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ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA . 1 
 
 i. 
 
 EARLY DAYS. 
 
 NE of the best features of this latter part of the nineteenth 
 jfy century is the awakening of the conscience of the Church of 
 (§> Christ to obey her Master’s last command, a Go ye into all 
 the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” 
 
 We do right to praise God for this increasing interest in foreign 
 missionary work. We must not, however, forget that although for 
 many a long year the Church “ slumbered and slept,” there were 
 places here and there which stood out as bright spots. 
 
 Such a place was Lowestoft in the days of its revered vicar, 
 the Eev. Francis Cunningham. His wife, less known perhaps than 
 her sister Elizabeth Fry, was no less devoted to the cause of Christ. 
 In Lowestoft the banner of the cross was uplifted high, and not only 
 were sinners roused to a sense of their need, but Christians also to 
 a sense of their responsibility. 
 
 It is not surprising that a number of missionaries went forth 
 from such a parish. How many men offered themselves for work 
 amongst the heathen we know not. But in the fly-leaf of Mrs. 
 Cunningham’s Bible there is a list of “ Female missionaries who 
 have gone forth from us.” Of these there are nine names, one of 
 them being that of Anna Martin, afterwards Mrs. Hinderer. 
 
 Anna Martin was born on March 19, 1827, at Hempnall, in 
 Norfolk. Ho mention is made of her father. Her mother died when 
 she was only five years old, but she never forgot her. All through 
 her life that bright and gentle mother was fondly cherished in her 
 memory, and she loved to recall how she had taught her to repeat 
 little verses from the Bible. It may be that the Word of Life thus 
 implanted in her memory was the cause of the yearning which she 
 had, even when a child, to be a follower of Christ. 
 
 1 This Biography has been compiled chiefly from original matter kindly 
 placed at the disposal of the author by relatives of Mrs. Hinderer. A few 
 extracts have been made from Seventeen Years in the Yoruba Country, first 
 published by Messrs. Seeley & Co., afterwards by the Keligious Tract Society. 
 
 41 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 When she was twelve years old she went to live with her 
 grandfather and aunt at Lowestoft, as it was thought that the pure, 
 bracing air of the North Sea would benefit her health. But not 
 only was she to gain physical strength and vigour in Lowestoft; 
 better still, her soul, restless for so long, and panting after something 
 she scarcely knew what, was to find joy and peace in believing. 
 
 As a child she had a great love for Sunday and the worship of 
 God’s house. “ I felt,” she wrote long afterwards, “ I was in a holy 
 place, and that holy words were being used. . . . ‘ Almighty God, 
 unto whom all hearts be open, from whom no secrets are hid/ made 
 me afraid of sin, and when inclined to do wrong, and be naughty, 
 that passage would come into my mind, so that I feared, but it was 
 not the fear of grieving my God and Saviour.” Step by step she 
 was led on. The desire to do something arose in her heart and 
 would not be subdued. She longed to teach in the Sunday school, 
 but feared she would be thought too young. At last she mustered 
 courage to ask for a class, and to her great delight had six little 
 scholars given to her. Then it was that the great turning-point 
 in her life came. As she taught the little ones of the infinite love 
 of Jesus she began to ask whether she herself knew Him. “ I saw,” 
 she said, “ my need of a Saviour, and in the Saviour I felt there was 
 all I needed.” Then, having accepted Christ as her own personal 
 Saviour, she determined to serve Him faithfully, and with no half¬ 
 hearted devotion. Beligion was a very real thing to her, and was 
 inseparably bound up with every part of her life. It was no wonder 
 then that she could say : “I was permitted to feel a great spring and 
 glow in religion. It was all in all to me ; it was all that I wanted 
 to make me happy in this life and in that which is to come.” Would 
 that there were more joyous Christians to tell by their bright faces, 
 even when their lips are silent, of the gladness which Christ alone 
 can give ! We cannot measure the power of such a testimony. And 
 it was no doubt this brightness, the beautiful reflection of the beams 
 of the Sun of Bighteousness, which made Anna Martin so charming 
 to all who knew her, and which won a way for her Master’s message 
 not only amongst the poor Suffolk fisher-folk, but afterwards amongst 
 the dark heathen in the wilds of Africa. 
 
 II. 
 
 IN THE HOME FIELD. 
 
 Work in the Sunday school necessarily brought her into contact 
 with Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham, for whom from the first she 
 entertained feelings of the warmest regard. She was often at the 
 42 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 vicarage, helping to lighten the many parochial burdens of the busy 
 vicar and his wife. In fact, she became so indispensable to them 
 that after a time she lived with them altogether. 
 
 The years spent in the vicarage at Lowestoft had a marked 
 influence on her life, as she herself was always thankful to acknow¬ 
 ledge. The example of bright, holy, useful lives must indeed ever 
 act as a powerful stimulus to one who desires wholly to follow the 
 Lord, and in both Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham she had before her 
 eyes an eloquent testimony to what the grace of God can do for 
 those who are entirely consecrated to Him. 
 
 No one was idle at the vicarage, and Anna Martin was not the 
 least active of the party. Self-forgetful, her happy face telling of 
 the joy of the Lord which possessed her soul, she had a peculiar 
 charm for the poor and sorrowful, and her visits were eagerly looked 
 for by her many humble friends. An intense lover of children, it 
 was only natural that they should love her and cluster round her. 
 A Sunday-school class for ragged children, which she commenced when 
 only fourteen years old, became in course of time a school of over 200. 
 
 Missionary work had always a great fascination for her. “ I had 
 a strong desire,” she says, “ to become a missionary—to give myself 
 up to some holy work, and I had a firm belief that such a calling 
 would be mine.” This desire grew and intensified with years, and 
 with it the belief that some day, she knew not when or how, God 
 would honour His servant by sending her forth as an ambassador of 
 the gospel of peace to the poor heathen in some far distant land. The 
 longing of many years was satisfied when on the 14th of October, 
 1852, she was married in the beautiful old church of St. Margaret’s, 
 Lowestoft, to the Bev. David Hinderer, a missionary who, though 
 of German birth, had received part of his training for the ministry 
 in England, and since 1848 had been working in connection with 
 the Church Missionary Society in Yoruba, a country situated on the 
 eastern part of the Slave Coast district, in Western Africa, bounded 
 towards the sea by the Bight of Benin, and extending northwards to 
 the central table-land through which the Western Niger flows. 
 This district, as well as those adjacent, was known then as now as 
 ‘"the white man’s grave.” The risk to life which she must needs 
 encounter in such a country was no secret to her, and she knew 
 that in choosing a missionary’s lot she would have to exchange 
 ease and comfort for hardship and privation, and that she must 
 endure the pang of parting from those who were so dear to her that 
 she loved to call them her “ parental friends.” But, intent on doing 
 His will, her eyes were ever towards the Lord, and she saw His finger 
 in a call to fresh service. Promptly and gladly she obeyed. 
 
 43 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 III. 
 
 ABEOKUTA. 
 
 On the 6th of December, 1852, Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer set sail from 
 Plymouth. They formed part of a little band—ten in all—proceeding 
 to West Africa. 
 
 The voyage was a rough one almost throughout, and for ten days 
 the wind blew a gale; but two days before Christmas, “ on the most 
 lovely summer evening,” they anchored in the Gambia opposite the 
 little town of Bathurst. Here Mrs. Hinderer was delighted to see for 
 the first time some of the people amongst whom her lot was to be 
 cast. These were easily known by the tattoo patterns on their faces, 
 which constituted their distinguishing tribal marks. Their delight 
 was great when Mr. Hinderer addressed them in their own language, 
 and reached its climax when they learned that he was taking a wife 
 with him to Yoruba. 
 
 It was not until the 5th of January that the party landed at 
 Lagos. Here they remained for just three weeks. During this time 
 Mrs. Hinderer had her first experience of African malarial fever, and 
 she had barely recovered from it when they started on their three 
 days’ journey from the coast to Abeokuta. In spite of her weakness, 
 she found much to enjoy, the richly-wooded banks of the river Ogun, 
 along which they travelled by canoe for the greater part of the way, 
 presenting, with their infinite variety of shrubs, flowers and trees, a 
 feast of delight to the eyes. In the river itself water-lilies, pure and 
 fragrant, seemed to tell of England rather than of the tropics, an 
 illusion quickly dispelled by gay parrots, little birds of many-coloured 
 plumage, and chattering monkeys. At night the brilliant moon added 
 its charm to the scene, cheered the travellers with its light, and compen¬ 
 sated in some measure for annoyances from wild beasts and insects. 
 
 It was late on Saturday evening when the travellers arrived in 
 Abeokuta. As early as six o’clock the next morning the natives were 
 to be seen assembling themselves together at the ringing of a bell that 
 they might begin the Lord’s Day with prayer, and this in a place 
 where but a few years before there were none but heathen. 
 
 Abeokuta was not to be their home, however, as missionaries were 
 greatly needed in Ibadan, a city lying fifty miles to the north-east. 
 Mr. Hinderer, before his visit to England, had penetrated thither, 
 and had been received with open arms by both chiefs and people. 
 He was the first white man whom they had ever seen, and they 
 warmly invited him to come, as they expressed it, and “ sit down ” 
 amongst them that he might instruct them in the truths of the 
 Christian religion. 
 
 44 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 It was important that the work should be commenced with as 
 little delay as possible, in order that the Mohammedans, who were 
 already trying to gain an influence in Ibadan, might not have time 
 to prejudice the people against the gospel. 
 
 But before they could settle down to their work in that place it 
 was necessary that Mr. Hinderer should go in advance to secure a 
 house for their future home, and to conclude arrangements for the 
 mission with the chiefs. It was only natural that, “ a stranger in a 
 strange land,” Mrs. Hinderer should keenly feel the separation from 
 her husband, but she wisely did not allow her thoughts to dwell on 
 it, keeping herself as much occupied as possible in studying the 
 language, so as to fit herself for future usefulness. And she did 
 her best, besides, to make friends with the people, especially the 
 children. Two novelties she possessed were a great help in culti¬ 
 vating an acquaintance with the natives. One was a harmonium, 
 around which the people would gather, their eyes and mouths wide 
 open in astonishment that the Iya (mother) could “ make wood and 
 ivory speak with her fingers.” The other was the colour in her 
 cheeks, which was something so novel to African eyes that, she says, 
 “ they were all pleased to think me a wonderful sight.” 
 
 Preliminaries being at last arranged, they were ready to leave for 
 Ibadan, when sickness seized several of the mission party, and within 
 two months of their arrival in Abeokuta two had died, victims to the 
 pestilential climate of Africa. 
 
 IY. 
 
 IBADAN. 
 
 We must now follow the missionaries to their new sphere of work. 
 Travellers in Africa are wont to complain of the dull monotony of its 
 scenery. There is certainly no cause for this in Yoruba, of which 
 some parts almost rival Switzerland. Hear the coast are the still, 
 placid lagoons which form a chain of waterways for many miles. 
 Hext to these stretches a dense primeval forest. Still further inland 
 there are wooded tracts, with abundance of rich colour from many 
 flowering trees and shrubs, while the highly cultivated plain, with 
 its profusion of flowering plants, presents, we are told, the appear¬ 
 ance of a vast garden. Here, too, are to be seen patches of corn, 
 yams, tobacco, cotton, and other useful crops, for the Yoruba people 
 are industrious as well as intelligent. They are good agriculturists, 
 and make the most of their naturally fertile soil. 
 
 The road from Abeokuta to Ibadan lay partly through a cultivated 
 tract and partly through thick bush. For two days Mr. and Mrs. 
 
 45 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 Hinderer, with a number of porters, journeyed on in single file. On 
 the third day they reached Ibadan. 
 
 It will, perhaps, help us better to understand what missionary 
 pioneering in Ibadan meant if we take a hasty glance at the town 
 and people. 
 
 Some who are accustomed to think of Africa as thinly populated 
 may be surprised to learn that Ibadan is a city enclosed by mud 
 wails eighteen miles in circumference, and that it contains, according 
 to Mr. Hinderer’s computation, from 160,000 to 200,000 inhabitants. 
 It lies on the slope of a very high hill, a spur of the Kong range of 
 mountains, and stretches down to the river which flows in the valley 
 beneath. The houses are low and thatched, most of them enclosing 
 a square court. They have no windows, the door forming the only 
 break in the wall. The Yorubans are clever builders, and the houses 
 of their chiefs are often large and decorated with carved work. In 
 the old town, where the dwellings are closely packed, the streets 
 would look very monotonous, as the houses are all of one pattern, 
 were it not for the break afforded here and there by the orishas 
 (idol-houses) and by open spaces planted with trees. These latter 
 are used as market-places where native produce and manufactures 
 are sold. The people seem long to have understood numerous useful 
 arts, and there are to be found amongst them potters, weavers, dyers, 
 and makers of agricultural implements, as well as many who follow" 
 other trades. 
 
 Formerly the whole Yoruban race was under one monarch, but in 
 1820-21 the old empire of Yoruba was dismembered by the Fulahs, 
 a people of the Soudan, known even as early as the fourteenth century 
 as a conquering race. After this, the country was divided into a 
 number of independent states, of which Ibadan was one, each governed 
 by its own chiefs, although nominally subject to the “Alafin,” or king 
 of the Yoruba country proper. Some of the laws of this semi- 
 barbarous people might be worth the study of more civilised nations-. 
 One part of their form of government is especially noteworthy. All 
 questions relating to women, before being finally decided by the king, 
 are brought before the “ Iyalode,” or mother of the town, the wise 
 Ibadans rightly judging that none can enter into women’s difficulties 
 as a woman can. 
 
 The people are idolaters, and their gods are numerous, having 
 different offices and powers. These they look upon as mediators 
 between them and one supreme God. If asked why they worship 
 idols, they say that they do not worship the image, but the spirit 
 which dwells in it, who, they believe, is a messenger to convey their 
 petitions to God. Mr. Hinderer asked one of the people one dav 
 46 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 why, as they believed in one supreme God, did they worship orishas 
 (idols). The man replied : “ Ah ! you see we are such a simple people 
 that we should not dare to approach God, and so we want our orishas 
 to come between us.” Strange to say, even Satan is received into 
 their Pantheon, and is worshipped by the traders as the god of money. 
 But, although he represents the lucre they so much covet, they regard 
 him as evil, and place his altar outside the house, considering him too 
 bad to be admitted inside it. They have, too, a kind of spiritualism 
 grafted on to their religion, and are deluded by their priests, who 
 thus enrich themselves at their expense, into a belief that they can 
 
 hold communication with the spirits in certain groves. The trans¬ 
 migration of souls also holds a place in their creed, as well as a 
 kind of purgatory after death, from which they believe that souls 
 may be delivered by the offerings of survivors. 
 
 Such was the town, “ a stronghold of the enemy, of war and 
 slavery,” and such the people among whom Mrs. Hinderer and her 
 husband were called to labour. Their hearts might well quail, did 
 they look only at the difficulties of the work and at their own 
 impotence, but their trust was in God. Their entrance into the 
 town caused a great commotion, people shouting and screaming, 
 
 47 
 
ANNA HIND ERE R OF YORUBA. 
 
 “The white man is come; the white mother is come.” “Why,” 
 asked Mr. Hinderer, “ do you call me ‘ Oibo ’ ? ” (the white man). 
 “Because,” said they, “you have peeled off your beautiful black 
 skin, and have left only the white one.” Even after the mis¬ 
 sionaries had entered their house many of the natives, not unlike 
 their white brothers and sisters in England when there is any 
 sight to be seen, stood round it, “just to catch a glimpse of the 
 wonderful white woman.” 
 
 Erom the very beginning the gospel message seemed to come 
 home with wonderful power to the hearts of these dark Africans. 
 Even on the first Sunday after the arrival of the missionaries a young 
 chief who was present at the service exclaimed, “The words are 
 sweet.” It may be that the very religion of the people, with its 
 system of mediators by means of orishas, made it easier for them 
 to receive the truth of the One Mediator between God and man. But 
 would this alone account for the marvellous way in which the people 
 received the Word ? Was not the cause rather to be found in the 
 full consecration and perfect trust of the messengers, who, filled with 
 the Spirit, spoke with pentecostal power ? In a very short time so 
 many were convinced of the errors of heathenism and of the truth of 
 the gospel that a class for candidates for baptism was formed, while 
 so many wanted to be taught that Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer were obliged 
 to give up their faithful servant Olubi, one of the converts from Abeo- 
 kuta, to act as schoolmaster. This was a great sacrifice in the way of 
 personal comfort to the missionaries, but a great gain to the work. 
 
 Although the climate of Ibadan is not so bad as that of places 
 nearer the coast, it is very prejudicial to the health of Europeans. 
 Eever seemed always ready to seize with deadly grip on the workers, 
 who longed for health only that they might use it to labour the more 
 earnestly. Yet in her own illness, and in her husband’s, which was 
 a still heavier trouble, Anna Hinderer never lost heart, but was 
 always cheerful and bright in spite of it. The greatest trial was that 
 it kept her from doing the work to which she believed God had called 
 her. Yet, if her Master bade her lie still when she would rather 
 run on His errands with swift and eager foot, she was content to do 
 His will. “ The happiest way of thinking,” she said, “ was that this 
 was my time of education and preparation for future work, and so I 
 endeavoured to lie passive, only seeking to be made entirely resigned 
 to do or to suffer my Father’s will. This is a grace one especially 
 needs in a missionary’s calling. You come with a desire to do some¬ 
 thing; you see your work before you; see thousands of children, 
 hundreds of people, and you are utterly helpless in mind and body. 
 It is. hard work, and only One can give strength to bear it.” 
 
 48 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 After nearly a year Mrs. Hinderer—who had not only been 
 enfeebled by illness herself, but bad bad much anxious nursing both 
 of her husband and of Mr. Kefer, the assistant missionary—-was 
 persuaded to go for a short time to Abeokuta to recruit her strength. 
 When she left home she was accompanied for some distance by the 
 little boys wdio had been under her training almost ever since her 
 arrival in Ibadan. They were very much afraid that they would lose 
 their dear Iya (mother) altogether, and it took many promises to the 
 contrary to reassure them. When they were obliged to turn back to 
 Ibadan their hearts were very full, one little fellow crying between 
 his sobs, “ Go, dear Iya, and make haste back.” 
 
 The love was quite a mutual one. While Mrs. Hinderer was 
 absent from Ibadan those for whom she so earnestly laboured were 
 ever present in her thoughts. “ I long,” she wrote, “ to be at home 
 again, and grudge every hour from my beloved Ibadan. Only the 
 assurance and advice of everybody, that I ought to have some sort of 
 a change, could have moved me.” 
 
 The rest and change of air, as well as the kindness and care of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, the missionaries at Abeokuta, were most 
 beneficial, and she returned to Ibadan greatly invigorated. When 
 that time came, her little maid Susanna, who had accompanied her, 
 remarked with great delight, “ Please, ma’am, bone all gone away. I 
 think we may go home now.” She had taken Mrs. Hinderer’s loss of 
 flesh greatly to heart, and used to say sadly, “ Please, ma’am, too 
 much bone live here.” 
 
 When Mr. Hinderer was first invited to Ibadan, he told the chief 
 that if he wanted him to “ sit down ” there, he must give him a house 
 to live in. He then had a very tiny dwelling assigned for his use, 
 which, although so diminutive, did not escape the notice of covetous 
 eyes, their owner making good his entrance during the night. To 
 poor Mr. Hinderer’s horror and dismay, he found himself awoke from 
 his first sleep by a pig, who thought himself at liberty to run over 
 the rightful occupant of the hut, possibly with a view to his ejection 
 altogether. A missionary’s powers of endurance are very great; but 
 this was more than flesh and blood could bear. Mr. Hinderer 
 promptly laid his complaint before the chief, and a native house was 
 then given him, some distance from the dirty bustling town, with a 
 view from the back of it of a palm-forest, and with gardens planted 
 with orange, banana, and many other trees in its immediate neigh¬ 
 bourhood. 
 
 This mud house was Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer’s abode for a year. 
 It was anything but a luxurious dwelling, being so small that two 
 people could not walk abreast. Innocent, like all native houses, of 
 
 49 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 windows or door, a curtain hung over the entrance was the7sole 
 barrier between the missionaries and the outside world. The"roof 
 made of grass was a poor apology for protection from the torrents of 
 rain which invaded the house during the wet season, while it served 
 as a harbourage for many kinds of pests in the shape of spiders and 
 insects, not to speak of snakes more or less venomous. 
 
 Snakes were a very real source of danger. One 'night, hearing a 
 noise apparently proceeding from the compound, Mr. Hinderer got 
 out of bed to ascertain what it was. In doing so he put his foot on a 
 deadly snake, which happily did not turn and bite him. At another 
 time they were sitting in the piazza of the house they afterwards 
 built, when they heard a noise in the larder. There they found a 
 large snake, which had put its head through a hole in the shelf, and 
 was busily engaged in taking about forty eggs which lay in a basket. 
 Having satisfied itself, it wanted to get back again through the hole, 
 but its upper part was so filled with eggs that it was unable to do so, 
 and the cracking of one egg after another in its efforts to escape was 
 the noise which Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer had heard. But perhaps the 
 most alarming adventure with a snake was one which happened one 
 Sunday in church. Mr. Hinderer was preaching, when his wife, 
 looking at the roof, saw just above his head a cobra, which seemed 
 about to strike him. A glance at the catechist standing near sufficed 
 to show him the situation. He quickly and quietly mounted the 
 pulpit stairs behind the preacher, who was quite unaware of his 
 danger, and with the thick stick which he used as a wand of office to 
 keep order in church struck the serpent on the head, and it dropped 
 dead on the floor. 
 
 Ingenuity, perseverance, and above all a cheerful spirit, can trans¬ 
 form even a very primitive habitation into a place of comfort. So, 
 in spite of their circumscribed quarters, Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer found 
 it possible to be happy. It was necessary, however, not only for 
 their own comfort, but for the furtherance of the work, that a piece 
 of ground should be acquired, on which a new house, as well as a 
 mission church, could be erected. This Mr. Hinderer lost no time in 
 securing. On his asking what he should pay for it, the chief replied : 
 “ Hothing. The land is God’s. He gave it to us. You cannot pay 
 for what belongs to Him.” 
 
 The land secured, there were plans to be drawn, and workmen to 
 be superintended, so that Mr. Hinderer and his assistant missionary 
 were kept busily employed in the intervals of more spiritual work. 
 Sometimes they were themselves obliged to help in building, for a 
 missionary must needs be versatile, and be able to turn his hand 
 to anything. At last the house was finished, and was ready for 
 50 
 
ANNA HIND E RE R OF Y OR DBA. 
 
 Mrs. Hinderer’s reception on her return from Abeokuta. It was a 
 source of great wonder to the natives. The head chief arrived to 
 pay his respects a few days after Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer had taken 
 possession. He was lost in astonishment at a house with two 
 stories, while the stairs were a terror to him. For some time he 
 could not be persuaded to mount them; but at last, by dint of 
 pushing and pulling, he safely accomplished the ascent. 
 
 The church, although not completed, was used for the first time 
 on July 23, 1854, the old palm-leaf shed which had done duty for 
 
 many months having been wrecked by a tornado. But it had served 
 its purpose well, and week after week the people had gathered there 
 in large numbers. A service in Africa lacks a great deal of the 
 conventionality we are accustomed to in England. The people not 
 only listen to the preacher, but if they do not understand his meaning 
 ask him questions. In those first months of missionary work there 
 were many who were anxiously weighing the difference between 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 heathenism and Christianity. Some of those engaged in the building 
 of the church began to see the folly of their past “ fashion,” as they 
 call it. Even those who had showed open enmity to the missionaries, 
 amongst others a priest and a priestess, became dissatisfied with their 
 orishas, the priest saying, “ I get no peace. I want to give my heart 
 to God.” 
 
 Y. 
 
 WOMAN’S WORK IN YORUBA. 
 
 It might well be said of Mr. Hinderer, as of all true-hearted servants 
 of God, that he was essentially a man of “ one thing.” At the age of 
 fourteen, when walking in the lonely forest, the German boy had 
 solemnly dedicated himself to God’s service in the mission field. 
 From that purpose he never swerved. Ultimately he entered the 
 Missionary Training Institute at Basel, and then the Church Mission¬ 
 ary College at Islington, subsequently proceeding to Yoruba under 
 that society’s auspices. Mr. Hinderer was no ordinary man. Enter¬ 
 prising, energetic, ready to enter any door which the Master opened 
 to him, undaunted by difficulties, patient in trial, he was eminently 
 fitted for pioneer work. Although their work was necessarily dif¬ 
 ferent, he had a very real helpmeet in his wife. While he was 
 engaged in preaching the gospel both in the church and in the 
 open air, in shepherding the converts already gathered in, in 
 opening up fresh ground wherever possible, she was none the less 
 busy in work amongst the women, and more particularly amongst 
 the children. 
 
 Very soon after reaching Ibadan children were gathered together 
 to be trained and taught. These were Mrs. Hinderer’s special charge, 
 and, added to her many other duties, kept her very busy. Her 
 patience was often sorely tried, for if English children need a great 
 deal of that commodity in their bringing up, African children need 
 far more, since discipline is to them an unknown quantity, and their 
 parents exercise over them no kind of restraint. Love has, however, 
 a wonderful power to tame even the wildest spirits, and it was not 
 long before they had learned to obey the white lady who had come 
 so far to teach them. Most of their native ideas had to be remodelled, 
 as, for instance, one that it was not necessary to wash more than 
 once or twice a week. 
 
 “ You would have been rather amused,” wrote Mrs. Hinderer to 
 her old friends the Lowestoft school children , li at our washing palavers 
 (disputes). I would have them wash every morning, but this was to 
 them an unheard-of absurdity, and it had to come to this, that any child 
 who refused must have no breakfast; but if you had seen them you 
 52 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 would have thought they were all going to he whipped. However, 
 they have overcome that difficulty now, and are so fond of the regular 
 refreshing wash that they -would almost sooner go without their 
 breakfast than without their hath.” 
 
 From nine to twelve there was school, other children from outside 
 joining the little party, and all worked diligently at reading, sewing, 
 and knitting until twelve. The quickness and aptitude of these 
 children seemed to be quite phenomenal, for be it remembered there 
 was no such thing as a school or any books until the missionaries 
 settled in Ibadan ; yet in the short space of four months some of 
 them were able to begin to read the Yoruba Testament. Their 
 greatest pleasure was to acquire a knowledge of English, and in their 
 walks together Mrs. Hinderer would make use of this desire to add 
 to her stock of Yoruba, they telling her the Yoruba names for the 
 objects they saw, and she giving them the English equivalents. As a 
 rule they remembered what they were taught, and politely said, “ Good 
 morning, ma’am,” as their daily salutation to their teacher. But 
 sometimes it happened that after learning for a little while they were 
 taken away by their parents to work on the farms, and when they 
 returned to school again their knowledge of English had become 
 shaken. One day, as Mrs. Hinderer sat waiting in the piazza of 
 their house she was surprised by a boy who had been absent from 
 school for some time, who, suddenly appearing before her, uttered the 
 word “ Yes ” with great emphasis. His own face expressed intense 
 satisfaction at his performance, which caused much amusement to 
 his schoolfellows. They, however, good-naturedly took pains to 
 teach him his forgotten salutation. 
 
 If Yoruba children are sharp and clever they are not behindhand 
 in their love of fun. In their teacher, as we already know, they had 
 one who showed what brightness true religion imparts to a life. She 
 was quite ready to be a child with them, and from five to six every 
 day might be seen playing and romping with these little black 
 children, for, as they said, “ Iya must play with them as well as 
 work.” It is easy to see how their hearts would go out in love to 
 her, The children who lived in the mission compound almost 
 idolised her. If a fly came near her they would brush it away, 
 and when she was laid aside, as she frequently was, by an attack of 
 fever, they would wander about looking most disconsolate. Yet they 
 had come to the compound in great fear and trembling, and at first 
 would not venture to stay the night, having an idea that after dark 
 the white people would kill and eat them. One of them was the son 
 of the chief Olumloyo, who had been so interested in the services the 
 first Sunday. Akielle was a most affectionate child, though very 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 passionate. One day, finding him beating another boy unmercifully, 
 Mrs. Hinderer interfered, when he lifted his hand to strike her. 
 Then, of course, it was necessary to punish him. He declared he 
 would go home. “Very well,. Akielle, go; good-bye for ever,” she 
 quietly said. This touched his heart. He burst into tears, crying, 
 “ Oh no ! oh no ! I will never leave my Iya.” 
 
 But it was not only mentally and morally that these children were 
 trained. Mrs. Hinderer could never be satisfied with anything short 
 of leading them to know and love the Saviour. It' was for this, the 
 joy of leading souls into the fold of the Good Shepherd, that she 
 had given up so much, that she could cheerfully endure sickness, 
 privation, and peril, and this was the mark she ever aimed at. 
 
 “ You will not think me egotistical,” she once wrote, “ but this I 
 do think, if I am come to Africa for nothing else, I have found the 
 way to a few children’s hearts, and if spared, and I have health and 
 strength, I think I shall not, with God’s blessing, find it very difficult 
 to do something with them. . . . My boys that I have now would 
 never tell me an untruth, or touch a cowry, or anything they should 
 not. This is truly wonderful for heathen boys, brought up all their 
 lives hitherto in the midst of every kind of deceit. Dear fellows, I 
 feel sure the love and blessing of God is over them, and their young 
 hearts are opening, I humbly trust, to receive Him as their only God 
 and Saviour.” 
 
 “ Do you love Jesus ?” one of them was asked. “Yes, yes,” was 
 the reply. “ I want to hear more of Jesus, and know more.” 
 
 It is a well-known fact that African children are great mimics, 
 but that their religion was no mere imitation was quite evident 
 by the change in their lives. If they did wrong they would not only 
 voluntarily come to their teacher to confess their fault, but would 
 ask God to forgive them. Three of the boys had once eaten some 
 fruit which, being unripe, they had been forbidden to touch. Hot long 
 after their lips began to smart, and soon became very much swollen. 
 They were greatly alarmed when an older boy told them they would 
 die. Then Akielle said : “ What naughty boys we have been ! We 
 have been like Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit. Let us go 
 and pray to God, and ask Him not to let us die this time, and we 
 will not do so any more.” 
 
 The Yorubans have a custom on first waking in the morning of 
 saluting their idol before speaking to any one. After their conversion 
 God was substituted for the idol. None of them, whenever awoke, 
 w r ould ever speak to another until they had met their Lord in praise 
 and prayer. A little girl was found in prayer one night at twelve 
 o’clock. The next day Mrs. Hinderer asked her whether she had 
 54 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 thought it was morning. “ Oh no, ma’am,” she said ; “ but I think I 
 hardly ever woke in the night before, so I thought it would be nice 
 to pray.” 
 
 Their faith was very steadfast, and although they were often 
 tempted by their relatives to conform to heathen practices they were 
 firm in their resistance. 
 
 Some of these children would have had a sad fate if the mission- 
 house doors had not been open to them. There were little slaves 
 whose piteous cry, “ Era mi ” (buy me), it was impossible to resist, 
 and who were redeemed from the horrors of slavery. Sometimes a 
 little castaway was brought in to find a home with the “ white 
 mother.” The people believe that their gods dislike twins, and that 
 unless one is got rid of ill-luck will befall them. So, although there 
 are noble exceptions to this cruel practice even amongst the heathen, 
 many a heartless mother puts away her child to be devoured by birds 
 and beasts of prey. 
 
 But there were others who were brought by their parents to the 
 mission compound. Although at the beginning the people were 
 afraid to let their children attend school, lest, as they said, “book 
 should make them cowards,” they quickly perceived the advantages 
 of it, and the school grew and prospered. 
 
 Anna Hinderer might well find the days were not long enough 
 for her. It often happened that she was too tired either to sleep or to 
 eat. In addition to looking after her large family of black children 
 and receiving many visitors, she made it her business to visit the 
 women in the neighbouring compounds as much as possible. There 
 were many difficulties. There was the climate, with its terribly 
 depressing influence on mind and body. There were disappoint¬ 
 ments from some in whose hearts the good seed of the kingdom 
 sprang up, but, “ having no root, it withered away,” and they relapsed 
 into their old heathen “ fashion ” again. But, on the other hand, 
 there was much to encourage. Many who had found that their 
 heathen idols could never satisfy their craving, came to sit at the feet 
 of Jesus and learn of Him. One of them said, “ Iya, all my life I 
 have served the devil; he has been my god; but he never gave me 
 peace in my heart. . . . But since you white people have come I 
 have heard the words of the great God, which we never heard before, 
 and they are sweet to me.” And they were not afraid to confess 
 Christ. Some brought their idols to the mission house. Many 
 endured cruel persecution rather than join their relatives in their 
 heathen practices. “ Kill me if you will,” cried one, “ the sooner I 
 shall be with my Saviour in heaven; but I will not, I cannot, serve 
 these foolish things.” 
 
 55 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 VI. 
 
 ENDURING UNTO THE END. 
 
 With the exception of a stay of some months in Europe for the sake 
 of Mrs. Hinderer’s health, it was in work such as we have seen her 
 engaged in that nearly seven years were spent. In those days one of 
 Mrs. Hinderer’s greatest trials was the frequent and prolonged absence 
 of her husband on missionary tours to the eastward. The fame of the 
 white people in Ibadan had spread to other places, and many were 
 the requests which came for teachers. In order to arrange for these 
 to be sent he was obliged to take long and frequently perilous journeys. 
 It would be a great trial to the nerves of any ordinary woman to be 
 left alone in a vast heathen city. She knew, however, the secret of 
 a quiet heart. Although “ Babba de! ” (father is come) was always 
 a glad sound to her, she could write cheerfully while he was away, 
 “ I lie down as quietly at night as if I had every earthly guard. 
 How this is not natural to me, but is given me by a loving God/’ 
 
 A terrible trial began to overshadow the work and the workers 
 early in the year 1860. Eor a long while after the Fulah wars at the 
 beginning of the century the country was very unsettled. The various 
 tribes, in their mutual jealousy and desire for power, made use of the 
 smallest pretext to make war on one another. The inhabitants of 
 the places which they surprised were captured and taken to Lagos to 
 be sold as slaves. The strife continued until an incredible number of 
 towns and villages had been destroyed, such of their inhabitants who 
 were able to escape taking refuge in the walled cities. Ho country, 
 probably, has suffered more than Yoruba from the slave trade. Hone, 
 certainly, has had greater experience of the evils which war brings in 
 its train. It was a Yoruban king who once exclaimed that if he 
 could find the town where war had its origin he would march against 
 it and destroy it, to prevent any further wars. One of his chiefs 
 replied that the town was not unknown, but that it was impossible to 
 attack it, since it was the human heart. 
 
 Some check was put upon this continual state of warfare by the 
 suppression of the slave-market at Lagos through the intervention of 
 England in 1853. But the feeling of ill-will between rival towns and 
 tribes still remained, and it needed but a little fanning for it to burst 
 forth again with redoubled fury. And now, when the year 1860 was 
 scarcely three months old, not only was the King of Dahomey with 
 his band of Amazon warriors marching upon Abeokuta, but the large 
 cities of Ibadan and Ijaye had quarrelled. After exchanging insulting 
 messages for some time their quarrel had ended in the proclamation 
 of a general war. The whole country was at once in a state of ferment. 
 56 
 
ANNA H1NDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 Kidnappers lurked on every road; robbers lay in wait for spoil. 
 Abeokuta, with the whole Egba tribe, having declared for Ijaye, 
 Ibadan was cut off from the rest of the world. Supplies of what 
 are to English people almost the necessaries of life very soon failed, 
 while letters from friends at home only arrived at uncertain intervals, 
 and even then only at the risk of the bearers’ lives. 
 
 It was a terrible situation, certainly, and the danger was great. 
 Still they felt that, whatever the risk to themselves, they must not 
 forsake their post, but, faithful even unto death, if needs be, must 
 stay to strengthen the Christians with their prayers and counsel. 
 Insufficient in themselves, as they well knew, they doubted not that 
 He who said, “ Lo, I am with you alway,” would be present with 
 them to sustain and enable. 
 
 The question of supply for the daily needs of a large household 
 was indeed a very serious one, for, as Mrs. Hinderer said, “ children’s 
 appetites do not lessen because of war.” As soon as war seemed 
 imminent she very providently laid in a large stock of such provisions 
 as the country afforded, as well as cowries—the small univalve shells 
 which are used as money in Western Africa. At the close of 1859 
 she wrote in her journal that she had collected more than a million 
 of the latter. There are some who seem to fear lest missionaries 
 should live too luxuriously, and to prevent this they would furnish 
 them with as little to live on as possible. Such would no doubt be 
 filled with horror to hear of a missionary millionaire. But a million 
 cowries are not immense riches after all, since they only represent a 
 little over £50 in English money, and, with so many mouths to feed, 
 they could not be expected to last for ever, even with the most careful 
 husbanding. And there were not only those in the mission house to 
 be provided for. After a very few months the converts outside began 
 to feel the stress of poverty and to need help. “ Our people,” she 
 wrote, “ are troubled for want of cowries, and we have to open our 
 store, in faith and hope that they will last till peace comes.” By the 
 close of 1860 their stock was almost exhausted, and, every road being 
 shut, there seemed to be no way of getting more, since the traders 
 from whom they were usually obtained were unable to reach Ibadan. 
 The chiefs, from whom Mr. Hinderer tried to borrow, refused to lend, 
 saying that Ifa, their chief god, had forbidden them “ to lend the 
 white man cowries.” Then they were obliged to sell their posses¬ 
 sions to purchase food. But her cheerful spirit had not forsaken 
 Mrs. Hinderer. Writing of the purchase of her cloak by one of the 
 war chiefs, she playfully says, “We laugh and say we have all been 
 living on Iya’s cloak.” 
 
 At last it became necessary to make an attempt to obtain a supply 
 
 57 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 of cowries and European provisions from Lagos, so, committing 
 himself to the care of Him who ever watches over His people, 
 Mr. Hinderer started on the 6th of March, 1861, for the coast. He 
 was accompanied by only two of the boys, none of the men daring to 
 venture on such a perilous journey. The little party reached Lagos 
 in safety, but the return journey some weeks later was one of extreme 
 danger. The King of Ijebu, who had always been much averse to 
 Europeans entering his country, set a price upon his head, and posted 
 men to watch for him along the road to Ibadan. Mr. Hinderer knew 
 this very well, but he said, “ There is no road for me but the Ijebu 
 road, and by that I must go; and after all my time is in God’s hand 
 and not in the Ijebu king’s.” And so he started with his two boys. 
 They were filled with terror. His own heart, full of trust in the 
 Lord, was quiet and tranquil. Skeletons of the slain lay in gruesome 
 array for many miles, but not a living man did they see, although 
 they once passed the smouldering fires of the Ijebus, who were . 
 evidently at no great distance. By God’s mercy they reached Ibadan 
 in safety, and to the great astonishment of the king, who said it was 
 “ God who had protected the white man, and none but God.” 
 
 But privation and scarcity were not done with. Attempts were 
 made by the missionaries at Abeokuta and by the Governor of Lagos 
 to send them help, but without success. Yet, although there was 
 much darkness, they were not left without bright rays of heaven’s 
 sunshine to cheer them in their trouble. God opened the hearts of 
 the people to show them kindness. Now it was a handful of corn or 
 a few yams which were brought to the mission station, now a few 
 cowries, and to such extremities were they reduced that they were 
 glad to accept even the value of twopence. Then when Mrs. Hin- 
 derer’s shoes were worn out, God put it into the heart of a missionary 
 some distance away to send her three pairs which had belonged to his 
 wife, who had lately died. 
 
 In spite of all the trouble the church in Ibadan prospered, and 
 although, owing to the war, it did not increase in numbers so fast as 
 formerly, the Lord “ added to it such as should be saved,” among them 
 some who had in times past been the greatest persecutors. 
 
 In March, 1862, the town of Ijaye was utterly destroyed, but the 
 war was by no means ended, for by this time all the neighbouring 
 tribes had been drawn into it. Eive long years passed away, and all 
 that time the brave missionaries endured cheerfully privation and 
 suffering, and met undaunted difficulty and danger. Again and again 
 were they disappointed in their hopes of succour. Yet their faith 
 never failed, for their hearts were stayed upon God. They knew that 
 whether living or dying they were the Lord’s, and could leave all, 
 58 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 whether for life or for death, in His hands. Their physical sufferings 
 were great. Illness after illness attacked them. The coarse, insuffi¬ 
 cient food they were obliged to subsist on, and the long stay in a 
 pestilential climate had so enfeebled them that sometimes they were 
 constrained to say in the morning, “Well, this day we must do 
 nothing, hut just try to keep ourselves alive.’’ Yet each day brought 
 its duties, and although bodily strength failed, their love for their 
 Master enabled them to fulfil them. 
 
 At length, after many futile attempts at relief by various friends, 
 a brave young officer, commissioned by the Governor of Lagos for the 
 purpose, safely accomplished it. With a band of chosen men he cut a 
 new track through the bush, and, before the enemy had had time to 
 discover it, conveyed Mrs. Hinderer to Lagos. God seemed so clearly 
 to have marked out for her a way of deliverance that she dared nob 
 hesitate to accept it, particularly as there was good hope of her 
 husband being able soon to join her in England. This he did two 
 months later, having successfully arranged the affairs of the mission. 
 Some months were spent in England and on the Continent, and then 
 with renewed health they were eager to be at the post of duty again. 
 
 Just before Christmas, 1867, they once more arrived in Ibadan by 
 a road open to them through the influence of the Governor of Lagos, 
 About forty of the Ibadan people arrived in Lagos to act as their 
 carriers, and some miles from the city they were met by the whole of 
 the converts, who filled the air with shouts of delight. 
 
 Then work began again, and God graciously owned it. The 
 simple faith of some of the converts was very touching, and their 
 love for prayer, besides their gifts for the support of the mission, to 
 which they began from this time to contribute regularly, showed how 
 real it was. Besides the original church, there were now two others- 
 in the town, so much had the work grown and prospered. 
 
 The country was still very unsettled, and their neighbours, hostile 
 as ever to Europeans, often begged the chiefs of Ibadan to expel Lie- 
 white people. But after holding a council they sent word to the- 
 missionaries : “ You little know how closely we have watched you, 
 and your ways please us. We have not only looked at your mouths- 
 but at your hands, and we have no complaint to lay against you.. 
 Just go on with your work with a quiet mind. You are our friends, 
 and we are yours.” 
 
 But the labourer’s work was almost done. After her return to 
 Ibadan Mrs. Hinderer was constantly ill, and at last it became 
 imperative that she should seek medical advice. She reached Lagos- 
 after a difficult and dangerous journey, a plot having been formed 
 against her life. There she became so ill that she was obliged to get 
 ° 59 
 
ANNA HINDERER OF YORUBA. 
 
 to England as quickly as possible, and the spring of 1869 found her 
 once more in the old country, her husband, who had also been ill for 
 a long while, joining her the following autumn. Her constant pain 
 and consequent exhaustion were sad to witness, and in addition to 
 her ill-health she had lost the sight of one eye—a result probably of 
 long residence in an unhealthy climate. Bright and sunny still, she 
 was manifestly so ill that no thought of a return to Africa could be 
 contemplated. But, although enfeebled and suffering, she threw her¬ 
 self with almost her old energy into the work of the parish (Martham) 
 in Norfolk to which her husband was appointed in the spring of 
 1870. Three months only was she permitted thus to labour, and 
 then, in the midst of her loving ministry, she was suddenly stricken 
 again with illness. Her sufferings were most acute, but the spirit 
 was joyous and peaceful as ever. u Are you not glad,’ 5 she asked, 
 “ that I am going home—going to be with the Lord ? 4 ” A few hours 
 before the end God mercifully answered prayer in giving her release 
 from pain, and she passed in a quiet sleep into the presence of her 
 Lord on June 6, 1870, at the age of forty-three. 
 
 And what of the work in which the best years of her life had been 
 spent ? Nothing is a more thorough test of what work has been 
 than the removal of the worker. When they left Ibadan it was 
 impossible, owing to the want of communication with the coast, for 
 any European to take charge of the mission. It was therefore left in 
 the hands of three tried native teachers, and since that time, war still 
 prevailing more or less, the converts have necessarily been left to 
 their own resources. 
 
 The many letters written by these black people, most of them 
 once Mrs. Hinderer’s pupils, abundantly testify to the intense reality 
 of her life and work. One of them, writing to her husband after her 
 death, said : “ The sons and daughters she had kindly brought up 
 and cared for in the gospel will ever lament her loss, and her good 
 deeds, as books, will ever be read among us.” “ Our dear Iya, though 
 she died, she yet speaketh,” wrote another. “ Her work in Ibadan 
 still lives and bears testimony of her, till such time that she will say, 
 ‘ These are they whom Thou hast given me.’ ” There are now (April, 
 1895), notwithstanding the vicissitudes to which the mission has been 
 -exposed, some 600 native converts, with three European ladies 
 working among them, and a house is being prepared for a missionary 
 und his wife. 
 
 Ellen L. Couetexay. 
 
Octavo, 10s. 6dcloth boards. 
 
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 SUCCESSORS. 
 
 By JOHN BROWN, B.A., D.D., 
 
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 With Illustrations from Original Sketches by CHARLES WHYMPER. 
 
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 Published by THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, 56, Paternoster Row, London. 
 
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 “ The idea strikes us as excellent, and the printed linen is a marvel of technical proficiency, so clear 
 are the characters. We quite believe that these will be found useful in hospitals and sick rooms generally. 
 They only cost threepence each, and are practically everlasting .”—Medical Press and Circular. 
 
 Published by The Religious Tract Society, 56, Paternoster Row, London. 
 
 LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.