_ i 
 
THE WOMAN’S BAPTIST 
 FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 
 
 MISSIONARY ROOMS, TREMONT TEMPLE, 
 Boston, Massachusetts, 
 
 1891. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2019 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/twentyyearsofgleOObail 
 
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 - 
 
 A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE WOMAN’S BAPTIST FOREIGN 
 
 MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 
 
 By Frances Stoughton Bailey. 
 
 -- 
 
 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the 
 sheaves; so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now,— 
 Ruth ii. 7. 
 
 \ I /HE “ Security Safe,” in Washington, has a door which is said to weigh 
 pjl (g fifteen tons, and yet so nicely is it adjusted that the hand of a delicate 
 woman can move it upon its hinges. The mighty portal of God’s 
 providence cannot be forced by any power on earth, but it may be set ajar 
 by the prayers of consecrated womanhood. 
 
 Twenty years ago the women of our churches stood upon the threshold of 
 a great opportunity, and heard the voice of Christ saying to them, “ Behold ,, 
 I have set before thee a door opened which none can shut .” How the path 
 upon which they entered then with hesitating feet has constantly unfolded 
 before them ; how wonderfully they have been strengthened and guided and 
 led on, — of these things much might be said, but we can give only outlines. 
 
 It is natural to desire to trace an effect to its cause, but it is given to no 
 human hand to gather in its grasp all the threads of circumstance which go 
 to the weaving of history. It is not difficult to name the immediate in¬ 
 fluences which led to the formation of the Woman’s Baptist Foreign Mis¬ 
 sionary Society, but there must be many others known only to Him who 
 sees the end from the beginning. 
 
 The dawn of the nineteenth century found American women awakening 
 to the needs of the heathen world. In the year 1800, two months before 
 Carey baptized his first Hindu convert, the Boston Female Society for Mis¬ 
 sionary Purposes was formed, including, for a time at least, both Baptists and 
 Congregationalists. Although not strictly a foreign mission organization, 
 its members soon became interested in the labors of the English Baptists in 
 
4 
 
 India. A Miss Mary Webb seems to have acted as both secretary and 
 treasurer. Her name is one which Boston Baptists should not suffer to be 
 forgotten. A helpless cripple, with little of this world’s goods, she could 
 have, one would say, only a limited sphere of usefulness; but God “ hath 
 chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are 
 mighty.” One of the most active workers in Dr. Baldwin's church, her 
 sympathies were not confined to her own parish ; her little green baize hand- 
 carriage was seen wherever there was poverty or suffering in Boston ; she 
 organized benevolent societies among young and old ; she put herself in cor¬ 
 respondence with nearly sixty associations of women in different parts of 
 the United States ; she inaugurated a monthly concert of prayer among 
 them; and her communications which appeared in the “Baptist Missionary 
 Magazine ” show a mind of no mean ability. 
 
 In 1811 the Boston Female Society voted to appropriate its entire con_ 
 tribution for that year, amounting to two hundred dollars, “ to the transla¬ 
 tion of the Scriptures by the missionaries of Serampore in Bengal.” In 
 1813 it devoted a part of its funds, over one hundred and fifty-nine dollars, 
 to foreign missions, other organizations following its example ; and we learn, 
 from the magazine above referred to, that “ spinning, weaving, and knitting 
 societies are multiplying with a view to aid the great object of sending the 
 Gospel to the ends of the earth.” 
 
 An officer in the first association of women in this country which con¬ 
 tributed to foreign missions, these offerings being without doubt due to her 
 efforts, may we not hope for some memorial which shall permanently con¬ 
 nect the name of Mary Webb with the work of the Woman’s Baptist 
 Foreign Missionary Society? 
 
 On the nth of April, 1814, a Woman’s Missionary Society was formed 
 in the Fayette Street Church, now the Church of the Epiphany, New York, 
 Mrs. John Cauldwell, president. The ladies had been meeting to pray that 
 they might be directed to some special object, when in answer came, like a 
 trumpet call, the appeal of Judson. From Miss F. M. Newton's interesting 
 sketch of the Society, we learn of its correspondence with Mr. Newell and 
 the Judsons, and of the long line of missionaries which, from that day to 
 this, have been blessed by its benefactions. We congratulate this veteran 
 of seventy-seven years, and bid it “ God-speed ! ” 
 
 These and many kindred movements awakened interest in foreign 
 missions among the women of our churches ; but it was not until 1861 that 
 an organization arose whose object was to work by women, through women, 
 for women in heathen lands. This was the Woman’s Union Missionary 
 
5 
 
 Society, which, though undenominational, owes its existence to the sugges¬ 
 tion of Mrs. Mason, a Baptist missionary in Burma. From the first there 
 were Baptists among its members ; but, as one after the other our Congre- 
 gationalist, Presbyterian, and Methodist sisters established auxiliaries, 
 some in our own churches began to dream of a similar organization. Other 
 influences were working toward this end. 
 
 The wife of one of our missionaries in Burma, already overburdened with 
 her regular duties, was deeply impressed with the need of teachers for the 
 native women and children who thronged her doors, — untaught, uncared 
 for, unsaved. She was only one of many similarly situated; but she had a 
 sister in the United States, and to her she pours out the desires of her 
 heart. In one of these letters she says, “ I have felt sorely tried to be con¬ 
 fined by the school and thus prevented from accompanying my husband in 
 his jungle trips, where he greatly needs me and where I can meet with the 
 women as he cannot.” In another she writes, “ We are waiting, — I can 
 scarcely say hoping; for nearly every hope, except God himself, is slipping 
 away.” In a letter dated Nov. 23, 1870, we find these words : “ We are 
 doing all we have strength for, but the wheels turn heavily and we see the 
 harvest perishing for the lack of reapers. Pray for us. I am not sure that 
 you yourselves have not a work to do for missions at home, —the forming 
 of women’s missionary societies auxiliary to the Missionary Union. I 
 believe that is the true course.” Mrs. Carpenter’s sfiggestion took deep 
 root in the heart of her sister, Mrs. Hovey, who laid the proposition before 
 others. It was a serious matter, and even Mrs. Hovey’s wisdom and execu¬ 
 tive ability might have been unequal to the task, had not the undertaking 
 found cordial supporters. The foremost of these was Mrs. Gardner Colby. 
 To quote the words of another: “ From the first suggestion she gave the 
 plan her warmest sympathy and unstinted effort and liberal gifts. While 
 many were doubtful, she was full of courage and faith. It was her personal 
 appeal, as she visited day after day, that secured the interest and co-opera¬ 
 tion of influential ladies. Of her devotion too much cannot be said.” 
 
 A mission circle having been formed in the church at Newton Centre, 
 Mass., a meeting was held there on Feb. 11, 1871, for the purpose of con¬ 
 sulting as to the formation of a “ Woman’s Missionary Society for the 
 benefit of women in heathen lands,” to act in connection with the Mission¬ 
 ary Union. A suitable constitution having been prepared, and circulars 
 distributed among the churches in that vicinity, a meeting was convened 
 April 3, in the Clarendon Street Church, Boston, at which two hundred 
 women were present, and accepted the constitution then presented. At an 
 
6 
 
 adjourned meeting, held April io, at the same place, the following officers 
 were elected: President , Mrs. Gardner Colby; Vice-Presidents , Mrs. J. M. 
 Hoyt, Mrs. T. D. Anderson, Mrs. A. C. Kendrick, Mrs. C. F. Tolman, 
 Mrs. G. W. Bosworth, Mrs. A. K. P. Small; Recording Secretary , Mrs. 
 J. M. S. Williams; Correspo 7 idmg Secretary , Mrs. M. H. Bixby; Treas¬ 
 urer, Mrs. J. W. Merrill. 
 
 By the payment of $1.00 a woman might become a member of the Society 
 for one year; by the payment of $25 dollars at one time, a life member. 
 The leaders in this movement had laid broad foundations. Their thought 
 was of an organization which was to unite in one body the Baptist women of 
 America; but this was not to be. Important discoveries and inventions 
 have often been made simultaneously in different places, and the same is 
 true of philanthropic movements. An impulse like that which moved the 
 women of the East had been stirring the hearts of their sisters at the West. 
 The overtures which were made to the latter were, however, not accepted; 
 and word was soon received that a Woman’s Missionary Society had been 
 formed, with headquarters at Chicago. There are now two others; one in 
 California, and another in Oregon. 
 
 The new venture was cordially welcomed by the missionaries. An 
 extract from a letter received from Mrs. Ingalls may serve as an example of 
 the expressions of approval which came from this source. She says: “I 
 need not tell you that my heart is with you in this great movement. I 
 foresaw all this years ago, and now I render thanks to God, and would like 
 to take you all by the hand.” 
 
 The society was not to remain long without representatives in the field. 
 Miss Kate F. Evans, of Painesville, Virginia, had for five years been asking 
 the Missionary Union to give her opportunity to work for the heathen. 
 The Union had sent out a few single women, and these had done good 
 service ; but that body was not then disposed to carry further what was 
 regarded as an experiment. Miss Evans at once responded to an invitation 
 to meet the Woman’s Board in Boston ; and on Dec. 16, 1871, our first mis¬ 
 sionary sailed for Burma, in company with the first missionary of the 
 Woman’s Society of the West. The message which Miss Evans on arrival 
 sent to the Board which had opened the way for her, was more like a shout 
 of victory than like the words of one far from friends, in a strange land, 
 about to enter upon a new and arduous life-work. She wrote : “ In Burma 
 at last! All the weary years of waiting and of heart-sickening disappoint¬ 
 ment seem like a dream now. To be here is ample compensation for all.” 
 It was expected that she would go to Toungoo; but Providence (and Mrs. 
 
7 
 
 Ingalls) designed otherwise, and her appointment was by request transferred 
 to Thongzai, which has never since been able to spare her. 
 
 The officers were untiring in their devotion to the interests of the Society. 
 A great amount of writing was undertaken, to gain necessary information, 
 and to awaken interest among the churches. Mrs. Bixby’s services were 
 simply invaluable. At great personal inconvenience, she made many jour¬ 
 neys to address meetings; and though, as she said, her bag of curios was 
 often heavy, her heart was always light, for she thought, “ When once our 
 women know the great need, there will never again be lack of interest, or 
 money, or prayers.” Poor Mrs. Bixby! She was fresh from a heathen 
 country, and knew more about the habits of converted Karens than about 
 the ways of American Christians. 
 
 The years have wrought few changes among the officers. The Society 
 was greatly blessed in its first President. Mrs. Colby’s interest in it has 
 never flagged. Her presence in its meetings has been an inspiration, while 
 her words have followed its departing missionaries like a benediction. 
 What it owes to her efforts, her benefactions, and her prayers, eternity 
 alone will fully tell. For twenty years she has carried it upon her heart, as 
 the High Priest bore the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. When, one 
 year ago, feeling her strength no longer equal to the responsibilities of her 
 position, she refused renomination, she was made Honorary President of 
 the Society, and an honorary member of the Board for life. Her successor, 
 Miss Sarah C. Durfee, has, with rare wisdom and executive ability and with 
 unswerving devotion, served for nineteen years as State Se :retary for Rhode 
 Island, and for fourteen years as Clerk of the Society and of the Board. 
 The office of Clerk of the Board was previously, for a time, filled by Miss 
 A. L. Pierce. The present efficient Clerk is Mrs. G. W. Dean. 
 
 In 1872, Mrs. Bixby, whose self-denying labors had undermined her 
 health, tendered her resignation as Corresponding Secretary ; and Mrs. Car¬ 
 penter, then in this country, was elected to that position and held it until 
 her return to Burma, two years later, when her mantle fell upon her sister^ 
 Mrs. Hovey, to whom the Society already owed so much. In 1872, Miss 
 Mary E. Clarke became Assistant Secretary, and continued as such for 
 eleven years. When, in 1883, Mrs. Plovey in turn laid down the 
 burdens of the office, to which she had devoted herself with tireless 
 energy for eleven years, she left them in competent hands. The first State 
 Secretary to be appointed had been Mrs. O. W. Gates, for Connecticut, 
 in 1871. In two years she removed to California; but during this brief 
 time she had organized auxiliaries in half the churches in the State, 
 
8 
 
 and the Board parted from her with regret, entering upon its records this 
 plaintive reflection,—“Though lost to us, we are sure she is not lost to the 
 cause.” It often happens that our resignation to the apparently irreparable 
 is barely registered when we find the occasion for it past. Mrs. Gates, 
 having returned from California, was in 1882 made Associate Corresponding 
 Secretary; and when Mrs. Hovey resigned, Mrs. Gates was elected to fill 
 her place. Her winning presence and eloquent words made her especially 
 successful in presenting the cause to the churches ; her ready sympathy was 
 a cordial to the hearts of the missionaries ; and her pen was a wand which 
 charmed the dry twigs of annual statistics into blossom and fragrance. In 
 1890, the duties of the office having greatly increased, it seemed wise to 
 divide the work by appointing a Home Secretary; and the Society was so 
 favored as to secure for the new position the gifted Mrs. N. M. Waterbury, 
 whose experience as a missionary in India gives her peculiar advantages. 
 The same year saw the resignation of Mrs. Gates accepted with regret. 
 Mrs. H. G. Safford, her successor, though more widely known as an officer 
 of the Woman’s American Baptist Home Mission Society, is not a stranger 
 to the foreign work, having formerly been Association Secretary in New 
 Hampshire. May both our Secretaries be upheld in their arduous duties 
 by the prayers of every mission circle. “All the saints salute you.” 
 
 In 1873, Mrs. Merrill, who as Treasurer had given time and strength 
 without stint, found it necessary to resign ; and Mrs. J. M. S. Williams took 
 her place, with Miss M. E. Clarke as assistant. In 1879, Mrs. Williams 
 asked to be released from the position she had for five years so admirably 
 filled; and Miss Clarke was made Treasurer, Mrs. Williams being trans 
 ferred to the Board, upon which she has ever since faithfully served.. The 
 conscientious, painstaking labor which Miss Clarke has for all these years 
 bestowed upon her duties deserves our warmest appreciation. 
 
 But one death has occurred among the officers. Mrs. H. S. Chase, of 
 Boston, a director, highly esteemed for her personal character and her 
 value as a member of the Board, died June 16, 1881. We would like to 
 emphasize the fact, not perhaps everywhere understood, that no officers of 
 the Board or Society receive any compensation for their services, — 
 although these often tax time and strength severely, — except in the case of 
 Secretaries and Treasurer, who are forced to devote themselves exclusively 
 to the work. The faithfulness of the Board may be judged from the fact 
 that, although several members come from a distance, its monthly meetings, 
 so far as can be learned, have failed of a quorum but once in the twenty years. 
 
 We cannot speak too highly of the self-sacrificing efforts of the State and 
 
9 
 
 Association Secretaries, without whom the wheels would drag heavily, if 
 indeed there would be any wheels. They were first appointed in the second 
 year of the Society and we note a revival of interest about that time. 
 Truly, what is recorded of the first missionary to the Gentiles may apply 
 also to them: “ In labors more abundantly, in journeyings often, in watch¬ 
 ings often and they might add, “beside those things that are without, 
 there is that which presseth upon me daily, —anxiety for all the churches.” 
 
 Very few alterations have been made in the constitution. A society 
 which expects to control funds must of course have a corporate existence. 
 Incorporation accordingly took place Oct. 7, 1874. This necessitated the 
 following changes : the substitution of the term Clerk for that of Recording 
 Secretary, the President and Clerk of the Society becoming also President 
 and Clerk of the Board. An amendment to the constitution, adopted March 
 4, 1879, provides for a Board of Directors to be elected in three equal classes, 
 one class going out of office at each annual meeting. Since associations of 
 women for missionary work of various kinds were multiplying, it seemed 
 advisable to insert the word Foreign in the title of the Woman’s Baptist 
 Missionary Society, and an act thus to amend the charter was approved 
 March 14, 1882. When it became evident that the growing work at “the 
 rooms ” would require the division of the duties of Secretary into home and 
 foreign, and the services of two ladies instead of one, the word Secretary 
 was changed to Secretaries. 
 
 In the third year of the existence of the Society an official proposifion to* 
 combine its work with that of the recently organized Woman’s American 
 Baptist Home Mission Society, in the circles formed to represent the first, 
 drew forth a minute adopted Nov. 16, 1878, and embodied in the eighth 
 report, which expressed hearty sympathy with the cause of the Home Mis¬ 
 sion Society, but emphasized the conviction that a union would be unwise. 
 It was believed that confusion would result, that gifts would be divided in¬ 
 stead of doubled, and that the interests of both societies would suffer. 
 
 A contingent fund, limited to five thousand dollars, was early established, 
 consisting of legacies and memorial gifts, the interest of which may be used 
 annually, and also in emergencies the principal. The first legacy to the 
 Society was in 1874, soon after its incorporation, and came from Miss Waity 
 Mowry, of Providence, R. I. The largest, received in 1890, was from the 
 estate of*Mrs. Lucy Huntington Spooner, of Boston, was felt to be in direct 
 answer to prayer, and has already averted more than one impending deficit. 
 The only deficit of any amount occurred in 1884. The Board had struggled 
 to reconcile meagre receipts on the one hand with a heathful growth of the 
 
IO 
 
 work on the other; but, although it had had the pain of disappointing the 
 hopes of many a missionary, it was after all forced to come up to its annual 
 feast with a debt of nearly eight thousand dollars. This was met by special 
 gifts and by the application of the contingent fund. The receipts during 
 the first year of the society were nine thousand dollars. For the prosecution 
 of the work during the year which has just closed, one hundred thousand 
 dollars were asked, and one hundred and two thousand have been received. 
 
 The attendance at the annual meeting so increased that it soon outgrew 
 the limits of the largest vestries, until now only the audience rooms of the 
 most spacious churches are equal to the demand. A single day being 
 found too short a time to devote to it, in 1876 the exercises were extended 
 over two. Like the genie which was let out of the bottle in the “ Arabian 
 Night’s ” tale, it can never be compressed into so small a space again. 
 The quarterly gatherings have always been held in or near Boston ; but, as 
 the geographical limits of the home field are Maine on the north, Washing¬ 
 ton on the south, and the borders of Ohio on the west, it seemed appro¬ 
 priate that the annual meetings be held in different parts of this region. 
 Accordingly the Society convened in New York City in 1878; and the 
 church on West 53d Street, now Church of the Epiphany, had the honor 
 of being first to entertain it outside its birthplace. The tone which has 
 characterized these occasions has always been a most delightful one, while 
 their deeply spiritual influence has greatly enriched the experiences of those 
 who attended, and, like the ark in the house of Obed-edom, has left a bless¬ 
 ing with the churches in which they were held. The sessions for the dis¬ 
 cussion of questions bearing upon the work of State and Association 
 Secretaries have been suggestive and inspiring. A committee of conference 
 meets occasionally to consider subjects of especial importance. 
 
 The location and furnishings of a woman’s home are matters of great 
 consequence to her. They are scarcely less so to an association of women. 
 It is a long step from the headquarters of the Society in 1872, a small room 
 in Bedford Street, in the building then occupied by the Union, to the pres¬ 
 ent airy, attractive apartments in Tremont Temple, furnished in part by 
 especial gifts, radiant with the presence of genial women, and shedding 
 light and inspiration upon all the missionary workers, who, like the faithful 
 of old, come up annually with their offerings to the “ Temple.” 
 
 This is the age of printer’s ink. Every profession, every party, every 
 society, has its accredited publication. The Helping Hand and the King's 
 Messengers bear to the work of the cause the relation which sails bear to 
 the progress of a vessel. A craft which carries canvas will make headway 
 
against wind and tide by judiciously modifying her course; and amissionary 
 society which supports attractive periodicals, well spread and skilfully man¬ 
 aged, will gain ground in spite of prejudice and indifference. The depart¬ 
 ment called the '■'Helping Hand,” and devoted to the interests of the 
 Woman’s Society, which at first appeared in the “ Missionary Magazine,” 
 was, two years later, transferred to the Macedonian ; and in four years more 
 that paper, becoming the property of our Society, assumed the name of 
 Helping Hand. For the past seventeen years it has been ably edited by 
 Mrs. C. W. Train. The division representing the interests of the Society 
 of the West, and managed by Mrs. E. W. Brayman, Associate Editor, gives 
 the added privilege of an outlook upon that field, with words from its mis¬ 
 sionaries. The columns devoted to our young ladies at the East and to the 
 Tem jle Builders at the West link us to our younger sisters, who are bring¬ 
 ing their offerings of talent, of culture, and of social influence, for the 
 adornment of the temple of the Most High. We believe that this unpre¬ 
 tentious little sheet is doing a threefold work for those who faithfully read 
 it; broadening them mentally, inspiring them morally, and uplifting them 
 spiritually. A certain pastor is accustomed to place in the hands of every 
 woman whom he baptizes specimens of the missionary literature of her 
 denomination, that she may feel that her entrance into the church means 
 also entrance into the work for which the church was instituted. All 
 pastors, alas, are not so faithful; but ought there not everywhere to be some 
 woman ready to put in her sling this small opportunity which shall cleave 
 the front of that monster, anti-mission prejudice, which defies the armies 
 of the living God ? 
 
 Our sisters were not so short-sighted as to furnish missionary reading 
 for adults alone. While the Helping Hand was only a part of the Mace¬ 
 donian, one page of its limited space was reserved for the Little Helpers. 
 This arrangement was continued after the Helping Hand took on a separate 
 existence, until, in 1883, Little Helpers, in a dainty rose-hued garb, began 
 to run alone. The need of a publication for older boys and girls was soon 
 felt; and four years later the King's MessengersLto Heathen Lands, also 
 under the editorial direction of Mrs. Train, appeared, and Little Helpers 
 became a younger department in that. If this charming little paper, with 
 its carefully prepared missionary lessons, could be in every Sunday-school, 
 if our “ Portfolios ” could be in every band, and our game of “ Missionary 
 Pioneers” in every household, surely there would be no excuse for igno¬ 
 rance of missijnary matters in the next generation. 
 
 The Society prints also a Monthly Letter from some one of our mission- 
 
aries, for the use of circles, as well as the “ Studies in Baptist Missions,’" 
 published also in Chicago ; furnishes mite-boxes free to all who will use them : 
 sells the Prayer Calendar, gotten up in Philadelphia; and issues a con¬ 
 stantly increasing stream of pamphlets and leaflets to suit all needs. 
 
 More has been done for the m ssionary education of the young than 
 simply to prepare appropriate studies. Much thought and labor has been 
 expended upon the organization, training, and direction of mission bands ; 
 and not only has a love for the cause been implanted in childish hearts, but 
 thousands of dollars have been brought into the treasury. The first gift 
 recorded from this source was in 1871, from the Alice Charline Band, New¬ 
 ton Centre, Mass., named in memory of a daughter of Mrs. Thos. Nickerson. 
 
 The mention of Newton Centre reminds us of another enterprise, appeal¬ 
 ing equally to women, and equally appropriate to be accomplished through 
 the efforts of our Woman’s Society. Since Mrs. Comstock's agonized 
 farewell to her little ones passed into missionary literature, many a mother’s 
 mind has been tortured by the alternatives of keeping her children in a 
 heathen land, to the injury of health, intelligence, and morals; of returning 
 with them to this country, and leaving her husband to years of lonely toil; 
 or of trusting them to the uncertain influence of strangers, or perhaps of 
 injudicious friends. In order to provide for such cases, a Home for the 
 Children of Missionaries was established by the Society at Newton Centre, 
 in 1880, in a house not inappropriate for children wh > were a link between 
 two lands, since it had been the residence of the author of “ America,” 
 and of “The Morning Light is Breaking.” A matron was of course nec¬ 
 essary ; but where could one expect to find such a marvel of wisdom, 
 patience, and tact, as she would need to be? But the Lord knew, and He 
 sent us Mrs. McKinlay. One missionary mother declares that to commit 
 her dear ones to such care took away half the parting pang, and many 
 other parents have expressed their relief and satistaction. 
 
 The house, not being so elastic as the heart of the matron, soon became 
 overcrowded ; and it was decided to build, funds for that purpose being con¬ 
 tributed by friends. A committee of ladies from the Board gave careful 
 oversight while the building was in process of erection; and when, in 1882, 
 the little family moved into its tasteful home, it was found to be in every 
 way suited to its purpose. In 1890 alteration and enlargement became 
 again imperative: and, the necessary expense amounting to over four thousand 
 dollars, gifts were called for. One thousand dollars came from Mr. Rocke¬ 
 feller; while Mrs. Gardner Colby, who has always been foremost among the 
 friends of the institution, gave two thousand dollars, refusing to permit it to 
 
13 
 
 be called by her name. The house will now accommodate twenty-five chil¬ 
 dren at a time. The whole number which has been received since its open¬ 
 ing is thirty ; and all old enough to intelligently respond to the voice of the 
 Good Shepherd have been gathered into the fold. 
 
 The parents pay for board, clothing, and all personal expenses of their 
 children, while the Society provides the salary of the matron and the domes¬ 
 tic service. As no money contributed for the general work can be used for 
 this object, the expenses must be met by especial contributions. If, as was 
 hoped, each of our Sunday-schools would appropriate one Sabbath’s collec¬ 
 tion a year to the Home the entire amount would be covered. What could 
 be more appropriate than such a thank-offering from children upon whom 
 no such shadow of separation has ever fallen ? It was suggested by the 
 ladies of the Long Island Association that an endowment fund be raised. 
 It has since been voted to make this thirty thousand dollars ; but only a 
 little over two thousand dollars has been received, much of which came from 
 the ladies of Brooklyn, N. Y. We have many homes in which little ones 
 have been laid to sleep for the last time. 
 
 “There is no flock, however watched and tended, 
 
 But one dead lamb is there.” 
 
 Ah ! if all these mourning fathers and mothers would unite their gifts to 
 make this Home self-supporting, what a blessed memorial of those who are 
 safe in the House of Many Mansions, and what a precious offering to Him 
 who had not where to lay His head ! 
 
 We have said that there are two departments of the home work which 
 appeal particularly to women ; the missionary education of the young, and 
 the institution we have just described. There is likewise in the foreign 
 department a need which should especially call out their sympathies. The 
 unspeakable atrocities perpetrated in the name of medicine upon our sisters 
 in Burma and China, the silent agonies of the zenanas in India,—surely 
 these are enough to touch the hearts of all the “ uninterested ” women in 
 our churches. Missionary physicians can reach the heathen when others 
 fail, and a hospital will often make as many converts as a church. There 
 had long been a call for medical ladies to render assistance in our mission¬ 
 ary families, to minister, to heathen women who never before knew the 
 meaning of tender care, and to teach native mothers the laws of health and 
 right living. In 1878 this call was echoed by the Board, and to Dr. Ellen 
 E. Mitchell belongs the honor of first responding. For eight and one half 
 years she labored continuously in Burma, travelling from place to place as 
 
14 
 
 her services were required, prescribing and compounding in her dispensary, 
 nursing the sick in her hospital, and everywhere bearing about with her the 
 dying of the Lord Jesus. For several years, by an economy which is a 
 reproach to us at home, she paid the expenses of the work, and returned 
 the amount of her appropriations into the treasury. 
 
 Although Dr. M. C. Douglass has for several years been in charge of the 
 Lady Dufferin Hospital at Rangoon, and now, worn out with overwork, has 
 returned to this country, we cannot forget the excellent service she ren¬ 
 dered while connected with this Society. 
 
 Dr. Mary L. Van Meter, after years of patient and self-sacrificing effort 
 to fit herself for her life-work, went out to Burma as our representative in 
 1885. In the following year she became the wife of Rev. E. W. Kelly ; 
 but she has a hospital building at Mandalay, and continues the work of heal¬ 
 ing as she has opportunity. 
 
 Dr. Emma J. Cummings was sent to India in 1886. During her first 
 summer she stayed at her post in the terrific heat of Bapatla, leading meetings, 
 training Bible-women, studying the language, practising medicine, and super¬ 
 intending the mission press. She treated that year six hundred patients, 
 out of which she lost but five, and these were the victims of heathen mal¬ 
 practice. She has now a convenient dispensary at Ramapatam, and her 
 efforts have been blessed not only to the healing of bodies, but to the salva¬ 
 tion of souls. 
 
 Mrs. Morrow has a hospital connected with her boys’ school at Tavoy; 
 Mrs. E. O. Stevens has done much in this line of work; most of our mis¬ 
 sionaries have some knowledge of materia medica , and there are small 
 hospital attachments at many of our schools. 
 
 One of the missionaries of the Union recently gave it as his opinion that 
 education must hold the foremost place in future missionary efforts, if they 
 are not to be as “ water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up.” 
 Many years ago, the native preacher, Sau qua-la, baptized six hundred 
 Karens at Toungoo, Burma, out of twelve hundred applicants ; but these 
 converts could not read the Bible, and, being unable to give a reason for the 
 faith that was in them, were proselyted by the Romanists and led away by 
 false teachers. The churches organized by Mr. Comstock in Arracan died 
 out when the missionaries were obliged to leave, largely for want of sys¬ 
 tematic education. The same danger, we are told, threatens the magnificent 
 work among the Telugus, unless the Baptists at home begin soon to realize 
 that “to whom much is given, of him also shall much be required.” With 
 the exception of Rangoon College and the theological institutions, the funds 
 
*5 
 
 for schools are furnished by the woman’s societies. Two of our school 
 buildings in Japan bear honored names : one, the Sarah Curtis Home, in 
 Tokyo, is a memorial of a lamented State Secretary of Maine; the other, in 
 process of erection at Yokohama, is to bi called the Mary L. Colby Home, 
 for our first President. 
 
 Our native Bible-women are an important feature of our work. We thank 
 God for the faithfulness of many of them, for their perseverance and for 
 their steadfastness under cruel persecutions. Some of those who are wives 
 of preachers have taken the entire course of theological training with their 
 husbands, that they may be more thoroughly equipped. Some in China 
 have suffered the agony of having their feet unbound, that they may carry 
 the glad tidings more swiftly. Many walk miles under a burning sun to 
 tell the good news, and patiently endure the abuse and contempt which is 
 their only return. Many cheerfully exchange comfort for poverty, and 
 many are beaten and reviled and cast out for the name of the Lord Jesus. 
 Truly, the work that has been wrought in these women is a glorious testi¬ 
 mony to the power of the Gospel. 
 
 We read that when the apostles returned from their first tour of preach¬ 
 ing, healing, and casting out devils, Christ, realizing the physical and mental 
 strain which such work imposes, said to them, “Come ye yourselves apait 
 into a desert place and rest awhile ” ; for, adds the narrator, “there were 
 many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” How 
 perfectly these words describe the circumstances of most of our mission¬ 
 aries : overwork, care by night and by day, no place really safe from intru¬ 
 sion, no hour which they can surely call their own. It is not strange that 
 at last nature protests, and the missionary hears that sentence which is to 
 her the death knell of her work : “You must go home at once.” Our ladies, 
 knowing by experience the value of even a week of summer vacation, bought 
 a tiny thatched cottage at Monmagon, near Tavoy, Burma, delightfully situ¬ 
 ated between the mountains and the sea, and costing about one tenth of the 
 sum that would be required to take one of these exhausted workers to 
 America and back again. In 1884, the cottage needing extensive repairs, 
 the Board decided to build, and erected a more commodious and convenient 
 house. Here brains tortured by the heat of the tropics are refreshed by de¬ 
 licious coolness. Here a woman, tired of the “many coming and going,” 
 with their constant drain upon the sympathies, may, as she picks up shells 
 on the fine beach a few steps from her door, fancy herself, as one of them 
 actually did, upon a desert island. On the one side are the mountains, to 
 remind them that, “as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the 
 
i6 
 
 Lord is round about his people ”; and on the other the ocean, to call to their 
 remembrance the promise that “the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the 
 earth as the waters cover the sea.” 
 
 We have sent representatives to Burma, India, Assam, China, Japan, and 
 Africa, and we have employed workers in three European countries. We 
 regret to say that, until the departure of Misses Young and Righter, in 1888, 
 we had never personally offered the Gospel to the millions of unhappy 
 women in China. “ What are these among so many ? ” May He who mul¬ 
 tiplied the loaves and fishes so add to the efficiency of the efforts of our 
 sisters that they may be able to give the bread of life to thousands. Our 
 first African mission was in Liberia, where for several years we supported 
 the widow of a native preacher in her work of evangelization. Of our noble 
 corps of missionaries upon the Congo, one is the fruit of the labors of the 
 Woman’s American Baptist Home Mission Society among the colored peo¬ 
 ple at the South. 
 
 We have grown familiar with the representation of “ Liberty Enlightening 
 the World,” — the gift of France to her sister republic. Are we equally 
 familiar with the obligation of the women of America to give the true light 
 to the women of France? We have in that country, since the death of 
 Madame Jaume, four Bible-workers, who carry on Sunday-schools, mothers’ 
 meetings, sewing-classes, and one evening school for shop girls. May we 
 not hope that those of us who visit Paris will spare a little time from the 
 fascinations of the Madeleine and Notre Dame to attend the chapels of our 
 own faith, and cheer the hearts of the toilers there? And will not those 
 who desire to aid the evangelization of France, remember that their own 
 denomination is doing a work there which should claim their first gifts? 
 
 That many of the Swedes who come to this country are Baptists, is due 
 to the success which has attended the labors of the Missionary Union in 
 their land, in which we have been happy to bear a part, through our earnest 
 workers, Misses Olssen and Askerlund. 
 
 Since its organization the Society has sent into the field 75 missionaries. 
 It is now supporting 56 missionaries and 91 Bible-women. It carries on 
 185 schools, containing 6,657 pupils. In 1890-91, 161 baptisms were reported. 
 During its first ten years $331,110.92 were raised, including donations to the 
 Home for Children of Missionaries. During the last ten years $612,549.99 
 have been received, making a total of $1,047,667.19. 
 
 As a matter of convenience, as well as for the sake of economy and 
 efficiency, it was determined from the first that the Society should act as a 
 branch of the Missionary Lfnion, with an individual work, rather than as an 
 
17 
 
 independent body with distinct interests. It was not desired that the 
 women in our churches should lessen their gifts to the Union, of whose 
 constituency they formed so large a part; but that they should lay aside at 
 least two cents a week, as an additional thank-offering, and an especial gift to 
 'their less fortunate sisters in heathen lands. It was believed that the work 
 of the older Society would be broadened and rendered more effective by 
 this step. The experience of the past twenty years has borne out this 
 expectation. A careful comparison of statistics proves that, on the whole, 
 funds have not, as some of our anxious brethren feared, been diverted from 
 the treasury of the Union to that of the Woman’s Society. On the other 
 hand, the Woman's Society has gradually shouldered the burden of the 
 school work; it has aided enterprises for which the overtaxed resources of the 
 Union were insufficient; it has assumed the support, in some cases, of the 
 widows of missionaries; it has erected a home for the children of mission¬ 
 aries, and a sanatarium for missionaries themselves ; it has laid the founda¬ 
 tions for the work of the future by instructing the young ; it has scattered 
 attractive missionary literature over the land; and it has done more, perhaps, 
 than any other agency, to arouse an intelligent interest in the general cause. 
 
 M Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his 
 friends.” Ten of our missionaries have in these twenty years laid down 
 their lives in the service. Of these, six were taken from their work when it 
 was but just begun. Miss M. C. Manning, sent out in 1874, assisted Mr. 
 and Mrs. Carpenter at Bassein, Burma; but injuries resulting from a fall 
 compelled her return in 1877, and two years later she was called to her 
 heavenly home. Miss Myra H. Stetson went to be associated with Miss 
 Haswellin Maulmein, Burma, in 1875. A fatal cold taken on the voyage, 
 a year’s struggle with disease, and she came back to die. Mrs. Dorothea 
 Estabrooks, the first married woman supported by our Society, was assigned 
 with her husband to the Eurasian work at Maulmein in 1875, and died in 
 1878. Mrs. Hattie Jewett Nichols, who rejoined her parents in India, the 
 land of her birth, in 1878, being soon left a widow, was adopted by the 
 Woman’s Society. She survived her husband, however, only a year, dying 
 in 1881. Miss Clara J. Bromley succeeded, at the cost of much effort and 
 self-denial, in educating herself to be a missionary ; but only four years after 
 her designation to Prome, Burma, she found that her life-work was over. 
 Miss Mary E, Rockwood’s labors among the Shans at Toungoo, Burma, 
 were still briefer; appointed in 1880, she died of fever in 1882. Shall we 
 call these precious lives wasted? Let those answer who knew Miss Man¬ 
 ning’s consecrated spirit, who noted Miss Stetson’s Christlike resignation, 
 
18 
 
 who were familiar with the characters of Mrs. Estabrooks and Mrs. Nichols, 
 who felt the sunny serenity with which brave Miss Bromley met trials 
 seemingly unendurable, and who have marked the traces of Miss Hock- 
 wood’s strong, sweet nature on the field which mourns her. 
 
 While these of whom we have spoken were not permitted to see the ripen¬ 
 ing of the seed they had sown, others tarried long and thrust the sickle deep 
 into the harvest. Mrs. jane M. Haswell spent nearly fifty years in Burma. 
 When in her seventieth year, she finished the revision of the Talign trans¬ 
 lation of the Scriptures, which Mr. Haswell, through her as amanuensis, 
 accomplished after he had become helpless. Whether we think of her as 
 establishing the school at Amherst, or as ministering to the exhausted 
 workers to whom her doors were always open, or as bending to catch from 
 the palsied lips of her husband the whispered words of the translation which 
 was to give the words of life to a neglected people, we are grateful that a 
 part of her half-century of service was passed under the auspices of our 
 Society. 
 
 Mrs. Rosa Adams Bailey, enthusiastic in her work, wise to plan, and en¬ 
 ergetic to carryout her plans, seemed indispensable to the Burman mission 
 at Zigon. In 1879, cholera broke out at her station, but Mrs. Bailey refused 
 to leave her people. When at last persuaded to do so, it was too late, and 
 she paid the penalty of an over-courageous spirit with her life. 
 
 It is with mingled feelings of admiration and of grief that we turn to the 
 work of Miss Lydia Evelyn Rathbun,—admiration for the noble qualities of 
 mind and character which made it possible, and grief that it was cut off by 
 an unnecessary sacrifice. Miss Rathbun was sent out in 1877 to the girls’ 
 school at Kemendine, Burma, which for six years had the benefit of her 
 unusual ability as a teacher. When Upper Burma was thrown open, she 
 was among the first to volunteer for pioneer labor, and was transferred to 
 Mandalay. Here she set about establishing a school for boys and girls ; 
 and, out of discouragements and difficulties well-nigh insurmountable, she 
 brought at length a well-organized, successful institution. It was said of 
 her that she left the impress of her strong character on everything that she 
 touched. Our Society erected a building for her, but nearly half the cost 
 was saved from her personal appropriations by the most rigid economy ; 
 “ and this economy,” she wrote, “I must continue till the end of the year.” 
 Alas ! over-exertion had already done its work, and the end of her self-denial 
 was nearer than she knew. In October, 1888, an attack of typhoid fever 
 brought this invaluable life to a close. Is there no touch of bitterness in 
 this story for us who have been “ at ease in Zion ” ? 
 
i9 
 
 Mrs. Jennie B. Kelley’s history is a record of heroism. Although when 
 converted she began at once to engage in all kinds of Christian work at 
 home, her constant prayer was, “ Lord, send me to the heathen ; ” but when 
 with her husband she sailed for the Shan Mission at Toungoo, Burma, some 
 whispered that the work of that fragile woman would be brief. We know 
 how Mr. Kelley was drowned a year after his arrival, and how, in two years 
 more, the widow, having buried two children, returned in broken health. 
 Was this God’s answer to the prayer of her life ? Perhaps, if she had 
 chosen to accept it as such. As soon as she was able she began a four- 
 years course in medicine, which was supplemented by a term at Newton 
 Theological Seminary; and in 1880 the Woman’s Society sent her back to 
 Burma. Becoming proficient in the Shan language, she gave the remainder 
 of her life to this people. Far from all white helpers she toiled on alone, 
 evangelizing, gathering schools, and dispensing medicines, till overtaken by 
 fatal disease. The erection of a house and a chapel was her cherished 
 plan. She stood by her post during months of terrible suffering, and not 
 till she had seen the bell hung in the chapel where she would never worship, 
 and the house completed which was to shelter the missionary who should 
 reap where she had sown, would she consent to leave. She entered into 
 rest in December, 1889. 
 
 When a worn-out soldier drops on the march, the ranks must close up. 
 When a standard-bearer falls in battle, another hand must snatch the colors 
 from the dust. There is scant time for tears while the destinies of nations 
 tremble in the balance. What is, then, the duty of the hour? As we look 
 backward, what lesson comes to us from the past ? As we face the future, 
 what obligation does it bear? My sisters, do we realize that those women 
 whom we have sent out to do battle with heathenism are our representa¬ 
 tives, that we are solemnly pledged to support them by our gifts, to encour¬ 
 age them by our sympathy, to uphold them by our prayers ? Regrets will 
 not restore to us the opportunities lost by our indifference, or the precious 
 lives sacrificed through our selfishness. When the angel troubles the 
 waters of opportunity, must our missionaries, crippled in resources and 
 without the sympathetic support of those at home, always see some other 
 denomination stepping down before them? The women in our churches 
 have the history of the next twenty years of this Society in their own hands. 
 They can make the record one of blessed achievement, or of bitter dis¬ 
 appointment. 
 
 “ Send forth thy sickle and reap, for the hour to reap is come ; for the 
 harvest of the earth is over-ripe.”