zeal of Students at Basle, - - - - 228 Commencement of the Moravian Mission in Green- land, - 229 Zeal of Jens Haven, 230 Early struggles of Daniel Schlatter, - - - 230 The anxiety of Dr. Milne in early life to become a Missionary, .------ 233 Dr. Philips, 234 Liefuvyn, - 235 Christianity introduced among the Bulgarians by the zeal of a princess, - - _ . . 236 The plague braved by Catholic Missionaries, - 237 Zeal of Jesuits, ------- 239 Missionary zeal of a poor woman, - - . 240 Zeal ofXavier, 241 Henry Palmer, or the Missionary and the soldier, 242 Xavier's appeal to christians in Europe, - - 244 Xavier's zeal not daunted by personal insults, - 245 Robert Boyle's interest in missions, ... 246 Zeal of Elliot, 247 Idolaters reproved by a child, - - - 248 CONTENTS. XVU A Hindoo converted by the instruction of an Eng- lish child, 249 Conscientious zeal of converted pagans, - - 251 A poor blind girl, ...... 252 Zeal of a young lady, .... - 253 Zeal of a Siberian convert, ... - 254 A servant employs her wages to build a chapel, 255 A poor woman gives a farthing a day for missions, 256 A poor woman in Scotland, .... 257 The mother of a missionary, - - - - 258 Remark of Dr. Philip's, 259 The mother of Lyman, ..... 260 A widow and her two sons, .... 262 CHAPTER VI. REFLEX INFLUENCE OF MISSIONS. Property saved by a missionary box, ... 264 Loss of a vessel that might have been saved by the influence of missionaries, ----- 266 Gericke's humane efforts in behalf of Europeans in India, .-....-. 268 A lady in India guided to Christ by missionaries, 269 Irreligion reproved by a converted pagan, - - 270 A stranger impressed by the worship of converted natives, ---.-..- 271 A young nobleman converted in consequence of at- tending a meeting of a Bible society, - - 272 Attendance at the monthly concert leads to the conversion of the head of a family, - - - 273 XVin CONTENTS. Andrew Fuller and his church rewarded for their interest in missions, . . . . . 274 Happy influence of a participation in the work of missions upon the Baptist churches in England, - 275 The spirit of missions can destroy sectarian feeling 276 A donation richly refunded, - _ - . 278 An English seaman converted at Otaheite, - 280 Foreign missions give an impulse to benevolent op- erations in England, 280 Missionary zeal in a Theological Seminary elevates the standard of Ministerial character, - - 281 The embarkation of a missionary leads a pious young man to devote himself to the ministry, - 281 Influence of the embarkation of missionaries upon an objecting spectator, _ - - 282 CHAPTER I. THE NEED OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONS, ■ They read no promise that inspires belief; They seek no God that pities their complaints j They find no balm that gives the heart relief; They know no fountain when the spirit faints. O, could I picture out the full effect Of that soul withering power, Idolatry, I 'd write a page, which whoso dar'd to read, His eye. instead of tears, in crimson drops would bleed. SECTION I. The Incxcusablencss of the Heathen. SUFFERINGS OF A HINDOO DEVOTEE. A missionary thus describes a singular case of self-torture. The devotee was in the act of measuring his way to Juggernaut by his own body. He never rose upon his feet in travelling. When on his knees, he reached his hands for- ward to the ground, and thus drew his body 14 THE NEED OF onward. Every time he drew himself along thus, he beat his forehead against the ground three times, looking towards the temple which was now in sight. " When I got sufficiently near," said the mis- sionary, '* I called to him ; but he did not ap- pear to hear what I said, and continued on his way without paying the least attention. I there- fore came up, and succeeded in stopping him ; a deep melancholy sat visible upon his counte- nance, his lips moving in prayer to his god in a low grumbling tone of voice. When I had sur- veyed him a few moments, he gave over repeat- ing, and I began to converse with him as well as I was able. I first inquired how far he had come in that manner ? He answered seven hun- dred and fifty miles. How long have you been on the way? About eight months. He ap- peared about twenty-one years of age, and was so emaciated by his austerities that his voice was nearly gone : I could but just understand him. I asked him what he expected from this visit to Juggernaut ? I was told that he ex- pected almost every thing, particularly that hereby he should get rid of his sins. I then told him about Jesus Christ dying for his sins, and that if he would only believe on Christ, he would immediately find the blessings he sought. CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 15 He seemed to hear with some attention and sur- prise. By this time a number of wicked look- ing Brahmins, from a neighboring temple, were gathered around us, and began to encourage him to proceed." Sutton's Narrative of the Orissa Mission, p. 210, PAGAN INHUMANITY IN INDIA. Mr. Statham, missionary at Howrah, near Calcutta, gave the following account of his ef- forts to persuade the bystanders to aid in extin- guishing a destructive fire. His proposals only called forth such answers as these. ** My house is not on fire." — " Who will give me pay?" — *' What power have I over fire ?" — " To be burnt will be worse than to see fire." They remained utterly inactive, and in the mean time the flames spread, until nearly half of the village was con- sumed. From one of the huts that had just taken fire, piercing cries of distress were heard. They came from a bed-ridden old woman, the occupant of that house. The missionary urged the natives to save her from death. The replies he received were — " She is not my mother." *'She is too old to gain salt." — '*Her time is come." — ** W^e shall see a suttee." He offered 16 THE NEED OF them money, if they would go in with him to the house and rescue the woman. No sooner was the name of rupees heard, than the bystanders rushed forward in such numbers, that they could not all touch the cot on which the invalid lay. None, however, but those of the lower caste dared, even for lucre's sake, to carry a sick per- son. The Brahmins reprobated the conduct of some Lascars from the ships, who, at the urgent request of the missionary, aided in extinguish- ing the flames. The aged woman was saved from fire, only to meet death in a different form. Her illness having been aggravated by the shock she had sustained, her merciless sons conveyed her to the river side to die. There I found her three days after, just able to speak once and no more. She died in about half an hour. It was evident that mud had been put into her mouth. Smith and Clioules' Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 254. INHUMAN OBDURACY OF THE HEATHEN. Mr. Tracy, an American missionary, while walking in the suburbs of Canton, observed in the vicinity of an idol temple extensive prepara- tions for a brilliant display of pagan ceremonies. But he beheld also a scene that contrasted CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 17 Strangely with the pomp and nnirth of the thronged celebration. Three poor beggars had died during the night, and their bodies lay half naked and ghastly upon the pavement before the temple. Another, by their side, was gasping in the agonies of death. The next day, he found six other bodies in the same place. Near them was a group of shivering, famished beggars, whose haggard countenances and emaciated limbs might have moved to compassion any heart not steeled into pagan inhumanity. Mr. T. mentioned the case of the perishing beggars to his teacher, and inquired if his coun- trymen would not do something for their relief? He said some would, if they were able; that a few of the rich gave them something. At length he concluded by saying that the officers of the city would give than coffins ! Missionary Herald for 1834, p. 335. HINDOO REVENGE, A quarrel had arisen between two brothers and a man of the name of Gowrie. The emis- saries of Gowrie entered the house of the broth- ers, in their absence, and carried off forty ru- pees. On their return, they were informed of *2 18 THE NEED OF the theft by their mother. They immediately led her out to an adjacent rivulet, and one of them severed his mother's head from her body, with the professed view, as entertained and ac- knowledged by both parent and sons, that the mother's spirit, excited by the beating of a drum during forty days, might forever haunt, torment, and pursue to death Gowrie and the others con- cerned with him. The last words pronounced by the mother were, that she would blast Gowrie and those connected with him. Nor is this a solitary case of desperate revenge. Asiatic Researches, vol. 5, quoted by J. W. Cunninghasn, in Chris- tianity in India. CRIMES OP AN ARMENIAN CONVENT. The following statement respecting the in- mates of an Armenian convent, is furnished by the Rev. Mr. Goodell. The ignorance and sin that prevail to a great extent among the clergy, and especially the con- vents, seem almost to surpass that of Sodom. In an Armenian convent, not far from Erivan, the professedly devoted monks, who, in addition to their prayers, are obliged to read the whole of the Psalter, every day, for devotional purposes, CHRISTIAN MESSIONS. 19 are notorious for their quarrels and njurders. One morning they commenced their daily task of devotions, as usual, at a very early hour ; but soon they began to dispute respecting each oth- er's manner of reading; and finally came to blows. The lamps, according to custom, were instantly removed, that they might not be broken, and the oil spilt upon the books, and the monks were allowed to complete this prelude to their devotions in the dark. When all was quiet, and the lamps were again introduced, it was discov- ered that twelve of the monks had been killed. The murderers found that they had lost much time in the quarrel, and without waiting to wash the blood from their hands, or to wipe the sweat from their brows, immediately began reading or chanting in the most hurried manner, " Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly," &c. When they had thus de- voutly finished their prayers, they carried their companions out, and buried them. The next day, one of their number, being in a village not far distant, some of the people asked after the welfare of the convent. He answered ** all well," and, after a little pause and a shrug of the shoulders, added, ''Yesterday a little misun- derstanding arose among the brethren, in conse- quence of which, twelve of them were *' received 20 THE NEED OF up " to God : but it is a trifle not worth men- tioning." Such enormities, occurring among a people nominally Christian, indicate deplorable need of Christian missions. Missionary Herald, 1829, p. 207. HUMAN VrCTIMS OFFERED TO SHARKS. In November, 1801, some European seamen, belonging to the pilot service of Bengal, were witnesses to the cruel practice of devoting living persons to the sharks, on the island of Sagur. On asking a Fakeer why so many were thrown into the water, he answered that the Head Fa- keer required the sacrifice for the prosperity of their respective families. They saw eleven men, women, and boys thus destroyed. It was ascer- tained that the victims destroyed in the month of November, amounted to thirty-nine ; and that a boy about twelve years old, who had been thrown into the river, having saved himself by swimming, a Gosayne endeavored to extend his protection to him ; but, unnatural as it may ap- pear, he was again seized and committed to destruction by his own parents. Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 34. CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 21 AFFECTING SCENE IN INDIA. "I beheld," says Dr. Buchanan, "another distressing scene this morning at the place of skulls; — a poor woman lying dead, or nearly dead, and her two children by her, looking at the dogs and vultures which were near. The people passed by without noticing the children. I asked them where was their home? They said they had no home but where their mother was." Sermons before Lond. Miss. Soc. vol. 4, p. 61. DISTRESS OF A MOTHER. A missionary in South America reproved an Indian mother for the murder of her female infants. She replied with tears, " I would to God, father, I would to God, that my mother had, by my death, prevented the distresses I endure, and have yet to endure as long as I live. Con- sider, father, our deplorable condition. Our husbands go out to hunt, and trouble themselves no farther. We are dragged along, with one infant at the breast, and another in a basket. They return in the evening without any burden. 22 THE NEED OF We return with the burden of our children ; and, though tired with a long march, must labor all night in grinding corn, to make cliica for them. They get drunk, and in their drunken- ness beat us, draw us by the hair of the head, and tread us under foot. And what have we to comfort us for slavery that has no end? A young wife is brought in upon us, who is permit- ted to abuse us and our children, because we are no longer regarded. Can human nature en- dure such tyranny? What kindness can we show to our female children, equal to that of re- lieving them from such oppression, more bitter a thousand times than death? I say again, would to God my mother had put me under ground the moment I was born." Cecil's Miss. Sermon, quoted in Tract on the condition of Females in Pagan and Moliammedan countries. THE HEATHEN ARE WITHOUT NATURAL AFFECTION. A Hindoo family, after a pilgrimage of nearly two thousand miles on foot, had arrived within about one hundred and fifty miles of the temple of Juggernaut, when the mother was attacked with cholera. The husband immediately forsook her. With an infant at her breast, and reduced CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 23 as she was, she crawled to a neighboring village, hoping to find a shelter : but every application proved unsuccessful. Denied admittance at ev- ery house, she lay, in a stormy night, with her infant, upon the naked ground. Mr. Sutton having been informed of her suffering condition, repaired to the spot, and found mother and in- fant lying under a tree, drenched with rain. He had her removed, and gave her medicine ; but on the second day she died. The infant was almost famished. Mr. S. used every persuasion to obtain for it nourishment and care, but he was unsuccessful. The unfeeling reply of every person was — " It is only a girl." He applied finally to the owner of the village, a wealthy man, and a priest of Juggernaut. The hard- hearted man could coolly say, **Ifthe mother is dead, let the child die too — what else should it do ? It is but a girl." At length some milk was procured, and the starving child received the nourishment with the utmost avidity. The heart of the missionary was touched by its look of imploring earnestness and unbounded joy. He resolved to cherish her as his own child. She has been brought to this country, and placed at a female seminary near Boston. Stated by Rev. Mr. Sutton, in a public address, during a recent visit to this country. 24 THE NEED OP INFANTICIDE IN CHINA. In the imperial city, after allowing more than one half for natural deaths, the number of ex- posed infants is, according to Barrow, about four thousand a year. Some of the scenes he wit- nessed while at Pekin, were almost incredible. Before the carts go around in the morning to pick up the bodies of infants thrown in the streets — amounting to about four and twenty every night — dogs and swine are let loose upon them. The bodies of those found are carried to a common pit without the city walls, in which the livincr and the dead are thrown to. HEATHEN INHUMANITY. For a man, says Mr. Richards, whose house is on fire to receive any assistance from his neighbours is a thing unknown in the Sandwich Islands, unless the neighbour be a relation. On the contrary, as soon as a house is seen on fire, it is the sole object of every one who sees it to plunder as much as possible. The grass, of which the thatching is composed, burns so rap- 32 THE NEED OF idly, that the large timber of the frame has hardly time to take fire, before the grass is con- sumed. A large part of the timber therefore might be saved: but so greedy are the people to rob every man of every thing, that they seize the sticks of the house while they are on fire, and are seen running in every direction, with the fire spark- ling on their backs. I saw two men that were considerably burnt by trying to carry burning timber. When I went in the morning, I found the owners of the houses, with their families, sitting on mats in the open air, where they had all slept during the night. The people were collected around them, but not from sympathy, or kindness. The destitute families were rath- er the subject of ridicule than of pity. Mr. Richards gave the destitute family ''four maros'' to relieve their necessities, and tried to awaken some sympathy in their behalf among the spectators: the following statement shews how his benevolence was regarded. The people all seemed astonished at my mak- ing the presents, for they could assign no cause for it. Some said, "What a fool this foreigner is, to make presents to those poor men!" Others said, "He has maros enough: why should he not give them?" Others said, "He expects they will give him something by and by: the CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 33 foreitrners are all cuiininsr men." A few said with much coolness, "Perhaps he is kind." As I was returning, many questions were asked me. One inquired with much earnestness, "Did you think those men were chiefs?" I answered, "No." He inquired again, with in- creasing interest. "But what have they ever given you?" I told him, "Nothing." Said he "They are poor men, very poor, why should you give any thing to them." I told him, I gave because they were poor, but this reason lie could not understand. It is indeed univer- sally true here, that those who give, do it lioping to receive as much again. Such were the Sandwich Islanders before the merciful lessons of Christianity were inculcated among them. Missionary Herald, 1820. p. 241. SECTION II. The wo7-thIcss/icss of Pagan Rites and Belief, WHERE SHALL I GO LAST OF ALL? A Hindoo, of a thoughtful, reflecting turn of mind, but devoted to idolatry, lay on his death- 34 THE NEED OF bed. As he saw himself about to plunge into that boundless unknown, he cried out, "What will become become of me?" *'0," said a brahmin, who stood by, "you will inhabit anoth- er body." "And where" said he "shall I go then?" "Into another." "And where then," "Into another, and so on, through thousands of millions." Darting across this whole period as though it were but an instant, he cried, "where shall I go then?" Paganism could not answer, and he died agonizing under the inqui- ry, "where shall I go last of all?" Anecdotes, Christian Missions, p 11. WORSHIP OF DEVILS. "The Africans, all acknowledge a Supreme Being. But they suppose Him endowed with too much benevolence to do harm to mankind, and therefore think it unnecessary to oiTer him any homage. It is from demons, or evil spirits only, that they apprehend danger, and they en- deavour to deprecate their wrath by sacrifices and offerings." Quoted from Winterbotham in "Defence of VVeslcyan Missions." Lond. p. 15. "THE HEATHEN HAVE NO GOOD GOD." A New Zealand chief lay pining on a sick bed. An European visiter inquired whether he CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 35 ever prayed for the restoration of his health? *No," he replied, "we have no good God to address; our god makes us sick and kills us, but gives us nothing. Yours is a good God who hears you when you pray, and bestows good things upon you. Pray for me and I shall get well, yours is a good God. Teach us to know him, for New Zealand people know noth- ing that is good." So comfortless are the in- structions of heathenism, and so unlike the in- spired declaration, that ''like as a Father piti- eth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." Smith and Choules' Hist, of Missions, vol. 2, p. 185. IDOLATERS CAN WORSHIP ANY THING. At Baitenzorg, a village of Java, Messrs. Tyerman and Bennett observed a street occu- pied exclusively by Chinese. They called at several of the houses and noticed an idol in each. In one, they observed an engraving of the French Emperor Napoleon, in a gilt frame, before which incense was burning. The old man, to whom the picture belonged, in their presence, paid it divine honors, bowing himself in various antic attitudes, and offering a prayer 36 THE NEED OF for blessings upon himself and his family. When we asked him why he worshipped an European engraving? he replied. "O, we wor- ship any thing." Jouinul vol. 2. p. 194, Lond. PRAYER MILLS OF TARTARY. The reader has probably heard that the vota- ries of Lamaism actually use prayer-mills. The following is a description of these labor-saving machines, by Zewick. The kurdu, or prayer machine, consists of hollow wooden cylinders of different sizes, filled with Tangud writings. The cylinders are painted with red stripes, and adorned with handsome gilt letters in the Sanscrit character, commonly making a distinct sentence. Each of these is fixed upon an iron axis, which goes through a square frame; this frame is capable of being shut up flat, and is formed upon a small scale, much like a weaver's shearing ma- chine. Where the lower parts of the frame cross, there is a hole in which the axis of the cylinder turns; by means of a string which is attached to a crank in the spindle, the machine can be kept in motion, so that the cylinder turns in the frame like a grindstone upon its CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 37 axis. Before the fire at Sarepta, we had two large kurdiis of this kind, with Tangud writings of all sorts, rolled one upon another, round the spindle, in the inside of the cylinder, to the length of some hundred feet. The Moguls be- lieve that it is meritorious respectfully to set in motion, whether by the wind or otherwise, such writings as contain prayers and other reli- gious documents, that the noise of these scraps of theology may reach to the gods and bring down their blessing. These prayer mills con- tain the above named sentence, — a comprehen- sive request — repeated it may be thousands of times, and thus secure a wonderful multiplica- tion of power. These machines are commonly found in the houses of the Moguls. We can smile at this worthless device. Is it, however more absurd than a heartless prayer, offered to the living God, for the coming of His kingdom, and the diffusion of Christianity among the needy heathen? Anecdotes, Christian Missions, by Lond. Tract Soc'y. p. 26. HEATHENS INSTRUCTED IN FATAL ERRORS BY EUROPEANS. A CafTre asked Dr. Vanderkemp, if it were not true that God had created them as well as 4 38 THE NEED OP the Christians, and the beasts of the field, — **for you know," said he, "that the Dutch farmers teach us that He never created us, nor taketh any notice of us." Dr. Vanderkemp then sat down and explained to him the doctrines of the Gospel; the Caffre was very much affected, and groaned, crying from time to time, *'0 my poor soul! O Lord Jesus look upon me! Come to a poor sinner;" and when he was about to depart, he said, "Father, I will always re- member these words, and I will go in all my distress to Jesus; and, after I have settled my affairs with my master, I will follow you into Caffreland." Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 272. A PAGAN GRATIFIED IN HIS WISHES AND STILL UNHAPPY. An old man in the course of conversation, said to a missionary in Siberia; "I will state you a case and request your opinion of it. There was a man who, during a long life, wished to enjoy many things, and many of his desires were granted: he wished to have sons, and sons were given him; to have grand children, and his eyes have seen them; to be admitted to the feasts and assemblies of the people, and he was CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. d^ gratified with these; to enjoy the pleasures of the chase, and he was a successful hunter; he sought increase of riches, and his cattle multi- plied; he wished for length of days, and he is now an old man. But now he has nothing more to wish and hope for in life, for the day of death cannot be far off. He has done with feastinor and travellinop and huntino[ and mak- ing rich: and now he wishes to know if he may, without making any noise about it, simply wor- ship the God of Heaven, without avowing him- self a Christian, and give up the worship of the temple gods, but make no formal abjuration of them. Related by Rev. Mr. Brown, of St. Petersburgh, at a Foreign Mis- sionary Meeting in New York, 1836. SUPERSTITION OF THE CHINESE. On the 13th. of May 1818, a storm suddenly arose at Pekin, which darkened the heavens, and filled the air with sand and dust. The Emperor was excessively alarmed, conceiving it to be a divine judgment. Anxious to know the meaning of the portentous event, he re- quired of his ministers of State to endeavour to ascertain the cause. In a public document, he 40 THE NEED OP reprimanded his astronomers for not having pre- viously informed him when the hurricane was to take place, they had but three days before stated to him, that felicitous stars shed their happy influence around his person, and indica- ted long life and prosperity. The Mathematical Board presented their opinion, and affirmed that if this khid of hurri- cane, accompanied by a descent of dust, con- tinued a whole day, it indicated perverse beha- vior and discordant counsels between the Sove- reign and his ministers; and also great drought and dearness of grain. If the wind should blow up the sand, move the stones and be ac- companied with noise, inundations were to be expected. If the descent of dust should con- tinue but an hour, pestilence may be expected in the southwest regions, and half the popula- tion will be diseased in the southeast. Smith and Choules' Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 506. PUNISHMENT OF A PLANET. The following occurrence, related in a for- eign Indian Paper, illustrates the nature of refined heathenism, and the folly of its votaries. The narrative, though it may call forth a smile CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 41 in its satirical dress, should move the heart of christian compassion, and urge the friends of missions to greater zeal in the work of diffusing the truths of Christianity. *'It is well known that Maharajah Runjeet Sing has trusted more during his indisposition to ghostly advisers than to the European and native physicians who attended him; but what- ever profundity in occult science might be con- ceded to the domestic chaplains of his High- ness, the public is little aware how much these reverend fathers have excelled the ancient phi- losophers in the practical use of their art. The uncourtly speech of an old beggar woman, who ascribed the affliction of her Sovereign to his oppression of the people, was not deemed at ail philosophical, and they resolved to seek the cause of the calamnity in tlft stars. A careful survey of the heavenly host disclosed the fearful truth. The planet Saturn, whose baneful influ- ence no pious Hindoo denies, was found to be in the ascendant. Hence, as clear as noonday, came the liver complaint and dysentery, which oppressed the Lion of the Punjaub. Mighty as the Maharajah on earth was, he could not dislodge the star from its place in the sky; but they who ministered to his royal spirit, whether obeying his commands or acting on conceptions truly 42 THE NEED OF original, decided on getting rid of the malig- nant planet by transporting it in effigy out of the sick dominions into the British territory, whence it is expected that the Governor-Gener- al, with the friendship which he has always professed for the northern Potentate, will lose no time in transmitting Saturn beyond the Cal- apanee, or salt ocean. The image or repre- sentative of the celestial body, in what shape is not stated, is actually on its way from Lahore to the Sutledge in a car drawn by oxen. — Every respect is paid, on this novel journey, to the de- posed father of gods and men, which he could claim before eating his children. It is needless to add that, since he left Lahore, the Maharajah has almost recovered, and will be quite well by the time Saturn reaches Lodiana. — Cawnpore Express, from "Notes on Missions," in the Charleston Observer. HINDOO VIEWS OF CASTE. A Brahmin in Calcutta asked an European gentleman, "What is your order of society in Great Britian, are you divided into castes, or do you eat and drink together, according to cir- cumstances?" The European replied, "We deem it our honor to demean ourselves as breth- CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 43 ren in the participation of food at one table, as Providence permits." The Braluiiin replied, "That appears to nie to be an offence against good morals and good conduct." 1'lie gentle- man rejoined, "I think I can prove it to you, by a practice of your own, that you are in error. How do you*act in the field of Juggernaut? Do you not eat there with the lowest caste of India? There you know no distinction of caste, but all feed at one board." The Brahmin answered, **I can screen myself from the imputation you bring against us, lor there we are in the pres- ence of our god, there Juggernaut is in our midst, and there we can feast together." *'Ah!" said the gentleman, "And I can justify the Christian practice on your own principles, for we arc every where in the presence of our God." Missionary Herald, 1824. p. 302. SECTION III. The Heathen j^ossess a knowledge of duty that leaves them toithoiit excuse. ADMISSIONS OF A GREEXLANDER. A missionary being once in company with some baptized Greenlanders, expressed his won- 44 THE NEED OF der how they could formerly lead such a sense- less life, void of all reflection. Upon this, one of them answered as follows. "It is true we were ignorant heathens, and knew nothing of a God or a Saviour, and indeed who should tell us of Him till you came? But thou must not im- agine that no Greenlander thinks about these things. I myself have often thought a cajak (a canoe) with all its tackle and implements does not grow into existence of itself, but must be made by the labor and ingenuity of man, and one that does not understand it would directly spoil it. Now the meanest bird has far more skill displayed in its structure than the best kajak, and no man can make a bird. But there is still far greater art shewn in the forma- tion of a man than of any other creature. Who was it that made him? I bethought me, he pro- ceeded from his parents, and they from their parents. But some must have been the first parents; whence did they come? Common re- port informs me they grew out of the earth. But if so, why does it not still happen that men grow out of the earth? And from whence did this same earth itself, the sea, the sun, the moon and stars arise into existence? Certainly there must be some Being who made all these things, a Being that always was and can never CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 45 cease to be. He must be inexpressibly more mighty, knowing and wise than the wisest man. He must be very good too, for every thing tli.it He has made is good, useful and necessary for us. Ah! did I but know Him, how would I love Him and honor Him. But who has seen Him? who has ever conversed with Him? None of us poor men. Yet there may be men too who know something of Him. Oh, could I but speak with such! Therefore, said he, as soon as ever I heard you speak of this great Being, I believed it directly with all my heart, because I had so long desired to hear it. Burder'8 Missionary Anecdotes, p. 172. SINGULAR ADMISSION OF GUILT. At the commencement of the Epistle to the Romans, Paul has described pagan character as it was developed in his age. Missionaries in India have held up this description to the view of the Hindoos in our own day. The delinea- tion was proved to be a perfect picture of hea- thenism, as it now exists in India, by the charge which has been advanced against the missiona- ries, of having forged this passage since their arrival in the country. Thus the fullest admis- 46 THE NEED OF sion has been made, that the epistle to the Ro- mans — frightful as its details of pagan depravity are — gives an accurate description of enormi- ties and woes, that now call for the interposition of Christian benevolence. Stated by Rov. Mr. Sutton, Missionary from India, during a recent visit to this country. MUSINGS OF AN INDIAN. Soon after William Penn and his followers settled in Pennsylvania, a great mortality pre- vailed among the Indians; and a judicious histo- rian tells us, that an Indian war-captain made this serious expostulation with himself. "What is the matter with us Indians, that we are thus sick in our own air, and these strangers well? It is as if they were sent hither to inherit our lands in our stead; but the reason is plain, they love the great God and ice do not^ Mr. Penn heard the remark. Dr. Humphrey's account of the Soc'y for the Propagation of the Gospel, quoted by Buvder, Miss. Anecdotes, p. 153. RESISTANCE TO THE LIGHT OF TRUTH AMONG PA- GANS. After some Catholic missionaries had made known to an assembly of Indians in S. America CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 47 the truths of the Christian religion, they re- ceived this cool answer. "You say that the God of the Christians knows every thing, that nothing is hidden from Him, that He is every where, and sees all that is done below. Now we do not desire a God so sharp-sighted: we choose to live with freedom in our woods, with- out having a perpetual observer of our actions over our heads." Miiratori'g Mission to Paraguay, p. 107. quoted by Burder, Miss. Anecdote!?, p. 57. THE LAW OF GOD OPENLY REJECTED BY PAGANS. "The reason why we hate that law," said some idolaters to a zealous missionary, *'is be- cause it is holy: and therefore it is we would destroy it. If it would allow us to rob freely, if it did dispense with our paying the tribute which the king exacts, if it taught us to be re- venged of our enemies, and to give way to our passions, without being exposed to the conse- quences of debauchery, we would heartily em- brace it; but because it so severely curbs our inclinations, therefore we reject it, and do com- mand you the catechist to depart out of the province immediately." Swan on Idolatry, p. 121. THE NEED OF REMORSE OF AN INDIAN. A young Indian, belonging to one of the most untutored tribes of N. America, coveted the distinction of a hrave. To secure this rank, it was necessary, by the usages of his tribe, to kill an enemy. While engaged with a war party, he attacked a little child, and when the child ran into the bushes to escape, he pursued. The child ear- nestly entreated him to spare his life. But the cries of the helpless fugitive were disregarded: the pursuer struck him with a spear in the breast. The wounded boy persevered in his endeavours to extract the weapon, until he fell and expired. The young man, instead of feel- ing happy, as he anticipated, after qualifying himself by this cruel act for the rank he covet- ed, became exceedingly wretched. He could not relieve his mind from painful impressions. The image of the child pleading for life, and his efforts to extract the spear, constantly haunt- ed his imagination. Thus does conscience per- form her work even in the dark mind of the savage. The Heathen are thus "a law unto themselves." Uuarterly Paper of the Am. Board, C. F. M. p. 88. Sept. 1835. (MIUTSriAN MISSIONS. 49 THE FOI.T,Y OF TAGAX WOKSUIP ADMITTED. In conimuiiicitiiig to the Society for the Pro- motion of Christian Knowledge, his general report for the year 1778, Swartz observes, that among the Hindoos at Trichinopoly and Tan- jore, there were many thousands, even among the Brahmins, who confessed that their idolatry was both vain and sinful. It was not unusual for them, when pressed by his arguments, to reply, " True — what can avail all our images and innumeral)le ceremonies ! There is but one Supreme Being, the Maker and preserver of all!" "Hardly a day passes," he says, "in which Brahmins do not visit my house at Tan- jore, hear attentively what is addressed to them, frequently take up a book in which the doctrines of Christianity are explained, and praise it as a divine religion." But too generally their convic- tions ended with their applause. "A Brahmin," he continues, *' being asked what he would re- solve upon — whether he intended to stifle his conviction, or to receive that divine doctrine, and to profess it — replied, that he could not deny the impression he had received, and that he had sounded some of his acquaintance ; but that they all insisted upon the task as too difficult and dano;erous, on account of the great numbers of the profes5ors of idolatry." Life of Swarlz, in Christian Library, p. 64. CHAPrER II. THE SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION OF MIS- SlOiSS, One song employs all nations, and all cry " Worthy thf Lamb, for he was slain for us." The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountain tops. From distant mountains, catch the flying joy : Till, nation after nation taught the strain, Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round. COWPER. SECTION I . The readiness of the un evangelized to receive Christian instruction. EFFORTS OF THE MONGOLIANS TO OBTALN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. The Eraperor of Russia stated to the Rev. Messrs. Stallybrass &. Rahm, at Moscow, in 1818, that two Buriat noblemen of Mongolia, men of learning, had arrived at St. Petersburgh SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 51 for the purpose of making themselves acquainted with tlie Bible. They had then transcribed the Gospel of St. Matthew from the Calmuc into the Mongolian dialect. " Tims," said the Emperor, ** while the Buriats were sending to Europe for instruction, you, in England, were preparing to send it to them." An account of the manner in which these persons were induced to visit St. Petersburgh, is obtained from a letter, written by the Rev. Mr, Schmidt, Moravian minister at St. Petersburgh, dated March 7, 1818, from which letter the following extracts are taken. " When the tirst edition of the Gospel accord- ing to St. Matthew, in the Calmuc language, was printed, copies of it were sent for distribu- tion to the Russian governor of Siberia. This nobleman directed these books to be circulated among the Selenginsk Mongols and the Chorin- ian Buriats, two heathen tribes in the northeast of Russia, on the frontiers of China; requiring at the same time from the princes of these peo- ple an opinion respecting the contents. As the Calmuc dialect is not generally understood among them, this proved a most difficult task. It was, however, undertaken by two of their Saisangs or nobles, who applied themselves so diligently to the work that they were soon ena- &2 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. bled generally to explain the book to their coun- trymen. This excited so much curiosity, that the head Lama of the Mongolians, and the prince of the Chorinian Buriats, of their own accord, made a collection among their people, amounting to upwards of 11,000 rubles, (o£550,) which they placed at the dis])osal of the Russian Bible Society, on condition that the Gospel of St. Matthew, and, if possible, other books of the New Testament, might be translated into their language, and printed in their characters. This important work was entrusted to the two Saisangs ; and they arrived at St. Petersburgh, for thiVpurpose of undertaking it, in Dec. 1817. They' commenced their labors with unbounded zeal. They visited me twice or thrice a week, and at each visit I perceived their progress, not only in the knowledge, but also in the personal application of the Gospel. They confess that they have been idolaters, worshippers of Shamdshammi (the Chinese Fo,) and have studied the books of that religion ; but their hearts remained empty. *'And now, by God's mercy," say they, '* we have been chosen to translate the Gospel of his Son into our lan- guage ; and for this end have been brought into connexion with you. You have illustrated the things, unintelligible to our darkened minds, in SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 53 a direct and satisfactory manner. We acknowl- edge Christ Jesus to be our God and Savior; and are determined to know none other ; we have therefore made a resolution to leave our former superstitions, and to adopt the Christian faith." The following is the translation of a letter from one of tliese Mongolian nobles to the treas- urer of the London Missionary Society, dated Sept. 1S19, from St. Petersburgh. *' It is my great desire to return the expression of your highly valued good wishes, communi- cated to me by my brother, Mr. Swan. We are united together in brotherly affection by our mutual desire to do the will of God. The bark of lies, which formerly completely covered us, has been peeled off. The all-seeing God made us wish to come hither, and hither we came ; and we are now lying at the feet of our Savior Jesus Christ, and in this attitude we embrace him, and pray to him always as our only inter- cessor. I subscribe myself with humility and respect. The Mongolian Buriat Saisang, Badma Murchionachi." Burder's Miss. Anecdotes, p. 251. 5* 54 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. THIRTY-SEVEN GODS IlExNOUNCED FOR ONE. In 1646, Mioksoo, an Indian chief on Mar- tha's Vineyard, sent for a converted Indian, with whom he conversed upon the nature of Chris- tianity. He asked him, among other questions, how many gods the English worshipped ? Hia- coomes answered, one and no more. Then Mioksoo reckoned up about thirty-seven princi- pal gods which he had ; and shall I, said he, throw away all these thirty-seven for the sake of one only ? What do you yourself think 1 said Hiacoomes: for my part, I have thrown away all these and many more, some years ago, and yet am pre- served, as you see this day. You speak true, said Mioksoo, and I will throw away all my gods too, and serve that one God with you. Mayhew'd Indian Narratives, p. 34. A GREENLAND FAMILY. At an early period of the Moravian missions, the daughter of a Greenlander was baptized, and went to reside at the missionary station. Her father was highly displeased. In reply to his SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. Oi> angry expostulations, slie modestly tokl him the reasons of her decision, and described the hap- piness of believers, and added — ** So happy may you also be ; but if you will not, I cannot stay and perish with you." This softened his heart, and he began to weep. He went with her to tlie missionary, and declared that his intention now was, not to take away his daughter from the baptized, but rather to go with her. After arranging his affairs, he went with his two sons and the rest of the household to the station, and said to the missionaries — '* Now I come to you also, and will not leave you again. I only wish that the rest of my children may be baptized, for they are young, and have a desire after the Savior. As to myself, I am in a very indifferent state, and am not likely to come to much ; but yet, at lying down and rising up, I call to mind what I have heard of our Savior. I will live and die with you, for it is very reviving to me to hear of our Savior." Ant'cdotes of Cliristian Missions, p. 148. EAGERNESS OF SOUTH SEA ISLANDERS TO OBTAIN THE SCRIPTURES. When the Gospel of Luke was first published by the English missionaries at the South Sea 56 SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. Islands, the demand for books was far greater than the means of supply. The prhiter was sometimes under the necessity of sending away applicants till more books could be prepared. On one occasion, five men, who had come from another island for the purpose, applied for books at the close of the day. The printer informed them that they could not be supplied till the next day, when some copies would be ready for distribution. He proposed to them to spend the night in the next village. Early in the morning, he found the men at his door, where they had spent the night, afraid to leave the spot, lest all the books should be purchased before they could obtain copies. They waited till the books were finished, paid for them, and immediately left the island with their valued treasure. It is not known that they entered any house, or partook of any refresh- ment, on the island, during their visit ; so intent were they on the single object of possessing a portion of the word of God. Ellis's Polynesian Researches, vol. 1, p. 404. Lond. ATTACHMENT OF AN AFRICAN TO THE W^ORD OF GOD. On the arrival of two vessels at Demarara, from Dominica, with a great number of slaves, SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. i>7 amoiifT wlioni wore several Methodists, a native female of the latter place, on hearing of their arrival, went on board of one of the vessels. As soon as they saw her, they exclaimed, " Here are we ; we came from de word of God : we bin hearing de word of God in Dominica ; but we no know if we hear de word of God now. Poor we ! We no care where dcm bring we, so we hear de word of God." On being told they would find a chapel and missionaries there, in a moment their sorrow was turned to joy. Hail- ing those in the other ships they cried out, " Keep good heart, dere be chapel here." Biirilor's Miss. Anecdotes, p. 313. REMARKABLE RENUNCIATION OF IDOLATRY AT THK SA.-HDW ICH ISLAWDs, BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF MlSSIOtf ARIES. Just at the time, when the first missionaries to those islands were embarking at Boston, to the surprise of all who had been ac(iuaintcd with the Sandwich Islanders, the government and the people, unanimously or nearly so, determined to abandon their idols and to commit them, with all tiic monuments of idolatry, to the llames. This was done at Owyhee, then at Oahu, and then at Atooi, with no dissent, much less opposition, 68 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. except that in the former of these islands, a chief, of secondary influence, stood aloof from the whole proceeding, and preserved an idol which had been presented to him by Tamahama. Tamoree, king of Atooi, expressed a strong desire that missionaries should come and teach the people to read and write, as they had done in the Society Islands. " The principal means which Providence used to bring about this surprising result, were the continually repeated rumor of what had been done in the Society islands, and the continually repeated assurance of our sea captains and sail- ors that the whole system of idolatry was fool- ish and stupid. Thus has a nation been in- duced to renounce its gods by the influence of Christian missionaries who reside at the distance of nearly three thousand miles across the ocean. Thus, while the Gospel is becoming the power of God and the wisdom of God to many in the islands of the Southern Pacific, the distant ru- mor of these blessed results has made the idola- ters of the Northern Pacific ashamed of their mummeries, and consigned to the flames the high places of cruelty, the altars and the idols together." Burdcr's Miss. Anecdotes, p. 266. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 59 The missionaries wrote that they were greeted on landing, with the joyful intelligence — ** The taboos (pagan consecrations) are bro- ken — the idols are burnt — the moreahs (places of sacrifice) are destroyed, and the priesthood abolished." This victory was achieved by that arm alone which sustains the universe. He, who in wisdom has ordained that no flesh should glory in his presence, has saved us from the danger of glorying in the triumph, and taught us with adoring views of his majesty to ** stand still and see the salvation of God." Missionary Herald, 1821, p. 111. SUCCESS OF MISSIONARY LABORS AT THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, IN TWO YEARS FROM THEIR COMMENCB- MENT. Says the Rev. Mr. Richards, of Lahaina, in his journal — As I was walking this evening, I heard the voice of prayer in six different houses, in the course of a few rods. I think there are now not less than fifty houses in Lahaina, where the morning and evening sacrifice is regularly of- fered to the true God. The number is constantly increasing, and there is now scarcely an hour in the day that I am not interrupted, in my regular 60 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. employment, by calls of persons anxious to know what they may do to be saved. For four days our house has not been empty, except while the door has been fastened. When I wake in the morning, I find people waiting at the door to converse on the truths of the Scrip- tures. Soon Hoapiri, wife and train, come and spend the day : and after the door is closed at evening, we are interrupted by constant calls, and are not unfrequently awaked at midnight by those who wish to ask questions. Houses for prayer are multiplying in every part of the vil- lage ; and the interest which is manifested on the concerns of eternity, is such as only six months ago I did not expect would be seen, even for a whole generation. Again — When I walk out, at whatever time of day it may be, and in whatever direction, I hear the voice of prayer, and am accosted by multitudes and requested to stop and give in- structions. When we retire at night, we almost uniformly send some from our house, who are anxious to receive instruction, and when we rise in the morning, we almost always find persons waiting at the door to see us. Missioiuiry Herald, 182G, pp. 148, 149. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 61 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS AT THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. During a period of remarkable attention to religion at his station, Mr. Bishop mentions this cheering fact : " I have just returned from the services of this day, where I have preached twice to a congre- gation of more than ten thousand listening hear- ers." And he adds — " Could you but witness, for one day, the order, the attention, the anxious, eager look ; and observe the tear which starts in the eye of the tawny, sunburnt savage, and the counte- nance of hope and joy, as he casts his eye up- ward to heaven, upon hearing the terms of par- doning mercy, your heart would leap for joy, and you would give God thanks for having ever put it into the hearts of any to come over the wide waste of water that divides us, to preach salvation to this people." Missionary Herald, 1827, p. 208. HAPPY RESULTS FROM THE CIRCULATION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN CEYLON. Said the Rev. W. B. Fox, in an address be- fore the British and Foreign Bible Society — " I beg to relate one very striking circum- stance respecting the first labors of this Society 6 62 SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. in Ceylon. Three hundred copies of St. Mat- thew were circulated, and one of them fell into the hands of the second person in the island : he was one who had ridden on the white ele- phant, and had been raised to the highest hon- ors in the Buddhist priesthood. It is usual in Ceylon to hold a great feast three times a year, at which are read the Buddhist writings of the five hundred and fifty transmigrations : one of these is read by the chief person as an introduc- tion to the business of the day. The individual referred to, having obtained the Gospel of St. Matthew, had read it and was struck with it : and on one of these occasions he read the Gos- pel before the meeting, instead of the Buddhist writings. This gentleman has become a cler- gyman of the Established Church. Missionary Herald, 1826, p. 281. SUCCESS OF MISSIONARY LABORS IN CEYLON. During a remarkable eff'usion of the Holy Spirit upon the several stations on this island, the following scene occurred at Panditeripo. On the 12th of February, 1824, while Mr. and Mrs. Scudder were absent, and after the boys of the boarding school had gone to their room, and were about to lie down to sleep, SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 63 Whelpley, (a native member of the church,) was induced to exhort them, most earnestly, to flee from the wrath to come. They were roused and could not sleep. By little companies, they went out into the garden to pray, and the voice of supplication was soon heard in every quarter, each one or each company praying and weeping as if entirely alone. More than thirty were thus engaged in a small garden. The cry was, *' What shall I do to be saved," and " Lord send thy spirit." In about an hour Dr. Scudder re- turned, and after waiting awhile, rang the bell for the boys to come in. They came, and with weeping proposed the inquiry, " What shall we do to be saved?" The next day they seemed unmindful of every thing but the salvation of their souls. And soon, under the judicious in- structions they received, more than twenty at this place gave encouraging evidence of conver- sion. This was a specimen of the displays of divine mercy witnessed at the several stations of the mission. Missionary Herald, 1825, p. 28. RESULTS OF THE DONATION OF A NEW-TESTAMENT TO A VILLAGE IN INDIA. The Rev. Mr. Ward, as he passed through a village opposite Calcutta, left at a native shop a 64 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. Bengalee New Testament, that it might be read by any who chose to read it in the village. About a year afterward, three or four of the most intelligent of the inhabitants went to Se- rampore to inquire farther respecting the con- tents of the book left in their possession. The result was that six or eight of them soon made a public profession of Christianity. Among these, three deserve a particular no- tice. One was an old man, named Juggernath, who had been long a devotee to the idol of that name in Orissa, had made many pilgrimages thither, and had acquired such a name for sanc- tity, that a rich man in Orissa was said to have offered him a pension for life, on condition of his remaining with him. On his becoming ac- quainted with the New Testament, he first hung his image of Juggernath, which he had hitherto worshipped, on a tree in his garden, and at length cleft it up to boil his rice. He remained steadfast in his profession of Christianity till his death, which happened about eight years after. The two others, Kishnoo-das and Sebeck-ram, men of superior natural endowments, published the doctrines of Christianity to their countrymen in the most fearless manner, while at the same time, their demeanor was such as to secure uni- versal esteem. Kishnoo-das died rejoicing in SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 65 Jesus Christ, as tlie Redeemer of men, about five years ago, [this narrative was made in lS-2'i,] and Sebeck-ram is now a member of the cliurch meeting in the Loll-Bazar, and resides in liis native vilhige opposite Calcutta, where, and in the different parts of Calcutta, he explains the Scriptures to many who resort to him. Letter from Dr. Marshman, in Missionary Heraitl, ]823, p. 292. DECLINE OF IDOLATRY IN INDIA. We find in a German paper, says the Archives flu Christianisme, some interesting details re- specting the decline of idolatry in the East Indies. Scarcely any new idolatrous temples are erected; for one that is built, sixty go to ruin. Another fact, not less remarkable, is, that the seminaries in which the sacred books of Brahminism are studied, are more and more neglected, and that many of them have been shut up for want of pu- pils. The two most celebrated ones, Nodea and Santapore, where formerly they had from three thousand to Ave thousand students, have not at present more than three or four hundred. An inquiry into the causes of this decline has been instituted ; and it is attributed chiefly to the dis- credit into which Brahminism has fallen. Fi- nally, as a third characteristic of the times, the 6* 66 ** SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. Brahmins themselves are losing much of their influence with the people ; their curses, formerly so terrible and so much feared, no longer excite more than slight apprehensions in the minds of most natives. There are hundreds of Brahmins who have renounced the priesthood, and devoted themselves to worldly pursuits, because religious services no longer obtain for them the means of living. What indications of a hastening change in the religious state of that vast country ! Vermont Chronicle. REFLECTIONS OF A SOUTH AFRICAN, EXCITED BY CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION. Bailey, a Griqua, in South Africa, stated that the first thinff which led him to think of religion was the giving of thanks at eating by the Hot- tentots of the Zak river mission. *' I went," said he, " afterwards to that settlement, where I heard many things, but felt no interest in them. But one day, when alone in the fields, I looked very seriously at a mountain, as the work of that God, of whom I had heard , then I looked at my two hands, and for the first time noticed that there was the same number of fingers on each. I asked, why are there not five on this hand and SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 67 three on that ? It must be God that made them so. Then I examined my feet, and wondered to find the soles both flat, not one flat and the other round. God must have done this, said I. In this way I considered my whole body, which made a deep impression on my mind, and dis- posed me to hear the word of God with more interest, till I was brought to trust that Jesus died for my sins." Anecdotes' by Loiuloii Tract Soc. p. 03. TL'AUL\E, A DTSTRESt-ED IXQUIRER. The Rev. Mr. Orsmond, a missionary in the South Seas, gives the following interesting ac- count : A short time since, a young man named Tua- hine, came loitering about my house in an unu- sual way. Knowing him to be one of the baser sort, I said, " Friend, have you any business with me?" Tears gushed into his eyes; he could at first hardly speak ; at length he replied, " You know I am a wicked man. Shame cov- ers my face and holds me back. To-day I have broke through all fear. I want to know, is there room forme? Can I expect mercy?" I said, " How came you to have such a thought as that?" His countenance blushed ; tears started bo SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. from his eyes, and he said, " I was at work, put- ting up my garden fence. It was a long, hard work, and only myself to do it. All over dirt and greatly wearied, I sat down on a little bank to rest, and said within myself, I cannot tell why, ' All this great garden, and death for my soul ; all this great property, and death forever ! Oh, what shall I do?' I went immediately and bathed ; then went to my wife, and told her my thoughts and wishes ; she agreed to my desire, and we, on that evening, left our work, and came to this place, where the word of God lives, and I have been wishing to speak to you ever since." I was quite affected to hear his tale, gave him all the instruction and encouragement which I conceived that the Scriptures warranted, and am happy to say, that the man continues to live happily and worthy of the Gospel, Anecdotes by Lond. Tract Soc. p. 66. THRILLING APPEAL FROM THE BURMAN MISSION. Dr. Judson thus wrote, under date of Rangoon, March 4, 1831, describing the eagerness with which applications were made for tracts. The great annual festival is just past, during which multitudes come from the remotest parts of the country to worship at the great Shway SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 69 Dagong Pagoda in this place, where it is be- lieved that several real hairs of Gaudaina are enshrined. During this festival I have given away nearly 10,000 tracts, giving to none but those who ask. I presume there have been six thousand applicants at the house. Some come two or three months' journey, from the borders of Siam and China. " Sir, we hear that there is an eternal hell," is their appeal ; '' we are afraid of it. Do give us a writing that will tell us how to escape it." Others come from the frontiers of Cassay, a hundred miles north of Ava. " Sir, we have seen a writing that tells us about an eternal God. Are you the man that gives away such writings 1 If so, pray give us one, for we want to know the truth before we die." Others come from the interior of the country, where the name of Jesus Christ is a little known. "Are you Jesus Christ's man? Give us a writing that tells about Jesus Christ." Brother Bonnet works day and night at the press, but he is unable to supply us. The fact is that we are very weak, and have to complain that hitherto we have not been well supported from home. It is most distressing to find, when wo are almost worn out, and are sinking, one after another, into tlie grave, that many of our brethren in Christ at home are just as hard and 70 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. immovable as rocks, just as cold and repulsive as the mountains of ice in the pciar seas. Seventh Ann. Rep. of the Am. Tract Soc. p. 42. HAPPY INFLUENCE OF A COPY OF THE NEW-TESTA- MENT. About the year 1820, a number of persons were found in a few villages near Dacca, in India, who had forsaken idolatry, and who con- stantly refused to render to the Brahmins the customary honors. They were said also to be remarkable for the correctness of their conduct, and particularly for their adherence to truth. They were the followers of no particular leader, but from their professing to be in search of a true Gooroo or teacher, they were termed Sutya- Gooroos. It was said that they had derived all their principles from a book which was carefully preserved in one of their villages. Some native Christians resolved to visit the sect of whom they had heard so many remarka- ble particulars. The singular book from which their principles were derived, was exhibited to the visiters. It was much worn, and was pre- served in a case of metal resembling brass. Whence it came no one could tell. On exam- ination, it was found to be a copy of the first SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 71 edition of the Bengalee New Testament, printed at Serampore in 1800. This copy of a part of the sacred volume seemed to have prepared thus many inhabitants scattered through ten or twelve villages, to receive religious instruction from missionaries who afterwards labored among them with success. Letter from Rev. Dr. Marshman, in Miss. Herald, for 1823, p. 292. EXTENSIVE INTEREST A WEAKENED BY THE DISTRIBU- TION OF THE NEW-TESTAMENT. The Rev. Mr. Fisher, a chaplain in Bengal, relates the following circumstances respecting a number of Hindoos who were associated together for the purpose of acquainting themselves with the truths of Christianity, in the year 1818. It was reported that a number of strangers from several villages had assembled in a ^ope, near Delhi, and were busily employed, appa- rently in friendly conversation, and in reading some books in their possession, whicli had in- duced them to renounce caste, to bind them- selves to love and associate with one another, and to intermarry only with their own sect, and to lead a strict and holy life. A convert em- ployed by Mr. Fisher visited the spot, and found about five hundred people, men, women, and 72 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. children, seated under the shade of the trees, employed in reading and conversation. He ac- costed an elderly man, and said, " Pray who are all these people, and whence came they?" "We are all poor and lowly, and read and love this book." " But what is this book?" " The book of God." " Pray let me look at it, if you please." It proved to be the New Testament, in the Hin- doostanee tongue, many copies of which seemed to be in their possession, some printed and oth- ers written by themselves. The visiter pointed out the name of Jesus in one of the copies, and inquired, "Who is that?" "That is God. He gave us this book." " When did you obtain it ?" "An angel from heaven gave it to us." "An angel ?" " Yes — to us he was an angel — but he was a man, a learned pundit." A public reader appears to have been selected by themselves for the express purpose of reading this miraculous book ; and their evenings have been habitually spent for many months in this blessed employ- ment, crowds gathering to hear God's book. The ignorance and simplicity of many of them were very striking. They had never heard be- fore of a printed book. All united in acknowl- edging the superiority of the doctrine of this book to every thing they had hitherto heard or known. An indifference to the doctrine of caste SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. 40 soon manifested itself, and the interference and tyrannical authority of the Brahmins became in- creasingly olfensive. At last it was agreed to separate themselves from the rest of their Hin- doo brethren, and to establish a fraternity of their own, choosing four or five, who could read the best, to be public teachers. The number daily and rapidly increasing, especially among the poor, a public meeting was deemed neces- sary, to which all their congenial associates, were invited. A large grove near Delhi was selected for the purpose, and this interesting group had now met for the first time. They seemed to have no particular form of worship, but each individual made daily and diligent use of the Lord's prayer. They resolved to hold such a protracted meeting once a year. It was found that this remarkable interest among so large a group of inquirers was awak- ened by the distribution of some New Testa- ments at Hurdwar. PanopIiBt, 1818. p. 236. 74 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. SECTION II. TJie more indirect benefits of Missions. THE RIGHTS OF A POOR MAN PROTECTED. In the autumn of 1822, the queen of Tahiti, visited Huahine. Her attendants requiring a piece of timber, she directed them to cut down a bread-fruit tree, growing near by, in the gar- den of a poor man. Her orders were obeyed. Teuke, the owner of the tree, discovered upon his return in the evening that his premises had been invaded and his tree destroyed. Having ascertained that the queen's men had committed the trespass, he repaired to the magistrate of the district and lodged a complaint against her majesty. He was ordered to appear at the place of public justice the following morning at sunrise, to substantiate his charge. The queen was also summoned. The next morning, the missionary, residing there, went down to wit- ness the proceeding. As the sun rose above the horizon, Ori, the magistrate, was seen sitting in the open air, beneath the spreading branches of a venerable tree. On a finely woven mat. be- SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 75 fore him, sat the queen, attended by her train. Beside her stood the native peasant, and around them all, what may be termed the police offi- cers. Turning to Teuke, the magistrate in- quired for what purpose they had been con- vened. The poor man said, that in his garden there grew a bread-fruit tree, whose shade was grateful to the inmates of his cottage, and whose fruit, with that of those which grew around, supported his family for five or seven months in every year, but that yesterday some one had cut it down, as he had been informed, by order of the queen. He knew that they had laws, he had thought those laws protected the poor man's property, as well as that of kings and chiefs; and he wished to know, whether it was right that, without his knowledge or consent, the tree should have been cut down. The magistrate, turning to the queen, asked if she had ordered the tree to be cut down. She answered, "Yes." He then asked if she did not know that they had laws. She said **Yes," but that she was not aware they applied to her. The magistrate asked, "If in those laws (a copy of which he held in his hands,) there were any exceptions in favor of chiefs or kings, or queens." She answered, "No;" and despatched one of her attendants to her house, 76 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. who soon returned with a bag of dollars, which she threw down before the poor man, as a rec- ompense for his loss. ''Stop," said the justice, "we have not done yet." The queen began to weep. "Do you think it right that you should have cut down the tree without asking the own- er's permission?" "It was not right," replied the queen. Then, turning to the poor man, he asked, "What renumeration do you require?" Teuke answered. "If the queen is convinced that it was not right to take a little man's tree, without his permission, I am sure she will not do so again. I am satisfied, I require no oth- er recompense." His disinterestedness was applauded, the assembly dispersed; and after- wards, J think, the queen sent him privately a present equal to the value of his tree. Ellis's, Polynesian Researches, vol. 2. p. 458. Lend. A DISCOURSE ON THEFT LEADS TO THE RESTITU- TION OF PILFERED PROPERTY. Mr. Nott, missionary at Tahiti, preached from the text, "Let him that stole, steal no more," The next morning, when he opened his door, he saw a number of the natives sitting on the ground before his dwelling. He request- ed an explanation of this singular circumstance. SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. 77 They answered, "we have not been able to sleep all night; we were in the chapel yester- day: we thought, when we were pagans, that it was right to steal when we could do it without being found out. Iliro, the god of thieves, used to assist us. But we heard what you said yes- terday from the word of God, that Jehovah had commanded that we should not steal. We have Stolen, and all these things that we have brought with us are stolen goods". One then lifted up an axe, a hatchet, or a chisel, and exclaimed. *'I stole this from the carpenter of such a ship," naming the vessel, others held up an umcti, or a saw or a knife; and indeed almost every kind of moveable property, was brought and exhibited with such confessions. Mr. Nott, proposed that they should take the plundered property home and restore it, when an opportunity should occur, to its lawful owners. They all said, "O no, we cannot take them back, we have had no peace ever since we heard it was displeasing to God, and we shall have no peace so long as they remain in our dwellings; we wish you to take them, and give them back to the owners when- ever they come." Ellis's, Polyucsian Researches, vol. 2. p. 323. Lond. *7 78 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. CHRISTIANITY IMPARTS A THIRST FOR INSTRUCTION, TO THE ISLANDERS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. It is a fact, that never till religion had im- pressed their heart did knowledge enter their minds; that they would neither labor nor learn till they became interested in the facts, and moved by the inducements of the Gospel, and that it was the wonders of the cross, and the verities of eternity, that fixed their vagrant at- tention; and that, till they felt something of the power of these, they could not be made to com- prehend, or to put forth one effort to comprehend the letters of the Alphabet. Rev. J. A. James, of Birmingham. ERRORS IN PAGAN ASTRONOMY, CORRECTED IN CEYLON. In the month of March, 1829, much excite- ment was awakened in the village of Batticotta, in Ceylon, by an approaching eclipse of the moon. The calculations of the Cingalese as- tronomers, and those of the missionaries, as to the precise commencement and duration of the eclipse, were known to differ materially enough to involve their character as correct astrono- SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 79 mors. And tlie comparative claims of Hiiidoo- ism and Christianity were to be affected by the result. One of the learned natives, the pandarum, went from place to place, to awaken the atten- tion of the people to the decisive evidence, that was about to be given, of the superiority of the Hindoo to the Christian religion. He was so confident that the calculations of the native almanac would be confirip.ed, as to say that he would venture to be whipped, if they were not correct. And he intended, as soon as the case was determined, to have it published in triumph through the district. The scholars, under Christian instruction in the Seminary, were perplexed at the confident assertions of the native astronomers. They would find it difficult on the one hand, to admit that their learned men were in an error, and on the other, they would be unable to bear the taunts and jeers, which they must expect, if the calculations of the missionaries proved in- correct. As the time of the eclipse drew on, the ex- citement deepened. The pandarum, and many others were at the station, waiting the arrival of the eventful period. It was feared that a small cloud, that rose just before the time of the 80 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. eclipse, would conceal the moon from view dur- ing the time of observation. But it passed away at length, in time to shew the moon par- tially eclipsed. Still however, the pandarum insisted that the cloud occasioned the appear- ance which the moon presented. It had been contended by the native astronomers that the eclipse would not commence until 24 minutes after 6. P. M. The calculation of the mission- aries fixed the commencement at 9 minutes after 6. It was evident to all at 12 minutes after 6, that the eclipse had commenced some minutes previously. For a short time after this discovery, the pandarum was silent, but at length he began to abuse, in strong terms, the native astronomers, saying, ''they have hitherto im- posed on the people, &/C." Thus does science augment the usefulness of the missionary. Missionary Herald, 1830. p. 170. OPPOSITION DISARMED BY CHRISTIAN MILDNESS. Mr. Lacey, Baptist missionary in India de- scribes an interview with an opposer, thus — He came up to me, a violent opponent, and spoke very severely and angrily. I gave him time to cool and spend all his fury, and then SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 81 as affectionately as I could, asked him several questions, such as these; "My dear brotlier, I am come hither to preach good tidings to you, I love your soul and desire your happiness. I do not want to blaspheme your gods, or give you any sorrow; and therefore, why are you angry with me? I do not want you to believe, if what I say is not true. But, brother, what is truth? How shall we obtain pardon? How shall I get to Heaven? You have praised your wise men; but are they not divided in their opinion? One says, I must do this; another, the other: and as many fathers, so many are their ways. And as are your wise men, so are your Brah- mins. One says, "Go to Juggernaut," another says, "Go to Gunga sauger," another sends me to Benares, another to bathe, another to count beads, another sets me to worship himself! Now, brother, what shall I do? Whither shall I go? There is only one way, which is it? The poor man could say no more, but stood speechless. I let him stand a few minutes, and saw the tears starting from his eyes, and was about to declare to him the only true way, when his friends, seeing his situation, forcibly drag- ged him away. Missionary Herald, 18-^9. p. KiO 82 SUCCESS or missions. A MOHAMMEDAN SHAKEN IN HIS BELIEF. Mr. Buckingham, in his travels, relates the following anecdote, to confirm the supposition, that the extension of commercial intercourse will lead to the dissemination of knowledge, and the blessings of true religion; and equally does it prove the tendency of religion to expand the mind. Happening to be travelling with a cara- van to Judda and Mecca, on the way down, I was a good deal in the society of an intelligent Mohammedan merchant, a native of Fez, the capital of Morocco. His having come from the western extremity of Africa, to visit the "Holy City," was a sufficient proof that he was a zeal- ous and staunch believer in the Mohammedan doctrine. Having ascertained that he would listen, without being offended, to any objections I might make to his religion, I asked him if it had never occurred to him, that his religion was not intended to be universal, and that it could not possibly be universally adopted. He replied, that it never had occurred to him; and that, could this be proved, it would shake his confidence in the origin of his religion, since it was impossible that it could be divine, were it not of universal application, as it would be hard indeed, to require that all mankind should do SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 83 that which was only practicable to a part. **VVell," 1 replied, "You Mohainiiiedans are as ignorant of geography as you are of most other things, otherwise you would know that there are countries where there is light six months in the year, and darkness the other six; in other words, the sun is six months above the horizon without setting, and six months below it with- out rising, so that there is but one day and one night in the year. Now every Mohammedan is expressly enjoined, during the Ramadan, to abstain from every article of meat and drink, from the rising to the setting of the sun; an in- junction, the fulfilment of which, in the coun- tries I have named, is plainly impossible." He said it was impossible there should be such a country; but, I having demonstrated the fact to him, the argument had such an effect upon him, that, instead of proceeding to the temple at Mecca, the object of his long and wearisome pilgrimage, he stopped at Jedda, transacted his business there, returned to Fez, and never went to Mecca at all. Anecdotes, by Lond. Tract Soc'y. p. 52. AN AFRICAN CONVINCED OF THE TRUTH OF THE SCIUPTURES. A few years ago, a young African, addressed Mr. Johnson, a missionary, in language like S4 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. this, — ''Massa, them words you talk last night, strike me very much When you preach, you read the 15th and 16th verses of the 44th Chap- ter of Isaiah, and explain them, you shew me how our country people stand." Me say, "Ah! who tell massa all this? He never been in my country." You say, **Do not your country peo- ple live in that fashion?" I say, *' yes, that true: God knows all things: He put them things in the Bible." Massa, I so sure that the Bible is God's word, for man cannot put all them things there because he no see it. That time I live in my country, I live with a man what make grce- gree. He take me into the bush, and teach me to make greegree too. He shew me one tree; he say, that greegree tree; he take country-axe, and cut some of that tree: he make a god: and he take the leaves, and that which was left, and give me to carry home. When we come home, he make a fire; and all the people come and sit round the fire. Then they cook and eat. When they done eat, the man take the leaves of the gree-gree tree and burn them in the fire, and then all the people stand round the fire and clap their hands and cry. Aha! Aha! Massa, when you read that verse (Isa. xliv. 16.) I can't tell you what I feel. You then begin to talk about the text (verse 20) *he feedeth on ashes,' and I SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 85 was Struck again; for when they done cry, Aha! Aha! they take the ashes and make medicine they give to the people when they be sick. You ben see some greegree which look like dirt! that is the same ashes: they carry that round them neck and they eat it sometimes. You see, massa, our poor countrymen feed upon ashes. For true, the Bible God's word. AiiecdotCT, by Lotid. Tract Soc'y, p. 8G. A PAGAN CONVINCED OF THE ERRONEOUSNESS OF IDOLATRY. The following conversation was held between a very affluent Chinese, and Mr. Supper, mis- sionary to Java. Missionary. *'You believe, by the doctrines of Confucius, that there is but one God. Why then do you worship idols?" Chinese. **Yes, but God is too far above us. we dare not address ourselves to Him, without the intervention of demi-gods." * 'Should we not call God our common Fa- ther?" "Yes." "And place confidence in Him?" "Most assuredly." "Are not you the father of five sons?" 8 Ob SUUCESS OF MISSIONS. "Yes." "Suppose three of your sons took it into their heads to paint images upon paper, or carve upon wood, and when they were finished, to pay them all the veneration that is due to yourself, and to put that confidence in them which is justly due to you as their father?" "I would chastise them, and place them in a mad-house, as laboring under a fit of insanity." The idolater went home, and tore all the painted images from the walls of his house and threw them into the fire. From that time he ceased to frequent the Chinese temples. Missionary's Vade mecum, p. 59. A COIVIPANY OF AFRICANS MARCHING OUT TO PRAY. Mr. Butsher, of Sierra Leone, having slept a night at a settlement at Leicester mountain, ob- served, in the morning early, a number of men, about 25; inhabitants of Leicester village, ap- proaching with their headman at the front of the body. Upon his inquiring, what they came for, they replied, "To pray, Massa. Dat white man you put here, pray with us every morning and evening, and we like dis fashion. Before we be bushmen; but now we wish to pray, and learn to know God." Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 309. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. O/ THE CEYLONESE DELIVERING TO A MISSIONARY, THEIR BADGES OF IDOLATRY. The simplicity of many of the heathen, when they receive the truth of God in the love of it, is often very admirable. Mr. Harvard states, in his narration relative to Ceylon, that when he was once addressing a native congregation in the government school-house at Pantura, from I, John iii. 8th. he endeavored to shew that the Kappooa system, was one of the works of the devil, which the Son of God came to des- troy; and urged their renunciation of all confi- dence in their vain charms, and the conse- cration of their bodies and their souls to God. Appealing to their understandings and con- sciences, he inquired; "which of you will now cast away these works of the devil, and place himself under the protection of the Son of God?" He looked round upon the congregation, as for a reply. Presently a charm was handed up to the pulpit, which had been broken off for that purpose. He held it up, and gave thanks to God, that in that place He had begun to destroy these works of the devil. He then repeated the inquiry, "Who next?" &c. and two or three more abandoned charms were handed up in a SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. similar way. Before tlie close of the services, a handful of them was in his possession. Anecdotes by London Tract Soc'y. p. 106. FAMILY WORSHIP IN CEYLON. At the annual meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in 1826, the Rev. W. P. Fox, a missionary from Ceylon, said, that as he was travelling in a jungle, in the dead of the night, which is the usual time for journeying, he heard a voice reauing. He drew near to the cottage, and found that the party was read- ing the word of God. He put aside the leaves, of which the cottage was composed, and saw the whole group, consisting of three or four generations, sitting on the ground, while a youth was reading the 14th of St. John. He waited in silence, to see the result: and, at the conclu- sion, the boy began to invoke the Divine bles- sing on what he had read; and one of the peti- tions was very remarkable: he prayed that God would make larger the ears of his grandmother. Mr. F. supposed, from this circumstance, that his poor relative was so deaf that she could not hear those truths which he admired himself He added, that these instances were formerly rare, SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 89 but they were now spreading over the whole land; and thougli lie was no prophet, yet he woidd venture to predict, that nothing like half a century would pass, ere it would be said, tliat there were no heathen temples, and no idols remaining in Ceylon. Anecdotes by London Tract Soc'y. p. 153. MISSIONS DIMINISH CRIME. The Rev. Dr. Philip, of the Cape of Good Hope, states that the Honourable Justice Bur- ton informed him, after a circuit tour, that he had made three journeys over the colony as a circuit judge; that during these circuits, he had nine hundred cases before him, and that only two of these cases were connected with Hotten- tots who belonged to missionary institutions, and that neither of them were agcrravated cases. On a comparison of the population at the mis- sionary stations with that of the rest of the colo- ny, which was under the jurisdiction of the cir- cuit court, the fact stated by the judge makes the proportion of the crimes as one to thirty-five. Anecdotes by London Tract Soc'y. p. Iti8. •8 90 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. A HEATHEN TEMPLE DISPLACED BY A CHRISTIAN CHURCH. The following pleasing fact, is illustrative of the predicted downfall of idolatry. Happily, scenes like this are not ol infrequent occur- rence. On the 27th of Jan 1826, a place of worship was opened at Rammakalchoke, eight miles from Kidderpore; it was crowded; many came from distant villages; an unusual interest in be- half of Christianity was excited, and soon after the Gospel achieved a signal victory. On the 20th of March, the native Christians tore up their idol Siva: it was a massy stone of some hundred pounds weight. When the "Destroy- er," for that is the meaning of the idol's name, was taken out of his temple, the whole village ran together in perfect amazement, one crying one thing, and another, another. The impression made by the demolition of the idol was like the shock of an earthquake, to use the remark of the owner of the temple. A few days afterwards the idol was brought to Kidderpore, and presented to the missiona- ries. "Here indeed" said these men of God, "we stand amazed, and say, what hath God wrought! Never did our most sanguine expeo- SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 91 tations lead us to think, that we should behold this obscene idol destroyed." This is the first instance of the kind, that has occurred in Ben- gal. The temple, in whi<:h the idol stood, has since been taken down by its owners; and, with a part of the materials, they have erected a tem- ple to the one living and true God. Those very bricks which once enclosed the demon of impu- rity, serve the purpose of screening the mission- aries from the rays of the sun, while preaching to the heathen the unsearchable riches of Christ. Anecdotes, by Lond. Tract Soc'y, p. 170. OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH, AT THE SOL'TH SEA ISLANDS. A naval officer, who was at Tahiti in 1822. states, that he visited the South Sea Islands, with prejudices against the missionaries, and suspicion respecting the reported change among the people; but that his visit had entirely re- moved them both. It was Friday, when the ves- sel arrived, the natives thronged the ship with fowls, fruit and vegetables, for sale; manifesting considerable earnestness and address in the dis- posal of their goods. The same thing was con- 92 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. tinued through the second day: but on the third, to the great astonishment of all on board, no individual came near the ship. On the day following however, the trade was as brisk as ever. The sabbath occa^oned the suspension. Captain Gambier, who visited them in the same year, says in his journal respecting their observance of the Sabbath, "the silence, the order preserved, the devotion and attention paid to the subject, surprised and pleased me beyond measure. Children," he adds, ''are seen bring- ing their aged parents to the church, that they may partake of the pleasure they derive from the explanation of the Bible." Anecdotes, by Lond. Tract Soc'y, p. 179. IMPROVED CONDITION OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. The Rev. Mr. Orsmond, a missionary at Ei- meo, states, that some years ago, he overheard several chiefs conversing among themselves as follows — ''But for our teachers, our grass on the hill, our fences and houses would have been fire- ashes long ago," meaning that the ravages of war would have continued to desolate the land. "But for the Gospel, we should now have been on the mountains, squeezing moss for a drop of SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. »0 water; eating raw roots, and smothering the cries of our children, by tilling their mouths with grass, dirt and cloth." "Under the reign of the Messiah, we stretch out our feet at ease, eat our food, keep our pig by the house, and see cliildren, wife and all at table in the same house." "We did not know more than our an- cestors, our kings and our parents: and we were all blind, till the birds flew across the great ex- panse with good seeds in their mouths, and planted them among us. We now gather the fruit and have continual harvest. It was God who put it into the hearts of those strangers to come to us. We have nothing to give them: but we are a people of thorny hands, of pointed tongues and we have no thoughts," "If God were to take our teachers from us, we should soon be savage again. They are the great roots to the tree on the high hill: tlie wind strikes it, twists it, but cannot level it to the ground, for its roots are strong." "Our hearts delighted in war, but our teachers love peace, and we now have peace." Anecdotes, by Lond. Tract Soc'y, p. 182. 94 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. SECTION III. Remarkahle Conversions. CONVERSION OF A PRIEST OF BUDDHU. A young priest, who was a zealous opposer of Christianity, resided in the district of Matura, in Ceylon. This spot is deemed the chief seat of Buddhism on the island. The chief priest resides here, and here also is the principal col- lege of the Buddhist priesthood. The priest was met incidentally, at the prison of Matura, by Mr. Lalmon, a Wesleyan assis- tant missionary. Both had come to the place to visit a native man, condemned to die. After some conversation, the missionary challenged the priest to produce a single proof from any of his sacred books, that a Savior for man had come into the world. The priest was highly in- dignant at the challenfice. He went to his tem- pie, and commenced a search for evidence from the Buddhist writings of the doctrine he was required to support. Though he continued his search at times for two years, he was unsuc- cessful. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 95 On visiting a neighboring district he met with another missionary wlio gave him a copy of the New Testament, in Cingalese. This he took to his temple and read ; but it was four years be- fore the pride of his heart would allow him to divulge the struggle that was going on in his mind. The rank he held in the priesthood, being now second in the Island ; his reputation for learning, and the influence he had among the people, were circumstances which induced him so loner to resist that lijrht and conviction which the perusal of the Scriptures had con- veyed to his mind. The repetition of his visits, however, led to a disclosure of his condition An alarm was raised, and he found it necessary to fly from the temple and take refuge in the house of the missionary. The priests wrote a letter to him, which was signed by them all, stating that disgrace would befal them if he became a Christian ; that were such a calamity to happen, their religion would receive an incurable wound. To this he paid no regard. In a second communication, they made him an offer of certain temples and emolu- ments, provided he would not renounce Buddh- ism. This likewise produced no effect. In a third letter, they declared that if he became a Christian, they would, by some means, or other 96 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. take his life. This rather startled him at first. But he remained firm to his purpose, and after " learning the way of the Lord more perfect- ly " from the missionaries, he was publicly bap- tized in the presence of a very large assembly. " The conversion of this man," said Mr. Clough, a Wesleyan missionary, " is so impres- sive an event, that it more than a thousand fold rewards us for all the toils we have had in trans- lating and publishing the Scriptures in Cin- galese." Missionary Register, 1827, p. 220. A TAHITIAN POWERFULLY AFFECTED BY A VERSE IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. During a missionary tour in Tahiti, Mr. Nott read to a number of the natives a passage from the New Testament. When he finished the sixteenth verse of the third chapter, a native who had listened with avidity and joy, inter- rupted him and said, "What words were those you read? What sounds were those I heard? Let me hear those words again." Mr. Nott read again the verse, " God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son," &/C. — when the native rose from his seat and said, *' Is that true ? Can that be true ? God love the world, SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 97 when the world not love him ! God so love the world as to give his Son to die, that man might not die ! Can that be true ?" Mr. Nott again read the verse, told him it was true, and that it was the message God had sent to them, and that whosoever believed on the Son of God should not perish. The feelings of the astonished isl- ander were too powerful for expression or re- straint. He burst into tears, and retired to meditate upon the amazing love of God. His soul was touched by the grace of God. He be- came a disciple of Christ. Ellis's Polyiicpiaii Researches, vol. 1, p. 27G. Lond. CONVERSION OF A NATIVE PRIEST AT ONE OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. An aged native priest at Parea resisted stren- uously the introduction of Christianity. After the majority of the inhabitants had renounced the rites of paganism, he declared his intention still to adhere to the worship of idols. When the people went to the chapel on the Sabbath, he repaired to his garden to employ himself in la- bor. While mending a fence on the Sabbath, a bough struck his eyes, and caused painful in- flammation, which resulted in permanent blind- ness. This circumstance deeply affected his 98 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. mind, and led to the renunciation of his idola- trous practices. He became a firm believer in Christianity, and at his baptism assumed the name of Paul, because the apostle was struck with blindness, as well as himself, before con- version. His subsequent abhorrence of the rites of the native priesthood, was as strong as his attach- ment to Christianity. He was requested by Mr. Ellis and a few friends, simply for their informa- tion, to recite one of the prayers he had been accustomed to offer in the temple. After long persuasion he consented, and assuming the usual crouching position, he commenced in a shrill, tremulous tone ; but the very mention of the names of the gods gave him the utmost alarm ; he declared he durst not, he could not proceed. Ellis's Polynesian Researches, vol. 1, p. 210. Lond. CONVERSION AND RIARTYRDOM OF A TURK. A few years before the Greek revolution, a Turk and a Greek of the same occupation, lived opposite to each other at Smyrna. The Turk was from the island of Mitylene, nearly all the inhabitants of which understood Greek. The Greek was from Athens, and had in his shop a younger brother, a youth of about fourteen years SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. ~ 99 of age. The Turk often visited his neighbor, and one day he found the young Greek reading : the book was a copy of the Holy Scriptures, re- ceived through the Bible Society. The Turk, impatient at his fixed attention to the book, in- quired its name. The youth replied, somewhat coldly, that it was his "Ketab," or sacred book. The Turk having intimated a wish to hear some portion of the volume, the youth declined complying with the request, alleging that it would be dangerous to be found reading together the Scriptures, and hinting that if he were a Christian there would be no danger. The Turk immediately left the house : but he had scarcely quitted the door, when the elder brother, who had been apprised of the conversa- tion, severely reprimanded the youth. "What have you done," said he, *'in proposing to this Turk to become a Christian ! If he should de- nounce us, we are both of us lost: prison, con- fiscation of our property, and probably death will be our lot." The young Greek was yet tremb- ling under this reproof, when the Turk again entered, and inquired what it was which aflfected him. His brother having left, the youth related to him all that had passed between them. " By my religion," said the Turk, '' and by all that I hold sacred, I swear that I will not denounce 100 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. you ! Only read to me somewhat from your Ketab." The young Greek then ventured to read. The Turk listened with eager attention : and the more he heard, the more eager was he still to hear. He could see from his window whenever the elder brother left his house, and this Mas a signal for him to hasten to the youth, whom he would allure by presents to spend much time in reading to him the word of God. Some months having passed in this manner, the Turk came at length to the resolution of abandoning the religion of his fathers, and em- bracing Christianity. He shut up his house, sold his property, and betook himself to a Greek priest, to whom he communicated his resolution. ''Away ! for the love of God," was all the answer he could obtain. A Turk desiring to embrace Christianity, was a thing so unheard of, that the distrust of the priest was awakened. He was aware also that Turks often endeavor in this manner to ensnare Christians. Our Turk ap- plied then to the priest of another Greek church who gave him the same repulse. Having been recommended to make application to a monas- tery at Athos, he did so. At Athos, however he was repulsed as he had been at Smyrna : nc one would believe him sincere. He applied finally to one of the anchorites of the mountain : SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 101 the hermit, while he pitied the Turk, would hold no intercourse with him on religion, with- out the permission of his superiors. There was a young priest with the hermit when this appli- cation was made. As they walked away to- gether in silence, the priest, affected by the tears of the Turk, said, " Hast thou indeed a sincere desire to become a Christian? "You see this," replied the Turk. " Then follow me," said the priest ; *' I will show you a retreat suf- ficient for your dwelling, and to shelter you from the weather: here hide yourself: I will bring you food, and will come daily to instruct you." In this retirement the Turk continued for many months, receiving from the young priest both his bodily and his spiritual food. He was at length baptized, and afterwards lived some years in seclusion at Athos. But the fire of his first love burned within him, and would not suffer him to remain any longer inactive. He had an aged mother and a brother at Mitylene : the salvation of their souls incessantly pressing on his mind, he resolved to visit them. He was on board the vessel which was to carry him over to Mitylene, when another Turk, an officer of the customs, recognized him by a scar near the eye. He was immediately questioned, and did not hesitate to relate the 102 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. circumstances of his conversion to Christianity, lie was arrested, cast into prison, and subjected Ao every kind of torture : but he remained im- moveable. As soon as his arrest became known, the Christians were deeply affected. Gregory, then at the head of the college, immediately assem- bled the elder students : he related what had passed, and exhorted them to pray for their af- flicted brother. "But," he added, "prayer alone should not content us ; we -must endeavor to comfort and encourage him in his prison. Which of you will put his own life in jeopardy by this act of piety?" "I," "I," resounded on all sides. To a young Athenian was granted the desired privilege of making the perilous visit. By a contrivance which perhaps would scarcely admit of justification, he procured his own tem- porary imprisonment. Disguised as a laboring mason, he took the road to Magnesia, while a Greek master mason, engaged for the purpose, went to the Turks to apprise them that one of his workmen, who owed him a considerable sum, had fled to Magnesia. Some Turkish soldiers were immediately despatched in pursuit. The Athenian was seized and thrown into prison. Here he found the poor Turk stretched partially on the earth, 'is head down, and his feet fas- SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 103 tened by a cord to the ceiling, in which painful posture it had been determined to leave him, until he should abandon his resolution. The Athenian student concealed his emotions, and remained quiet till midnight. When the other prisoners had fallen asleep, he approached the martyr, and sought to console him, by assuring him how much the Christians felt for him — that they would do all in their power for his deliver- ance — that they prayed for the confirmation of his faith — and that he had been himself sent on their part to encourage him. The martyr an- swered, "I thank you for your love ; but, blessed be God ! I stand in no need of encouragement. I shall endure all, even to the end." He kept his word. He was taken to Constantinople. His steadfastness was assailed by the promise of liberty, wealth, and a wife of great beauty, on the sinsjle condition of returninof to the religion of his fathers. But all was unavailing. His constancy was then tried, with no better success, by multiplied torments. At last his persecutors, wearied by his inflexible firmness, struck off his head. Oriental Christian Spectator, 1834, pp. 69, 70, 71 104 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. CONVERSION OF KAIARNACK. It is well known that the Moravian missiona- ries in Greenland labored for several years with- out any apparent success. They seem to have thought that they should first instruct the natives in the existence of God, the creation of the world, the nature of the soul, and similar sub- jects ; and all this they did without exciting any degree of attention. On one occasion, however, while one of these good men was occupied in translating the Gospels, he was visited by a number of the natives, who were desirous of knowing the contents of the book. After some general remarks, the missionary slid into an account of the sufferings of Jesus ; reading the description of his sorrows, and speaking much of the agony which made him sweat, " as it were great drops of blood." Now the Spirit of God began to work. One of these men, Kaiarnack, stepped forward to the temple, and said in an earnest and affecting tone, " How was that ? Tell me that once more ; for I would fain be saved too." Never had such language been heard from a Green- lander before. After careful instruction, Kaiar- nack became a decided and useful convert. He SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 106 and his family were the first fruits of a large liarvest of conversions in that country. Soon after this event, the missionaries visited one of their distant stations ; and when they in- sisted much upon the sufferings of Jesus, the assembly were deeply affected. " What things have come about now?" was their inquiry. " Your present discourse," it was added, " makes quite another impression upon us, than when you always told us of God and the two first pa- rents. We continually said, we believed it all, but we were tired of hearing of it, and thought, What signifies that to us ? But now we find there is something interesting in it. We also see that our people have experienced something real in their hearts, because they can speak of it, and pray, and we cannot." Bunlcr's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 163, and Carne's Lives of Pro- testant Missionaries, vol. 1, p. 230. CONVERSION OF AFRICANER. One of the most extraordinary instances of the power of divine grace furnished in the annals of missions, is that of Africaner, for many years a chief among the Namacquas, a tribe of people in South Africa. He was pronounced by Mr. Campbell, " the Bonaparte of the interior of 106 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. South Africa." *' His name carried terror along with it for several hundred miles around his residence." He was long engaged in plunder- ing the neighboring tribes, and did not scruple to destroy two missionary settlements. His character may be learnt more fully from the remark respecting him, recorded by a mis- sionary. "Soldiers are sent, who, it is hoped, will succeed in ridding the country of such a monster, whom neither religion nor government can restrain or subdue." When Mr. Campbell visited Africa, in 1812, he wrote a conciliatory letter to this man, asking him to allow the missionaries to return to one of the stations from which they had been driven in terror by his violence. After some delay, he granted the request. The conversation .and preaching of a missionary, at this station, had such an effect, that Africaner one day said to him, "I am glad that I am delivered. I have long enough been engaged in the service of the devil ; but now I am free from this bondage. Jesus hath delivered me : him will I serve, and with him will I abide." When Mr. Campbell visited Africa the second time, he wrote thus to his friends in England. Africaner was the man of whom I was most afraid when in that country before, in conse- SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 107 quence of the multitude of plunders in which he was engaged. Tliere was a Griqua captain, of a different tribe, between whom und Africaner there were frequent battles. Both of these are now converted to the Christian faith. Africaner, as an act of kindness to Mr. Moffat, travelled with his people a journey of six days across Africa, to convey Mr. Mofiat's books and furni- ture to Lattakoo. Formerly he had gone as far to attack Berend. On this occasion Africaner and Berend met together in my tent, and united in singing praises to the God of peace ; and when I recollected the enmity that had formerly existed between them, compared with what I then saw, tears of joy flowed from my eyes. O my friends, afler the conversion of Africaner and Berend, let a man be as wicked as he may, despair not of his conversion ; for the grace of God is infinite. It is pleasing to add that, to the day of his death, Africaner maintained the character of a consistent and useful Christian. Burdor's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 295, and Anecdotes, Christian Missions, p. 58. CONVERSION OF P.\RBOTEE. Parbotee was a Brahmin of superior rank, and a very strict observer of Hindoo rites. Meeting 108 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. with another Brahmin, Mohun Chund, who had visited Mr. Thomas, the missionary, Parbotee required him to go and wash his clothes, to remove the defilement of the society of an Eng- lishman. The other Brahmin positively refused, although the injunction was repeatedly urged. Parbotee then proceeded to what is deemed in India a very formidable act. He handed to Mohun Chund his hookah (smoking pipe, with a vessel of water, through which the smoke passes to his mouth,) having first poured out the water from the vessel. Such an act is, among the Hindoos, a kind of formal disgrace, and proves the forerunner to that which is deemed worse than death, the loss of caste. This proceeding could not escape the notice of the witnesses present, nor fail of drawing the attention of many to the great dishonor of the censured Brahmin. Mohun Chund left the company, and went and poured out his complaint to God in prayer. During the next night, he was called up by the vehement cries of Parbotee, whom he found greatly agitated, and anxious to hear the Gospel. They went together to the house of Boshoo, the moonshee, where they remained till daylight, reading, praying, and singing. The impressions thus commenced were permanent. After painful and trying convictions, he gave SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 109 good evidence of a change of heart, and his sub- sequent demeanor was highly satisfactory to the missionaries. Siiiitli and Clioulcs' Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 18(3. CONVERSION OF ABDALLAH. Abdallah and Sabat, young men of 'family in Arabia, were intimate friends. They were both zealous Mohammedans. Having agreed to visit together foreign countries, they left Arabia, after paying their adoration at the tomb of the prophet at Mecca, and travelled through Persia, and thence to Cabul. Abdallah was appointed to an office of state under Zemaun Shah, king of Cabul. Sabat left his companion here, and proceeded on a tour through Tartary. While Abdallah remained at Cabul, he was converted to the Christian faith by the perusal of a Bible, (as is supposed,) belonging to an Armenian Christian. In the Mohammedan states, it is death for a man of rank to become a Christian. Abdullah endeavored for a time to conceal his conversion ; but finding it no longer ])ossible, he determined to (lee to some of the Christian churches near the Caspian Sea. He accordingly left Cabul in disguise ; and had 10 110 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. gained the city of Bochara, in Tartary, where he was met in the streets and recognized by his friend Sabat. The circumstances of his conversion and flight were known to his old friend, from whom they called forth strong in- dignation. Abdallah knew his danger, and threw himself at the feet of Sabat. He con- fessed that he was a Christian, and implored him, by the sacred tie of their former friendship, to let him escape with his life. ''But, sir," said Sabat, when relating the story himself, "I had no pity. I caused my ser- vants to seize him, and I delivered him up to Morad Shah, king of Bochara. He was sen- tenced to die; and a herald went through the city of Bochara, announcing the time of his ex- ecution. An immense multitude attended, and the chief men of the city. I also went and stood near to Abdallah. He was offered his life if he would abjure Christ, the executioner stand- ing by him, with his sword in his hand. ' No,' said he, as if the proposition were impossible to be complied with, 'I cannot abjure Christ.' Then one of his hands was cut off at the wrist. He stood firm, his arm hanging by his side, with but little motion. A physician, by desire of the king, offered to heal the wound, if he would recant. He made no answer, but looked up SUCCKSS OF MISSIONS. Ill stead f;istly towards heaven, like Stephen tlie first martyr, his eyes streaming with tears. He did not look with anger towards me. He looked at me, but it was benignly, and with the counte- nance of forgiveness. His other hand was then cut off. But, sir," said Sabat, " he never chanired — he never chanfred. And when he bowed his head, to receive the blow of death, all Bochara seemed to say, ' what new thing is this'?' " After the martyrdom of Abdallah, Sabat re- signed himself to grief and remorse. He trav- elled from place to place, seeking rest and find- ing none. At last he visited India, where he was appointed by the English government a Mufti, or expounder of the Mohammedan law. While he was at Vizagapatam, exercising his professional duties. Providence brought in his way a New Testament in Arabic. He read it with deep thought, and compared it with the Koran. At length, the truth of the word of God fell on his mind, as he expressed it, like a flood of light. Soon afterwards he proceeded to Madras, a journey of three hundred miles, to seek Christian baptism , and having made a public confession of his faith, he was baptized, by the name of Nathaniel, in the twenty-seventh year of his age. 112 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. Sabat now relinquished his secular employ- ment, and repaired, by invitation, to Bengal, where he was engaged in translating the Scrip- tures into the Persian language. His tPttention was turned also to his own countrymen, and he sought to promulgate among them the truths of Christianity, by publishing a treatise entitled " Happy news for Arabia." This work has been pronounced " an eloquent and argumentative elucidation of the truth of the Gospel, with copi- ous authorities admitted by the Mohammedans themselves, particularly by the Wahabees." When the family of Sabat, in Arabia, heard that he had followed the example of Abdallah, and had become a Christian, they despatched his brother to India to assassinate him. While Sabat was sitting in his house at Vizagapatam, his brother presented himself in the disguise of a Faqueer, having a dagger concealed under his mantle. He rushed on Sabat and wounded him. But Sabat seized his arm, and his ser- vants came to his assistance. He then recog- nized his brother. The assassin would have become the victim of public justice, but Sabat interceded for his brother, and sent him home in peace, with letters and presents to his moth- er's house in Arabia. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 1 1 'J Sabat afterwards apostatized, and wrote a book in favor of Mohammedanism. He wrote again, however, in answer to his own book, and in a subsequent conversation with the Rev. Dr. Milne, declared himself still a Christian. After this he fell into the hands of the Mohammedans, and for some real or pretended treason, after six months' confinement, he was tied up in a sack, and thrown into the sea. Burdor's Missionary AnecdotCH, p. ^9. CONVERSION UF TSCHOOP, • A MOHIKAN INDIAN. Before his conversion, Tschoop was distin- guished by every act of outrage and sin. He had even crippled himself by his debaucheries. But the lion was tamed, and the slave of sin be- came a child of God and a preacher of right- eousness to his own countrymen. The account he gave of his own conversion, will best eluci- date the striking change wrought in him. It is as follows : " Brethren, I have been a heathen, and have grown old among:^t the heathen : therefore I know how heathen think. Once a preacher came, and began to explain to us that there was 10* 1 14 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS, a God. We answered, ' Dost thou think us so ignorant as not to know that ? Go back to the place from whence thou earnest.' Then again another preacher came, and began to teach us, and to say, ' You must not steal, nor lie, nor get drunk,' &lc. We answered, ' Thou fool, dost thou think that we don't know that? Learn first thyself, and then teach the people to whom thou belongest, to leave off ihese things. For who steals, or lies, or who is more drunken than thine own people?' And thus we dismissed him. After some time, brother Christian Henry Ranch came into my hut and sat down by me. He spoke to me nearly as follows : ' I come to you in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth : he sends to let you know that he will make you happy and deliver you from the mis- ery in which you lie at present. To this end he became a man, gave his life a ransom for man, and shed his blood for him,' &lc. When he had finished his discourse, he lay down upon a board, fatigued by the journey, and fell into a sound sleep. I then thought, what kind of a man is this ? Here he lies and sleeps. I might kill him and throw him out into the wood, and who would regard it ? But this gives him no concern. However, I could not forget his words. They constantly recurred to my mind. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 115 Even when I was asleep, I dreamed of that blood which Christ shed for us. I found this to be something different from what I had ever heard, and I interpreted Christian Henry's words to the other Indians. Thus, through the grace of God, an awakening took place among us. I say, therefore, brethren, preach Christ our Savior, and his sufferings and death, if you would have your words to gain entrance among the heathen." Loski.-1-s MLssioii amotig tlic N. A. Imlians, P. II. Cli. 1. p. 14. CONVERSION OF A IirNDOO DEVOTEE. A devotee on the Malabar coast, inquired of his priest, how he might make atonement for his sins 1 He was directed to drive iron spikes, sufficiently blunted, through his sandals ; and on these spikes he was directed to place his naked feet, and to walk about 480 miles. If, through loss of blood, or weakness of body, he was obliged to halt, he might wait for healing and strength. He undertook the journey; and while he halted under a large, shady tree, where the Gospel was sometimes preached, one of the mis- sionaries came and preached in his hearing from these words • "The blood of Jesus Christ 116 SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. his Son cleanseth us from all sin." While he was preaching, the man rose up, threw off his torturing sandals, and cried out aloud, '' This is what I want ;" and he became a lively witness that the blood of Jesus Christ does cleanse from all sins indeed. This account was furnished by the celebrated Schwartz. Burdor's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 198. CONVERSION OF A HEATHEN PHILOSOPHER AT NICE, AS RELATED BV SOZOMEN. The philosopher had come to Nice, for the purpose of displaying his learning, and of oppos- ing and deriding the simple-hearted Christians. An old Christian, who had suffered with mag- nanimous constancy during the late persecu- tions, undertook to dispute with him. Some were ready to raise a laugh at the old man's ex- pense, while serious persons were distressed to witness a contest apparently so unequal. Re- spect for the man, however, induced them to permit him to engage in the discussion, and he addressed the philospher in these terms : " Hear, O philosopher, in the name of Jesus Christ. There is one God, the maker of heaven SUCCESS or MISSIONS. 117 and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; who made all things by the word of his power, and confirmed them by the holiness of his Spirit. This Word, whom we call the Son of God, com- passionating the sons of men, involved in error and wickedness, chose to be born of a woman, to converse with men, and to die for them, and he will come again, the Judge of all things which men have done in the body. That these things are so, we in simplicity believe. Do not then labor in vain, seeking to confute things which ought to be received by faith, and inves- tigating the manner in which these things may or may not be ; but if thou believest, answer me now that I ask thee." Struck with this plain, authoritative address, the philosopher said, " I do believe." He also advised the other philosophers pres- ent to do the same, declaring that he was changed by a divine influence, and moved by a energy which he could not explain. Lif..' of Joliii (Jottoii, p. 95, note C. 118 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. CONVERSION OF IMIKZA MAHOMED ALL Mirza Mahomed Ali, the only son of a vener- able Persian judge, was introduced to the Scot- tish missionaries at Astrachan, as a teacher. He was found qualified to instruct in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. Discussions became fre- quent, and although they often produced in him the most violent rage, he courted their renewal. At length his mind was impressed by the truths of the Gospel, as appears from the following ex- tract from the journal of Mr. McPherson. "Mahomed Ali, my Arabic teacher, came at his usual hour. On offering a few remarks upon the absurdity of the system of divinity which formed the ground work of our studies, I was more than surprised to hear him reply, ' I no more believe what is contained in that book,' pointing to the Mahomedan Confession of Faith. He now told me, that his soul was in deep waters, and that he could not sleep at night from reflecting upon his perilous situation, in professing a religion which he was afraid was not the true one." From this time he appeared to be in great an- guish of spirit, while he became more fully con- vinced of the truth of Christianity. After his SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 119 conversion, he confessed that the fact of so many Christian missionaries being employed in different parts of the world, had made a deep impression on his lieart ; tliat he began to sur- mise that a religion which could lead men to do so much for their fellow creatures, must be from God ; whilst among Mohammedans, none seemed to take any interest in the condition of others, whether they were in the way to heaven or not. He was much affected with the relation in which he stood to his venerable father. " I am sure, said he, that my apostacy will bring him down with sorrow to the grave." The following conversation took place between Mahomed and a Persian gentleman sent by his father to admonish and reclaim him. *' So you intend to become a Christian V '* Yes, I do." " Are you not satisfied with the Koran, and with your own religion ?" " No. Can you prove to me that the Koran is a revelation from heaven?" " Come, come; tell me how much money the English Moollahs have given you for becoming a Christian ?" " Read the Gospels, and reflect seriously on them ; and at the end of three days you will not ask me that question." 120 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. " Remember your father, your honor your reputation, are all at stake : and it will be for your advantage in this world not to change your religion." *' What will that avail me, if I must suffer the wrath of God in hell forever 1" " You will be persecuted." " The Gospel saith, And unto him that smi- teth thee on the one cheek, offer also the oth- er." On hearing this reply, the gentleman was con- founded, and said, " Why do you not tell your father these things ?" " By the blessing of God, I intend to inform him," was the reply. After this, his father treated him with the ut- most harshness. He was confined and beaten severely, until the missionaries applied to the governor, by whose authority he was lodged in safety in the mission house. Afterwards he was publicly baptized. The convert did not fail to exemplify the meekness of a Christian under the abusive treatment which he endured. When he was brought to the residence of the missionaries, his head still aching from the blows his father had given him, he said, " I have suffered much since I saw you; but Christ Jesus suffered much SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 121 more." On another occasion, being asked, how he felt while his f;ithcr was beating him, he re- plied, " O, nothing at all ; after he was done, I went and kissed him." After his baptism he visited his father. Both of them \vept much. The natural affections of the parent's heart were not changed by the son's apostacy, and the son's were only strengthened. The father did not upbraid him, but stated his conviction, that the devil had obtained possession of him, otherwise he never could have forsaken the Prophet, nor his aged parent. He inquired very kindly after his comfort. A few days after, Mohammed Ali received a note from his father, containing these moving appeals : — " O, my un- merciful son, how long wilt thou pain me ? I once fondly cherished the hope that when I came to die, I should have laid my head upon your knees, but these hopes are fled." The afflicted father continued to urge upon his son representations designed to shake his steadfastness, until at last he consoled himself with the Mohammedan tenet, that his son was fated to be an infidel. The son became a zealous advocate for the Christian faith. His valuable labors proved highly useful to the mission. After the lapse of about two years, however, by some agency that II 122 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. was never divulged, he was prohibited, by an order from the governor-general of the southern provinces of Russia, from engaging in any mis- sionary operations. He was not even allowed to go beyond the boundaries of the city of Astra- chan, without leave from the police-master. Nor was this all. He was appointed by the govern- ment to the office of teacher in Siberia — an appointment equivalent to exile. On his way to the secluded spot, to which he had been ordered, he passed through Kazan, the seat of one of the Russian universities. A German physician of that place was so much pleased with the young convert, so struck with his talents, and so inter- ested in his history, that he urged the principal persons of the city to procure a change of his destination, and obtain for him an appointment to a professorship in that city. After much delay, the request of the petitioners was granted, and Mahomed Ali, or Alexander Kazem Beg, as he was baptized, was appointed professor of oriental languages in the university of Kazan. That station he now holds ; and he remains steadfast in the faith, adorning the doctrine of God the Savior by a life and conversation be- coming the Gospel. MisBionary Annual, 1836, p. 166, and Missionary Herald, 1824, p. 125. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 123 CONVERSION OF A MOMAMMEDAN MERCHANT. A Mohammedan mercliant, who gave satisfac- tory evidence of conversion, was baptized by the American missionaries at Bombay. He was a merchant of Hyrabad, a city nearly four hundred miles east ^from Bombay. Being in Bombay for the purpose of procuring merchandize, he provi- dentially met with a Christian tract, which ex- cited his attention, and led him to seek the instructions of the missionaries. He soon found that Christianity claimed to be the only true re- ligion, and resolved to give it a thorough exam- ination. He accordingly committed his business to the hands of an agent, and under the instruc- tion of the missionaries, sat down to the study of Henry Martyn's translation of the New Testa- ment into Persian. After devoting his whole time, for nearly six months, to the study of the Bible, he came to the full conviction that it con- tained the only true system of religion, and, as it is hoped, heartily embraced it. After his bap- tism, he remained a short time in Bombay, and then returned to his family at Hydrabad. What is worthy of special notice in the history of this man is, the readiness with which he laid aside his business, till he had given the new religion a fair examination. Lite of Gordon Hall, p. 1G3 124 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. CONVERSION OF CUPIDO. Cupido, a Hottentot, was remarkable for swearing, lying, fighting and drunkenness. His vices often laid him on a sick bed. He was sometimes afraid of God, though ignorant of him ; and expected that his conduct would prove the destruction of his soul. He begged all he met to point out some mode of deliverance from the sin of drunkenness, supposing that to aban- don his other vices would be easy. Some di- rected him to witches and wizards, whom he found miserable comforters ; for they told him that when persons began to make such inquiries it was a sure sign of speedy death, and that his life was not worth a farthing. Others pre- scribed various medicines, which he found as unavailing as the counsels of the witches. He was providentially led to Graaf Reinet, where he heard, in a discourse from the missionary Van- derlingen, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, could save sinners from their sins. He said within himself, " That is what I want ! That is what I want !" He repaired to the missionaries, expressing his wish to become acquainted with this Jesus. And he told all he met, that he had at last found one who could save sinners from their sins. Upon finding that the preaching of the missionaries fitted his own case, and laid SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 125 open the secrets of his heart, he said, * This is not of man, but of God.' After he had rejoiced in the hope of divine forgiveness, it was his practice to recommend Christ to others, as the only remedy for sin, who could destroy it, as he himself could witness, " both root and branch." ymith and Choulcs' Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 411. COiNVERSION OF A NATIVE PRIEST OF CEYLON. In an interview with Mr. Clough, a Wesleyan missionary, the priest introduced the subject of the origin of evil, with the inquiry, " If the God of the Christians be perfectly holy, can he be the author of evil, and if not, where did man get that spirit to do evil ?" The missionary answered, " From our first parents." " Whence did they receive it?" " The awful consequence of disobedience to their Creator." " But how this disposition to disobey God?" ''Temptation, and the devil was the tempter." " What is the devil ?" *' An evil spirit." "Who made the devil, and how did he be- come such?" *11 126 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. " God created him a pure angel, but he re- belled." " Whence this disposition to rebel ?" The missionary here found himself in some difficulty, but concluded by telling the priest, good men had said many things on the subject ; but this only is sufficient to know — sin is in the world, and God has threatened to punish it, and we should only be concerned to avoid it, and do our duty. The priest said he had thought much on this point, and never found any thing so sat- isfactory in his own religion. At another interview, the priest said he was in great perplexity concerning the responsibility of the heathen. " How can God punish an idolater, if that idolater worships according to the light affiDrded him ?" The missionary told him that God might per- mit nations to remain in heathen ignorance in consequence of their having once rejected the Gospel ; but they will be judged according to the light they have. Their situation is deplora- ble, but God in compassion is now about to make them another offer of salvation. *' I have now to offi^r you," said he, " the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and if you reject this offer, you will assuredly be condemned at the SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 127 last day." The priest was greatly agitated, and gathering up his loose garments, with a counte- nance of great concern, replied mildly, "I hardly know what to do. I have been brought up in the religion which I now profess, and am settled in it. I know not how to think about changing it, and it is a thing I cannot at present enter- tain." The missionary afterwards gave him a copy of the New Testament, and during several suc- cessive interviews, explained its difficulties. At length the priest confessed his fear that the reli- gion of Buddhu, in which he and his country- men believed, was wrong. "During the last three weeks," said he, ''I have frequently re- turned home, after my interviews with you, una- ble to sleep for many nights." As to changing his religion, he added, "1 am, in my present situation, as comfortable as I can wish with regard to the things of this world ; but as soon as I throw off my priestly garments, I shall be deprived of all means of support, and be brought into distress." Mr. Clough took measures to protect his in- quirer from insult, and to provide for his support, if he should eventually prove sincere. While this was doing, and the baptism of the priest expected, the affair was blazed abroad. The 128 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. High Priest of the district was so alarmed by the intelligence, that he assembled fourteen of his head priests, and sent them to persuade their brother, if possible, to abandon the idea of em- bracing Christianity. Besides the priests, there were his family connexions, some weepijig, some scolding, and others threatening to put an end to their existence. Many head men of the dis- trict came with large presents, saying, "If you forsake the priesthood, it will ruin our religion in this country." But he broke through them, and made his escape, at the hazard of his life. The conversion of this priest shook the faith of many others. Missionary Museum, p. 152. CONVERSION OF ANUNDO. Another native, of respectable caste and fam- ily, who has received an English education, has been publicly received into the Christian church, in the person of Anundo Chund Moojoomdar. Anundo was admitted a pupil in the General Assembly's school, on its opening in August, 1830. In accordance with the system of tuition pursued in the school, he, together with his class- fellows, soon commenced the study of the New SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. 129 Testament. It was not long before his mind be- came arrested by the Sermon on the Mount. The ideas, the prospects, the images, the illus- trations, all were so peculiar, and seemed so ap- posite and so true, that glimpses of light flashed through his soul, and he was often heard to ex- claim, ' How beautiful, how tender, how kind, how full of love and goodness ! Oh, how unlike the spirit and maxims of Hindooism ! Surely this is the truth!' Never was there a more striking exemplification of what Owen calls ' the self-evidencing power of the Bible.' As the young man advanced in his acquaintance with its contents, he constantly contrasted its state- ments with those which the Brahmins rehearsed from their Shasters ; and he appeared as it were internally to see and feel that there was truth in the former, and error in the latter. He de- manded no external evidence to authenticate the divine authority of the Christian scriptures. To him the reading of them seemed like the pres- ence of the light of day exposing surrounding objects in their true colors : or rather like the sudden admission of the solar rays into a dreary cavern, bringing to view the hideous and loath- some objects with which it had been stored. Not that he disparaged miracles and prophecies; but he declared that these were not necessary 130 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. for his conviction ; there was something in the whole spirit, and plan, and announcements of the Gospel, that came home to his soul in the light of truth, independent of external proofs. Anundo voluntarily applied to Mr. Duff for bap- tism. His address on the occasion was, in sub- stance, ' What shall I do ? I feel that I am a sinner, a great sinner, a sinner that deserves to be eternally punished. What shall become of me ? If I die this night, I fear I shall be lost forever, and I know I deserve such a fate. What shall I do ? I am troubled, much trou- bled, day and night I am troubled. But in the Bible I read of God's mercy. May I not trust in it ? I sometimes feel that I may, and so try to think and do what is good, when all at once I feel that I am sinning more. Then I read the Bible ; I cannot help reading it ; and there I find something that catches me in a way which I cannot explain. I feel that Christ is the only true Savior. Last night I could not sleep, and so arose and lighted my lamp, and read the Bible, and it caught me ; and I am convinced that here is the only way of salvation. May I not then publicly profess my faith in Christ by baptism V Quoted in the Charleston Observer, from tlie Presbyterian Ileview, (Scotcli,) p. 285, May, 1834. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 131 SECTION IV Scriptural knoivledge, Christian principle and death-bed sayings of converted heathen. AN INDIAN'S VIEWS OF THIT WAY OF SALVATION. A North American Indian, and a white man, being at worship together, were both impressed so deeply under the same sermon as to com- mence seeking their salvation. The Indian soon rejoiced in the hope of divine forgiveness. The white man remained in deep distress of mind until, after sinking almost in despair, he also, at length, found peace in believing. Some time afterwards, meeting his red brother, he thus addressed him, ''How is it that I should be so long under conviction, when you found comfort so soon?" "O brother," replied the Indian, "me tell you: there come along a rich prince, he propose to give you a new coat; you look at your coat, and say, 'I do'nt know, my coat pretty good; I believe it will do a little longer,' He then offer me new coat; I look on my old blanket; I say, this good for nothing; I fling it right away, and accept the new coat. 132 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. Just SO, brother, you try to make your old right- eousness do for some time, you loath to give it up: but I poor Indian, had none; therefore I glad at once to receive the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ." Burder's^Missionary Anecdotes, p. 153. ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURAL TRUTHS BY A GREENLANDER. The correct scriptural information possessed by the converted heathen, is truly delightful. From many beautiful specimens of the views given us of the pious Greenlanders, we select the following. Daniel, with some other of his countrymen, being present when one of the European brethren had cast a pewter spoon, remarked upon the process of polishing. *'Now I can well conceive how our Saviour acts in the circumcision of our hearts, and how He proceeds even to the end, with our purification, when we surrender our hearts to Him. He must first cut away all the coarse stuff that is good for nought; and yet He afterwards finds much still to rub off. This causes Him much trouble, and us pain too. But behold, just as the brother pours on the burnishing water, to SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 13S do it the easier, and to make the spoon the smoother, and brighter, so our Saviour sprinkles us with Ilis own blood, makes our purification agreeable, and never leaves us till we are pleas- ant in His sight." On another occasion, the same man said, when the baptized were about to separate for their summer occupations. ''When we are among savages, we hear nothing of our Saviour and His merits; nothing but earthly things- from which our souls receive no nourishment: hence it may easily happen that they grow dry, trifling and deceitful. Yet thouorh we have no teachers with us to instruct us, we have the Holy Spirit everywhere, whose delight it is to brincr all things concerninor our Saviour to our remembrance. O! I entreat you, give heed to the direct way the Spirit points to a bleeding Saviour; and whenever ye are sensible that it is not well with you, go immediately to Him who has bought you with his blood, and beseech Him to draw quite near your hearts again. And when ye hear the savages talk unprofitable things, do ye think of Christ crucified." A striking simile shall close these extracts, "When in summer we carry a light, usually dry moss soaked with oil, from one tent to another, from which burning flakes fall to the ground, 1-2 134 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. they quickly set the dry grass on fire. Thus, when our Saviour came upon earth, he brought fire along with Him, and scattered it around among men. And now He sends His servants forth into all the world, even unto us, with His word: this they have scattered amongst us, and it has enkindled and put life into our hearts, so that we no longer walk in darkness, as do others." Anecdotes by Lond. Tract Soc'y, p. 86. KAPIOLANI'S REMARKS. Kapiolani belongs to what may be called the nobility of the Sandwich Islands. On the first arrival of missionaries to the Islands, she was intemperate, dissolute and degraded. Under the influence of Christian instruction, she has become not only perfectly moral, but a ''mother in Israel." The same influence served to refine her manners, as well as amend her heart. The elevated stamp of her piety has been evinced by expressions like the following. "I love to go to the house of God, for then I forget all about this world. When among the chiefs, I hear so much said about money, and cloth, and land, and ships and bargains, that it makes me sick, and I wish to go where I can SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 135 hear about God, and Christ and heaven. This cures all my sickness and I never get tired of it." "When I hear preaching about Jesus Christ, my spirit does not stay in me, but it goes out to Jesus Christ; and when I hear about God, my spirit goes to God; and when I hear about heaven, my spirit goes up to heaven. It goes, and then it comes back, and then it goes again, and thus it continues to do." Once she inquired of her spiritual teacher, whether he did not think she had two souls. She said, "It seems to me that I have one good soul, and one bad one. One says, God is very good; and it loves God, and prays to him, and loves Jesus Christ, and loves preaching, and loves talk about good things. The other one says, it does no good to pray to God, and go to meeting and keep the sabbath." "The heavens and earth," she remarked in conversation with Mr. Ely, "the sun moon and stars, the birds and fishes, the seas, mountains, vallies and rocks, all combine to praise the Lord. But where is man, poor sinful, depraved man? He is mute, God has given him a mouth, the gift of speech and knowledge, but man refuses to praise him. Astonishing depravity! They are most favoured of the Lord, and still 136 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. most rebellious! They can praise Satan. He is their God." As she spoke, she wept. This converted female, elevated and sancti- fied by the influence of Christtimity, would have completed her life the dissolute and de- graded victim of intemperance, but for the establishment of a mission among those isles of the sea. Missionary PleraM, 1828, p. 98. PUAA'S INaUIRIES. Mr. Richards, among other statements indi- cating extraordinary attention to religion at Lahaina, one of the Sandwich Islands, in the year 1825, mentions the following incidents respecting Puaa, a bosom-friend of the king. Upon calling for religious instruction with his wife, she said. "We have come to you, stag- gering as we come. We do not know how to walk; do tell us how. We two cannot go alone for we do not know the road. You must go forward and lead us. We two know each other's hearts, but you do not know them; we wish to reveal them to you." The husband added. "Yes, we will throw out, and throw out, and throw out, till you know all our hearts, SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 137 and then you must sort out the good and the evil, that we may know what is right and what is wrong, We are exceedingly ignorant and left-handed. You must teach us that we may know and become wise." O, how it would have rejoiced the hearts of our Christian friends in America, could they have seen with what docility and interest these persons listened to the story of our Saviour. In a subsequent part of the journal, it is said, This evening, Puaa came into the house in great agitation, and said with a strong but trembling voice. "Great is my pain! Here, give me some medicine. I am in a most grip- ing pain at my vitals, and you are my physi- cian." His countenance was so distorted, and his gestures so oppressive, that, at first, I under- stood him literally; but soon perceived my mis- take and said to him, "I can give you some medicine which is very bitter, but it will cer- tainly cure you, if you take it according to my directions." He replied, "I suppose your medi- cine is, to repent and wash in the blood of Je- sus." I said, "Yes, that will cure you." We were now interrupted, but, as soon as he could, he resumed the subject of his sins. He said, "I called on you this morning, and you sowed some good seed; but as soon as I went out, I 12 138 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. met some men from the ships, and they sowed tares. These men stagger me: I cannot go straight, I begin to think about God and good things, and the evil thoughts spring up in my heart — they cannot dwell together — it is truly like the cholic." Here his wife interrupted him and said, "We must fight I suppose." I answered, "Yes, thus Paul did. He had a war in his heart: and now I can assure you that if )'^ou fight, you will conquer, and at length, will see all )^our enemies dead before you." He ex- claimed exultingly, "Dead?" "Yes," said I. He swung his hands and turned his head in triumph saying. "Then I'll fight — then I'll fight." Missionary Herald, 1826, p. 147. A HINDOO FEMALE HAPPY IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST. The Rev. Eustace Carey, a missionary re- turned from India, relates a pleasing anecdote of a native Christian. To his inquiries res- pecting the state of her mind, she replied. "Happy! Happy! I have Christ here,'' laying her hand on the Bengalee Bible; "and Christ here,'' pressing it to her heart, "and Christ there," pointing towards heaven. Happy Chris- SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. 139 tian, to whatever part of the universe she might be removed, the Lord was with her. Anecdotes by Lond. Tract Soc. p. 136. FIRMNESS OF CONVERTS IN MADAGASCAR. The following narrative was given by the Rev. Richard Knill, of St. Petersburgh, at an anniversary meeting of the British and Foreign School Society. A missionary from Madagascar informed me that, when he first arrived there, out of a popu- lation of four millions, there were only two per- sons acquainted with the alphabet. A school was commenced: but at first only three boys attended. Its advantages however at length began to be prized; and now 20,000 of the peo- ple are able to read the Scriptures. An insurrection broke out in one part of the island, and the army were ordered to march and quell it. Before the expedition set out, the national Idol was to be produced and the men were to be sprinkled with holy water, in which the idol had been dipped. Three hundred of the soldiers had cast off idolatry; and when they heard that the idol was to pass in procession before the ranks, they 140 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. were in a state of consternation. The leader of the Christian band requested his brethren to assemble in the evening, in order to consult as to what measures should be taken. The whole of the 300 could read, and each had a portion of the Scriptures. It was the unanimous opin- ion, that if they did not worship the idol they would be considered as confederate with the rebels. Some of the men remarked that they were poor feeble creatures, and hoped God would forgive them, though they did worship the idol: others alleged that they were married men; that if they refused to pay homage to the idol, they might be put to death, their wives would be left widows, and their children father- less. The leader of the party took his New Testament from his pocket, and having heard the opinions of his comrades, he began to put his school instruction into exercise, and read — "//e, that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he, that loveth son or daughter more than 7ne, is not ivorthy of me; and he, that loveth his life more than me, is not worthy of 7ne." They then all knelt down to ask God to strengthen them for the day of trial; and afterwards pledged one another to stand to their resolution. One of them was a traitor, and went and gave information to the command- SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. 141 ing officer, saying, that the 300 believers (for so they were called) had resolved not to wor- ship the national god. The leader was sent for, and he determined rather to die than to deny his Master. On being questioned, he acknow- ledged the fact: the commanding officer order- ed the 300 not to attend when the idol was brought out, but told them that the god would be avenged on them. The army arrived near the spot where the rebels resided: it was al- most impregnable, and the army had to pass through a ravine between two lofty mountains: the 300 Christian soldiers v/ere ordered to pro- ceed in the front ranks; but it was so ordered by Providence, that, in the position in which they stood, the arrows of the enemy could not touch them. When the sun set they were or- dered to retreat: the roll was called, and not one of the 300 Christian soldiers was missing, though there had been great destruction among their heathen comrades. The other soldiers in- quired by what means they had been preserved, and what paper it was which they had in their pockets: they replied, the New Testament, which they had learned to read in the schools; but it was not that which secured them, but the God whom they served. The others requested also to be taught to read; and, before the army 142 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. returned, upwards of a hundred more professed the Christian faith. THE HEART OF A NORTH AMERICAN SAVAGE SOFTENED BY THE GOSPEL. "Whenever I saw a man shed tears," said an Indian, "I used to doubt his being a man. I should not have wept, if my enemies had cut my flesh from my bones, so hard was my heart at that time: that I now weep, is of God, who hath softened the hardness of my heart." Thornton's Anecdotes, vol. 2. p. 255. IMPLEMENTS OF WAR CONVERTED TO PEACEFUL AND EVEN SACRED PURPOSES. Among the natives of the South Sea Islands, war was formerly as prevalent as it now is rare, and the cruelties of their conflicts were of the most revolting description; to specify only their treatment of infant captives, the tender babe was transfixed to the mother's heart by a ruth- less weapon; or it was caught by the rough grasp of the warrior and dashed against the rocks; or it was wantonly thrown up in the air and caught upon his spear, where it writhed in agony and died; som.etimes the ferocious war- SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 143 rior strung his infant prisoners upon a cord pas- sed through the head from ear to car, and with a fiend like pleasure trailed them upon the sand in triumph. But since Christianity has inculcated her lessons of mercy, war is comparatively un- known. The following expressions which have been frequently uttered, denote the happy change that has taken place in the natives. "Let our hands forget how to lift the club or throw the spear; let our guns decay with rust, we want them not: for though we have been pierced with balls or spears, if we pierce each other now, let it be with the word of God. How happy are we now, we sleep not with our cart- ridges under our heads, our muskets by our sides, and our hearts palpitating with alarm. Now we have the Bible, we know the Saviour, and if all knew him, if all bowed the knee to him, there would be no more war on the earth." Says Mr. Ellis— "Often have I seen a gun- barrel or other iron weapon, that has been car- ried to the forge, submitted to the fire, laid up- on an anvil and beaten, not exactly into a plough-share or a pruning-hook, (for the vine does not stretch its luxuriant branches along their sunny hills) but beaten mto an implement of husbandry, and used by the proprietor in the 144 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. culture of his plantation. Their weapons of wood also have often been employed as handles for tools; and their implements of war, have been converted with promptitude into the furni- ture of the earthly sanctuary of Jehovah. The last pulpit I ascended in the South Sea Islands was at Rurutu. The stairs that led to it were guarded by rails. I asked ray companions where they had procured these rails; and they replied, that they had made them with the han- dles of warrior's spears!" Ellis's Polynesian Researches, vol. 2. p. 519. Lend. TWO PRAYING NATIVES SAVED FROM DROWNING. About the time when the Gospel won its first converts in Raiatea, one of the South sea Isl- ands, a canoe with four men was upset at sea. Two of them, having embraced Christianity, immediately cried, "Let us pray to Jehovah: for He can save us," "Why did you not pray to him sooner?" replied their pagan comrades, "here we are in the water, and it is useless to pray now." The Christians, however, did cry earnestly unto their God, while all four were clinging for life to the broken canoe. In this situation a shark suddenly rushed towards them, and seized one of the men. His companions SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. 145 held him fast as long as they could, but the monster prevailed, and dragged the unfortunate, Struggling victim away, marking the track with his blood. He was one of the idolaters. After some time, the tide bore the surviving three to the reef, when, just as they were cast upon it, a second shark snatched the other idolater with his jaws and carried off his prey. The suffer- ing man shrieked for assistance, but the two Christians, struggling amid the breakers, could give him no aid. The remarkable preservation of the praying survivors made a deep impres- sion upon the minds of their countrymen, and powerfully recommended the "God that heareth prayer." Tyerman and Bennct's Journal, vol. 2, p. 99. Lond. THE SPIRIT OF REVENGE OVERCOME BY CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE . Among the Greenlanders, it was deemed sacredly obligatory to avenge sooner or later the murder of a father. A son, about 14 years of age, was present when his father was mur- dered. He grew up to manhood, and became an active fisherman and hunter. He did not dare yet to attempt the work of revenge, for the murderer was so superior in influence to the 13 146 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. rest of the natives that the Danes called him king. But he did not lose sight of the duty required of him by the habits of the country. To ensure success for his undertaking he visit- ed a distant part of the country, where his rela- tives resided, and after detailing the murder of his father, with all the dreadful circumstances M'hich attended it, he prevailed on some of his kinsmen to return with him and render him their aid. While he watched for a favourable moment to avenge his father's death, twenty years after the murder was committed, the Mo- ravian missionaries often visited him. Their efforts awakened in his breast a desire to learn something about the Lord of Heaven. In the course of their instruction, they told him, it was the command of God that he should do no murder. He looked at them sternly and in silence, and went av/ay sorrowful. They saw him no more for several days, during which he and his relations consulted frequently upon their intended act of revenge. He was seen often- times walking up and down the shore alone, apparently under the influence of powerful and contending emotions. A few days afterwards, he visited the Mis- sionary again, and when requested to state what his feelings were, he replied thus. '*I SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 147 will and I will not, I hear and J do not hear. I never felt so before." Upon being asked what he meant, he replied. *'I will forgive him and I will not forgive him, T have no ears, when they want that I shall revenge myself; and yet I have ears." The missionary pointed him to the last scenes of our Saviour's life, to his for- giveness of his murderers. "But he was bet- ter than we are," was the reply of the Green- lander. The death of Stephen was then read to him, he replied, "Good priest, my heart is so moved! I will — but give me still a little time: when I have brought the other heart to silence and am quite changed, I will come again." At last he came with a joyful countenance, "Now I am happy," said he, "I hate no more, I have forgiven." On this occasion a great number of people were assembled, to whom he announced openly his belief in Christianity. His relations stood around with gloomy and dissatisfied looks. The other converts drew nigh to welcome him. "Receive me now" he said "as a believer. He went to his home, and again strove hard with the demon within his heart, whose whispers spoke of the sweetness of the avenging deed. But after some days he sent his enemy the fol- lowing message. "I am now become a be- 148 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. liever, and you have nothing to fear." Upon repeated assurances, the former came one day with a few attendants, armed, however, against any attack. He was received in the most friendly manner, and returned home in peace. "You need fear me no longer" said the Green- lander in parting, **I have forgiven it." The convert was invited to return the visit. He went, contrary to the advice of his friends, quite alone: he was received kindly, after a friendly interview he set out on his return. But when he was not far from the shore, he perceived water in his kajak. He hastened to the land and on examination found that a hole was cut in his boat. Some time after he told this to the missionary, and said with a smile. "He is still afraid I shall slay him for my father's death and has done this for that reason, but I will not harm him." Game's lives of Missionaries, vol. 1, p. 259-260. and Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 174. BENEVOLENT SYMPATHY OF CONVERTED GREEN- LANDERS. It was mentioned to a very poor congrega- tion of converted Greenlanders, that a Mora- vian station among the Indians of N. America SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 149 had been attacked by hostile savages, that most of the missionaries had been murdered, and that the surviving converts had fled, in the most destitute condition, to Bethlehem. The Green- landers burst into tears at the recital. Nor was their sympathy expressed only by weeping. Immediate efforts were made to send relief to the distant sufferers. Money, they had none. But such articles, as constituted their wealth, were liberally furnished. ''I," exclaimed one, ''have a fine rein-deer which I will give." *'I," said another, ''have a line pair of rein-deer boots which I will cheerfully contribute." *'And I," said a third, "will send them a seal that they may have something both to eat and to burn." The value of the contributions was faithfully transmitted by the missionaries. Smith and Choulos' Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 48. REMARKS OF A DYIXG HOTTENTOT. A Hottentot, named John De Vriefs, but usually called old John, connected himself with the missionaries in South Africa, about five months before his death; and the word of God had almost immediately so powerful an influ- ence over his heart, that every one who knew *13 150 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. him was greatly astonished to hear him express himself as he did. He compared his sins to the grains of sand upon the sea-shore, bat ex- ulted in the power of Jesus, and the efficacy of his atonement. A few hours before his death, he thus ex- pressed himself to the missionary, "Dear sir, I will supplicate at the feet of Jesus till the last minute, I will not leave him, and he will not leave me. O! Jesus sticks like pitch to my heart." Something however, according to his opinion, remained yet unaccomplished. ''It is true," said he, "I have long since pledged my soul and body to Jesus. Nothing of either belongs any more to me; but, that word yes, I have not." meaning that he had not full assurance of heav- en. But shortly after, he not only was satisfied that he had given himself to Jesus, but also that Jesus had received him: and then he desired to ''go into eternity as a poor miserable sinner, saved only through the propitiation of Jesus." In this happy frame of mind he departed a few minutes afterwards. Anec(]otci5 of Clirii5tiaa Missions, p. 121. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 151 LAST SAYINGS OF MAOAE A CONVERTED NATIVE, OF EIMEO, ONE OF THE SOUTH 8EA ISLANDS. To the inquiries of the Rev. Mr. Orsmond, respecting the grounds of his hope of heaven, he replied — "The blood of Jesus is my foundation. You tell us that it is the only way to God. I believe that Jesiis will save me. He is my staff now. What I grieve at is, that all my children do not love him. Had they known the distress we used to feel in the reign of the devil, they would be glad to take the Gospel in exchange for their follies. Jesus is the best king; he gives a pil- low without thorns." Shortly afterwards, he replied to the interro- gatory, "are you afraid to die?" with almost youthful energy. "The ship is in the sea, the sails are spread, she is ready. I have a good pilot, and a good landing place before me, my outside man and my inside man differ. Let the one rot till the trumpet-blowing time: but let my soul go to the throne of the Messiah." Here, said Mr. Orsmond, the tears gushed into my eyes, I thought myself by the side of some experienced christian in England, and said in my heart, "In my last moments may I feel as happy as this poor Tahitian feels." He 152 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. added also, ''here is one going down to the shades of. death supported by a hope fiill of im- mortality and saying, 'But for English Chris- tians, I had died a miserable slave of sin." Missionary Herald, 1831. p. 217. DEATH OF A HINDOO CONVERT. When I was conversing, said Rev. Mr. Knill, in 1819, w^ith the people at Tamaracoolum, on the importance of being prepared to die, one man said, "my father was prepared." "By what means?" "Through the merits of my Sa- viour." "Did he live a good life?" "Yes, after he knew the good way." "Who made him good?" "It was God." "Did your father say much when he was dying?" "One sentence I remember." "What?" "He said, O Jesus re- ceive my spirit!" I cannot describe what I felt when the poor creature told me this, and if we compare the dying expression of this man, with the last verse of the epistle of James, we shall see that the mission was not established in vain. Burder'a Miss. Anecdotes, p. 234. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 153 DEATH BED EXPRESSIONS OF CONVERTED NATIVES, OF THE SOUTH SEA, AND SANDWICH ISLANDS. "One thing, of all I have ever heard or read," said the aged Matahira, "now supports my mind: Christ has said, I am the way." **He the beloved Son, The Son beloved, Jesus Christ. • The Father gave, That we through him might live" was sung by another in the native language, with the last breath she drew. *'I am happy, I am happy" were among the last words of the late distinguished regent of the Sandwich Isl- ands. These are expressions no pagan ever used in looking forward to his dissolution. Ellis's, Polynesian Researches, vol. I. p. 536. THE DYING TARTAR AND HIS SON. A young Tartar, of noble extraction, visited Orenburg. There he received a copy of the Tartar New Testament, which, there is reason to hope, has been blessed to his conversion. He and his parent paid a visit to the tomb of the Prophet, in Arabia, and afterwards retired into Egypt, where his father died at the advanced 154 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. age of 105 years. While on his death bed, he called his son to him and said, "Son if thou wilt be happy follow my advice: there is one book and one book alone which contains the only directions for the attainment of true felici- ty, that book is the New Testament." The copy of the New Testament which was placed in his hands was printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Related by Dr. Henderson, in London. Panoplist, 1818. p. 427. PEACEFUL DEATH OF BRINDELBUND. A few years ago, died, at one of the mission- ary stations in India, a native called Brindel- bund. He had spent sixty or seventy years in the service of Satan. He was a byraggee, that is, one who professed to have subdued his pas- sions; and who was, as they express it, seeking some one who is loorthy. He went to Cutwa, when he attended Mr. Chamberlain's preaching and instructions. "I have been," said he *'many years from one holy place to another, seeking some one who was worthy, and to offer my flowery (The sweetest flower they say is the human heart; this is their figurative way of talking.) "I have been seeking some one to whom to offer my flower, who is worthy; but SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 155 never have I found one till now. I have heard of Jesus; I give it him." The old man was faithful to his surrender, he never took his heart from Jesus. Talking to his Hindoo brethren, he would say, "And whom do you need but him whom I have found." He would take his wallet of books and travel two or three hundred miles to distribute them: and this he did for fourteen or fifteen years. Mrs. Chamberlain, in his last days would go to his bed-side and say, "Brindelbund shall I get you some tea? Can you eat bread? "He would lay his hand on the New Testament, "Sister, this is my tea, this is my bread; man was not made to live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." How valuable the Gospel which can thus give happiness to a man who had spent the greater part of his life in the bondage of idolatry. Cluistian Missions, Lond. Tract Soc'j'. p. 135. POMPEY. An old African negro who had long served the Lord, when on his death bed was visited by his friends, who came around him, lamenting that he was going to die, saying, "Poor Pompey, poor Pompey is dying." The old man, anima- 156 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. ted with the prospect before him, said to them with much earnestness, ''Don't call me poor Pompey, I king Pompey," referring to the pas- sage in which the glorified saints are spoken of as being made kings and priests unto God, Rev. i. 6. Christian Missions, p. 144. TRIUMPHANT DEATH OF A CONVERTED BRAHMIN. The following statement was made by the Rev. Mr. Carey, from India, in an address be- fore the American Tract Society, in 1825. A young Brahmin obtained one of our tracts, and after reading it, he came to us full of anxi- ety, inquiring, "What shall I do to be saved?" We instructed him out of the Gospel. He came again and again, and at length renounced his idols, and, we have no doubt, gave his heart to Christ. After many weeks he joined a Chris- tian church. But God did not suffer him to remain with us many years. He fell a prey to the cholera. A little before he died, another young native christian came to see and to com- fort him; and as he laid his languishing head on the bosom of his young friend, he broke out in an ecstacy, and said in his native tongue. "Sing, brother, sing." "And what shall 1 sing?" SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 157 was the inquiry of his friend. "Sing salvation, salvation tlirough the death of Jesus! Salvation through Jesus Christ." And I believe these were the last words he uttered. iMissiosiary Ilorald, 1825. p. 219. THE PICERIAN LEPER ON lUS DEATH BED. Said the Rev. Mr. Abeel, at a public meet- ing. I heard the other day, from one of the brethren who had formerly been in Siberia, but was recalled from the field at the elevation of the Emperor Nicholas to the throne, a case of the most thrilling interest. That brother told me, that, as he was passing one day among a collection of Tartar tents, he found a man lying in the last stage of that loathsome disease, the leprosy. As the missionary looked upon him, he lifted up his death-stricken eyes, and fasten- ing them upon his countenance, said, **I know you." "How can that be," replied the mission- ary, "have you ever seen me before?" "Oh yes, I have," replied the dying man, "Did you not preach three years ago in such a Bazaar?" "I cannot really tell," said the missionary, "I have no particular remembrance of it." "Dont you remember," said the man in a tone of sur- prise, "vou stood upon the steps of such a 14 158 SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. house?" ''Oh yes," answered the other, "I do remember it now." "And do you remember what you preached there?" "No," said the missionary, "I have no recollection." "You told us," said the man, "about Jesus who died to save sinners, and that men of every nation might come to him and he would receive and save them; Oh sir, I never heard such things before. I then believed in Jesus; I received him as my Savior, I never heard of him before or since. But now I am dying and am looking to none other to help me." Penetrated with what he had heard and seen, he went to another tent, and found men drinking. He asked them, "Why do you not go to your brother, he lies there dying with nobody to help him?" "Broth- er!" exclaimed they with indignation, "He is no brother of ours; he is a dog; and has aban- doned us, and his soul is going dov/n swiftly to hell." The missionary thus repulsed, went back to comfort his dying christian brother. He entered the solitary tent, but "the spirit had fled." There lay the follower of the Lamb, dead, and with none to bury him, in so much that the missionary was obliged to dig a hasty grave, and roll into it the emaciated and half consumed body. CHAPTER III. THE PRIVATIONS AND PERILS OF MISSIONARIES. •*Tho' toil ami danger cloud his path, Tho' famine stand in league with death, Like Paul, Ae journeys on, O'er desert wave and tainted clime, To woo a guilty world from crime. By love and love alone." H. Brown. A MISSrONARY ''PERPLEXED BUT NOT IN DE3PAIR." A missionary and his wife had been located by an English Society in the colony at the Cape of Good Hope, or among the Bushmen on its borders. The opposition they met with from the colonists destroyed all hope of success. Means failed from the society; the wife of the missionary was sick, and he must either find means to return to England, or penetrate the vast wilderness for many hundred miles. While he was making it a matter of prayer, his wife, regardless of her own comfort desired that they 160 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS should of their own means, procure tlie com- mon conveyance of the country, and depart in searcli of a settlement in the wilderness. The missionary consented willingly. They travelled over four hundred miles but met with no encour- agement of attaining their object. Almost despairing, they encamped one night, and, upon rising in the morning, they discovered a savage chief, with his train, not far distant. The blacks advanced and addressed them. They had been deputed by their tribe, and were then on a journey of five hundred miles to the colony where they desired to procure a missionary! As may be supposed the man of God hesitated not, but returned with the savage chief to preach the Gospel to his tribe. Cliiistia,!! Missions, (London,) p. 195. HARDSHIPS OF THE FIRST MISSIONARIES AT THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. For many years they were wont to travel with- out shoes over stony tracks and sandy wastes, preaching the Gospel to small and deriding groups. Sometimes, in crossing sandy plains, they furnished themselves with bundles of foli- age and laid down a green leaf at every step, as a cool and soft stepping place. This they found OF MISSIONARIES. 161 the only method to save their naked feet from being blistered by the burning sand. Thus did they toil in their Master's service, in miserable worn out vestments, and often but scantily sup- plied with food. Their condition was at first rendered more uncomfortable by the depreda- tions of the natives and by "trials of cruel mockings." Tycrman and IJennet, vol. 1. p. 137. Lond. ARRAIGNiMENT OF A JIISSIOXARY AT AVA. In the month of November 1836. Mr. Kin- caid was summoned from his home to the pal- ace. The early hour and other circumstances indicated that a fearful storm hung over the mission at Ava. Nor was he mistaken in this apprehension. On reaching the Royal Court he was confronted with a list of charges, of which the substance is as follows — The American teacher is stirring up divisions among the people, teaching them to despise the religion of their country, and to follow a religion which the king, the princes and noblemen do not approve. He is not contented to live quiet- ly in the Golden City, as other foreigners do, but in the city and all places round, is giving books and preaching a foreign religion, and his 162 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS object is to bring into contempt and destroy the religion which has been revered for ages. After some replies had been made by Mr. K. one of the functionaries told him publicly, they were determined to stop the distribution of books and preaching. Mr. K. remonstrated on the violence of this proceeding, and then said, "You will allow Papists and Mussulmans to follow their religion unmolested, and converts from among the Burmans are not disturbed." They cried out most violently, "No Burmans enter the Papist and Mussulman religions, and those people do not give books or preach." Mr. K. asked, "Do you intend to drive me out of the country?" One of the leading men replied, "No, but you must promise to give no more books, and not go about preaching." "I can- not make such a promise." "You must prom- ise." "I fear God more than earthly kings, and cannot promise: if you cut off my arms, and then my head I dare not promise." They then said he was not fit to live in the empire, and must be sent off. The court became ex- ceedingly violent. Although Mr. K. had rea- son to expect the worst consequences, his per- sonal liberty was not abridged. His labors however were, for a length of time, crippled by the opposition of the Government. His own OF MISSIONARIES. 163 firmness in resisting a power so capricious and cruel as the Burman Government is as com- mendable as it was hazardous; and the sudden darkness, brought by this calamnity upon the bright prospects of the Burman Mission, shews the continual need in which the missionaries stand of the prayers of Christians, American Baptist iMagazine, 1835, p. 3G5. DR. JUDSON'S IMPRISONMENT. Sufferings of Dr. Judson, missionary to Bur- mah, while imprisoned, during the war between Burmah and Bengal, as described by himself in a letter dated Feb. 25, 1826. I was seized on the 8th of June 1824, — and in company with Dr. Price, three Englishmen, one Armenian and one Greek, was thrown into the "death prison" at Ava, where we lay eleven months — nine months in three pair, and two months in five pair of fetters. The scenes we witnessed and the sufferings we underwent, during that period I would fain consign to ob- livion. From the death prison at Ava, we were removed to a country prison at Oung-ben-lay, ten miles distant, under circumstances of such severe treatment, that one of our number the Greek, expired on the road; and some of the 164 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS rest, among whom was myself, were scarcely able to move for several days. It was the in- tention of the Government, in removing us from Ava, to have us sacrificed, in order to ensure victory over the foreigners; but the sudden dis- grace and death of the adviser of the measure prevented its execution. I remained in the Oung-ben-lay prison for six months, in one pair of fetters; at the expiration of which period I was taken out of irons, and sent under a strict guard to the Burmese head-quarters at Mah- looan, to act as interpreter and translator. Two months more elapsed, when on my return to Ava, I was released, at the instance of Moung- shaw-loo, the north governor of the palace, and put under his charge. During the six weeks that I resided with him, the affairs of govern- ment became desperate, the British troops mak- ing steady advances on the capital: and after Dr. Price had been twice despatched to nego- ciate for peace, (a business which I declined as long as possible,) I was taken by force and as- sociated with him. We found the British above Pahgan: and on returning to Ava with their final terms, I had the happiness of procuring the release of the very last of my fellow prison- ers. And on the 21st inst. obtained the reluct- OF MISSIONARIES. 165 ant consent of government to my own final de- parture from Ava with Mrs. Judson. On my first imprisonment, the small house which I had just erected, was plundered, and every thing valuable confiscated. Mrs. J. how- ever, was allowed to occupy the place, which she did until my removal to Oung-ben-lay, whither she followed. Subsequently to that period, she was twice brought to the gates of the grave; the last time with the spotted fever, while I was absent at Mah-looan. She had been senseless and motionless several days, when the providential release of Dr. Price at the very last extremity gave an opportunity for such applications as were blest to her relief — Even little Maria, who came into the world a few months after my imprisonment, to aggra- vate her parent's woes; and who has been, from very instinct, it would seem, a poor, sad, crying thing, begins to brighten up her little face and to be somewhat sensible of our happy deliver- ance. Missionary Herald, 18-26. p. 363. Some conceptions can be formed of the suf- ferings of Dr. Judson during his imprisonment at Ava, from the following statement. The white prisoners were all put inside of the common prison, in five pairs of irons each; 166 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS and where they were so crowded with Burman thieves and robbers, that they had not sufficient room to lie down. There were at the time near one hundred prisoners, all in one room, without a window or a hole for the admittance of air, and the door half closed. This too was after the severe hot season had commenced. Missionary Herald, 1827. p. 86. THE MISSION HOUSE AT LAHAINA, ONE OP THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, ASSAILED BY ENGLISH SEA- MEN. The Rev. Mr. Stewart writes thus from the scene of this outrage. How great was my astonishment, at the pe- culiar circumstances in which I found our ines- timable and beloved friends Mr. and Mrs. Rich- ards! How was I surprised to meet, at my first approach to the house, the presented bayonet, and to hear the stern challenge of the watchful sentry "who goes there?" — and when I assured him that I was a friend, how inexplicable to my mind was the fact of receiving the cordial em- braces of my brother, not in the peaceful cot- tage of the missionary, but in the midst of a garrison, apparently in the momentary expecta- tion of the attack of a foe, and to find the very OP MISSIONARIES. 167 couch on which was reclining one, who, to us, has been most emphatically a sister, surround- ed by the muskets and the spears of those, known to the world only by the name of sav- ages! My first thoughts were that a revolt of the island against the general government had taken place, in which our friends had been seized, and were guarded as captives — or that some formidable party of unfriendly natives had risen with the determination of destroying them, and that they were protected by the higher chiefs — but as soon as an explanation could be given, I learned that their peril was from false brethren, if the outcasts of a civilized and christian country can be designated by such terms. The seamen of a large ship, at anchor at Lahaina, exasperated at the restraints laid on tiieir licentiousness through the influence of the mission, had carried their menaces and open acts of violence against Mr. and Mrs. R. to such an extent as to cause the chiefs to arm a body of men to defend them at the hazard of life. At tliat very hour, three boats crews, amounting to near forty men, were on shore with the sworn purpose of firing their houses and taking their lives. But as every thing, when 1 left them, was in a posture to secure 168 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS their entire safety, it is unnecessary to enter further into the particulars of the subject. Blissioiiary Herald, 182G. p. 244. Mr. Richards, in a hasty line, written about the time his house was attacked says — "We are alive, though an hour ago we expected nothing but immediate death." ASSAULT UPON THE MISSIONARIES AT OAHU BY AMERICAN SEAMEN. A joint letter from the missionaries at Oahu, dated March 10, 1826 — contains the following statements. In a recent visit at this place from American seamen, particularly of the United States Schoon- er Dolphin — on account of the Tahu prohibit- ing females from visiting the ships for the pur- pose of prostitution, the lives and families of your missionaries have been materially exposed. The mob threatened to demolish our houses, unless the tabu were taken off. They attacked the house in which the principal chiefs reside, dashed in the windows with clubs, attempted to force the doors and windows of Mr. Ellis's house, in which Mr. Bingham's family reside, and repeatedly offered violence to Mr. Bing- OP MISSIONARIES. 169 ham's person. But he was rescued by the timely interposition of the natives. It is proper in our view, the letter adds, that the christian public, both in Europe and Amer- ica, should know that the persons and lives of the Sandwich Island missionaries are exposed to the violence of nominal Christians, who op- pose, with the bitter spirit of persecution, the laudable efforts of the chiefs to suppress the crimes and vices of the country, in obedience to the requirements of the word of God. Missionary Herald, 1&27. p. 370. ILL TREATMENT OF ]MORAVIAN MISSIONARIES IN GREENLAND. The first missionaries to Greenland were often driven to allay the cravings of hunger with shell-fish and sea-v/eed: they had resource even to the remnants of tallow candles, and thought themselves happy, when they could procure some train-oil to mix up with their scanty mor- sel of oatmeal. Their perseverance under these painful privations only excited the contempt of the natives. The Greerdanders would leave them, in the midst of their instructions, to attend a dancing- match. Sometimes they told the missionaries 15 170 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS they had heard enough already of spiritual things, from abler instructors. Besides being volatile and trifling, they used all possible means to entice the missionaries to a conform- ity with their own dissolute practices. Failing of success in this wicked design, they would annoy them, by mocking their religious exer- cises, by praying with all kinds of ridiculous mimicry or by beating drums in time of worship. The poverty of the missionaries drew upon them from the natives many cutting sarcasms. And if the reply was made by the devoted men, that they did not stay in Greenland for the sake of personal advantages, that good fare was not the reward for which they labored, that they sought the salvation of the people; the natives would retort with a jeer, "Fine fellows, indeed, to be our teachers! We know very well that you yourselves are ignorant, and have learned your lessons of others." The Brethren bore this painful treatment with equanimity. But when the savages perceived that they could effect nothing in this way, they begun to insult and abuse the persons of the missionaries. They pelted them with stones, and destroyed some of their property. One night, the Brethren heard a noise on the outside of their tent; and perceived that some OP MISSIONARIES. 171 one was pulling its curtains. On going out, they beheld a company of Greenlanders, some of whom had naked knives in their hands. The assailants could not be dispersed until they were threatened with fire arms. Some years after- wards it was ascertained from converted natives, that at this time a plot was formed to destroy the missionaries, and it was to execute this cru- el purpose that the conspirators gathered around the tent at night, at the time when their plans were thus frustrated by the vigilance and firm- ness of their intended victims. Amid such apalling discouragements, did the Moravians persevere in the work of evangeli- zing this inhospitable country. Life of Mathew Stack, quoted in fliissionary Herald, 1823. p. 340. NARROW ESCAPE OF L. C. DEHNE, MORAVIAN MIS- SIONARY TO S. AMERICA. In Nov. 1757, the Carribbee Indians, set out with the intention of executing their resolution, long since determined upon, of murdering me. One day, while I sat at my dinner table, I saw fifty men approaching in their canoes, who pres- ently after surrounded my cabin. Some were armed with iron hoes and mattocks; others car- ried swords and such like instruments. Going 172 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS out, I spoke to them in the Arawak language and bade them welcome in a friendly fnanner. They answered roughly that I should speak the Carribbee tongue. In the mean tmie, I took care to observe which of them was their com- mander. Perceiving that I did not understand the Carribbee, after some consultation in this language, they ordered their interpreter to step forth and ask me in Arawak: "Who gave you permission to build and to live here?" Ans. "The Governor." "Why have you come upon our land?" I now stepped up to the chief and thus frankly addressed him: "I have brethren living on the other side of the ocean, who, when they heard that Indians lived here who were ignorant of their Creator, have sent me to you in love, that I should first learn your language, and then tell you about the true God. At some future time, you may expect to see more of my brethren come hither on the same errand." "I suppose you are a Spaniard?" "No." "Or a Frenchman?" "No." "Are you a Dutchman then?" "Yes, I came from Holland and a good way further off. In short, I am one of the Brethren that love you, and live on the other side of the ocean." "Well, did'nt you hear that the Indians were going to kill you?" "Yes, but I did not believe it, and you have those OF MISSIONARIES. 173 among you, who have been to see me and know that I love them." ''That is true; and they have also told me that you were a Christian very dif- ferent from other white people." "Well if you knew that I loved you, how could you think of killing me?" He replied laughing, "Well, in- deed, I never thought of that." Upon this all changed their savage features and walked off." "In this manner the Savior helped me on from day to day, insomuch, that at the close of the year, I found much cause for praise and thankfulness, to the Giver of every good and perfect gift." "During this period, I suffered much outward distress, and often I rose in the morning without knowing what I should eat, or where I should procure food, yet whenever I was perfectly des- titute, undoubtedly according to the direction of Him who fed Elijah at the brook Cherith, War- aus or other Indians came and shared their *Cassavi' with me." Anecdotes, of Missionary Wortliies. p. 50. &c. DESIGN AGAINST THE LIFE OF A MORAVIAN MIS- SIONARY. An Indian on the Susquehannah, having been reproved severely by Bishop Cammerhof, for his *15 174 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS wicked life, was so much exasperated, that he followed him into the woods, with a determina- tion either to cruelly beat or to kill him. When he overtook the missionary, he found him so mild and friendly, that immediately repenting of his wicked design, he gave ear to Cammerhoff's admonitions and returned home with a very dif- ferent disposition, from that, with which he set out. Some time afterwards, he began to feel his sinfulness: at length he became a joyful be- liever in Christ, and was baptized by the very man he had sought to destroy^ Loskiel's hist'y, quoted in Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 179. EXPOSURE AND COURAGE OF FRANCIS XAVIER While Xavier preached in the kingdom of Travancore, it was invaded by a host of armed robbers, the Badages, who were the terror of the country. They came well armed, and in good order under the command of the naiche, or Lord of Modure, a valiant leader. The peo- ple of the maritime villages fled at their ap- proach, and carried into the interior, the news of the invasion. Xavier as soon as he heard of their approach, remembering how they had distressed the peo- ple the year before, fell prostrate n the ground OF MISSIONARIES. 175 in an agony of intercession. ''O Lord" said he ^'remember that thou art the God of mercies and protector of the faithful: give not up, to the fury of these wolves, that flock, of v/hich Thou hast appointed me the pastor, that these new christians, who arc yet so feeble in the faith may not repent their embracing it. We repose our confidence in Thee." He arose, and animating with his own daring spirit those who stood around, he bade this band of fervent christians closely to follow him, and, with a crucifix in his hands, he advanced with a rapid step towards the plain where the enemy were marching on. When he arrived within a distance, from v/hich his powerful voice could be distinctly heard, he stopped and said to them in a menacing tone, "I forbid you, in the name of the living God, to pass fur- ther, and, on his part, command you to return the way you came." The bandits, who were in front, were so struck with the sudden appear- ance and startling address of Xavier, that they stood still, gazing at him with a superstitious terror. These plunderers had doubtless heard of Xavier on the coast of Fishery, and of the miraculous powers imputed to him. Those who were in the rear, asked the reason of this delay; answer was returned from the front ranks, that 176 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS they had before their eyes the person who was the mighty priest of his God, habited in black, of a tall stature and menacing aspect, and that the fire flashed from his eyes. A panic spread among them: turning back they marched away, awed by the enthusiasm and indomitable con- duct of one, who felt that he stood alone in the breach between his people and the slaughter. The Christians, who had followed him, ran to the villages to tell of the retreat of the robbers: the King sent for him forthwith, and called him his father, and his brother, and, though he heeded not Xavier's exhortations, he gave to his subjects liberty to become Christians if they so desired." Game's lives of eminent missionaries, vol. 3. p. 57. ANOTHER INSTANCE OF XAVIER'S PERILS. Annoyed by his success in propagating Chris- tianity in Japan, the priesthood made a last and desperate plot for his destruction. The Portu- guese' fled on board their ships, from the fury of the idolatrous part of the people, whom the bon- zas had inflamed for their purpose, Edward de Gama, sought his friend, Xavier, every where, and at last found him in a poor dwelling, with a small band of his most zealous converts, calm- OF MISSIONARIES. 177 ly awaiting his fate. De Gama implored him lo embark, as the priesthood, who were for the moment uppermost, thirsted for his blood. "Ed- ward," he said, "I am unworthy of the favor of martrydom; yet will I not render myself more unworthy of it, which assuredly I should if I embarked with you. For, what scandal would it give to my new converts by flying hence! Might they not take occasion from it, to violate their promises to God, when they should see me wanting to the duties of my ministry? I will guard my flock, and die with them for the sake of the God of all mercies, who has redeemed me at the price of his own life. Ought not I to seal my love to Him by my blood, and to pub- lish, by my death, that all men are bound to be faithful to Him who suffered for them on the cross?" This generous answer so touched De Gama, that he hastened to the merchants at Fi- gen, three miles distant and then on board ship. All of them, soldiers, sailors and merchants, marched in a body into Fucheo, and, by their numbers and resolute countenance, broke all the measures of the bonzas. Thus was the life of Xavier saved almost by a miracle, and his influence was augmented by the effort de- signed to destroy him. Game's lives of eraiaent missionaries, vol. 3. p. 119 178 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS A MISSIONARY ATTACKED BY A TIGER. A Hottentot standing near the Rev. Mr. Schmitt, was unexpectedly assailed by a tiger. The furious animal with open jaws and lashing tail, and screaming with startling violence, sprang upon the native, and both rolled together upon the ground. The missionary pointed his gun at the tiger, but feared to shoot lest the ball should take effect upon the Hottentot, who was rolled over incessantly in the struggle. The tiger suddenly released his hold and sprang to- wards the missionary. Mr. Schmitt's left arm was seized by the jaws of the tiger, with his right hand he grasped one of the paws of his assailant, while the other paw inflicted its blows upon his breast. Both fell in the struggle, happily, in such a position that the missionary's knee rested upon the breast of the animal. He grasped the tiger's throat with his right hand, at the same time compressing the chest of the disabled animal as violently as possible. After inflicting another wound upon the arm, the tiger released his grasp, and lay inactive, sending forth the most hideous, hoarse and convulsive groans, v;hile his starting eyes flashed fire in the most frightful manner. In this condition the missionary succeeded in retaining his fierce OP MISSIONARIES. 179 assailant, until a party of Hottentots came up and shot the animal, and thus released him, exhausted and severely lacerated, from his per- ilous situation. Latrobe's Journal of a visit to Africa, p. 298. NARROW ESCAPE OF COUNT ZINZEXDORF. This zealous friend of missions, visited the Indians along the course of the Susquehannah river to promote among them the establishment of Moravian missions. In one of these visits, he had occasion to encamp several days, with a few Moravian brethren, among the Shawanese a very depraved and cruel tribe. Conrad Weis- ser, a man well acquainted with the customs and manners of the Indians, had accompanied the Count to this spot, and had left him for a short time promising to return. The Shawa- nese thought that, as Europeans, the Count and his companions came either to trade or buy land; and, though he endeavored to explain the true aim of his coming, they were not satisfied that his intentions were such as he described. It appeared afterwards that the savages had conspired to murder him and his whole compa- ny. But the design was mercifully frustrated. Conrad Weisser, who was absent, and who 180 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS could know nothing of the plot, became so un- easy that he could not prolong his stay. He was thus brought back, providentially, to the party marked out for destruction, just in time to discover the treacherous plan, and by his influ- ence and dexterity to prevent its execution. Thus while Count Zinzendorf, unconscious of danger, retired frequently to his tent, to pray for the savages around him, and while he en- joyed no security except such as the entrance of his tent, fastened by a pin, furnished, the shield of Providence extended over him its ample protection. Loskiel's Mission to the Indians of N. America, part ii, p. 32, PERSECUTION OF CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES IN CHINA. A letter from a Catholic missionary at Macao, dated the 1st of April 1810, gives the following details respecting the persecutions which the Christians then suffered in China. Every European priest, whom they discover, is arrested and put to death on the spot: the same fate is reserved for the Chinese Christian priests. The other christians, when they will not apostatize, suffer the most dreadful tor- ments, and are afterwards banished to Tartary. OF MISSIOxVARlES. 181 In tills year, 1819, there are in the prisons of the provinces of Sutchuen alone, two hundred Christians, who wait the moment of exile: a Chinese priest has been strangled, and two oth- ers are about to die in a similar manner. In the whole empire there are but ten missionaries, five of whom are at Pekin, who can have no connection with the inhabitants but in secret. The Bishop of Pekin has attempted in vain to introduce himself into his diocese under that character. But the Catholic religion is still said to spread itself, notwithstanding all these persecutions. Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 247. A MISSIONARY SLAIN IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY. Winfrid, a native of Kirton, in Devonshire, was an eminent missionary in the eighth cen- tury. He was educated in the monastery of Nutcell and was ordained at the age of thirty. With an ardent zeal for the conversion of pa- gans he selected Friesland as the first field of his labors, in the year 716. Afterwards he re- moved to Bavaria and Thnringia. Throughout Hesse, or a very great part of it, even to the confines of Saxony, he erected the standard of truth. Gregorv II made him bishop of the new i6 182 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS German churches, by the name of Boniface. He obtained several assistants in his mission from England: he also v/rote home for books and by a circular letter to the British bishops and people he entreated their prayers for the success of his missions. He continued full of zeal to the age of seventy five, when, going to confirm some converts in the plains of Dockum, he beheld not the converts whom he expected, but a troop of angry pagans, armed with shields and lances, who attacked him furiously and killed the whole company, fifty two in number, besides Boniface himself. His death was re- sented by the Christian Germans, who raised an army and conquered the pagans, and the latter for the sake of peace submitted to Chris- tian rites. Burder's Miss. Anecdotes, p. 17]. A CATHOLIC MISSIONARY SLAIN AT HIS POST. In the "Genie du Christianisme," Chateau- briand thus relates — The Huron village, where Father Daniel officiated as missionary, was sur- prised by the Iraquois in the morning: the young warriors were absent. He was just at that moment saying mass with his converts: he had only time to run to the place whence the OF MISSIONARIES. 183 shrinks proceeded; where women children and old men lay promiscuously expiring. All who survived, fell at his feet, soliciting baptism. The father dipped a napkin in water and with it sprinkled the kneeling crowd. He then recol- lected having left in the huts some sick per- sons who had not yet received the seal of Chris- tianity. He flew thither "administered the rite," and then went forth to meet the enemy, who pierced him at a distance with their ar- rows." Carnc's lives of eminent Missionaries, vol. 3. p. 451. MARTRYDOM OF A CATHOLIC MISSIONARY IN JAPAN. Charles Spinola, the son of an Italian Count, was a man of powerful connexions, by means of whom he could have risen to an eminent station in his own country. Counting these advan- tages but loss for Christ, he repaired to Japan to labor as a missionary. After he had spent seven years in this field of service persecution was commenced against converts to Christianity. He with 17 other missionaries were burned at the stake. Previously he had been confined four years in a loathsome dungeon; from which he thus writes, at the close of his confinement. "At last my hour is come — O Father! how 184 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS sweet it is to suffer. I know it better by ex- perience than it can possibly be expressed by words, O! what a blessing will it be if next Easter I may be thought worthy to sing Halle- lujah with the saints in heaven. The joy of my soul increases, to be environed with flames for the love of Jesus Christ; I am unworthy, I know of such a favor; but God's mercies are infinite, and possibly he may have pity on me. Amongst my other distempers in prison, I had a fever that continued for a hundred days, and had no manner of relief all that while: at the same time my heart was so transported with joy, that I could not but think myself at the entrance of paradise. I do not remember to have felt the like through the whole course of my life." (Signed,) "Charles condemned to die for his Redeemer." Game's lives of eminent missionaries, vol. 3, p. 341. A MISSION FAMILY BURNED ALIVE, On the 24th of November 1755, the Mora- vian Mission at Gnadenhuetten, not far from Bethlehem, in N. America was broken up by a most destructive assault from Indians under French influence. OP MISSIONARIES. 185 While the mission family were at supper an uncommon barking of dogs was heard. Pres- ently a gun was fired. Upon this, several ran to the door, to ascertain the nature of the dis- turbance. As soon as the door was opened, the Indians fired upon the unsuspecting mis- sionaries. Martin Nitschman was instantly killed. His wife and some others were wound- ed, but fled with the rest up stairs into the gar- ret and barricadoed the door with bedsteads. One of the missionaries escaped by a back-win- dow, another by a rear door. The savages pur- sued those who had taken refuge in the garret, and strove hard to force the door. Finding it too well secured to be thus opened, they set fire to the house. The building was soon in flames. A boy and the wife of the missionary v/ho had escaped by the window, leaped from the roof, and escaped unhurt and without observation. Mr. Fabricuis, leaped also from the roof, but before he could escape, he was perceived and murdered. The rest, eleven in number were burnt alive in the house. Mrs. Senseman was seen by her unhappy husband, who had escaped, standing with folded hands, surrounded by the flames: and she was heard to say, "'Tis all well, dear Savior." Loskiel'a hist'y ol" missions among N. Am., Indians, part ii, p. 1C6. *16 186 PRIVATIONS AND PERILS SHIPWRECK OF A J^JUMEROUS MISSION FAMILY, AND LOSS OF LIVES. In 182G, the Methodist missionaries stationed at Antigua, sailed with their families, on their return from a yearly general meeting at St Kitts. The party consisted of Rev. Mr. White, wife, three children and servants, Kev. Mr. Hilliar, Rev. Mr. Oake, Rev. Mr, Jones, wife and infant child, Mr. , another missionary from St. Kitts, and his wife. A few days after- wards it was reported at Antigua, that part of a wreck was seen on Weymouth shoal, with two persons on it. The wreck proved to be that of the mail boat, in which the missionaries had sailed. The body of the Captain was lying near the wreck. The only survivor of 21 souls was Mrs. Jones, and she was found, in a state of insensibility, between the bowsprit bitts, where she had been placed by the Captain, to secure her from being washed away. On her recovery she stated, that the vessel struck on the reef in the night, that three or four days had elapsed since that event, that Mr. White, his wife, three children and servant were all swept away together, clinging to each other, that Mr. Hilliar attempted to swim to Sandy island and was drowned in her sight, that her OF MISSIONARIES. 187 infant was washed away from her arms, that her husband died on her lap the night before she was taken off, and was washed away. As returning recollections unfolded the hor- rors of the scene she had witnessed, the un- happy woman frequently exclaimed, **0 captain Whitney, why did he save me!" Alissioiiary Herald, 182C. p. 159. CHAPTER TV. HTNDERANCES TO THE SUCCESS Of MISSIONS. "Ye who forf5aking all, At your lov'd Master's call, Comforts resign; Soon will your work be done; Soon will the prize be won; Brighter than yonder sun, Then shall ye shine." SECTION I . The example and influence of nominal Chris- tians, REMARKS OF A HINDOO DANCING GIRL. Swartz, one day met a Hindoo dancing-mas- ter, with his female pupil, and told them that no unholy persons shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. "Alas, Sir," said the poor girl, "in that case hardly any Europeans will ever enter it," and passed on. Pearson's life of Swartz, Christian Library, p. 2^. HINDERANCES TO THE SUCCESS &C. 189 KEMARK OF A HfNDOO MERCHANT. A wealthy Hindoo merchant, who under- stood Danisli, English and French, said to Swartz, "Sir, be not displeased, I wish to ask you a question, Do all Europeans speak like you?" Swartz replied, that all Europeans were not true Christians; but that there were many who were really so, and who sincerely prayed for the Hindoos that they might become ac- quainted with Jesus Christ. "You astonish me," said he, "for from what we daily observe and experience, we cannot but think Europe- ans, with but few exceptions, to be self interest- ed, incontinent, proud, full of illiberal contempt and prejudice against us Hindoos and even against their own religion, especially the higher classes. So at least I have found it with the majority of those with whom I have had any in- tercourse." Life of Swartz, Christian Library, p. 22. REMARK OF A NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN. The missionary David Brainerd, in a tour among the Indians of North America, visited a place, then called Minnissinks. Here he of- fered to instruct the people in the truths of 190 HINDERANCES TO THE Christianity. The king, to whom he addressed himself for leave, laughed, and turning upon his heel, went away. Mr. Brainerd followed him into his house, and renewed his request; but he referred the business to another, who appeared to be a man of good natural parts. "Why," said he, "should you desire the In- dians to become Christians, seeing the Chris- tians are so much worse than the Indians. The Christians lie, steal, and drink worse than the Indians. They first taught the Indians to be drunk. They steal to that degree, that their rulers are obliged to hang them for it; and that is not enough to deter others from the practice. But none of the Indians were ever hanged for stealing, and yet they do not steal half so much; we will not consent, therefore, to become Chris- tians, lest we should be as bad as they. We will live as our fathers lived, and go where our father are, when we die." Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 193. INTELLIGENT CHINESE OBJECT TO EUROPEAN IDOLATRY. The m.ore intelligent Chinese object to many parts of the Catholic system, particularly to what they call preaching down Chinese idola- SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. 191 try, and preaching up European idolatry, for they say, they have more reason to worship their own saints, than those of Europe, of whom they know nothing; they are willing to lay aside the worship of images wholly, but will not exchange them for those of Europe. They are also offended at the indulgences sold for money for this they say is priestcraft. ■*'! knew a merchant (says a gentleman who re- sided among them) who threw off his (Catholic) religion in consequence of being denied to eat pork in Lent, without paying the church, which he was not then disposed to do; and without it he understood he was to be damned, which startled him; upon this, he inquired, why he might not as well eat the flesh as fish fried in pork fat, which all the Christians in Macao were allowed to do? He therefore told the Pa- dre, that if his salvation depended on so nice a point as the difference between fat and lean, he should no longer be of that religion, and so returned to paganism. lie often asked why the English did not send Padres, who worshipped no images and teach their religion, for it would be better approved." Acrount of the Danish Mission, 1718, part ii, p, 51. quoted in Bur- der's Miss. Anecdotes, p. 247. 192 HINDERANCES TO THE STRONG PREJUDICES OF A SIBERIAN. Mr. Swan, missionary in Siberia, was re- quested by a Buriat merchant to give him a book that would relieve him of the burthen of his sins. He had purchased books for that pur- pose, but in vain. Mr. Swan gave him a reli- gious tract. But no sooner did he open the tract and read the name *'Jesus Christ," than he exclaimed with a look of disdain. "Ah, this is the God of the Russians, you would make us Christians, but we are better as we are." Missionary Chronicle, vol. 2, p. 457. CHRISTIANITY SHUT OUT FROM A PAGAN VILLAGE, BY AN EUROPEAN RESIDENT. "The whole population of a small village in Java, wishing to become Christians, and to be instructed in the truths of the Gospel, requested the Resident at Sourabaya to send them a teacher with Bibles, which he refused, declar- ing that he would not allow them to become Christians as they were quite happy enough without Christianity." In the same place Christian tracts were con- fiscated, and funds of the Dutch Bible Society were applied occasionally to purposes merely literacy. Abeel's Residence in China, p. 19L SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. SECTION 193 Apathy and groundless fears of the friends of Christ. REPROOF OF A NAIR. Several years ago a Nair, in India, upon hearing a European read some chapters of the Gospels, which he highly approved, eagerly in- quired, "Are these really your Shasters?" Being assured that they were, he added, ''Why did you not let us have theui long ago? you always had access to our Shasters, why then did you keep back yours." Evangelical Mag. vol. 20, p. 473, (juoteJ by Burder, Miss. Anec- dotes, p. 239. THE FEARS OF AN ECCLESIASTICAL BODY IN ENGLAND. "It was represented in an Ecclesiastical As- sembly, that to spread abroad the knowledge of the Gospel among barbarous nations seems highly preposterous, in as far as it anticipates, nay,, even reverses the order of nature. Men must be polished and refined in their manners 17 194 HINDERANCES TO THE before they can be properly enlightened in reli- gious truths. Philosophy and learning must, in the nature of things, take the precedence. In- deed it would seem hardly less absurd, to make revelation precede civilization in the order of time, than to pretend to unfold to a child the principia of Newton ere he is made acquaint- ed with the letters of the Alphabet." Such views were advanced near the beoinning of the present century, in Great Britian, we are informed by the Rev. H. F. Burder, in his sermon before the London Missionary Society. Agreeably to these views the apostles were ab- surdly wrong in preaching the Gospel to every creature, whether previously civilized and in- doctrinated or not. ORIGIN OF THE LONDOx^ MISSIONARY SOCIETY. The parlor of the Tabernacle House in Bris- tol, is called, "the cradle of the Missionary So- ciety." The reason for this appellation is, that in that room, during a visit of the Rev. Da- vid Bogue, of Gosport, to Bristol, the plan of uniting different bodies of Christians in the Missionary enterprise was proposed and deter- mined upon*. It is said, that the suggestion ♦Smith and Choules' Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 227. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 195 may be traced back to one individual, the Countess of Huntington. To this pious lady has been awarded the honor of having origina- ted the London Missionary Society, by being the first to suggest such an association, with special reference to the wants of the then newly discovered islands of the South Seas. But to trace bacic the history no farther than to its visible and proximate cause, we may say that "this Society commenced in a spirited address, from the pen of the venerable David Bogue, to evangelical Dissenters, of all denomi- nations, holding infant baptism. This was a spirited address. Its spirit was felt to the re- motest boundaries of the British Empire; and on the 21st of Sept. 1795, a vast assembly of Ministers of different denominations, including many of the Established Church, together with numerous lay gentlemen of various ranks in society, was brought together in the metropolis. The whole week was devoted to this single object; the Society was organized, its officers appointed, its funds established; six sermons in three successive days were delivered to the most crowded audiences London ever witnes- sed. It was impossible for the preachers fully to prepare their sermons in their retirement. The public scene was new, and its influence 196 HINDERANCES TO THE and effect new; every discourse however ar- ranged and precomposed in the study, became almost another thing in the church, and receiv- ed from the holy influence upon the day of de- livery a tone and material not to be acquired in the secret confines of the closet. One of the preachers (Mr. Bogue) says, on the occasion: — 'When we left our homes, we expected to see a day of small things, which it was our design not to despise, but to cherish with fond solici- tude. But, God has, beyond measure, exceed- ed our expectations. He has made a little one a thousand, and has inspired us with the most exalted hopes. Now we do not think ourselves mistaken, when we say that we shall account it through eternity a distinguished favor, and the highest honor conferred on us during our pil- grimage on earth, that we appeared here and gave in our names among the founders of the Missionary Society; and the time will ever be remembered by us, and may it be celebrated by future ages as the era of Christian benevo- lence.' " Why might not this mighty engine of mission- ary benevolence have commenced its work a century sooner? Only because the unwarranta- ble fears and the apathy of Christians would not permit. Could not another meeting of Clergy- SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. 197 men at Bristol have originated, a century soon- er, the resolution to unite in efforts to give the Gospel to the destitute? Could not some other Countess have suggested the scheme, and some other Bogue have written the address, that was to prove the origin of an extensive and eminent- ly useful Missionary Board, long before the actual origin of the London Society? Rer. Mr. Sabine's Sermon at an annual meeting of Am. Board. C. F. M. 1823. COMME.\CEME\T OF THE ENGLISH BAPTIST MIS- SIONARY SOCIETY. In 1786, Mr. Carey proposed the question at a meeting of Ministers at North-Hampton, Eng- land, whether the command given to the apos- tles to teach all nations was not obligatory on all succeeding ministers to the end of the world? One of the company replied, that nothing could be done before aucther Pentecost, when an effu- sion of miraculous gifts, including the gift of tongues would give effect to the commission of Christ as at first; and that he was a most miser- ble enthusiast for asking such a question! (Ful- ler's life jp. 85. j Dr. Carey persevered in his inquiries, undismayed by this rebuff. He re- solved to spend his life in India; and before he ♦17 198 HINDERANCES TO THE died, the little church, which he at first plant- ed in that land had branched out into twenty six mission churches, embracing several thousand worshippers. Instead of waiting for the gift of tongues, he applied himself to the study of Oriental languages, and, chiefly through his exertions, translations of the entire Scriptures have been made in six tongues, and of the New Testament, in twenty three more. Could not these churches have been gathered from among the heathen, and these translations made, cen- turies sooner, but for the unwarrantable fears of the friends of Christ? Some of our ministers, said Mr. Fuller, con- sidered the plan of a mission to India like a proposal to make a turnpike to the moon! (life p. 179.; Beginning its operations thus, under the gloomiest discouragements, with a contribution of<£13. 2, 6, the Baptist Missionary Society has advanced with a zeal and energy that have been blessed to the successful prosecution of missions among the heathen. It has thus been shewn that nothing but the fears and apathy of Christians prevent the universal spread of the Gospel. SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. id9 EARLY EFFORTS OF THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. A few Students at William's College project- ed the plan of sending missionaries from this country to the heathen world. They were ashamed to speak of their favorite plan at first, because they had reason to expect that their views would meet with a chilling reception from christians at large. At length, after years of thought and toil and prayer, a Society is formed. Five missionaries stand ready to go to the heathen. How are they to be sustained? is a question that ctilLs forth no ordinary solici- tude. To attempt to raise from the American churches funds sufficient for this purpose, is deemed useless. Aid is actually solicited from the English churches, lest the gigantic enter- prise should crush our Zion. It was not until unforeseen difficulties prevented the attainment of aid from England, that an effort was made to secure from our own churches the requisite funds. The ordained missionaries of the Amer- ican Board are now more than one hundred. Twenty seven years ago it was deemed imprac- ticable to send abroad five: now more than twenty times the number are sustained cheer- fully by the patrons of this Board alone. 200 HINDERANCES TO THE What but the needless fears of the friends of Christ has delayed till the present age the vigor- ous prosecution of the missionary enterprise by the churches of America. THE FORMER APATHY OF CHRISTIANS REPROVED BY CONVERTED HOTTENTOTS. In the year 1803, three converted Hottentots, a man and two women, visited England in com- pany v/ith their minister, the Rev. Mr. Kicher- er. They were publicly interrogated at relig- ious meetings, and their statements were highly satisfactory. The following reply was made by one of the number in broken English — "What pity 'tis, what sin 'tis, that you have so many years got that heavenly bread and hold it for yourselves, not to give one little bit, one crumb to poor heathen. There are so many millions of heathen, and you have so much bread; and you could depend upon it, you should not have less because you gave, but the Lord Jesus would give you his blessing and you should have the more. You may not think that when you do something for poor heathen, you shall have less for yourselves: that contrary, SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 201 Lord Jesus fountain always full; thousand after tliousand could be helped: he always the same, yesterday to day and forever. The more we do for others, the more we shall be blessed, the more we shall have for our own souls." "As Lord Jesus so good, wear crown of prickles for us, for our sins, let us work more and more in dust at his feet, to put on his head crown of glory." "I thank English nation that sent missionary to us; but pray that they may not neglect, but go on; because Lord open door and so many thousands know not the Lord Jesus. We pray for them, and do all we can to help missionary society, and we shall see the Lord will bless it. I go to far land and shall never see this people no more in this world; so, peo- ple of God, farewell. I shall meet you again before the throne of glory. And people that know not God I beg them to come to Jesus, then we shall meet at the right hand of God. Last thing I say — O pray for poor heathen." The reply of another to the question. "Have you any thing to say to the unconverted people in this congregation?" was interpreted thus. "Yes, I would wish them to run to Jesus im- mediately. O! it would be a pity if they who hear every day of Christ should neglect him, and if they should see us poor heathen, who 202 HINDEHANCES TO THE have run to Christ, admitted into heaven and they themselves thrust down into hell, Oh, it would be a sad pity." Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, pp. 278, and 288. SE CTI O N III . Prejudices and opposition encountered hy Con- verts. PREJUDICES OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDERS. The earliest missionaries to the South Sea Islands, found their efforts to impress the minds of the natives, for a long time, unavailing. Mr. Turnbull, who circumnavigated the globe at the beginning of this century, and who expressed high commendation of the missiona- ries at these islands, relates an occurrence that shews some of the discouragements by which their faith was tried. Some of them had re- quested leave to preach before Otoo, the king, and his followers; the request was granted. The king sent for Mr. T. who arrived while the religious exercises were held. **He asked me," said Mr. T. "upon the departure of the missionaries, whether it was all true, which SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 203 they had preaclied. I replied in the affirma- tive: it was strictly so according to my own belief, and that of all the wiser and better part of my countrymen. He demanded of me where Jehovah lived? I pointed to the heavens. He said he did not believe it. His brother was, if possible, still worse. Edeah, the queen was looking on, with a kind of haughty and dis- dainful indifference. 'It was all liavery or falsehood,' they would not believe unless they could see; they said that we could bring down the sun or moon by means of our quadrant, and why could we not bring down our Savior by similar means?" Bunler's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 256. A CONVERT PAGAN OFFERED UP AS A HUMAN SACRIFICE. Before the final establishment of Christianity at Tahiti, a fine intelligent young man, became a worshipper of the true God. Ridicule and afterwards flattery were employed by his family to draw him back to idolatry, but in vain. Threats of unrelenting vengeance were at last denounced against him, and he was driven from his father's house. A heathen ceremony 204 HINDERANCES TO THE was at hand, for which a human victim was re- quired, and this young man was marked out for the victim. On the evening of the day pre- ceding that on which the ceremony was to take place, he had retired to the brow of a hill that overlooked the valley where he dwelt; there, seated beneath the embowering shade of a clump of trees, he was absorbed in medita- tion previous to his evening prayer. While thus engaged, his seclusion was invaded by his persecutors. A number of the servants of the priests and chiefs came to him and said, that the king had arrived, and had sent them to in- vite him down. He knew that the intended ceremony was at hand, that a human sacrifice was then to be offered, and he suspected in- stantly the purpose for which he was now visit- ed. He charged his visitors with the intention of deceiving him, and added, "I know a cere- mony approaches, that a human victim is then to be offered, something within tells me / am to he that victim, and your appearance and your message confirm my conviction. Jesus Christ is my keeper, without his permission you cannot harm me, you may be permitted to kill my body, but I am not afraid to die! My soul you cannot hurt, that is safe in the hands of Jesus Christ." Perceiving there was but little SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 205 prospect of inducing him to accompany them towards the beach, and, irritated possibly by his heroic reply, they rushed upon him, wound- ed and murdered him; and then bore his body to the temple, where it was offered in sacrifice to their god. Ellis's Polynesian Researches, vol. 1, p. ^6. Lond. CONSPIRACY TO MASSACRE THE PRAYING PEOPLE OF TAHITI. Some of the chiefs in Otaheite, or Tahiti, observing the rapid increase of the "Bure Atua," or * 'praying people," and conceiving, from the present of a book made by the king to his daughter, that he intended to educate her as a Christian, and that probably, in process of time idolatry would be utterly overthrown, formed a resolution, by one sudden blow, to destroy the rising sect. To effect this, several of the chiefs, who had been previously rivals and enemies to each other, concurred in a plan to fall upon the new converts in the night of July 7, 1815, and to exterminate them altogeth- er. But some of the parties having been rather dilatory, and secret information having been happily given to the people, whose ruin was in- tended, they were enabled to launch their ca- 18 206 HINDERANCES TO THE noes and sail for Eimeo, where they safely ar- rived the next morning. The disappointed chiefs, began to reproach each other, and, calling to mind their ancient animosities, fell upon one another. Many, especially of those who first concerted the mis- chief, were killed, and a large portion of their country was laid waste. The question of reli- gion was lost sight of: the party feuds of former times were revived. The king, who was then at that island, sent repeated messages of a pacific nature to the conquering party, who as- sured him that they had no quarrel with him, but that they had not yet settled their old differ- ences. Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 258. AN ASSEMBLY OF WORSHIPPING CONVERTS ATTACK- ED BY ARMED PAGANS. The 12th of November, 1815, was an event- ful day in the religious history of Tahiti. It was the Sabbath. Pomare and the converts to Christianity, in number about 800 were assem- bled for public worship, near the village of Bu- naauia. At distant points of the district pi- quets had been stationed to prevent a surprisal. When divine service commenced, a firing of SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 207 muskets was heard; soon a large body of armed men were seen advancing from a distant point towards the place of worship, bearing with them the flag of the gods and the various emblems of idolatry. The congregation was thrown into con- fusion. "It is war!" "It is war!" was the cry on every side. Those who had weapons prepared for battle, others were on the point of dispers- ing to obtain arms. Pomare, in the midst of the confusion, arose and requested all to remain quietly in their places, he stated that they were under the special protection of Jehovah, that divine worship should not be forsaken even at the approach of an enemy. A hymn was sung, a portion of scripture was read, and a prayer offered to the Almighty. Then the assembly made the necessary preparations for their own defence. The onset of the pagans was im- petuous and almost irresistible. For a long time the result was doubtful. When at length it seemed as if the Christian party would be overpowered, the leader of the idolatrous forces received a mortal wound, and fell. This disas- ter weakened the confidence of the assailants, they became irresolute, their ranks were brok- en, and finally, after a long struggle, they fled in terror from the field. 208 HINDERANCES TO THE Thus were the first Christians saved from the very jaws of destruction. Pomare was so prudent and moderate in the use of his triumph, as to permit no plunder or ill treatment of the captives. Such unexampled moderation, as it seemed to them, produced on the minds of the pagans the happiest effects. They declared that they had been deceived by their gods, and that they would no longer trust them; that they would ca?t them away entirely, and embrace the new religion, so dis- tinguished by its benevolence, mildness and clemency. Ellis's, Polynesian Researches, vol. 1. p. 249. OPPOSITION TO MISSIONARIES IN PALESTINE. The Rev. Mr. Goodell, in 1S26, while the Greeks were in arms against Turkey, writes thus from Beyroot, A deep plot was laid to drive us all from Bey- root. The Maronitc Bishop had arrived, and had prepared an excommunication for every Maro- nite, who should hereafter permit his house to be hired by us; and he was endeavoring, by bribery and intrigue, to bring the Greek Bishop and the Mahommedan rulers to act in concert with him, and thus force us to retire from the SUCCESS OF MISSIONS 209 field, or to stand out in the rain with our wives and little ones. But God, in his holy provi- dence, sent the Greeks here, at that very mo- ment: the Bishop had to flee in the night, and has not since dared to return: and the very best houses of the Maronites fell into our hands, by the earnest request of the owners. Moreover, just as the Armenian Patriarch at Constantinople was ready to sally forth with a firman from the Grand Siguier against Jacob Aga, and also as it seems probable, against the men in my service, God let the Janizaries loose upon their capital, and permitted the fires which they kindled to rage with greater fury in the Armenian, than in any other quarter of the city; and to burn to ashes, among many thousand buildings, the palace and the most splendid church of the Armenian Patriarch; and thus to furnish him with sufficient employment for the present, without meddling with the reformation in these parts. Missionary Herald, 1827, p. 178. PAPAL OPPOSITION TO MISSIONARY EFFORTS. The Patriarch of the Maronites, havinof been warned* by a communication from Rome to re- *See JNJissionary Herald, 1825, p. 109. ns X 210 HINDERANCES TO THE sist the circulation of the Scriptures, and the labors of Protestant missionaries within his ju- risdiction, published a severe edict, which con- cludes thus. "And with regard to Bird (American Mis- sionary) and all his children, and all his family, we in like manner grant no permission to any one to receive them: but, on the contrary, we, by the word of the Lord of almighty authority, require and command all in the firmest manner, that not one visit them, nor do them any sort of service, or furnish them any sort of assistance whatever, to protract their stay in these parts or any other. Let no one receive them into his house, or into any place whatever that belongs to him; but let all avoid them, in every way, in all things temporal as well as spiritual. And whoever, in his stubbornness, shall dare to act in opposition to this our order with regard to Bird, and his children, and his whole family, shall fall, ipso facto, under the great excommu- nication, whose absolution is reserved to our- self alone, in the same manner as has happened to the miserable Latoof El Ashi and his sons, from which may the Lord preserve you ail, and the blessing be upon the obedient. The ignoble Joseph Peter, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East. Aug. 4, 1827. Missionary Herald, 1828, p. 308. SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. 211 OBST-ACLES TO THE ELEVATION OF THE FEMALE SEX IN INDIA. Said Mr. Osborn of the Wesleyan Mission in Ceylon, Soon after my arrival at Point de Galle, I went to the house of an English gentleman: and on entering the verandnh, I saw a bravvny man sitting on a mat, making ladies muslin dresses, I could not forbear expressing my astonishment at seeing a hand, formed for hard labor, em- ployed in adjusting the trimmings of a lady's dress, while I had passed several delicate fe- males in the streets who were engaged in a drudgery better suited to the athletic mantua- maker in the verandah, than to them. I have also frequently been grieved by seeing poor slender females bending beneath the heavy loads of fruits, rice &/C, which they were carrying to the market, while stout and indolent men were walking before them at their ease: not unfre- quently, the poor woman, besides the load upon her head, has had her infant astride upon her hip. Washing, ironing and clear starching are all done by the men as the lighter work, while the women are sitting at the mill or working in the fields. Missionary Herald, 1831, p. 189. 212 HINDERANCES TO THE Bishop Heber remarks that he had noticed all throughout India, that any thing is thought good enough for the weaker sex, and that the roughest words, the poorest garments, the scant- iest alms and the hardest blows are generally their portion. The estimation in which the Hindoos hold the female sex, proves a formida- ble barrier to missionary efforts for their benefit. Prejudice will scarcly allow the communication of any improving knowledge to a sex thus sys- tematically degraded and oppressed. Missionary Herald, 1830, p. 195. INVETERATE OPPOSITION TO THE INSTRUCTION OF HINDOO FEMALES. The Rev. Mr. Adams proposed to a Brahmin to establish a school for the instruction of fe- males. "What have we to do with them?" the Hin- doo carelessly replied. *'Let them remain as they are." When reminded that they as well as the other sex, had souls Vv^hich must be saved or lost forever; and that notvv^ithstanding, they were so entirely neglected as not to be allowed even to learn to read. "They do not know how to go to heaven," was liis answer, "but they know how to go to hell, and let them go." SUC'JESS OF MISSIONS. 213 Well may the r slater add, "O how hard is the heart of man till it is sotlciied by the grace of God! Smith and Choule's Hist'y of Missions, vol. 1, p. 250. DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING TflE RENUNCIATION OF CASTE. Boodhessa was born a Mussulman. He re- nounced his friends and worldly occupation to become a byraffgee, or mendicant saint. As a devotee, he performed many acts that were in- credibly difficult and painful. Having heard something of the Christian religion, he went three days journey to Serampore in quest of farther information. Here, after having been instructed by the missionaries, he was baptized, renouncing his supposed acquisitions of sanctity to follow Christ. On leaving Serampore, he re- turned to the residence which he forsook when he became a byraggee. When he arrived at the door, he was invited to enter by the weep- ing family. He told them he could not go in, as he had lost caste and did not wish to give them sorrow without their consent. Said the mother, (a very aged woman, weep- ing,) "Come in, my son, why do you stand at the door?" 214 IIINDERANCES TO THE Boodhessa. "No, mother; I cannot come in- to the house: you will lose your caste, for I have eaten v/ith English people." The mother, and his wife and brother. "Well, but cannot you come in?" Boodhessa, "No, I will not come in. But if you will come and sit out, I will tell you what I have done, and why I have done it.' The family. "Come then, let us go and sit in the cow-house." Boodhessa. "You know that I have wander- ed up and dov/n in search of the true way. I forsook the world, I became a byraggee, I ob- tained my food by begging; I have repeated the names of God continually; I have visited differ- ent holy places, and for twelve months, twelve hours every day, fixed my eyes on the blazing orb, till I became blind and my face as black as ink, was dried up. Besides this I have done some very severe and terrific acts, called holi- ness, but all was in vain. I continued a slave to sin and my mind was destitute of happiness. At length I heard of there being a new way preached at Serampore. I have been there, and have heard glad tidings; that Jesus Christ came into the world and bore the punishment due to sinners. This is a great word, and it has filled my soul with hope and joy. Hence I SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 215 have laid aside the proud thought of making amends for my own transgressions. I make my refuge in his death, and consider all my holi- ness as a heap of sin. I have been baptizeid in his name. If I can believe in him and obey his commands, I shall get over my everlasting ruin. If you can unite with me in becoming the dis- ciples of Christ, then I find my home, my moth- er, my brother, my wife and a Savior all at once; but if you cannot, then I will abide by my Savior, and go every where, proclaiming his name. If I die in this work under a tree or any where else, verily it shall then be well with me." The result was, that the brother was to be sent to Serampore to make additional inquiries, with the agreement that if he found the state- ment of Boodhessa true, and that a Savior had actually come into the world, all of the family were to be baptized. The aged mother closed the interview out of doors by saying, **WelI son, let us go in, you must eat with us, why should you stay out? are you then of a different caste from your own mother? Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 214. OPPOSITION ENCOUNTERED BY A HINDOO CONVERT. Futika, was a native of Jossore, in Bengal. He was a weaver and a strict idolater. His at- 216 HINDERANCES TO THE tention was first directed to the Christian relig- ion, by a tract prepared by a native convert. Afterwards he received another written by Mr. Ward. He became so much interested in these tracts, that he was in the habit of reading them to his mother and sister, and to his three inti- mate friends, Dweep-Chandra, Kanaee, and Kanta. At length he resolved to visit Seram- pore, where the persons lived who gave away these papers, as he was informed. On arriving at Serarnpore, nobody would inform him where the missionaries were to be found, and he proceeded to Calcutta, having heard that Bengalee tracts were to be obtained there. When he visited the house of the gen- tleman to whom he had been referred, his door- keeper seized him by the neck and drove him from the yard. This was a sad disappointment, as he expected that those who proclaimed the love of Yisoo Khreest would have taken him into their bosoms. Mortified and discouraged, he returned to his village without a farthing to bear his expenses. After some months he left his home again, in company with Kanaee and Kanta, and repaired again to Serampore. They inquired where the new shastra was printed. The people, whom they interrogated, only abused them, asking if they were come to sell SUCCESS OP MISSIONS. 217 their caste, or if they were perishing for want. A Brahmin to whom they addressed this inqui- ry did all he could to make them afraid and ashamed. Kanaee and Kanta were almost per- suaded to turn back, till Futika reproved them for their cowardice. While they were dispu- ting with this Brahmin, near the door of the mission house of which they were in quest, one of the native assistants happened to pass out. He inquired what they were disputing about. Futika told him. With the utmost joy he took them by the hand and brought them into the house. All was new and wonderful to his friends, but Futika himself was overwhelmed with joy. They staid five days, and then returned to their home promising soon to return. Futika's mind was so much engrossed with the contents of the books he had with him, that he almost fororot to eat. His neighbors beo^an to persecute him. The neighboring brahmins and others went to the head man of the village complaining against Futika, that he had drawn Dweep-Chundra, Kanaee and Kanta after him, and would at this rate draw away all the neigh- borhood; that these persons did not mind caste, and besides there was something in the books they 19 218 HINDERANCES TO THE read, that unaccountably stole away their mind and unfitted it for every thing. Futika's sister and mother were also against him. The head man of the village, hearing this, collected a mob, who went to Futika's house on the Lord's day while he was at prayer, bound his hands and dragged him into the road, while the whole village, men, women and children, hissed at him and treated him with the greatest rudeness. His uncle went to still the mob, but they hissed at him and asked him if he was become Yisoo Khreest also. They threw dust on Futika, daubing over his eyes and stopping his ears with mud. They offered him deliverance if he would promise to worship the gods like his fore- fathers, and forsake Yisoo Khreest. Futika entreated them to forbear asking him such ques- tions. The mob destroyed his Bengalee Testament, and all the tracts in his house; and he was kept tied up to the pillar of an idol temple for several hours. In the evening, when they were tired of punishing him, they promised to liberate him if he would give security that he would wor- ship Christ no longer. He refused to give this assurance, one of the bystanders however, said, "I am his surety," and he was liberated. He was then taken into the service of the SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 219 mission at Serampore, at which place he died in 1808. Narrative of five Christian Hindoos, Boston, J. Loring, 1828. PERSECUTION OF APAVAS A CONVERTED HINDOO, AT MADRASS. Before the day appointed for his baptism ar- rived, (says Mr. Loveless,) he had to encounter some severe trials. The people of the house, in which he lived, observed that he no longer marked his forehead with ashes, nor performed other customary ceremonies, and they accused him of impiety towards his gods. The report of his conversion to Christianity, and his intend- ed baptism began to be circulated, and caused an uproar among his acquaintance. He was alternately persuaded, entreated and threatened by his heathen countrymen; and what was worse was coldly cautioned to take care what he was about, by some native Christians, so called. One day (in the week previous to his bap- tism) I missed him, and he came tome the next morning in somewhat of a trepidation, telling me he had just escaped from confinement, in which he had been placed by the people of the house where he lived, they having shut him up without food, the whole of the preceding day 220 HINDERANCES TO THE and night. He further stated it having been in- timated to him, that if he persevered in resolv- ing to become a christian, poison would be put into his food, and hence he couid not think of going back there. He was baptized in the midst of a crowded and much affected congrega- tion, and openly and voluntarily renounced his caste. Evan. Mag. vol, xxvii, p. 432, quoted in Burder's Miss. Anecdotes, p. 237. FIRMNESS OF A HINDOO WOMAN UNDER PERSECU- TION. The Rev. Mr. Sutton, a Baptist missionary, related the following account at a public meet- ing in New York. A Hindoo woman, who professed to have been converted applied to him for Christian baptism. He had tried her state of feeling, by representing to her the sufferings which must necessarily follow a renunciation of her hea- thenish creed; he set before her the loss of caste, the wrath of her husband, the disgrace, misery and persecution she would probably be called to endure. ''I know all this," she re- plied. "I considered about that before I came to you, I am ready and willing to bear it all: I SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 221 am ready to sacrifice all to my Lord. Surely sir, I cannot endure any thing in comparison to what he suffered for me. Such was converting grace in Hindoostan, and such the pure spirit of martyrdom it could infuse into the bosom of a despised Gentoo woman. She was baptized; her husband swore to destroy her: she applied to the judge to get her child restored to her, but the judge decided agatnst her, her child was torn from her, she was stripped of all her clothing in open court, her husband went to the high priest of Jugger- naut who performed her funeral rites, as though she were dead: and she was considered by the law and by all her former friends as a dead woman. But she endured it all and endured it patiently, for the love she bore to Jesus of Naz- areth, who had had mercy upon her. MARTRYDOM OF A TURKISH WOMAN. A Turkish woman in Egypt, being divorced from her husband, lived with a Greek for two years; whether married or unmarried, is not known, nor is it known whether she had been baptized; but she had made the mark of the cross on her arm. A Turkish servant becom- *19 222 HINDERANCES TO THE ing dissatisfied with her husband, expressed his resentment by giving information of her aposta- cy to her father. The father, being a man of some consequence, obtained a legal investiga- tion of the case. On examination she confessed herself to be a Christian; and was condemned to be drowned in the Nile. Seated on an ass, the unhappy woman was conducted among the maledictions of the multitudes to the Boulac. She was taken into a small boat on the stream, and after having been stripped of hor ornaments and dress, an outrage hastened by her declara- tion, "I shall die a Christian," she was cast into the Nile. Thus perished a female martyr, in one of the most tolerant portions of the Mo- hammedan dominion. Missionary Register, 1827, p. 252. PERSECUTION OF COiNVERTS IN JAPAN. In the years 1627 and 1628, persecution raged violently, the victims were offered up in crowds. One scene of torment surpassed all others Two leagues from Nangasaqui, there is a high mountain called Ungen, on whose summit are three or four lakes with boiling sulphurous waters heated by subterranean fires. These SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 323 waters break out sometimes in wide openings of the earth, sending before them mountains of flame; called by the Japanese, "the moutlis of hell," and the waters, "the infernal waters." The waters of the lake smoke and boil as if they stood upon a hot fire; and make so hideous a noise that they may be compared with the lakes of brimstone and fire mentioned in the Apocalypse. The martyrs, doomed to perish in this horrid gulph, spent a day and two nights in prayer, and set forward on Sunday morning, singing as they went. Being arrived at the foot of the mountain, they were put in coffins of reeds and carried upon men's shoulders. The plate, representing this strange martyr- dom, discloses an appalling scene. The banks are precipitous; the waters boil fearfully below, amidst clouds of smoke. Many are falling headlong, others are placed in open baskets and let down by pulleys that they may die slowly: crosses are on the brink above, from which the crucified sufferers, while dying, can perfectly behold the last moments of their ingulphed com- panions. Carne's lives of eminent missionaries, vol. 3. p. 354. 224 HINDERANCES TO THE EDICT OF THE CHINESE EMPEROR AGAINST CHRIS- TIANITY. 1812, EXTRACTS. The Europeans worship God because in their own country they are used to do so, and it is quite unnecessary to inquire into the motive. But why do they disturb the common people of the interior, unauthorizedly appointing priests and other functionaries, who spread this through all the provinces, an obvious infraction of the lav/? The common people deceived by them, succeed each other from generation to genera- tion, unwilling to depart from their delusion. This may approach very near to a rebellion: for as the said religion neither holds spirits in ven- eration, nor ancestors in reverence, this is evi- dently to walk contrary to sound doctrine: and the common people who follow, and familiarize themselves with such delusions, in what res- pects do they differ from a rebel mob? If some punishment be not decreed how shall the evil be eradicated? and how shall the human heart be rectified? From this time forward, such Europeans as shall privately print books and establish preach- ers in order to pervert the multitude, and the Tartars and Chinese, who, deputed by Europe- ans, shall propagate their religion, bestowing SUCCESS OF MISSIONS. 225 names and disquieting numbers, shall have this to look to, the chief or principal one shall be ex- ecuted: whosoever shall spread their religion, not making much disturbance, nor to many men, and without giving names, shall be im- prisoned, waiting the time of execution: and those who shall content themselves with follow- ing such religion, without wishing to reform themselves shall be exiled. As for Tartars, they shall be deprived of their pay.* In disregard of this sincrular edict, Morrison and his fellow laborers toiled to introduce Chris- tianity into China. The edict is not yet repeal- ed. THE PRINCIPAL MAN OF A PAGAN VILLAGE PUT TO DEATH, BECAUSE HE WAS FAVORABLE TO THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY. Pedro was the Headman of the village of Aroolloor in India. He was an avowed friend to the introduction of Christianity, and for this reason was marked as a victim by a man who was peculiarly hostile to the efforts of missiona- ries. On a Sabbath morning Pedroo was dis- turbed by a tumult in the village. On repair- ing to the spot, a band of ruffians led by the man who had sought his destruction, rushed *Smith and Choules Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 502, 226 IIINDERANCES TO THE SUCCESS &/C. upon him, exclaiming, ''That's the fellow." Their leader was very active in the assault, ex- claiming " That's the fclloiv who has brought Christianity hither, strike him! strike him! The assailants wounded Pedroo and he fell, then one of the numbers struck him with a large knife on the head and laid him senseless on the ground. To complete the tragedy the leader trampled upon the body. The wounds proved fatal before the persecuted man could be borne to a place of safety. Missionary Register, 1827, p. 564. CHAPTER V. MISSIONARY ZEAL. Rouse to some work of hii'h and holy love; , ********* Do Fometliing — do it soon — -with all thy might, An angel's wing v/ould droop if long at rest, And God himself inactive were no longer blest. Wilcox. Up at the Gospel's glorious call! Country and kindred, what arc they? Rend from thy heart these charmers all, Christ needs thy service — heuce away. Mrs. Sigourney, GORDON HALL. Gordon Hall was not to be deterred from be- coming a missionary to the heathen, because no Board was yet in existence in this country to undertake the work of missions. Should all other means of gettinor to the heathen in Asia fiiil, he was ready to pledge himself that he would work his passage to India, and there throw himself under Providence upon his own resour- ces. 228 MISSIONARY ZEAL. "If I am allowed," said he, *'to labor and suffer, and die in the work of the Gospel among the heathen, I shall count myself most happy." Life pp. 20, and 25. ZEAL OF A STUDENT AT BASLE. When the news of the dreadful ravages of the fever at Sierra Leone during the last sum- mer, (1823,) reached the ears of the young men at the Missionary Seminary of Basle in Switz- erland, it seemed to animate them with a strong desire to step in and fill the vacancies occasion- ed by the loss of missionaries. After hearing of the death of Messrs. Johnson and Schemel, Mr. Blumhardt writes. "It was a remarkable movement in our camp, when this lamentable news was heard among us. Every one of our brethren was preparing himself, by the most serious meditations, to come forward and to offer himself as a sacrifice for the Lord. Should many more such tidings arrive, we could no longer detain our dear brethren soldiers from going to the spot, where the heroes of the church have fallen. The desire to be employed in the work of conversion among the poor ne- groes was never stronger in our Missionary House, than in these days." Missionary Herald, 1824, p. 55. MISSIONARY ZEAL. COMMENCEMENT OF THE MORAVIAN MISSION IN GREENLAND. When the United Brethren first embarked in the enterprize of sending missionaries to the heathen world, their own congregation did not exceed six hundred persons. Of this number the greater part were exiles, who, after having been driven by persecution from their native land, found a hospitable asylum on the es- tate of Count Zinzendorf, in Upper Lusatia. In the year 1732, a few of this devoted peo- ple offered themselves as missionaries, to go to Greenland. Two of them visited Copenhagen to make preparations for the commencement of the mission. Here they received donations from many of the friends of religion, to forward the enterprise. Count Pleiss, in the course of conversation, inquired how they proposed, to maintain themselves in Greenland. They re- plied, they hoped to subsist by the labor of their hands, and the divine blessing; as it was their intention to build a house and cultivate a piece of land, that they might not be burden- some to any. To this he objected that there was no wood in the country fit for building. ''Then," said they, "we will dig a cave in the earth and dwell there." Struck with this 20 230 MISSIONARY ZEAL. proof of ardent zeal and self denial, he exclaim- ed, "No, you shall not be driven to that extrem- ity: take timber with you sufficient to build a house; and accept of these fifty dollars for that purpose." Smith and Choule's Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 42. ZEAL OF JENS HAVEN. "In the year 1752, hearing atllernhuth, that Erhardt, a missionary sent to the coast of Lab- rador, had been murdered by the Esquimaux, I felt for the first time a strong impulse to go and preach the Gospel to this very nation; and became certain in my own mind, that I should go to Labrador. I agreed with a brother of the name of Nielson, that as soon as there appeared the least probability of our going, we should offer ourselves for that purpose." Six years afterwards he became a missionary and labored in the country to which his youthful desires had tended. Game's lives of eminent Missionaries, vol, 2. p. 216. EARLY STRUGGLES OF DANIEL SCHLATTER. Daniel Schlatter, was a native of Switzer- land. He served in the capacity of merchant's MISSIONARY ZEAL. 231 clerk, in the town of St. Gallen, for a number of years with great credit to himself, comfort to his family and advantage to his employer. Very early in life his mother's pious care for his soul was blessed to his conversion. As he rose in years, he read missionary intelligence with great avidity. Thus was interest in the work of missions nourished within his breast, until the desire to be himself a missionary to the heathen, became the first wish of his heart. After some years he found himself at liberty to seek admission to the missionary Institution at Basle. But as he had embraced the senti- ments of adult baptism, he could not be admit- ted, consistently with the rules of the Semina- ry. The directors, however, willing to aid him to the extent of their power, liberally paid his travelling expenses to Tartary, to which coun- try he was anxious to repair for the purpose of qualifying himself to preach the Gospel to the Nogaien tribes. Here he hired himself, as a groom and house servant, to a Tartar chief, named Abdullah. In this capacity he devoted himself to the acquisition of the language while he obtained at the same time an intimate know- ledge of the Tartar character. He was willing to endure the drudgery of a menial rather than 232 MISSIONARY ZEAL. forego the privilege of fitting himself for the duties of a missionary. Nor was his zeal unaccompanied by strong natural affection. The following circumstance, while it indicates rare filial attachment, sheds a hallowed lustre upon his character. His mother in Switzerland, was visited with illness that threatened her life. In conse- quence of her strong desire to see her son Dan- iel once more, before death, he was apprised of her dangerous condition and urged to leave his distant residence to make her a visit without delay. He obtained leave from his master Ab- dullah to return to Switzerland. The same day, he commenced a journey of one thousand English miles, without any other means than faith in God, except that his master, who shed a tear at parting with his servant, gave him one of his best horses. The use of the horse he had, on condition of bringing him back if it could be done conveniently. He sold the horse on the road, and sent back the whole proceeds to Abdullah. He walked nearly the whole dis- tance to his mother's house, and to his great gratification found her recovering. The shock, however, occasioned by the unexpected arrival of her beloved son, so much sooner than he was expected, was almost fatal to the affectionate MISSIONARY ZEAL. 233 parent. After spending a few weeks with his mother, he returned to his proposed field of missionary toil, travelling in the same manner in which he came, and resumed his employ- ments among the Tartars, panting for the privi- lecre of makino- known to them a crucified Re- deemer. Missionary Herald, 1824. p. 56. THE ANXIETY OF DR. !\nLNE IN EARLY LIFE TO BECOME A MISSIONARY. The late Dr. Milne, missionary to Malacca, when soliciting admission in his youth to the Institution at Gosport, had his zeal put to a painful test. His first appearance seemed to the committee of examination so rustic and un- promis*ing, that a worthy member of the com- mittee said privately to another, that he could not recommend Mr. Milne as a missionary, for he doubted whether he had the necessary quali- fications, but that he would have no objections to join in recommending him as a servant to a mission, provided he would be willing to occupy such a station. In consequence of this sugges- tion a member of the committee held a private interview with the young student. After stat- ing the objection which had been made, he ♦20 234 MISSIONARY ZEAL. asked Mr. Milne whether he would consent to such a proposal? He replied without hesita- tion, and with the most significant and anima- ted expression of countenance, "Yes, sir, most certainly. I am willing to be any thing so that I am in the work; to be 'a hewer of wood and a drawer of water' is too great an honor for me when the Lord's house is building." Under such unpromising circumstances and with such quenchless zeal did this eminent and learned missionary commence his useful career. Missionary Herald, 18-25. p. 57. DR. PHILIP. Some years ago an English clergyman was invited to take the pastoral charge of a large and wealthy congregation. One of his first inquiries on coming among them, was, what they had done in aid of benevolent Societies. *'What does your subscription for foreign Mis- sions amount to?" We have not given any thing for that object. "And for the Bible So- ciety?" Nothing. "I cannot stay with such a church," said the clergyman. The members of the congregation, who were extremely anx- ious to secure his services, remarked that he MISSIONARY ZEAL. 235 could himself open subscriptions for these differ- ent religious societies on the spot. He took them at their word, and set himself immediately to work. He organized several associations among his people, and collected, the first year, six hun- dred pounds sterling (nearly $3,000.) During the same year, he sent from his own church, eleven members to be missionaries; before he left his charge, he had sent out twenty, and finally devoted himself to the missionary work. This clergyman is now known to all friends of the cause. It was Dr. Philip, now Superin- tendent of the London Society's missions at the Cape of Good Hope. Stilted by Rev. Mr. Plumer, at a public niectins in New York. JMay, 1836. LIEFUVYN. Liefuvyn, an Englishman, was distinguished among the missionaries who labored in Germa- ny, during the eighth century. He ventured to appear before the assembly of the Saxons; and while they were sacrificing to their idols, he ex- horted them with a loud voice to turn from those vanities to serve the living God. His zeal near- ly cost him his life. He was suffered to depart, only after the urgent remonstrances of Buto, 236 MISSIONARY ZEAL. one of the Saxon chiefs, who contended that it would be unreasonable to treat an ambassador of the great God with less respect than they did an ambassador of any of the neighboring na- tions. After the arms of Charlemagne pre- vailed over the Saxons, the labors of Liefuvyn became more successful, and he continued to preach among this people till his death. Border's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 118. CHRISTIANITY FNTRODUCED AMONG THE BULGARI- ANS, BY THE ZEAL OF A PRINCESS. The Bulgarians were a fierce Sclavonic peo- ple who had long been troublesome to the Greek Emperors, at the commencement of the ninth century. The sister of their king Bogoris, hav- ing been taken captive in a military excursion, was brought to Constantinople and there em- braced Christianity. Upon her redemption and return to her own country, she gave a strong evidence that her change of religion had been more than nominal. She was struck with grief and compassion to see the king, her brother, remain an idolater; and she used the most co- gent arguments in her power to effect his con- version. Bogoris was not prevailed upon how- ever to receive the Gospel, till, a famine and a MISSIONARY ZEAL. 237 plague appearing in Bulgaria, she persuaded him to pray to the God of the christians. He did so and the plague ceased. There was something so remarkable in the event that Bo- Sforis was induced to send for missionaries from Constantinople: and at length received baptism with many of his people. Burtler's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 120. THE PLAGUE BRAVED BY CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES The following account is taken by Chateau- briand, from the celebrated "Lettres Edifiantes," describing the voluntary exposure of Missiona- ries at Constantinople. One of their number writes, "In times of pestilence, as it is necessary to be near at hand to administer aid to those who have been seized, and as we have here but four or five missionaries, our practice has been, that but a single Father should enter the Bagnes (occupied by enslaved christians,) and that he should remain there during tbe whole time the pestilence lasts. He, who procures the permis- sion of his superior thus to enter, prepares him- self by several days of devotional retirement, and bids farewell to his brethren, as one soon to 238 MISSIONARY ZEAL. die. Sometimes the sacrifice is consummated; at others the missionary escapes unharmed." A young missionary describes himself as be- ing obliged to lay his ear upon the mouth of the sick, to hear their dying words, and thus incur the greatest possible exposure. "I have now," says another of these intrepid men, ''risen above all the fears which an infec- tious disease can inspire, and, with the blessing of God, shall never die of this disorder, after the perils I have encountered. I have just quitted the Bagne, in which I administered the last offices of religion to eighty six persons. During the day it seemed to me that nothing disturbed me: it was only at night, during the little slum- ber which I was permitted to take, that I found my mind filled with the most frightful ideas. The greatest peril which I have incurred, (and that perhaps through my life I shall have incur- red) has been in the lowermost hold of a ship of war, of eighty two guns. The slaves, by the connivance of their keepers, had procured for me admission at evening, that I might, during the whole night, receive their confessions and perform mass early in the morning. We were shut up under double locks, according to cus- tom. Of fifty two slaves, whose confessions I heard, twelve were sick; and three died before MISSIONARY ZEAL. 239 I left. Judge what the air must have been in this close place, where there was not the least opening. God, who has saved me in this in- stance, will save me in many others." Well might Chateaubriand exclaim, "A man who voluntarily shuts himself up in a Prison, in the time of Plague, who ingenuously avows his alarm, and who yet overcomes it, from the strength of his piety; who at last pays for en- trance (as if to enjoy some illicit pleasure) into the lowermost hold of a ship of war, that he may assist slaves dying of the Plague, let us admit such a man follows not an impulse of nature. Here is something above mere humanity. The missionaries themselves confess this, and take not upon them the merit of these admirable la- bors. "It is God," say they frequently, ''who gives to us this strength. No part of it is our own." Translated from "Genie du Christianisme," vol. 4, p. 165. ZEAL OF JESUITS. "After my return to Europe," said a catholic missionary who had visited China, "when my intention of seeking laborers for this vineyard (China) was divulged, immediately there were so many candidates, that there is scarcely a 240 MISSIONARY ZEAL. province of our society from which I have not received many letters from several fathers, not only offering themselves, but earnestly request- ing me to accept them as soldiers in this enter- prize. In Portugal from the two colleges of Coimbra and Ebora alone I had a list of ninety persons so desirous to labor in this mission, that many of them have sent me very long letters, all written and signed with their own blood, witnessing in this manner that they had a holy courage that could despise the threats of mar- trydom, offering cheerfully to the Lord, that little blood as a testimony of the great desire they had to shed it for His sake. Chinese Repository, vol. 1, p. 487. Such was the zeal of Jesuits when they had access to China. Shall not such an example provoke Protestants to an equal willingness to practice self-denial in spreading an uncorrupted Gospel? MISSIONARY ZEAL OP A POOR WOMAN. A poor woman had attended a missionary meeting a few years since. Her heart was moved with pity. She looked around on her house and furniture to see what she could spare MISSIONARY ZEAL. 241 for the mission. She could think of nothing that would be of any use. At length she thought of her five children, three daughters and two sons. She entered her closet, and con- secrated them to the mission. Two of her daughters are now in heathen lands and the other is preparing to go. Of her sons, one is on his way to India, and the other is preparing for the ministry, and inquiring on the subject of a missionary life. Stated by Rov. W. S. Plumer, at a meeting of the Virginia Bap- tist Education Society. ZEAL OF XAVIER. When Francis Xavier was about to under- take his mission to India, his friends strongly expostulated with him, on the dangers he would have to encounter, from the malignity of the climate, the sterility of the land and the barbar- ism of the inhabitants. This representation only seemed to inspire him with more zeal. "The most tractable and opulent nations," said he, "will not want preachers; but this is for me, because others will not undertake it. If the country abounded in odoriferous woods and mines of gold, all dangers would be braved in order to procure them: should merchants 21 242 MISSIONARY ZEAL. then be more intrepid than missionaries? Shall these unfortunate people be excluded from the blessings of redemption? It is true they are very barbarous and brutal; but even were they more so, He, who can convert even stones into the children of Abraham, cannot he soften their hearts? Should I be instrumental in the salva- tion of but one of them, I should think myself well recompensed for all the labors and dangers by which you endeavor to affright me." Smith and Choules Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 27. Introd. HENRY PALMER, OR THE MISSIONARY AND THE SOLDIER. A writer in the London Record, in urging the duty of ministers of the Gospel in England to volunteer as missionaries to Canada, relates the anecdote which we give below, with the following preamble. ''I have often felt wound- ed and grieved, by hearing the privations of missionaries much harped upon. Soldiers and sailors go to inhospitable climes at the call of duty — neither whining nor simpering is set up for them; a merchant also crosses boisterous seas, in pursuit of honorable trade, perchance; but as soon as a minister leaves home for a for- eign field of labor, immediately do we hear of MISSIONARY ZEAL. 243 his self-devotedness, and a puling sympathy is extorted for the self-denying man. Surely this is not right." "Some years since, the late much esteemed Sir Charles Macarthy, Governor of Sierra Le- one, being in England and much in want of faithful men to labor in that sickly climate, when there had just been a great mortality among the missionaries, attended the Committee of the Church of England Society in London, and thus in substance addressed them: — 'Gentlemen, I need not tell you how many of your zealous and devoted missionaries have recently fallen a sac- rifice to the deadly climate of Sierra Leone; and it grieves me to find that you have not on your list, any volunteers to supply the place of those men of God who have just been cut off by disease. But, gentlemen, I have just been at the Horse Guards, and on inquiring there whether there were any officers ready to pro- ceed to that sickly station, a list containing several hundred names was immediately handed to me of individuals anxious to accompany me on my return; and is it possible that there is not one man in England willing to go forth with . his life in his hand to preach the Gospel to the poor perishing negroes?' A young friend who had left the army, where he had greatly distin- 244 MISSIONARY ZEAL. guished himself, and had studied for the minis- try, was sitting in a retired part of the room* the words of Sir Charles reached his heart; he offered himself and was accepted, as a mission- ary under that Society, and soon after proceed- ed to Sierra Leone, where, through his instru- mentality, a goodly number of poor negroes were turned from the service of dumb idols to that of the living and true God, who learned to bless the name of Henry Palmer while he lived, and who doubtless will be his crown of rejoicing throughout eternity." New York Observer, Jan. 3, 1835. XAVIER'S APPEAL TO CHRISTIANS IN EUROPE. In one of his letters to Europe, Xavier wrote from Cochin as follows, *'I have often thoughts to run over all the universities of Europe, and principally that of Paris, and to cry aloud to those who abound more in learning than chari- ty. Ah! how many souls are lost to heaven through your neglect! Many, without doubt, would be moved, would make a spiritual retreat and give the leisure for meditating on heavenly things. They would renounce their passions, and trampling under foot all worldly vanities, would put themselves in a condition of following MISSIONARY ZEAL. 245 the divine will. Then they would say, Behold me in readiness. O Lord, How much more happily would those learned men then live! With how much more assurance would they die? Millions of idolaters might be easily converted, if there were more preachers who would sin- cerely mind the interests of Jesus Christ and not their own." XAVIER'S ZEAL NOT DAUNTED BY PEUSONAL INSULTS. Francis Xavier sometimes received, in the prosecution of his zealous labors, the most mor- tifying treatment. As he was preaching in one of the cities of Japan, some of the multitude, made sport of him. One, more wanton than the rest, went to him while he addressed the people, feigning that he had something to com- municate in private. Upon his approach, Xa- vier leaned his head to learn what he had to say. The scorner thus gained his object, which was to spit freely upon the face of the devoted mis- sionary, and thus insult him in the most public manner. The father without speaking a word, or making the least sign of emotion or concern, took out his handkerchief, wiped his face and *'2i 246 MISSIONARY ZLAL. continued his discourse, as if nothing had oc- curred. By such a heroic example of meekness, the scorn of the audience was turned into admira- tion. The most learned doctor of the city, who happened to be present, said to himself, that a law which taught men such virtue, inspired men with such unshaken courage, and gave them so perfect a victory over themselves, could not but be from God. Afterwards he desired baptism and his example was followed by many others. So effectually did the meekness of the missionary promote the success of his work. Butler's lives of the Saints, vol. II, p. 28. ROBERT BOYLE'S INTEREST IN MISSIONS. About the year 1680, the Hon. Robert Boyle evinced rare zeal for the diffusion of Christianity. He ordered five hundred copies of the Gospels and the Acts to be translated and printed in the Malayan tongue, and sent to the East at his own charge; and a considerable number of Pococke's Arabic translations, to be distributed in every country in which that lan- guage was spoken. He also contributed large sums to the translation of the Welch and Irish Bibles. At the same time he rendered valua- MISSIONARY ZEAL. 247 ble aid to the missionary Elliot in his endeav- ors to evangelize the aborigines of North Amer- ica. This great man did not disdain the enter- prize of imparting Christianity to the pagan world. Sacred Classics, vol. 18, Introd. p. 18. ZEAL OF ELLIOT. Soon after the settlement of the Non-con- formists in New England, Mr. Elliot felt him- self strongly disposed to attempt the conversion of the native Indians. He was affected with that sentiment which is expressed on the seal of the Massachusetts colony: a poor Indian, hav- ing a label from his mouth, with these words. ''Come over and help us." He was further in- duced to enter upon this work by the following sentence in the royal charter. *'To win and incite the natives to the knowledge and obedi- ence of the only true God, and Savior of man- kind and the Christian faith, is our royal inten- tion, the adventurers free professions and the principal end of the plantation." In the prosecution of his efforts to evangelize the Indians, he endured many hardships. In a letter to a friend he says. "I have not been dry night nor day, from the third day of the 248 MISSIONARY ZEAL. week to the sixth, but so travelled; and at night ^ pull off my boots, wring my stockings and on with them again and so continue. But God steps in and helps." Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 48. After having formed, with the greatest diffi- culty, a grammar of the Indian language, he wrote, in a letter to a friend, 'Trayers and pains through faith in Christ Jesus will do any thing." Such was the perseverance of Elliot in his great work, that on the day of his death, in his 80th year the "apostle of the Indians," was found teaching the alphabet to an Indian child at his bed side. "Why not rest from your la- bors, now?" said a friend. "Because," said the venerable man, "I have prayed to God to render me useful in my sphere; and now that I can no longer preach, he leaves me strength enough to teach this poor child his alphabet." Anecdotes of Christian Missions, p. 203. IDOLATERS REPROVED BY A CHILD. At Buhapuram, in the Northern Circars, a child about eight years old, who had been edu- cated in the Christian faith, was ridiculed on MISSIONARY ZEAL 249 account of his sentiments, by some Hindoo adults. He replied by repeating what he had been taught respecting God. "Shew us your God," said the heathen. "I cannot do that," said the child, "but I can soon shew yours to you." Taking up a stone, and daubing it so as to produce some resemblance to a human face, he placed it very gravely upon the ground, say- ing, "There is such a god as you worship." Burder's Miss. Anecdotes, p. 321. A HINDOO CONVERTED BY THE INSTRUCTION OF AN ENGLISH CHILD. "Between two and three years ago," said a gentleman at an annual meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society, "I went from Bom- bay into the country, for the health of my fami- ly. We pitched our tents in a beautiful grove. One day as our little girl, not then three years old, was walking through the grove with a na- tive servant who waited on her, they came near to an old ruinous Hindoo temple. The man leaving the child, stepped aside and paid his adorations, or "made his salaam," as they call it, to a stone idol, that was fixed at the door of the temple. — When he came back to the child she said in her innocent way, "Saamy, what 250 MISSIONARY ZEAL. for you do that?" "O missey," said he "that my god." "Your god," said the little girl, "Your god! Saamy? why your god no can see — no can hear — no can walk — your god stone! My God see every thing — my God make you — make me — make every thing." We remained at this lonely place for four months. Saamy never failed to worship at the temple, and the dear child never failed to re- buke him for his idolatry. He loved her, however, very much; and when he thought she was going to Europe, he said to her, *What will poor Saamy do, when Missey go to England. Saamy no father, no mother.' She instantly replied, 'O Saamy if you love my God he will be your father and mother too." The old man with tears in his eyes, promised to love her God. "Then," said she, "you must learn my prayers," and she taught him the Lord's prayer, and her morning and evening hymns; and one morning when we were met for family worship, Saamy, of his own accord, quite unexpected, came into the room, took his turban off his head, and laid it on the floor, and kneeling down, repeated after me the Lord's prayer. From that time there was a visible change in his whole conduct, particularly in his regard MISSIONARY ZEAL. 251 for truth. He became anxious to learn English, that he might read the Bible, and in a little time he accomplished the task, and began to live as a consistent Christian. Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 321. CONSCIENTIOUS ZEAL OF CONVERTED PAGANS. Missionary associations were formed among the converted islanders of the South Seas, to aid the London Missionary Society. The con- tributions consisted of oil, cotton, arrow-root and swine. Such articles were subscribed 'Ho huy money icith.^' When an auxiliary association was formed at Huahine, the people were cautioned against mak- ing donations merely from a sense of constraint. Still, a native brought a pig to the treasurer, Hautia, and throwing the animal down at his feet, said, in an angry tone, "Here is a pig for your society." "Take it back again," replied Hautia, calmly, "God does not accept angry pigs." He then explained the objects of the society, and urged upon the consideration of the native the fact, that "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver." The man was deeply chagrin- ed at the unyielding refusal of the treasurer. In Tahiti, on a similar occasion, a person 252 MISSIONARY ZEAL. brought a quantity of cocoa-nut oil to Pomare, in a like bad spirit, exclaiming, "Here are five bamboos of oil, take them for your Society." "No," said the king, "I will not mix your an- gry bamboos with the missionary oil, take them away." Are no dollars cast into the treasury of the Lord with a wrong spirit? Tyerman and Bennet's Journal, vol. 1, p. 273. Lond. A POOR BLIND GIRL. A poor blind girl, in England, brought to a clergyman 30 shillings, for the missionary cause. He objected, "You are a poor blind girl, and cannot afford to give so much." "I am indeed blind," said she, "but can afford to give these 30 shillings, better perhaps than you suppose." "How so." "I am. Sir, by trade a basket maker, and can work as well in the dark as in the light. Now, I am sure in the last winter, it must have cost those girls who have eyes more than 30 shillings for candles, to work by, which I have saved; and therefore hope you will take it for the missionaries." Burder'8 Missionary Anecdotes, p. 318. MISSIONARY ZEAL. ZEAL OF A VOUNG LADY. 253 A young lady obtained in a single village, where she resided, sixty five subscribers for the Missionary Herald. As she made application from house to house, she reasoned thus. If one of your children should be sick, do you not im- agine that in the course of the year you could settle the doctor's bill of a dollar and a half. **0 yes." ''Then surely you can take the Mis- sionary Herald: perhaps it may heal some dis- eases of the mind." ''O yes" was cheerfully responded with the name of one subscriber after another. The same young lady purposes to collect a thousand dollars for the American Board, in the course of a year: and within a month from the time of forming the design, she remitted the first hundred dollars. She reasons thus, ''were it to redeem my father from the prisons of the Inquisition, or my mother from the funeral pile, or my little brother from the Ganges, could I not collect in 365 days, by my own industry, by well devised plans, and by soliciting from my rich friends a thousand dollars." She immediately resolved to open an evening school for the instruction of illiterate females, all the avails to be applied to the favorite object. Missionary Heralr^ 162L p. 159. 22 254 MISSIONARY ZEAL. ZEAL OF A SIBERIAN CONVERT. Letter to the Rev. Mr. Swan, missionary in Siberia, from Shagdur, a Mongol Buriat con- vert, dated Dec. 24, 1835, from Selinginsk. ''My dear sir. While you and I are, by the merciful providence of our Lord Jesus Christ, alive and in health, I desire to lay one little matter before you. It pleased God to give me lately a son; and it has now pleased him to re- move the child from me. Now sir, when my little William was born, the neighbors, came in, bearing to it gifts, some gave one copeck (about one tenth of a penny,) some two; in all forty copecks. When the child died, I did not know what to do with this money: but at length a thought come to me which gave joy to my heart; and about this I write these few lines. Amongst the many letters which go to make up the words contained in the New Testament, printed for the instruction of the heathen nations, '' Tonil- gakshi,'^ is often repeated. Now, although these forty copecks may not suffice to pay for more than the dot over the letter i in the word Tonilgakshi, I beg of you to accept my little William's money for that purpose. Dear Sir, do not refuse it. I have not given it for you: but I have given it to print a dot over a letter MISSIONARY ZEAL. 25 in tlie name of my Savior: and may this be a little memorial of my infant, for the benefit of my dear friends who are yet without Christ. I remain your. scholar Shagdur, the son of Kemuah. Communicated by Rev. Mr. Ikown of St. Petersburg, at a public meeting in New York, May, 1836. A SERVANT EMPLOYS HER WAGES TO BUILD A CHAPEL. A small chapel was, a few years ago, built on the Barrackpore road, Calcutta, the circum- stances attending the erection are interesting in a high degree; and afford a pleasing example of zeal and devotedness to God, in the lower walks of life. It was built and finished, with conve- niences which no other of the Societies chapels possessed, by an aged Portuguese female, a member of the church, meeting in the Lol Ba- zar chapel, who had been all her life a servant, and in the receipt of very moderate wages, yet her earnings seem to have been greater than her wants; for out of her small pittance, she was able to save a sum,, which she thought could not be better employed than in erecting a Bengalee chapel, in which the words of life might be regularly preached to the perishing heathen. 256 MISSIONARY ZEAL. Ground was accordingly procured, though with some difficulty, in the situation already men- tioned, and a commodious chapel erected; which she herself frequently visited, to. see it kept clean and neat, and fit for the worship of God- When the whole was completed, she wrote a let- ter to one of the missionaries, in which, with a simplicity and a commendable knowledge of her own heart, she confessed the struggle which had taken place in her own mind between good and bad motives; but at the same time, renoun- ced all idea of merit on account of what she had done. Besides building and furnishing the house, she also defrayed the monthly rent of the ground, and the ordinary incidental expenses which attended divine worship. Anecdotes, by Lond. Tract Soc'y, p. 210. A POOR WOMAN GIVES A FARTHING A DAY FOR MISSIONS. A poor woman just after a missionary meet- ing called at the lodging of a minister, who had been engaged at the meeting, and told him she had been prevented from attending it, but hoped she was not too late to present a little contribution she wished to make to the Society. The poverty of her appearance induced the min- MISSIONARY ZEAL. 257 ister to say, he feared she could not afford to give any thing; but the poor woman assured him that though she was a widow, and had four children to support by the mangle which she worked, she liad contrived to save a little; and that she should be much grieved, if he should refuse to take it. She then untied a bundle she had brought with her, and produced three hundred and thirty farthings, saying, that she had laid by one farthing every day for the year past, excepting those days in which illness pre- vented her from working. Anecdotes, by Lond.Tract Soc'y, p. 214. A POOR WOMAN IN SCOTLAND. There was an aged woman in the county of Fife in Scotland, who earned her bread by spin- ning, and out of the pittance thus obtained, laid by, and regularly brought to a lady, in the neighborhood, her humble contribution towards the cause of missions. But as she was now aged and becoming infirm, the lady, on one of her visits, after warmly commending her zeal, reminded her that she was now advanced in life, that her health was often delicate, and that she needed a little indulgence in the feebleness of *22 258 MissioNARvr zeal. age, and ought to apply this money to purchase for herself the comforts she needed, rather than cast so small an amount into the mission fund; or, that she should at least diminish her labor somewhat, out of regard to her declining strength. The reply of the woman, (and if there is a Scotchman here present, he will at once understand it,) was this: '"Deed m'em, I could spin till the exta of my wheel be hett, to gie mair;" which, rendered into English, means, "Indeed, madam, I could spin until the very axle of my wheel be hot, to enable me to give more." Related by Rev. Mr. Brown, from St. Petersburgh, at a public meeting in New York. THE MOTHER OF A MISSIONARY. When the Lord's supper was first administer- ed in the Bengalee language, at union chapel, Calcutta. A missionary. Rev. J. B. Warden, spoke of the advantages of a religious education. After speaking farther of his departure, he said. "A pious and affectionate mother, who I trust still survives, may perhaps be with us in spirit. Among the sweetest ingredients which are min- gled in her present cup of consolation, stands MISSIONARY ZEAL. 259 this the foremost, that she has a son, an oldest son employed as a missionary to the heathen. When I was about to quit my country and home, for these distant lands, she told me in ac- cents never to be forgotten, that as I should not be present at her dying hour to share her parting blessing, and divide with my dear brothers and sisters, the small patrimony which Providence might enable her to divide to her oflfepring, as a pledge that her affectionate sympathies and ten- der concern would follow me to the distant scene of my missionary labors, she said, I have a silver cup, which has been handed down to each other by generations now no more, and produced at the annual festivals of the domestic circle, and this I give you to employ for a very different purpose. When God siiall graciously crown your labors, or those of your dear com- panions with success among the heathen, let this cup be employed as the sacramental cup, from which the first convert may drink the em- blem of the Savior's blood." He presented the cup to the infant church. Missionary Chronicle, vol. 2, p. 450. REMARK OF DR. PHILIP'S. Dr. Philips, in a speech at an anniversary of the London Missionary Society, alluded to a re- 260 MISSIONARY ZEAL. mark Inade by Mr. Newton. *'When I get to heaven, I shall see three wonders there: the first wonder will be to see a good many people there, whom I did not expect to see; the second, to miss many whom I did expect to see; and the third and greatest wonder of all, will be to find myself there." *'I have also" says Dr. P. "seen three wonders: I have seen men of great wealth of great talents, who have had many opportuni- ties of forwarding the cause of God, do nothing: I have seen many humble and despised individ- uals, but whose hearts were right with God do wonders; but the greatest wonder of all is, to find that so humble an individual as I am, should have been at all useful in the work, I take nothing unto myself but shame and humili- ation before God." Anecdotes by Lond. Tract Soc'y, p. 189. THE MOTHER OF LYMAN. At a Foreign missionary meeting in New York, the Rev. Dr. Humphrey, President of Am- herst college stated, that the mother of Lyman one of the American missionaries, who were murdered by the Battas, was a neighbor of his own, that, not long before the death of her son, MISSIONARY ZEAL. 261 she had lost her husband, who died suddenly, and left her at the head of a large family; that this widowed mother had scarce returned from pouring out her tears over the grave of her protector and guide, when the intelligence of her son's murder by cannibals arrived; that it was deputed to him to break to the mother the dreadful annunciation. "I trembled" said the narrator, "as I went, and I said to myself, how will this mother, a widow in her weeds, with the tears hardly dry upon her cheek from the sudden loss of her husband, how will she, how can she receive this intelligence.! went and communicated it in the best way I could. The tears flowed freely, it is true, but O Sir, what a light shone through those tears! Al- most as soon as she was able to say any thing, she exclaimed, 'I bless God, who gave me such a son, to go to the heathen, and I never felt so strongly, as I do at this moment, the desire that some others of my sons may become missiona- ries also, and may go and teach the truths ot the Bible to those savage men who have drank the blood of my son.' "' 262 MISSIONARY ZEAL. A WIDOW AND HER TWO SONS. The Rev. Mr. James, of Birmingham, Eng- land, stated at an anniversary of the London Missionary Society, that an association was formed for missionary purposes among his peo- ple several years before, and that on this occa- sion, among the other contributors, a youth of sixteen years of age came forward to enroll his name. When he was requested to state how much he wished to subscribe, he replied with some diffidence, "myself" He was the eldest son of an unfortunate widow, to whom seven other children looked for support. The proffer of the young man could not be received without the mother's consent. It was scarcely to be ex- pected that her oldest son would be yielded up for the missionary service, when his exertions might soon prove useful to his widowed parent, in her indigent circumstances. The inquiry was made, whether the son could be allowed to give himself to the missionary cause? "Let him go," was the prompt reply of the devoted mother. "God will provide for me and my babes, and who am I, that I should be thus hon- ored to have a son a missionary to the heathen?" The young man, after obtaining an educa- tion, repaired to India, where he labored suc- cessfully and died. MISSIONARY ZEAL. 263 Several years afterwards, another son de- sired to walk in the footsteps of his brother. Again the widowed mother was called to de- cide, whether she could devote a son to the cause of missions. Her decision was, "Let William follow Joseph, though it be to India, and to an early grave." Her confidence in God was not unrewarded. The evening of her life was spent in the enjoyment of unexpected pros- perity. vol. 7, Sermons before London Miss. Soc'y. CHAPTER VI. REFLEX INFLUENCE OF MISSIONS. The quality of mercy * * * ***** is tv/ice bless'd, It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes. Shakspeaee. PROPERTY SAVED BY A MISSIONARY BOX. "On the 14th of July 1814, the three brigs Eliza, Mary and Irish Miner, sailed together from Limerick, all bound for London. Early on the 26th they fell in with the American armed ship of war Whig, commanded by James Clark, Esq. Capt. Clark was first on board the Mary of Waterford, and after examining his prize, he gave orders to take some supplies for the Whig, and then to set fire to the Mary, which was instantly complied with. After see- ing her in a blaze, Capt. Clark went in his boat, on board the brig Eliza Capt. Davis. When he found her loaded with a cargo of no use to OF MISSIONS. 265 him: he gave orders immediately to set fire to her, and when the preparations were making to carry the order into execution, (which would not take three minutes time,) Capt. Clark acci- dentally went below into the cabin, where Capt. Davis was overwhelmed with trouble, bundling up his clothes to follow his men, who by this time had been put in chains on board the Whig. After Capt. Clark observed all about the cab- in, and took away a heap of charts and nautical and religious books, he cast his eye on the *' Missionary Box," and asked what it meant. Capt. Davis consequently told him the whole. He paused a little, with one end of his stick on the little box and then broke silence. "Cap- tain, we Americans are not at war with you nor with the like of you; but with your gov- ernment (please excuse the expression) we are at war. Captain, as your cargo belongs to your government, I will utterly destroy it: but neith- er you nor your vessel will I by any means hurt." With that, he ordered fifty of his men to come on board, which they did, and threw 637 sacks of corn overboard, and threw sail water over what was left for ballast so as utter- ly to spoil it; and when Capt. Clark understood by the register of the Irish Miner, that part of her belonged to Capt. Davis, of the Eliza, he 23 266 REFLEX INFLUENCE spared her altogether and her cargo: so that I look upon it, that the Missionary box, actually saved two vessels and one cargo. The above I assure you, is altogether authentic. I am, gentlemen, u^ith respect, Yours truly, Thomas Propert, Master of the brig Brothers, of Pembroke. Cardiff Roads, 3Iay 17, 1814. The above is an extract from a letter to the Editors of the Evangelical Magazine. Capt. Davis was a member of a Methodist church. He was in the habit of putting into the Box 6d, his mate 3d, his men Id, each, every monday morning. See also Missionary Herald, 1814. p. 514. LOSS OF A VESSEL THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN SAVED BY THE INFLUENCE OF MISSIONARIES. The brig Mercury of London, put in at Wan- garoa, New Zealand for supplies, March 5, 1825. "On Sunday morning, March 6th," says Mr. White, a Wesley an missionary, *'I was awaked at an early hour by a great noise among the na- tives, who appeared to be all in an uproar. On OP MISSION?. 267 opening ray window, one of our domestics in- formed me, that a vessel had arrived in our har- bor the preceeding evening, had got on shore and been robbed by the natives, at the head of the harbor. Afterwards brother Hobbs came into my room, and suggested the propriety of some of us going down in our boat, that, in case the report should be true, we might assist our unfortunate countrymen all in our power. Accompanied by two persons I left our settlement, and I proceeded down the river to the harbor, where I found the brig Mercury at anchor near the Po, a small island within the head of our harbor. The ves- sel was so thronged with natives and surround- ed with canoes trading, that we found it diffi- cult to get along side or move on deck when we got on board. I was invited down to the cabin which I found full of chiefs. Tipperhee, the principal chief asked me whether I knew this tribe J referring to the ship's company, I an- swered in the negative. He inquired, ''Is this the sacred day?" I answered **Yes." To which he replied, "See how they are trading," adding "They are mean people." This togeth- er with several remarks which have since been made by the various natives implicated in the affair, leaves sufficient room to suppose that had 268 REFLEX INFLUENCE not our countrymen distinguished themselves as adiff'erent tribe from us (as the natives expres- sed it,) by trading on the Sabbath day^ they would not have met with the treatment which they experienced." On the same day the vessel was seized by the natives. The captain and crew fled for their life. The cargo was plundered and wast- ed, and the rigging and sails cut to pieces, afterwards, at the intercession of the missiona- ries, the vessel was given up to the captain, but it was found necessary to abandon her during a storm at the mouth of the harbor. Had the captain and crew observed the Sab- bath, and thus proved that they were of the same tribe as the missionaries, they would not have been molested. Smith and Choule's Hist'y of Mis.sions, vol. 2, p. 190. GERICKE'S HUMANE EFFORTS IN BEHALF OF EURO- PEANS IN INDIA. On the capitulation of Cuddalore in 1782, Mr. Gericke, the missionary in that town, ren- dered a service, worthy of record, to the cause of humanity. By dissuading the French gen- eral from delivering up the place to the troops of Hyder, he preserved it from the most cruel OF MISSIONS. 269 devastation; and by concealing in his own house seven English officers, whom admiral Suffrein had promised to surrender to the usur- per, he saved them from the horrors of a dun- geon, and from all the accumulated miseries to which the prisoners of Hyder were exposed. He also maintained for a considerable time, at his own expense, the admiral's secretary, who had been severely wounded in a recent naval engacrement. Sinitli and Clioules' Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 31. A LADY IN INDIA GUIDED TO CHRIST BY MISSION- ARIES. An English lady, travelling from Calcutta in feeble health, stopped at Serampore. Unable to proceed farther, contrary to her original inten- tions, she remained at Serampore. At the Ho- tel she inquired for. an English prayer book, but a copy was not to be found in the house. The Baptist mission had been recently estab- lished at this place. The missionaries were informed of the arrival of the invalid, and of her desire to obtain a prayer book. As they could not furnish the book she desired, Mr. Marshman addressed to her a friendly note with the offer of two volumes of a religious charac- *-23 270 REFLEX INFLUENCE ter. The next morning she came in her palan- quin to the mission house and disclosed to the missionaries the anxiety of her mind on the subject of religion, and added that she had been greatly discouraged from the circumstance that she had no spiritual guide, to whom to look for counsel. Agreeably to her desire, she remain- ed during family worship; and became so much interested in the visit that she requested leave to call daily at the mission house. The in- structions of the missionaries upon the sufferings and atonement of the Redeemer seemed to make a happy impression on her mind. In a short time she returned to Calcutta where she died, it is hoped, in the faith of the Gospel. Her decease appears to have been blessed to her widowed husband, who afterwards joined the Baptist church in Bengal. Smith and Choules' Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 211. IRRELIGION REPROVED BY A CONVERTED PAGAN. The king of the island of Toobow, one of the Friendly Islands, avowed an attachment to Christianity. In the early part of 1833, he went on board a British vessel, to pay a visit to the captain, and unconsciously conveyed a very forcible practical reproof to the party. He sat OP MISSIONS. 271 down at the captain's table to partake of some refreshment; though food was placed before him, he made a very observable pause; and when asked, why he did not begin, he replied that he was waiting till a blessing had been asked on their food. The reproof was felt; and the party were ashamed at being rebuked by a man whose intellectual attainments they considered far inferior to their own. They rose, and the king gave thanks previously to their commenc- ing the repast. Anecdotes by Lontlon Tract Soc'y. p. 156. A STRANGER IMPRESSED BY THE WORSHIP OF CONVERTED NATIVES. Mr. Stewart relates, that while in the Sand- wich Islands, a serious young man, an officer of one ot the ships in port, had spent the interval between the English and native services with him at the mission house. As the congregation began to assemble, he accompanied Mr. S. to the door of the chapel intending to take leave when the service began, as he did not under- stand the language, and had been longer from his ship than he intended. But while he stood a few minutes, hundreds of the natives assem- bled quietly and seriously from various di- 272 REFLEX INFLUENCE rections; and he suddenly exclaimed, while tears glistened in his eyes, ''No! this is too much, I cannot go till I worship with these heathen." Anecdotes by Lond. Tract Soc. p. 163. A YOUNG NOBLEMAN CONVERTED IN CONSEaUENOE OF ATTENDING A MEETING OF A BIBLE SOCIB TY. At the twentieth anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Earl of Roden, a distinguished young nobleman, related the following account. A man of the world, immersed in the busi- ness and pleasures of life, being at Dublin, went from curiosity to a meeting of the Bible Soci' ety. False shame induced him to sit down in a corner of the room, that he might not be recog- nized. What he heard struck him so much, that he said to himself, *'If these things are true and I do not follow them, I am a lost man; my past life has been all wrong." He return- ed home, began to read the Scriptures and be- came a zealous defender of Christianity. At the conclusion of this narrative, his lord- ship confessed with noble candor and christian humility, that it was his own history he had just related; upon which unanimous applauses OF MISSIONS. 273 burst forth with a sort of transport, and were frequently repeated. The speaker himself was affected even to tears, and every eye beamed with emotion and pleasure. Profound silence followed these plaudits: and a long interval en- sued before the speaker could resume his ad- dress. He concluded with a zealous exhorta- tion to 'persevere in a work calculated to pro- duce everywhere such desirable results. Missionary Herald, 18*25, p. 118. ATTENDANCE AT THE MONTHLY CONCERT LEADS TO THE CONVERSION OF THE HEAD OF A FAMILY. Says the minister of a small town in Massa- chusetts, in a letter to one of the Secretaries of the American Board. *'The first concert in January last was the means of awakening one member of my con- gregation to a sense of his sins. He has since made a public profession of religion. He is the father of several children, and now daily brings them around the family altar. While we think, and talk, and pray for the heathen, God remem- bers us." Missionary Herald, 1835. p. 313. **23* 274 REFLEX INFLUENCE ANDREW FULLER AND HIS CHURCH REWARDED FOR THEIR INTEREST IN MISSIONS. "There was a period of my ministry" said this devoted man to a friend, "marked by the most pointed systematic effort to comfort my serious people: but the more I tried to comfort them, the more they complained of doubts and dark- ness. Wherever I went among them, one lam- entation met my ear, 'Ah! sir, I can get no comfort. I am unable to appropriate any of the great and precious promises to myself, I looked for light and behold darkness.' I knew not what to do, nor what to think, for I had done my best to comfort the mourner's in Zion. I was therefore at my wit's end. At this time it pleased God to direct my attention to the claims of the perishing heathen in India; I felt that we had been living for ourselves, and not caring for their souls. I spoke as I felt. My serious people wondered and wept over their past inat- tention to this subject. They began to talk about a Baptist mission. The females, espec- ially, began to collect money for the spread of the Gospel. We met and prayed for the hea- then, met and considered what could be done amongst ourselves for them, met and did what we could. And, whilst all this was going on, OF MISSIONS. 275 the lamentations ceased. The sad became cheerful, and the desponding calm. No one complained of a want of comfort. And I, in- stead of having to study how to comfort my flock, was myself comforted by them. They were drawn out of themselves. Sir, that was the real secret. God blessed them while they tried to be a blessing. 2nd Report of Southern Board of Foreign Missions. So true is it, that "if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as noon-day." Isa. 58, 18. HAPPY INFLUENCE OF A PARTTCIPATION IN THE WORK OF MISSIONS UPON THE BAPTIST CHURCHES IN ENGLAND. "After the departure of our brethren," (the first Baptist missionaries to India) says the brief narrative of the Baptist mission, "we had time for reflection. In reviewing the wants of a few preceding months, we were much impressed. The thought of having done something towards enlarging the boundaries of our Savior's king- dom and of rescuing poor heathens and Moham- medans from under Satan's yoke rejoiced our 276 REFLEX INFLUENCE hearts. We were glad also to see the people of God offering so willingly; some leaving their country, others pouring in their property, and all uniting in prayers to heaven for a blessing. A new bond of union was furnished between distant ministers and churches. Some who had backslidden from God were restored; and oth- ers, who had long been poring over their un- fruitfulness and questioning the reality of their personal religion, having their attention direct- ed to Christ and his kingdom, lost their fears and found that peace which in other pursuits they had sought in vain. Christians of differ- ent denominations discovered a common bond of affection: and instead of always dwelling on things wherein they differed, found their ac- count in uniting in those wherein they were agreed. In short, our hearts were enlarged: and if no other good had arisen from the under- taking, than the effect produced upon our own minds, and the minds of christians in our own country, it was more than equal to the ex- pense." Smith and Choules' Hist, of Missions, vol. 1, p. 189. THE SPIRIT OF MISSIONS CAN DESTROY SECTARIAN FEELING. A lady, who solicited subscriptions for a Mis- sionary Society in the town where she resided. OP MISSIONS. 277 in England, called upon a pious tradesman, who was not a Churchman. On entering, she said, "I wait on you, sir, from the Church Missionary Society, because I have undertaken to call at every house in my division, but, as I believe you are not a Churchman, I cannot presume to calculate upon your subscription: and, though we are happy to receive support from any one, I ought not perhaps to expect it from you; and, therefore, having fulfilled my engagement by calling, I will now cheerfully take my leave." "Stop, madam," said he "I cannot suffer you to go away thus. It is true," he added, "we have a missionary society of our own; but when I consider how long I have lived in this place, and how little comparatively has been done here, in a religious point of view, until the formation of your missionary society, I am truly thankful to God for his goodness, and you shall take the names of my wife and daughter, as humble, but cheerful contributors." While he yet spake, *the springs which were in his head,' (as John Bunyan says) 'did send the waters down his cheeks.' The lady after receiving the subscription of the Wesleyan, said, "Now, sir, as you have been so kind and liberal towards our society, you must allow me to give you a testimony of 24 278 REFLEX INFLUENCE my good will towards yours." Accordingly, she insisted upon his accepting from her own purse a donation for the Wesleyan Missionary Society. When such enlarged benevolence, as this, shall pervade all classes of christians, the evils of sectarianism will no longer impede the conversion of the world. Extract from the speecli of John Bacon Esq. hefore the Wesleyan Missionary Soc'y. May, 1823. Missionary Herald, 1824, p. 17. A DONATION RICHLY REFUNDED. In a retired country town lived a pious and happy pair, who were blessed with a moderate portion of the bounties of Providence. Sick- ness laid the good woman on her death-bed, about the period when the missionary cause was first attracting public notice. Just before her death she called her daughter to the bed- side, and said with all the solemn but elevated feelings of a dying christian. "Here are twen- ty pounds, I wish to give it to the missionary cause. It is my particular desire that, after my death, you give it to that cause; and, depend upon it, you will never have any reason to be sorry for having given it." The daughter cheerfully obeyed the dying command of her mother. OF MISSIONS. 279 This daughter had a son, who became ex- ceedingly profligate, and brought heart-rending trouble upon his mother. Having become utterly unmanageable, he forsook his friends and entered the army. The providence of God led him to India; there he was found by a christian missionary, who became the instru- ment of his conversion. He himself became a missionary to the heathen. His mother re- joiced over the intelligence, nor did she forget to praise the Father of mercies who had thus returned into her bosom, a hundred fold, her mother's gift. But this was not all. A second son had grown up before the news, ^ust adverted to, had reached the mother: his career also, had been one of iniquity. He also entered the army, and singularly enough, was led to India. There, seized by illness, he was affectionately attended by the missionaries of the neighbor- hood where he lay, and by their instrumental- ity was converted. His elder brother, who re- sided several hundred miles from him, and did not even know that he was in India, was led at that very time to visit the station, heard from the missionaries the interesting facts of his conversion: and, on goinop to visit him, discov- ered, what he had before not even suspected, 280 REFLEX INFLUENCE that the sick but penitent youth was his own brother. They conversed for many days with much profit and joy on the things of God, when the younger one died peaceful in Jesus, and the elder continued to labor in the missionary ser- vice. Thus was the mother doubly rewarded. Anecdotes Christian Missions, p. 215. AN ENGLISH SEAMAN CONVERTED AT OTAHEITE. Before the mission to the islands of the South Seas had proved successful; an English seaman, on board a trading vessel, called at Otaheite, and, through the blessing of God upon the ef- forts of the missionaries, was there called to the knowledge of the truth. Afterwards he was removed to a man of war, and became the happy instrument, by his example and conversa- tion, of bringing thirteen or fourteen of his com- panions to a sense of their lost state and their need of salvation by Jesus Christ. Burder's Missionary Anecdotes, p. 257. FOREIGN MISSIONS GIVE AN IMPULSE TO BENEVO- LENT OPERATIONS IN ENGLAND. ''We can point to exertions at home in the distribution of Bibles and of tracts, in the estab- OF MISSIONS. 281 Jishment of Sunday Schools, and of village preaching, anc can say, which of these socie- ties did not receive either its existence or its impulse from the missionary society." CoIIyer's Sermon before Lond. Rliss. Society. MISSIONARY ZEAL IN A THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY ELEVATES THE STANDARD OF THE MINISTERIAL CHARACTER. "It may not be improper for me to observe," says Rev. Dr. Alexander, respecting the Soci- ety of Inquiry of the Theological Institution at Princeton, **that in my opinion no part of the exercises in the Theological Seminary, has been attended with more manifest good effect than those which appertain to the proceedings of this Society." Introduction to Rev. Dr. Philip's letter from S. Africa. THE EMBARKATION OF A MISSIONARY LEADS A Pious YOUNG MAN TO DEVOTE HIMSELF TO THE MINISTRY. James Brainerd Taylor, while a clerk in the city of New York, witnessed the embarkation of Dr. Scudder, missionary to Ceylon. The scene awakened in his breast the first convic- 2S3 REFLEX INFLUENCE &/C. tion that it was his duty to devote himself to the ministry. To the departure of the mission- ary are we indebted for the eminent useful- ness of Mr. Taylor, during his preparation for the ministry, and for the holy influence which the memoirs of one, bidden to ''Go up higher," as soon as he had fully entered upon a bright career of usefulness, will long continue to ex- ert upon our candidates for the ministry. Memoir of J. B. Taylor, p. 14. INFLUENCE OF THE EMBARKATION OF MISSIONA- RIES UPON AN OBJECTING SPECTATOR. Some years ago, a man of the world stood up- on the wharf, and saw a devoted company of foreign missionaries go abroad. "He saw the son, the daughter, the brother, and the sister, the relation, and the friend, with Christian spir- it and self-denial, give the parting hand, and he protested against it." These, said he, are just such spirits and talents as we need at home, and it is not right to send them away from the coun- try, when we need them so much at home. But the spirit of the Lord was there: and the Spirit exhibited by these missionaries was made the means of his conversion, and he has now, with his own money, educated more pious young men for the ministry, than sailed in that missionary company. N. Hampshire Observer. Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Lil 1012 01119 0495 DATE DUE ^ 0^- \ \ Demco, Inc. 38-293