138 THE LOO-CHOO ISLES. heart, also, that, now that the light has come to New Zealand, we should carry it to Chatham's Island, New Caledonia, and our brothers in all the islands round, who are yet very dark, and fight like we did before. My heart is dark for them: it longs to send Maories there to teach them. Four years I have been wishing it, but New Zealand is very poor: we have not been able to do it. Now I have come to England. England is rich. Perhaps English people will help us. It is not my work, only the work of God. I will give plenty of land, plenty of food, plenty of wood. Will not you be kind to give money to buy clothes, plates, knives, all things, for the young men who learn, to make it like an English college; and will you ask all the good people who love the work of God to give money to that work in New Zealand? When I heard from my dear father, Mr. Childe, that you had been kind to give me a schoolmaster, to teach my young men, my heart was very happy indeed. I love you very much. You are the Committee who sent the first Missionaries to teach us. All the Maories love you too. That is why I wish you to be the nursing father to my college. Do not forget me or my people, my dear fathers in Christ. Let us, the children of the fardistant land, be taken care of by you for Christ; for your God is our God, your Father our Father. The God of England is the God of New Zealand and all the world. Pray for me also, my dear brothers in Christ, that when I go back I may be strong to teach my people. My heart does not stay among the good things of England. Every day, every hour, it goes up to God first, and then down to New Zealand. My body lives in England, but my heart still lives in New Zealand. And yet I think, when I go back to New Zealand, while my body lives there my heart will remain in England, with my dear, good friends in Christ here, whom I love very much indeed in the Lord. My heart will go up to God in prayer for them, and then I hope my prayer will come down in blessing upon my friends in England. I will tell my people also to pray for them to our God. And now, my dear fathers in Christ, good bye. I thank you again for all your love in taking care of the souls of my people in New Zealand, and of my body while I have been in your land. Soon I am going back to home. God bless you all. Good bye. You pray for me: I will pray for you. You will not see my face again. My eyes will see But we shall meet again in our home in heaven. you no more. THE LOO-CHOO ISLES. THE Loo-Choo group consists of about thirty-six islands, lying off the coast of China, between Formosa and Japan. They are generally insignificant in size, the largest of them being only about fifty miles long by from twelve to fifteen broad. They have been alternately under the power of China and Japan, and at present appear to be tributary to the latter kingdom. Fanned by sea breezes, which preserve them from the extremes of heat and cold, watered by numerous streams, which rise from the elevated land in the interior, the great Loo-Choo is delicious in climate and fruitful in soil. The orange and the lime, the banyan of India, and the fir of Norway, THE LOO-CHOO ISLES. 139 alike flourish there. Agriculture, after the Chinese fashion, is carefully carried on-rice and sweet potatos, the principal food of the inhabitants, being the chief objects of culture. The Loo-Chooans are to a certain extent a civilized people, as indeed would be supposed from their appearance. We give below an engraving of a priest and a gentleman, in the usual dresses worn by these classes. The gentleman wears a loose flowing robe, with very wide sleeves, tied round the middle by a belt or girdle, suspended to which is a tobacco-pouch, the pipe being in his hand. He also carries a fan, as do all classes of the people. On his feet are sandals. The hair is shaved off the crown, but the bare place is concealed by the knot being brought over it. The beard and moustache are allowed to grow, but kept neat and smooth. The priests, on the contrary, shave both the face and head, and go barefoot. The robe is also somewhat shorter, and much less free and flowing, and is confined round the waist simply by a string drawn through it. It does not seem that the priests are held in any respect by the people. 140 THE LOO-CHOO ISLES. These islands were visited by captains Maxwell and Basil Hall, in the "Alceste" and "Lyra," in 1816. The British officers and people were on that occasion treated with much kindness by the natives, whose gentleness and amiability produced a very lively impression in their favour. Human nature presents itself in very different aspects: sometimes it assumes a fierce and sanguinary aspect, while in other instances it is clothed with a mild and inoffensive aspect; and some there have been who have thought that races of the latter cast of character would be found most accessible to gospel truth, and most disposed to receive it. But it has been found that the principle of estrangement from God, and the indisposition to the doctrines of grace, are as strong in the naturally amiable person as in those of more rugged and repulsive character; that the mild Loo-Chooan can become a persecutor; and that the same power is required to the conversion of one man as of another, namely, the power of God; for, as the Saviour expressly declares, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." The Loo-Chooans, and their kind hospitality, were not forgotten by their English guests; and years afterwards, when some of them were brought to know the value of a Saviour, they resolved, with the blessing of God, to commence a Christian Mission. Accordingly, Dr. Bettelheim, a converted Jew, who had received a medical education-the first, and, as yet, the only Protestant Missionary who has been stationed in this group-reached this new Mission-field in April 1846. The language of the people is strange and difficult, its chief part being Japanese, with a mixture of Chinese; but in this he was enabled to make such progress as to give a public address to the people in November 1846. On this occasion he appears to have been heard with much attention, particularly when speaking of the nothingness of idols, and introducing the words of David-"They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not." A few days after, he preached to the people again, in the presence of some Popish Missionaries who had reached these islands before him. Besides this, he diligently plied his medical art to win the good opinion of the natives. The rulers now became jealous, and set themselves to oppose this new thing, devising various ways of preventing the Missionary from preaching and the people from hearing the truth. They became increasingly irritated against him; so much so, that a high Chinese functionary solicited the governor of Hong Kong to have him removed, as his life was in danger; and in 1848 it was reported that he had been murdered. This, however, was not the case. Although more than once in perilous circumstances, he has been preserved uninjured, and has been enabled to go on preaching and teaching to this day. Nor has his labour been in vain; and one there is in particular to whom it has been given even to suffer for the sake of Jesus. The following is a brief account of Satchi-Hama, the first martyr of Loo-choo THE LOO-CHOO ISLES. 141 The Loo-chooans had built guard huts at the front and back of Dr. Bettelheim's house, with a view of keeping a watch on his proceedings. These huts he claimed as a part of his residence, into which he was entitled to come and put things whenever he pleased. So he kept, amongst other things, books printed in the Chinese language by Drs. Ball, Medhurst, Gutzlaff, and others; and the guards stationed there received regular instruction, each with his Testament in his hand. Nor have these instructions been in vain. Satchi-Hama, who was one of the guards, an intelligent young man of about twenty-two years, was discovered on November the 24th, 1850, by Dr. and Mrs. Bettelheim, who were out together on a Missionary excursion, confined in a dark prison, his feet in stocks, and corded to a heavy beam, so that he could not change his position. The prisoner called to them as they passed, and told them that he had been beaten repeatedly by order of the mandarins; the worst food was given him, and that gradually diminished; in fact, he was condemned to an ignominious and lingering death by beating and starvation, simply because he avowed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and refused to recant. He begged the aid and prayers of his Christian teachers, and also some books. The Missionary rejoiced to find Satchi-Hama a true and earnest believer in the Saviour; but was, of course, deeply grieved at his sufferings and the impossibility of doing any thing for him; for if any thing were attempted the case would only be made worse. He said it was his Father had bound him, and he would not rebel. On December the 29th they again managed to visit the prisoner, and found him much reduced in body, but the same in mind. He told them he was declared mad, and his cruel punishments were called remedies to effect his cure. The books and every thing else given him were taken away, as also every slip of paper on which he had written some Scripture sentences. He was forced to read the books of the Confucian religion. On January the 26th, 1851, Dr. and Mrs. Bettelheim again made their way to the prison, but the martyr was not there. His step-father said he had been sent to the north of the island on account of illness. On being urged to send him some books brought by the Missionary, the reply was, "Those books were declared the cause of his madness: how can I dare accept them?" As there was nothing to be lost then, Dr. Bettelheim next day wrote a respectful letter to the mandarins, urgently requesting immediate permission to see the convert. No answer was returned. On March the 13th they heard of the martyr's death, and that it had been hastened by tortures alleged to be cures for his madness. May his blood be the seed from which a church of Christ may spring forth in LooChoo! And we learn that even already there are some appearances of it. In consequence of this cruelty the Missionary presented a petition to the British government, praying for protection, and H. M. S. "Sphynx" reached the islands in February of the present year, bearing a letter from the British minister for foreign affairs, Lord Palmerston, to the regent of the island, who, with his ministers, received it in state. It has also been recently visited by the Bishop of Victoria, and a narrative of this will shortly issue from the press. 142 ENCOURAGING TIDINGS FROM NINGPO. May the Word of the Lord have "free course and be glorified" amongst the people of Loo-Choo! www ENCOURAGING TIDINGS FROM NINGPO. THE Rev. R. D. Jackson, having been recently transferred from Fuh-chau to Ningpo, has given us, in the following letter, dated July 7, 1852, his first impressions on arriving at his new Station. The hopeful appearances in connexion with Missionary work which presented themselves to him in the midst of that heathen city, were such as led him, like Paul of old, to "thank God, and take courage." May they prove in like manner encouraging to us, who are so far removed from our brethren and their work, that we may pray more earnestly for them and the little flock which God has given them, and by every means in our power endeavour to help forward the salvation of the heathen. I arrived at Ningpo from Shanghae on the 19th of April last, and took up my residence in the house recently erected for Mr. Cobbold, and now tenanted by Mr. Gough. Here I had the happiness, as also at Mr. Russell's house, to find many Chinese attending morning and evening family service; at Mr. Russell's, from 12 to 20 in the evening, including servants and teachers; at Mr. Gough's, from 20 to 25 or 30. Many of these are very regular in attendance, and eight or nine are under instruction as candidates for baptism. I also found two day-schools in active operation, containing about 50 or 55 boys in regular attendance, and the numbers are only limited through the want of means and ability to carry out extended operations. The boys are sharp, clever, and intelligent, and in mental capacity not inferior to any in our own land. The two chapels are also well attended; but the Jing-tih-dông is best attended, in consequence of the favourable position in which it has been erected. During the Sundays I have been present at the chapels, at the one there has been an average attendance of from 100 to 150 adults; at the other of from 60 to 100; and these congregations have not, during the time of service, been so fluctuating as in general, in China, is the case. It has now been my privilege to visit all the ports which are open to foreigners in China, and mix and converse freely with my Missionary brethren of various denominations; but at no Station have I heard or seen such tokens of the divine goodness displayed as have been manifested here, and especially to our own Mission; and the causes to which, under God, I would attribute this blessing are traceable to our living amongst the people, to our houses being opened to them freely for morning and evening prayer, and at other times when they may choose to call upon us. Our brethren Russell and Gough are also able to speak the language with considerable fluency. Of the eight or nine who are now under instruction as candidates for baptism, and to whom I have above alluded, four will (D.v.) be admitted into the fellowship of Christ's visible church by baptism on Sunday the 25th inst. They are a father and two sons, the one seventeen, the other fifteen years of age. Both the boys are scholars in the school connected with the Jing-tih-dông. The father is a basketmaker by |