صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

them he showed a warmth and genuineness of affection which was extraordinary, as coming from one whose religion inculcates a by no means conciliatory spirit towards Christians. He is a man somewhat above the middle stature, much inclined to obesity, of a very pleasing countenance, and keen powers of observation. The Nupe, Hausa, Foulah, and Yoruba languages are equally familiar to him.

The usual preliminaries having been gone through, Mr. J. Crowther addressed the king on the subject of trade, and produced a few pieces of cloth, extremely beautiful, which he offered to the king, as the annual dash or present from the firm which he represented. The cloth was very much admired. The king thanked him again and again.

The Bishop followed, but before bringing out his presents, he introduced me in a formal speech, and told the king the object of my visit to his country. He was informed that I could read and speak the Arabic language, at which the king was greatly surprised. When he was further told that in order to do this I was sent to the East, and that I visited Egypt, and was two years in El Kuds (Jerusalem), more surprise was expressed. But the climax was reached when the Bishop said that I was a native of this part of Africa, as my father came from Ilorin, where also my grandmother died last year. The king stared. It provoked a smile to see the marks of astonishment standing out in bold relief on his ample brow. He seemed puzzled to understand what could have been my object in travelling so far to study the Arabic, being a Christian. The Bishop gently insinuated that it would be well if his co-religionists could try to make themselves acquainted with our books, as we are trying to learn theirs. He replied mechanically," Gaskia, gaskia," "True, true."

Seizing the opportunity, I produced my copy of the Koran, which he took and examined. That it might serve my purpose, I had had it interleaved, and had made my notes everywhere. The king wanted to know what my writing meant, and I explained everything to him. He requested the Bishop to stop his speech until he had sent for a young man whom he attached to himself as being a good Arabic scholar. There being none to satisfy him at Bida, he had requested his friend the Sultan of Kano to send him this young man, who could always read Arabic to and with him. He came, took up the copy of the Koran, and read on without any hesitation. His reading was clear, his accent pure, and intonation very pleasing. I complimented him with some Arabic phrases, and the king turned round and asked in the same language whether I had understood the reading of his chaplain; I replied in the affirmative. He was very much pleased. As a specimen of my handwriting, I produced an extract from the Gospel of St. Luke, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God," &c. The king read the extract fluently, and in a manner which convinced me that he understood its meaning. I was greatly impressed by what I perceived of his intellectual powers.

The Bishop then continued and ended his general remarks, and brought out one by one the presents which he had chosen for the king. A large arm-chair, made at Kipo Hill, by one of our carpenters, of the wood of the shea-butter tree, was the first present. The king thought that the chair was brought from England. He could hardly credit the fact that it was made so very near his own door. After that, half-a-dozen pieces of brick, burnt at the same Kipo Hill, were also produced, and the Bishop tried to show that it was possible for the king and his people to have improved dwelling-houses if they wished, and also told him that we should be quite ready to teach carpentry and brickmaking to any number of children that the king might send to our establishment. Before we left him he promised to send three.

The next thing brought out was a globe. The relative position of places was pointed out. Russia and Turkey were shown, and the Bishop gave some information about the war between the two countries. The king said it was all true, and that it confirmed a report which he had received from the Sultan of Kano, who had heard particulars by the overland route.

Last of all came two splendid rolls of carpet, which exhausted the Bishop's store. I have no language to express the exquisite satisfaction evinced by the king throughout the proceedings.

[N.B.-Mr. Johnson's complete narrative has been just published in a separate form, and can be obtained at the Church Missionary House, price Sixpence.]

A NEGRO ON WAR.

[ocr errors]

KING of Yoruba, called Afonja, who reigned about the commencement of this century, once said, "If I could find out the town where war had its origin, I would call upon my kingdom to help me to make war upon and destroy it, so as to prevent any future wars" One of his chiefs replied, Your Majesty, the town is not unknown, but you cannot venture to attack it." The king declared that he would. The chief said, "The town is the human heart." The king was much moved by the truth of the reply, and, in acknowledgment, gave him a handsome tobe (long garment).-(From the Journal of Mr. W. S. Allen, Native Catechist, Ibadan, March 13th, 1872.)

NEWS FROM HAKODATE.

ROM this remotest station in the far East, on the island of Yezo,
the northernmost of the four large islands forming the empire of
Japan, the Rev. J. Williams writes to the Editor as follows:-
Hakodate, 13th Nov., 1877.

It may interest some of the readers of the GLEANER to whom the writer is personally known to hear something about the progress of the Master's work in this far-off place-far-off indeed, for we could not go much further. Indeed, if we were to try to do so we should actually be drawing nearer to England, instead of going further away. But we have no desire to go further away from, or to draw nearer to, dear friends in the old country. Not that we have forgotten them or love them less than in days of yore, but as our work lies here, and we are very happy in it, we have no wish to leave it. Besides, we feel that we can never go beyond the reach of the prayers of Christian friends in England.

Mrs. Williams and myself have both been sticking close to the language, and though we have much, very much, to learn, yet we do not feel so hopelessly at sea as when Mr. Dening left us; we have been struggling on as best we could, and, blessed be God, He has not left us without the help of His presence and the comfort of His Spirit. I made my first attempt at preaching on the 26th August, at our preaching place, and I must say the hearers were very attentive, and tried hard to make out what I was saying. There were some Buddhist priests present, who seemed to be more amused than edified by my remarks. I really do not wonder at it. You will be pleased to hear that within twelve months of my arrival here I have been permitted to admit three Japanese to the visible Church of Christ by the sacred rite of baptism. One of these was a woman, married to the English constable attached to the Consulate. The other two were young men of the Samurai class, one of whom is a soldier belonging to the detachment stationed in the fort here; and the other had been a soldier, but, being in a consumption, obtained his discharge a short time back. These all received baptism at our evening service on Sunday, Oct. 28th. The soldier took the name of Daniel, his late comrade that of Joseph, and Mrs. Lawrence (the constable's wife) that of Rebecca.

Daniel is not ashamed to confess himself a Christian, often talking to his fellow-soldiers, and trying to persuade them to become soldiers of the cross. He frequently induces some of them to come with him to class, and on Sunday marched in at the head of six in full uniform.

Joseph, I think, cannot live long, and he knows it. I asked him a few days ago if he were afraid to die, and he replied that now he had become a disciple of Christ he did not fear death, as heaven lay before him, and if he lived long he might only be a burden to himself and to others.

Let me request the prayers of the readers of the GLEANER for these and the other converts in connection with our Mission, and for us also, that our lives and teaching may be blessed to the edification of those who do believe, and to the conversion of many who do not believe.

A YOUTHFUL NATIVE EVANGELIST IN TINNEVELLY. HE Rev. Henry Schaffter, Principal of the C.M.S. English Institution at Palamcottah (a high class school for both Christian and heathen Tamil boys), gives a bright account of one of the

students:

A boy called Pakkiam, of the Matriculation class, and another in a lower class, feeling their spirits "stirred within them," set off on a preaching tour of five months. They travelled over a large part of South Travancore, receiving no pay, preaching two or three times a day, either in company with the L.M.S. catechists, several of whom gave them food, or else by themselves. Pakkiam I ought not to call a boy; though very young-looking he is more than twenty. He left soon after my arrival, and on making inquiries I found that he had gone against his parents' wishes, who desired him to try for the coming Matriculation. On his return I spoke to him, and asked him if he thought it right to go away contrary to his parents' wishes. His happy face was lit up with such a smile when he answered, "Sir, we ought to obey God rather than man." On further inquiries, I found that he was not a disobedient son, and his parents were not displeased, but welcomed him home gladly when they knew what he had been occupied in. He is very anxious to devote himself to preaching the Gospel, and rather reluctantly took a post under the Government dresser, where, as a kind of apprentice, he learns medicine and surgery, receiving Rs. 7 per mensem from Government, and will then go up at their charges to the Medical College for further training. What decided him to take it was my saying that doctors could speak to men of their souls more easily than, and quite as effectively as, catechists or clergy, and that our dear Saviour was a good Physician. He is a Vellala. Often do I hear his clear voice on Sundays and weekdays addressing groups of students in their rooms or on the play-ground, on the love of Christ and the duties of Christians. If God spare his life, and he be preserved from spiritual pride, he will grow up to be a most earnest preacher, and a pillar in the Native Church.

[graphic][graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small]

PICTURES FROM EAST AFRICA.

NOTES BY THE REV. W. S. PRICE.

No. 9.-The Old Mission House at Mombasa. OME thirty years ago, shortly after Krapf and Rebmann, the zealous pioneers of missionary enterprise in East Africa, had entered upon their arduous task, they obtained from the kindly disposed Seyed Said, the then ruler, and father of the present ruler of Zanzibar, the free grant of an old house in the town and island of Mombasa. It was a great matter for the missionaries in those trying days to be thus openly recognised by the ruling power, for they had to gain a footing and carry on their work amongst a fanatical people, who thought little of the sanctity of human life, especially in the case of foreigners coming to propagate a new religion: but who could venture to lift a hand against the men whom the king delighted to honor? Independently of this, the house was a great boon to the missionaries. It afforded them a valuable base of operations in the chief town on the coast, and a sanatorium to which the fever-stricken brethren might, when needful, escape from the malarious mists of the Wanika country, and woo back health and strength under the more genial influences of sea-air.

Rebmann made Kisulutini his home and centre of work, but every year he found it convenient to spend a few months in the Mission House at Mombasa.

It possesses some historical interest, having belonged originally to the Mazrui princes, the former rulers of Mombasa, who were dispossessed by Seyed Said; whilst in 1825 it was occupied by Captain Owen's party, when that officer, at the invitation of the Mazruis, took possession of the town and fort of Mombasa in the name of the King of England, and when for twelve months, pending instructions from home, the British ensign floated over the old stronghold.

Having, like all East African buildings, a weak constitution, it presently fell into decay, and so on our arrival in 1874 we found the Rev. T. Sparshott busily occupied in its restoration. He had no easy task. It was making brick without straw. Materials were hard to get, and skilled labour harder still. For the latter he had to depend upon a few rude craftsmen, such as he could muster from among the slave population of Mombasa. By dint, however, of close personal supervision, which in East Africa means very hard work, he had made good progress, but circumstances obliged him to leave the work in an unfinished state.

Our first picture is from a photograph, representing the condition of the house and its surroundings when it came into our hands, and when my wife and I took up our abode in it in July, 1875. Inside and outside were much on a par, and it would have gone sorely against the conscience of the most sanguine auctioneer to describe it as "a desirable residence." In completing the restoration we had the advantage of skilled artizans from Bombay, under the direction of two English mechanics, and owing to their combined efforts the house, a few months later, had assumed the more respectable appearance which is shown in our second picture. It is now a tolerably commodious house, with no pretensions certainly to architectural beauty, yet presenting almost a grand appearance in contrast with the squalid Suahéli habitations by which it is surrounded. occupies a commanding site, and a stranger entering the beautiful

It

harbour has no difficulty in singling it out, as an unmistakable sign that some civilising Englishman has stolen a march upon him.

The head-quarters of the Mission are now at Frere Town, on the mainland, a mile and a half from Mombasa, but the old house must on no account be given up. The time is coming when it will be found to be an invaluable possession, and when it will be occupied by some zealous missionary, who will find an open door and ample scope for evangelistic efforts among the Arabs and Suahélis of the town and island of Mombasa. "The Lord hasten it in His time."

BISHOP CROWTHER: HIS LIFE AND WORK. IV. THE MISSIONARY TO HIS OWN COUNTRYMEN. ATURDAY, December 2nd, 1843, was a great day in Sierra Leone. On that day the "black man who had been actually crowned a minister" disembarked from the ship which had conveyed him from England, welcomed by hundreds of those who, like himself, were liberated and evangelised slaves. The next day, Sunday, the Reverend Samuel Crowther preached to an immense congregation of Negro Christians, from the words, "And yet there is room," and afterwards administered the Lord's Supper to a large number of communicants. That evening he penned these words :

Dec. 3rd.-Preached my first sermon in Africa. . . . The novelty of seeing a Native clergyman performing Divine service excited a very great interest among all who were present. But the question, Who maketh thee to differ? filled me with shame and confusion of face. It pleases the Disposer of all hearts to give me favour in the sight of the people. Wherever I go they welcome me as a messenger of Christ.

[ocr errors]

The English language, as we have before observed, had necessarily become the vulgar tongue" of a colony recruited from scores of different tribes having no common speech. It was taught in the schools and used in the churches; and the children born to the liberated Africans grew up an English-speaking race. In English, therefore, Samuel Crowther's first sermon was preached; but he had not forgotten his native Yoruba, and, soon after his arrival, he began a service in that language for those of the more recently rescued slaves whose vernacular it was. At the first service, at the conclusion of the blessing, the whole church rang with the cry of Ke oh sheh-" So let it be!" And every Tuesday evening a congregation of Yoruba people gathered round the black clergyman to "hear in their own tongue wherein they were born the wonderful works of God." But that mother-tongue was soon to become, for many years, the language of his life and work.

The Yoruba-speaking tribes, comprising a population as large as that of Scotland, had suffered more than any other from the West African Slave-trade. The whole country inland from what used to be called the Slave Coast had been devastated by the men-stealing wars. In the Egba territory alone three hundred towns had been destroyed, very much in the way described in our first chapter. About the time that little Adjai was kidnapped at Oshogun, the scattered Egbas began to gather together again. The refugees from no less than 145 ruined towns combined for mutual protection, and around a high rock called Olumo (a

picture of which we give at page 43) there sprang up a great city, four miles in diameter within the walls, and peopled with 100,000 souls, to which they gave the name of Abe-okuta, or Under-stone. In course of time the news reached Sierra Leone; and about 1838 some of the liberated Yoruba slaves began to make their way back to their native land. The first to go were of those who were still idolaters, and they went avowedly to get away from their Christian neighbours; but some of the latter soon followed, and a regular trade sprang up between Sierra Leone and Badagry, then the port of the Yoruba country. The Christian emigrants (if we may so term those who were really going home) petitioned that a missionary might be sent to Abeokuta to minister among them; and this petition was the origin of the Yoruba Mission.

A preliminary visit was paid to Abeokuta by Mr. Townsend, then a missionary of some years stand

ing at Sierra Leone, and afterwards a labourer in the Yoruba Mission for thirty-three years. He was warmly received by the principal chief, Shodeke, and returned to England with a most favourable report; and he and Mr. Gollmer, with Samuel Crowther, were commissioned to begin the new Mission.

On Dec. 18th, 1844, these three brethren, with their wives, and four Christian Yorubas as catechists, interpreters, and mechanics, sailed from Sierra Leone. Mrs. Crowther took with them her two youngest children, one of whom, Dandeson Coates Crowther, then fifteen months old, has just been appointed Archdeacon of the Lower Niger. The West African Steam Navigation Company's regular line of steamers, which now brings to Liverpool a weekly mail from all the stations along the coast, was then a thing unthought of; and it was regarded as a specially providential circumstance that an American vessel which could be engaged to convey the party was lying off Sierra Leone when they were ready to sail. And the voyage to Badagry, which can now be done in five or six days, took them a month. They landed Jan. 17th, 1845.

A serious disappointment met them at the outset. A day or two after their arrival, the news came that Shodeke, the friendly chief of Abeokuta, was dead; and although, soon afterwards, a kindly message came from his successor, Sagbua, the disturbed state of the country caused their detention at Badagry for eighteen long months. They were not idle, however. The Gospel was diligently preached to all within their reach, and Mr. Crowther's journals in particular are very

from that time to this, has always remained one of the most barren of mission fields.

A good part of Mr. Crowther's time at Badagry was occupied in translating the Scriptures into Yoruba; but of this we shall say more hereafter. At length the way was made clear for their proceeding to Abeokuta, and that in a very remarkable manner. A notorious slave-dealer at Porto Novo, named Domingo, finding his traffic in human flesh much impeded by the tribal wars, sent an embassy with £200 worth of presents to the Abeokuta chiefs, asking them to open the road, and promising to supply the best cloth, tobacco, and rum in exchange for slaves. But with this embassy the missionaries contrived to send a trusty messenger to Sagbua. Domingo's bait took; the road was opened, and a letter from Sagbua invited the "white men" to come up immediately. Thus the slave-dealer unwittingly cleared the way for the Gospel of liberty.

[graphic]

On August 3rd, 1816, Townsend and Crowther entered Abeokuta, amid the heartiest manifestations of welcome, not only from the Christian Sierra Leone people already settled there, but from the population generally, and particularly from Sagbua. At a formal reception the chiefs joined in expressing gratitude to the English for saving their enslaved countrymen, promised due attention to "the words brought to them," and volunteered that "all Abeokuta" should join in erecting any buildings required.

Before Mr. Crowther had been three weeks in Abeokuta, a most touching event occurred. On August 21st he met his mother, after a separation of a quarter of a century. The passage from his journal relating it has been printed many times, but it must not be omitted here:

Aug. 21.-The text for this day, in the Christian Almanack, is, Thou art the helper of the fatherless. I have never felt the force of this text more than I did this day, as I have to relate that my mother, from whom I was torn away about five and twenty years ago, came with my brother in quest of me. When she saw me she trembled. She could not believe her own eyes. We grasped one another, looking at each other with silence and great astonishment: big tears rolled down her emaciated cheeks. A great number of people soon came together. She trembled as she held me by the hand, and called me by the familiar names by which I well remembered I used to be called by my grandmother, who has since died in slavery. We could not say much, but sat still, and cast now and then an affectionate look at one another -a look which violence and oppression have long checked-an affection which had nearly been extinguished by the long space of twenty-five years. My two sisters, who were captured with us, are both with my mother, who takes care of them and her grandchildren in a small town not far from hence, called Abàkà. Thus unsought for-after all search for me had failed-God has brought us together again, and turned our sorrow into joy.

ONE OF THE YORUBA CHIEFS (AKASHE OF OSHIELLE) WHEN THE

MISSION WAS BEGUN.

interesting. One of the first steps taken was to visit a war-camp of the Abeokuta chiefs not far from the coast; and on January 30th Crowther delivered in their presence his first evangelistic address in the Yoruba country, basing his appeal to them on St. Paul's sermon at Athens. In his efforts for the good of the Badagry people, he showed his usual practical good sense by teaching them to cultivate farms and gardens, and within twelve months extensive plantations were the result. Sir T. F. Buxton (then lately dead) had given him money to spend for the material improvement of the Africans; and with it he gave away in the first year 150 prizes to successful cultivators. He also taught them to use a corn-mill, which he had purchased in England out of the same fund. The people soon learned the difference between the slave-dealers and the missionaries, but no immediate spiritual fruits appeared; and Badagry, though occupied

Afala-for that was her name-had been in slavery herself more than once, though not "exported"; and her two daughters had redeemed her. She had long since given up all hope of ever seeing her son Adjai again. Soon after the meeting, the daughters, with their husbands and four children, were made slaves-their town, Abàkà, being destroyed by a hostile tribe; and now Samuel Crowther had the happiness of ransoming his two sisters, one brother-in-law (the other died in bondage), and four little nieces. His mother was placed under Mr. Townsend's Christian instructions; and she became one of the first-fruits of the

Abeokuta Mission, being baptized, after due probation, February 6th, 1848, by the name of Hannah, the mother of Samuel. That aged mother is still alive.

OUTLINE MISSIONARY LESSONS.

For the Use of Sunday School Teachers.

[The GLEANER having been adopted as a localised Parochial Magazine for several of the churches at Cambridge, a request was received a short time ago, signed by nine of the Cambridge clergy, for a series of sketches of missionary lessons and addresses for occasional use in Sunday-schools. Arrangements have been made accordingly to give some from time to time. The following is designed as an entire lesson. Others of shorter length will follow, as outline addresses.]

I. THE BESIEGED CITY.

2 Kings vi. 24—33; vii.

BESIEGED city-Sebastopol, Paris, Plevna-what has it to fear? (1) Enemy outside; (2) Famine inside.

In Scripture several sieges mentioned: Jericho (Josh. vi. 1), Abel (2 Sam. xx. 15), Rabbah (2 Sam. xi. Ì, xii. 26-29), Samaria (2 Kings xvii. 5), Jerusalem (2 Kings xxiv. 1-3). Great siege of Jerusalem predicted (Deut. xxviii. 49-57). Look at one siege, an earlier one of Samaria (2 Kings vi. 24-33).

I. THINK OF THE PEOPLE IN SAMARIA.

(a) They were ready to perish. How? Strong walls-brave soldiers to guard them-Syrians could not get in. No, but nothing to eat-all gone glad to eat things not fit to eat-could not even get these without paying great price. Imagine the thin, pale faces, the sinking hearts. [Picture out.] Plenty of food outside? Yes, but if went out to get it, Syrians kill. See chap. vii. 3, 4-if stay in must die, if go out must die. (b) God had made a way to save them. Look at those four lepers going out in the dusk-whither ?-why? What do they find? Empty camp -tents all there, horses, asses, but not one soldier-and food and money in abundance! [Picture out.] How was that? Ver. 6, 7--" the Lord's doing" (Ps. cxviii. 23). Enemy scattered-food for the starving—a full salvation!

(c) But they knew it not. Had not God told them? Yes, He had, and they would not believe it, ver. 1, 2. And there they were, terrified, anxious, dying, when there was nothing to fear, and plenty to eat.

(d) At last those who found it out told the rest. Early in the morning a knocking at the gate-see what followed, ver. 9-16. Why did those lepers come and tell? How selfish and wicked if they had not! See what they thought, ver. 9-"We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace." So they came, and saved a whole city. II. THINK OF THE PEOPLE IN HEATHEN LANDS NOW. Multitudes in Africa, India, China, &c, like the people in Samaria, only misery far greater, danger far greater.

1. They are ready to perish. (a) Starving. Not bodies, but souls. What mean? Soul miserable, never satisfied, never happy. They try [illust.-" Cry from Yoruba Town," GLEANER, Nov., 1877, p. 129; Hindu faquir, p. 26 of last number]; but all in vain. Soul can't get peace that way. [Illust.-Could you live on grass, like sheep and cattle? Your body different, needs other food. So with soul.] (b) Beset by foes-the devil and his angels. Satan tries hard to hinder their getting food for soul. See 1 Thess. ii. 18-" We would have come to you, even I Paul, once and again, but Satan hindered us."

2. God has made a way to save them. (a) From starvation. Jesus the Bread of God, to give life unto the world, John vi. 33, 47-51. This Bread does satisfy, ver. 35. [Illust.-Story of J- at Osaka, GLEANER, June, 1877, p. 68; Last words of Legaic, Juvenile Instructor, 1877, p. 138.] Can we afford to buy it? Isa. lv. 1-" without money and without price.' (b) From enemy. Jesus came "to destroy works of devil," 1 John iii. 8; Heb. ii. 14.

3. But they know it not. Millions never heard name of Jesus, e.g., most of the half-million who died in Indian Famine last year; almost all of those Stanley passed in crossing Africa. [Illust.-Old priest in China, just looked forward to "place of punishment, like other people," Juvenile Instructor, 1877, p. 110.]

4. Who shall tell them? It must be those who know: do you know? But you can't go now-perhaps never-then send others-missionaries. How? Money wanted. What does it cost to go to ? [name place] -how much more to China !-9,000 miles! Yet a farthing from every child in England would pay for fifty going.

But perhaps when told, they won't believe-like people in Samaria. Quite true-missionaries often disappointed. Yet some do believe [illust. -Old Santal, Juvenile Instructor, 1877, p. 166]; and we must go on crying, "O taste, and see that the Lord is good!

[ocr errors]

EPITOME OF MISSIONARY NEWS.

The C.M.S. is receiving the special gifts of its friends towards the relief of the sufferers by the terrible famine in North China. The fund will be administered by the Revs. W. H. Collins and W. Brereton, of Peking.

The Rev. C. C. Fenn and Mr. E. Hutchinson, as representatives of the C.M S., attended the funeral of the eminent Scotch missionary, Dr. Duff, at Edinburgh, on February 18th.

The Rev. Arthur Lewis, B.A., late Scholar of Queen's College, Oxford, has offered himself to the Society for missionary work in the Punjab, and has been accepted.

The Rev. H. P. Parker, B.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge, has offered himself to the Society, and has been appointed Joint Secretary to the Calcutta Corresponding Committee, to assist at the Old Church in that city.

The Rev. T. P. Hughes, of Peshawar, is in England for six months, but returns to India (D.V.) in the autumn.

The Rev. W. T. Satthianâdan, Native Pastor of Trinity Church, has been invited by the Committee to visit this country. He will be accompanied by Mrs. Satthianâdan. We give their portraits on another page.

Captain Russell, having been very ill after his wife's death at Frere Town, has returned to Europe. Mr. J. R. Streeter has taken his place as Lay Superintendent.

On New Year's Day the Bishop of Calcutta ordained Mr. Katwari Lall, late a student at the Lahore Divinity College, to the pastorate of the Native congregation at Agra.

The Rev. W. Clark, of Ceylon, has come home to confer with the Committee on some of the questions still pending in that Mission; and his health being much impaired, he will remain in England for the present. Since January 1st the following missionaries have sailed for their respective stations:-the Revs. T. R. Wade and H. D. Williamson, for North India; Rev. A. H. Arden, for the Telugu Mission; Rev. S. Coles, for Ceylon; Rev. W. Dening, for Japan; Mr. J. R. Streeter, for East Africa. We regret to announce the death of another of the C.M.S. Native clergy, the Rev. T. B. Macaulay of Lagos. He was born in Sierra Leone, received part of his education in England, became a teacher at Abeokuta in the early days of the Yoruba Mission, and was ordained there by Bishop Vidal of Sierra Leone in 1854. In 1859 he established the Lagos Grammar School, which he conducted with ability and success for nineteen years. He died of small-pox on January 17th. His widow is a daughter of Bishop Crowther.

A reinforcement for the Nyanza Mission is just starting for East Africa, consisting of Mr. G. Sneath, a teacher and carpenter, Mr. C. Stokes, a lay evangelist, and Mr. W. S. Penrose, an engine-fitter. Mr. Sneath went out last year, but was sent home by Dr. Robb invalided, and was wrecked en route in the European off Ushant. He now returns to Africa with renewed health and undiminished zeal.

At the end of the year Mr. Mackay, and the young carpenter associated with him, Mr. Tytherleigh, were engaged in driving a train of bullock-carts up to Mpwapwa, by the rough road constructed by Mr. Mackay in the summer. Heavy rains, however, were much obstructing their progress. The party to be stationed at Mpwapwa, consisting of Dr. Baxter, Mr. Last, Mr. Copplestone, and Mr. Henry, were also on the way. Bishop Crowther's steamer, the Henry Venn, after leaving Falmouth, was forced to put back into that port by stress of weather. H.M.S. gunboat Forester, Captain Dennis, which has been appointed to the West Coast of Africa, had also taken refuge in Falmouth Harbour; and she has been instructed by the Admiralty to accompany the Henry Venn, which is a light craft to brave Atlantic gales, and see her safe to her destination. Bishop Russell has sent an interesting account of the first meeting, in February, 1877, of the Ningpo Native Church Council, which was attended by himself as chairman, two English missionaries, four Chinese clergy, four catechists, and twelve lay representatives. The Council has already a capital sum of 1,000 dollars in hand, from Native contributions, for Church purposes.

On October 11th Bishop Russell dedicated a new church at Shaou-hing, and on November 30th one at Ningpo. There are now nine C.M.S. regular churches, seating about 150 persons each, in the Cheh-kiang Province, viz., four at Ningpo, one at Ż-ky'i, one at Kwun-hoe-we, two at Shaou-hing, and one at Hang-chow; also twenty preaching chapels or rooms, holding 50 persons each.

The Rev. Jani Alli has opened his hostel or home for Christian students at Bombay, on a small scale, for a beginning, but with every prospect of enlarged usefulness in the future.

Messrs. Seeley have just published for the C.M.S. The Story of the Cheh-Kiang Mission, by the Rev. A. E. Moule, uniform with The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission,

The following pamphlets, price 6d. each, have just been published by the C.M.S:-The Victoria Nyanza Mission, a short history of the Mission to the present time; A Journey up the Niger, by Archdeacon Henry Johnson; and A Plea for the Hill-Tribes of India.

[ocr errors]

THE CHURCH MISSIONARY GLEANER.

MARTYRS FOR AFRICA.

MAY, 1878.

"Men that have hazarded their lives for the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ."-Acts xv. 26.

"What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter." -St. John xiii. 7.

"Neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee."2 Chron. xx. 12.

AST Africa and Central Africa, like West Africa, are not to be won for Christ without the sacrifice of precious lives. Within a few months of Dr. Krapf's first landing on the coast thirty-four years ago, the burial of his wife consecrated the soil, and the solitary widower wrote home that "as the victories of the Church are gained in stepping over the graves of her members, that lonely grave was a token of her being summoned to the evangelisation of Africa." And within the past three years, since Mr. Price went to Mombasa, we have six times been called to mourn the loss of brethren and sisters in the East Africa and Victoria Nyanza Missions. In the former, D. S. Remington, Mrs. Streeter, Mrs. Russell; in the latter, James Robertson, Dr. John Smith, and now George Shergold Smith and Thomas O'Neill.

On March 19th the following telegram was received :

[ocr errors]

General. There is no longer room for a lingering hope that our dear brethren may be yet alive. The Great Master in His mysterious wisdom has called them to Himself. To them death was gain. They have received a crown of glory which fadeth not away.

But what of the Mission? The C.M.S. Committee have deeply felt the need of Divine guidance. "Perplexed" they have indeed been, like St. Paul; but, like him, "not in despair." Not for one moment could the idea be entertained of abandoning the enterprise. On the contrary, the graves of our brethren must, as Dr. Krapf says, be the Church's stepping-stones in carrying the banner of Christ into the heart of Africa. steps to be now taken have been matter for most serious consideration. As we write, early in April, no decisive plans have yet been adopted. But the first thing to be done is to communicate with Mr. Wilson, who is now alone in the heart of Africa, though safe, we trust, under Mtesa's protection.

But the

When the telegram came, and before the above particulars were received, three men, Messrs. Sneath, Stokes, and Penrose, were on the point of sailing to reinforce Mr. Mackay, who is still not far from the coast. They had to leave before the mail could arrive, and it was not thought right to keep them back. We cannot better indicate the feelings and spirit of the Committee

"Letters from Governor of Unyanyembe report Smith and than by giving an extract from the valedictory address delivered O'Neill murdered. Mackay awaits orders."

The mail arrived on April 1st, but the letters addressed to the Society contain but little information. Dr. Kirk, however, H.M. Consul-General at Zanzibar, has communicated further details in a dispatch to the Foreign Office, from which the following particulars are gathered.

It will be remembered that when Lieutenant Smith and Mr. Wilson went across the Lake to Uganda, Mr. O'Neill remained on the Island of Ukerewe to finish the boats and complete the preparations for a final removal. In August, Lieutenant Smith, having left Mr. Wilson with King Mtesa, returned to Ukerewe; and on October 14th, the date of our last letters, he and Mr. O'Neill were nearly ready to leave. It now appears that when they were about to sail, Lukongeh, the king of Ukerewe, made a claim on account of the wood which had been used to complete the dhow, and, to satisfy him, they left some of their goods behind, in pledge. They then proceeded to Kagei, on the mainland, to fetch the stores, &c., which had been left there in June; but the dhow was wrecked there, and, delaying no longer, they started across the Lake for Uganda in the Daisy. The winds being contrary, they seem to have turned back to Ukerewe, where they found the dispute about the dhow still pending between Lukongeh and the Arab, Songoro, who had sold it to them.

Apprehending danger, Songoro asked Lieutenant Smith to let the Daisy take his women and children to a neighbouring island for safety; and this unfortunately seems to have been regarded by the people of Ukerewe as a signal of war. On the morning of Dec. 7th, they attacked both Lieutenant Smith's men and Songoro's party. The fight, it is said, lasted till the afterThe fight, it is said, lasted till the afternoon, when the ammunition being entirely exhausted, the natives rushed in and murdered them with their spears. The whole party, whites, Arabs, and all their followers, save three men who escaped into the brushwood, were killed. Next day the Daisy returned from the other island, when the three men who had hidden themselves got away in her, and so escaped to Kagei. They attempted to recover the bodies of Smith, O'Neill, and Songoro, which were seen lying on the shore, but failed to do so. Such is the story as communicated to the British Consul

to them :

When the Committee first undertook the Nyanza Mission, it was with a deep sense of the responsibility they were incurring. The consciousness was at that time very present with them that it would be contrary to all precedent in the history of Christian Missions if such a result were achieved as the planting of the Gospel in the heart of Africa without an expenditure of precious lives. From the beginning it has always proved true that "except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone." And the present undertaking has proved no exception to this rule of the kingdom of God.

There are some few who would advocate a surrender of the Nyanza Mission as a useless waste of life and treasure. But such is not the mind of this Committee-such, they feel sure, is not the mind of the great body of the Society throughout the country-such, they are persuaded, is not the mind of Christ Himself.

The things that have happened, whatever they be, the Committee

regard not as indications that God would have them abandon the enterprise, but rather as intended to try the foundations of their faith; to put to the test the spirit of self-sacrifice; to carry home the conviction that the same hardihood, the same courage, the same faith is needed now, and must be forthcoming now, as was exhibited in the saints and martyrs of old. . . .

The Committee trust you have fully counted the cost of the undertaking in which you are to take your part. If you are minded to go forth for life or death, whichever God may appoint, see to it that your faith and hope are fixed on God Himself. It is an honour that any noble heart might covet, to be the first to step forward to take the place of our fallen brethren, if so be they have fallen. Go forward, then, humbly yet confidently. Go forward with a sense of the nearness to you of God and eternity, earnestly desiring that self may be crucified, Christ alone live in you, and Christ be glorified in you; earnestly desiring to be deaf to human praise, and to seek the honour that cometh from God only.

It is impossible not to be conscious of a cloud over our spirits to-dayyet is it a cloud which is "big with blessing"; and you, dear brethren, shall find it so, if it is the means of keeping you nearer to God, and of causing you step by step to hear His voice saying to you, "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee, yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness."

If only you have grace to rest upon those "I wills" of the great Jehovah, assuredly, whatever befal you, you shall make your way prosperous, and you shall have good success.

Much, very much, might be said upon the heavy loss the Mission has sustained by the death of our two brethren; much in the expression of sympathy for Lieutenant Smith's family, and for Mr. O'Neill's bereaved wife and children; much of the

« السابقةمتابعة »