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+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75800 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+ TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
+
+ Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
+
+ Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.
+
+
+
+
+NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION ILLUSTRATED.
+
+JOHN G. PATON,
+
+MISSIONARY TO THE NEW HEBRIDES.
+
+AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
+
+EDITED BY HIS BROTHER.
+
+WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D.
+
+Two vols. in box, 12mo, cloth, gilt top net $2.00.
+
+
+Ministerial Commendation.
+
+“I have just laid down the most robust and the most fascinating piece
+of autobiography that I have met with in many a day.... John G. Paton
+was made of the same stuff with Livingstone.”—_Theodore L. Cuyler, D.D._
+
+“I consider it unsurpassed in missionary biography. In the whole course
+of my extensive reading on these topics, a more stimulating, inspiring,
+and every way first-class book has not fallen into my hands. Everybody
+ought to read it.”—_Arthur T. Pierson, D.D._
+
+
+Missionary Praise.
+
+“I have never read a romance that was half so thrilling.”—_Lucius C.
+Smith, Guanajuato, Mexico._
+
+“I have never read a more inspiring biography.”—_Thomas C. Winn,
+Yokohama, Japan._
+
+“The Lord’s work will not go back while there are such men as he in the
+church.”—_James A. Heal, Sing Kong, Cheh Kiang, China._
+
+“I think I have never had greater pleasure in reading any book.”—_R.
+Thackswell, Dehra, North India._
+
+
+Press Notices.
+
+“Perhaps the most important addition for many years to the library of
+missionary literature is the autobiography of John G. Paton.”—_The
+Christian Advocate._
+
+“We commend to all who would advance the cause of Foreign Missions
+this remarkable autobiography. It stands with such books as those
+Dr. Livingstone gave the world, and shows to men that the heroes of
+the cross are not merely to be sought in past ages.”—_The Christian
+Intelligencer._
+
+
+Fleming H. Revell Company,
+
+ { NEW YORK, 30 Union Square, E.
+ { CHICAGO, 148 & 150 Madison Street.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MISSION HOUSE AT ANIWA.]
+
+
+
+
+ JOHN G. PATON,
+
+ MISSIONARY TO THE
+
+ NEW HEBRIDES.
+
+ An Autobiography.
+
+ EDITED BY HIS BROTHER.
+
+ _SECOND PART._
+
+ New Illustrated Edition.
+
+ FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
+
+ PUBLISHERS
+ NEW YORK CHICAGO
+ 30 UNION SQUARE, EAST. 148-150 MADISON STREET.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
+
+BY ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D.
+
+
+The avidity with which Part I. of Mr. Paton’s remarkable life-story
+was received by the public in England has been no surprise. Before
+this second part was issued from the press, three thousand copies were
+already sold; and the entire edition of five thousand was so soon
+exhausted that it has been impossible to cope with the demand.
+
+We have no hesitation in pronouncing this second part the most
+fascinating narrative of missionary adventure and heroism and success
+that we have ever met. This volume abounds in poetry and pathos,
+dramatic incident and thrilling experience, lit up by the golden rays
+of a delicate and unique humor. It reminds one of a varied landscape
+with bold mountains and modest valleys, where snow-crowned summits look
+down on summer gardens; where cascades fall into quiet streams, and
+where all the marvels of light and shade at once relieve and diversify
+the scene. The twenty-two miles’ gallop through the Australian Bush
+on the back of Garibaldi, which made the inexperienced rider drunk
+with excitement and fatigue; the Aniwan woman who, judging clothes an
+evidence of a new heart, approved her decided conversion by coming into
+chapel having her person grotesquely adorned with every article of male
+attire which she could beg or borrow, may illustrate the comical side
+of this charming story. The three years of progress among cannibals, in
+laying foundations of Christian families, schools, churches, and even
+social order, may serve as one of the greatest vindications, through
+all history, of that Gospel which is still the power of God and the
+wisdom of God unto salvation.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+It is a true joy to me, that I am enabled to place Part Second of my
+brother’s Autobiography in the hands of the Public without undue delay.
+
+The amount of interesting and precious material, entrusted to me to be
+re-written and prepared for the Press, has, by its very abundance and
+variety, landed me in the greatest perplexity. Amidst all the toil and
+anxiety of producing such a book, my only painful experience has been
+the necessity of cutting out page after page, every whit as beautiful
+and valuable as any of the pages for which room has been found.
+
+That observation applies very specially to the “Letters,” which
+constitute Chapter IX. These I verily regret to publish in mere
+fragments, instead of in their own rounded completeness.
+
+Two whole Chapters, as outlined by my brother, I am sorrowfully
+necessitated to omit, so that the Life-Story itself may not be too
+much enlarged or overloaded. The one refers to “The Kanaka, or Labour
+Traffic in the South Seas”; and the other to “Annexation, and the
+Future of the New Hebrides.” Both are of vital import among the Public
+Questions of the day; and, in the discussion of both, his position and
+opportunities have led him to take a not inconsiderable share. But the
+claims of what may more properly be regarded as the Personal Narrative
+were paramount; and the allotted space, within the limits of this
+volume, left me, for the present at least, no other choice.
+
+Readers would think me foolishly uplifted, if I indicated one-hundredth
+part of the chorus of approbation, that has reached me regarding Part
+First of this Autobiography. My best wish for the Second Volume is that
+it may be similarly welcomed; and that it may bring a special blessing
+to as many hearts in all quarters of the world. More than that I could
+not reasonably anticipate.
+
+ JAMES PATON,
+ _Editor_.
+
+ _Glasgow,
+ October, 1889._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ CHAPTER I.
+
+ _THE FLOATING OF THE DAYSPRING._
+
+ PAGE
+ Preliminary Note 1
+ Call for a Mission Ship 2
+ A Brutal Captain 3
+ Sun-Worshippers, or Slaves? 5
+ The Lights of Sydney 6
+ Thrown upon the Lord 7
+ Mr. Foss’s Open Door 8
+ Climbing into Pulpits 9
+ Shipping Company for Jesus 10
+ The Golden Shower 12
+ Wanted! More Missionaries 13
+ Commissioned to Scotland 14
+ Wayside Incidents of Australian Travel 16
+ Lost in the Bush 17
+ Sinking in the Swamp 21
+ Put through my Catechism 23
+ “Do for the Parson!” 24
+ Crossing the Colony on Novel Conditions 25
+ Pay-Day at a Squatter’s 29
+ Three Days in a Public House 31
+ A Meeting among the Diggers 35
+ Camping Out 37
+ A Squatter Rescued 39
+ John Gilpin’s Ride through the Bush 40
+
+
+ CHAPTER II.
+
+ _AMONG THE ABORIGINES._
+
+ A Fire-Water Festival 47
+ At Tea with the Aborigines 48
+ “Black Fellow all Gone!” 50
+ The Poison-Gift of Civilization 51
+ The “Scattering” of the Blacks 52
+ The “Brute-in-human-shape” Theory 54
+ The Testimony of Nora 55
+ Nathaniel Pepper and their “Gods” 57
+ Smooth Stone Idols 58
+ Rites and Ceremonies 59
+ “Too Much Devil-Devil” 60
+ The Quest for Idols 61
+ Visit to Nora in the Camp 63
+ Independent Testimonies 65
+ Nora’s own Letters 68
+ The Aborigines in Settlements 71
+
+
+ CHAPTER III.
+
+ _TO SCOTLAND AND BACK._
+
+ Dr. Inglis on the Mission Crisis 73
+ Casting Lots before the Lord 74
+ Struck by Lightning 75
+ A Peep at London 76
+ A Heavenly Welcome 77
+ The Moderator’s Chair 78
+ Reformed Presbyterian Church and Free Church 80
+ Tour through Scotland 82
+ A Frosted Foot 83
+ The Children’s Holy League 84
+ Missionary Volunteers 85
+ A God-provided Help-Mate 86
+ Farewell to the Old Family Altar 88
+ First Peep at the _Dayspring_ 90
+ The _Dayspring_ in a Dead-Lock 91
+ Tokens of Deliverance 93
+ The _John Williams_ and the _Dayspring_ 95
+ Australia’s Special Call 98
+
+
+ CHAPTER IV.
+
+ _CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES._
+
+ First of Missionary Duties 100
+ Maré and Noumea 101
+ The French in the Pacific 103
+ The _Curaçoa_ Affair 104
+ The “Gospel and Gunpowder” Cry 105
+ The Missionaries on their Defence 106
+ The Mission Synod’s Report 107
+ The Shelling of the Tannese Villages 109
+ Public Meeting and Presbytery 111
+ Fighting at Bay 114
+ Federal Union in Missions 115
+ A Fiery Furnace at Geelong 116
+ Results of Australian Tour 119
+ New Hebrides Mission Adopted by Colonies 120
+
+
+ CHAPTER V.
+
+ _SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA._
+
+ The _John Williams_ on the Reef 123
+ A Native’s Soliloquy 124
+ Nowar Pleading for Tanna 125
+ The White Shells of Nowar 126
+ The Island of Aniwa 127
+ First Landing on Aniwa 129
+ The Site of our New Home 130
+ “Me no Steal!” 131
+ House-Building for God 132
+ Native Expectations 135
+ _Tafigeitu_ or Sorcery 136
+ The Miracle of Speaking Wood 138
+ Perils through Superstition 139
+ The Mission Premises—a City of God 141
+ Builders and their Wages 142
+ Great Swimming Feat 144
+ Stronger than the “Gods” of Aniwa 145
+
+
+ CHAPTER VI.
+
+ _FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM._
+
+ Navalak and Nemeyan on Aniwa 149
+ Taia the “Orator” 150
+ The Two next Aneityumese Teachers 151
+ In the Arms of Murderers 152
+ Our First Aniwan Converts 153
+ Litsi Soré 153
+ Surrounded by Torches 155
+ Traditions of Creation, Fall, and Deluge 156
+ Infanticide and Wife-Murder 159
+ Last Heathen Dance 162
+ Nelwang’s Elopement 163
+ Yakin’s Bridal Attire 169
+ Christ-Spirit _versus_ War-Spirit 171
+ Heathenism in Death Grips 174
+ A Great Aniwan Palaver 175
+ The Sinking of the Well 176
+ Old Chiefs Sermon on “Rain from Below” 189
+ The Idols Cast Away 192
+ The New Social Order 194
+ Back of Heathenism Broken 196
+
+
+ CHAPTER VII.
+
+ _THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE._
+
+ My First Aniwan Book 198
+ The Power of Music 201
+ A Pair of Glass Eyes 202
+ Church Building for Jesus 203
+ The Hanging of the Bell 206
+ Patesa and his Bride 207
+ An Armed Embassage 210
+ Youwili’s Taboo 212
+ The Conversion of Youwili 216
+ The Tobacco Idol 218
+ First Communion on Aniwa 221
+ Our Village Day Schools 223
+ New Social Laws 225
+ A Sabbath Day’s Work on Aniwa 226
+ Our Week-Day Life 229
+ The Orphans and their Biscuits 231
+ The Wreck of the _Dayspring_ 233
+ God’s Own Finger Posts 234
+ “God’s Work our Guarantee” 235
+ Profane Swearers Rebuked 237
+ A Heavenly Vision 238
+ On Wing through New Zealand 239
+ Our Second _Dayspring_ 240
+
+
+ CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ _PEN PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS._
+
+ The Gospel in Living Capitals 241
+ “A Shower of Spears” 243
+ The Tannese Refugees 244
+ Pilgrimage and Death of Namakei 245
+ The Character of Naswai 250
+ Christianity and Cocoa-Nuts 254
+ Nerwa the Agnostic 255
+ Nerwa’s Beautiful Farewell 258
+ The Story of Ruwawa 260
+ Waiwai and his Wives 262
+ Nelwang and Kalangi 268
+ Mungaw and Litsi Soré 270
+ The Maddening of Mungaw 271
+ The Queen of Aniwa a Missionary 275
+ Surrender of Nasi to Jesus 277
+ Daylight Prayer Meeting on Aniwa 280
+ Candidates for Baptism 281
+ The Appeal and Testimony of Lamu 282
+
+
+ CHAPTER IX.
+
+ _LETTERS FROM ANIWA._
+
+ Editorial Preface 285
+ _Letter for 1867_ 286
+ Not Tanna but Aniwa 287
+ “Missi Paton _versus_ Teapots” 288
+ The Humour of Taia 288
+ Evening Village Prayers 289
+ “Make Him _Bokis_ sing” 289
+ My Sewing Class 289
+ “That No Gammon” 290
+ “Talk Biritania” 290
+ The Marriage of Kahi 291
+ _Letter for 1869_ 292
+ First Communicants on Aniwa 292
+ Mungaw and the Mission Boys 293
+ The Blessing of the _Dayspring_ 294
+ _Letter for 1874_ 294
+ Home to Aniwa 295
+ “Taking Possession” 296
+ “Another Soul Committed to our Care” 296
+ Hutshi and her Lover 297
+ Six Missionaries on Aniwa 298
+ _Letter for 1875_ 299
+ Missi Paton and “Joseph,” and the Tannese 300
+ A Tropical Hurricane 301
+ The Disgrace and Sale of Hutshi 303
+ Taia Baited by Nalihi 308
+ Earthquakes and Tidal Waves 310
+ Farewells 311
+ _Letter for 1878_ 312
+ A Madman at Large 312
+ The Passing of Yawaci 324
+ Madness and Death of Mungaw 325
+ Our Native Elders 334
+ Music on the Waters 335
+ A Wicked Vow 335
+ _Letter for 1879_ 336
+ New Year’s Day on Aniwa 336
+ A Miserable Slaver 337
+ Litsi Married Again 337
+ Mission Synod on Erromanga 338
+ Tragic and Holy Memories 339
+ Daylight at last on Tanna 340
+ Pigs in Galore 341
+ Arrowroot for Jehovah 341
+
+
+ CHAPTER X.
+
+ _LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN._
+
+ “Wanted! A Steam Auxiliary” 342
+ Commissioned Home to Britain 343
+ English Presbyterian Synod 344
+ United Presbyterian Synod 345
+ The “Veto” from the Sydney Board 345
+ Dr. Hood Wilson 347
+ The Free Church Assembly 348
+ Neutrality of Foreign Mission Committee 349
+ The Church of Scotland 350
+ At Holyrood and at Alva House 351
+ Irish Presbyterian Assembly 352
+ The Pan-Presbyterian Council of 1884 353
+ My “Plan of Campaign” 354
+ Old Ireland’s Response 355
+ Operations in Scotland 356
+ Seventy Letters in a Day 358
+ Beautiful Type of Merchant 359
+ My First £100 at Dundee 360
+ Peculiar Gifts and Offerings 361
+ Approach to London 364
+ Mildmay’s Open Door 366
+ Largest Single Donation 367
+ Personal Memories of London 368
+ Garden Party at Mr. Spurgeon’s 370
+ The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 371
+ Three New Missionaries 372
+ “Restitution Money” 375
+ The Farewell at Mildmay 376
+ Welcome to Victoria 377
+ The Dream of my Life 378
+ The New Mission Ship Delayed 378
+ Welcome back to Aniwa 379
+ Parting Testimony 380
+ Fare-thee-well 382
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+ MISSION HOUSE AT ANIWA _Frontispiece_.
+
+ “ALL THE NATIVES WITHIN REACH ASSEMBLED” _To face p._ 129
+
+ I WANT YOU TO TRAIN LITSI FOR JESUS ” 153
+
+ “OH, MY NEW EYES” ” 203
+
+ “I’LL KNOCK THE TEVIL OUT OF HIM” ” 211
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_THE FLOATING OF THE “DAYSPRING.”_
+
+ Preliminary Note.—Call for a Mission Ship.—A Brutal
+ Captain.—Sun-Worshippers or Slaves?—The Lights of Sydney.—Thrown
+ upon the Lord.—Mr. Foss’s Open Door.—Climbing into
+ Pulpits.—Shipping Company for Jesus.—The Golden Shower.—Wanted
+ More Missionaries.—Commissioned to Scotland.—Wayside Incidents of
+ Australian Travel.—Lost in the Bush.—Sinking in the Swamp.—Put
+ Through My Catechism.—“Do for the Parson!”—Crossing the Colony
+ on Novel Conditions.—Pay-Day at a Squatter’s.—Three Days in a
+ Public House.—A Meeting among the Diggers.—Camping Out.—A Squatter
+ Rescued.—John Gilpin’s Ride through the Bush.
+
+
+Strange yet gratifying news has reached me. Part First of my
+Autobiography has met with a wonderful response from the Public. Within
+three weeks of its appearance, a second edition has been called for.
+
+At the Editor’s urgent appeal, therefore, and assured also that the
+finger of God is guiding me, I take up my pen to write Part Second,
+feeling that I am bound to do so by my promise at the close of the
+first volume, and by loyalty to the Lord, who seems thus to use my
+humble life-story to promote the glory of His Name both at home and
+abroad.
+
+But, oh, surely never any man was called upon to write a book amid
+such distracting circumstances! Ceaselessly travelling from Church
+to Church and from town to town from one end of Australia to the
+other,—addressing a meeting almost every evening of the week, often
+also during the afternoons, and several Congregations and Sabbath
+Schools every Lord’s Day,—the following pages are the outpourings of
+a heart saturated with the subject, but bereft of all opportunity for
+quiet thought or studious hours.
+
+Having thus far done my part, I leave all else to the careful
+Editorship of my dear brother, whose loving hand will put everything
+into shape for the public eyes. This only I can sincerely testify,—The
+Lord has called for it, and I lay on His altar the only gift that I
+have to offer, believing that He will both accept it and use it as He
+sees to be for the best.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Rescued from Tanna by the _Blue Bell_ in the Spring of 1862, I was
+landed on Aneityum, leaving behind me all that I owned on Earth, save
+the clothes upon my back, my precious Bible, and a few translations
+that I had made from it into the Tannese language. The Missionaries
+on Aneityum—Messrs. Geddie and Copeland—united, after repeated
+deliberations, in urging me to go to Australia in the interests of
+our Mission. In this appeal they were joined now by my companions
+in tribulation, Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson. A Mission Ship was sorely
+needed—was absolutely required, to prevent the needless sacrifice of
+devoted lives. More Missionaries were called for, and must somehow be
+brought into the field, unless the hope of claiming these fair Islands
+for Jesus was to be for ever abandoned.
+
+With unaffected reluctance, I at last felt constrained to undertake
+this unwelcome but apparently inevitable task. It meant the leaving of
+my dear Islanders for a season; but it embraced within it the hope of
+returning to them again, with perhaps every power of blessing amongst
+them tenfold increased.
+
+A _Sandal-wooder_, then lying at Aneityum, was to sail in a few days
+direct for Sydney. My passage was secured for £10. And, as if to make
+me realize how bare the Lord had stripped me in my late trials, the
+first thing that occupied me on board was the making with my own hands,
+from a piece of cloth obtained on Aneityum, another shirt for the
+voyage, to change with that which I wore—the only one that had been
+left to me.
+
+The Captain proved to be a profane and brutal fellow. He professed
+to be a Roman Catholic, but he was typical of the coarse and godless
+Traders in those Seas. If he had exerted himself to make the voyage
+disagreeable, and even disgusting, he could scarcely have had better
+success. He frequently fought with the mate and steward, and his
+tyrannical bearing made every one wretched. He and his Native wife
+(a Heathen—but not more so than himself!) occupied the Cabin. I had
+to sleep on boards, without a bed, in a place where they stored the
+sandal-wood; and never could take off my clothes by night or day during
+that voyage of nearly fourteen hundred miles. The vessel was miserably
+supplied. Any food I got was scarcely eatable, and was sent to me in a
+plate on deck. There I spent all my time, except at night or in heavy
+rain, when I crept in and lay upon my planks.
+
+The poor steward often came rushing on deck from the cabin, with blood
+streaming from his face, struck by the passionate Captain with whatever
+came to his hand. Yet he appeared to be a smart and obliging lad, and
+I pitied him exceedingly. Seeing no hope for redress, I took careful
+notes of his shocking treatment, and resolved to bide my time for
+exposing this base and cruel inhumanity.
+
+On reaching Sydney, the steward was dismissed without wages,—the
+Captain having accused him to his employers of refusing to work on
+board. He found me out, and told me, weeping, that he cared more for
+his poor aged mother than himself, as his pay was all her support. On
+my advice, he informed the Captain that he would summon him, and that
+I had consented to appear in Court and produce my notes of what I had
+seen, day by day, on the voyage. He was immediately paid in full, and
+came to me big with gratitude.
+
+One hesitates to dwell further on this miserable episode. But I must
+relate how my heart bled for some poor Islanders also, whom that
+Captain had on board. They knew not a word of English, and no one in
+the vessel knew a sound of their language. They were made to work, and
+to understand what was expected of them, only by hard knocks and blows,
+being pushed and pulled hither and thither. They were kept quite naked
+on the voyage up; but, when nearing Sydney, each received two yards
+of calico to be twisted as a kilt around his loins. A most pathetic
+spectacle it was to watch these poor Natives,—when they had leisure to
+sit on deck,—gazing, gazing, intently and imploringly, upon the face
+of the Sun! This they did every day, and at all hours, and I wept much
+to look on them, and not be able to tell them of the Son of God, the
+Light of the world, for I knew no word of their language. Perhaps they
+were worshippers of the Sun; and perhaps, amid all their misery, oh,
+_perhaps_, some ray of truth from the great Father of Lights may have
+streamed into those darkened souls!
+
+When we arrived at Sydney, the Inspecting Officer of the Government,
+coming on board, asked how these Islanders came to be there. The
+Captain impudently replied that they were “passengers.” No further
+question was put. No other evidence was sought. Yet all who knew
+anything of our South-Sea Island Traders were perfectly aware that
+the moral certainty was that these Natives were there practically as
+Slaves. They would be privately disposed of by the Captain to the
+highest bidder; and that, forsooth, is to be called the _Labour_
+Traffic.
+
+About midnight we came to anchor in Sydney harbour. The Captain
+condescended to say, “I will not drive you ashore to-night, but you
+must be off by daylight.” His orders might have been spared. It was too
+great a relief to get away from such coarseness and profanity.
+
+As we came to anchorage, I anxiously paced the deck, gazing towards the
+gas-lighted city, and pleading with God to open up my way, and give
+success in the work before me, on which the salvation of thousands
+of the Heathen might depend. Still I saw them perishing, still heard
+their wailing cry on the Islands behind me. I saw them groaning under
+blinding superstitions, and imbruing their hands in each other’s blood,
+and I felt as if crushed by the awful responsibility of my work and by
+the thought of all that hung upon its success or failure. But I felt
+also that there must be many of God’s dear people in Sydney who would
+sympathize with such work and help me, if only I could get access to
+them. At the same time, I knew not a soul in that great city; though I
+had a note of introduction to one person, which, as experience proved,
+I would have been better without.
+
+Unfortunately, I had not with me a copy of the Resolution of the
+Missionaries, commissioning me to plead their cause and to raise funds
+for the new Mission Ship. Again and again I had earnestly requested it,
+but the Clerk of the meeting, pressed by correspondence, or for some
+other reason, gave me instead that note of introduction, which proved
+more of a hindrance than a help in launching my work; except that it
+threw me more exclusively on the guidance of my Lord, and taught me to
+trust in Him, and in the resources He had given me, rather than in any
+human aid, from that day till the present hour.
+
+That friend, however, did his best. He kindly called with me on a
+number of Ministers and others. They heard my story, sympathized
+with me, shook hands, and wished me success; but, strangely enough,
+something “very special” prevented every one of them from giving
+me access to his pulpit or Sabbath School. At length, I felt so
+disappointed, so miserable, that I wished I had been in my grave with
+my dear departed and my brethren on the Islands who had fallen around
+me, in order that the work on which so much now appeared to depend
+might have been entrusted to some one better fitted to accomplish it.
+The heart seemed to keep repeating, “All these things are against thee.”
+
+Finding out at last the Rev. A. Buzacott, then retired, but formerly
+the successful and honoured representative of the London Missionary
+Society on Rarotonga, considerable light was let in upon the mysteries
+of my last week’s experiences. He informed me that the highly esteemed
+friend, who had kindly been introducing me all round, was at that
+moment immersed in a keen Newspaper war with Presbyterians and
+Independents. He had published statements and changes of view, which
+charged them with being unscriptural in belief and practice. They, of
+course, were rigorously defending themselves. This made it painfully
+manifest that, in order to succeed, I must strike out a new course for
+myself, and one clear from all local entanglement.
+
+Paying a fortnight in advance, I withdrew even from the lodging I had
+taken, and turned to the Lord more absolutely for guidance. He brought
+me into contact with good and generous-souled servants of His, the
+open-hearted Mr. and Mrs. Foss. Though entire strangers, they kindly
+invited me to be their guest while in Sydney, assuring me that I would
+meet with many Ministers and other Christians at their house who could
+help me in my work. God had opened the door; I entered with a grateful
+heart; they will not miss their recompence.
+
+A letter and appeal had been already printed on behalf of our Mission.
+I now re-cast and reprinted it, adding a postscript, and appending my
+own name and new address. This was widely circulated among Ministers
+and others engaged in Christian work; and by this means, and by letters
+in the Newspapers, I did everything in my power to make our Mission
+known. But one week had passed, and no response came. One Lord’s Day
+had gone by, and no pulpit had been opened to me. I was perplexed
+beyond measure, how to get access to Congregations and Sabbath Schools;
+though a Something deep in my soul assured me, that if once my lips
+were opened, the Word of the Lord would not return void.
+
+On my second Sabbath in Sydney, I wandered out with a great yearning at
+heart to get telling my message to any soul that would listen. It was
+the afternoon; and children were flocking into a Church that I passed.
+I followed them—that yearning growing stronger every moment. My God so
+ordered it, that I was guided thus to the Chalmers Presbyterian Church.
+The Minister, the Rev. Mr. McSkimming, addressed the children. At the
+close I went up and pleaded with him to allow me ten minutes to speak
+to them. After a little hesitation, and having consulted together,
+they gave me fifteen minutes. Becoming deeply interested, the good man
+invited me to preach to his Congregation in the evening. This was duly
+intimated in the Sabbath School; and thus my little boat was at last
+launched—surely by the hand of the dear Lord, with the help of His
+little children.
+
+The kindly Minister, now very deeply interested, offered to spend the
+next day in introducing me to his clerical brethren. For his sake, I
+was most cordially received by them all, but especially by Dr. Dunsmore
+Lang, who greatly helped me; and now access was granted me to almost
+every Church and Sabbath School, both Presbyterian and Independent.
+In Sabbath Schools, I got a collection in connection with my address,
+and distributed, with the sanction of Superintendents, Collecting
+Cards amongst the children, to be returned through the teachers within
+a specified date. In Congregations, I received for the Mission the
+surplus over and above the ordinary collection when I preached on
+Sabbaths, and the full collection at all week-night meetings for which
+I could arrange.
+
+I now appealed to a few of the most friendly Ministers to form
+themselves into an Honorary Committee of advice; and, at my earnest
+request, they got J. Goodlet, Esq., an excellent elder, to become
+Honorary Treasurer, and to take charge of all funds raised for the
+Mission Ship. For the Public knew nothing of me; but all knew my good
+Treasurer and these faithful Ministers, and had confidence in the
+work. They knew that every penny went direct to the Mission; and they
+saw that my one object was to promote God’s glory in the conversion
+of the Heathen. Our dear Lord Jesus thus opened up my way, and now I
+had invitations from more Schools and Congregations than I knew how to
+overtake—the response in money being also gratifying beyond almost all
+expectation.
+
+It was now that I began a little plan of interesting the children,
+that attracted them from the first, and has since had an amazing
+development. I made them shareholders in the new Mission Ship—each
+child receiving a printed form, in acknowledgment of the number of
+shares, at sixpence each, of which he was the owner. Thousands of
+these shares were taken out, were shown about amongst families, and
+were greatly prized. The Ship was to be their very own! They were to
+be a great Shipping Company for Jesus. In hundreds of homes, these
+receipt-forms have been preserved; and their owners, now in middle
+years, are training _their_ children of to-day to give their pennies to
+support the white-winged Angel of the Seas, that bears the Gospel and
+the Missionary to the Heathen Isles.
+
+Let no one think me ungrateful to my good Treasurer and his wife, to
+Dr. and Mrs. Moon, and to other dear friends who generously helped me,
+when I trace step by step how the Lord opened up my way. The Angel
+of His Presence went before me, and wonderfully moved His people to
+contribute in answer to my poor appeals. I had indeed to make all
+my own arrangements, and correspond regarding all engagements and
+details,—to me, always a slow and laborious writer, a very burdensome
+task. But it was all necessary in order to the fulfilment of the Lord’s
+purposes; and, to one who realizes that he is a fellow-labourer with
+Jesus, every yoke that He lays on becomes easy and every burden light.
+
+Having done all that could at that time be accomplished in New South
+Wales, and as rapidly as possible, my Committee gave me a Letter of
+Commendation to Victoria. But there I had no difficulty. The ministers
+had heard of our work in Sydney. They received me most cordially, and
+at my request formed themselves into a Committee of Advice. Our dear
+friend, James McBain, Esq., now Sir James, became Honorary Treasurer.
+All moneys from this Colony, raised by my pleading for the Ship,
+were entrusted to him; and, ultimately, the acknowledging of every
+individual sum cost much time and labour. Dr. Cairns, and many others
+now gone to their rest, along with several honoured Ministers yet
+living, formed my Committee. The Lord richly reward them all in that
+Day!
+
+As in New South Wales, I made all my own engagements, and arranged
+for Churches and Sabbath Schools as best I could. Few in the other
+Denominations of Victoria gave any help, but the Presbyterians rose
+to our appeal as with one heart. God moved them by one impulse; and
+Ministers, Superintendents, Teachers and Children heartily embraced the
+scheme as their own. I addressed three or four meetings every Sabbath,
+and one or more every week-day; and thus travelled over the length and
+breadth of Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. Wheresoever a few
+of the Lord’s people could be gathered together, thither I gladly went,
+and told the story of our Mission, setting forth its needs and claims.
+
+The contributions and collections were nearly all in very small sums.
+I recall only one exception,—a gift of £250 from the late Hon. G.
+F. Angus, South Australia, whose heart the Lord had touched. Yet
+gently and steadily the required money began to come pouring in; and
+my personal outlays were reduced to a minimum by the hospitality of
+Christian friends and their kindly conveying of me from place to
+place. For all this I felt deeply grateful; it saved money for the
+Lord’s work.
+
+Each of my Treasurers, to whom all contributions were sent direct, kept
+me duly posted as to sums received from time to time. The progress made
+soon led on to the resolution to aim at a Ship three times the size of
+that originally proposed. We set apart the sum of £3,000 as necessary
+for it; and I vowed, in my solitude, that if God sent an additional
+£800 within a given time, that would be my Gideon’s fleece, and would
+warrant me in going home to Scotland to secure more Missionaries
+for the Islands. By this time, I had heard of the death of my dear
+fellow-labourers, Mrs. Mathieson on Aneityum, and shortly thereafter
+Mr. Mathieson on Maré. I alone was now left to tell the story of the
+planting of the Standard on Tanna,—our Mission numbered then only four
+agents in the field,—and the thought arose, Why keep a Mission Vessel
+for so few? The resolution was, therefore, taken in God’s Name to get
+more Missionaries too. But this, as yet, was betwixt my own soul and
+the Lord.
+
+The work was unceasingly prosecuted. Meetings were urged upon me now
+from every quarter. Money flowed in so freely that, at the close of
+my tour, the fund had risen to £5,000, including special Donations of
+£300 for the support of Native Teachers. Many Sabbath Schools, and many
+ladies and gentlemen, had individually promised the sum of £5 yearly
+to keep a Native Teacher on one or other of the New Hebrides Islands.
+This happy custom prevails still, and is largely developed; the sum
+required being now £6 per annum at least—for which you may have your
+own personal representative toiling among the Heathen and telling them
+of Jesus.
+
+Returning to Melbourne, the whole matter was laid before my Committee.
+I reported how God had blessed the undertaking, and what sums were now
+in the hands of the several Treasurers, indicating also what larger
+hopes and plans had been put into my soul. Dear Dr. Cairns rose and
+said, “Sir, it is of the Lord. This whole enterprise is of God, and
+not of us. Go home, and He will give you more Missionaries for the
+Islands.” My ever-honoured friends, Dr. and Mrs. Inglis, had just
+returned to Melbourne from Britain, where they had been carrying the
+complete New Testament in Aneityumese through the press. Dr. Inglis was
+present at that meeting, and approved warmly of my going home for more
+Missionaries, especially as from want of time and opportunity he had
+not himself succeeded in getting any additions to our Missionary staff.
+
+Melbourne held a Farewell meeting. The Governor, Sir Henry Barkley,
+took the chair. The Hall was crowded; and the Governor’s sympathetic
+utterances arrested public attention and deepened the interest in
+our Mission. The fact was emphasized that this work, lying at their
+very doors in the Pacific Seas, had peculiar claims on the heart and
+conscience of Australia.
+
+Thence I hasted to Sydney, and reported myself also there. The New
+South Wales Committee gave their cordial approval to our larger plans.
+A Farewell was held there too; and the Governor, Sir John Young, took
+the chair. The meeting was a great success. His presence, and his
+excellent speech, again helped to fix the eyes of all Australians on
+the peculiar claims of the New Hebrides. This was _their_ work, more
+than that of any other people on the face of the Earth. The awakening
+of this consciousness, and intensifying it into a practical and burning
+faith, was a great and far-reaching achievement for Australia and for
+the Islanders. It is one of the purest joys of my life, that in this
+work I was honoured to have some share, along with many other dear
+servants of the Lord.
+
+Of the money which I had raised, £3,000 were sent to Nova Scotia, to
+pay for the building of our new Mission Ship, the _Dayspring_. The
+Church which began the Mission on the New Hebrides was granted the
+honour of building its first Mission Ship. The remainder was set apart
+to pay for the outfit and passage of additional Missionaries for the
+field, and I was commissioned to return home to Scotland in quest of
+them. Dr. Inglis wrote, in vindication of this enterprise, to the
+friends whom he had just left, “From first to last, Mr. Paton’s mission
+here has been a great success; and it has been followed up with such
+energy and promptitude in Nova Scotia, both in regard to the Ship and
+the Missionaries, that Mr. Paton’s pledge to the Australian Churches
+has been fully redeemed. The hand of the Lord has been very visible in
+the whole movement from beginning to end, and we trust He has yet great
+blessing in store for the long and deeply degraded Islanders.”
+
+Here let me turn aside from the current of Missionary toils, and record
+a few wayside incidents that marked some of my wanderings to and fro
+in connection with the Floating of the _Dayspring_. Travelling in the
+Colonies in 1862-63 was vastly less developed than it is to-day; and a
+few of my experiences then will for many reasons be not unwelcome to
+most readers of this book. Besides, these incidents, one and all, will
+be felt to have a vital connection with the main purpose of writing
+this Autobiography, namely, to show that the Finger of God is as
+visible still, to those who have eyes to see, as when the fire-cloud
+Pillar led His People through the wilderness.
+
+Twenty-six years ago, the roads of Australia, except those in and
+around the principal towns, were mere tracks over unfenced plains and
+hills, and on many of them packhorses only could be used in slushy
+weather. During long journeys through the bush, the traveller could
+find his road only by following the deep notches, gashed by friendly
+precursors into the larger trees, and all pointing in one direction.
+If he lost his way, he had to struggle back to the last indented tree,
+and try to interpret more correctly its pilgrim notch. Experienced
+bush-travellers seldom miss the path; yet many others, losing the
+track, have wandered round and round till they sank and died. For then,
+it was easy to walk thirty or forty miles, and see neither a person nor
+a house. The more intelligent do sometimes guide their steps by sun,
+moon, and stars, or by glimpses of mountain peaks or natural features
+on the far and high horizon, or by the needle of the compass; but the
+perils are not illusory, and occasionally the most experienced have
+miscalculated and perished.
+
+An intelligent gentleman, a sheep farmer, who knew the country well,
+once kindly volunteered to lift me in an out-of-the-way place, and
+drive me to a meeting at his Station. Having a long spell before us, we
+started at midday in a buggy drawn by a pair of splendid horses, in the
+hope of reaching our destination before dusk. He turned into the usual
+bush-track through the forests, saying,—
+
+“I know this road well; and we must drive steadily, as we have not a
+moment to lose.”
+
+Our conversation became absorbingly interesting. After we had driven
+about three hours, he remarked,—
+
+“We must soon emerge into the open plain.”
+
+I doubtfully replied, “Surely we cannot have turned back! These trees
+and bushes are wonderfully like those we passed at starting.”
+
+He laughed, and made me feel rather vexed that I had spoken, when he
+said, “I am too old a hand in the bush for that! I have gone this road
+many a time before.”
+
+But my courage immediately revived, for I got what appeared to me a
+glint of the roof of the Inn beyond the bush, from which we had started
+at noon, and I repeated, “I am certain we have wheeled, and are back at
+the beginning of our journey; but there comes a Chinaman; let us wait
+and inquire.”
+
+My dear friend learned, to his utter amazement, that he had erred. The
+bush-track was entered upon once more, and followed with painful care,
+as he murmured, half to himself, “Well, this beats all reckoning! I
+could have staked my life that this was impossible.”
+
+Turning to me, he said, with manifest grief, “Our meeting is done for!
+It will be midnight before we can arrive.”
+
+The sun was beginning to set, as we reached the thinly timbered ground.
+Ere dusk fell, he took his bearings with the greatest possible care.
+Beyond the wood, a vast plain stretched before us, where neither fence
+nor house was visible, far as the eye could reach. He drove steadily
+towards a far-distant point, which was in the direction of his home.
+At last we struck upon the wire fence that bounded his property. The
+horses were now getting badly fagged; and, in order to save them a
+long round-about drive, he lifted and laid low a portion of the fence,
+led his horses cautiously over it, and, leaving it to be re-erected
+by a servant next day, he started direct for the Station. That
+seemed a long journey too; but it was for him familiar ground; and
+through amongst great patriarchal trees here and there, and safely
+past dangerous water-holes, we swung steadily on, reached his home in
+safety, and had a joyous welcome. The household had by this time got
+into great excitement over our non-appearance. The expected meeting
+had, of course, been abandoned hours ago; and the people were all gone,
+wondering in their hearts “whereto this would grow!”
+
+At that time, in the depth of winter, the roads were often wrought
+into rivers of mire, and at many points almost impassable even for
+well-appointed conveyances. In connection therewith, I had one very
+perilous experience. I had to go from Clunes to a farm in the Learmouth
+district. The dear old Minister there, Mr. Downes, went with me to
+every place where a horse could be hired; but the owners positively
+refused—they would sell, but they would not hire, for the conveyance
+would be broken, and the horse would never return alive! Now, I was
+advertised to preach at Learmouth, and must somehow get over the nine
+miles that lay between. This would have been comparatively practicable,
+were it not that I carried with me an indispensable bag of “curios,”
+and a heavy bundle of clubs, arrows, dresses, etc., from the Islands,
+wherewith to illustrate my lectures and enforce my appeals. No one
+could be hired to carry my luggage, nor could I get it sent after me by
+coach on that particular way. Therefore, seeing no alternative opening
+in my path, I committed myself once more to the Lord, as in harder
+trials before, shouldered my bundle of clubs, lifted my heavy bag, and
+started off on foot. They urged me fervently to desist; but I heard a
+voice repeating, “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” There came
+back to me also the old adage that had in youthful difficulties spurred
+me on, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” And I thought that, with
+these two in his heart, a Scotchman would not be easily beaten.
+
+When I found the road wrought into mire, and dangerous, or impassable,
+I climbed the fence, and waded along in the ploughed fields—though they
+were nearly as bad. My bundle was changed from shoulder to shoulder,
+and my bag from hand to hand, till I became thoroughly tired of both.
+Pressing on, however, I arrived at a wayside Public House, where
+several roads met, and there I inquired the way to Learmouth, and how
+far it was. The Innkeeper, pointing, answered,—
+
+“This is the road. If you are on horseback, it might be three to four
+miles just now, as your horse is able to take it. If you are in a
+conveyance, with a good horse, it might be six miles. And if you are
+walking, it might be eight or ten miles, or even more.”
+
+I said, “I am walking. How many English miles is it to Mr. Baird’s
+farm?”
+
+He laughingly replied, “You will find it a long way indeed this dark
+night, considering the state of the road, fenced in on both sides so
+that you cannot get off.”
+
+I passed on, leaving my Job’s comforter; but a surly watch-dog got upon
+my track, and I had much difficulty in keeping it from biting me. Its
+attacks, renewed upon me again and again, had one good effect,—they
+stirred up my spirits and made me hasten on.
+
+Having persevered along the Learmouth road, I next met a company of men
+hastening on with a bundle of ropes. They were on their way to relieve
+a poor bullock, which by this time had almost disappeared, sinking in
+the mire on the public highway! They kindly pointed me to a light,
+visible through the dusk. That was the farm at which I was to stay, and
+they advised me to clear the fence, and make straight for that light,
+as the way was good.
+
+With thankful heart, I did so. The light was soon lost to me, but
+I walked steadily on in the direction thereof, to the best of my
+judgment. Immediately I began to feel the ground all floating under
+me. Then at every step I took, or tried to take, I sank deeper and
+deeper, till at last I durst not move either backward or forward. I
+was floundering in a deadly swamp. I called out again and again, and
+“coo-ee-d” with all my strength, but there came no reply. It grew
+extremely dark, while I kept praying to God for deliverance. About
+midnight, I heard two men conversing, apparently at no very great
+distance. I began “coo-ee-ing” again, but my strength was failing.
+Fortunately, the night was perfectly calm. The conversation ceased for
+a while; but I kept on crying for help. At length, I heard one voice
+remark to the other,—“Some one is in the swamp.” And then a question
+came, “Who’s there?”
+
+I answered, “A stranger. Oh, do help me!”
+
+Again a voice came through the darkness, “How did you get in there?”
+
+And I feebly replied, “I have lost my way.”
+
+I heard the one say to the other: “I will go and get him out, whoever
+he may be. We must not leave him there; he’ll be dead before the
+morning. As you pass by our door, tell my wife that I’m helping some
+poor creature out of the swamp, and will be home immediately.”
+
+He kept calling to me, and I answering his call through the darkness,
+till, not without peril, he managed to reach and aid me. Once I was
+safely dragged out, he got my bag in his hand and slung my clubs on
+his shoulder, and in a very short time landed me at the farm, dripping
+and dirty and cold. Had God not sent that man to save me, I must have
+perished there, as many others have similarly perished before. The
+farmer heartily welcomed me and kindly ministered to all my needs.
+Though not yet gone to rest, they had given up all hope of seeing me. I
+heard the kind servant say to his mistress,—
+
+“I don’t know where he came from, or how far he has carried his
+bundles; but I got him stuck fast in the swamp, and my shoulder is
+already sore from carrying his clubs!”
+
+A cup of warm tea restored me. The Lord gave me a sound and blessed
+sleep. I rose next morning wonderfully refreshed, though arms and
+shoulders were rather sore with the burdens of yesterday. I conducted
+three Services, and told the story of my Mission, not without comfort
+and blessing; and with gratifying results in money. The people gave
+liberally to the work.
+
+One day, after this, I was driving a long distance on the outside of
+a crowded coach. A grave and sensible-looking Scotchman sat next me.
+He had inquiringly marked me reading in silence, while all around were
+conversing on matters of common interest. At last, he queried,—“Are you
+a Minister?” I answered, “Yes.”
+
+“Where is your Church?”
+
+“I have no Church.”
+
+“Where are you placed?”
+
+“I am not placed in any charge now.”
+
+“Where is your home?”
+
+“I have no home.”
+
+“Where have you come from?”
+
+“The South Sea Islands.”
+
+“What are you doing in Australia?”
+
+“Pleading the cause of the Mission.”
+
+“Are you a Presbyterian?”
+
+“I am.”
+
+Having gone through this Catechism to his satisfaction, a most
+interesting and profitable conversation followed. When the time came
+for the payment of fares, nothing would please but that I must allow
+him to pay for me—some twenty-two shillings—which he did with all his
+heart, protesting,—
+
+“A joy to me, Sir, a great joy; I honour you for your work’s sake!”
+
+Thereafter, a Schoolmaster drove me a long distance across the country
+to Violet Town, where for the night we had to stay at an Inn. We had
+a taste of what Australian life really was, when the land was being
+broken in. A company of wild and reckless men were carousing there at
+the time, and our arrival was the signal for an outbreak of malicious
+mischief. A powerful fellow, who turned out to be a young Medical,
+rushed upon me as I left the conveyance, seized me by the throat, and
+shook me roughly, shouting,—
+
+“A parson, a parson! I will do for the parson!”
+
+Others with great difficulty relieved me from his grips, and dragged
+him away, cursing as if at his mortal enemy.
+
+After tea, we got into the only bedroom in the house, available for
+two. The Teacher and I locked ourselves in and barricaded the door,
+hearing in the next room a large party of drunken men gambling and
+roaring over their cards. By-and-by they quarrelled and fought; they
+smashed in and out of their room, and seemed to be murdering each
+other; every moment we expected our door to come crashing in, as they
+were thrown or lurched against it. Their very language made us tremble.
+One man in particular seemed to be badly abused; he shouted that they
+were robbing him of his money; and he groaned and cried for protection,
+all in vain. We spent a sleepless and most miserable night. At four in
+the morning I arose, and was glad to get away by the early coach. My
+friend also left in his own conveyance, and reached his home in safety.
+At that period, it was not only painful but dangerous for any decent
+traveller to stay at many of these wayside Inns, in the new and rough
+country. Every man lived and acted just as he pleased, doing that which
+was right in his own eyes; and Might was Right.
+
+After this, I made a Mission tour, in a somewhat mixed and original
+fashion, right across the Colony of Victoria, from Albury in New South
+Wales to Mount Gambier in South Australia. I conducted Mission Services
+almost every day, and three or more every Sabbath, besides visiting
+all Sunday Schools that could be touched on the way. When I reached a
+gold-digging or township, where I had been unable to get any one to
+announce a meeting, the first thing I did on arriving was to secure
+some Church or Hall, and, failing that, to fix on some suitable spot in
+the open air. Then, I was always able to hire some one to go round with
+the bell, and announce the meeting. Few will believe how large were
+the audiences in this way gathered together, and how very substantial
+was the help that thereby came to the Mission fund. Besides, I know
+that much good was done to many of those addressed; for I have always,
+to this hour, combined the Evangelist’s appeal with the Missionary’s
+story, in all public addresses, whether on Sabbath or other days. I
+tried to bring every soul to feel personal duty and responsibility to
+the Lord Jesus, for I knew that then they would rightly understand the
+claims of the Heathen.
+
+Wheresoever railway, steamboat, and coach were available, I always used
+them; but failing these, I hired, or was obliged to friends of Missions
+for driving me from place to place. On this tour, having reached
+a certain place, from which my way lay for many miles across the
+country where there was no public conveyance, I walked to the nearest
+squatter’s Station and frankly informed the owner how I was situated;
+that I could not hire, and that I would like to stay at his house all
+night, if he would kindly send me on in the morning by any sort of trap
+to the next Station on my list. He happened to be a good Christian
+and a Presbyterian, and gave me a right cordial welcome. A meeting of
+his servants was called, which I had the pleasure of addressing. Next
+morning, he gave me £20, and sent me forward with his own conveyance,
+telling me to retain it all day, if necessary.
+
+On reaching the next squatter’s Station, I found the master also at
+home, and said,—
+
+“I am a Missionary from the South Sea Islands. I am crossing Victoria
+to plead the cause of the Mission. I would like to rest here for an
+hour or two. Could you kindly send me on to the next Station by your
+conveyance? If not, I am to keep the last squatter’s buggy, until I
+reach it.”
+
+Looking with a queer smile at me, he replied,—“You propose a rather
+novel condition on which to rest at my house! My horses are so employed
+to-day, I fear that I may have difficulty in sending you on. But come
+in; both you and your horses need rest; and my wife will be glad to see
+you.”
+
+I immediately discovered that the good lady came from Glasgow, from a
+street in which I had lodged when a student at the Free Normal College.
+I even knew some of her friends. All the places of her youthful
+associations were equally familiar to me. We launched out into deeply
+interesting conversation, which finally led up, of course, to the story
+of our Mission.
+
+The gentleman, by this time, had so far been won, that he slipped out
+and sent my conveyance and horses back to their owner, and ordered his
+own to be ready to take me to the next Station, or, if need be, to the
+next again. At parting, the lady said to her husband,—
+
+“The Missionary has asked no money, though he sees we have been deeply
+interested; yet clearly that is the object of his tour. He is the first
+Missionary from the Heathen that ever visited us here; and you must
+contribute something to his Mission fund.”
+
+I thanked her, explaining, “I never ask money directly from any
+person for the Lord’s work. My part is done when I have told my story
+and shown the needs of the Heathen and the claims of Christ; but I
+gratefully receive all that the Lord moves His people to give for the
+Mission.”
+
+Her husband replied, rather sharply, “You know I don’t keep money here.”
+
+To which she retorted with ready tact and with a resistless smile, “But
+you keep a cheque book; and your cheque is as good as gold! This is the
+first donation we ever gave to such a cause, and let it be a good one.”
+
+He made it indeed handsome, and I went on my way, thanking them very
+sincerely, and thanking God.
+
+At the next Station, the owner turned out to be a gruff Irishman,
+forbidding and insolent. Stating my case to him as to the others, he
+shouted at me, “Go on! I don’t want to be troubled with the loikes o’
+you here.”
+
+I answered, “I am sorry if my coming troubles you; but I wish you every
+blessing in Christ Jesus. Good-bye!”
+
+As we drove off, he shouted curses after us. On leaving his door, I
+heard a lady calling to him from the window: “Don’t let that Missionary
+go away! Make haste and call him back. I want the children to see the
+idols and the South Sea curios.”
+
+At first he drowned her appeal in his own shoutings. But she must
+have persisted effectually; for shortly we heard him “coo-ee-ing,” and
+stopped. When he came up to us, he explained: “That lady in my house
+heard you speaking in Melbourne. The ladies and children are very
+anxious to see your idols, dresses, and weapons. Will you please come
+back?”
+
+We did so. I spent fifteen minutes or so, giving them information about
+the Natives and our Mission. As I left, our boisterous friend handed me
+a cheque for £5, and wished me great success!
+
+The next Station at which we arrived was one of the largest of all.
+It happened to be a sort of pay day, and men were assembled from all
+parts of the run, and were to remain there over night. The squatter and
+his family were from home; but Mr. Todd, the overseer, being a good
+Christian and a Scotchman, was glad to receive us, arranged to hold a
+meeting that evening in the men’s hut, and promised to set me forward
+on my journey next day. The meeting was very enthusiastic; and they
+subscribed £20 to the Mission—every man being determined to have so
+many shares in the new Mission Ship. With earnest personal dealing, I
+urged the claims of the Lord Jesus upon all who were present, seeking
+the salvation of every hearer. I ever found even the rough digger, and
+the lowest of the hands about faraway Stations, most attentive and
+perfectly respectful.
+
+To the honour of Australia I must here record, that anything like
+uncivil treatment was a rare exception in all my travels. Sometimes,
+indeed, I have suspected that people were acting as if to say, Let
+us treat him kindly, do as little for his cause as we can, and get
+rid of him as quickly as possible! But, as a rule, almost without an
+exception, I have met with remarkable kindness, hospitality, and help
+from all the Ministers and people of Australia. Scarcely ever, at any
+place visited, was I without one or more invitations to be guest of
+some of the Lord’s people; and I was there treated as a dear friend
+of the family, rather than a passing stranger. Colonials, indeed, are
+proverbial for the open door and the generous hand to pilgrims by the
+way. May the Divine Master grant them evermore of His own Spirit, with
+His ever-enriching blessings on their Souls and in their homes!
+
+Disappointments and successes were strangely intermingled. Once I
+travelled a very long way to conduct a meeting at a certain township.
+I had written pleading with the Minister to make due intimation; but
+he had informed no person of my intended visit, neither had he written
+to me, which he could easily have done. When I arrived, he met me on
+horseback, said, “I have arranged no meeting here,” and instantly rode
+away. Only two coaches weekly passed that way, so I had to remain
+there at a Public House for the next three days. Drinking and noise,
+of course, abounded; but they kindly gave me a small back room, as far
+away as possible, and looking out into a quiet garden. It was to cost
+me thirteen shillings and sixpence per day; and there I sat patiently
+and somewhat sadly working up my heavy correspondence. The district was
+rich, and I knew that there were pious as well as wealthy people there,
+who could have been interested in our Mission and would have helped
+me,—hence my keen disappointment.
+
+On the afternoon of the second day, I saw a beautiful garden from my
+bedroom window, wherein a considerable party of ladies, gentlemen,
+and handsomely dressed children were disporting in happy amusements.
+Thinking that they were growing tired, and might not object to a little
+variety, I summoned courage to walk up and ask for the gentleman of
+the house. I told him that I was a Missionary from the South Sea
+Islands and had come here to address a meeting, and how I had been
+disappointed; that I was staying at the Public House till the next Mail
+passed inland, and that I had there some Heathen idols, clubs, dresses,
+and “curios,” which perhaps the ladies and children would like to see,
+and to hear a little about the Lord’s work on the Islands. I explained
+also that I asked no money and received no reward, but only wished an
+opportunity of interesting them in this work of God. He consulted the
+company. They were eager to see what I had got, and to hear what I had
+to say.
+
+On returning with my bundle of “curios,” I found them all arranged
+under the verandah, and a chair placed in front for me and my articles
+of mystery. They eagerly examined everything, and listened to my
+description of its uses. I gave them a short account of the Islanders
+and of our efforts to carry to them the Gospel of Jesus. I pressed on
+them the blessings and the advantages of the great Redemption, and the
+peace and joy of living for and walking daily with God here, in the
+assured hope of eternal glory with Him hereafter; and I urged one and
+all to love and serve the Lord Jesus. Having stated how I came to be
+there, and how I had been disappointed, knowing that many would have
+sympathized with and helped my Mission if only I could have addressed
+them, I intimated that I would not ask any contributions, but I would
+leave a few of the Collecting Cards for the new Mission Ship; and if,
+after what they had heard, they chose to do anything, all money was to
+be sent to the Treasurer at Melbourne.
+
+Some offered me donations, but I declined, saying, “I am a stranger to
+you all. The Minister has cast suspicion on me by refusing to intimate
+any meeting. In the circumstances, I can in this case receive nothing.
+But I will rejoice if you all do whatever you can for the precious
+work of our Lord Jesus among the Heathen, and send it on to Melbourne,
+whence every penny will be acknowledged in due time.”
+
+Many took cards and became eager collectors for the Mission; and I
+knew, ere I returned to the Public House that day, that the Lord’s
+finger was here also, and that the trial of disappointment through the
+Minister was being already over-ruled for good.
+
+This was even more remarkably manifested on the evening of that same
+day, and within the said Public House itself. A very large number of
+men were assembled there, some at tea, and others drinking noisily,
+on their return from a great cattle market and show. I tried to get
+into conversation with some of the quieter spirits, and produced and
+explained to them the idols, clubs, and dresses, till nearly all
+crowded eagerly around me. Then I told them the story of our Mission,
+in process of which I managed to urge the Gospel message on their own
+hearts also; and invited them to ask questions at the close. The rough
+fellows became wonderfully interested. Several took Collecting Cards
+for the _Dayspring_ fund. And the publican and his wife were thereafter
+very kind, declining to take anything from me either for bed or
+meals—another gleam out of the darkness!
+
+It is my conviction that in these ways the Lord helped me to gain as
+much, if not, more for the Mission than all that was lost through
+lack of a meeting; and it is certain that I thus had opportunity of
+speaking of sin and salvation, and of setting forth the claims of
+Jesus before many souls that never could have been reached through
+any ordinary Congregation. Again I learned to praise the Lord in all
+circumstances—“Bless the Lord _at all times_, O my soul.”
+
+A lively and memorable extemporized meeting on this tour is associated
+in memory with one of my dearest friends. The district was very remote.
+He, the squatter, and his beloved wife were sterling Christians, and
+have been ever since warmly devoted to me. On my arrival, he invited
+the people from all the surrounding Stations, as well as his own
+numerous servants, to hear the story of our Mission. Next day he
+volunteered to drive me a long distance over the plains of St. Arnaud,
+his dear wife accompanying us. At that time there were few fences in
+such districts in Australia. The drive was long, but the day had been
+lovely, and the fellowship was so sweet that it still shines a sunny
+spot in the fields of memory.
+
+Having reached our destination about seven o’clock, he ordered tea at
+the Inn for the whole party; and we sallied out meantime and took the
+only Hall in the place, for an extemporized meeting to be held that
+evening at eight o’clock. I then hired a man to go through the township
+with a bell, announcing the same; while I myself went up one side of
+the main street, and my friend up the other, inviting all who would
+listen to us to attend the Mission meeting, where South Sea Island
+idols, weapons, and dresses would be exhibited, and stories of the
+Natives told.
+
+Running back for a hurried cup of tea, I then hasted to the Hall, and
+found it crowded to excess with rough and boisterous diggers. The hour
+struck as I was getting my articles arranged and spread out upon the
+table, and they began shouting, “Where’s the Missionary?” “Another
+hoax!”—indicating that they were not unwilling for a row. I learned
+that, only a few nights ago, a so-called Professor had advertised a
+lecture, lifted entrance money till the Hall was crowded, and then
+quietly slipped off the scene. In our case, though there was no charge,
+they seemed disposed to gratify themselves by some sort of promiscuous
+revenge.
+
+Amidst the noisy chaff and rising uproar, I stepped up on the table,
+and said, “Gentlemen, I am the Missionary. If you will now be silent,
+the lecture will proceed. According to my usual custom, let us open the
+meeting with prayer.”
+
+The hush that fell was such a contrast to the preceding hubbub, that I
+heard my heart throbbing aloud! Then they listened to me for an hour,
+in perfect silence and with ever-increasing interest. At the close
+I intimated that I asked no collection; but if, after what they had
+heard, they would take a Collecting Card for the new Mission Ship,
+and send any contributions to the Treasurer at Melbourne, I would
+praise God for sending me amongst them. Many were heartily taken, and
+doubtless some souls felt the “constraining love,” who had till then
+been living without God. Next morning, I mounted the Mail Coach, and
+started on a three days’ run, while my dear friend returned safely to
+his home.
+
+It was really very seldom, however, that I found myself thus driven to
+extemporize my meetings. Some Christian friend, if not the Minister of
+the place, arranged all, and advertised my coming. And the Lord greatly
+helped me in carrying on the burdensome correspondence thereanent, and
+keeping it always three weeks ahead.
+
+I travelled thus over the length and breadth of New South Wales,
+Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia, telling the story of our
+Mission, and delivering the Lord’s message, not only in great centres
+of population, but in almost every smaller township; and not only
+thereby Floating the _Dayspring_, but sowing, by God’s help, seeds of
+far-reaching blessing, whose fruits will ripen through the years to
+come. Blessed be His holy Name!
+
+And here let me recall what happened at Penola, a border town between
+Victoria and South Australia. In the flooded, swampy country and bad
+bush-track between it and Mount Gambier the roads were impassable,
+and the coach broke down. The Mail was sent forward on horseback. I
+had waited for nearly a week, in the hope of getting to the Mount for
+the Sabbath Services that had been arranged. At length I succeeded in
+engaging a man, with a pair of horses and a light spring cart, to drive
+me there for £4 10_s._ He declared the horses to be fresh, and able
+for the journey. We started about mid-day; but, ere many miles had
+been covered, he began to whip them severely. The horses looked utterly
+exhausted, and the truth at once flashed on me. I was pleading with him
+not to flog them so, when, on reaching a higher piece of ground, he
+pulled up, and said,—
+
+“I am ashamed to tell you that my horses are done! They had just come
+off a journey of forty miles when we started. I have told you a lie;
+but I hope you will forgive me. I was sorely in need of the hire, and
+I deceived you. There is no help for it now. We must camp out for the
+night on this dry ground. I do hope you won’t catch cold. You shall
+sleep in the cart; I can rest under it. I will set fire to this large
+fallen tree to keep us warm. I have brought a loaf of bread, and a
+billy (= a bushman’s can for boiling water). We can have some tea; and,
+rest assured, I shall land you there in time for the Sabbath Morning
+Service.”
+
+So saying, while I listened dumbfounded, he turned aside, unyoked the
+horses, “hobbled” them, and let them go upon the grass. He made the
+black tea which bushmen drink, and appeared to enjoy it. The conveyance
+was drawn near to that burning tree, and I got located into it, and
+was expected to rest. I sat there wide-awake during weary hours! Time
+passed at a dreadfully slow pace, and sleep refused to come near me.
+Kangaroos, wallabies, with other nameless wild creatures and screaming
+birds, kept loud festival all around; and mosquitoes tortured me,
+apparently in thousands. Towards midnight I saw a light in the distant
+bush, and, awaking my companion, inquired if he could say what it might
+be. He had heard that a Wesleyan farmer from near Adelaide had come
+into that region to take up a sheep and cattle Station there, as in
+that swampy country the grass was excellent. It might be their light,
+or it might be that of some benighted party camping out like ourselves.
+He assured me that he could find our way to that light, and back again
+to our burning tree, and, partly to pass the time, I resolved to try.
+
+We found the Wesleyan farmer there, living in a large bush-shed,
+surrounded by a still larger enclosure wherein horses, cattle, and
+sheep were kept for the night all together upon the dry ground,
+awaiting the erection of houses and fencing, with which they were
+busily engaged. Unseemly as was our hour of call, the dogs had
+loudly announced our approach, and we got a cordial greeting, being
+immediately surrounded by all the family. They eagerly listened to
+everything about the Mission. We had worship together. They gave us a
+hearty tea, besides a loaf of bread and a jug of milk for our breakfast
+next morning—the jug to be left by us beside the burning tree, whither
+they could send for it after we departed. Their regrets were genuine
+and profuse that their circumstances prevented them from offering us
+a bed, but we exceedingly enjoyed our intercourse with them, and felt
+them to be dear Christian friends. How delightful and responsive is
+the communion of those who love the Lord Jesus, wherever they meet;
+and oh, what will it be in Glory, when, made like unto the Saviour, we
+shall “see Him as He is!” At daybreak we were off again on our weary
+journey, and reached the destination safely and in good time. A hearty
+welcome awaited us from dear Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell, who had long since
+despaired of my appearing. All the Services were largely attended, and
+the Lord led the people to take a deep interest in our Mission, many
+generous and devoted friends to it arising there, where the Minister
+and his wife struck the right key-note, and were so highly and justly
+esteemed.
+
+Returning to Penola, we found that the Mail coach would not try to run
+for some time. I had to reconcile myself to wait there for several
+days. Every day I beheld a man staggering about at all hours under
+the influence of drink. I learned that he had been a wealthy and
+open-handed squatter, had lost everything, had recently laid his wife
+in the grave, and now, followed about by his three little girls, was
+trying to drown his sorrows in whisky. Overcome with irresistible pity,
+I followed him day after day, and again and again remonstrated with
+him on the madness of his conduct, especially appealing to him for his
+children’s sake. At last he turned upon me, with an earnest gaze, and
+said, “If you take the pledge with me, God helping me, I will keep it
+for life.”
+
+We entered the house together, signed a pledge, and solemnly invoked
+God in prayer to enable us to keep it till death. For his sake, I
+renewed the vow of my youthful days; and he, by my sympathy, took this
+vow for the first time, and, by God’s help, he kept it. He left Penola
+next day, shaking off old associates, and started a humble business
+where he had once owned much of the land. He became a Christian out and
+out, and has been an Elder of the Church for many years. I have often
+been laughed at by whisky drinkers, and also by so-called “temperance”
+men, for being a Total Abstainer; but even one case like that (and,
+thank God, there are many) is an eternal reward, and can sustain us to
+smile down all ridicule.
+
+Dear reader, can you measure the effect of the example which you are
+setting? Are you to-day amongst the ranks of the moderate drinkers?
+Remember that from that class all drunkards have come; and ask yourself
+whether you would not act more nobly and unselfishly to abstain, for
+the interests of our common Humanity, for loyalty to our Lord Jesus
+Christ, and for the hope of leading a pure and unstained life yourself,
+as well as helping others to do so, whom Jesus died to save?
+
+The crowning adventure of my tour came about in the following manner:
+I was advertised to conduct Services at Narracoort on Sabbath, and at
+a Station on the way on Saturday evening. But how to get from Penola
+was a terrible perplexity. On Saturday morning, however, a young lady
+offered me, out of gratitude for blessings received, the use of her
+riding horse for the journey. “Garibaldi” was his name; and, though
+bred for a race-horse, I was assured that if I kept him firmly in hand,
+he would easily carry me over the two-and-twenty miles. He was to be
+left at the journey’s end, and the lady herself would fetch him back. I
+shrank from the undertaking, knowing little of horses, and having vague
+recollections of being dreadfully punished for more than a week after
+my last and almost only ride. But every one in that country is quite at
+ease on the back of a horse. They saw no risk; and, as there appeared
+no other way of getting there to fulfil my engagements, I, for my part,
+began to think that God had unexpectedly provided the means, and that
+He would carry me safely through.
+
+I accepted the lady’s kind offer, and started on my pilgrimage. A
+friend showed me the road, and gave me ample directions. In the bush,
+I was to keep my eye on the notches in the trees, and follow them.
+He agreed kindly to bring my luggage to the Station, and leave it
+there for me by-and-bye. After I had walked very quietly for some
+distance, three gentlemen on horseback overtook me. We entered into
+conversation. They inquired how far I was going, and advised me to
+sit a little “freer” in the saddle, as it would be so much easier for
+me. They seemed greatly amused at my awkward riding! Dark clouds were
+now gathering ahead, and the atmosphere prophesied a severe storm;
+therefore they urged that I should ride a little faster, as they, for
+a considerable distance, could guide me on the right way. I explained
+to them my plight through inexperience, said that I could only creep
+on slowly with safety, and bade them Good-bye. As the sky was getting
+darker every minute, they consented, wishing me a safe journey, and
+started off at a smart pace.
+
+I struggled to hold in my horse; but seizing the bit with his teeth,
+laying back his ears, and stretching out his eager neck, he manifestly
+felt that his honour was at stake; and in less time than I take to
+write it, the three friends cleared a way for us, and he tore past
+them all at an appalling speed. They tried for a time to keep within
+reach of us, but that sound only put fire into his blood; and in an
+incredibly short time I heard them not; nor, from the moment that he
+bore me swinging past them, durst I turn my head by one inch to look
+for them again. In vain I tried to hold him in; he tore on, with what
+appeared to me the speed of the wind. Then the thunderstorm broke
+around us, with flash of lightning and flood of rain, and at every
+fresh peal my “Garibaldi” dashed more wildly onward.
+
+To me, it was a vast surprise to discover that I could sit more easily
+on this wild flying thing, than when at a canter or a trot. At every
+turn I expected that he would dash himself and me against the great
+forest trees; but instinct rather than my hand guided him miraculously.
+Sometimes I had a glimpse of the road, but as for the “notches,” I
+never saw one of them; we passed them with lightning speed. Indeed, I
+durst not lift my eyes for one moment from watching the horse’s head
+and the trees on our track. My high-crowned hat was now drenched, and
+battered out of shape; for whenever we came to a rather clear space, I
+seized the chance and gave it another knock down over my head. I was
+spattered and covered with mud and mire.
+
+Crash, crash, went the thunder, and on, on, went “Garibaldi” through
+the gloom of the forest, emerging at length upon a clearer ground with
+a more visible pathway. Reaching the top of the slope, a large house
+stood out far in front of us to the left; and the horse had apparently
+determined to make straight for that, as if it were his home. He
+skirted along the hill, and took the track as his own familiar ground,
+all my effort to hold him in or guide him having no more effect than
+that of a child. By this time, I suspect, I really had lost all power.
+“Garibaldi” had been at that house, probably frequently before; he knew
+those stables; and my fate seemed to be instant death against door or
+wall.
+
+Some members of the family, on the outlook for the Missionary, saw
+us come tearing along as if mad or drunk; and now all rushed to the
+verandah, expecting some dread-catastrophe. A tall and stout young
+groom, amazed at our wild career, throwing wide open the gate,
+seized the bridle at great risk to himself, and ran full speed, yet
+holding back with all his might, and shouting at me to do the same.
+We succeeded,—“Garibaldi” having probably attained his purpose,—in
+bringing him to a halt within a few paces of the door. Staring at me
+with open mouth, the man exclaimed, “I have saved your life. What
+madness to ride like that!” Thanking him, though I could scarcely by
+this time articulate a word, I told him that the horse had run away,
+and that I had lost all control.
+
+Truly I was in a sorry plight, drenched, covered with mud, and my
+hat battered down over my eyes; little wonder they thought me drunk
+or mad! Finally, as if to confirm every suspicion, and amuse them
+all,—for master, mistress, governess, and children now looked on from
+the verandah,—when I was helped off the horse, I could not stand on my
+feet! My head still went rushing on in the race; I staggered, and down
+I tumbled into the mud, feeling chagrin and mortification; yet there
+I had to sit for some time before I recovered myself, so as either to
+rise or to speak a word. When I did get to my feet, I had to stand
+holding by the verandah for some time, my head still rushing on in the
+race. At length the master said, “Will you not come in?”
+
+I knew that he was treating me for a drunken man; and the giddiness was
+so dreadful still, that my attempts at speech seemed more drunken than
+even my gait.
+
+As soon as I could stand, I went into the house, and drew near to an
+excellent fire in my dripping clothes. The squatter sat opposite me in
+silence, reading the newspapers, and taking a look at me now and again
+over his spectacles. By-and-bye he remarked, “Wouldn’t it be worth
+while to change your clothes?”
+
+Speech was now returning to me. I replied, “Yes, but my bag is coming
+on in the cart, and may not be here to-night.”
+
+He began to relent. He took me into a room, and laid out for me a suit
+of his own. I being then very slender, and he a big-framed farmer,
+my new dress, though greatly adding to my comfort, enhanced the
+singularity of my appearance.
+
+Returning to him, washed and dressed, I inquired if he had arranged
+for a meeting? My tongue, I fear, was still unsteady, for the squatter
+looked at me rather reproachfully, and said, “Do you really consider
+yourself fit to appear before a meeting to-night?”
+
+I assured him that he was quite wrong in his suspicions, that I was a
+life-long Abstainer, and that my nerves had been so unhinged by the
+terrible ride and the runaway horse. He smiled rather suggestively, and
+said we would see how I felt after tea.
+
+We went to the table. All that had occurred was now consummated by my
+appearing in the lusty farmer’s clothes; and the lady and other friends
+had infinite difficulty in keeping their amusement within decent
+bounds. I again took speech in hand, but I suspect my words had still
+the thickness of the tippler’s utterance, for they seemed not to carry
+much conviction,—“Dear friends, I quite understand your feelings;
+appearances are so strangely against me. But I am not drunken, as ye
+suppose. I have tasted no intoxicating drink, I am a life-long Total
+Abstainer!”
+
+This fairly broke down their reserve. They laughed aloud, looking at
+each other and at me, as if to say, “Man, you’re drunk at this very
+moment.”
+
+Before tea was over they appeared, however, to begin to entertain the
+idea that I _might_ address the meeting; and so I was informed of the
+arrangements that had been made. At the meeting, my incredulous friends
+became very deeply interested. Manifestly their better thoughts were
+gaining the ascendancy. And they heaped thereafter every kindness upon
+me, as if to make amends for harder suspicions.
+
+Next morning the master drove me about ten miles further on to the
+Church. A groom rode the race-horse, who took no scathe from his
+thundering gallop of the day before. It left deeper traces upon me.
+I got through the Services, however, and with good returns for the
+Mission. Twice since, on my Mission tours, I have found myself at
+that same memorable house; and on each occasion a large company of
+friends were being regaled by the good lady there with very comical
+descriptions of my first arrival at her door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
+
+ A Fire-Water Festival.—At Tea with the Aborigines.—“Black Fellow
+ all Gone!”—The Poison-Gift and Civilization.—The “Scattering” of
+ the Blacks.—The “Brute-in-human-shape” Theory.—The Testimony of
+ Nora.—Nathaniel Pepper and their “Gods.”—Smooth Stone Idols.—Rites
+ and Ceremonies.—“Too much Devil-Devil.”—The Quest for Idols.—Visit to
+ Nora in the Camp.—Independent Testimonies.—Nora’s own Letters.—The
+ Aborigines in Settlements.
+
+
+Detained for nearly a week at Balmoral by the break-down of the coach
+on these dreadful roads, I telegraphed to Hamilton for a conveyance;
+and the Superintendent of the Sunday School, dear Mr. Laidlaw,
+volunteered, in order to reduce expenses, to spend one day of his
+precious time coming for me, and another driving me down. While
+awaiting him, I came into painful and memorable contact with the
+Aborigines of Australia. The Publicans had organized a day of sports,
+horse-racing, and circus exhibitions. Immense crowds assembled, and,
+amongst the rest, tribe after tribe of the Aborigines from all the
+surrounding country. Despite the law prohibiting the giving of strong
+drinks to these poor creatures, foolish and unprincipled dealers
+supplied them with the same, and the very blankets which the Government
+had given them, were freely exchanged for the fire-water which kindled
+them to madness.
+
+Next day was Sabbath. The morning was hideous with the yells of the
+fighting Savages. They tore about on the Common in front of the Church,
+leading gentlemen having tried in vain to quiet them, and their wild
+voices without jarred upon the Morning Service. About two o’clock, I
+tried to get into conversation with them. I appealed to them whether
+they were not all tired and hungry? They replied that they had had no
+food all that day; they had fought since the morning! I said,—
+
+“I love you black fellows. I go Missionary black fellows far away. I
+love you, want you rest, get food. Come all of you, rest, sit round me,
+and we will talk, till the _jins_ (= women) get ready tea. They boil
+water, I take tea with you, and then you will be strong!”
+
+By broken English and by many symbols, I won their ear. They produced
+tea and _damper_, _i.e._, a rather forbidding-looking bread, without
+yeast, baked on the coals. Their wives hasted to boil water. I kept
+incessantly talking, to interest them, and told them how Jesus, God’s
+dear Son, came and died to make them happy, and how He grieved to see
+them beating and fighting and killing each other.
+
+When the tea was ready, we squatted on the green grass, their tins were
+filled, the “damper” was broken into lumps, and I asked the blessing
+of God on the meal. To me it was unpleasant eating! Many of them looked
+strong and healthy; but not a few were weak and dying creatures. The
+strong, devouring all they could get, urged me to be done, and let them
+finish their fighting, eager for the fray. But having gained their
+confidence, I prayed with them, and thereafter said,—
+
+“Now, before I leave, I will ask of you to do one thing for my sake,
+which you can all easily do.”
+
+With one voice they replied,—
+
+“Yes, we all do whatever you say.” I got their leaders to promise to me
+one by one. I then said,—
+
+“Now you have got your tea, and I ask every man and boy among you to
+lie down in the bush and take a sleep, and your wives will sit by and
+watch over your safety!”
+
+In glum silence, their war weapons still grasped in their hands, they
+stood looking intently at me, doubting whether I could be in earnest. I
+urged them,—
+
+“You all promised to do what I asked. If you break your promise, these
+white men will laugh at me, and say that black fellows only lie and
+deceive. Let them see that you can be trusted. I wait here till I see
+you all asleep.”
+
+One said that his head was cut, and he must have revenge before he
+could lie down. Others filed past showing their wounds, and declaring
+that it was too bad to request them to go to sleep. I praised them as
+far as I could, but urged them for once to be men and to keep their
+word. Finally they all agreed to lie down, I waiting till the last man
+had disappeared; and, being doubly exhausted with the debauch and the
+fighting, they were soon all fast asleep. I prayed that the blessed
+Sleep might lull their savage passions.
+
+Before daylight next morning, the Minister and I were hastening to the
+scene to prevent further fighting; but as the sun was rising we saw the
+last tribe of the distant Natives disappearing over the brow of a hill.
+A small party belonging to the district alone remained. They shouted
+to us, “Black fellow all gone! No more fight. You too much like black
+fellow!”
+
+For three days afterwards I had still to linger there; and if their
+dogs ran or barked at me, the women chased them with sticks and stones,
+and protected me. One little touch of kindness and sympathy had
+unlocked their darkened hearts.
+
+The Aborigines of Australia have been regarded as perhaps the
+most degraded portion of the human race, at least in the Southern
+Hemisphere. Like the Papuans of our Islands, they rank betwixt Malay
+and Negro in colour and appearance. Their hair, coarse, black, curly,
+but not woolly; eyes, dark and yellowish, with very heavy eyebrows;
+nose flat, with hole bored through septum, in which ornament is hung;
+small chin, thick lips, large mouth, and lustrous teeth; high cheek
+bones, with sunken eyes and well-developed brow. Like all Savages
+in their natural state, they were nearly nude, filthy, and wretched;
+especially in winter, when covered with kangaroo and opossum skins,
+which they hung around themselves loosely by day, and under which
+they slept at night. They sometimes daubed their bodies all over with
+paint, mud, charcoal, or ashes. Their women are generally of a slender
+build. All these features and notes are true of many of our South Sea
+Islanders too; but they, again, are decidedly of a higher type. On many
+of the Islands, faces, though dark, are as pleasant and as well formed
+as amongst Europeans. Besides, the Islanders are not nomadic; they live
+in settled villages, and cultivate the land for their support.
+
+Having read very strong statements for and against the Aborigines, in
+my many journeys twenty-four years ago I resolved to embrace every
+opportunity of learning their customs and beliefs directly from
+themselves. I have also seen their disgusting “Corrobbarees,” and know
+by facts how demoralizing these Heathen dances are. I know also what
+strong drink has done amongst them.
+
+Who wonders that the dark races melt away before the _whites_? The
+pioneers of civilization _will_ carry with them this demon of strong
+drink, the fruitful parent of every other vice. The black people drink,
+and become unmanageable; and through the white man’s own poison-gift an
+excuse is found for sweeping the poor creatures off the face of the
+earth. Marsden’s writings show how our Australian blacks are destroyed.
+But I have myself been on the track of such butcheries again and again.
+A Victorian lady told me the following incident. She heard a child’s
+pitiful cry in the bush. On tracing it, she found a little girl weeping
+over her younger brother. She said,—
+
+“The white men poisoned our father and mother. They threaten to shoot
+me, so that I dare not go near them. I am here, weeping over my brother
+till we die!”
+
+The compassionate lady promised to be a mother to the little sufferers,
+and to protect them. They instantly clung to her, and have proved
+themselves to be loving and dutiful ever since.
+
+In Queensland itself, the Native Police, armed and mounted—accompanied
+by only _one_ white officer, that no tales might be told—were reported
+to be regularly sent out to “scatter” the blacks! That meant, in many a
+case, wholesale murder. But in 1887, the humane Sir Samuel Griffiths,
+premier, had these blood-stained forces disbanded for ever. The _Sydney
+Morning Herald_, 21st March, 1883, contains stronger things than were
+ever penned or uttered by me as to the wholesale destruction of the
+Aborigines. The watchword of the white settlers, practically if not
+theoretically, has been, “Clear them out of the way, and give us the
+soil!”
+
+Though amongst the lower types of the human race, the Aborigines have
+made excellent stock riders, bullock drivers, fencers, and servants in
+every department. And they have proved honest and faithful, especially
+when kindly treated. Australians are sometimes bitter against them, for
+a reason that ought rather to awaken sympathy. They take Aboriginal
+boys or girls into their service, they train them just till they are
+beginning to be useful, and lo! they go back to their own people. But
+in almost every case of that kind, the reason is perfectly clear. They
+are only taught so far as to make them useful tools. Their minds were
+not instructed, nor their hearts enlightened in the fear of God and
+the love of Jesus. They were not on an equality in any way either with
+children or with servants. They grew up without equals and without
+associates. They saw their parents and tribesmen treated with contempt
+and abuse. They instinctively felt that the moment they were unable to
+serve the self-interest of their employers, they themselves would be
+thrust out. They had not the spirit of the slave, though kept in the
+rank of a slave; and they yearned for satisfaction of these instincts,
+which the supply of their mere animal necessities could not assuage.
+Among the whites, they felt degraded and outcast; amongst their own
+people, they had the honour and esteem that were within reach of their
+kindred, and they might weave around their poor lot the mysterious and
+ever-blessed ties of family and home. And here and there, doubtless,
+flashed in the heart of some Native boy a gleam of that patriotism
+that led Moses to escape from Pharaoh’s court, and refuse to be
+identified with the despisers and oppressors of his own enslaved
+race,—divine in the Aboriginal as in the Hebrew, though each might give
+a very different account of its origin!
+
+A book once fell into my hands, entitled,—“Sermons on Public Subjects,”
+by Charles Kingsley. I knew him to be a man greatly gifted and greatly
+beloved; and hence my positive distress on reading from the eighth
+sermon, page 234, “On the Fall,” the following awful words:—[1]“The
+Black people of Australia, exactly the same race as the African Negro,
+cannot take in the Gospel.... All attempts to bring them to a knowledge
+of the true God have as yet failed utterly.... Poor brutes in human
+shape ... they must perish off the face of the earth like brute beasts.”
+
+I will not blame this great preacher for boldly uttering and publishing
+what multitudes of others show by their conduct that they believe,
+but dare not say so. Nor need any one blame me, if, knowing facts
+and details which Kingsley could never know, I turn aside for a few
+moments, and let the light of practical knowledge stream in on this and
+all similar teaching, come from whatsoever quarter it may.
+
+While I was pondering over Kingsley’s words, the story of Nora, an
+Aboriginal Christian woman, whom, as hereafter related, I myself
+actually visited and corresponded with, was brought under my notice,
+as if to shatter to pieces everything that the famous preacher had
+proclaimed. A dear friend told me how he had seen Nora encamped with
+the blacks near Hexham in Victoria. Her husband had lost, through
+drink, their once comfortable home at a Station where he was employed.
+The change back to life in camp had broken her health, and she lay sick
+on the ground within a miserable hut. The visitors found her reading a
+Bible, and explaining to a number of her own poor people the wonders
+of redeeming love. My friend, Roderick Urquhart, Esq., overcome by the
+sight, said,—
+
+“Nora, I am grieved to see you here, and deprived of every comfort in
+your sickness.”
+
+She answered, not without tears, “The change has indeed made me unwell;
+but I am beginning to think that this too is for the best; it has at
+last brought my poor husband to his senses, and I will grudge nothing
+if God thereby brings him to the Saviour’s feet!”
+
+She further explained, that she had found wonderful joy in telling her
+own people about the true God and his Son Jesus, and was quite assured
+that the Lord in His own way would send her relief. The visitors who
+accompanied Mr. Urquhart showed themselves to be greatly affected by
+the true and pure Christian spirit of this poor Aboriginal, and on
+parting she said,—
+
+“Do not think that I like this miserable hut, or the food, or the
+company; but I am and have been happy in trying to do good amongst my
+people.”
+
+For my part, let that dear Christlike soul look out on me from
+her Aboriginal hut, and I will trample under foot all teachings
+or theorizings that dare to say that she or her kind are but poor
+brutes;—they who say so blaspheme Human Nature. “I thank thee, O
+Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that Thou hast hid these things from
+the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”
+
+Recall, ere you read further, what the Gospel has done for the near
+kindred of these same Aboriginals. On our own Aneityum 3,500 Cannibals
+have been led to renounce their heathenism, and are leading a civilized
+and a Christian life. In Fiji, 70,000 Cannibals have been brought under
+the influence of the Gospel; and 13,000 members of the Churches there
+are professing to live and work for Jesus. In Samoa, 34,000 Cannibals
+have professed Christianity; and, in nineteen years, its College has
+sent forth 206 Native teachers and evangelists. On our New Hebrides,
+more than 12,000 Cannibals have been brought to sit at the feet of
+Christ, not to say that they are all model Christians; and 133 of the
+Natives have been trained and sent forth as teachers and preachers of
+the Gospel. Had Christ been brought in the same way into the heart
+and life of the Aborigines by the Christians of Australia and of
+Britain—equally blessed results would as surely have followed, for He
+is “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.”
+
+It is easy to understand, moreover, how even experienced travellers
+may be deluded to believe that the Aborigines have no idols and no
+religion. One must have lived amongst them or their kindred ere he
+can authoritatively decide these questions. Before I left Melbourne,
+for instance, I had met Nathaniel Pepper, a converted Aboriginal from
+Wimmera. I asked him if his people had any “Doctors,” _i.e._, sacred
+men or priests. He said they had. I inquired if they had any objects of
+Worship, or any belief in God? He said, “No! None whatever.”
+
+But on taking from my pocket some four small stone idols, his
+expression showed at once that he recognised them as objects of
+Worship. He had seen the sacred men use them; but he refused to answer
+any more questions. I resolved now, if possible, to secure some of
+their idols, and set this whole problem once for all at rest.
+
+At Newstead, on another occasion, I persuaded a whole camp of the
+Aborigines to come to my meeting. After the address, they waited to
+examine the idols and stone gods which I had shown. Some of the young
+men admitted that their “doctors” had things like these, which they and
+the old people prayed to; but they added jauntily,—
+
+“We young fellows don’t worship; we know too much for that!”
+
+No “doctors” were, however, in that camp; so I could not meet with
+them; but I already felt that the testimony of nearly all white people
+that the blacks had “no idols and no worship,” was quickly crumbling
+away. Besides, my ever-dear friend, Andrew Scott, Esq., had informed me
+that when he first went out among the blacks,—almost alone, and one of
+the first white men they had ever seen,—he saw them handling, and going
+through ceremonials with just such “smooth stones” as I had brought
+from the Islands, without for a moment dreaming that they were idols.
+Yet such is the actual fact; very much as it was in the ancient days
+when Isaiah (ch. lvii. 6) denounced thus the “sons of the sorceress,”
+who were “inflaming themselves with idols.” “Among the smooth stones
+of the stream (or valley) is thy portion; they, they are thy lot; even
+to them hast thou poured a drink offering, hast thou offered a meat
+offering (or oblation).”
+
+Yet again, R. Urquhart, Esq., Tangery, informed me that he also had
+seen the Aborigines engaged in religious observances. First of all,
+a vast multitude of men and women joined in a great Corrobbarree,
+or Heathen festival and dance. Thereafter each marched individually
+towards the centre of a huge ring, and after certain ceremonies, bowed
+as if in worship towards two manlike figures cut in the ground. Our
+life amongst the heathen had taught us that Worship was there.
+
+The rite of circumcision was practised also amongst the blacks of
+Australia as well as amongst our New Hebrideans. Boys, on attaining
+what was looked upon as early manhood, were thus initiated into their
+privileges as men; and the occasion was accompanied with feasting,
+dancing, and what they regarded as religious ceremonies.
+
+Some tribes in Australia, as on our Islands also, indicate the rank
+or class to which a man belongs by the barbarous custom of knocking
+out the two front teeth! This is done on reaching a certain age;
+with feasts and dancings held at midnight, and during full moon, in
+connection with sacred spots, which no one but a priest will be found
+daring enough to approach.
+
+Hence there is no doubt in my mind as to the character and meaning of
+such “mysterious figures” as those so much discussed, carved on the
+flat rocks at Middle Harbour, or on the South Reef promontory at Cape
+Cove. They are found also at Point Piper, at Mossmans, at Lane Cove,
+and at many other places throughout Australia, representing the human
+figure in almost every attitude, the kangaroo, the flying squirrel,
+the shark, the whale, etc., etc.,—all of which I believe to be sacred
+objects, and these rocks and cliffs to be sacred places. Some of the
+fish carved there are twenty-seven feet long. The Aborigines would
+give no explanation of their origin, except that they were “made by
+black fellows long, long ago;” and that the blacks would not live near
+them, for “too much devil-devil walk about there.” The Balmoral blacks
+informed me that their sacred men carried about such objects as I
+showed them, and “that they were devil-devil,”—which is their only word
+for God or Spirit, when they talk to you in broken English.
+
+The 18th of February, 1863, was a day worthy of being chronicled and
+remembered. I visited the Wonwonda Station in the Wimmera district
+of Victoria, and there beheld a great camp of the Aborigines on the
+plain near by. Securing the company of the following witnesses, I
+proceeded to the camp, and found that part of them had already seen me
+at Balmoral. Two of them spoke English fairly well. I managed to break
+through their reticence, and in course of time they told us freely
+about the customs and traditions of their people. They took us to their
+“doctor,” or Sacred Man, who was lying sick in his hut. Half concealed
+among the skins and clothes behind him, I observed several curious
+bags, which I knew at once would probably contain the little idols of
+which I was in quest. I urged the witnesses to take special notice
+of everything that occurred, and draw up and sign a statement for my
+future use. The following is their attested report:—
+
+“Mr. Paton, having carefully explained to the blacks that he would
+like to see some of the sacred objects which they said made the people
+sick and well, assured them that his aim was not to mock at them, but
+to prove to white people that the blacks had objects of worship and
+were not like pigs and dogs. He offered them a number of small pieces
+of silver to get bread and tea for the “doctor,” if they would open
+these little bags and let us see what was in them. After a good deal of
+talk amongst themselves, he took some of the Island stone-gods from his
+pocket, saying, ‘I know that these bags have such things in them.’ An
+Aboriginal woman exclaimed, ‘You can’t hide them from that fellow! He
+knows all about us.’ Mr. Rutherford offered to kill a sheep, and give
+them sugar and tea to feast on, if they would open the little bags, but
+they refused. After consulting the Sacred Man, however, he took the
+silver pieces and allowed them to be opened before us. They were full
+of exactly such stones and other things as Mr. Paton had brought from
+the Islands, to prove to white people in Melbourne that they were not
+like dogs, but had gods; he offered the Sacred Man more money for four
+of the objects he had seen. After much talk among themselves, he took
+the money; and in our presence Mr. Paton selected a stone idol, a piece
+of painted wood of conical shape, a piece of bone of human leg with
+seven rings carved round it, which they said had the power of restoring
+sick people to health, and another piece of painted wood which made
+people sick; but they made him solemnly promise that he would tell
+no other black fellows where he got them. They were much interested
+in Mr. Paton’s conversation, and said, ‘No Missionary teach black
+fellow.’ They then showed us square rugs, thread and grass bags, etc.,
+all neatly made by themselves, as proofs that if they were taught they
+and their wives could learn to do things and to work just like white
+people; but they said, ‘White man no care for black fellow.’ All this,
+we, whose names follow, were eye-witnesses of:—G. Rutherford, (Mrs.)
+A. Sutherland, (Mrs.) Martha Rutherford, Jemima Rutherford, Ben. B.
+Bentock, tutor of the Rutherford family.”
+
+On returning to Horsham, I informed my dear friends, Rev. P. Simpson
+and his excellent lady, of my exploits and possessions. He replied,—
+
+“There is a black ‘doctor’ gone round our house just now to see one of
+his people who is washing here to-day. Let us go and test them, whether
+they know these objects.”
+
+Carrying them in his hand we went to them. The woman instantly on
+perceiving them dropped what she was washing, and turned away in
+instinctive terror. Mr. Simpson asked,—
+
+“Have you ever before seen stones like these?”
+
+The wily “doctor” replied, “Plenty on the plains, where I kick them out
+of my way.”
+
+Taking others out of my pocket, I said, “These make people sick and
+well, don’t they?”
+
+His rage overcame his duplicity, and he exclaimed, “What black fellow
+give you these? If I know him I do for him!”
+
+The woman, looking the picture of terror, and pointing to one of the
+objects, cried,—
+
+“That fellow no good! he kill men. No good, no good! Me too much
+afraid.”
+
+Then, looking to me, she said, pointing with her finger, “That fellow
+savy (knows) too much! No white man see them. He no good.”
+
+There was more in this scene and in all its surroundings, than in many
+arguments; and Mr. Simpson thoroughly believed that these were objects
+of idolatrous worship.
+
+On a later occasion I showed these four objects to Aborigines, with
+whom I got into intercourse far off in New South Wales. They at once
+recognised them, and showed the same superstitious dread. They told me
+the peculiar characteristics and the special powers ascribed to each
+idol or charm. This I confirmed by the testimony of five different
+tribes living at great distances from each other; and it is morally
+certain that amongst all the blacks of Australia such objects are so
+worshipped and feared in the place of God.
+
+And now let me relate the story of my visit to Nora, the converted
+Aboriginal referred to above. Accompanied by Robert Hood, Esq., J.P.,
+Victoria, I found my way to the encampment near Hexham. She did not
+know of our coming, nor see us till we stood at the door of her hut.
+She was clean and tidily dressed, as were also her dear little
+children, and appeared glad to see us. She had just been reading the
+_Presbyterian Messenger_, and the Bible was lying at her elbow. I said,—
+
+“Do you read the _Messenger_?”
+
+She replied, “Yes; I like to know what is going on in the Church.”
+
+We found her to be a sensible and humble Christian woman, conversing
+intelligently about religion and serving God devotedly. Next Sabbath
+she brought her husband, her children, and six blacks to Church, all
+decently dressed, and they all listened most attentively.
+
+At our first meeting I said, “Nora, they tell me you are a Christian.
+I want to ask you a few questions about the blacks; and I hope that as
+a Christian you will speak the truth.” Rather hurt at my language, she
+raised her right hand, and replied, “I am a Christian. I fear and serve
+the true God. I always speak the truth.”
+
+Taking from my pocket the stone idols from the Islands, I inquired
+if her people had or worshipped things like these. She replied, “The
+‘doctors’ have them.”
+
+“Have you a ‘doctor’ in your camp?” I asked. She said, “Yes, my uncle
+is the Sacred Man; but he is now far away from this.”
+
+“Has he the idols with him now?” I inquired.
+
+She answered, “No; they are left in my care.”
+
+I then said: “Could you let us see them?”
+
+She consulted certain representatives of the tribe who were at hand.
+They rose, and removed to a distance. They had consented. Mr. Hood
+assured me that no fault would be found with her, as she was the real,
+or at least virtual head of the tribe. Out of a larger bag she then
+drew two smaller bags and opened them. They were filled with the very
+objects which I had brought from the Islands. I asked her to consult
+the men of her tribe whether they would agree to sell four or five of
+them to me, that I might by them convince the white people that they
+had gods of their own, and are, therefore, above the brutes of the
+field; the money to be given to their Sacred Man on his return. This,
+also, after a time was agreed to. I selected three of the objects,
+and paid the stipulated price. And the undernoted independent witness
+attests the transaction:—
+
+“I this day visited an encampment of the Hopkins blacks, in company
+with Rev. Mr. Paton, Missionary, and was witness to the following.
+Mr. Paton being under the impression that many of the superstitions
+and usages, common to the South Sea Islanders were similar among the
+Aborigines of Australia, began by showing some idols, etc., of the
+former, and asking if they had seen any like them. This inquiry was
+made of a highly civilized woman, named Nora, who can read and write,
+and has great influence with her tribe. She answered: Oh yes, the
+‘doctors’ have them.
+
+“On Mr. Paton expressing great anxiety to see some of them, she,
+after consulting some time with the other blacks, said she had some
+belonging to King John, her uncle, who was absent, and had left them in
+her care. After considerable reluctance shown on the part of the other
+blacks, who were off when they saw Mr. Paton knew all about them, a
+bag was produced, in which there were kangaroo tusks or bears’ tusks,
+pieces of human bone, stones, charred wood, etc., etc. She described
+the virtues attributed to the different articles. If any evil was
+wanted to befall one of another tribe, the ‘doctor,’ after muttering,
+threw such a stone in the direction he was supposed to be, wishing he
+might fall sick, or might die, etc. The spirit from the idol entered
+into his body, and he was sure to fall sick or die. Another piece of
+charred wood, that the ‘doctor’ rubbed on the diseased part of any
+sick person, made the pain come out to the spirit in the wood, and
+the ‘doctor’ carried it away. All this time the other blacks were in
+evident dread of the things being seen and handled, repeating, ‘No
+white man ever see these before!’ Mr. Paton got three specimens from
+them, viz., an evil and a good spirit, and a piece of carved bone.
+Robert Hood, J.P., Hexham, Victoria, Merang, 28th February, 1863.”
+
+Mr. Hood asked Nora how he had never heard of or seen these things
+before, living so long amongst them, and blacks constantly coming and
+going about his house. She replied,—
+
+“Long ago white men laughed at black fellows, praying to their idols.
+Black fellows said, white men never see them again! Suppose this white
+man not know all about them, he would not now see them. No white men
+live now have seen what you have seen.”
+
+Thus it has been demonstrated on the spot, and in presence of the most
+reliable witnesses, that the Aborigines, before they saw the white
+invaders, were not “brutes” incapable of knowing God, but human beings,
+yearning after a God of some kind. Nor do I believe that any tribe
+of men will ever be found, who, when their language and customs are
+rightly interpreted, will not display their consciousness of the need
+of a God and that Divine capacity of holding fellowship with the Unseen
+Powers, of which the brutes are without one faintest trace.
+
+The late Mr. Hamilton, of Mortlake, wrote me in 1863 as follows:—
+
+“During a residence of twenty-six years in New South Wales and
+Victoria, from constant intercourse with Australian Aborigines I am
+convinced that they are capable of learning anything that white people
+in an equally neglected condition could learn. In two instances I
+met with females possessing a greater amount of religious knowledge
+than many of our white population. The one was able to prompt the
+children she was attending as a servant in the answers proper to give
+to the questions I put to them regarding the facts and doctrines of
+Christianity. This was in New South Wales. The other was Nora Hood,
+baptized and married to an Aboriginal. I conversed with her according
+to the usage of the Presbyterian Church, and I believe her to be a
+sincere and intelligent Christian. I baptized her children without
+hesitation; while I felt it to be my duty in many cases to withhold the
+privilege from white parents, on account of their being unable to make
+a credible profession of their faith in Christ and obedience to Him.
+Under God, she owes her instruction and conversion to Mrs. MacKenzie.
+William Hamilton, Minister.”
+
+William Armstrong, Esq., of Hexham Park, wrote in 1863:—
+
+“The Aborigines of Australia certainly believe in spirits, and that
+their spirit leaves the body at death and goes to some other island,
+and they seem to have many superstitious ideas about the dead.... I
+believe they would have been as easily influenced by the Gospel as
+any other savages, if they had been taught; but intoxicating spirits,
+and the accompanying vices of white people have ruined them. William
+Armstrong.”
+
+But let Nora, one of the “poor brutes in human shape,” who was
+“incapable of taking in the Gospel,” and must “perish like brute
+beasts,” now speak to the heart of every reader in her own words. In
+February, 1863, she wrote to me as follows:—
+
+“Dear Sir,—I received your kind letter, and was glad to hear from you.
+I am always reading my Bible, for I believe in God the Father and in
+Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen. I often speak to the blacks about Jesus
+Christ; and some of them believe in God and in Jesus. I always teach
+my children to pray to God our Father in Heaven.... Colin will try not
+to drink any more. He is always praying to God. Them blacks that come
+with me, I will tell about God and about their sins; but they are so
+very wicked, they won t listen to me teaching them. Sir, I shall always
+pray for you, that God may bless and guide you. O Sir, pray for me, my
+husband, and my children! Your obedient servant, Nora Hood.”
+
+In her second letter, she says:—“Your kind letter gave me great
+comfort. I thank God that I am able to read and write. Mrs. and Miss
+MacKenzie taught me; and through them I came to know Jesus Christ my
+Saviour. Our Lord says, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy
+laden, and I will give you rest.’ ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come
+ye to the waters!’ Sir, I will tell Joe and King John, and I have been
+always telling Katy and all the rest of them about Jesus Christ our
+Saviour. Please, Sir, I would like you to write to me, that I may show
+them your letters,” etc., etc.
+
+In a third letter, also dated 1863, she says:—“Dear Sir, Colin and I
+were glad to hear from you. I am telling the blacks always about God
+our Saviour and the salvation of their souls. They are so very wicked.
+They go from place to place, and don’t stop long with me. I am always
+teaching my children to pray, and would like to send them to School
+if I could.... I hope you will go home to England safely, get more
+Missionaries, and then go back to your poor blacks on the Islands. I
+will be glad to hear from you. May the Lord God bless you, wherever you
+go! Your affectionate, Nora Hood.”
+
+Poor, dear, Christian-hearted Nora! The Christ-spirit shines forth
+unmistakably through thee,—praying for and seeking to save husband and
+children, enduring trials and miseries by the aid of communion with
+thy Lord, weeping over the degradation of thy people and seeking to
+lift them up by telling them of the true God and of His love to Mankind
+through Jesus Christ. Would that all white Christians manifested forth
+as much of the Divine Master’s Spirit!
+
+Alas, in reading Marsden’s “Life,” and other authorities, one shrinks
+with a sickening feeling at the description of the butcheries of the
+poor blacks! Imagine 1830, when the inhabitants were called out to join
+the troops, and nearly three thousand armed men gloated in the work
+of destruction from the 4th of October till the 26th November. Read
+of one boasting that he had killed seven blacks with his own hand;
+another, that he had slain, and piled up in a heap, thirty men, women,
+and children; and a third, a _gentleman_, of whom Lieutenant Laidlaw
+tells, exhibiting as a trophy over his bookcase the skull of a poor
+black, pierced by the bullet with which he had shot him! And their sin,
+their crime? Oh, only seizing a sheep, in the frenzy of hunger, which
+fattened on the lands where once grew their food and from which the
+white man had pitilessly hunted them. Retribution comes, but sometimes
+slowly, and is not recognised when she appears; but Australia suffers
+to-day from the passions then let loose against the blacks. The demons
+have come home to roost.
+
+During my last Mission tour, in 1888, through Victoria and part of New
+South Wales, I visited all Stations of the Aborigines that could be
+conveniently reached. There the few remnants of a once numerous race
+are now assembled together. They try hard to constrain themselves to
+live in houses. But the spirit of the wanderer is in them. They start
+forth, every now and again, for an occasional ramble over their old
+hunting grounds, and to taste the sweets of freedom. In Victoria, the
+Government now provide food and clothing for the Aborigines who will
+remain at the appointed Stations, so that in regard to temporals the
+survivors are not badly off. Their religious training and spiritual
+interests are left entirely to the Churches. The Government provides
+a Superintendent at each Station; and where he is a Christian man,
+and takes any interest in the religion and morals of the tribes,
+contentment reigns. At Ramayeuk, for instance, the Superintendent is
+Rev. F. A. Haganeur; and he and his excellent wife regularly instruct
+the blacks. Nothing can be more delightful than the results. The faces
+of the people were shining with happiness. Their rows of clean and neat
+cottages were a picture and an emblem. In their Church, a Native woman
+played the harmonium and led the praise. I never had more attentive
+Congregations. On two occasions they handed me £5, collected at their
+own free will, for our Island Mission. Their School received from the
+Government examiners one of the highest percentages. Many at this
+Station have, after a consistent Christian life, died in the full hope
+of Glory together with Jesus.
+
+At all the other Stations in Victoria the outward comforts of the
+Natives are attended to, but Superintendents ought to be appointed, in
+every case, to care for their souls as well as their bodies. For strong
+drink and other vices are rapidly sweeping the Aborigines away; and
+Australia has but short time to atone for the cruelties of the past,
+and to snatch a few more jewels from amongst them for the Crown of
+Jesus our Lord.
+
+At my farewell meeting in Melbourne, Sir Henry Barkley presiding, I
+pleaded that the Colony should put forth greater efforts to give the
+Gospel to the Aborigines; I showed the idols which I had discovered
+amongst them; I read Nora’s letters, and, I may, without presumption,
+say, the “brute-in-human-shape” theory has been pretty effectually
+buried ever since.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_TO SCOTLAND AND BACK._
+
+ Dr. Inglis on the Mission Crisis.—Casting Lots before the
+ Lord.—Struck by Lightning.—A Peep at London.—A Heavenly Welcome.—The
+ Moderator’s Chair.—Reformed Presbyterian Church and Free Church.—
+ Tour through Scotland.—A Frosted Foot.—The Children’s Holy
+ League.—Missionary Volunteers.—A God-provided Help-Mate.—Farewell to
+ the Old Family Altar.—First Peep at the _Dayspring_.—The _Dayspring_
+ in a Dead-Lock.— Tokens of Deliverance.—The _John Williams_ and the
+ _Dayspring_.—Australia’s Special Call.
+
+
+Each of my Australian Committees strongly urged my return to Scotland,
+chiefly to secure, if possible, more Missionaries for the New Hebrides.
+Dr. Inglis, just arrived from Britain, where he had the Aneityumese
+New Testament carried through the press, zealously enforced this
+appeal. “Before I left home,” he wrote back to the Church in Scotland,
+“I thought this would be inexpedient; but since I returned here, and
+have seen the sympathy, interest, and liberality displayed through
+the blessing of God on Mr. Paton’s instrumentality, and the altered
+aspect of the Mission, I feel that a crisis has been reached when
+a special effort must be made to procure more men, for which I had
+neither the time, nor had I the means to employ them, but which may now
+be appropriately done by Mr. Paton; and my prayer and hope are that he
+may be as successful in securing men at home as he has been in securing
+money in these Colonies.”
+
+Yet my path was far from clear, notwithstanding my Gideon’s fleece
+referred to already. To lose time in going home to do work that others
+ought to do, while I still heard the wail of the perishing Heathen on
+the Islands, could scarcely be my duty. Amidst overwhelming perplexity,
+and finding no light from any human counsel, I took a step, to which
+only once before in all my chequered career I have felt constrained.
+Some will mock when they read it, but others will perhaps more
+profoundly say: “To whomsoever this faith is given, let him obey it.”
+After many prayers, and wrestlings, and tears, I went alone before the
+Lord, and, on my knees, cast lots with a solemn appeal to God, and the
+answer came, “Go home!” In my heart, I sincerely believe that on both
+these occasions the Lord condescended to decide for me the path of
+duty, otherwise unknown; and I believe it the more truly now, in view
+of the after-come of thirty years of service to Christ that flowed out
+of the steps then deliberately and devoutly taken. In this, and in many
+other matters, I am no law to others, though I obeyed my then highest
+light. Nor can I refrain from adding that, for the very reasons
+indicated above, I regard so-called “lotteries” and “raffles” as a
+mockery of God, and little if at all short of blasphemy. “Ye cannot
+drink at the Lord’s Table, and at the table of devils.”
+
+I sailed for London in the _Kosciusko_, an Aberdeen clipper, on 16th
+May, 1863. Captain Stewart made the voyage most enjoyable to all.
+The son of my old friend Bishop Selwyn and I conducted alternately a
+Presbyterian and an Anglican Service. We passed through a memorable
+thunder-burst in rounding the Cape. Our good ship was perilously struck
+by lightning. The men on deck were thrown violently down. The copper
+on the bulwarks was twisted and melted—a specimen of which the Captain
+gave me and I still retain. When the ball of fire struck the ship,
+those of us sitting on chairs, screwed to the floor around the Cabin
+table, felt as if she were plunging to the bottom. When she sprang
+aloft again, a military man and a medical officer were thrown heavily
+into the back passage between the Cabins, the screws that held their
+seats having snapped asunder. I, in grasping the table, got my leg
+severely bruised, being jammed betwixt the seat and the table, and had
+to be carried to my berth. All the men were attended to, and quickly
+recovered consciousness; and immediately the good Captain, an elder of
+the Church, came to me, and said,—
+
+“Lead us in prayer, and let us thank the Lord for this most merciful
+deliverance; the ship is not on fire, and no one is seriously injured!”
+
+Poor fellow! whether hastened on by this event I know not, but he
+struggled for three weeks thereafter in a fever, and it took our united
+care and love to pull him through. The Lord, however, restored him;
+and we cast anchor safely in the East India Docks, at London, on 26th
+August, 1863, having been three months and ten days at sea from port to
+port.
+
+It was 5.30 p.m. when we cast anchor, and the gates closed at six
+o’clock. My little box was ready on deck. The Custom House officers
+kindly passed me, and I was immediately on my way to Euston Square.
+Never before had I been within the Great City, and doubtless I could
+have enjoyed its palaces and memorials. But the King’s business,
+entrusted to me, “required haste,” and I felt constrained to press
+forward, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left. The streets
+through which I was driven seemed to be dirty and narrow; many of the
+people had a squalid and vicious look; and, fresh from Australia, my
+disappointment was keen as to the smoky and miserable appearance of
+what I saw. No doubt other visitors will behold only the grandeur and
+the wealth; they will see exactly what they come to see, and London
+will shine before them accordingly.
+
+At nine o’clock, that evening, I left for Scotland by train. Next
+morning, about the same hour, I reported myself at the manse of the
+Rev. John Kay, Castle Douglas, the Convener of the Foreign Missions
+Committee of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, to which I belonged. We
+arranged for a meeting of said Committee, at earliest practicable date,
+that my scheme and plans might at once be laid before them.
+
+By the next train I was on my way to Dumfries, and thence by conveyance
+to my dear old home at Torthorwald. There I had a Heavenly Welcome from
+my saintly parents, yet not unmixed with many fast-falling tears. Five
+brief years only had elapsed, since I went forth from their Sanctuary,
+with my young bride; and now, alas! alas! that grave on Tanna held
+mother and son locked in each other’s embrace till the Resurrection Day.
+
+Not less glowing, but more terribly agonizing, was my reception, a few
+days thereafter, at Coldstream, when I first gazed on the bereaved
+father and mother of my beloved; who, though godly people, were
+conscious of a heart-break under that stroke, from which through their
+remaining years they never fully rallied. They murmured not against the
+Lord; but all the same, heart and flesh began to faint and fail, even
+as our Divine Example Himself fainted under the Cross, which yet He so
+uncomplainingly bore.
+
+The Foreign Mission Committee of the Reformed Presbyterian Church met
+in Edinburgh, and welcomed me kindly, nay, warmly. A full report of all
+my doings for the past, and of all my plans and hopes, was laid before
+them. They at once agreed to my visiting and addressing every Sabbath
+School in the Church. They opened to me their Divinity Hall, that I
+might appeal to the Students. My Address there was published and
+largely circulated, under the motto: “Come over and help us.” It was
+used of God to deepen vastly the interest in our Mission.
+
+The Committee generously and enthusiastically did everything in their
+power to help me. By their influence, the Church in 1864 conferred on
+me the undesired and undeserved honour, the highest which they could
+confer—the honour of being the Moderator of their Supreme Court. No
+one can understand how much I shrank from all this; but, in hope of
+the Lord’s using it and me to promote His work amongst the Heathen, I
+accepted the Chair, though, I fear, only to occupy it most unworthily,
+for Tanna gave me little training for work like that!
+
+The Church, as there represented, passed a Resolution, declaring:—
+
+“It is with feelings of no ordinary pleasure that we behold present at
+this meeting one of our most devoted Missionaries. The result of Mr.
+Paton’s appeals in Australia has been unprecedented in the history of
+this Mission. It appears in the shape of £4,500 added to the funds of
+the New Hebrides Mission, besides over £300 for Native Teachers, to be
+paid yearly in £5 contributions, and all expenses met. The Spirit of
+God must have been poured out upon the inhabitants of the Colonies,
+in leading them to make such a noble offering as this to the cause of
+Missions, and in making our Missionary the honoured instrument God
+employed in drawing forth the sympathy and liberality of the Colonists.
+Now, by the good hand of God upon him, he holds the most honoured
+position of Moderator of the Church, etc., etc.”
+
+The Synod also placed on record its gratitude for what God had thus
+done; and its cordial recognition of the many and fruitful services
+rendered by Ministers and Sabbath Schools, both in Scotland and
+Australia, in standing by me and helping on the _Floating of the
+Dayspring_.
+
+I have ever regarded it as a privilege and honour that I was born and
+trained within the old covenanting Reformed Presbyterian Church of
+Scotland. As a separate Communion, that Church is small amongst the
+thousands of Israel; but the principles of Civil and Religious Liberty
+for which her founders suffered and died are, at this moment, the heart
+and soul of all that is best and divinest in the Constitution of our
+British Empire. I am more proud that the blood of Martyrs is in my
+veins, and their truths in my heart, than other men can be of noble
+pedigree or royal names. And I was,—in that day of the Church’s honour
+so distinguished for her Missionary zeal,—filled with a high passion
+of gratitude to be able to proclaim, at the close of my tour, and
+after the addition of new names to our staff, that of all her ordained
+Ministers, one in every six was a Missionary of the Cross.
+
+Nor did the dear old Church thus cripple herself; on the contrary, her
+zeal for Missions accompanied, if not caused, unwonted prosperity at
+home. New waves of liberality passed over the heart of her people.
+Debts that had burdened many of the Churches and Manses were swept
+away. Additional Congregations were organized. And in May, 1876, the
+Reformed Presbyterian Church entered into an honourable and independent
+Union with her larger, wealthier, and more progressive sister, the Free
+Church of Scotland,—only a few of the brethren, doubtless with perfect
+loyalty to what they regarded as duty to Christ, still holding aloof
+and standing firmly in the old paths, as they appeared to them.
+
+In the Deed of Union the incorporating Church took itself bound legally
+and formally to maintain the New Hebrides Mission staff, and also
+the _Dayspring_, committing herself never to withdraw, as it were,
+till these Islands were all occupied for Jesus. Now that the French
+have been constrained to abandon the scene, the field is open, and
+the Islands wail aloud for eight or ten Missionaries more than we at
+present have (1889); and then the Standard of the Cross might speedily
+be planted on every separate isle, and a true sense might at last
+come into the foolish name given to these regions by their Spanish
+discoverer, when he called the part at which he touched, thinking it
+the fabled Southern Continent, _the Land of the Holy Ghost_.
+
+When the aforesaid Union took place, all the Missionaries of their own
+free accord cast in their lot with the incorporating Church; not only
+those directly supported by the old Reformed Presbyterians themselves,
+but also the several Missionaries sent forth by them, though supported
+by one or other of the Australian Colonies. And, beyond question, one
+feature in the Free Church that drew them and bound them to her heart
+was her noble zeal for and sacrifices in connection with the work of
+Missions, both at home and abroad. For it is a fixed point in the faith
+of every Missionary, that the more any Church or Congregation interests
+itself in the Heathen, the more will it be blessed and prospered at
+Home.
+
+“One of the surest signs of life,” wrote the Victorian _Christian
+Review_, “is the effort of a Church to spread the Gospel beyond its
+own bounds, and especially to send the knowledge of Jesus amongst
+the Heathen. The Missions to the Aborigines, to the Chinese in this
+Colony, and to the New Hebrides, came to this Church from God. In a
+great crisis of the New Hebrides, they sent one of their number to
+Australia for help, and his appeal was largely owned by the Head of
+the Church. The Children, and especially the Sabbath Scholars of the
+Presbyterian Churches, became alive with Missionary enthusiasm. Large
+sums were raised for a Mission Ship. The Congregations were roused to
+see their duty to God and their fellow-men beyond these Colonies, and a
+new Missionary Spirit took possession of the whole Church. Their deputy
+from the Islands agreed to become the Missionary from this Church.
+Many circumstances indeed combined to show that it was the will of the
+Master, that this Church should join the other Presbyterian Churches
+in taking possession of this field of usefulness; and already the
+results are very important both to the Church and to the Mission. The
+Missionaries feel much encouraged in receiving substantial support from
+the largest Presbyterian Church in the Australian Colonies; while the
+Presbyterian Church in Victoria is largely blessed in her own spirit
+through the Missionary zeal awakened in her midst. Thus, there is that
+scattereth and yet increaseth; bringing out anew the words of the Lord
+Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
+
+But, in all this, I am rather anticipating. My tour through Scotland
+brought me into contact with every Minister, Congregation, and Sabbath
+School in the Church of my fathers. They were never at any time a rich
+people, but they were always liberal. At this time they contributed
+beyond all previous experience, both in money and in boxes of useful
+articles for the Islanders.
+
+Unfortunately, my visit to the far North, to our Congregations at Wick
+and Stromness, had been arranged for the month of January; and thereby
+a sore trial befell me in my pilgrimages. The roads were covered with
+snow and ice. I reached Aberdeen and Wick by steamer from Edinburgh,
+and had to find my way thence to Thurso. The inside seats on the Mail
+Coach being all occupied, I had to take my place outside. The cold was
+intense, and one of my feet got bitten by the frost. The storm detained
+me nearly a week at Thurso, but feeling did not return to the foot.
+
+We started, in a lull, by steamer for Stromness; but the storm burst
+again, all were ordered below, and hatches and doors made fast. The
+passengers were mostly very rough, the place was foul with whisky and
+tobacco. I appealed to the Captain to let me crouch somewhere on deck,
+and hold on as best I could. He shouted,—
+
+“I dare not! You’ll be washed overboard.”
+
+On seeing my appealing look, he relented, directed his men to fasten a
+tarpaulin over me, and lash it and me to the mast, and there I lay till
+we reached Stromness. The sea broke heavily and dangerously over the
+vessel. But the Captain, finding shelter for several hours under the
+lee of a headland, saved both the ship and the passengers. When at last
+we landed, my foot was so benumbed and painful that I could move a step
+only with greatest agony. Two meetings, however, were in some kind of
+way conducted; but the projected visit to Dingwall and other places had
+to be renounced, the snow lying too deep for any conveyance to carry
+me, and my foot crying aloud for treatment and skill.
+
+On returning Southwards, I was confined for about two months, and
+placed under the best medical advice. All feeling seemed gradually to
+have departed from my foot; and amputation was seriously proposed both
+in Edinburgh and in Glasgow. Having somehow managed to reach Liverpool,
+my dear friend, the Rev. Dr. Graham, took me there to a Doctor who
+had wrought many wonderful recoveries by galvanism. Time after time he
+applied the battery, but I felt nothing. He declared that the power
+used would almost have killed an ordinary man, and that he had never
+seen any part of the human body so dead to feeling on a live and
+healthy person. Finally, he covered it all over with a dark plaster,
+and told me to return in three days. But next day, the throbbing
+feeling of insufferable coldness in the foot compelled me to return at
+once. After my persistent appeals, he removed the plaster; and, to his
+great astonishment, the whole of the frosted part adhered to it! Again
+dressing the remaining parts, he covered it with plaster as before, and
+assured me that with care and rest it would now completely recover. By
+the blessing of the Lord it did, though it was a bitter trial to me
+amidst all these growing plans to be thus crippled by the way; and to
+this day I am sometimes warned in over-walking that the part is capable
+of many a painful twinge. And humbly I feel myself crooning over the
+graphic words of the Greatest Missionary, “I bear about in my body the
+marks of the Lord Jesus.”
+
+On that tour, the Sabbath Schools joyfully adopted my scheme, and
+became “shareholders” in the Mission Ship. It was thereafter ably
+developed by an elder of the Church. A _Dayspring_ collecting box has
+found its way into almost every family; and the returns from Scotland
+have yielded ever since about £250 per annum, as their proportion
+for the expenses of the Children’s Mission Ship to the New Hebrides.
+The Church in Nova Scotia heartily accepted the same idea, and their
+Sabbath School children have regularly contributed their £250 per
+annum too. The Colonial children have contributed the rest, throughout
+all these years, with unfailing interest. And whensoever the true
+and full history of the South Sea Islands Mission is written for the
+edification of the Universal Church, let it not be forgotten that the
+children of Australasia, and Nova Scotia, and Scotland did by their
+united pennies keep the _Dayspring_ floating in the New Hebrides; that
+the Missionaries and their families were thereby supplied with the
+necessaries of life, and that the Islanders were thus taught to clothe
+themselves and to sit at the feet of Jesus. This was the Children’s
+Holy League, erewhile referred to; and one knows that on such a Union
+the Divine Master smiles well pleased.
+
+The Lord also crowned this tour with another precious fruit of
+blessing, though not all by any means due to my influence. Four new
+Missionaries volunteered from Scotland, and three from Nova Scotia.
+By their aid we not only reclaimed for Jesus the posts that had been
+abandoned, but we took possession of other Islands in His most blessed
+Name. But I did not wait and take them out with me. They had matters to
+look into and to learn about, that would be infinitely helpful to them
+in the Mission field. Especially, and far above everything else, in
+addition to their regular clerical course, some Medical instruction was
+an almost absolute prerequisite. I myself had attended several Medical
+Classes at the Andersonian College, when a student in Glasgow, and had
+had personal training from an experienced physician. This had proved
+invaluable, not only on the Islands, but in the remote bush during
+Australian tours, and indeed on many private occasions, when other
+medical help was unavailable. Every future Missionary was therefore
+urged to obtain all insight and instruction that was practicable at
+Medical Missions and otherwise, especially on lines known to be most
+requisite for these Islands. For this, and similar objects, all that
+I raised over and above what was required for the _Dayspring_ was
+entrusted to the Foreign Mission Committee, that the new Missionaries
+might be fully equipped, and their outfit and travelling expenses be
+provided for without burdening the Church at home. Her responsibilities
+were already large enough for her resources. But she could give men,
+God’s own greatest gift, and His people elsewhere gave the money,—the
+Colonies and the Home Country thus binding themselves to each other in
+this Holy Mission of the Cross.
+
+But I did not return alone. The dear Lord had brought to me one
+prepared, all unknown to either of us, by special culture, by godly
+training, by many gifts and accomplishments, and even by family
+associations, to share my lot on the New Hebrides. Her heart was
+stirred with a yearning to aid and teach those who were sitting in
+darkness; her brother had been an honoured Missionary in the foreign
+field, and had fallen asleep while the dew of youth was yet upon
+him; her sister was the wife of a devoted Minister of our Church in
+Adelaide, both she and her husband being zealous promoters of our work;
+and her father had left behind him a fragrant memory through his many
+Christian works in all the Stirling district, and not unknown to fame
+as the author of the still popular books of _Anecdotes_, illustrative
+of the Shorter Catechism and of the Holy Scriptures. Ere I left
+Scotland in 1864, I was married to Margaret Whitecross, and God spares
+us to each other still; and the family which He has been pleased in His
+love to grant unto us we have dedicated to His service, with the prayer
+and hope that He may use every one of them in spreading the Gospel
+throughout the Heathen World.
+
+Our marriage was celebrated at her sister’s house in Edinburgh; and I
+may be pardoned for recalling a little event that characterized the
+occasion. My youngest brother, then tutor to a gentleman studying at
+the University, stepped forth at the close of the ceremony and recited
+an _Epithalamium_ composed for the day. For many a month and year the
+refrain, a play upon the Bride’s name, kept singing itself through my
+memory:—
+
+ “Long may the Whitecross banner wave
+ By the battle blasts unriven;
+ Long may our Brother and Sister brave
+ Rejoice in the light of Heaven.”
+
+He described the Bride as hearing a “Voice from the far Pacific Seas”;
+and turning to us both, he sang of an Angel beckoning us to the
+Tanna-land, to gather a harvest of souls:—
+
+ “The warfare is brief, the crown is bright,
+ The pledge is the souls of men;
+ Go, may the Lord defend the Right,
+ And restore you safe again!”
+
+But the verse which my dear wife thought most beautiful for a bridal
+day, and which her memory cherishes still, was this:—
+
+ “May the ruddy Joys, and the Graces fair,
+ Wait fondly around you now;
+ Sweet angel Hopes and young Loves repair
+ To your home and bless your vow!”
+
+My last scene in Scotland was kneeling at the family altar in the old
+Sanctuary Cottage at Torthorwald, while my venerable father, with his
+high-priestly locks of snow-white hair streaming over his shoulders,
+commended us once again to “the care and keeping of the Lord God of the
+families of Israel.” It was the last time that ever on this Earth those
+accents of intercession, loaded with a pathos of deathless love, would
+fall upon my ears. I knew to a certainty that when we rose from our
+knees and said farewell, our eyes would never meet again till they were
+flooded with the lights of the Resurrection Day. But he and my darling
+mother gave us away once again with a free heart, not unpierced with
+the sword of human anguish, to the service of our common Lord and to
+the Salvation of the Heathen. And we went forth, praying that a double
+portion of their spirit, with their precious blessing, might rest upon
+us in all the way that we had to go.
+
+Our beloved mother, always more self-restrained, and less demonstrative
+in the presence of others, held back her heart till we were fairly gone
+from the door; and then, as my dear brother afterwards informed me, she
+fell back into his arms with a great cry, as if all the heart-strings
+had broken, and lay for long in a death-like swoon. Oh, all ye that
+read this page, think most tenderly of the cries of Nature, even
+where Grace and Faith are in perfect triumph. Read, through scenes
+like these, a fuller meaning into the words addressed to that blessed
+Mother, whose Son was given for us all, “Yea, a sword shall pierce
+through thine own soul also.”
+
+Here, in passing, I may mention that my mother, ever beloved, “fell on
+sleep,” after a short agony of affliction, in 1865; and my “priest-like
+father” passed peacefully and joyfully into the presence of his Lord
+in 1868; both cradled and cherished to the last in the arms of their
+own affectionate children, and both in the assured hope of a blessed
+immortality, where all their sons and daughters firmly expect to meet
+them again in the Home prepared by their blessed Saviour.
+
+We embarked at Liverpool for Australia in _The Crest of the Wave_,
+Captain Ellis; and after what was then considered a fast passage of
+ninety-five days, we landed at Sydney on 17th January, 1865. Within an
+hour we had to grapple with a new and amazing perplexity. The Captain
+of our _Dayspring_ came to inform me that his ship had arrived three
+days ago and now lay in the stream,—that she had been to the Islands,
+and had settled the Gordons, McCullaghs, and Goodwills on their several
+Stations,—that she had left Halifax in Nova Scotia fourteen months ago,
+and that now, on arriving at Sydney, he could not get one penny of
+money, and that the crew were clamouring for their pay, etc., etc. He
+continued, “Where shall I get money for current expenses? No one will
+lend unless we mortgage the _Dayspring_. I fear there is nothing before
+us but to sell her!” I gave him £50 of my own to meet clamant demands,
+and besought him to secure me a day or two of delay that something
+might be done.
+
+Having landed, and been heartily welcomed by dear Dr. and Mrs. Moon and
+other friends, I went with a kind of trembling joy to have my first
+look at the _Dayspring_, like a sailor getting a first peep at the
+child born to him whilst far away on the sea. Some of the irritated
+ship’s company stopped us by the way, and threatened prosecution
+and all sorts of annoyance. I could only urge again for a few days’
+patience. I found her to be a beautiful two-masted Brig, with a
+deck-house (added when she first arrived at Melbourne), and every way
+suitable for our necessities,—a thing of beauty, a white-winged Angel
+set a-floating by the pennies of the children to bear the Gospel to
+these sin-darkened but sun-lit Southern Isles. To me she became a
+sort of living thing, the impersonation of a living and throbbing love
+in the heart of thousands of “shareholders”; and I said, with a deep,
+indestructible faith,—“The Lord _has_ provided—the Lord _will_ provide.”
+
+For present liabilities at least £700 were instantly required; and, at
+any rate, as large a sum to pay her way and meet expenses of next trip
+to the Islands. Having laid our perplexing circumstances before our
+dear Lord Jesus, having “spread out” all the details in His sympathetic
+presence, pleading that the Ship itself and the new Missionaries were
+all His own, not mine, I told Him that this money was needed to do His
+own blessed work.
+
+On Friday morning, I consulted friends of the Mission, but no help
+was visible. I tried to borrow, but found that the lender demanded
+twenty per cent. for interest, besides the title deeds of the ship
+for security. I applied for a loan from the agent of the London
+Missionary Society (then agent for us too) on the credit of the
+Reformed Presbyterian Church’s Foreign Committee, but he could not give
+it without a written order from Scotland. There were some who seemed
+rather to enjoy our perplexity!
+
+Driven thus to the wall, I advertised for a meeting of Ministers and
+other friends, next morning at 11 o’clock, to receive my report and to
+consult _re_ the _Dayspring_. I related my journeyings since leaving
+them, and the results, and then asked for advice about the ship.
+
+“Sell her,” said some, “and have done with it.”
+
+“What,” said others, “have the Sabbath Schools given you the
+_Dayspring_, and can you not support her yourselves?”
+
+I pointed out to them that the salary of each Missionary was only £120
+per annum, that they gave their lives for the Heathen, and that surely
+the Colonial Christians would undertake the up-keep of the Ship, which
+was necessary to the very existence of the Mission. I appealed to them
+that, as my own Church in Scotland had now one Missionary abroad for
+every six Ministers at home, and the small Presbyterian Church of Nova
+Scotia had actually three Missionaries now on our Islands, it would be
+a blessed privilege for the Australian Churches and Sabbath Schools to
+keep the _Dayspring_ afloat, without whose services the Missionaries
+could not live nor the Islanders be evangelized.
+
+Being Saturday, the morning Services for Sabbath were all arranged for,
+or advertised; but Dr. McGibbon offered me a meeting for the evening,
+and Dr. Steel an afternoon Service at three o’clock, combined with his
+Sabbath School. Rev. Mr. Patterson, of Piermont, offered me a morning
+Service; but, as his was only a Mission Church, he could not give me a
+collection. These openings I accepted, as from the Lord, however much
+they fell short of what I desired.
+
+At the morning Service I informed the Congregation how we were
+situated, and expressed the hope that under God and their devoted
+pastor they would greatly prosper, and would yet be able to help in
+supporting our Mission to their South Sea neighbours. Returning to the
+vestry, a lady and gentleman waited to be introduced to me. They were
+from Launceston, Tasmania.
+
+“I am,” said he, “Captain and owner of that vessel lying at anchor
+opposite the _Dayspring_. My wife and I, being too late to get on
+shore to attend any Church in the city, heard this little Chapel bell
+ringing, and followed, when we saw you going up the stairs. We have so
+enjoyed the Service. We do heartily sympathize with you. This cheque
+for £50 will be a beginning to help you out of your difficulties.”
+
+The reader knows how warmly I would thank them; and how in my own heart
+I knew _Who_ it was that made them arrive too late for _their_ plans,
+but not for _His_, and guided them up that Chapel stair, and opened
+their hearts. Jehovah-Jireh!
+
+At three o’clock, Dr. Steel’s Church was filled with children and
+others. I told them in my appeal what had happened in the Mission
+Chapel, and how God had led Captain Frith and his wife, entire
+strangers, to sound the first note of our deliverance. One man stood
+up and said, “I will give £10.” Another, “I will give £5.” A third, “I
+shall send you £20 to-morrow morning.” Several others followed their
+example, and the general collection was greatly encouraging.
+
+In the evening, I had a very large as well as sympathetic Congregation.
+I fully explained the difficulty about the _Dayspring_, and told them
+what God had already done for us, announcing an address to which
+contributions might be sent. Almost every Mail brought me the free-will
+offerings of God’s people; and on Wednesday, when the adjourned meeting
+was held, the sum had reached in all £456. Believing that the Lord
+thus intervened at a vital crisis in our Mission, I dwell on it to the
+praise of His blessed Name. Trust in Him, obey Him, and He will not
+suffer you to be put to shame.
+
+At a public meeting, held immediately thereafter, an attempt was
+made to organize the _first_ Australian Mission Auxiliary to the New
+Hebrides; but it needed an enthusiastic secretary, and for lack thereof
+came to nothing at that time. At another meeting, the first elements of
+a brooding strife appeared. The then Agent of the noble and generous
+London Missionary Society intimated that he had just issued Collecting
+Cards for the _John Williams_, and that it would be unbrotherly to
+urge collections for the _Dayspring_ at the same time throughout New
+South Wales. He suggested that I should first visit Tasmania and South
+Australia, and that, on our return, they would help us as we would
+now help them. The most cordial feelings had always prevailed betwixt
+the Societies, and we accepted the proposal, though our circumstances
+were peculiarly trying, and I personally believed that no harm, but
+good, would come from both of us doing everything possible to fan the
+Missionary spirit.
+
+Clearing out from her sister ships, then in harbour, the _John
+Williams_ and the _John Wesley_, our little _Dayspring_ sailed for
+Tasmania. At Hobart we were visited by thousands of children and
+parents, and afterwards at Launceston, who were proud to see their own
+ship, in which they were “shareholders” for Jesus. Daily, all over the
+Colony, I preached in Churches and addressed public meetings, and got
+collections, and gave out Collecting Cards to be returned within two
+weeks. But here also the little rift began to show itself. At a public
+meeting in Hobart, the Congregational Minister said,—
+
+“We support the _John Williams_ for the London Missionary Society. Let
+the Presbyterians do as much for the _Dayspring_!”
+
+I replied, that I was there by special invitation from those who
+had called the meeting, and that, rather than have any unseemly
+wrangling, my friend, Dr. Nicolson, and I would quietly retire. But
+the Chairman intervened, and insisted that the meeting should go
+forward in a Christian spirit, and without any word of recrimination.
+To find ourselves, even by a misunderstanding, regarded as inimical
+to the London Missionary Society, one of the most Catholic-spirited
+and Christlike Societies in the world, was peculiarly painful. Still
+the little rift seemed to widen at every turn, and we found ourselves
+thrown more and more exclusively on Presbyterians alone. But thus also
+the hearts of _two_ great Communions were concentrated on Heathendom,
+where one only or chiefly had been bearing the burden heretofore. And
+the Lord hath need of all.
+
+We received many tokens of interest and sympathy. The steam tug was
+granted to us free, and the harbour dues were remitted. Many presents
+were also sent on board the _Dayspring_. Still, after meeting all
+necessary outlays, the trip to Tasmania gave us only £227 8_s._ 11_d._
+clear for the Mission fund.
+
+Sailing now for South Australia, we arrived at Adelaide. Many friends
+there showed the deepest interest in our plans. Thousands of children
+and parents came to visit their own Mission Ship by several special
+trips. Daily and nightly I addressed meetings, and God’s people were
+moved greatly in the cause. After meeting all expenses while in port,
+there remained a sum of £634 9_s._ 2_d._ for the up-keep of the vessel.
+The Honourable George Fife Angus gave me £241—a dear friend belonging
+to the Baptist Church. But there was still a deficit of £400 before the
+_Dayspring_ could sail free of debt, and my heart was sore as I cried
+for it to the Lord.
+
+Leaving the ship to sail direct for Sydney, I took steamer to
+Melbourne; but, on arriving there, sickness and anxiety laid me aside
+for three days. Under great weakness, I crept along to my dear friends
+at the Scotch College, Dr. and Mrs. Morrison, and Miss Fraser, and
+threw myself on their advice.
+
+“Come along,” said the Doctor cheerily, “and I’ll introduce you to Mr.
+Butchart and one or two friends in East Melbourne, and we’ll see what
+can be done!”
+
+I gave all information, being led on in conversation by the Doctor, and
+tried to interest them in our work, but no subscriptions were asked or
+received. Ere I sailed for Sydney, however, the whole deficiency was
+sent to me. I received in all, on this tour, the sum of £1,726 9_s._
+10_d._ Our _Dayspring_ once more sailed free, and our hearts overflowed
+with gratitude to the Lord and to His stewards!
+
+On my return to Sydney, and before sailing to the Islands, I called,
+by advertisement, a public meeting of Ministers and other friends to
+report success, and to take counsel for the future.
+
+My report was received with hearty thanksgiving to Almighty God. And a
+resolution was unanimously adopted, in view of all that had transpired,
+urging that a scheme must be organized, whereby the Presbyterian
+Churches and Sabbath Schools of Australia should be banded together for
+the support of the _Dayspring_, and so prevent the necessity of such
+spasmodic efforts for all future time.
+
+From that day, practically, the _Dayspring_ was supported by the
+Presbyterians alone. At the first, all helped in the original
+purchase of the Mission Ship, and she was to do all needful work on
+the Loyalty Islands for the London Society’s Missionaries, as well
+as on the New Hebrides for us. This was the agreement; and, despite
+little misunderstandings with the Agents, the _Dayspring_ was for some
+years placed heartily at their service. When the _John Williams_
+was wrecked, our ship, at great loss and expense, accompanied her to
+Sydney, and spent four months of the following year for them entirely
+amongst the Eastern Islands. The brethren on the Loyalty Islands sent
+up their Mr. Macfarland to the Colonies to secure that the promised
+support should be given by their friends to the _Dayspring_; but, this
+failing, they in 1870 declined finally to have her doing their work,
+when no longer paid for by their Churches. This little rift, however,
+amongst the contributing Churches never affected us in the Mission
+field; they and we have ever wrought together there in most perfect
+cordiality of brotherhood.
+
+Perhaps the true way to look upon the whole series of events is this:
+the Australian Presbyterian Churches had been led to hear from God a
+special call, and must necessarily organize themselves to answer it.
+In this blessed work of converting the Heathen, we can all loyally
+rejoice, whether the instruments in the Lord’s hand be Episcopal,
+Presbyterian, or Congregational! I glory in the success of every
+Protestant Mission, and daily pray for them all. It was God’s own wise
+providence, and not my zeal, wise or intrusive, that matured these
+arrangements, and gave the Australian Presbyterian Churches a Mission
+Ship of their own, and a Mission field at their doors. The Ministers
+and the Sabbath Schools felt constrained as by one impulse to undertake
+this gracious work. The Presbyterian Churches in all these Colonies
+received this duty as from God; and the organizing of Missionary
+Societies in Congregations and Sabbath Schools, for the effective
+accomplishment of the same, has been a principal means in the hands
+of the Lord of promoting and uplifting the cause of Christ throughout
+Australasia. It is worth while to re-travel that old road once again,
+were it for no other purpose than to show how, despite apparent checks
+and reverses, the mighty tide of Divine Love moves resistlessly onward,
+covers up temporary obstructions, and claims everything for Jesus.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES._
+
+ First of Missionary Duties.—Maré and Noumea.—The French in
+ the Pacific.—The _Curaçoa_ Affair.—The “Gospel and Gunpowder”
+ Cry.—The Missionaries on their Defence.—The Mission Synod’s
+ Report.—The Shelling of the Tannese Villages.—Public Meeting and
+ Presbytery.—Fighting at Bay.—Federal Union in Missions.—A Fiery
+ Furnace at Geelong.—Results of Australian Tour.—New Hebrides Mission
+ Adopted by Colonies.
+
+
+We went down to the Islands with the _Dayspring_ in 1865. The full
+story of the years that had passed was laid before my Missionary
+brethren at their Annual Synod. They resolved that permanent
+arrangements must now be made for the Vessel’s support, and that I must
+return to the Colonies and see these matured. This, meantime, appeared
+to all of them the most clamant of all Missionary duties,—their very
+lives, and the existence of the Mission itself, depending thereon. The
+Lord seemed to leave me no alternative; and, with great reluctance, my
+back was again turned away from the Islands. The _Dayspring_, doing
+duty among the Loyalty Islands, left me, along with my dear wife, on
+Maré, there to await an opportunity of getting to New Caledonia, and
+thence to Sydney.
+
+Detained there for some time, we saw the noble work done by Messrs.
+Jones and Creagh, of the London Missionary Society, all being cruelly
+undone by the tyranny and Popery of the French. One day, in an inland
+walk, Mrs. Paton and I came on a large Conventicle in the bush.
+They were teaching each other, and reading the Scriptures which the
+Missionaries had translated into their own language, and which the
+French had forbidden them to use. They cried to God for deliverance
+from their oppressors! Missionaries were prohibited from teaching the
+Gospel to the Natives without the permission of France; their books
+were suppressed, and they themselves placed under military guard on
+the island of Lifu. Even when, by Britain’s protest, the Missionaries
+were allowed to resume their work, the French language was alone to
+be used by them; and some, like Rev. J Jones (as far down as 1888),
+were marched on board a Man-of-war, at half an hour’s notice, and,
+without crime laid to their charge, forbidden ever to return to the
+Islands. While, on the other hand, the French Popish Missionaries were
+everywhere fostered and protected, presenting to the Natives as many
+objects of idolatry as their own, and following, as is the custom
+of the Romish Church in those Seas, in the wake of every Protestant
+Mission, to pollute and to destroy.
+
+Being detained also for two weeks on Noumea, we saw the state of
+affairs under military rule. English Protestant residents, few in
+number, appealed to me to conduct worship, but liberty could not be
+obtained from the authorities, who hated everything English. But a
+number of Protestant parents, some French, others English and German,
+applied to me to baptize their children at their own houses. To have
+asked permission would have been to court refusal, and to falsify my
+position. I laid the matter before the Lord, and baptized them all.
+Within two days the Private Secretary of the Governor arrived with an
+interpreter, and began to inquire of me,—
+
+“Is it true that you have been baptizing here?”
+
+I replied quite frankly, “It is.”
+
+“We are sent to demand on whose authority.”
+
+“On the authority of my Great Master.”
+
+“When did you get that authority?”
+
+“When I was licensed and ordained to preach the Gospel, I got that
+authority from my Great Master.”
+
+Here a spirited conversation followed betwixt the two in French, and
+they politely bowed, and left me.
+
+Very shortly they returned, saying,—
+
+“The Governor sends his compliments, and he wishes the honour of a
+visit from you at Government House at three o’clock, if convenient for
+you.”
+
+I returned my greeting, and said that I would have pleasure in waiting
+upon his Excellency at the appointed hour. I thought to myself that I
+was in for it now, and I earnestly cried for Divine guidance.
+
+He saluted me graciously as “de great Missionary of de New Hebrides.”
+He conversed in a very friendly manner about the work there, and seemed
+anxious to find any indication as to the English designs. I had to
+deal very cautiously. He spoke chiefly through the interpreter; but,
+sometimes dismissing him, he talked to me as good, if not better,
+English himself. He was eager to get my opinions as to how Britain
+got and retained her power over the Natives. After a very prolonged
+interview, we parted without a single reference to the baptisms or to
+religious services!
+
+That evening the Secretary and interpreter waited upon us at our Inn,
+saying,—
+
+“The Governor will have pleasure in placing his yacht and crew at your
+disposal to-morrow. Mrs. Paton and you can sail all round, and visit
+the Convict island, and the Government gardens, where lunch will be
+prepared for you.”
+
+It was a great treat to us indeed. The crew were in prison garments,
+but all so kind to us. By Convict labour all the public works seemed to
+be carried on, and the Gardens were most beautiful. The carved work in
+bone, ivory, cocoa-nuts, shells, etc., was indeed very wonderful. We
+bought a few specimens, but the prices were beyond our purse. It was a
+strange spectacle—these things of beauty and joy, and beside them the
+chained gangs of fierce and savage Convicts, kept down only by bullet
+and sword!
+
+Thanking the Governor for his exceeding kindness, I referred to their
+Man-of-war about to go to Sydney, and offered to pay full passage
+money if they would take me, instead of leaving me to wait for a
+“trader.” He at once granted my request, and arranged that we should
+be charged only at the daily cost for the sailors. At his suggestion,
+however, I took a number of things on board with me, and presented them
+to be used at the Cabin table. We were most generously treated,—the
+Captain giving up his own room to my wife and myself, as they had no
+special accommodation for passengers.
+
+Noumea appeared to me at that time to be wholly given over to
+drunkenness and vice, supported as a great Convict settlement by
+the Government of France, and showing every extreme of reckless,
+worldly pleasure, and of cruel, slavish toil. When I saw it again,
+three-and-twenty years thereafter, it showed no signs of progress for
+the better. In his book on the French Colonies, J. Bonwick, F.R.G.S.,
+says that even yet Noumea and its dependencies contain only 1,068
+Colonists from France. If there be a God of justice and of love, His
+blight cannot but rest on a nation whose pathway is stained with
+corruption and steeped in blood, as is undeniably the case with France
+in the Pacific Isles.
+
+Arriving at Sydney, I was at once plunged into a whirlpool of horrors.
+H.M.S. _Curaçoa_ had just returned from her official trip to the
+Islands, in which the Commodore, Sir William Wiseman, had thought it
+his duty to inflict punishment on the Natives for murder and robbery
+of Traders and others. On these Islands, as in all similar cases,
+the Missionaries had acted as interpreters, and of course always used
+their influence on the side of mercy, and in the interests of peace.
+But Sydney, and indeed Australia and the Christian World, were thrown
+into a ferment just a few days before our arrival, by certain articles
+in a leading publication there, and by the pictorial illustrations of
+the same. They were professedly from an officer on board Her Majesty’s
+ship, and the sensation was increased by their apparent truthfulness
+and reality. Tanna was the scene of the first event, and a series was
+to follow in succeeding numbers. The _Curaçoa_ was pictured lying off
+the shore, having the _Dayspring_ in tow. The Tannese warriors were
+being blown to pieces by shot and shell, and lay in heaps on the bloody
+coast. And the Missionaries were represented as safe in the lee of the
+Man-of-war, directing the onslaught, and gloating over the carnage.
+
+Without a question being asked or a doubt suggested, without a voice
+being raised in fierce denial that such men as these Missionaries were
+known to be could be guilty of such conduct—men who had jeoparded their
+lives for years on end rather than hurt one hair on a Native’s head—a
+cry of execration, loud and deep and even savage, arose from the Press,
+and was apparently joined in by the Church itself. The common witticism
+about the “Gospel and Gunpowder” headed hundreds of bitter and scoffing
+articles in the journals; and, as we afterwards learned, the shocking
+news had been telegraphed to Britain and America, losing nothing in
+force by the way, and while filling friends of Missions with dismay,
+was dished up day after day with every imaginable enhancement of
+horror for the readers of the secular and infidel Press. As I stepped
+ashore at Sydney, I found myself probably the best-abused man in all
+Australia, and the very name of the New Hebrides Mission stinking in
+the nostrils of the People.
+
+The gage of battle had been thrown and fell at my feet. Without one
+moment’s delay, I lifted it in the name of my Lord and of my maligned
+brethren. That evening my reply was in the hands of the editor, denying
+that such battles ever took place, retailing the actual facts of which
+I had been myself an eye-witness, and intimating legal prosecution
+unless the most ample and unequivocal withdrawal and apology were
+at once published. The Newspaper printed my rejoinder, and made
+satisfactory amends for having been imposed upon and deceived. I waited
+upon the Commodore, and appealed for his help in redressing this
+terrible injury to our Mission. He informed me that he had already
+called his officers to account, but that all denied any connection
+with the articles or the pictures. He had little doubt, all the
+same, that some one on board was the prompter, who gloried in the
+evil that was being done to the cause of Christ. He offered every
+possible assistance, by testimony or otherwise, to place all the facts
+before the Christian public and to vindicate out Missionaries.
+
+The outstanding facts are best presented in the following extract from
+the official report of the Mission Synod:—
+
+“When the New Hebrides Missionaries were assembled at their annual
+meeting on Aneityum, H.M.S. _Curaçoa_, Sir Wm. Wiseman, Bart., C.B.,
+arrived in the harbour to investigate many grievances of white men and
+trading vessels among the Islands. A petition having been previously
+presented to the Governor in Sydney, as drawn out by the Revs. Messrs.
+Geddie and Copeland, after the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon on
+Erromanga, requesting an investigation into the sad event, and the
+removal of a Sandal-wood trader, a British subject, who had excited the
+Natives to it,—the Missionaries gave the Commodore a memorandum on the
+loss of life and property that had been sustained by the Mission on
+Tanna, Erromanga, and Efatè. He requested the Missionaries to supply
+him with interpreters, and requested the _Dayspring_ to accompany him
+with them. The request was at once acceded to. Mr. Paton was appointed
+to act as interpreter for Tanna, Mr. Gordon for Erromanga, and Mr.
+Morrison for Efatè.
+
+“At each of these Islands, the Commodore summoned the principal Chiefs
+near the harbours to appear before him, and explained to them that his
+visit was to inquire into the complaints British subjects had made
+against them, and to see if they had any against British subjects; and
+when he had found out the truth he would punish those who had done
+the wrong and protect those who had suffered wrong. The Queen did not
+send him to compel them to become Christians, or to punish them for not
+becoming Christians. She left them to do as they liked in this matter;
+but she was very angry at them because they had encouraged her subjects
+to live amongst them, sold them land and promised to protect them, and
+afterwards murdered some of them and attempted to murder others, and
+stolen and destroyed their property; that the inhabitants of these
+islands were talked of over the whole world for their treachery,
+cruelty, and murders; and that the Queen would no longer allow them to
+murder or injure her subjects, who were living peaceably among them
+either as Missionaries or Traders. She would send a ship of war every
+year to inquire into their conduct, and if any white man injured any
+Native they were to tell the captain of the Man-of-war, and the white
+man would be punished as fast as the black man.”
+
+After spending much time, and using peaceably every means in his power
+in trying to get the guilty parties on Tanna, and not succeeding,
+he shelled two villages,—having the day before informed the natives
+that he would do so, and advising to have all women, children, and
+sick removed, which in fact they did. He also sent a party on shore
+to destroy canoes, houses, etc. The Tannese were astonished, beyond
+all precedent, by the terrific display of destructive power that was
+exhibited in the harbour. It was found impossible to reach the actual
+murderers; in these circumstances the Commodore’s object was to save
+life and limit himself to the destruction of property, and so impress
+the Natives with some idea of those tremendous powers of destruction,
+which lie slumbering in a Man-of-war, and which can be awakened and
+brought into action at any moment.
+
+On Erromanga no lives were lost. On Tanna one man was wounded; but, it
+was reported, three persons were afterwards killed by the bursting of a
+shell, when the natives were stripping off its lead to make balls. It
+is matter of deep regret that one man of the party sent on shore was
+shot by a Native concealed in a tree. Against orders he had wandered
+from his party, and was in a plantation standing eating a stick of
+sugar-cane when he was shot.
+
+As I had orders to act as interpreter for the Commodore on Tanna, I
+will relate what happened there. From day to day, for three continuous
+days, he besought the Natives to comply with his wishes. He warned them
+that if they did not, he would shell the two villages of the Chief who
+murdered the last white man at Port Resolution, and destroy his canoes.
+He also explained to them, that all who retired to a large bay in the
+land of Nowar, the Christian Chief (if Christian he can be called),
+would be safe, as he had protected white men from being murdered;
+and now he would protect his property and all under his care on this
+land. The whole of these inhabitants, young and old, went to Nowar’s
+land and were safe, while they witnessed what a Man-of-war could do
+in punishing murderers. But, before the hour approached, multitudes
+of Tannese warriors had assembled on the beach, painted and armed and
+determined to fight the Man-of-war! When the Commodore gave orders to
+prepare for action, I approached him and said with tears,—
+
+“O Commodore, surely you are not going to shell these poor and foolish
+Tannese!” Sharply, but not unkindly, he replied,—
+
+“You are here as interpreter, not as my adviser. I alone am
+responsible. You see their defiant attitude. If I leave without
+punishing them now, no vessel or white man will be safe at this
+harbour. You can go on board your own ship, till I require your
+services again.”
+
+Indeed he had many counts against them, and his instructions were
+explicit. Shortly before that, Nouka, the Chief of one of the villages,
+had murdered a trader with a bar of iron, and another was murdered at
+his instigation. Miaki, the Chief of another, had for many years been
+ringleader of all mischief and murder on that side of the island. The
+Chief of a village on the other side of the bay was at that moment
+assembled with his men on the high ground within our view, and dancing
+to a war song in defiance!
+
+The Commodore caused a shell to strike the hill and explode with
+terrific fury just underneath the dancers. The earth and the bush were
+torn and thrown into the air above and around them; and next moment
+the whole host were seen disappearing over the brow of the hill. Two
+shots were sent over the heads of the warriors on the shore, with
+terrific noise and uproar; in an instant, every man was making haste
+for Nowar’s land, the place of refuge. The Commodore then shelled
+the villages, and destroyed their property. Beyond what I have here
+recorded, absolutely nothing was done.
+
+We return then for a moment to Sydney. The public excitement made
+it impossible to open my lips in the promotion of our Mission. The
+Revs. Drs. Dunsmore Lang and Steel, along with Professor Smith of the
+University, waited on the Commodore, and got an independent version
+of the facts. They then called a meeting on the affair by public
+advertisement. Without being made acquainted with the results of
+their investigations, I was called upon to give my own account of the
+_Curaçoa’s_ visit and of the connection of the Missionaries therewith.
+They then submitted the Commodore’s statement, given by him in writing.
+He exonerated the Missionaries from every shadow of blame and from all
+responsibility. In the interests of mercy as well as justice, and to
+save life, they had acted as his interpreters; and there all that they
+had to do with the _Curaçoa_ began and ended. All this was published in
+the Newspapers next day, along with the speeches of the three deputies.
+The excitement began to subside. But the poison had been lodged in many
+hearts, and the ejectment of it was a slow and difficult process.
+
+The Presbytery of Sydney held a special meeting, and I was summoned
+to appear before it. Dr. Geddie of Aneityum was also present, being
+then in the Colonies. Whether the tide of abuse had turned my dear
+fellow-Missionary’s head, I cannot tell; but, on being asked to make a
+statement, he condemned the Missionaries for acting as interpreters,
+and wound up with a dramatic exclamation that “rather than have had
+anything to do with the _Curaçoa’s_ visit he would have had his hand
+burned off in the fire.”
+
+The Court applauded. The Moderator then said: “Mr. Paton has heard the
+noble speech of Dr. Geddie. Let him now solemnly promise that, under no
+circumstances, will he have anything to do with a Man-of-war. Then we
+may see our way again to stand by him, and help him in his Mission.”
+And in this spirit, he appealed to me.
+
+On rising, I explained that I appeared before them only out of
+brotherly courtesy, as their Presbytery had no jurisdiction over me,
+and I spoke to the following effect:—
+
+“I am indeed a Missionary to the Heathen, but also a British subject.
+I have never requested redress from Man-of-war, or any civil power;
+but, like Paul, I reserve my full rights, if need be, to appeal unto
+Cæsar. If any member of this Presbytery has his house robbed, as a
+good citizen he seeks redress and protection. But on Tanna I lost my
+earthly all, and sought no redress from man. The Tannese Chiefs,
+indeed, who were friendly, sent a Petition by me to the Governor of
+Sydney; which, however, was never presented to him at all, fearing
+that thereby indirectly I might bring punishment upon my poor deluded
+Tannese. Others were more convinced as to the path of duty, or less
+considerate of the Natives. Their Petition I now take from my pocket
+and submit it to you. It was presented to the Governor, Sir John Young,
+after the death of the Gordons, and prayed for a judicial investigation
+as to their murders. As soon it was known of, a counter Petition in the
+interests of the Traders was immediately got up and signed by many of
+the great merchants of Sydney, protesting against any such visit to the
+Islands by a Man-of-war. This Petition, then, the original and only one
+ever presented in favour of a visit from Her Majesty’s Commodore, was
+drawn up and is signed—by whom?”
+
+On Dr. Geddie acknowledging that he had written and signed that
+Petition, but that it prayed only for an _investigation_, I proceeded,—
+
+“Surely a judicial investigation like this implied all the after
+consequences, if once undertaken! At any rate, this is the _only_
+Petition sent from the Missionaries, and it was sent unknown to me.
+Finally, I must respectfully inform the Presbytery that I will never
+make such a promise as the Moderator has indicated. I shall remain
+free to act in humanity and in justice as God and conscience guide
+me. I believe I saved both life and property by interpreting for the
+Commodore, and making things mutually intelligible to him and to the
+Natives. I have done as clear a Christian duty as I ever did in my
+life. I am not ashamed. I offer no apology. I do not believe that in
+the long run, when all facts are known, my conduct in this affair can
+possibly injure either myself, or, what is more, the Name of my Lord.”
+
+Perhaps my words were not too conciliatory. But excitement so blinded
+many friends, that I had to fight as if at bay, or get no hearing and
+no justice. The Presbytery hesitated, and closed without coming to
+any resolution. All the members of it showed me thereafter the same
+respect as ever before. It was gratifying to learn in due course that
+all the Churches supporting our Mission, after having independently
+investigated into the facts, justified the course adopted by us,—Nova
+Scotia alone excepted. Yet two of her own Missionaries had also to
+interpret for that Man-of-war, exactly as I had done, nor did I ever
+hear that any rebuke was administered to them. Feeling absolutely
+conscious that I had only done my Christian duty, I left all results in
+the hands of my Lord Jesus, and pressed forward in His blessed work.
+
+More than one dear personal friend had to be sacrificed over this
+painful affair. A Presbyterian Minister, and a godly elder and his
+wife, all most excellent and well-beloved, at whose houses I had been
+received as a brother, intimated to me that owing to this case of the
+_Curaçoa_ their friendship and mine must entirely cease in this world.
+And it did cease; but my esteem never changed. I had learned not to
+think unkindly of friends, even when they manifestly misunderstood my
+actions. Nor would these things merit being recorded here, were it not
+that they may be at once a beacon and a guide. God’s people are still
+belied. And the multitude are still as ready as ever to cry, “Crucify!
+Crucify!”
+
+The scheme for meeting the yearly cost of the _Dayspring_, that had
+already been tentatively set a-going, had now to be matured and
+permanently organized. In this my dear friend Dr. J. Dunsmore Lang,
+well acquainted with the resources of all the Churches, was our
+judicious counsellor. We proposed that Victoria should raise £500; New
+South Wales and New Zealand, £200 each; Tasmania, Queensland, and South
+Australia, £100 each, and £250 each from Novia Scotia and Scotland.
+Tasmania, South Australia, and Queensland fell a little short of their
+proportion; Sydney, Scotland, and Novia Scotia met their claims; and
+Victoria and New Zealand exceeded them, and made up for deficiency
+in others. This has ever since been done in great measure, though
+not exclusively, by the Sabbath Scholars of the Churches, through
+their _Dayspring_ “Mission-boxes.” In organizing and maturing this
+scheme, I visited and addressed almost every Presbyterian Congregation
+and Sabbath School in New South Wales and Victoria, South Australia
+and Tasmania; and Ministers and Superintendents, with scarcely an
+exception, came to be bound together in a true federal union in support
+of our Mission and our Ship.
+
+For the first three years, when everything was new, the _Dayspring_
+cost us about £1,400 per annum; but since then she has cost on an
+average little short of £2,000 over all. There has too often been a
+floating debt of £300 or more, which has given us great anxiety; but
+the Lord has sent what was required, and enabled us to keep her sailing
+with the Gospel and His servants amongst these Islands, free of any
+actual burden,—His own pure messenger of Good Tidings, unstained with
+the polluting and bloody associations of the foul-winged trading Ships!
+
+Another fiery furnace awaited me on this tour, when I reached Geelong.
+One of the prominent Ministers refused to shake hands. An agent of the
+London Missionary Society had informed them “that the £3,000 paid for
+the _Dayspring_ had been thrown away, that the Vessel was useless,
+fitted only for carrying stores, and having no accommodation for
+passengers; and that on her second trip to the Islands our Missionaries
+had to wait and go down by the _John Williams_.” It was an abiding
+sorrow to me, that local misrepresentations gave the Societies an
+appearance of conflict, whereof the parent organizations knew nothing
+whatever. But, for all the interests at stake, facts _had_ to be made
+known. Several Congregations had resolved to withdraw from the support
+of our Mission; and several Ministers at Ballarat, and elsewhere, were
+by similar accounts prejudiced against us.
+
+I demanded an opportunity of stating the facts, and vindicating myself
+and others, in a public meeting duly called for the purpose. They at
+once agreed. I wrote once and a second time to the Agent, but got no
+answer, only an evasive note. I went by rail and saw him. He would give
+no explanation, or authority for his statements, but practically put me
+out, on a pretence of there being sickness at the house. Nevertheless,
+in a spirit of determined brotherhood, I resolved only to explain facts
+about the _Dayspring_, and not to drag in the name of that great sister
+Society which he so poorly served.
+
+There was a crowded meeting. The Minister who refused to shake hands
+was voted to the chair. I was called upon to explain my position. By
+this time I had communicated with the _Dayspring_ officials, and,
+producing the log-book, I read from it, regarding the voyage referred
+to, the following:—
+
+“When the _Dayspring_ sailed from Sydney for the Islands, she had as
+passengers on board, Rev. Mr. Paton, Mrs. Paton, and child, Rev. Mr.
+McNair and Mrs. McNair, Rev. Mr. Niven and Mrs. Niven, Mrs. Ella and
+child, of the London Missionary Society, Captain Fraser, Mrs. Fraser,
+child, and servant, besides all the year’s Mission supplies for both
+the New Hebrides and the Loyalty Islands. And on reaching these
+Islands, as the French Government had ordered the removal of all the
+Eastern Teachers of the London Missionary Society from that group,
+the _Dayspring_ had to undertake an unexpected voyage of three months
+from the Loyalties to Samoa, Rarotonga, etc., with Rev. Mr. and Mrs.
+Sleigh of the London Missionary Society, and sixty-one of their Native
+Teachers, who, along with their families, were all in health landed
+safely on their respective islands, as passengers by the _Dayspring_.”
+
+I also read a corroborative narrative from Captain Fraser, written from
+memory, as he was at that time far inland in the country, and had not
+access to the records of his vessel. And my statement closed to this
+effect,—
+
+“It must now be manifest to all, that the damaging reports circulated
+in Geelong are more than replied to. By the Captain, and from the
+log, they are proved to be false, both as to capacity for goods and
+passengers. At present the _Dayspring_ is everything that could be
+desired for the furtherance of our Mission. If _you_ are satisfied, I
+wish to leave this painful subject, and proceed with my proper work.
+But I am prepared to answer any question from the Chairman or the
+meeting, and to give the fullest information.”
+
+The round of applause that followed was my complete vindication. The
+Chairman gave me his hand, and pledged his utmost support. He proposed
+the following resolution, which was carried with acclamation,—
+
+“That this meeting, having heard Mr. Paton with satisfaction, pledges
+the Churches, Sabbath Schools, and friends in Geelong, henceforth to
+support the _Dayspring_ and the New Hebrides Mission to the utmost of
+their power, and to receive and encourage him as much as ever in his
+work on behalf of the Mission.”
+
+The special object of my visit was then explained, and several
+Ministers and others spoke heartily in furtherance of the proposals for
+the permanent support of the _Dayspring_ through the Sabbath Schools.
+
+All battles through mere misunderstandings are painful, but especially
+those amongst Christian brethren. Still they had to be fought, never
+laying aside the weapons of the Cross; and God has overruled them for
+the promotion of His Kingdom in a way which makes all Catholic-spirited
+followers of the Lord Jesus equally rejoice.
+
+On this tour, in Victoria alone, I spent 250 days and addressed 265
+meetings, representing 180 Congregations and their Sabbath Schools. The
+proportion was on the same scale in the other Colonies visited. And all
+these arrangements I had to make for myself, by painful and laborious
+correspondence night and day. But the Lord’s blessing was abundantly
+vouchsafed. Victoria gave £1,954 19_s._ 3_d_; Tasmania, £76 12_s._
+7_d._; South Australia, £222 16_s._; New South Wales, £249; being a
+total of £2,503 7_s._ 10_d._, besides £220 in yearly donations of £5,
+promised for the maintenance of the Native Teachers.
+
+In 1862 I appealed to the Victorian General Assembly to take up the
+New Hebrides Mission as their own. The appeal was followed by Rev.
+J. Clark, Convener of Heathen Missions Committee in 1863, getting
+the Assembly to accept the proposal. And in 1865 the Rev. Dr. A. J.
+Campbell carried our scheme, and the Assembly pledged itself to give
+£500 per annum for the support of the _Dayspring_, from the offerings
+of the Sabbath Schools. New Zealand and other Colonies soon followed
+Victoria’s example, until all were pledged to uphold the New Hebrides
+Mission. For my dear friend and old College companion, Rev. Joseph
+Copeland, had visited at the same time Queensland and New Zealand, and
+had received from them respectively £101 2_s._ 4_d._ and £580; so that
+all the Churches adopted our scheme for the permanent support of the
+_Dayspring_; and the Mission fund had now a fair balance on the right
+side.
+
+At the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria in
+1866, I was adopted—being officially transferred from the Church in
+Scotland—as the first Missionary from the Presbyterian Churches of
+Australia to the New Hebrides. Dr. Geddie would also have been adopted
+at the same time, but Novia Scotia could not agree to part with its
+first and most highly-honoured Missionary. The Victorian Church
+therefore engaged the Rev. James Cosh, M.A., on his way out from
+Scotland, as its other agent, in the hope that we two might be able to
+re-open and carry on the Tanna Mission. In their _Christian Review_ of
+1867, they said:—
+
+“The idea which we in Victoria had, when the Missionaries left us
+in July last was, that Messrs. Paton and Cosh would be associated on
+Tanna, and labour for its evangelization, under the special auspices
+as well as at the cost of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria; but Mr.
+Cosh, having chosen the station at Pango on Efatè, where the Natives
+were more prepared for the Gospel, and where life and property were
+safe, went to spend a year’s novitiateship with Mr. and Mrs. Morrison
+on Efatè. Mr. Paton would have fain gone back to Tanna, but the
+Missionaries generally feared that no one European life would have been
+safe at the time on Tanna. They therefore, and no doubt wisely, sent
+Mr. Paton to the small and less savage, but not less Heathen, Island of
+Aniwa.”
+
+It was indeed one of the bitterest trials of my life, not to be able to
+return and settle down at once on dear old Tanna; but I could not go
+alone, against the decided opposition of all the other Missionaries—Dr.
+Inglis, however, at last sympathizing most strongly with my views. I
+went, as will appear hereafter, to Aniwa, the nearest island to the
+scene of my former woes and perils, in the hope that God would soon
+open up my way and enable me to return to blood-stained Tanna.
+
+My heart bleeds for the Heathen, and I long to see a Teacher for every
+tribe and a Missionary for every island of the New Hebrides. The hope
+still burns that I may witness it; and then I could gladly rest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA._
+
+ The _John Williams_ on the Reef.—A Native’s Soliloquy.—Nowar Pleading
+ for Tanna.—The White Shells of Nowar.—The Island of Aniwa.—First
+ Landing on Aniwa.—The Site of our New Home.—“Me no Steal!”—House
+ Building for God.—Native Expectations.—Tafigeitu or Sorcery.—The
+ Miracle of Speaking Wood.—Perils through Superstition.—The Mission
+ Premises.—A City of God.—Builders and their Wages.—Great Swimming
+ Feat.—Stronger than the “Gods” of Aniwa.
+
+
+Everything being now arranged for in the Colonies, in connection with
+the Mission and _Dayspring_, as far as could possibly be, we sailed
+for the Islands on the 8th August, 1866. Besides my wife and child,
+the following accompanied us to the field: Revs. Copeland, Cosh, and
+McNair, along with their respective wives. On August 20th we reached
+Aneityum; and, having landed some of our friends, we sailed Northwards,
+as far as Efatè, to let the new Missionaries see all the Islands open
+for occupation, and to bring all our Missionaries back to the annual
+meeting, where the permanent settlements would be finally agreed upon.
+
+On our return, we found that the beautiful new _John Williams_,
+reaching Aneityum on 5th of September, had stuck fast on the coral
+reef and swung there for three days. By the unceasing efforts of the
+Natives, working in hundreds, she was saved, though badly damaged.
+At a united meeting of all the Missionaries, representing the London
+Missionary Society and our own, it was resolved that she must be taken
+to Sydney for repairs. Twenty stout Aneityumese were placed on board
+to keep her pumps going by day and night, and the _Dayspring_ was
+sent to keep her company in case of any dire emergency. Missionaries
+were waiting to be settled, and the season was stealing away. But the
+cause of humanity and the claims of a sister Mission were paramount.
+We remained at Aneityum for five weeks, and awaited the return of the
+_Dayspring_.
+
+At our annual Synod, after much prayerful deliberation and the careful
+weighing of every vital circumstance, I was constrained by the united
+voice of my brethren not to return to Tanna, but to settle on the
+adjoining island of Aniwa (= A-neé-wa). It was even hoped that thereby
+Tanna might eventually be the more surely reached and evangelized.
+
+By the new Missionaries all the other old Stations were re-occupied
+and some fresh Islands were entered upon in the name of Jesus. As we
+moved about with our _Dayspring_, and planted the Missionaries here and
+there, nothing could repress the wonder of Natives.
+
+“How is this?” they cried; “we slew or drove them all away! We
+plundered their houses and robbed them. Had we been so treated, nothing
+would have made us return. But they come back with a beautiful new
+ship, and with more and more Missionaries. And is it to trade and to
+get money, like the other white men? No! no! But to tell us of their
+Jehovah God and of His Son Jesus. If their God makes them do all that,
+we may well worship Him too.”
+
+In this way, island after island was opened up to receive the
+Missionary, and their Chiefs bound themselves to protect and cherish
+him, before they knew anything whatever of the Gospel, beyond what they
+saw in the disposition and character of its Preachers or heard rumoured
+regarding its fruits on other Islands. Even _Cannibals_ have sometimes
+been found thus prepared to welcome the Missionary, and to make not
+only his property but his life comparatively safe. The Isles “wait” for
+Christ.
+
+On our way to Aniwa, the _Dayspring_ had to call at Tanna. By stress of
+weather we lay several days in Port Resolution. And there many memories
+were again revived—wounds that after five-and-twenty years, when I now
+write, still bleed afresh! Nowar, the old Chief, unstable but friendly,
+was determined to keep us there by force or by fraud. The Captain told
+him that the council of the Missionaries had forbidden him to land our
+boxes at Tanna.
+
+“Don’t land them,” said the wily Chief; “just throw them over; my men
+and I will catch everything before it reaches the water, and carry them
+all safely ashore!”
+
+The Captain said he durst not. “Then,” persisted Nowar, “just point
+them out to us; you will have no further trouble; we will manage
+everything for Missi.”
+
+They were in distress when he refused; and poor old Nowar tried another
+tack. Suspecting that my dear wife was afraid of them, he got us on
+shore to see his extensive plantations. Turning eagerly to her, he
+said, leaving me to interpret,—
+
+“Plenty of food! While I have a yam or a banana, you shall not want.”
+
+She answered, “I fear not any lack of food.”
+
+Pointing to his warriors, he cried, “We are many! We are strong! We can
+always protect you.”
+
+“I am not afraid,” she calmly replied.
+
+He then led us to that fig-tree, in the branches of which I had sat
+during a lonely and memorable night, when all hope had perished of any
+earthly deliverance, and said to her with a manifest touch of genuine
+emotion,—
+
+“The God who protected Missi there will always protect you.”
+
+She told him that she had no fear of that kind, but explained to him
+that we must for the present go to Aniwa, but would return to Tanna, if
+the Lord opened up our way. Nowar, Arkurat, and the rest, seemed to be
+genuinely grieved, and it touched my soul to the quick.
+
+A beautiful incident was the outcome, as we learned only in long after
+years. There was at that time an Aniwan Chief on Tanna, visiting
+friends. He was one of their great Sacred Men. He and his people had
+been promised a passage home in the _Dayspring_, with their canoes in
+tow. When old Nowar saw that he could not keep us with himself, he
+went to this Aniwan Chief, and took the white shells, the insignia of
+Chieftainship, from his own arm, and bound them on the Sacred Man,
+saying,—
+
+“By these you promise to protect my Missionary and his wife and child
+on Aniwa. Let no evil befall them; or, by this pledge, I and my people
+will revenge it.”
+
+In a future crisis, this probably saved our lives, as shall be
+afterwards related. After all, a bit of the Christ-Spirit had found its
+way into that old Cannibal’s soul! And the same Christ-Spirit in me
+yearned more strongly still, and made it a positive pain to pass on to
+another Island, and leave him in that dim-groping twilight of the soul.
+
+Aniwa became my Mission Home in November, 1866; and ever since, save
+on my, alas! too frequent deputation pilgrimages among Churches in
+Great Britain and in the Colonies, it has been the heart and centre of
+my personal labours amongst the Heathen. God never guided me back to
+Tanna; but others, my dear friends, have seen His Kingdom planted and
+beginning to grow amongst that slowly relenting race. Aniwa was to be
+the land wherein my past years of toil and patience and faith were to
+see their fruits ripening at length. I claimed Aniwa for Jesus, and by
+the Grace of God Aniwa now worships at the Saviour’s feet.
+
+The Island of Aniwa is one of the smaller isles of the New Hebrides. It
+measures about nine miles by three and a half, and is everywhere girt
+round with a belt of coral reef. The sea breaks thereon heavily, with
+thundering roar, and the white surf rolls in furious and far. But there
+are days of calm, when all the sea is glass, and the spray on the reef
+is only a fringe of silver.
+
+The ledges of coral rock indicate that Aniwa has been heaved up from
+its ocean bed, at three or four separate bursts of mighty volcanic
+power. No stone or other rock anywhere appears, but only and always
+the coral, in its beautiful and mysterious variety. The highest land
+is less than three hundred feet above the level of the sea; and though
+the soil is generally light, there are patches good and deep, mostly
+towards the southern end of the island, and near the crater of an
+extinct volcano, where excellent plantations are found, and which, if
+carefully cultivated, might support ten times the present population.
+
+Aniwa, having no hills to attract and condense the clouds, suffers
+badly for lack of genial rains; and the heavy rains of hurricane and
+tempest seem to disappear as if by magic through the light soil and
+porous rock. The moist atmosphere and the heavy dews, however, keep the
+Island covered with green, while large and fruitful trees draw wondrous
+nourishment from their rocky beds. The Natives suffer from a species
+of Elephantiasis, in all probability produced by their bad drinking
+waters, and from the hot and humid climate of their isle.
+
+Aniwa has no harbour, or safe anchorage of any kind for ships; though,
+in certain winds, they have been seen at anchor on the outer edge of
+the reef, always a perilous haven! There is one crack in the coral
+belt, through which a boat can safely run to shore; but the little
+wharf, built there of the largest coral blocks that could be rolled
+together, has been once and again swept clean off by the hurricane,
+leaving “not a wrack behind.”
+
+I had had a glimpse of Aniwa before, in the _John Knox_, when Mr.
+Johnston accompanied me; and again with my dear friend Gordon, who was
+murdered on Erromanga; besides, I had seen Aniwans in their canoes at
+Tanna in search of food. They had pleaded with us to remain amongst
+them, arguing against there being two Missionaries on Tanna and none
+on Aniwa. Their “orator,” a very subtle man, who spoke Tannese well,
+informed us that the white Traders told them that if they killed or
+drove away the Missionaries they would get plenty of ammunition and
+tobacco. This was why our life had been so often attempted. Beyond this
+all was strange. Everything had to be learned afresh on Aniwa, as on
+Tanna.
+
+[Illustration: “ALL THE NATIVES WITHIN REACH ASSEMBLED.”]
+
+When we landed, the Natives received us kindly. They and the
+Aneityumese Teachers led us to a temporary home, prepared for our
+abode. It was a large Native Hut. Walls and roof consisted of
+sugar-cane leaf and reeds, intertwisted on a strong wooden frame. It
+had neither doors nor windows, but open spaces instead of these. The
+earthen floor alone looked beautiful, covered thick with white coral
+broken small. It had only one Apartment; and that, meantime, had to
+serve also for Church and School and Public Hall. We screened off a
+little portion, and behind that screen planted our bed, and stored our
+valuables. All the Natives within reach assembled to watch us taking
+our food! A box at first served for a chair, the lid of another box was
+our table, our cooking was all done in the open air under a large tree,
+and we got along with amazing comfort. But the house was under the
+shelter of a coral rock, and we saw at a glance that at certain seasons
+it would prove a very hotbed of fever and ague. We were, however,
+only too thankful to enter it, till a better could be built, and on a
+breezier site.
+
+The Aniwans were not so violently dishonourable as the Tannese. But
+they had the knack of asking in a rather menacing manner whatever they
+coveted; and the tomahawk was sometimes swung to enforce an appeal. For
+losses and annoyance, we had of course no redress. But we tried to
+keep things well out of their way, knowing that the opportunity there,
+as elsewhere, sometimes develops the thief. We strove to get along
+quietly and kindly, in the hope that when we knew their language, and
+could teach them the principles of Jesus, they would be saved, and life
+and property would be secure. But the rumour of the _Curaçoa’s_ visit
+and her punishment of murder and robbery did more, by God’s blessing,
+to protect us during those Heathen days than all other influences
+combined. The savage Cannibal was heard to whisper to his bloodthirsty
+mates, “not to murder or to steal, for the Man-of-war that punished
+Tanna would blow up their little Island!”
+
+Sorrowful experience on Tanna had taught us to seek the site for
+our Aniwan house on the highest ground, and away from the malarial
+swamps near the shore. There was one charming mound, covered with
+trees whose roots ran down into the crevices of coral, and from which
+Tanna and Erromanga are clearly seen. But there the Natives for some
+superstitious reason forbade us to build, and we were constrained to
+take another rising-ground somewhat nearer the shore. In the end, this
+turned out to be the very best site on the Island for us, central and
+suitable every way. But we afterwards learned that perhaps superstition
+also led them to sell us this site, in the malicious hope that it would
+prove our ruin. The mounds on the top, which had to be cleared away,
+contained the bones and refuse of their Cannibal feasts for ages.
+None but their Sacred Men durst touch them; and the Natives watched
+us hewing and digging, certain that their gods would strike us dead!
+That failing, their thoughts may probably have been turned to reflect
+that after all the Jehovah God was stronger than they. In levelling
+the site, and gently sloping the sides of the ground for good drainage
+purposes, I had gathered together two large baskets of human bones. I
+said to a Chief in Tannese,—
+
+“How do these bones come to be here?”
+
+And he replied, with a shrug worthy of a cynical Frenchman,—
+
+“Ah, we are not Tanna men! We don’t eat the bones!”
+
+While I was away building the house, Mrs. Paton had one dreadful
+fright. She generally remained about half a mile off, in charge of
+the Native hut in which our property had been stored, with one or two
+of the friendly Natives around her, though as yet she could not speak
+their language. One day she sat alone, the baby playing at her feet.
+A rustling commenced amongst the boxes behind the curtain. She had
+been there all the morning, and no one had entered. Horror-smitten,
+her eyes were fastened towards the noise. Suddenly, the blanket-screen
+was thrown aside, and a black face, with blood-red eyes and milk-white
+teeth peered out, and cried in broken English,—
+
+“Me no steal! Me no steal!”
+
+Then, with a bound like that of a deer, the man sprang out and ran
+for the village. My dear wife, fearing his sudden return, snatched up
+her child and rushed to the place where I was working, never feeling
+the ground beneath her till she sank down almost fainting at my feet.
+Thanking God for her escape, we thought it wiser to remain where we
+were and finish our task for the day. We learned that, since we did
+not return, his wrath had cooled down and he had withdrawn. This man
+was a sort of wild beast in his passionate moods. His body became
+convulsed and his muscles twitched with rage. He had lately murdered a
+neighbour, a man of his own tribe, in his frenzy. We believe that the
+Lord baffled his rage on that memorable day, and said to his tumultuous
+soul,—“Peace! be still.”
+
+The site being now cleared, we questioned whether to build only a
+temporary home, hoping to return to dear old Tanna as soon as possible,
+or, though the labour would be vastly greater, a substantial house—for
+the comfort of our successors, if not of ourselves. We decided that,
+as this was work for God, we would make it the very best we could. We
+planned two central rooms, sixteen feet by sixteen, with a five-feet
+wide lobby between, so that other rooms could be added when required.
+About a quarter of a mile from the sea, and thirty-five feet above its
+level, I laid the foundations of the house. Coral blocks raised the
+wall about three feet high all round. Air passages carried sweeping
+currents underneath each room, and greatly lessened the risk of fever
+and ague. A wide trench was dug all round, and filled up as a drain
+with broken coral. At back and front, the verandah stretched five
+feet wide; and pantry, bath-room and tool-house were partitioned off
+under the verandah behind. The windows sent to me had hinges; I added
+two feet to each, with wood from Mission boxes, and made them French
+door-windows, opening from each room to the verandah. And so we had, by
+God’s blessing, a healthy spot to live in, if not exactly a thing of
+beauty!
+
+The Mission House, as ultimately finished, had six rooms, three on
+each side of the lobby, and measured ninety feet in length, surrounded
+by a verandah, one hundred feet by five, which kept everything shaded
+and cool. Underneath two rooms, a cellar was dug eight feet deep, and
+shelved all round for a store. In more than one terrific hurricane that
+cellar saved our lives,—all crushing into it when trees and houses were
+being tossed like feathers on the wings of the wind. Altogether, the
+house at Aniwa has proved one of the healthiest and most commodious of
+any that have been planted by Christian hands on the New Hebrides. In
+selecting site and in building “the good hand of our God was upon us
+for good.”
+
+I built also two Orphanages, almost as inevitably necessary as the
+Missionary’s own house. They stood on a line with the front of my
+own dwelling, one for girls, the other for boys, and we had them
+constantly under our own eyes. The Orphans were practically boarded at
+the Mission premises, and adopted by the Missionaries. Their clothing
+was a heavy drain upon our resources; and every odd and curious article
+that came in any of the boxes or parcels was utilized. We trained these
+young people for Jesus. And at this day many of the best of our Native
+Teachers, and most devoted Christian helpers, are amongst those who
+would probably have perished but for these Orphanages.
+
+A grievous accident deprived me of special help in house-building.
+I cut my ankle badly with an adze, as I had done before on Tanna,
+through a knot in the tree. Binding my handkerchief tightly round it,
+I appealed to the Natives to carry me back to our hut. They stipulated
+for payment. My vest pocket being filled with fish-hooks, a current
+coin on all these Islands, I got a fellow to understand the bribe.
+He carried me a little, got some hooks, and then called another, who
+did the same, and then called a third, and so on, each man earning
+his hooks, and passing on the burden and the pay to another, while I
+suffered terribly and bled profusely. Being my own doctor, I dressed
+the wound for weeks, kept it constantly in cold water bandages, and by
+the kindness of the Lord it recovered, though it left me lame for many
+a day.
+
+But the greatest sorrow was this: the good and kind Aneityumese, who
+had been hired to come and help me with all the unskilled parts of the
+labour, could do nothing without me, and when the _Dayspring_ came
+round at the appointed time I had to pay them in full and let them
+return, deprived of their valuable aid. Even to keep them in food would
+have exhausted our limited stores, and some months must elapse before
+our next supplies could arrive from Sydney.
+
+The Aniwans themselves could scarcely be induced to work at all, even
+for payment. Their personal wants were few, and were supplied by their
+own plantations. They replied to my appeals with all the unction of
+philosophers, and told me,—
+
+“The conduct of the men of Aniwa is to stand by, or sit and look on,
+while their women do the work!”
+
+On Aniwa we soon found ourselves face to face with blank Heathenism.
+The natives at first expected that the Missionary’s _Biritania
+tavai_ (= British Medicine) would cure at once all their complaints.
+Disappointment led to resentment in their ignorant and childish
+minds. They also expected to get for the asking, or for any trifle,
+an endless supply of knives, calico, fish-hooks, blankets, etc. Every
+refusal irritated them. Again, our Medicines relieved or cured them,
+so they blamed us also for their diseases,—all their Sacred Men not
+only curing but also _causing_ sickness. Further, they generally came
+to us only after exhausting every resource of their own witchcraft and
+superstition, and when it was probably too late. I had often to taste
+the Medicine in their sight before the sufferers would touch it; and if
+one dose did not cure them, it was almost impossible to get them to
+persevere. But time taught them its value, and the yearly expenditure
+for Medicine soon became a very heavy tax on our modest salary.
+
+Still we set our bell a-ringing every day after dinner—intimating
+our readiness to give advice or medicine to all who were sick. We
+spoke to them, so soon as we had learned, a few words about Jesus.
+The weak received a cup of tea and a piece of bread. The demand was
+sometimes great, especially when epidemics befell them. But some rather
+fled from us as the cause of their sickness, and sought refuge from
+our presence in remotest corners, or rushed off at our approach and
+concealed themselves in the bush. They were but children, and full of
+superstition; and we had to win them by kindly patience, never losing
+faith in them and hope for them, any more than the Lord did with us!
+
+As on Tanna, all sicknesses and deaths were supposed to be caused by
+sorcery, there called _Nahak_, on Aniwa called _Tafigeitu_. Some Sacred
+Man burned the remains of food such as the skin of a banana, or a hair
+from the head, or something that the person had even touched, and he
+was the disease-maker. Hence they were kept in a state of constant
+terror, and breathed the very atmosphere of revenge. When one became
+sick, all the people of his village met day after day, and made long
+speeches and tried to find out the enemy who was causing it. Having
+fixed on some one, they first sent presents of mats, baskets, and food
+to the supposed disease-makers; if the person recovered, they took
+credit for it; if the person died, his friends sought revenge on the
+supposed murderers. And such revenge took a wide sweep, satisfying
+itself with the suspected enemy, or any of his family, or of his
+village, or even of his tribe. Thus endless bloodshed and unceasing
+intertribal wars kept the people from one end of the Island to the
+other in one long-drawn broil and turmoil.
+
+Learning the language on Aniwa was marked by similar incidents to those
+of Tanna, related in Part First; though a few of them could understand
+my Tannese, and that greatly helped me. One day a man, after carefully
+examining some article, turned to his neighbour and said,—
+
+“Taha tinei?”
+
+I inferred that he was asking, “What is this?”
+
+Pointing to another article, I repeated their words; they smiled at
+each other, and gave me its name. On another occasion, a man said to
+his companion, looking towards me,—
+
+“Taha neigo?”
+
+Concluding that he was asking my name, I pointed towards him, and
+repeated the words, and they at once gave me their names. Readers
+would be surprised to discover how much you can readily learn of any
+language, with these two short questions constantly on your lips,
+and with people ready at every turn to answer—“What’s this?” “What’s
+your name?” Every word was at once written down, spelled phonetically
+and arranged in alphabetic order, and a note appended as to the
+circumstances in which it was used. By frequent comparison of these
+notes, and by careful daily and even hourly imitation of all their
+sounds, we were able in a measure to understand each other before we
+had gone far in the house-building operations, during which some of
+them were constantly beside me.
+
+One incident of that time was very memorable, and God turned it to
+good account for higher ends. I often tell it as “the miracle of the
+speaking bit of wood;” and it has happened to other Missionaries
+exactly as to myself. While working at the house, I required some nails
+and tools. Lifting a piece of planed wood, I pencilled a few words on
+it, and requested our old Chief to carry it to Mrs. Paton, and she
+would send what I wanted. In blank wonder, he innocently stared at me,
+and said,—
+
+“But what do you want?”
+
+I replied, “The wood will tell her.” He looked rather angry, thinking
+that I befooled him, and retorted,—
+
+“Who ever heard of wood speaking?”
+
+By hard pleading I succeeded in persuading him to go. He was amazed
+to see her looking at the wood and then fetching the needed articles.
+He brought back the bit of wood, and eagerly made signs for an
+explanation. Chiefly in broken Tannese I read to him the words, and
+informed him that in the same way God spoke to us through His Book.
+The will of God was written there, and by-and-bye, when he learned to
+read, he would hear God _speaking_ to him from its page, as Mrs. Paton
+heard me from the bit of wood.
+
+A great desire was thus awakened in the poor man’s soul to see the
+very Word of God printed in his own language. He helped me to learn
+words and master ideas with growing enthusiasm. And when my work of
+translating portions of Holy Scripture began, his delight was unbounded
+and his help invaluable. The miracle of a speaking page was not less
+wonderful than that of speaking wood!
+
+One day, while building the house, an old Inland Chief and his three
+sons came to see us. Everything was to them full of wonder. After
+returning home one of the sons fell sick, and the father at once blamed
+us and the Worship, declaring that if the lad died we all should be
+murdered in revenge. By God’s blessing, and by our careful nursing
+and suitable medicine, he recovered and was spared. The old Chief
+superstitiously wheeled round almost to another extreme. He became not
+only friendly, but devoted to us. He attended the Sabbath Services, and
+listened to the Aneityumese Teachers, and to my first attempts, partly
+in Tannese, translated by the orator Taia or the chief Namakei, and
+explained in our hearing to the people in their mother tongue.
+
+But, on the heels of this, another calamity overtook us. So soon as two
+rooms of the Mission House were roofed in, I hired the stoutest of the
+young men to carry our boxes thither. Two of them started off with a
+heavy box suspended on a pole from shoulder to shoulder, their usual
+custom. They were shortly after attacked with vomiting of blood; and
+one of them actually died, an Erromangan. The father of the other swore
+that, if his son did not get better, every soul at the Mission House
+should be slain in revenge. But God mercifully restored him.
+
+As the boat-landing was nearly three-quarters of a mile distant, and
+such a calamity recurring would be not only sorrowful in itself but
+perilous in the extreme for us all, I steeped my wits, and, with such
+crude materials as were at hand, I manufactured not only a hand-barrow,
+but a wheel-barrow, for the pressing emergencies of the time. In due
+course, I procured a more orthodox hand-cart from the Colonies, and
+coaxed and bribed the Natives to assist me in making a road for it.
+Perhaps the ghost of _Macadam_ would shudder at the appearance of that
+road, but it has proved immensely useful ever since.
+
+Our Mission House was once and again threatened with fire, and we
+ourselves with musket, before its completion. The threats to set fire
+to our premises stirred up Namakei, however, to befriend us; and we
+learned that he and his people had us under a guard by night and by
+day. But a savage Erromangan lurked about for ten days, watching for
+us with tomahawk and musket, and we knew that our peril was extreme.
+Looking up to God for protection, I went on with my daily toils,
+having a small American tomahawk beside me, and showing no fear. The
+main thing was to take every precaution against surprise, for these
+murderers are all cowards, and will attempt nothing when observed. I
+sent for the old Chief, whose guest the Erromangan was, and warned him
+that God would hold him guilty too if our blood was shed.
+
+“Missi,” he warmly replied, “I knew not, I knew not! But by the first
+favourable wind he shall go, and you will see him no more.”
+
+He kept his word, and we were rescued from the enemy and the avenger.
+
+The site was excellent and very suitable for our Mission Station. The
+ground sloped away nearly all round us, and the pathway up to it was
+adorned on each side with beautiful crotons and island plants, and
+behind these a row of orange trees. A cocoa-nut grove skirted the shore
+for nearly three miles, and shaded the principal public road. Near
+our premises were many leafy chestnuts and wide-spreading bread-fruit
+trees. When, in the course of years, everything had been completed
+to our taste, we lived practically in the midst of a beautiful
+Village,—the Church, the School, the Orphanage, the Smithy and Joiner’s
+Shop, the Printing Office, the Banana and Yam House, the Cook House,
+etc.; all very humble indeed, but all standing sturdily up there among
+the orange trees, and preaching the Gospel of a higher civilization and
+of a better life for Aniwa. The little road leading to each door was
+laid with the white coral broken small. The fence around all shone
+fresh and clean with new paint. Order and taste were seen to be laws in
+the white man’s New Life; and several of the Natives began diligently
+to follow our example.
+
+Many and strange were the arts which I had to try to practise, such as
+handling the adze, the mysteries of tenon and mortise, and other feats
+of skill. If a Native wanted a fish-hook, or a piece of red calico
+to bind his long whip-cord hair, he would carry me a block of coral
+or fetch me a beam; but continuous daily toil seemed to him a mean
+existence. The women were tempted, by calico and beads for pay, to
+assist in preparing the sugar-cane leaf for thatch, gathering it in the
+plantations, and tying it over reeds four or six feet long with strips
+of bark or pandanus leaf, leaving a long fringe hanging over on one
+side. How differently they acted when the Gospel began to touch their
+hearts! They built their Church and their School then, by their own
+free toil, rejoicing to labour without money or price; and they have
+ever since kept them in good repair, for the service of the Lord, by
+their voluntary offerings of wood and sugar-cane leaf and coral-lime.
+
+The roof was firmly tied on and nailed; thereon were laid the reeds,
+fringed with sugar-cane leaf, row after row tied firmly to the wood;
+the ridge was bound down by cocoa-nut leaves, dexterously plaited from
+side to side and skewered to the ridge pole with hard wooden pins;
+and over all, a fresh storm-roof was laid on yearly for the hurricane
+months, composed of folded cocoa-nut leaves, held down with planks
+of wood, and bound to the frame-work below,—which, however, had to be
+removed again in April to save the sugar-cane leaf from rotting beneath
+it. There you were snugly covered in, and your thatching good to last
+from eight years to ten; that is, provided you were not caught in the
+sweep of the hurricane, before which trees went flying like straws,
+huts disappeared like autumn leaves, and your Mission House, if left
+standing at all, was probably swept bare alike of roof and thatch at a
+single stroke! Well for you at such times if you have a good barometer
+indicating the approach of the storm; and better still, a large cellar
+like ours, four-and-twenty feet by sixteen, built round with solid
+coral blocks,—where goods may be stored, and whereinto also all your
+household may creep for safety, while the tornado tosses your dwelling
+about, and sets huge trees dancing around you!
+
+We had also to invent a lime kiln, and this proved one of the hardest
+nuts of all that had to be cracked. The kind of coral required could be
+obtained only at one spot, about three miles distant. Lying at anchor
+in my boat, the Natives dived into the sea, broke off with hammer and
+crowbar piece after piece, and brought it up to me, till I had my load.
+We then carried it ashore, and spread it out in the sun to be blistered
+there for two weeks or so. Having thus secured twenty or thirty boat
+loads, and had it duly conveyed round to the Mission Station, a huge
+pit was dug in the ground, dry wood piled in below, and green wood
+above to a height of several feet, and on the top of all the coral
+blocks were orderly laid. When this pile had burned for seven or ten
+days, the coral had been reduced to excellent lime, and the plaster
+work made therefrom shone like marble.
+
+On one of these trips the Natives performed an extraordinary feat. The
+boat with full load was struck heavily by a wave, and the reef drove a
+hole in her side. Quick as thought the crew were all in the sea, and,
+to my amazement, bearing up the boat with their shoulder and one hand,
+while swimming and guiding us ashore with the other! There on the land
+we were hauled up, and four weary days were spent fetching and carrying
+from the Mission Station every plank, tool, and nail, necessary for her
+repair. Every boat for these seas ought to be built of cedar wood and
+copper-fastened, which is by far the most economical in the end. And
+all houses should be built of wood which is as full as possible of gum
+or resin, since the large white ants devour not only all other soft
+woods, but even Colonial blue gum trees, the hard cocoa-nut, and window
+sashes, chairs, and tables!
+
+Glancing back on all these toils, I rejoice that such exhausting
+demands are no longer made on our newly arrived Missionaries. Houses,
+all ready for being set up, are now brought down from the Colonies.
+Zinc roofs and other improvements have been introduced. The Synod
+appoints a deputation to accompany the young Missionary, and plant the
+house along with himself at the Station committed to his care. Precious
+strength is thus saved for higher uses; and not only property but life
+itself is oftentimes preserved.
+
+I will close this chapter with an incident which, though it came to our
+knowledge only years afterwards, closely bears upon our Settlement on
+Aniwa. At first we had no idea why they so determinedly refused us one
+site, and fixed us to another of their own choice. But after the old
+Chief, Namakei, became a Christian, he one day addressed the Aniwan
+people in our hearing to this effect:—
+
+“When Missi came we saw his boxes. We knew he had blankets and calico,
+axes and knives, fish-hooks and all such things. We said, ‘Don’t drive
+him off, else we will lose all these things. We will let him land.
+But we will force him to live on the Sacred Plot. Our gods will kill
+him, and we will divide all that he has amongst the men of Aniwa.’ But
+Missi built his house on our most sacred spot. He and his people lived
+there, and the gods did not strike. He planted bananas there, and we
+said, ‘Now when they eat of these they will all drop down dead, as our
+fathers assured us, if any one ate fruit from that ground, except only
+our Sacred Men themselves.’ These bananas ripened. They did eat them.
+We kept watching for days and days, but no one died! Therefore what we
+say, and what our fathers have said, is not true. Our gods cannot kill
+them. Their Jehovah God is stronger than the gods of Aniwa.”
+
+I enforced old Namakei’s appeal, telling them that, though they knew
+it not, it was the living and true and only God who had sent them
+every blessing which they possessed, and had at last sent us to teach
+them how to serve and love and please Him. In wonder and silence they
+listened, while I tried to explain to them that Jesus, the Son of this
+God, had lived and died and gone to the Father to save them, and that
+He was now willing to take them by the hand and lead them through this
+life to glory and immortality together with Himself.
+
+The old Chief led them in prayer—a strange, dark, groping prayer, with
+streaks of Heathenism colouring every thought and sentence; but still
+a heart-breaking prayer, as the cry of a soul once Cannibal, but now
+being thrilled through and through with the first conscious pulsations
+of the Christ-Spirit, throbbing into the words: “Father, Father; our
+Father.”
+
+When these poor creatures began to wear a bit of calico or a kilt, it
+was an outward sign of a change, though yet far from civilization. And
+when they began to look up and pray to One whom they called “Father,
+our Father,” though they might be far, very far, from the type of
+Christian that dubs itself “respectable,” my heart broke over them in
+tears of joy; and nothing will ever persuade me that there was not a
+Divine Heart in the heavens rejoicing too.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM._
+
+ Navalak and Nemeyan on Aniwa.—Taia the “Orator.”—The Two next
+ Aneityumese Teachers.—In the Arms of Murderers.—Our First Aniwan
+ Converts.—Litsi Soré.—Surrounded by Torches.—Traditions of Creation,
+ Fall, and Deluge.— Infanticide and Wife-Murder.—Last Heathen
+ Dance.—Nelwang’s Elopement.—Yakin’s Bridal Attire.—Christ-Spirit
+ _versus_ War-Spirit.—Heathenism in Death-Grips.—A Great Aniwan
+ Palaver.—The Sinking of the Well.—“Missi’s Head Gone Wrong.”—“Water!
+ Living Water!”—Old Chief’s Sermon on “Rain from Below.”—The Idols
+ Cast Away.—The New Social Order.—Back of Heathenism Broken.
+
+
+On landing in November, 1866, we found the Natives of Aniwa, some very
+shy and distrustful, and others forward and imperious. No clothing
+was worn; but the wives and elder women had grass aprons or girdles
+like our first Parents in Eden. The old Chief interested himself in
+us and our work; but the greater number showed a far deeper interest
+in the axes, knives, fish-hooks, stripes of red calico and blankets,
+received in payment for work or for bananas. Even for payment they
+would scarcely work at first, and they were most unreasonable, easily
+offended, and started off in a moment at any imaginable slight.
+
+For instance, a Chief once came for Medicine. I was so engaged that I
+could not attend to him for a few minutes. So off he went, in a great
+rage, threatening revenge, and muttering, “I must be attended to! I
+won’t wait on _him_.” Such are the exactions of a naked Savage!
+
+Shortly before our arrival, an Aneityumese Teacher was sacrificed on
+Aniwa. The circumstances are illustrative of what may be almost called
+their worship of revenge. Many long years ago, a party of Aniwans had
+gone to Aneityum on a friendly visit; but the Aneityumese, then all
+Savages, murdered and ate every man of them save one, who escaped
+into the bush. Living on cocoa-nuts, he awaited a favourable wind,
+and, launching his canoe by night, he arrived in safety. The bereaved
+Aniwans, hearing his terrible story, were furious for revenge; but the
+forty-five miles of sea between proving too hard an obstacle, they made
+a deep cut in the earth and vowed to renew that cut from year to year
+till the day of revenge came round. Thus the memory of the event was
+kept alive for nearly eighty years.
+
+At length the people of Aneityum came to the knowledge of Jesus
+Christ. They strongly yearned to spread that saving Gospel to the
+Heathen Islands all around. Amid prayers and strong cryings to God
+they, like the Church at Antioch, designated two of their leading men
+to go as Native Teachers and evangelize Aniwa, viz., Navalak and
+Nemeyan; whilst others went forth to Fotuna, Tanna, and Erromanga, as
+opportunity arose. Namakei, the principal Chief of Aniwa, had promised
+to protect and be kind to them. But as time went on, it was discovered
+that the Teachers belonged to the Tribe on Aneityum, and one of them
+to the very land, where long ago the Aniwans had been murdered. The
+Teachers had from the first known their danger, but were eager to make
+known the Gospel to Aniwa. It was resolved that they should die. But
+the Aniwans, having promised to protect them, shrank from doing it
+themselves; so they hired two Tanna men and an Aniwan Chief, one of
+whose parents had belonged to Tanna, to waylay and shoot the Teachers
+as they returned from their tour of Evangelism among the villages on
+Sabbath afternoon. Their muskets did not go off, but the murderers
+rushed upon them with clubs and left them for dead.
+
+Nemeyan was dead, and entered that day amongst the noble army of the
+Martyrs. Poor Navalak was still breathing, and the Chief Namakei
+carried him to his village and kindly nursed him. He pled with the
+people that the claims of revenge had been satisfied, and that Navalak
+should be cherished and sent home,—the Christ-Spirit beginning to work
+in that darkened soul! Navalak was restored to his people, and is yet
+living—a high-class Chief on Aneityum and an honour to the Church of
+God, bearing on his body “the marks of the Lord Jesus.” And often
+since has he visited Aniwa, in later years, and praised the Lord
+amongst the very people who once thirsted for his blood and left him by
+the wayside as good as dead!
+
+For a time, Aniwa was left without any witness for Jesus,—the London
+Missionary Society Teachers, having suffered dreadfully for lack of
+food and from fever and ague, being also removed. But on a visit of a
+Mission vessel, Namakei sent his orator Taia to Aneityum, to tell them
+that now revenge was satisfied, the cut in the earth filled up, and a
+cocoa-nut tree planted and flourishing where the blood of the Teachers
+had been shed, and that no person from Aneityum would ever be injured
+by Aniwans. Further, he was to plead for more Teachers, and to pledge
+his Chief’s word that they would be kindly received and protected. They
+knew not the Gospel, and had no desire for it; but they wanted friendly
+intercourse with Aneityum, where trading vessels called, and whence
+they might obtain mats, baskets, blankets, and iron tools. At length
+two Aneityumese again volunteered to go, Kangaru and Nelmai, one from
+each side of the Island, and were located by the Missionaries, along
+with their families, on Aniwa, one with Namakei, and the other at the
+south end, to lift up the Standard of a Christlike life among their
+Heathen neighbours.
+
+Taia, who went on the Mission to Aneityum, was a great speaker and
+also a very cunning man. He was the old Chief’s appointed “Orator” on
+all state occasions, being tall and stately in appearance, of great
+bodily strength, and possessed of a winning manner. On the voyage to
+Aneityum, he was constantly smoking and making things disagreeable to
+all around him. Being advised not to smoke while on board, he pled
+with the Missionary just to let him take a whiff now and again till
+he finished the tobacco he had in his pipe, and then he would lay it
+aside. But, like the widow’s meal, it lasted all the way to Aneityum,
+and never appeared to get less—at which the innocent Taia expressed
+much astonishment!
+
+The two Teachers and their wives on Aniwa were little better than
+slaves when we landed there, toiling in the service of their masters
+and living in constant fear of being murdered. They conducted the
+Worship in Aneityumese, while the Aniwans lay smoking and talking
+all round till it was over. The language of Aniwa had never yet been
+reduced to a written form, and consequently no book had been printed
+in it. The Teachers and their wives were kept hard at work on Friday
+and Saturday, cooking and preparing food for the Aniwans, who, after
+the so-called Worship, feasted together and had a friendly talk. We
+immediately put an end to this Sabbath feasting. That made them angry
+and revengeful. They even demanded food, etc., in payment for coming to
+the Worship, which we always resolutely refused. Doubtless, however,
+the mighty contrast presented by the life, character, and disposition
+of these godly Teachers was the sowing of the seed that bore fruit in
+other days,—though as yet no single Aniwan had begun to wear clothing
+out of respect to Civilization, much less been brought to know and love
+the Saviour.
+
+I could now speak a little to them in their own language; and so,
+accompanied generally by my dear wife and by an Aneityumese Teacher,
+and often by some friendly Native, I began to visit regularly at their
+villages and to talk to them about Jesus and His love. We tried also
+to get them to come to our Church under the shade of the banyan tree.
+Nasi and some of the worst characters would sit scowling not far off,
+or follow us with loaded muskets. Using every precaution, we still held
+on doing our work; sometimes giving fish-hooks or beads to the boys and
+girls, showing them that our objects were kind and not selfish. Such
+visits gained their confidence.
+
+And however our hearts sometimes trembled in the presence of imminent
+death and sank within us, we stood fearless in their presence, and left
+all results in the hands of Jesus. Often have I had to run into the
+arms of some savage, when his club was swung or his musket levelled
+at my head, and, praying to Jesus, so clung round him that he could
+neither strike nor shoot me till his wrath cooled down and I managed
+to slip away. Often have I seized the pointed barrel and directed it
+upwards, or, pleading with my assailant, uncapped his musket in the
+struggle. At other times, nothing could be said, nothing done, but
+stand still in silent prayer, asking God to protect us or to prepare
+us for going home to His Glory. He fulfilled His own promise,—“I will
+not fail thee nor forsake thee.”
+
+[Illustration: I WANT YOU TO TRAIN LITSI FOR JESUS.]
+
+The first Aniwan that ever came to the knowledge and love of Jesus was
+the old Chief Namakei. We came to live on his land, as it was near our
+diminutive harbour; and upon the whole, he and his people were the most
+friendly; though his only brother, the Sacred Man of the tribe, on two
+occasions tried to shoot me. Namakei came a good deal about us at the
+Mission House, and helped us to acquire the language. He discovered
+that we took tea evening and morning. When we gave him a cup and a
+piece of bread, he liked it well, and gave a sip to all around him. At
+first he came for the tea, perhaps, and disappeared suspiciously soon
+thereafter; but his interest manifestly grew, till he showed great
+delight in helping us in every possible way. Along with him, and as his
+associates, came also the Chief Naswai and his wife Katua. These three
+grew into the knowledge of the Saviour together. From being savage
+Cannibals they rose before our eyes, under the influence of the Gospel,
+into noble and beloved characters; and they and we loved each other
+exceedingly.
+
+Namakei brought his little daughter, his only child, the Queen of her
+race, called Litsi Soré (= Litsi the Great), and said,—
+
+“I want to leave my Litsi with you. I want you to train her for Jesus.”
+
+She was a very intelligent child, learned things like any white girl,
+and soon became quite a help to Mrs. Paton. On seeing his niece dressed
+and so smart-looking, the old Chief’s only brother, the Sacred Man
+that had attempted to shoot me, also brought his child, Litsi Sisi (=
+the Little) to be trained like her cousin. The mothers of both were
+dead. The children reported all they saw, and all we taught them, and
+so their fathers became more deeply interested in our work, and the
+news of the Gospel spread far and wide. Soon we had all the Orphans
+committed to us, whose guardians were willing to part with them, and
+our Home became literally _the School of Christ_,—the boys growing up
+to help all my plans, and the girls to help my wife and to be civilized
+and trained by her, and many of them developing into devoted Teachers
+and Evangelists.
+
+Our earlier Sabbath Services were sad affairs. Every man came
+armed—indeed, every man slept with his weapons of war at his side—and
+bow and arrow, spear and tomahawk, club and musket, were always ready
+for action. On fair days we assembled under the banyan tree, on rainy
+days in a Native hut partly built for the purpose. One or two seemed
+to listen, but the most lay about on their backs or sides, smoking,
+talking, sleeping! When we stopped the feast at the close, for which
+they were always ready, the audiences at first went down to two or
+three; but these actually came to learn, and a better tone began
+immediately to pervade the Service. We informed them that it was for
+their good that we taught them, and that they would get no “pay” for
+attending Church or School, and the greater number departed in high
+dudgeon as very ill-used persons! Others of a more commercial turn came
+offering to sell their “idols,” and when we would not purchase them but
+urged them to give them up and cast them away for love to Jesus, they
+carried them off saying they would have nothing to do with this new
+Worship.
+
+Amidst our frequent trials and dangers in those earlier times on Aniwa,
+our little Orphans often warned us privately and saved our lives from
+cruel plots. When, in baffled rage, our enemies demanded who had
+revealed things to us, I always said, “It was a little bird from the
+bush.” So, the dear children grew to have perfect confidence in us.
+They knew we would not betray them; and they considered themselves the
+guardians of our lives.
+
+The excitement increased on both sides, when a few men openly gave up
+their idols. Morning after morning, I noticed green cocoa-nut leaves
+piled at the end of our house, and wondered if it were through some
+Heathen superstition. But one night the old Chief knocked upon me and
+said,—
+
+“Rise, Missi, and help! The Heathen are trying to burn your house. All
+night we have kept them off, but they are many and we are few. Rise
+quickly, and light a lamp at every window. Let us pray to Jehovah, and
+talk loud as if we were many. God will make us strong.”
+
+I found that they had the buckets and pails from all my Premises full
+of water,—that the surrounding bush was swarming with Savages, torch in
+hand,—that the Teachers and other friendly Natives had been protecting
+themselves from the dews under the large cocoa-nut leaves which I saw,
+while they kept watch over us. After that I took my turn with them in
+watching, each guard being changed after so many hours. But they held a
+meeting and said amongst each other,—
+
+“If our Missi is shot or killed in the dark, what will we have to watch
+for then? We must compel Missi to remain indoors at night!”
+
+I yielded so far to their counsel; but still went amongst them, watch
+after watch, to encourage them.
+
+What a suggestive tradition of the Fall came to me in one of those
+early days on Aniwa! Upon our leaving the hut and removing to our new
+house, it was seized upon by Tupa for his sleeping place; though still
+continuing to be used by the Natives, as club-house, court of law,
+etc. One morning at daylight this Tupa came running to us in great
+excitement, wielding his club furiously, and crying,—
+
+“Missi, I have killed the Tebil. I have killed Teapolo. He came to
+catch me last night. I raised all the people, and we fought him round
+the house with our clubs. At daybreak he came out and I killed him
+dead. We will have no more bad conduct or trouble now. Teapolo is dead!”
+
+I said, “What nonsense! Teapolo is a spirit, and cannot be seen.”
+
+But in mad excitement he persisted that he had killed him. And at Mrs.
+Paton’s advice, I went with the man, and he led me to a great Sacred
+Rock of coral near our old hut, over which hung the dead body of a huge
+and beautiful sea-serpent, and exclaimed,—
+
+“There he lies! Truly I killed him.”
+
+I protested: “That is not the Devil; it is only the body of a serpent.”
+
+The man quickly answered, “Well, but it is all the same! He is Teapolo.
+He makes us bad, and causes all our troubles.”
+
+Following up this hint by many inquiries, then and afterwards, I found
+that they clearly associated man’s troubles and sufferings somehow
+with the serpent. They worshipped the Serpent, as a spirit of evil,
+under the name of Matshiktshiki; that is to say, they lived in abject
+terror of his influence, and all their worship was directed towards
+propitiating his rage against men.
+
+Their story of Creation, at least of the origin of their own Aniwa
+and the adjacent Islands, is much more an outcome of the Native mind.
+They say that Matshiktshiki fished up these lands out of the sea. And
+they show the deep print of his foot on the coral rocks, opposite each
+island, whereon he stood as he strained and lifted them up above the
+waters. He then threw his great fishing-line round Fotuna, thirty-six
+miles distant, to draw it close to Aniwa and make them one land; but,
+as he pulled, the line broke and he fell into the sea,—so the Islands
+remain separated unto this day.
+
+Matshiktshiki placed men and women on Aniwa. On the southern end of
+the Island, there was a beautiful spring and a freshwater river, with
+rich lands all around for plantations. But the people would not do what
+Matshiktshiki wanted them; so he got angry, and split off the richer
+part of Aniwa, with the spring and river, and sailed thence across to
+Aneityum,—leaving them where Dr. Inglis has since built his beautiful
+Mission Station. To this day, the river there is called “the water of
+Aniwa” by the inhabitants of both Islands; and it is the ambition of
+all Aniwans to visit Aneityum and drink of that spring and river, as
+they sigh to each other,—
+
+“Alas, for the waters of Aniwa!”
+
+Their picture of the Flood is equally grotesque. Far back, when the
+volcano, now on Tanna, was part of Aniwa, the rain fell and fell from
+day to day, and the sea rose till it threatened to cover everything.
+All were drowned except the few who climbed up on the volcano mountain.
+The sea had already put out the volcano at the southern end of Aniwa;
+and Matshiktshiki, who dwelt in the greater volcano, becoming afraid
+of the extinction of his big fire too, split it off from Aniwa with
+all the land on the south-eastern side, and sailed it across to Tanna
+on the top of the flood. There, by his mighty strength, he heaved
+the volcano to the top of the highest mountain of Tanna, where it
+remains to this day. For, on the subsiding of the sea, he was unable to
+transfer his big fire to Aniwa; and so it was reduced to a very small
+island, without a volcano, and without a river, for the sins of the
+people long ago.
+
+Even where there are no snakes they apply the superstitions about the
+serpent to a large, black, poisonous lizard called _kekvau_. They call
+it Teapolo’s; and women or children scream wildly at the sight of one.
+The Natives of several of our Islands have the form of the lizard, as
+also of the snake and the bird and the face of man, cut deep into the
+flesh of their arms. When the cuts begin to heal, they tear open the
+figures and press back the skin and force out the flesh, till the forms
+stand out above the skin and abide there as a visible horror for all
+their remaining days. When they become Christians and put on clothing,
+they are very anxious to cover these reminders of Heathenism from
+public view.
+
+The darkest and most hideous blot on Heathenism is the practice of
+Infanticide. Only three cases came to our knowledge on Aniwa; but we
+publicly denounced them at all hazards, and awoke not only natural
+feeling, but the selfish interests of the community for the protection
+of the children. These three were the last that died there by parents’
+hands. A young husband, who had been jealous of his wife, buried their
+male child alive as soon as born. An old Tanna woman, who had no
+children living, having at last a fine healthy boy born to her, threw
+him into the sea before any one could interfere to save. And a Savage,
+in anger with his wife, snatched her baby from her arms, hid himself in
+the bush till night, and returned without the child, refusing to give
+any explanation, except that he was dead and buried. Praise be to God,
+these three murderers of their own children were by-and-bye touched
+with the story of Jesus, became members of the Church, and each adopted
+little orphan children, towards whom they continued to show the most
+tender affection and care.
+
+Wife murder was also considered quite legitimate. In one of our inland
+villages dwelt a young couple, happy in every respect except that
+they had no children. The man, being a Heathen, resolved to take home
+another wife, a widow with two children. This was naturally opposed
+by his young wife. And, without the slightest warning, while she sat
+plaiting a basket, he discharged a ball into her from his loaded
+musket. It crashed through her arm and lodged in her side. Everything
+was done that was in my power to save her life; but on the tenth day
+tetanus came on, and she soon after passed away. The man appeared very
+attentive to her all the time; but, being a Heathen, he insisted that
+she had no right to oppose his wishes! He was not in any way punished
+or disrespected by the people of his village, but went out and in
+amongst them as usual, and took home the other woman as his wife a few
+weeks thereafter. His second wife began to attend Church and School
+regularly with her children; and at last he also came along with them,
+changing very manifestly from his sullen and savage former self. They
+have a large family; they are avowedly trying to train them all for the
+Lord Jesus; and they take their places meekly at the Lord’s Table.
+
+It would give a wonderful shock, I suppose, to many namby-pamby
+Christians, to whom the title “Mighty to Save” conveys no ideas of
+reality, to be told that nine or ten converted murderers were partaking
+with them the Holy Communion of Jesus! But the Lord who reads the
+heart, and weighs every motive and circumstance, has perhaps much more
+reason to be shocked by the presence of some of themselves. Penitence
+opens all the Heart of God—“To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.”
+
+Amongst the heathen, a murderer was often honoured; and if he succeeded
+in terrifying those who ought to take revenge, he was sometimes even
+promoted to be a Chief. One who had thus risen to tyrannize over his
+village was so feared and obeyed, that one of the lads there said to
+me,—
+
+“Missi, I wish I had lived long ago! I could have murdered some great
+man, and come to honour. As Christians, we have no prospects; where are
+your warriors? Are we always to remain common men?”
+
+I told him of greatness in the service of Jesus, of glory and honour
+with our Lord. That lad afterwards became a Native Teacher, first in
+his own village, and then on a Heathen Island,—the Lord the Spirit
+having opened up for his ambition the nobler path.
+
+The last Heathen Dance on Aniwa was intended, strange to say, in honour
+of our work. We had finished the burning of a large lime-kiln for our
+buildings, and the event was regarded as worthy of a festival. To our
+surprise, loud bursts of song were followed by the tramp, tramp of many
+feet. Men and women and children poured past us, painted, decorated
+with feathers and bush twigs, and dressed in their own wildest
+form, though almost entirely nude so far as regards the clothing of
+civilization. They marched into the village Public Ground, and with
+song and shout and dance made the air hideous to me. They danced in
+inner and outer circles, men with men and women with women; but I do
+not know that the thing looked more irrational to an outsider than
+do the balls at home. Our Islanders, on becoming followers of Jesus,
+have always _voluntarily_ withdrawn from all these scenes, and regard
+such dancings as inconsistent with the presence and fellowship of the
+Saviour.
+
+On calling one of their leading men and asking him what it all meant,
+he said,—
+
+“Missi, we are rejoicing for you, singing and dancing to our gods for
+you and your works.”
+
+I told him that my Jehovah God would be angry at His Church being so
+associated with Heathen gods. The poor bewildered soul look grieved,
+and asked,—
+
+“Is it not good, Missi? Are we not helping you?”
+
+I said, “No! It is not good. I am shocked to see you. I come here to
+teach you to give up all these ways, and to please the Jehovah God.”
+
+He went and called away his wife and all his friends, and told them
+that the Missi was displeased. But the others held on for hours, and
+were much disgusted that I would not make them a feast and pay them for
+dancing! No other dance was ever held near our Station on Aniwa.
+
+Some most absurd and preposterous experiences were forced upon us by
+the habits and notions of the people. Amongst these I recall very
+vividly the story of Nelwang’s elopement with his bride. I had begun,
+in spare hours, to lay the foundation of two additional rooms for our
+house, and felt rather uneasy to see a well-known Savage hanging around
+every day with his tomahawk, and eagerly watching me at work. He had
+killed a man, before our arrival on Aniwa; and it was he that startled
+my wife by suddenly appearing from amongst the boxes, and causing her
+to run for life. On seeing him hovering so alarmingly near, tomahawk in
+hand, I saluted him,—
+
+“Nelwang, do you want to speak to me?”
+
+“Yes, Missi,” he replied, “if you will help me now, I will be your
+friend for ever.”
+
+I answered, “I am your friend. That brought me here and keeps me here.”
+
+“Yes,” said he very earnestly, “but I want you to be strong as my
+friend, and I will be strong for you!”
+
+I replied, “Well, how can I help you?”
+
+He quickly answered, “I want to get married, and I need your help.”
+
+I protested: “Nelwang, you know that marriages here are all made
+in infancy, by children being bought and betrothed to their future
+husbands. How can I interfere? You don’t want to bring evil on me and
+my wife and child? It might cost us our lives.”
+
+“No! no! Missi,” earnestly retorted Nelwang. “No one hears of this,
+or can hear. Only help me now. You tell me, if you were in my
+circumstances, how would you act?”
+
+“That’s surely very simple,” I answered. “Every man knows how to
+go about that business, if he wants to be honest! Look out for
+your intended, find out if she loves you, and the rest will follow
+naturally,—you will marry her.”
+
+“Yes,” argued Nelwang, “but just there my trouble comes in!”
+
+“Do you know the woman you would like to get?” I asked, wishing to
+bring him to some closer issue.
+
+“Yes,” replied he very frankly, “I want to marry Yakin, the chief widow
+up at the inland village, and that will break no infant betrothals.”
+
+“But,” I persevered, “do you know if she loves you or would take you?”
+
+“Yes,” replied Nelwang; “one day I met her on the path and told her I
+would like to have her for my wife. She took out her ear-rings and gave
+them to me, and I know thereby that she loves me. I was one of her late
+husband’s men; and if she had loved any of them more than she did me,
+she would have given them to another. With the ear-rings she gave me
+her heart.”
+
+“Then why,” I insisted, “don’t you go and marry her?”
+
+“There,” said Nelwang gravely, “begins my difficulty. In her village
+there are thirty young men for whom there are no wives. Each of them
+wants her, but no one has the courage to take her, for the other
+nine-and-twenty will shoot him!”
+
+“And if you take her,” I suggested, “the disappointed thirty will shoot
+you.”
+
+“That’s exactly what I see, Missi,” continued Nelwang; “but I want you
+just to think you are in my place, and tell me how you would carry her
+off. You white men can always succeed. Missi, hear my plans, and advise
+me.”
+
+With as serious a face as I could command, I had to listen to Nelwang,
+to enter into his love affair, and to make suggestions, with a view to
+avoiding bloodshed and other miseries. The result of the deliberations
+was that Nelwang was to secure the confidence of two friends, his
+brother and the orator Taia, to place one at each end of the coral
+rocks above the village as watchmen, to cut down with his American
+tomahawk a passage through the fence at the back, and to carry off
+his bride at dead of night into the seclusion and safety of the bush!
+Nelwang’s eyes flashed as he struck his tomahawk into a tree, and
+cried,—
+
+“I see it now, Missi! I shall win her from them all. Yakin and I will
+be strong for you all our days!”
+
+Next morning Yakin’s house was found deserted. They sent to all the
+villages around, but no one had seen her. The hole in the fence behind
+was then discovered, and the thirty whispered to each other that Yakin
+had been wooed and won by some daring lover. Messengers were despatched
+to all the villages, and Nelwang was found to have disappeared on the
+same night as the widow, and neither could anywhere be found.
+
+The usual revenge was taken. The houses of the offenders burned,
+their fences broken down, and all their property either destroyed
+or distributed. Work was suspended, and the disappointed thirty
+solaced themselves by feasting at Yakin’s expense. On the third day I
+arrived at the scene. Seeing our old friend Naswai looking on at the
+plunderers, I signalled him, and said innocently,—
+
+“Naswai, what’s this your men are about? What’s all the uproar?”
+
+The Chief replied, “Have you not heard, Missi?”
+
+“Heard?” said I. “The whole island has heard your ongoings for three
+days! I can get no peace to study, or carry on my work.”
+
+“Missi,” said the Chief, “Nelwang has eloped with Yakin, the wealthy
+widow, and all the young men are taking their revenge.”
+
+“Oh,” replied I, “is that all? Call your men, and let us speak to them.”
+
+The men were all assembled, and I said: “After all your kindness to
+Yakin, and all your attention to her since her husband’s death, has
+she really run away and left you all? Don’t you feel thankful that you
+are free from such an ungrateful woman? Had one of you been married
+to her, and she had afterwards run away with this man that she loved,
+that would have been far worse! And are you really making all this
+noise over such a person, and destroying so much useful food? Let these
+two fools go their way, and if she be all that you now say, he will
+have the worst of the bargain, and you will be sufficiently avenged.
+I advise you to spare the fruit trees—go home quietly—leave them to
+punish each other—and let me get on with my work!”
+
+Naswai repeated my appeal.
+
+“Missi’s word is good! Gather up the food. Wait till we see their
+conduct, how it grows. She wasn’t worth all this bother and noise!”
+
+Three weeks passed. The runaways were nowhere to be found. It was
+generally believed that they had gone in a canoe to Tanna or Erromanga.
+But one morning, as I began my work at my house alone, the brave
+Nelwang appeared at my side!
+
+“Hillo!” I said, “where have you come from? and where is Yakin?”
+
+“I must not,” he replied, “tell you yet. We are hid. We have lived on
+cocoa-nuts gathered at night. Yakin is well and happy. I come now to
+fulfil my promise: I will help you, and Yakin will help Missi Paton the
+woman, and we shall be your friends. I have ground to be built upon
+and fenced, whenever we dare; but we will come and live with you, till
+peace is secured. Will you let us come to-morrow morning?”
+
+“All right!” I said. “Come to-morrow!” And, trembling with delight, he
+disappeared into the bush.
+
+Thus strangely God provided us with wonderful assistance. Yakin soon
+learnt to wash and dress and clean everything, and Nelwang served me
+like a faithful disciple. They clung by us like our very shadow, partly
+through fear of attack, partly from affection; but as each of them
+could handle freely both musket and tomahawk, which, though laid aside,
+were never far away, it was not every enemy that cared to try issues
+with Nelwang and his bride. After a few weeks had thus passed by, and
+as both of them were really showing an interest in things pertaining
+to Jesus and His Gospel, I urged them strongly to appear publicly at
+the Church on Sabbath, to show that they were determined to stand their
+ground together as true husband and wife, and that the others must
+accept the position and become reconciled. Delay now could gain no
+purpose, and I wished the strife and uncertainty to be put to an end.
+
+Nelwang knew our customs. Every worshipper has to be seated, when our
+little bell ceases ringing. Aniwans would be ashamed to enter after
+the Service had actually begun. As the bell ceased, Nelwang, knowing
+that he would have a clear course, marched in, dressed in shirt and
+kilt, and grasping very determinedly his tomahawk! He sat down as
+near to me as he could conveniently get, trying hard to conceal his
+manifest agitation. Slightly smiling towards me, he then turned and
+looked eagerly at the door through which the women entered and left the
+Church, as if to say, “Yakin is coming!” But his tomahawk was poised
+ominously on his shoulder, and his courage gave him a defiant and
+almost impudent air. He was evidently quite ready to sell his life at a
+high price, if any one was prepared to risk the consequences.
+
+In a few seconds Yakin entered; and if Nelwang’s bearing and appearance
+were rather inconsistent with the feeling of worship,—what on earth
+was I to do when the figure and costume of Yakin began to reveal
+itself marching in? The first visible difference betwixt a Heathen and
+a Christian is,—that the Christian wears some clothing, the Heathen
+wears none. Yakin determined to show the extent of her Christianity
+by the amount of clothing she could carry upon her person. Being a
+Chiefs widow before she became Nelwang’s bride, she had some idea of
+state occasions, and appeared dressed in every article of European
+apparel, mostly portions of male attire, that she could beg or borrow
+from about the premises! Her bridal gown was a man’s drab-coloured
+great-coat, put on above her Native grass skirts, and sweeping down to
+her heels, buttoned tight. Over this she had hung on a vest, and above
+that again, most amazing of all, she had superinduced a pair of men’s
+trousers, drawing the body over her head, and leaving a leg dangling
+gracefully over each of her shoulders and streaming down her back.
+Fastened to the one shoulder also there was a red shirt, and to the
+other a striped shirt, waving about her like wings as she sailed along.
+Around her head a red shirt had been twisted like a turban, and her
+notions of art demanded that a sleeve thereof should hang aloft over
+each of her ears! She seemed to be a moving monster loaded with a mass
+of rags. The day was excessively hot, and the perspiration poured over
+her face in streams. She, too, sat as near to me as she could get on
+the women’s side of the Church. Nelwang looked at me and then at her,
+smiling quietly, as if to say,—
+
+“You never saw, in all your white world, a bride so grandly dressed!”
+
+I little thought what I was bringing on myself, when I urged them to
+come to Church. The sight of that poor creature sweltering before me
+constrained me for once to make the service very short—perhaps the
+shortest I ever conducted in all my life! The day ended in peace. The
+two souls were extremely happy; and I praised God that what might have
+been a scene of bloodshed had closed thus, even though it were in a
+kind of wild grotesquerie!
+
+Henceforth I never lacked a body-guard, nor Mrs. Paton a helper. Yakin
+learned to read and write, and became an excellent teacher in our
+Sabbath school; she also learned to sing, and led the praise in Church,
+when my wife was unable to be present. In fact, she could put her
+hand to everything about the house or the Mission, and became a great
+favourite amongst the people. Nelwang fulfilled his promise faithfully.
+He was indeed my friend. Through all my inland tours, either he or
+the Sacred Man, Kalangi (who first attempted twice to shoot me, and
+then, after his conversion, acted as if God had entrusted him with
+the keeping of my life), faithfully accompanied me. With tomahawk or
+musket, or both in hand, they were always within reach, and instantly
+started to the front wherever danger seemed to threaten us. These were
+amongst our first and best Church members. Nelwang and the Sacred Man
+have both gone to their rest. But Yakin of the many garments has also
+had many husbands. She rejoices now in her _fourth_, and is still a
+devoted Christian, and a most interesting character in many ways.
+
+The progress of God’s work was most conspicuous in relation to wars and
+revenges among the Natives. The two high Chiefs, Namakei and Naswai,
+frequently declared,—
+
+“We are the men of Christ now. We must not fight. We must put down
+murders and crimes among our people.”
+
+Two young fools, returning from Tanna with muskets, attempted twice to
+shoot a man in sheer wantonness and display of malice. The Islanders
+met, and informed them that if man or woman was injured by them, the
+other men would load their muskets and shoot them dead in public
+council. This was a mighty step towards public order, and I greatly
+rejoiced before the Lord. His Spirit, like leaven, was at work!
+
+My constant custom was, in order to prevent war, to run right in
+between the contending parties. My faith enabled me to grasp and
+realize the promise, “Lo, I am with you always.” In Jesus I felt
+invulnerable and immortal, so long as I was doing His work. And I can
+truly say, that these were the moments when I felt my Saviour to be
+most truly and sensibly present, inspiring and empowering me.
+
+Another scheme had an excellent educative and religious influence.
+I tried to interest all the villages, and to treat all the Chiefs
+equally. In our early days, after getting into my two-roomed house, I
+engaged the Chief, or representative man of each district, to put up
+one or other of the many outhouses required at the Station. One, along
+with his people, built the cook-house; another, the store; another,
+the banana and yam-house; another, the washing-house; another, the
+boys’ and girls’ house; the houses for servants and teachers, the
+Schoolhouse, and the large shed, a kind of shelter where Natives sat
+and talked when not at work about the Premises. Of course these all
+were at first only Native huts, of larger or smaller dimensions. But
+they were all built by contract for articles which they highly valued,
+such as axes, knives, yards of prints and calico, strings of beads,
+blankets, etc. They served our purpose for the time, and when another
+party, by contract also, had fenced around our Premises, the Mission
+Station was really a beautiful little lively and orderly Village, and
+in itself no bad emblem of Christian and Civilized life. The payments,
+made to all irrespectively, but only for work duly done and according
+to reasonable bargain, distributed property and gifts amongst them on
+wholesome principles, and encouraged a well-conditioned rivalry which
+had many happy effects.
+
+Heathenism made many desperate and some strange efforts to stamp out
+our Cause on Aniwa, but the Lord held the helm. One old Chief, formerly
+friendly, turned against us. He ostentatiously set himself to make
+a canoe, working at it very openly and defiantly on Sabbaths. He,
+becoming sick and dying, his brother started, on a Sabbath morning and
+in contempt of the Worship, with an armed company to provoke our people
+to war. They refused to fight; and one man, whom he struck with his
+club, said,—
+
+“I will leave my revenge to Jehovah.”
+
+A few days thereafter, this brother also fell sick and suddenly died.
+The Heathen party made much of these incidents, and some clamoured for
+our death in revenge, but most feared to murder us; so they withdrew
+and lived apart from our friends, as far away as they could get.
+By-and-bye, however, they set fire to a large district belonging to our
+supporters, burning cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees and plantations.
+Still our people refused to fight, and kept near to protect us. Then
+all the leading men assembled to talk it over. Most were for peace, but
+some insisted upon burning our house and driving us away or killing us,
+that they might be left to live as they had hitherto done. At last a
+Sacred Man, a Chief who had been on Tanna when the _Curaçoa_ punished
+the murderers and robbers but protected the villages of the friendly
+Natives there, stood up and spoke in our defence, and warned them what
+might happen; and other three, who had been under my instruction on
+Tanna, declared themselves to be the friends of Jehovah and of His
+Missionary. Finally the Sacred Man rose again, and showed them rows of
+beautiful white shells strung round his left arm, saying,—
+
+“Nowar, the great Chief at Port Resolution on Tanna, when he saw that
+Missi and his wife could not be kept there, took me to his heart, and
+pledged me by these, the shells of his office as Chief, taken from his
+own arms and bound on mine, to protect them from all harm. He told me
+to declare to the men of Aniwa that if the Missi be injured or slain,
+he and his warriors will come from Tanna and take the full revenge in
+blood.” This turned the scale. The meeting closed in our favour.
+
+Close on the heels of this, another and a rather perplexing incident
+befell us. A party of Heathens assembled and made a great display of
+fishing on the Lord’s Day, in contempt of the practice of the men on
+Jehovah’s side, threatening also to waylay the Teachers and myself in
+our village circuits. A meeting was held by the Christian party, at the
+close of the Sabbath Services. All who wished to serve Jehovah were to
+come to my house next morning, unarmed, and accompany me on a visit
+to our enemies, that we might talk and reason together with them. By
+daybreak, the Chiefs and nearly eighty men assembled at the Mission,
+declaring that they were on Jehovah’s side, and wished to go with me.
+But, alas! they refused to lay down their arms, or leave them behind;
+nor would they either refrain from going or suffer me to go alone.
+Pledging them to peace, I was reluctantly placed at their head, and we
+marched off to the village of the unfriendly party.
+
+The villagers were greatly alarmed. The Chief’s two sons came forth
+with every available man to meet us. That whole day was consumed in
+talking and speechifying, sometimes chanting their replies: the Natives
+are all inveterate talkers! To me the day was utterly wearisome; but it
+had one redeeming feature,—their rage found vent in hours of palaver,
+instead of blows and blood. It ended in peace. The Heathen were amazed
+at the number of Jehovah’s friends; and they pledged themselves
+henceforth to leave the Worship alone, and that every one who pleased
+might come to it unmolested. For this, worn out and weary, we returned,
+praising the Lord.
+
+But I must here record the story of the Sinking of the Well, which
+broke the back of Heathenism on Aniwa. Being a flat coral island, with
+no hills to attract the clouds, rain is scarce there as compared with
+the adjoining mountainous islands; and even when it does fall heavily,
+with tropical profusion, it disappears, as said before, through the
+light soil and porous rock, and drains itself directly into the sea.
+Hence, because of its greater dryness, Aniwa is more healthy than many
+of the surrounding isles; though, probably for the same reason, its
+Natives are subject to a form of Elephantiasis, known as the “Barbadoes
+leg.” The Rainy Season is from December to April, and then the disease
+most characteristic of all these regions is apt to prevail, viz., fever
+and ague.
+
+At certain seasons, the Natives drank very unwholesome water; and,
+indeed, the best water they had at any time for drinking purposes was
+from the precious cocoa-nut, a kind of Apple of Paradise for all these
+Southern Isles! They also cultivate the sugar-cane very extensively,
+and in great variety; and they chew it, when we would fly to water
+for thirst, so it is to them both food and drink. The black fellow
+carries with him to the field, when he goes off for a day’s work, four
+or five sticks of sugar-cane, and puts in his time comfortably enough
+on these. Besides, the sea being their universal bathingplace, in which
+they swattle like fish, and little water, almost none, being required
+for cooking purposes, and none whatever for washing clothes (!), the
+lack of fresh springing water was not the dreadful trial to them that
+it would be to us. Yet they appreciate and rejoice in it immensely
+too; though the water of the green cocoa-nut is refreshing, and in
+appearance, taste, and colour not unlike lemonade—one nut filling a
+tumbler; and though, when mothers die they feed the babies on it and
+on the soft white pith, and they flourish on the same; yet the Natives
+themselves show their delight in preferring, when they can get it, the
+milk from the goat and the water from the well.
+
+My household felt sadly the want of fresh water. I prepared two large
+casks, to be filled when the rain came. But when we attempted to do so
+at the water-hole near the village, the Natives forbade us, fearing
+that our large casks would carry all the water away, and leave none
+for them with their so much smaller cocoa-nut bottles. This public
+water-hole was on the ground of two Sacred Men, who claimed the power
+of emptying and filling it by rain at will. The superstitious Natives
+gave them presents to bring the rain. If it came soon, they took all
+the credit for it. If not, they demanded larger gifts to satisfy their
+gods. Even our Aneityumese Teachers said to me, when I protested that
+surely they could not believe such things,—
+
+“It is hard to know, Missi. The water does come and go quickly. If you
+paid them well, they might bring the rain, and let us fill our casks!”
+
+I told them that, as followers of Jehovah, we must despise all Heathen
+mummeries, and trust in Him and in the laws of His Creation to help us.
+
+Aniwa, having therefore no permanent supply of fresh water, in spring
+or stream or lake, I resolved by the help of God to sink a well near
+the Mission Premises, hoping that a wisdom higher than my own would
+guide me to the source of some blessed spring. Of the scientific
+conditions of such an experiment I was completely ignorant; but I
+counted on having to dig through earth and coral above thirty feet,
+and my constant fear was, that owing to our environment, the water, if
+water I found, could only be salt water after all my toils! Still I
+resolved to sink that shaft in hope, and in faith that the Son of God
+would be glorified thereby.
+
+One morning I said to the old Chief and his fellow-Chief, both now
+earnestly inquiring about the religion of Jehovah and of Jesus,—
+
+“I am going to sink a deep well down into the earth, to see if our God
+will send us fresh water up from below.”
+
+They looked at me with astonishment, and said in a tone of sympathy
+approaching to pity,—
+
+“O Missi! Wait till the rain comes down, and we will save all we
+possibly can for you.”
+
+I replied, “We may all die for lack of water. If no fresh water can be
+got, we may be forced to leave you.”
+
+The old Chief looked imploringly, and said: “O Missi! you must not
+leave us for that. Rain comes only from above. How could you expect our
+Island to send up showers of rain from below?”
+
+I told him: “Fresh water does come up springing from the earth in my
+Land at home, and I hope to see it here also.”
+
+The old Chief grew more tender in his tones, and cried: “O Missi, your
+head is going wrong; you are losing something, or you would not talk
+wild like that! Don’t let our people hear you talking about going down
+into the earth for rain, or they will never listen to your word or
+believe you again.”
+
+But I started upon my hazardous job, selecting a spot near the Mission
+Station and close to the public path, that my prospective well might
+be useful to all. I began to dig, with pick and spade and bucket at
+hand, an American axe for a hammer and crowbar, and a ladder for
+service by-and-bye. The good old Chief now told off his men in relays
+to watch me, lest I should attempt to take my own life, or do anything
+outrageous, saying,—
+
+“Poor Missi! That’s the way with all who go mad. There’s no driving of
+a notion out of their heads. We must just watch him now. He will find
+it harder to work with pick and spade than with his pen, and when he’s
+tired we’ll persuade him to give it up.”
+
+I did get exhausted sooner than I expected, toiling under that tropical
+sun; but we never own before the Natives that we are beaten, so I
+went into the house and filled my vest pocket with large beautiful
+English-made fish-hooks. These are very tempting to the young men,
+as compared with their own,—skilfully made though _they_ be out of
+shell, and serving their purposes wonderfully. Holding up a large hook,
+I cried,—“One of these to every man who fills and turns over three
+buckets out of this hole!”
+
+A rush was made to get the first turn, and back again for another and
+another. I kept those on one side who had got a turn, till all the
+rest in order had a chance, and bucket after bucket was filled and
+emptied rapidly. Still the shaft seemed to lower very slowly, while
+my fish-hooks were disappearing very quickly. I was constantly there,
+and took the heavy share of everything, and was thankful one evening
+to find that we had cleared more than twelve feet deep,—when lo! next
+morning, one side had rushed in, and our work was all undone.
+
+The old Chief and his best men now came around me more earnestly than
+ever. He remonstrated with me very gravely. He assured me for the
+fiftieth time that rain would never be seen coming up through the earth
+on Aniwa!
+
+“Now,” said he, “had you been in that hole last night, you would have
+been buried, and a Man-of-war would have come from Queen ’Toria to ask
+for the Missi that lived here. We would say, ‘Down in that hole.’ The
+Captain would ask, ‘Who killed him and put him down there?’ We would
+have to say, ‘He went down there himself!’ The Captain would answer,
+‘Nonsense! who ever heard of a white man going down into the earth to
+bury himself? You killed him, you put him there; don’t hide your bad
+conduct with lies!’ Then he would bring out his big guns and shoot
+us, and destroy our Island in revenge. You are making your own grave,
+Missi, and you will make ours too. Give up this mad freak, for no rain
+will be found by going downwards on Aniwa. Besides, all your fish-hooks
+cannot tempt my men again to enter that hole; they don’t want to be
+buried with you. Will you not give it up now?”
+
+I said all that I could to quiet his fears, explained to them that this
+falling in had happened by my neglect of precautions, and finally made
+known that by the help of my God, even without all other help, I meant
+to persevere.
+
+Steeping my poor brains over the problem, I became an extemporized
+engineer. Two trees were searched for, with branches on opposite
+sides, capable of sustaining a cross tree betwixt them. I sank them
+on each side firmly into the ground, passed the beam across them over
+the centre of the shaft, fastened thereon a rude home-made pulley and
+block, passed a rope over the wheel, and swung my largest bucket to
+the end of it. Thus equipped, I began once more sinking away at the
+well, but at so wide an angle that the sides might not again fall
+in. Not a Native, however, would enter that hole, and I had to pick
+and dig away till I was utterly exhausted. But a Teacher, in whom I
+had confidence, took charge above, managing to hire them with axes,
+knives, etc., to seize the end of the rope and walk along the ground
+pulling it till the bucket rose to the surface, and then he himself
+swung it aside, emptied it, and lowered it down again. I rang a little
+bell which I had with me, when the bucket was loaded, and that was the
+signal for my brave helpers to pull their rope. And thus I toiled on
+from day to day, my heart almost sinking sometimes with the sinking of
+the well, till we reached a depth of about thirty feet. And the phrase,
+“living water,” “living water,” kept chiming through my soul like music
+from God, as I dug and hammered away!
+
+At this depth the earth and coral began to be soaked with damp. I felt
+that we were nearing water. My soul had a faith that God would open a
+spring for us; but side by side with this faith was a strange terror
+that the water would be salt. So perplexing and mixed are even the
+highest experiences of the soul; the rose-flower of a perfect faith,
+set round and round with prickly thorns. One evening I said to the old
+Chief,—
+
+“I think that Jehovah God will give us water to-morrow from that hole!”
+
+The Chief said, “No, Missi; you will never see rain coming up from the
+earth on this Island. We wonder what is to be the end of this mad work
+of yours. We expect daily, if you reach water, to see you drop through
+into the sea, and the sharks will eat you! That will be the end of it;
+death to you, and danger to us all.”
+
+I still answered, “Come to-morrow. I hope and believe that Jehovah God
+will send you the rain water up through the earth.” At the moment I
+knew I was risking much, and probably incurring sorrowful consequences,
+had no water been given; but I had faith that the Lord was leading me
+on, and I knew that I sought His glory, not my own.
+
+Next morning, I went down again at daybreak and sank a narrow hole in
+the centre about two feet deep. The perspiration broke over me with
+uncontrollable excitement, and I trembled through every limb, when
+the water rushed up and began to fill the hole. Muddy though it was,
+I eagerly tasted it, and the little “tinny” dropped from my hand with
+sheer joy, and I almost fell upon my knees in that muddy bottom to
+praise the Lord. It was water! It was fresh water! It was living water
+from Jehovah’s well! True, it was a little brackish, but nothing to
+speak of; and no spring in the desert, cooling the parched lips of a
+fevered pilgrim, ever appeared more worthy of being called a Well of
+God than did that water to me!
+
+The Chiefs had assembled with their men near by They waited on in
+eager expectancy. It was a rehearsal, in a small way, of the Israelites
+coming round, while Moses struck the rock and called for water.
+By-and-bye, when I had praised the Lord, and my excitement was a little
+calmed, the mud being also greatly settled, I filled a jug, which I had
+taken down empty in the sight of them all, and ascending to the top
+called for them to come and see the rain which Jehovah God had given us
+through the well. They closed around me in haste, and gazed on it in
+superstitious fear. The old Chief shook it to see if it would spill,
+and then touched it to see if it felt like water. At last he tasted it,
+and rolling it in his mouth with joy for a moment, he swallowed it, and
+shouted, “Rain! Rain! Yes, it is Rain! But how did you get it?”
+
+I repeated, “Jehovah my God gave it out of His own Earth in answer to
+our labours and prayers. Go and see it springing up for yourselves!”
+
+Now, though every man there could climb the highest tree as swiftly
+and as fearlessly as a squirrel or an opossum, not one of them had
+courage to walk to the side and gaze down into that well. To them this
+was miraculous! But they were not without a resource that met the
+emergency. They agreed to take firm hold of each other by the hand, to
+place themselves in a long line, the foremost man to lean cautiously
+forward, gaze into the well, and then pass to the rear, and so on till
+all had seen “Jehovah’s rain” far below. It was somewhat comical, yet
+far more pathetic, to stand by and watch their faces, as man after
+man peered down into the mystery, and then looked up at me in blank
+bewilderment! When all had seen it with their own very eyes, and were
+“weak with wonder,” the old Chief exclaimed,—
+
+“Missi, wonderful, wonderful is the work of your Jehovah God! No god of
+Aniwa ever helped us in this way. But, Missi,” continued he, after a
+pause that looked like silent worship, “will it always rain up through
+the earth? or, will it come and go like the rain from the clouds?”
+
+I told them that I believed it would always continue there for our use,
+as a good gift from Jehovah.
+
+“Well, but, Missi,” replied the Chief, some glimmering of self-interest
+beginning to strike his brain, “will you or your family drink it all,
+or shall we also have some?”
+
+“You and all your people,” I answered, “and all the people of the
+Island may come and drink and carry away as much of it as you wish.
+I believe there will always be plenty for us all, and the more of it
+we can use the fresher it will be. That is the way with many of our
+Jehovah’s best gifts to men, and for it and for all we praise His Name!”
+
+“Then, Missi,” said the Chief, “it will be our water, and we may all
+use it as our very own.”
+
+“Yes,” I answered, “whenever you wish it, and as much as you need, both
+here and at your own houses, as far as it can possibly be made to go.”
+
+The Chief looked at me eagerly, fully convinced at length that the
+well contained a treasure, and exclaimed, “Missi, what can we do to
+help you now?”
+
+Oh, how like is human nature all the world over! When one toils and
+struggles, when help is needed which many around could easily give and
+be the better, not the worse, for giving it, they look on in silence,
+or bless you with ungenerous criticism, or ban you with malicious
+judgment. But let them get some peep of personal advantage by helping
+you, or even of the empty bubble of praise for offering it, and how
+they rush to your aid!
+
+But I was thankful to accept of the Chief’s assistance, though rather
+late in the day, and I said,—
+
+“You have seen it fall in once already. If it falls again, it will
+conceal the rain from below which our God has given us. In order to
+preserve it for us and for our children in all time, we must build it
+round and round with great coral blocks from the bottom to the very
+top. I will now clear it out, and prepare the foundation for this wall
+of coral. Let every man and woman carry from the shore the largest
+blocks they can bring. It is well worth all the toil thus to preserve
+our great Jehovah’s gift!”
+
+Scarcely were my words repeated, when they rushed to the shore, with
+shoutings and songs of gladness; and soon every one was seen struggling
+under the biggest block of coral with which he dared to tackle. They
+lay like limestone rocks, broken up by the hurricanes, and rolled
+ashore in the arms of mighty billows; and in an incredibly short time
+scores of them were tumbled down for my use at the mouth of the well.
+Having prepared a foundation, I made ready a sort of box to which every
+block was firmly tied and then let down to me by the pulley,—a Native
+Teacher, a faithful fellow, cautiously guiding it. I received and
+placed each stone in its position, doing my poor best to wedge them one
+against the other, building circularly, and cutting them to the needed
+shape with my American axe. The wall is about three feet thick, and
+the masonry may be guaranteed to stand till the coral itself decays. I
+wrought incessantly, for fear of any further collapse, till I had it
+raised about twenty feet; and now, feeling secure, and my hands being
+dreadfully cut up, I intimated that I would rest a week or two, and
+finish the building then. But the Chief advanced and said,—
+
+“Missi, you have been strong to work. Your strength has fled. But rest
+here beside us; and just point out where each block is to be laid. We
+will lay them there, we will build them solidly behind like you. And no
+man will sleep till it is done.”
+
+With all their will and heart they started on the job; some carrying,
+some cutting and squaring the blocks, till the wall rose like magic,
+and a row of the hugest rocks laid round the top bound all together,
+and formed the mouth of the well. Women, boys, and all wished to have
+a hand in building it, and it remains to this day, a solid wall of
+masonry, the circle being thirty-four feet deep, eight feet wide at
+the top, and six at the bottom. I floored it over with wood above all,
+and fixed the windlass and bucket, and there it stands as one of the
+greatest material blessings which the Lord has given to Aniwa. It rises
+and falls with the tide, though a third of a mile distant from the sea;
+and when, after using it, we tasted the pure fresh water on board the
+_Dayspring_, it seemed so insipid that I had to slip a little salt into
+my tea along with the sugar before I could enjoy it! All visitors are
+taken to see the well, as one of the wonders of Aniwa; and an Elder of
+the Church said to me lately,—
+
+“But for that water, during the last two years of drought, we would all
+have been dead!”
+
+Very strangely, though the Natives themselves have since tried to sink
+six or seven wells in the most likely places near their different
+villages, they have either come to coral rock which they could not
+pierce, or found only water that was salt. And they say amongst
+themselves,—
+
+“Missi not only used pick and spade, but he prayed and cried to his
+God. We have learned to dig, but not how to pray, and therefore Jehovah
+will not give us the rain from below!”
+
+The well was now finished. The place was neatly fenced in. And the old
+Chief said,—
+
+“Missi, now that this is the water for all, we must take care and keep
+it pure.”
+
+I was so thankful that all were to use it. Had we alone drawn water
+therefrom, they could so easily have poisoned it, as they do the
+fish-pools, in caverns among the rocks by the shore, with their
+nuts and runners, and killed us all. But there was no fear, if they
+themselves were to use it daily. The Chief continued,—
+
+“Missi, I think I could help you next Sabbath. Will you let me preach a
+sermon on the well?”
+
+“Yes,” I at once replied, “if you will try to bring all the people to
+hear you.”
+
+“Missi, I will try,” he eagerly promised. The news spread like wildfire
+that the Chief Namakei was to be the Missionary on the next day for the
+Worship, and the people, under great expectancy, urged each other to
+come and hear what he had to say.
+
+Sabbath came round. Aniwa assembled in what was for that island a great
+crowd. Namakei appeared dressed in shirt and kilt. He was so excited,
+and flourished his tomahawk about at such a rate, that it was rather
+lively work to be near him. I conducted short opening devotions, and
+then called upon Namakei. He rose at once, with eye flashing wildly,
+and his limbs twitching with emotion. He spoke to the following effect,
+swinging his tomahawk to enforce every eloquent gesticulation,—
+
+“Friends of Namakei, men and women and children of Aniwa, listen to my
+words! Since Missi came here he has talked many strange things we could
+not understand—things all too wonderful; and we said regarding many of
+them that they must be lies. White people might believe such nonsense,
+but we said that the black fellow knew better than to receive it.
+But of all his wonderful stories, we thought the strangest was about
+sinking down through the earth to get rain! Then we said to each other,
+The man’s head is turned; he’s gone mad. But the Missi prayed on and
+wrought on, telling us that Jehovah God heard and saw, and that his God
+would give him rain. Was he mad? Has he not got the rain deep down in
+the earth? We mocked at him; but the water was there all the same. We
+have laughed at other things which the Missi told us, because we could
+not see them. But from this day I believe that all he tells us about
+his Jehovah God is true. Some day our eyes will see it. For to-day we
+have seen the rain from the earth.”
+
+Then, rising to a climax, first the one foot and then the other making
+the broken coral on the floor fly behind like a war-horse pawing the
+ground, he cried with great eloquence,—
+
+“My people, the people of Aniwa, the world is turned upside down
+since the word of Jehovah came to this land! Who ever expected to see
+rain coming up through the earth? It has always come from the clouds!
+Wonderful is the work of this Jehovah God. No god of Aniwa ever
+answered prayers as the Missi’s God has done. Friends of Namakei, all
+the powers of the world could not have forced us to believe that rain
+could be given from the depths of the earth, if we had not seen it
+with our eyes, felt it and tasted it as we here do. Now, by the help
+of Jehovah God the Missi brought that invisible rain to view, which we
+never before heard of or saw, and,”—(beating his hand on his breast, he
+exclaimed),—
+
+“Something here in my heart tells me that the Jehovah God does exist,
+the Invisible One, whom we never heard of nor saw till the Missi
+brought Him to our knowledge. The coral has been removed, the land has
+been cleared away, and lo! the water rises. Invisible till this day,
+yet all the same it was there, though our eyes were too weak. So I,
+your Chief, do now firmly believe that when I die, when the bits of
+coral and the heaps of dust are removed which now blind my old eyes, I
+shall then see the Invisible Jehovah God with my soul, as Missi tells
+me, not less surely than I have seen the rain from the earth below.
+From this day, my people, I must worship the God who has opened for
+us the well, and who fills us with rain from below. The gods of Aniwa
+cannot hear, cannot help us, like the God of Missi. Henceforth I am
+a follower of Jehovah God. Let every man that thinks with me go now
+and fetch the idols of Aniwa, the gods which our fathers feared, and
+cast them down at Missi’s feet. Let us burn and bury and destroy these
+things of wood and stone, and let us be taught by the Missi how to
+serve the God who can hear, the Jehovah who gave us the well, and who
+will give us every other blessing, for He sent His Son Jesus to die
+for us and bring us to Heaven. This is what the Missi has been telling
+us every day since he landed on Aniwa. We laughed at him, but now
+we believe him. The Jehovah God has sent us rain from the earth. Why
+should He not also send us His Son from Heaven? Namakei stands up for
+Jehovah!”
+
+This address, and the Sinking of the Well, broke, as I already said,
+the back of Heathenism on Aniwa. That very afternoon, the old Chief
+and several of his people brought their idols and cast them down at my
+feet beside the door of our house. Oh, the intense excitement of the
+weeks that followed! Company after company came to the spot, loaded
+with their gods of wood and stone, and piled them up in heaps, amid
+the tears and sobs of some, and the shoutings of others, in which was
+heard the oft-repeated word, “Jehovah! Jehovah!” What could be burned,
+we cast into the flames; others we buried in pits twelve or fifteen
+feet deep; and some few, more likely than the rest to feed or awaken
+superstition, we sank far out into the deep sea. Let no Heathen eyes
+ever gaze on them again!
+
+We do not mean to indicate that, in all cases, their motives were
+either high or enlightened. There were not wanting some who wished to
+make this new movement pay, and were much disgusted when we refused
+to “buy” their gods! On being told that Jehovah would not be pleased
+unless they gave them up of their own free will, and destroyed them
+without pay or reward, some took them home again and held on by them
+for a season, and others threw them away in contempt. Meetings
+were held; speeches were delivered, for these New Hebrideans are
+irrepressible orators, florid, and amazingly graphic; much talk
+followed, and the destruction of idols went on apace. By-and-bye two
+Sacred Men and some other selected persons were appointed a sort of
+detective Committee, to search out and expose those who pretended to
+give them all up, but were hiding certain idols in secret, and to
+encourage waverers to come to a thorough decision for Jehovah. In these
+intensely exciting days, we “stood still” and saw the salvation of the
+Lord.
+
+They flocked around us now at every meeting we held. They listened
+eagerly to the story of the life and death of Jesus. They voluntarily
+assumed one or other article of clothing. And everything transpiring
+was fully and faithfully submitted to us for counsel or for
+information. One of the very first things of a Christian discipline to
+which they readily and almost unanimously took was the asking of God’s
+blessing on every meal and praising the great Jehovah for their daily
+bread. Whosoever did not do so was regarded as a Heathen. (Query: how
+many _white_ Heathens are there?) The next step, and it was taken in
+a manner as if by some common consent that was not less surprising
+than joyful, was a form of Family Worship every morning and evening.
+Doubtless the prayers were often very queer, and mixed up with many
+remaining superstitions; but they were prayers to the great Jehovah,
+the compassionate Father, the Invisible One—no longer to gods of stone!
+
+Necessarily these were the conspicuous features of our life as
+Christians in their midst—morning and evening Family Prayer, and
+Grace at Meat; and hence, most naturally, their instinctive adoption
+and imitation of the same as the first outward tokens of Christian
+discipline. Every house in which there was not Prayer to God in the
+family was known thereby to be Heathen. This was a direct and practical
+evidence of the New Religion; and, so far as it goes (and that is very
+far indeed, where there is any sincerity at all), the test was one
+about which there could be no mistake on either side.
+
+A third conspicuous feature stood out distinctly and at once,—the
+change as to the Lord’s Day. Village after village followed in this
+also the example of the Mission House. All ordinary occupations ceased.
+Sabbath was spoken of as the Day for Jehovah. Saturday came to be
+called “Cooking Day,” referring to the extra preparations for the day
+of rest and worship. They believed that it was Jehovah’s will to keep
+the first day holy. The reverse was a distinctive mark of Heathenism.
+
+The first traces of a new Social Order began to rise visibly on the
+delighted eye. The whole inhabitants, young and old, now attended
+School,—three generations sometimes at the one copy or A B C book!
+Thefts, quarrels, crimes, etc., were settled now, not by club law,
+but by fine or bonds or lash, as agreed upon by the Chiefs and
+their people. Everything was rapidly and surely becoming “new” under
+the influence of the leaven of Jesus. Industry increased. Huts and
+plantations were safe. Formerly every man, in travelling, carried with
+him all his valuables; now they were secure, left at home.
+
+Even a brood of fowls or a litter of pigs would be carried in bags
+on their persons in Heathen days. Hence at Church we had sometimes
+lively episodes, the chirruping of chicks, the squealing of piggies,
+and the barking of puppies, one gaily responding to the other, as we
+sang, or prayed, or preached the Gospel! Being glad to see the Natives
+there, even with all their belongings, we carefully refrained from
+finding fault; but the thread of devotion was sometimes apt to slip
+through one’s fingers, especially when the conflict of the owner to
+silence a baby-pig inspired the little wretch to drown everything in a
+long-sustained and angry swinish scream.
+
+The Natives, finding this state of matters troublesome to themselves
+and disagreeable all round, called a General Assembly, unanimously
+condemned dishonesty, agreed upon severe fines and punishments for
+every act of theft, and covenanted to stand by each other in putting it
+down. The Chiefs, however, found this a long and difficult task, but
+they held at it under the inspiration of the Gospel and prevailed. Even
+the trials and difficulties with which they met were overruled by God,
+in assisting them to form by the light of their own experience a simple
+code of Social Laws, fitted to repress the crimes there prevailing,
+and to encourage the virtues specially needing to be cultivated there.
+Heathen Worship was gradually extinguished; and, though no one was
+compelled to come to Church, every person on Aniwa, without exception,
+became an avowed worshipper of Jehovah God. Again, “O Galilean, Thou
+hast conquered!”
+
+Often since have I meditated on that old Cannibal Chief reasoning
+himself and his people, from the sinking of the well and the bringing
+of the invisible water to view, into a belief as to the existence
+and power of the great Invisible God, the only Hearer and Answerer
+of prayer. And the contrasted picture rises before my mind of the
+multitudes in Britain, America, Germany, and our Colonies, all whose
+wisdom, science, art, and wealth have only left them in spiritual
+darkness—miserable doubters! In their pride of heart, they deny their
+Creator and Redeemer, so gloriously revealed to them alike in Nature
+and in Scripture, and are like a dog barking against the sun. They will
+accept nothing but what their poorly-developed Science can demonstrate;
+yet that Science, as compared with the All-Truth of the Universe, is
+infinitely smaller than was the poor Chief Namakei’s knowledge as
+compared with mine! They do certainly know that their very existence,
+at every moment, depends on things that neither reason nor science can
+fathom, any more than Namakei could understand the rain from below. For
+every reason that he and his people had to believe in the Invisible
+God, who brought the water to their view, these sons and daughters
+of civilization, “the heirs of all the ages in the foremost files of
+time,” have ten thousand more—from history, from science, from material
+progress—yet in their pride of Intellect they refuse to acknowledge
+and adore that Invisible and Inscrutable God, in whom every day they
+live, and move, and have their being, and who has spoken to us by His
+Son from Heaven. If their own sons, daughters, or servants, who are
+infinitely less dependent on them than they are upon God, should treat
+themselves as they are treating their Creator, what would they think?
+How would they feel? I pity from the depth of my heart every human
+being, who, from whatever cause, is a stranger to the most ennobling,
+uplifting, and consoling experience that can come to the soul of
+man—blessed communion with the Father of our Spirits, through gracious
+union with the Lord Jesus Christ. “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of
+Heaven and Earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and
+prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it
+seemed good in Thy sight.... Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are
+heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn
+of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto
+your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matt. xi.
+25-30).
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE._
+
+ My first Aniwan Book.—The Power of Music.—A Pair of Glass
+ Eyes.—Church Building for Jesus.—The Hanging of the Bell.—Patesa
+ and his Bride.—An Armed Embassage.—Youwili’s Taboo.—Youwili’s
+ Conversion.—The Tobacco Idol.—First Communion on Aniwa.—Our
+ Village Day Schools.—New Social Laws.—A Sabbath Day’s Work on
+ Aniwa.—Our Week-day Life.—The Orphans and their Biscuits.—“The
+ Wreck of the _Dayspring_.”—God’s Own Finger-Posts.—God’s Work our
+ Guarantee.—Profane Swearers Rebuked.—A Heavenly Vision.—On Wing
+ through New Zealand.—Our Second _Dayspring_.
+
+
+The printing of my first Aniwan book was a great event, not so much for
+the toil and worry which it cost me, though that was enough to have
+broken the heart of many a compositor, as rather for the joy it gave to
+the old Chief Namakei.
+
+The break-up at Tanna had robbed me of my own neat little printing
+press. I had since obtained at Aneityum the remains of one from
+Erromanga, that had belonged to the murdered Gordon. But the supply of
+letters, in some cases, was so deficient that I could print only four
+pages at a time; and, besides, bits of the press were wanting, and I
+had first to manufacture substitutes from scraps of iron and wood. I
+managed, however, to make it go, and by-and-bye it did good service. By
+it I printed our Aniwan Hymn-Book, a portion of Genesis in Aniwan, a
+small book in Erromangan for the second Gordon, and other little things.
+
+The old Chief had eagerly helped me in translating and preparing
+this first book. He had a great desire “to hear it speak,” as he
+graphically expressed it. It was made up chiefly of short passages from
+the Scriptures, that might help me to introduce them to the treasures
+of Divine truth and love. Namakei came to me, morning after morning,
+saying,—
+
+“Missi, is it done? Can it speak?”
+
+At last I was able to answer, “Yes!”
+
+The old Chief eagerly responded, “Does it speak my words?”
+
+I said, “It does.”
+
+With rising interest, Namakei exclaimed,—
+
+“Make it speak to me, Missi! Let me hear it speak.”
+
+I read to him a part of the book, and the old man fairly shouted in an
+ecstasy of joy: “It does speak! It speaks my own language, too! Oh,
+give it to me!”
+
+He grasped it hurriedly, turned it all round every way, pressed it to
+his bosom, and then, closing it with a look of great disappointment,
+handed it back to me, saying, “Missi, I cannot make it speak! It will
+never speak to me.”
+
+“No,” said I; “you don’t know how to read it yet, how to make it speak
+to you; but I will teach you to read, and then it will speak to you as
+it does to me.”
+
+“O Missi, dear Missi, show me how to make it speak!” persisted the
+bewildered Chief. He was straining his eyes so, that I suspected they
+were dim with age, and could not see the letters. I looked out for
+him a pair of spectacles, and managed to fit him well. He was much
+afraid of putting them on at first, manifestly in dread of some sort of
+sorcery. At last when they were properly placed, he saw the letters and
+everything so clearly that he exclaimed in great excitement and joy,—
+
+“I see it all now! This is what you told us about Jesus. He opened the
+eyes of a blind man. The word of Jesus has just come to Aniwa. He has
+sent me these glass eyes. I have gotten back again the sight that I had
+when a boy. O Missi, make the book speak to me now!”
+
+I walked out with him to the public Village Ground. There I drew A B C
+in large characters upon the dust, showed him the same letters in the
+book, and left him to compare them, and find out how many occurred on
+the first page. Fixing these in his mind, he came running to me, and
+said,—
+
+“I have lifted up A B C. They are here in my head, and I will hold them
+fast. Give me other three.”
+
+This was repeated time after time. He mastered the whole Alphabet, and
+soon began to spell out the smaller words. Indeed, he came so often,
+getting me to read it over and over, that before he himself could read
+it freely he had it word for word committed to memory. When strangers
+passed him, or young people came around, he would get out the little
+book, and say,—
+
+“Come, and I will let you hear how the book speaks our own Aniwan
+words. You say, it is hard to learn to read and make it speak. But be
+strong to try! If an old man like me has done it, it ought to be much
+easier for you.”
+
+One day I heard him read to a company with wonderful fluency. Taking
+the book, I asked him to show me how he had done it so quickly.
+Immediately I perceived that he could recite the whole from memory. He
+became our right-hand helper in the Conversion of Aniwa.
+
+Next after God’s own Word, perhaps the power of Music was most
+amazingly blessed in opening up our way. Amongst many other
+illustrations, I may mention how Namakei’s wife was won. The old lady
+positively shuddered at coming near the Mission House, and dreaded
+being taught anything. One day she was induced to draw near the door,
+and fixing a hand on either post, and gazing inwards, she exclaimed,
+“Awái, Missi! Kái, Missi!”—the Native cry for unspeakable wonder. Mrs.
+Paton began to play on the harmonium, and sang a simple hymn in the old
+woman’s language. Manifestly charmed, she drew nearer and nearer, and
+drank in the music, as it were, at every pore of her being. At last
+she ran off, and we thought it was with fright, but it was to call
+together all the women and girls from her village “to hear the _bokis_
+sing!” (Having no _x_, the word _box_ is pronounced thus.) She returned
+with them all at her heels. They listened with dancing eyes. And ever
+after the sound of a hymn, and the song of the _bokis_, made them flock
+freely to class or meeting.
+
+Being myself as nearly as possible destitute of the power of singing,
+all my work would have been impaired and sadly hindered, and the
+joyous side of the Worship and Service of Jehovah could not have been
+presented to the Natives, but for the gift bestowed by the Lord on my
+dear wife. She led our songs of praise, both in the family and in the
+Church, and that was the first avenue by which the New Religion winged
+its way into the heart of Cannibal and Savage.
+
+The old Chief was particularly eager that this same aged lady, his wife
+Yauwaki, should be taught to read. But her sight was far gone. So,
+one day, he brought her to me, saying, “Missi, can you give my wife
+also a pair of new glass eyes like mine? She tries to learn, but she
+cannot see the letters. She tries to sew, but she pricks her finger,
+and throws away the needle, saying, ‘The ways of the white people are
+not good!’ If she could get a pair of glass eyes, she would be in a new
+world like Namakei.” In my bundle I found a pair that suited her. She
+was in positive terror about putting them on her face, but at last she
+cried with delight,—
+
+“Oh, my new eyes! my new eyes! I have the sight of a little girl. I
+will learn hard now. I will make up for lost time.”
+
+[Illustration: “OH, MY NEW EYES!”]
+
+Her progress was never very great, but her influence for good on other
+women and girls was immense.
+
+In all my work amongst the Natives, I have striven to train them to be
+self-supporting, and have never helped them where I could train them
+to help themselves. In this respect I was exceedingly careful, when
+the question arose of building their Churches, and Schools. At first
+we moved about amongst them from village to village, acquired their
+language, and taught them everywhere,—by the roadside, under the shade
+of a tree, or on the public Village Ground. Our old Native Hut, when
+we removed to the Mission House formerly referred to, was used for all
+sorts of public meetings. Feeling by-and-bye that the time had come
+to interest them in building a new Church, and that it would be every
+way helpful, I laid the proposal before them, carefully explaining
+that for this work no one would be paid, that the Church was for all
+the Islanders and for the Worship alone, and that every one must build
+purely for the love of Jesus.
+
+I told them that God would be pleased with such materials as they had
+to give, that they must not begin till they had divided the work and
+counted the cost, and that for my part I would do all that I could to
+direct and help, and would supply the sinnet (= cocoa-nut fibre rope)
+which I had brought from Aneityum, and the nails brought from Sydney.
+
+They held meeting after meeting throughout the Island. Chiefs made long
+speeches; orators chanted their palavers; and warriors acted their part
+by waving of club and tomahawk. An unprecedented friendliness sprang up
+amongst them. They agreed to sink every quarrel, and unite in building
+the first Church on Aniwa,—one Chief only holding back. Women and
+children began to gather and prepare the sugar-cane leaf for thatch.
+Men searched for and cut down suitable trees.
+
+The Church measured sixty-two feet by twenty-four. The wall was
+twelve feet high. The studs were of hard iron-wood, and were each by
+tenon and mortise fastened into six iron-wood trees forming the upper
+wall plates. All were not only nailed, but strongly tied together by
+sinnet-rope, so as to resist the hurricanes. The roof was supported
+by four huge iron-wood trees, and another of equally hard wood, sunk
+about eight feet into the ground, surrounded by building at the base,
+and forming massive pillars. There were two doorways and eight window
+spaces; the floor was laid with white coral, broken small, and covered
+with cocoa-nut tree leaf-mats, on which the people sat. I had a small
+platform, floored and surrounded with reeds; and Mrs. Paton had a seat
+enclosing the harmonium, also made of reeds, and in keeping. Great
+harmony prevailed all the time, and no mishap marred the work. One
+hearty fellow fell from the roof-tree to the ground, and was badly
+stunned. But, jumping up, he shook himself, and saying,—“I was working
+for Jehovah! He has saved me from being hurt,”—he mounted the roof
+again and went on cheerily with his work.
+
+Our pride in the New Church soon met with a dreadful blow. That very
+season a terrific hurricane levelled it with the ground. After much
+wailing, the principal Chief, in a great Assembly, said,—
+
+“Let us not weep, like boys over their broken bows and arrows! Let us
+be strong, and build a yet stronger Church for Jehovah.”
+
+By our counsel, ten days were spent first in repairing houses and
+fences, and saving food from the plantations, many of which had been
+swept into utter ruin. Then they assembled on the appointed day. A hymn
+was sung. God’s blessing was invoked, and all the work was dedicated
+afresh to Him. Days were spent in taking the iron-wood roof to pieces,
+and saving everything that could be saved. The work was allocated
+equally amongst the villages, and a wholesome emulation was created.
+One Chief still held back. After a while, I visited him and personally
+invited his help,—telling him that it was God’s House, and for all the
+people of Aniwa; and that if he and his people did not do their part,
+the others would cast it in their teeth that they had no share in the
+House of God. He yielded to my appeal, and entered vigorously upon the
+work.
+
+One large tree was still needed to complete the couples, and could
+nowhere be found. The work was at a standstill; for, though the size
+was now reduced to fifty feet by twenty-two, and the roof had been
+lowered by four feet in order to give the windlass sufficient purchase,
+there was plenty of smaller wood on Aniwa, but the larger trees were
+apparently exhausted. One morning, however, we were awoke at early
+daybreak by the shouting and singing of a company of men, carrying a
+great black tree to the Church, with this same Chief dancing before
+them, leading the singing, and beating time with the flourish of his
+tomahawk. Determined not to be beaten, though late in the field, he
+had lifted the roof-tree out of his own house, as black as soot could
+make it, and was carrying it to complete the couplings. The rest of the
+builders shouted against this. All the other wood of the Church was
+white and clean, and they would not have this black tree, conspicuous
+in the very centre of all. But I praised the old Chief for what he had
+done, and hoped he and his people would come and worship Jehovah under
+his own roof-tree. At this all were delighted; and the work went on
+apace, with many songs and shoutings.
+
+Whenever the Church was roofed in, we met in it for Public Worship.
+Coral was being got and burned, and preparations made for plastering
+the walls. The Natives were sharp enough to notice that I was not
+putting up the bell; and suspicions arose that I kept it back in
+order to take it with me when I returned to Tanna. It was a beautiful
+Church bell, cast and sent out by our dear friend, James Taylor,
+Esq., Engineer, Birkenhead. The Aniwans, therefore, gave me no rest
+till I agreed to have it hung on their new Church. They found a large
+iron-wood tree near the shore, cut a road for half a mile through the
+bush, tied poles across it every few feet, and with shouts lifted
+it bodily on their shoulders—six men or so at each pole—and never
+set it down again till they reached the Church; for as one party got
+exhausted, others were ready to rush in and relieve them at every
+stage of the journey. The two old Chiefs, flourishing their tomahawks,
+went capering in front of all the rest, and led the song to which they
+marched, joyfully bearing their load. They dug a deep hole into which
+to sink it; I squared the top and screwed on the bell; then we raised
+the tree by ropes, letting it sink into the hole, built it round eight
+feet deep with coral blocks and lime, and there from its top swings and
+rings ever since the Church bell of Aniwa.
+
+A fortnight’s cessation of labour at the Church now followed. Their
+own plantations were attended to, and other needful duties performed.
+Our resumption of operations at the Church gave the opportunity for a
+deed of horrid cruelty. The Chiefs son, Patesa, had just been married
+to a youthful widow, whom Nasi, a Tanna man living on Aniwa, had also
+desired. The people of the young bridegroom’s village agreed to sleep
+overnight near the Mission Premises, in order to be ready for the work
+early next morning; and they deputed the young couple to return to the
+village and sleep there, watching over their property. Nasi and his
+half-brother Nouka, knowing they were alone, crept stealthily towards
+their hut at earliest daybreak, and removed the door without awaking
+either of the sleepers. Next moment a ball struck the young husband
+dead. The wife sprang up and implored Nasi to spare her; but he sent a
+ball through her heart, and she fell dead upon her dead spouse. Their
+people, hearing the double shot, rushed to the scene, and found the hut
+flowing with blood. Early that same forenoon the bride and bridegroom
+were laid in the same grave, in the sleep of love and death.
+
+For a week all our work was suspended. Men and boys went about fully
+armed, and all their talk was for revenge. Nasi had a number of
+desperate fellows at his back, all armed with muskets, and I feared the
+loss of many lives. I implored them for once to leave the vengeance in
+the hands of God, and to stand by each other in carrying forward the
+work of Jehovah. But I solemnly forbade the murderers to come near the
+Mission House, or to help us with the Church. My counsel was so far
+accepted. But every man came to the work armed with musket, tomahawk,
+spear, and club, and the boys with bows and arrows; and these were
+piled up round the fence at hand, with watchmen stationed for alarm.
+Thus, literally with sword in one hand and trowel in the other, the
+House of the Lord was reared again on Aniwa.
+
+Coral was secured, as described in a preceding chapter; lime was
+prepared therefrom by burning it in extemporized kilns; and each
+village vied with all the rest in plastering beautifully its own
+allocated portion—the first job of the kind they had ever done. The
+floor was covered with broken coral and mats, but the Natives are now
+(1889) furnishing it with white men’s seats. Originally they had a
+row of seats all round it inside, made of bamboo cane and reeds. The
+women and girls enter by one door, and the men and boys by another; and
+they sit on separate sides,—except at the Lord’s table, when all sit
+together as one family. It was a Church perfectly suitable for their
+circumstances, and it cost the Home Committees not a single penny. It
+has withstood many a hurricane. A large number of the original builders
+are gone to their rest; but their work abides, and witnesses for God
+amongst their children. On its rude walls I could see the glorious
+motto—“Jehovah Shammah.”
+
+One of the last attempts ever made on my life resulted, by God’s
+blessing, in great good to us all and to the work of the Lord. It was
+when Nourai, one of Nasi’s men, struck at me again and again with the
+barrel of his musket; but I evaded the blows, till rescued by the
+women—the men looking on stupefied. After he escaped into the bush, I
+assembled our people, and said,—
+
+“If you do not now try to stop this bad conduct, I shall leave Aniwa,
+and go to some island where my life will be protected.”
+
+Next morning at daybreak, about one hundred men arrived at my house,
+and in answer to my query why they came armed they replied,—“We
+are now going to that village, where the men of wicked conduct are
+gathered together. We will find out why they sought your life, and we
+will rebuke their Sacred Man for pretending to cause hurricanes and
+diseases. We cannot go unarmed. We will not suffer you to go alone. We
+are your friends and the friends of the Worship. And we are resolved to
+stand by you, and you must go at our head to-day!”
+
+In great perplexity, yet believing that my presence might prevent
+bloodshed, I allowed myself to be placed at their head. The old Chief
+followed next, then a number of fiery young men; then all the rest,
+single file, along the narrow path. At a sudden turn, as we neared
+their village, Nourai, who had attacked me the Sabbath day before, and
+his brother were seen lurking with their muskets; but our young men
+made a rush in front, and they disappeared into the bush.
+
+We took possession of the Village Public Ground; and the Chief, the
+Sacred Man, and others soon assembled. A most characteristic Native
+Palaver followed. Speeches, endless speeches, were fired by them at
+each other. My friends declared, in every conceivable form of language
+and of graphic illustration, that they were resolved at any cost to
+defend me and the worship of Jehovah, and that they would as one man
+punish every attempt to injure me or take my life. The orator, Taia,
+exclaimed,—
+
+“You think that Missi is here alone, and that you can do with him as
+you please! No! We are now all Missi’s men. We will fight for him and
+his rather than see him injured. Every one that attacks him attacks us.
+That is finished to-day!”
+
+[Illustration: “I’LL KNOCK THE TEVIL OUT OF HIM.”]
+
+In the general scolding, the Sacred Man had special attention, for
+pretending to cause hurricanes. One pointed out that he had himself a
+stiff knee, and argued,—
+
+“If he can make a hurricane, why can’t he restore the joint of his own
+knee? It is surely easier to do the one than the other!”
+
+The Natives laughed heartily, and taunted him. Meantime he sat looking
+down to the earth in sullen silence; and a ludicrous episode ensued.
+His wife, a big, strong woman, scolded him roundly for the trouble
+he had brought them all into; and then, getting indignant as well as
+angry, she seized a huge cocoa-nut leaf out of the bush, and with the
+butt end thereof began thrashing his shoulders vigorously, as she
+poured out the vials of her wrath in torrents of words, always winding
+up with the cry,—
+
+“I’ll knock the Tevil out of him! He’ll not try hurricanes again!”
+
+The woman was a Malay, as many of the Aniwans were. Had a Papuan woman
+on Tanna or Erromanga dared such a thing, she would have been killed on
+the spot. But even on Aniwa, the unwonted spectacle of a wife beating
+her husband created uproarious amusement. At length I remonstrated,
+saying,—
+
+“You had better stop now! You don’t want to kill him, do you? You seem
+to have knocked ‘the Tevil’ pretty well out of him now! You see how he
+receives it all in silence, and repents of all his bad talk and bad
+conduct.”
+
+They exacted from him a solemn promise as to the making of no more
+diseases or hurricanes, and that he would live at peace with his
+neighbours. The offending villagers at length presented a large
+quantity of sugar-cane and food to us as a peace-offering; and we
+returned, praising God that the whole day’s scolding had ended in talk,
+not blood. The result was every way most helpful. Our friends knew
+their strength and took courage. Our enemies were disheartened and
+afraid. We saw the balance growing heavier every day on the side of
+Jesus; and our souls blessed the Lord.
+
+These events suggest to me another incident of those days full at
+once of trial and of joy. It pertains to the story of our young
+Chief, Youwili. From the first, and for long, he was most audacious
+and troublesome. Observing that for several days no Natives had come
+near the Mission House, I asked the old Chief if he knew why, and he
+answered,—
+
+“Youwili has _tabooed_ the paths, and threatens death to any one who
+breaks through it.”
+
+I at once replied: “Then I conclude that you all agree with him, and
+wish me to leave. We are here only to teach you and your people. If he
+has power to prevent that, we shall leave with the _Dayspring_.”
+
+The old Chief called the people together, and they came to me,
+saying,—“Our anger is strong against Youwili. Go with us and break down
+the _taboo_. We will assist and protect you.”
+
+I went at their head and removed it. It consisted simply of reeds
+stuck into the ground, with twigs and leaves and fibre tied to each in
+a peculiar way, in a circle round the Mission House. The Natives had
+an extraordinary dread of violating the _taboo_, and believed that it
+meant death to the offender or to some one of his family. All present
+entered into a bond to punish on the spot any man who attempted to
+replace the _taboo_, or to revenge its removal. Thus a mortal blow was
+publicly struck at this most miserable superstition, which had caused
+bloodshed and misery untold.
+
+One day, thereafter, I was engaged in clearing away the bush around
+the Mission House, having purchased and paid for the land for the very
+purpose of opening it up, when suddenly Youwili appeared and menacingly
+forbade me to proceed. For the sake of peace I for the time desisted.
+But he went straight to my fence, and with his tomahawk cut down the
+portion in front of our house, also some bananas planted there,—their
+usual declaration of war, intimating that he only awaited his
+opportunity similarly to cut down me and mine. We saw the old Chief and
+his men planting themselves here and there to guard us, and the Natives
+prowling about armed and excited. On calling them, they explained the
+meaning of what Youwili had done, and that they were determined to
+protect us. I said,—
+
+“This must not continue. Are you to permit one young fool to defy us
+all, and break up the Lord’s work on Aniwa? If you cannot righteously
+punish him, I will shut myself up in my House and withdraw from all
+attempts to teach or help you, till the Vessel comes, and then I can
+leave the Island.”
+
+Now that they had begun really to love us, and to be anxious to learn
+more, this was always my most powerful argument. We retired into the
+Mission House. The people surrounded our doors and windows and pleaded
+with us. After long silence, we replied,—
+
+“You know our resolution. It is for you now to decide. Either you must
+control that foolish young man, or we must go!”
+
+Much speech-making, as usual, followed. The people resolved to seize
+and punish Youwili; but he fled, and had hid himself in the bush.
+Coming to me, the Chief said,—
+
+“It is left to you to say what shall be Youwili’s punishment. Shall we
+kill him?”
+
+I replied firmly, “Certainly not! Only for murder can life be lawfully
+taken away.”
+
+“What then?” they continued. “Shall we burn his houses and destroy his
+plantations?”
+
+I answered, “No.”
+
+“Shall we bind him and beat him?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“Shall we place him in a canoe, thrust him out to sea, and let him
+drown or escape as he may?”
+
+“No! by no means.”
+
+“Then, Missi,” said they, “these are our ways of punishing. What other
+punishment remains that Youwili cares for?”
+
+I replied, “Make him with his own hands, and alone, put up a new fence,
+and restore all that he has destroyed; and make him promise publicly
+that he will cease all evil conduct towards us. That will satisfy me.”
+
+This idea of punishment seemed to tickle them greatly. The Chiefs
+reported our words to the Assembly; and the Natives laughed and
+cheered, as if it were a capital joke! They cried aloud,—
+
+“It is good! It is good! Obey the word of the Missi.”
+
+After considerable hunting, the young Chief was found. They brought him
+to the Assembly and scolded him severely and told him their sentence.
+He was surprised by the nature of the punishment, and cowed by the
+determination of the people.
+
+“To-morrow,” said he, “I will fully repair the fence. Never again will
+I oppose the Missi. His word is good.”
+
+By daybreak next morning Youwili was diligently repairing what he had
+broken down, and before evening he had everything made right, better
+than it was before. While he toiled away, some fellows of his own rank
+twitted him, saying,—
+
+“Youwili, you found it easier to cut down Missi’s fence than to repair
+it again. You will not repeat that in a hurry!”
+
+But he heard all in silence. Others passed with averted heads, and he
+knew they were laughing at him. He made everything tight, and then
+left without uttering a single word. My heart yearned after the poor
+fellow, but I thought it better to let his own mind work away, on its
+new ideas as to punishment and revenge, for a little longer by itself
+alone. I instinctively felt that Youwili was beginning to turn, that
+the Christ-Spirit had touched his darkly-groping soul. My doors were
+now thrown open, and every good work went on as before. We resolved to
+leave Youwili entirely to Jesus, setting apart a portion of our prayer
+every day for the enlightenment and conversion of the young Chief, on
+whom all our means had been exhausted apparently in vain.
+
+A considerable time elapsed. No sign came, and our prayers seemed to
+fail. But one day, I was toiling between the shafts of a hand-cart,
+assisted by two boys, drawing it along from the shore loaded with coral
+blocks. Youwili came rushing from his house, three hundred yards or so
+off the path, and said,—
+
+“Missi, that is too hard work for you. Let me be your helper!”
+
+Without waiting for a reply, he ordered the two boys to seize one rope,
+while he grasped the other threw it over his shoulder and started
+off, pulling with the strength of a horse. My heart rose in gratitude,
+and I wept with joy as I followed him. I knew that that rope was but a
+symbol of the yoke of Christ, which Youwili with his change of heart
+was beginning to carry! Truly there is only one way of being born
+again, regeneration by the power of the Spirit of God, the new heart;
+but there are many ways of conversion, of outwardly turning to the
+Lord, of taking the actual first step that shows on whose side we are.
+Regeneration is the sole work of the Holy Spirit in the human heart
+and soul, and is in every case one and the same. Conversion, on the
+other hand, bringing into play the action also of the human will, is
+never absolutely the same perhaps in even two souls,—as like and yet as
+different as are the faces of men.
+
+Like those of old praying for the deliverance of Peter, and who could
+not believe their ears and eyes when Peter knocked and walked in
+amongst them, so we could scarcely believe our eyes and ears when
+Youwili became a disciple of Jesus, though we had been praying for his
+conversion every day. His once sullen countenance became literally
+bright with inner light. His wife came immediately for a book and a
+dress, saying,—
+
+“Youwili sent me. His opposition to the Worship is over now. I am to
+attend Church and School. He is coming too. He wants to learn how to be
+strong, like you, for Jehovah and for Jesus.”
+
+Oh, Jesus! to Thee alone be all the glory. Thou hast the key to unlock
+every heart that Thou hast created.
+
+Youwili proved to be slow at learning to read, but he had perseverance,
+and his wife greatly helped him. The two attended the Communicants’
+Class together, and ultimately both sat down at the Lord’s Table. After
+his first Communion, he waited for me under an orange-tree near the
+Mission House, and said,—
+
+“Missi, I’ve given up everything for Jesus, _except one_. I want to
+know if it is bad, if it will make Jesus angry; for if so, I am willing
+to give it up. I want to live so as to please Jesus now.”
+
+We feared that it was some of their Heathenish immoralities, and were
+in a measure greatly relieved when he proceeded,—
+
+“Missi, I have not yet given up my pipe and tobacco! O Missi, I have
+used it so long, and I do like it so well; but if you say that it makes
+Jesus angry with me, I will smash my pipe now, and never smoke again!”
+
+The man’s soul was aflame. He was in tremendous earnest, and would have
+done anything for me. But I was more anxious to instruct his conscience
+than to dominate it. I therefore replied in effect thus,—
+
+“I rejoice, Youwili, that you are ready to give up anything to please
+Jesus. He well deserves it, for He gave up His life for you. For my
+part, you know that I do not smoke; and from my point of view I would
+think it wrong in me to waste time and money and perhaps health in
+blowing tobacco smoke into the air. It would do me no good. It could
+not possibly help me to serve or please Jesus better. I think I am
+happier and healthier without it. And I am certain that I can use the
+time and money, spent on this selfish and rather filthy habit, far
+more for God’s glory in many other ways. But I must be true to you,
+Youwili, and admit that many of God’s dear people differ from me in
+these opinions. They spend time and money, and sometimes injure health,
+in smoking, besides setting a wasteful example to lads and young men,
+and do not regard it as sinful. I will not therefore condemn these, our
+fellow Christians, by calling smoking a _sin_ like drunkenness; but I
+will say to you that I regard it as a foolish and wasteful indulgence,
+a bad habit, and that though you may serve and please Jesus with it,
+you might serve and please Jesus very much better without it.”
+
+He looked very anxious, as if weighing his habit against his
+resolution, and then said,—
+
+“Missi, I give up everything else. If it won’t make Jesus angry, I will
+keep the pipe. I have used it so long, and oh, I do like it!”
+
+Renewing our advice and counsel, but leaving him free to do in
+that matter so as to please Jesus according to his own best light,
+Youwili departed with a conscience so far greatly relieved, and we
+had many meditations upon the incident. Most of our Natives, on their
+conversion, have voluntarily renounced the Tobacco Idol; but what
+more could I say to Youwili, with thousands of white Christians at
+my back burning incense to that same idol every day of their lives?
+Marvellous to me, in this connection, has often been the working of
+a tender conscience, asking itself how to serve and please Jesus, or
+how to do more for Jesus. Some years ago, for instance, I met a State
+School Teacher in Victoria, who had been lately brought under the power
+of the Gospel. In his fresh love, he wanted to do something to show
+his gratitude to Jesus. He had a young family, and the way was barred
+to the Mission field. His dear wife and he calculated over all their
+expenditure, to find out how much they could save to support the work
+of Jesus at home and abroad. Little or nothing could be spared from
+what appeared necessary claims. He fell upon his knees, and in tears
+implored God to show him how he could do something more to save the
+perishing. A voice came to him like a flash,—
+
+“If you so care for Me and My work, you can easily sacrifice your pipe.”
+
+He instantly took up his pipe, and laid it before the Lord, saying,—
+
+“There it is, O my Lord, and whatsoever it may have cost me, shall now
+from year to year be Thine!”
+
+He was not what is called a heavy smoker,—anything under one shilling
+per week being considered “moderate,” as I am informed. But he found
+that he had been spending thirty-one shillings per annum on tobacco;
+and every year since he has laid that money upon the altar to Jesus,
+and prayed Him to use it in sending His Gospel to Heathen lands. I
+wonder which soul is the richer at the end of a year—he who lays his
+money, saved from a selfish indulgence, at the feet of Jesus, or he who
+blows it away in filthy smoke?
+
+And this leads me to relate the story of our First Communion on Aniwa.
+It was Sabbath, 24th October, 1869; and surely the Angels of God and
+the Church of the Redeemed in Glory were amongst the great cloud of
+witnesses who eagerly “peered” down upon the scene,—when we sat around
+the Lord’s Table and partook of His body and blood with those few souls
+rescued out of the Heathen World. My Communicants’ Class had occupied
+me now a considerable time. The conditions of attendance at this early
+stage were explicit, and had to be made very severe, and only twenty
+were admitted to the roll. At the final examination only twelve gave
+evidence of understanding what they were doing, and of having given
+their hearts to the service of the Lord Jesus. At their own urgent
+desire, and after every care in examining and instructing, they were
+solemnly dedicated in prayer to be baptized and admitted to the Holy
+Table. On that Lord’s Day, after the usual opening Service, I gave a
+short and careful exposition of the Ten Commandments and of the Way of
+Salvation according to the Gospel. The twelve Candidates then stood
+up before all the inhabitants there assembled; and, after a brief
+exhortation to them as Converts, I put to them the two questions that
+follow, and each gave an affirmative reply,—
+
+“Do you, in accordance with your profession of the Christian Faith, and
+your promises before God and the people, wish me now to baptize you?”
+
+And,—“Will you live henceforth for Jesus only, hating all sin and
+trying to love and serve your Saviour?”
+
+Then, beginning with the old Chief, the twelve came forward, and I
+baptized them one by one according to the Presbyterian usage. Two
+of them had also little children, and they were at the same time
+baptized, and received as the lambs of the flock. Solemn prayer was
+then offered, and in the name of the Holy Trinity the Church of Christ
+on Aniwa was formally constituted. I addressed them on the words of
+the Holy Institution—I Corinthians xi. 23—and then, after the prayer
+of Thanksgiving and Consecration, administered the Lord’s Supper,—the
+first time since the Island of Aniwa was heaved out of its coral
+depths! Mrs. McNair, my wife, and myself along with six Aneityumese
+Teachers, communicated with the newly baptized twelve. And I think, if
+ever in all my earthly experience, on that day I might truly add the
+blessed words—Jesus “in the midst.”
+
+The whole Service occupied nearly three hours. The Islanders looked
+on with a wonder whose unwonted silence was almost painful to bear.
+Many were led to inquire carefully about everything they saw, so new
+and strange. For the first time the Dorcas Street Sabbath School
+Teachers’ gift from South Melbourne Presbyterian Church was put to
+use—a new Communion Service of silver. They gave it in faith that we
+would require it, and in such we received it. And now the day had come
+and gone! For three years we had toiled and prayed and taught for this.
+At the moment when I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once
+stained with the blood of Cannibalism, now stretched out to receive and
+partake the emblems and seals of the Redeemer’s love, I had a foretaste
+of the joy of Glory that well nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall
+never taste a deeper bliss, till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus
+Himself.
+
+On the afternoon of that Communion Day, an open-air Prayer Meeting was
+held under the shade of the great banyan tree in front of our Church.
+Seven of the new Church members there led the people in prayer to
+Jesus, a hymn being sung betwixt each. My heart was so full of joy
+that I could do little else but weep. Oh, I wonder, I _wonder_, when I
+see so many good Ministers at home, crowding each other and treading
+on each other’s heels, whether they would not part with all their
+home privileges, and go out to the Heathen World and reap a joy like
+this—“the joy of the Lord.”
+
+Having now our little Aniwan book, we set about establishing Schools
+at every village on the Island. Mrs. Paton and I had been diligently
+instructing those around us, and had now a number prepared to act as
+helpers. Experience has proved that, for the early stages their own
+fellow-Islanders are the most successful instructors. Each village
+built its own School, which on Sabbath served as a district Church.
+For the two most advanced Schools I had our good Aneityumese Teachers,
+and for the others I took the best readers that could be found. These
+I changed frequently, returning them to our own School for a season,
+which was held for them in the afternoon; and, to encourage them, a
+small salary was granted to each of them yearly, drawn from what is
+known throughout the Churches as the Native Teachers’ Fund.
+
+These village Schools have all to be conducted at daybreak, while the
+heavy dews still drench the bush; for, so soon as the dews are lifted
+by the rising sun, the Natives are off to their plantations, on which
+they depend for their food almost exclusively. I had a large School at
+the Mission Station also at daybreak, besides the afternoon School at
+three o’clock for the training of Teachers. At first they made very
+little progress; but they began to form habits of attention; and they
+learned the fruitful habit of acknowledging God always, for all our
+Schools were opened and closed with prayer. As their knowledge and
+faith increased, we saw their Heathen practices rapidly passing away,
+and a new life shaping itself around us. Mrs. Paton taught a class of
+about fifty women and girls. They became experts at sewing, singing,
+plaiting hats, and reading. Nearly all the girls could at length cut
+out and make their own dresses, as well as shirts or kilts for the men
+and clothing for the children. Yet, three short years before, men and
+women alike were running about naked and savage. The Christ-Spirit is
+the true civilizing power.
+
+The new Social Order, referred to already in its dim beginnings, rose
+around us like a sweet-scented flower. I never interfered directly,
+unless expressly called upon or appealed to. The two principal Chiefs
+were impressed with the idea that there was but one law,—the Will of
+God, and one rule for them and their people as Christians,—to please
+the Lord Jesus. In every difficulty they consulted me. I explained
+to them and read in their hearing the very words of Holy Scripture,
+showing what appeared to me to be the will of God and what would
+please the Saviour; and then sent them away to talk it over with their
+people, and to apply these principles of the word of God as wisely as
+they could according to their circumstances. Our own part of the work
+went on very joyfully, notwithstanding occasional trying and painful
+incidents. Individual cases of greed and selfishness and vice brought
+us many a bitter pang. But the Lord never lost patience with us, and we
+durst not therefore lose patience with them! We trained the Teachers,
+we translated and printed and expounded the Scriptures, we ministered
+to the sick and dying; we dispensed medicines every day, we taught them
+the use of tools, we advised them as to laws and penalties; and the
+New Society grew and developed, and bore amidst all its imperfections
+some traces of the fair Kingdom of God amongst men.
+
+Our life and work will reveal itself to the reader if I briefly outline
+a Sabbath Day on Aniwa. Breakfast is partaken of immediately after
+daylight. The Church bell then rings, and ere it stops every worshipper
+is seated. The Natives are guided in starting by the sunrise, and are
+forward from farthest corners at this early hour. The first Service is
+over in about an hour; there is an interval of twenty minutes; the bell
+is again rung, and the second Service begins. We follow the ordinary
+Presbyterian ritual; but in every Service I call upon an Elder or a
+Church Member to lead in one of the prayers, which they do with great
+alacrity and with much benefit to all concerned.
+
+As the last worshipper leaves, at close of second Service, the bell is
+sounded twice very deliberately, and that is the signal for the opening
+of my Communicants’ Class. I carefully expound the Church’s Shorter
+Catechism, and show how its teachings are built upon Holy Scripture,
+applying each truth to the conscience and the life. This Class is
+conducted all the year round, and from it, step by step, our Church
+Members are drawn as the Lord opens up their way, the most of them
+attending two full years at least before being admitted to the Lord’s
+Table. This discipline accounts for the fact that so very few of our
+baptized converts have ever fallen away—as few in proportion, I verily
+believe, as in Churches at home. Meantime, many of the Church members
+have been holding a prayer meeting amongst themselves in the adjoining
+School,—a thing started of their own free accord,—in which they invoke
+God’s blessing on all the work and worship of the day.
+
+Having snatched a brief meal of tea, or a cold dinner cooked on
+Saturday, the bell rings within an hour, and our Sabbath School
+assembles,—in which the whole inhabitants, young and old, take part,
+myself superintending and giving the address, as well as questioning on
+the lesson, Mrs. Paton teaching a large class of adult women, and the
+Elders and best readers instructing the ordinary classes for about half
+an hour or so.
+
+About one o’clock the School is closed, and we then start off in our
+village tours. An experienced Elder, with several Teachers, takes one
+side of the Island this Sabbath, I with another company taking the
+other side, and next Sabbath we reverse the order. A short Service is
+conducted in the open air, or in Schoolrooms, at every village that can
+be reached; and on their return they report to me cases of sickness, or
+any signs of progress in the work of the Lord. The whole Island is thus
+steadily and methodically evangelized.
+
+As the sun is setting I am creeping home from my village tour; and
+when darkness begins to approach, the canoe drum is beat at every
+village, and the people assemble under the banyan-tree for evening
+village prayers. The Elder or Teacher presides. Five or six hymns are
+joyously sung, and five or six short prayers offered between, and thus
+the evening hour passes happily in the fellowship of God. On a calm
+evening, after Christianity had fairly taken hold of the people, and
+they loved to sing over and over again their favourite hymns, these
+village prayer-meetings formed a most blessed close to every day, and
+set the far-distant bush echoing with the praises of God.
+
+At the Mission House, before retiring to rest, we assembled all the
+young people and any of our villagers who chose to join them. They sat
+round the dining-room floor in rows, sang hymns, read verses of the
+Bible, and asked and answered questions about the teaching of the day.
+About nine o’clock we dismissed them, but they pled to remain and hear
+our Family Worship in English:—
+
+“Missi, we like the singing! We understand a little. And we like to be
+where prayer is rising!”
+
+Thus Sabbath after Sabbath flowed on in incessant service and
+fellowship. I was often wearied enough, but it was not a “weary” day
+to me, nor what some would call Puritanical and dull. Our hearts were
+in it, and the people made it a weekly festival. They had few other
+distractions; and amongst them “The Worship” was an unfailing sensation
+and delight. As long as you gave them a chance to sing, they knew not
+what weariness was. When I returned to so-called civilization, and saw
+how the Lord’s Day was abused in _white_ Christendom, my soul longed
+after the holy Sabbaths of Aniwa!
+
+Nor is our week-day life less crowded or busy, though in different
+ways. At grey dawn on Monday, and every morning, the _Tavaka_ (= the
+canoe drum) is struck in every village on Aniwa. The whole inhabitants
+turn in to the early School, which lasts about an hour and a half,
+and then the Natives are off to their plantations. Having partaken my
+breakfast, I then spend my forenoon in translating or printing, or
+visiting the sick, or whatever else is most urgent. About two o’clock
+the Natives return from their work, bathe in the sea, and dine off
+cocoa-nut, bread-fruit, or anything else that comes handily in the
+way. At three o’clock the bell rings, and the afternoon School for
+the Teachers and the more advanced learners then occupies my wife and
+myself for about an hour and a half. After this, the Natives spend
+their time in fishing or lounging or preparing supper,—which is amongst
+them always _the_ meal of the day. Towards sundown the _Tavaka_ sounds
+again, and the day closes amid the echoes of village prayers from under
+their several banyan trees.
+
+Thus day after day and week after week passes over us on Aniwa; and
+much the same on all the Islands where the Missionary has found a home.
+In many respects it is a simple and happy and beautiful life; and the
+man, whose heart is full of things that are dear to Jesus, feels no
+desire to exchange it for the poor frivolities of what calls itself
+“Society,” and seems to finds its life in pleasures that Christ cannot
+be asked to share, and in which, therefore, Christians should have
+neither lot nor part.
+
+The habits of morning and evening family prayer and of grace at meat
+took a very wonderful hold upon the people; and became, as I have shown
+elsewhere, a distinctive badge of Christian _versus_ Heathen. This was
+strikingly manifested during a time of bitter scarcity that befell us.
+I heard a father, for instance, at his hut door, with his family around
+him, reverently blessing God for the food provided for them, and for
+all His mercies in Christ Jesus. Drawing near and conversing with them,
+I found that their meal consisted of fig leaves which they had gathered
+and cooked,—a poor enough dish; but hunger makes a happy appetite, and
+contentment is a grateful relish.
+
+During the same period of privation, my Orphans suffered badly also.
+Once they came to me, saying,—
+
+“Missi, we are very hungry.”
+
+I replied,—“So am I, dear children, and we have no more white food till
+the _Dayspring_ comes.”
+
+They continued,—“Missi, you have two beautiful fig trees. Will you let
+us take one feast of the young and tender leaves? We will not injure
+branch or fruit.”
+
+I answered,—“Gladly, my children, take your fill!”
+
+In a twinkling each child was perched upon a branch; and they feasted
+there happy as squirrels. Every night we prayed for the vessel, and
+in the morning our Orphan boys rushed to the coral rocks and eagerly
+scanned the sea for an answer. Day after day they returned with sad
+faces, saying,—
+
+“Missi, _Tavaka jimra_!” (= No vessel yet).
+
+But at grey dawn of a certain day, we were awoke by the boys shouting
+from the shore and running for the Mission House with the cry,—“_Tavaka
+oa! Tavaka oa!_” (= The vessel, hurrah!)
+
+We arose at once, and the boys exclaimed,—“Missi, she is not our own
+vessel, but we think she carries her flag. She has three masts, and our
+_Dayspring_ only two!”
+
+I looked through my glass, and saw that they were discharging goods
+into the vessel’s boats; and the children, when I told them that boxes
+and bags and casks were being sent on shore, shouted and danced with
+delight. As the first boat-load was discharged, the Orphans surrounded
+me, saying,—
+
+“Missi, here is a cask that rattles like biscuits! Will you let us take
+it to the Mission House?”
+
+“I told them to do so if they could; and in a moment it was turned into
+the path, and the boys had it flying before them, some tumbling and
+hurting their knees, but up and at it again, and never pausing till it
+rolled up at the door of our Storehouse. On returning I found them all
+around it, and they said,—
+
+“Missi, have you forgotten what you promised us?”
+
+I said,—“What did I promise you?”
+
+They looked very disappointed and whispered to each other,—“Missi has
+forgot!”
+
+“Forgot what?” inquired I.
+
+“Missi,” they answered, “you promised that when the vessel came you
+would give each of us a biscuit.”
+
+“Oh,” I replied, “I did not forget; I only wanted to see if you
+remembered it!”
+
+They laughed, saying,—“No fear of that, Missi! Will you soon open the
+cask? We are dying for biscuits.”
+
+At once I got hammer and tools, knocked off the hoops, took out the
+end, and then gave girls and boys a biscuit each. To my surprise, they
+all stood round biscuit in hand, but not one beginning to eat.
+
+“What,” I exclaimed, “you are dying for biscuits! Why don’t you eat?
+Are you expecting another?”
+
+One of the eldest said,—“We will first thank God for sending us food,
+and ask Him to bless it to us all.”
+
+And this was done in their own simple and beautiful childlike way; and
+then they _did_ eat, and enjoyed their food as a gift from the Heavenly
+Father’s hand. (Is there any child reading this, or hearing it read,
+who never thanks God or asks Him to bless daily bread? Then is that
+child not a _white_ Heathen?) We ourselves at the Mission House could
+very heartily rejoice with the dear Orphans. For some weeks past our
+European food had been all exhausted, except a little tea, and the
+cocoa-nut had been our chief support. It was beginning to tell against
+us. Our souls rose in gratitude to the Lord, who had sent us these
+fresh provisions that we might love Him better and serve Him more.
+
+The children’s sharp eyes had read correctly. It was not the
+_Dayspring_. Our brave little ship had gone to wreck on 6th January,
+1873; and this vessel was the _Paragon_, chartered to bring down our
+supplies. Alas! the wreck had gone by auction sale to a French slaving
+company, who cut a passage through the coral reef, and had the vessel
+again floating in the Bay,—elated at the prospect of employing our
+Mission Ship in the blood-stained _Kanaka_-traffic (= a mere euphemism
+for South Sea slavery)! Our souls sank in horror and concern. Many
+Natives would unwittingly trust themselves to the _Dayspring_; and
+revenge would be taken on us, as was done on noble Bishop Patteson,
+when the deception was found out. What could be done? Nothing but cry
+to God, which all the friends of our Mission did day and night, not
+without tears, as we thought of the possible degradation of our noble
+little Ship. Listen! The French Slavers, anchoring their prize in the
+Bay, and greatly rejoicing, went ashore to celebrate the event. They
+drank and feasted and revelled. But that night a mighty storm arose,
+the old _Dayspring_ dragged her anchor, and at daybreak she was seen
+again on the reef, but this time with her back broken in two and for
+ever unfit for service, either fair or foul. Oh, white-winged Virgin of
+the waves, better for thee, as for thy human sisters, to die and pass
+away than to suffer pollution and live on in disgrace!
+
+Dr. Steel had chartered the _Paragon_, a new three-masted schooner,
+built at Balmain, Sydney, to come down with our provisions, letters,
+etc.; and the owners had given a written agreement that if we could
+purchase her within a year we would get her for £3,000. She proved in
+every way a suitable vessel, and it became abundantly manifest that
+in the interests of our Mission her services ought to be permanently
+secured.
+
+I had often said that I would not again leave my beloved work on the
+Islands, unless compelled to do so either by the breakdown of health,
+or by the loss of our Mission Ship and my services being required to
+assist in providing another. Very strange, that in this one season
+both of these events befell us. During the hurricanes, from January to
+April, 1873, when the _Dayspring_ was wrecked, we lost a darling child
+by death, my dear wife had a protracted illness, and I was brought very
+low with severe rheumatic fever. I was reduced so far that I could not
+speak, and was reported as dying. The Captain of a vessel, having seen
+me, called at Tanna, and spoke of me as in all probability dead by that
+time. Our unfailing and ever-beloved friends and fellow Missionaries,
+Mr. and Mrs. Watt, at once started from Kwamera, Tanna, in their open
+boat and rowed and sailed thirty miles to visit us. But a few days
+before they arrived I had fallen into a long and sound sleep, out of
+which, when I awoke, consciousness had again returned to me. I had
+got the turn; there was no further relapse; but when I did regain a
+little strength, my weakness was so great that I had to travel about on
+crutches for many a day.
+
+Being ordered to seek health by change and by higher medical aid,
+and if possible in the cooler air of New Zealand, we took the first
+opportunity and arrived at Sydney, anxious to start the new movement
+to secure the _Paragon_ there, and then to go on to the Sister Colony.
+Being scarcely able to walk without the crutches, we called privately
+a preliminary meeting of friends for consultation and advice. The
+conditions were laid before them and discussed. The Insurance Company
+had paid £2,000 on the first _Dayspring_. Of that sum £1,000 had
+been spent on chartering and maintaining the _Paragon_; so that we
+required an additional £2,000 to purchase her, besides a large sum
+for alterations and equipment for the Mission. The late Mr. Learmouth
+looked across to Mr. Goodlet, and said,—
+
+“If you’ll join me, we will at once secure this vessel for the
+Missionaries, that God’s work may not suffer from the wreck of the
+_Dayspring_.”
+
+Those two servants of God, excellent Elders of the Presbyterian Church,
+consulted together, and the vessel was purchased next day. How I
+did praise God, and pray Him to bless them and theirs! The late Dr.
+Fullarton, our dear friend, said to them,—“But what guarantee do you
+ask from the Missionaries for your money?”
+
+Mr. Learmouth’s noble reply was, and the other heartily re-echoed
+it,—“God’s work is our guarantee! From them we will ask none. What
+guarantee have they to give us, except their faith in God? That
+guarantee is ours already.”
+
+I answered,—“You take God and His work for your guarantee. Rest assured
+that He will soon repay you, and you will lose nothing by this noble
+service.”
+
+Having secured St. Andrew’s Church for a public meeting, I advertised
+it in all the papers. Ministers, Sabbath School Teachers, and other
+friends came in great numbers. The scheme was fairly launched, and
+Collecting Cards largely distributed. Some of our fellow-Missionaries
+thought that the Colonial Churches should now do all these things
+voluntarily, without our personal efforts. But in every great emergency
+some one must take action and show the way, else golden opportunities
+are apt to slip. Committees carried everything out into detail, and all
+worked for the fund with great goodwill.
+
+I then sailed from Sydney to Victoria, and addressed the General
+Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in session at Melbourne. The work
+was easily set agoing there, and willing workers fully and rapidly
+organized it through Congregations and Sabbath Schools.
+
+Under medical advice, I next sailed for New Zealand in the S.S. _Hero_,
+Captain Logan. A large number of fast men and gamblers were on board,
+returning from the Melbourne Races, and their language was extremely
+profane. Having prayed over it, I said on the second day at the dinner
+table,—
+
+“Gentlemen, will you bear with me a moment? I am sure no man at this
+table wishes to wound the feelings of another or to give needless pain.”
+
+Every eye stared at me, and there was a general cry as to what I meant.
+I continued,—
+
+“Gentlemen, we are to be fellow-passengers for a week or more. Now I
+am cut and wounded to my very heart to hear you cursing the name of my
+Heavenly Father, and taking in vain the name of my blessed Saviour.
+It is God in whom we live and move, it is Jesus who died to save us,
+and I would rather ten times over you would wound and abuse me, which
+no gentleman here would think of doing, than profanely use those Holy
+Names so dear to me.”
+
+There was a painful silence, and most faces grew crimson, some with
+rage, some perhaps with shame. At last a banker, who was there, a man
+dying of consumption, replied with a profane oath and with wrathful
+words. Keeping perfectly calm, in sorrow and pity, I replied, looking
+him kindly in the face,—
+
+“Dear Sir, you and I are strangers. But I have pitied you very
+tenderly, ever since I came on board, for your heavy trouble and
+hacking cough. You ought to be the last to curse that blessed Name,
+as you may soon have to appear in His presence. I return, however, no
+railing word. If the Saviour was as dear to your heart as He is to
+mine, you would better understand me.”
+
+Little else was said during the remainder of that meal. But an hour
+later Captain Logan sent for me to his room, and said,—
+
+“Sir, I too am a Christian. I would not give my quiet hour in the Cabin
+with this Bible for all the pleasures that the world can afford. You
+did your duty to-day amongst these profane men. But leave them and
+their consciences now in the hands of God, and take no further notice
+during the voyage.”
+
+I never heard another oath on board that ship. The banker met me in New
+Zealand and warmly invited me to his house!
+
+My health greatly improved during the voyage, but I was sorely
+perplexed about this new undertaking. A sum of £2,800 must be raised,
+else the vessel could not sail free for the New Hebrides. I trembled,
+in my reduced state, at the task that seemed laid upon me again. One
+night, after long praying, I fell into a deep sleep in my Cabin, and
+God granted me a Heavenly Dream or Vision which greatly comforted me,
+explain it how you will. Sweetest music, praising God, arrested me and
+came nearer and nearer. I gazed towards it approaching, and seemed to
+behold hosts of shining beings bursting into view. The brilliancy came
+pouring all from one centre, and that was ablaze with insufferable
+brightness. Blinded with excess of light, my eyes seemed yet to behold
+in fair outline the form of the glorified Jesus; but as I lifted
+them to gaze on His face, the joy deepened into pain, my hand rose
+instinctively to shade my eyes, I cried with ecstasy, the music passed
+farther and farther away, and I started up hearing a Voice saying, in
+marvellous power and sweetness, “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before
+Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.” At this some will only smile.
+But to me it was a great and abiding consolation. And I kept repeating
+to myself, “He is Lord, and they all are ministering Spirits; if He
+cheers me thus in His own work, I take courage, I know I shall succeed.”
+
+Reaching Auckland, I was in time to address the General Assembly of the
+Church there also. They gave me cordial welcome, and every Congregation
+and Sabbath School might be visited as far as I possibly could. The
+ministers promoted the movement with hearty zeal. The Sabbath Scholars
+took Collecting Cards for “shares” in the new Mission Ship. A meeting
+was held every day, and three every Sabbath. Auckland, Nelson,
+Wellington, Dunedin, and all towns and Churches within reach of these
+were rapidly visited; and I never had greater joy or heartiness in
+any of my tours than in this happy intercourse with the Ministers and
+People of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand.
+
+I arrived back in Sydney about the end of March. My health was
+wonderfully restored, and New Zealand had given me about £1,700 for the
+new ship. With the £1,000 of insurance money, and about £700 from New
+South Wales, and £400 from Victoria, besides the £500 for her support
+also from Victoria, we were able to pay back the £3,000 of purchase
+money, and about £800 for alterations and repairs, as well as equip and
+provision her to sail for her next year’s work amongst the Islands free
+of debt. I said to our two good friends at Sydney,—
+
+“You took God and His work for your guarantee. He has soon relieved you
+from all responsibility. You have suffered no loss, and you have had
+the honour and privilege of serving your Lord. I envy you the joy you
+must feel in so using your wealth, and I pray God’s double blessing on
+all your store.”
+
+Our agent, Dr. Steele, had applied to the Home authorities for power
+to change the vessel’s name from _Paragon_ to _Dayspring_, so that the
+old associations might not be broken. This was cordially granted. And
+so our second _Dayspring_, owing no man anything, sailed on her annual
+trip to the New Hebrides, and we returned with her, praising the Lord
+and reinvigorated alike in spirit and in body.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+_PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS._
+
+ The Gospel in Living Capitals.—“A Shower of Spears.”—The Tannese
+ Refugees.—Pilgrimage and Death of Namakei.—The Character of
+ Naswai.—Christianity and Cocoa-Nuts.—Nerwa the Agnostic.—Nerwa’s
+ Beautiful Farewell.—The Story of Ruwawa.—Waiwai and his
+ Wives.—Nelwang and Kalangi.—Mungaw and Litsi Soré.—The Maddening of
+ Mungaw.—The Queen of Aniwa a Missionary.—The Surrender of Nasi to
+ Jesus.—Day-Light Prayer Meeting on Aniwa.—Candidates for Baptism.—The
+ Appeal and Testimony of Lamu.
+
+
+In Heathendom every true Convert becomes at once a Missionary. The
+changed life, shining out amid the surrounding darkness, is a Gospel
+in largest Capitals which all can read. Our Islanders, especially,
+having little to engage or otherwise distract attention, become intense
+and devoted workers for the Lord Jesus, if once the Divine Passion
+for souls stirs within them. Many a reader, not making due allowance
+for these special circumstances, would therefore be tempted to think
+our estimate of their enthusiasm for the Gospel was overdone; but
+thoughtful men will easily perceive that Natives, touched with the
+mighty impulses of Calvary, and undistracted by social pleasures or
+politics, or literature, or business claims, would almost by a moral
+necessity pour all the currents of their being into Religion, and
+probably show an apostolic devotion and self-sacrifice too seldom seen,
+alas, amid the thousand clamouring appeals of Civilization.
+
+A Heathen has been all his days groping after peace of soul in dark
+superstition and degrading rites. You pour into his soul the light of
+Revelation. He learns that God is love, that God sent His Son to die
+for him, and that he is the heir of Life Eternal in and through Jesus
+Christ. By the blessed enlightenment of the Spirit of the Lord he
+believes all this. He passes into a third heaven of joy, and he burns
+to tell every one of this Glad Tidings. Others see the change in his
+disposition, in his character, in his whole life and actions; and, amid
+such surroundings, every Convert is a burning and a shining light. Even
+whole populations are thus brought into the Outer Court of the Temple;
+and Islands, still Heathen and Cannibal, are positively eager for the
+Missionary to live amongst them and would guard his life and property
+now in complete security, where a very few years ago everything would
+have been instantly sacrificed on touching their shores! They are not
+Christianized, neither are they Civilized, but the light has been
+kindled all around them, and though still only shining afar, they
+cannot but rejoice in its beams.
+
+But even where the path is not so smooth, nor any welcome awaiting
+them, Native Converts show amazing zeal. For instance, one of our
+Chiefs, full of the Christ-kindled desire to seek and to save, sent
+a message to an inland Chief, that he and four attendants would come
+on Sabbath and tell them the Gospel of Jehovah God. The reply came
+back sternly forbidding their visit, and threatening with death any
+Christian that approached their village. Our Chief sent in response a
+loving message, telling them that Jehovah had taught the Christians to
+return good for evil, and that they would come unarmed to tell them
+the story of how the Son of God came into the world and died in order
+to bless and save His enemies. The Heathen Chief sent back a stern and
+prompt reply once more:—“If you come, you will be killed.” On Sabbath
+morning, the Christian Chief and his four companions were met outside
+the village by the Heathen Chief, who implored and threatened them once
+more. But the former said,—
+
+“We come to you without weapons of war! We come only to tell you about
+Jesus. We believe that He will protect us to-day.”
+
+As they steadily pressed forward towards the village, spears began
+to be thrown at them. Some they evaded, being all except one most
+dexterous warriors; and others they literally received with their bare
+hands, and turned them aside in an incredible manner. The Heathen,
+apparently thunderstruck at these men thus approaching them without
+weapons of war, and not even flinging back their own spears which they
+had caught, after having thrown what the old Chief called “a shower of
+spears,” desisted from mere surprise. Our Christian Chief called out,
+as he and his companions drew up in the midst of them on the village
+Public Ground,—
+
+“Jehovah thus protects us. He has given us all your spears! Once we
+would have thrown them back at you and killed you. But now we come not
+to fight, but to tell you about Jesus. He has changed our dark hearts.
+He asks you now to lay down all these your other weapons of war, and to
+hear what we can tell you about the love of God, our great Father, the
+only living God.”
+
+The Heathen were perfectly over-awed. They manifestly looked upon these
+Christians as protected by some Invisible One. They listened for the
+first time to the story of the Gospel and of the Cross. We lived to see
+that Chief and all his tribe sitting in the School of Christ. And there
+is perhaps not an Island in these Southern Seas, amongst all those
+won for Christ, where similar acts of heroism on the part of Converts
+cannot be recited by every Missionary to the honour of our poor Natives
+and to the glory of their Saviour.
+
+Larger and harder tests were sometimes laid upon their new faith.
+Once the war on Tanna drove about one hundred of them to seek refuge
+on Aniwa. Not so many years before their lives would never have been
+thus entrusted to the inhabitants of another Cannibal Island. But the
+Christ-Spirit was abroad upon Aniwa. The refugees were kindly cared
+for, and in process of time were restored to their own lands by our
+Missionary ship the _Dayspring_. The Chiefs, however, and the Elders of
+the Church laid the new laws before them very clearly and decidedly.
+They would be helped and sheltered, but Aniwa was now under law to
+Christ, and if any of the Tannese broke the public rules as to moral
+conduct, or in any way disturbed the Worship of Jehovah, they would at
+once be expelled from the Island and sent back to Tanna. In all this,
+the Chief of the Tanna party, my old friend Nowar, strongly supported
+our Christian Chiefs. The Tannese behaved well, and many of them wore
+clothing and began to attend Church; and the heavy drain upon the poor
+resources of Aniwa was borne with a noble and Christian spirit, which
+greatly impressed the Tannese and commended the Gospel of Christ.
+
+In claiming Aniwa for Christ, and winning it as a jewel for His
+crown, we had the experience which has ever marked God’s path through
+history,—He raised up around us and wonderfully endowed men to
+carry forward His own blessed work. Among these must be specially
+commemorated Namakei, the old Chief of Aniwa. Slowly, but very
+steadily, the light of the Gospel broke in upon his soul, and he was
+ever very eager to communicate to his people all that he learned. In
+Heathen days he was a Cannibal and a great warrior; but from the
+first, as shown in the preceding chapters, he took a warm interest in
+us and our work,—a little selfish, no doubt, at the beginning, but soon
+becoming purified as his eyes and heart were opened to the Gospel of
+Jesus.
+
+On the birth of a son to us on the Island, the old Chief was in
+ecstasies. He claimed the child as his heir, his own son being dead,
+and brought nearly the whole inhabitants in relays to see the _white_
+Chief of Aniwa! He would have him called Namakei the Younger, an honour
+which I fear we did not too highly appreciate. As the child grew, he
+took his hand and walked about with him freely amongst the people,
+learning to speak their language like a Native, and not only greatly
+interesting them in himself, but even in us and in the work of the
+Lord. This, too, was one of the bonds, however purely human, that drew
+them all nearer and nearer to Jesus.
+
+The death of Namakei had in it many streaks of Christian romance. He
+had heard about the Missionaries annually meeting on one or other of
+the Islands and consulting about the work of Jehovah. What ideas he had
+formed of a Mission Synod one cannot easily imagine; but in his old
+age, and when very frail, he formed an impassioned desire to attend
+our next meeting on Aneityum, and see and hear all the Missionaries of
+Jesus gathered together from the New Hebrides. Terrified that he would
+die away from home, and that that might bring great reverses to the
+good work on Aniwa, where he was truly beloved, I opposed his going
+with all my might. But he and his relations and his people were all set
+upon it, and I had at length to give way. His few little books were
+then gathered together, his meagre wardrobe was made up, and a small
+Native basket carried all his belongings. He assembled his people and
+took an affectionate farewell, pleading with them to be “strong for
+Jesus,” whether they ever saw him again or not, and to be loyal and
+kind to Missi. The people wailed out, and many wept bitterly. Those on
+board the _Dayspring_ were amazed to see how his people loved him. The
+old Chief stood the voyage well. He went in and out to our meeting of
+Synod, and was vastly pleased with the respect paid to him on Aneityum.
+When he heard of the prosperity of the Lord’s work, and how Island
+after Island was learning to sing the praises of Jesus, his heart
+glowed, and he said,—
+
+“Missi, I am lifting up my head like a tree. I am growing tall with
+joy!”
+
+On the fourth or fifth day, however, he sent for me out of the Synod,
+and when I came to him, he said, eagerly,—
+
+“Missi, I am near to die! I have asked you to come and say farewell.
+Tell my daughter, my brother, and my people to go on pleasing Jesus,
+and I will meet them again in the fair World.”
+
+I tried to encourage him, saying that God might raise him up again and
+restore him to his people; but he faintly whispered,—
+
+“O Missi, death is already touching me! I feel my feet going away from
+under me. Help me to lie down under the shade of that banyan tree.”
+
+So saying, he seized my arm, we staggered near to the tree, and he lay
+down under its cool shade. He whispered again,—
+
+“I am going! O Missi, let me hear your words rising up in prayer, and
+then my Soul will be strong to go.”
+
+Amidst many choking sobs, I tried to pray. At last he took my hand,
+pressed it to his heart, and said in a stronger and clearer tone,—
+
+“O my Missi, my dear Missi, I go before you, but I will meet you again
+in the Home of Jesus. Farewell!”
+
+That was the last effort of dissolving strength; he immediately became
+unconscious, and fell asleep. My heart felt like to break over him.
+He was my first Aniwan Convert,—the first who ever on that Island of
+love and tears opened his heart to Jesus; and as he lay there on the
+leaves and grass, my soul soared upward after his, and all the harps
+of God seemed to thrill with song as Jesus presented to the Father
+this trophy of redeeming love. He had been our true and devoted friend
+and fellow-helper in the Gospel, and next morning all the members of
+our Synod followed his remains to the grave. There we stood, the white
+Missionaries of the Cross from far distant lands, mingling our tears
+with Christian Natives of Aneityum, and letting them fall over one who
+only a few years before was a blood-stained Cannibal, and whom now we
+mourned as a brother, a saint, an Apostle amongst his people. Ye ask an
+explanation? The Christ entered into his heart, and Namakei became a
+new Creature. “Behold, I make all things new.”
+
+We were in positive distress about returning to Aniwa without the
+Chief, and we greatly feared the consequences. To show our perfect
+sympathy with them, we prepared a special and considerable present for
+Litsi his daughter, for his brother, and for other near friends—a sort
+of object lesson, that we had in every way been kind to old Namakei,
+as we now wished to be to them. When our boat approached the landing,
+nearly the whole population had assembled to meet us; and Litsi and his
+brother were far out on the reef to salute us. Litsi’s keen eye had
+missed old Namakei’s form; and far as words could carry I heard her
+voice crying,—
+
+“Missi, where is my father?”
+
+I made as if I did not hear; the boat was drawing slowly near, and
+again she cried aloud, “Missi, where is my father? Is Namakei dead!”
+
+I replied,—“Yes. He died on Aneityum. He is now with Jesus in Glory.”
+
+Then arose a wild, wailing cry, led by Litsi and taken up by all
+around. It rose and fell like a chant or dirge, as one after another
+wailed out praise and sorrow over the name of Namakei. We moved slowly
+into the boat harbour. Litsi, the daughter, and Kalangi his brother,
+shook hands, weeping sadly, and welcomed us back, assuring us that we
+had nothing to fear. Amidst many sobs and wailings, Litsi told us that
+they all dreaded he would never return, and explained to this effect:—
+
+“We knew that he was dying, but we durst not tell you. When you agreed
+to let him go, he went round and took farewell of all his friends, and
+told them he was going to sleep at last on Aneityum, and that at the
+Great Day he would rise to meet Jesus with the glorious company of the
+Aneityumese Christians. He urged us all to obey you and be true to
+Jesus. Truly, Missi, we will remember my dear father’s parting word,
+and follow in his steps, and help you in the work of the Lord!”
+
+The other Chief, Naswai, now accompanied us to the Mission House, and
+all the people followed, wailing loudly for Namakei. On the following
+Sabbath, I told the story of his conversion, life for Jesus, and death
+on Aneityum; and God overruled this event, contrary to our fears, for
+greatly increasing the interest of many in the Church and in the claims
+of Jesus upon themselves.
+
+Naswai, the friend and companion of Namakei, was an inland Chief. He
+had, as his followers, by far the largest number of men in any village
+on Aniwa. He had certainly a dignified bearing, and his wife Katua
+was quite a lady in look and manner as compared with all around her.
+She was the first woman on the Island that adopted the clothes of
+civilization, and she showed considerable instinctive taste in the
+way she dressed herself in these. Her example was a kind of Gospel in
+its good influence on all the women; she was a real companion to her
+husband, and went with him almost everywhere.
+
+Naswai, after he became a Christian, had a touch of scorn in his
+manner, and was particularly stern against every form of lying or
+deceit. I used sometimes to let jobs to Naswai, such as fencing or
+thatching, at a fixed price. He would come with a staff of men, say
+thirty or forty, see the work thoroughly done, and then divide the
+price generously in equal portions amongst the workers, seldom keeping
+anything either in food or wages for himself. On one occasion, the
+people of a distant village were working for me. Naswai assisted and
+directed them. On paying them, one of the company said,—
+
+“Missi, you have not paid Naswai. He worked as hard as any of us.”
+
+Naswai turned upon him with the dignity of a prince, and said,—
+
+“I did not work for pay! Would you make Missi pay more than he
+promised? Your conduct is bad. I will be no party to your bad ways.”
+
+And, with an indignant wave of his hand, he stalked away in great
+disdain.
+
+Naswai was younger and more intelligent than Namakei, and in
+everything except in translating the Scriptures he was much more of a
+fellow-helper in the work of the Lord. For many years it was Naswai’s
+special delight to carry my pulpit Bible from the Mission House to the
+Church every Sabbath morning, and to see that everything was in perfect
+order before the Service began. He was also the Teacher in his own
+village School, as well as an Elder in the Church. His preaching was
+wonderfully happy in its graphic illustrations, and his prayers were
+fervent and uplifting. Yet his people were the worst to manage on all
+the Island, and the very last to embrace the Gospel.
+
+He died when we were in the Colonies on furlough in 1875; and his wife
+Katua very shortly pre-deceased him. His last counsels to his people
+made a great impression on them. They told us how he pleaded with them
+to love and serve the Lord Jesus, and how he assured them with his
+dying breath that he had been “a new creature” since he gave his heart
+to Christ, and that he was perfectly happy in going to be with his
+Saviour.
+
+I must here recall one memorable example of Naswai’s power and skill as
+a preacher. On one occasion the _Dayspring_ brought a large deputation
+from Fotuna to see for themselves the change which the Gospel had
+produced on Aniwa. On Sabbath, after the Missionaries had conducted
+the usual Public Worship, some of the leading Aniwans addressed the
+Fotunese; and amongst others, Naswai spoke to the following effect:—
+
+“Men of Fotuna, you come to see what the Gospel has done for Aniwa. It
+is Jehovah the living God that has made all this change. As Heathens,
+we quarrelled, killed and ate each other. We had no peace and no joy in
+heart or house, in villages or in lands; but we now live as brethren
+and have happiness in all these things. When you go back to Fotuna,
+they will ask you, ‘What is Christianity?’ And you will have to reply,
+‘It is that which has changed the people of Aniwa.’ But they will still
+say, ‘What is it?’ And you will answer, ‘It is that which has given
+them clothing and blankets, knives and axes, fish-hooks and many other
+useful things; it is that which has led them to give up fighting, and
+to live together as friends.’ But they will ask you, ‘What is it like?’
+And you will have to tell them, alas, that you cannot explain it,
+that you have only seen its workings, not itself, and that no one can
+tell what Christianity is but the man that loves Jesus, the Invisible
+Master, and walks with Him and tries to please Him. Now, you people of
+Fotuna, you think that if you don’t dance and sing and pray to your
+gods, you will have no crops. We once did so too, sacrificing and doing
+much abomination to our gods for weeks before our planting season every
+year. But we saw our Missi only praying to the Invisible Jehovah, and
+planting his yams, and they grew fairer than ours. You are weak every
+year before your hard work begins in the fields, with your wild and bad
+conduct to please your gods. But we are strong for our work, for we
+pray to Jehovah, and He gives quiet rest instead of wild dancing, and
+makes us happy in our toils. Since we followed Missi’s example, Jehovah
+has given us large and beautiful crops, and we now know that He gives
+us all our blessings.”
+
+Turning to me, he exclaimed, “Missi, have you the large yam we
+presented to you? Would you not think it well to send it back with
+these men of Fotuna, to let their people see the yams which Jehovah
+grows for us in answer to prayer? Jehovah is the only God who can grow
+yams like that!”
+
+Then, after a pause, he proceeded,—“When you go back to Fotuna, and
+they ask you, ‘What is Christianity?’ you will be like an inland Chief
+of Erromanga, who once came down and saw a great feast on the shore.
+When he saw so much food and so many different kinds of it, he asked,
+‘What is this made of?’ and was answered, ‘Cocoa-nuts and yams.’ ‘And
+this?’ ‘Cocoa-nuts and bananas.’ ‘And this?’ ‘Cocoa-nuts and taro.’
+‘And this?’ ‘Cocoa-nuts and chestnuts,’ etc., etc. The Chief was
+immensely astonished at the host of dishes that could be prepared from
+the cocoa-nuts. On returning, he carried home a great load of them to
+his people, that they might see and taste the excellent food of the
+shore-people. One day, all being assembled, he told them the wonders
+of that feast; and, having roasted the cocoa-nuts, he took out the
+kernels, all charred and spoiled, and distributed them amongst his
+people. They tasted the cocoa-nut, they began to chew it, and then
+spat it out, crying, ‘Our own food is far better than that!’ The Chief
+was confused and only got laughed at for all his trouble. Was the
+fault in the cocoa-nuts? No; but they were spoiled in the cooking! So
+your attempts to explain Christianity will only spoil it. Tell them
+that a man must live as a Christian before he can show others what
+Christianity is.”
+
+On their return to Fotuna they exhibited Jehovah’s yam, given in answer
+to prayer and labour; they told what Christianity had done for Aniwa;
+but did not fail to qualify all their accounts with the story of the
+Erromangan Chief and the cocoa-nuts, with its very practical lesson.
+
+The two Chiefs of next importance on Aniwa were Nerwa and Ruwawa. Nerwa
+was a keen debater; all his thoughts ran in the channels of logic. When
+I could speak a little of their language, I visited and preached at his
+village; but the moment he discovered that the teaching about Jehovah
+was opposed to their Heathen customs, he sternly forbade us. One day,
+during my address, he blossomed out into a full-fledged and pronounced
+Agnostic (with as much reason at his back as the European type!) and
+angrily interrupted me:—
+
+“It’s all lies you come here to teach us, and you call it Worship! You
+say your Jehovah God dwells in Heaven. Who ever went up there to hear
+Him or see Him? You talk of Jehovah as if you had visited His Heaven.
+Why, you cannot climb even to the top of one of our cocoa-nut trees,
+though we can, and that with ease! In going up to the roof of your own
+Mission House, you require the help of a ladder to carry you. And even
+if you could make your ladder higher than our highest cocoa-nut tree,
+on what would you lean its top? And when you get to its top, you can
+only climb down the other side and end where you began! The thing is
+impossible. You never saw that God; you never heard Him speak; don’t
+come here with any of your white lies, or I’ll send my spear through
+you.”
+
+He drove us from his village, and furiously threatened murder, if we
+ever dared to return. But very soon thereafter the Lord sent us a
+little orphan girl from Nerwa’s village. She was very clever, and could
+both read and write, and told over all that we taught her. Her visits
+home, or at least amongst the villagers where her home had been, her
+changed appearance and her childish talk, produced a very deep interest
+in us and in our work.
+
+An orphan boy next was sent from that village to be kept and trained at
+the Mission House, and he too took back his little stories of how kind
+and good to him were Missi the man and Missi the woman. By this time
+Chief and people alike were taking a lively interest in all that was
+transpiring. One day the Chief’s wife, a quiet and gentle woman, came
+to the Worship and said,—
+
+“Nerwa’s opposition dies fast. The story of the Orphans did it. He has
+allowed me to attend the Church, and to get the Christian’s book.”
+
+We gave her a book and a bit of clothing. She went home and told
+everything. Woman after woman followed her from that same village,
+and some of the men began to accompany them. The only thing in which
+they showed a real interest was the children singing the little hymns
+which I had translated into their own Aniwan tongue, and which my wife
+had taught them to sing very sweetly and joyfully. Nerwa at last got
+so interested that he came himself, and sat within earshot, and drank
+in the joyful sound. In a short time he drew so near that he could
+hear our preaching, and then began openly and regularly to attend the
+Church. His keen reasoning faculty was constantly at work. He weighed
+and compared everything he heard, and soon out-distanced nearly all
+of them in his grasp of the ideas of the Gospel. He put on clothing,
+joined our School, and professed himself a follower of the Lord Jesus.
+He eagerly set himself, with all his power, to bring in a neighbouring
+Chief and his people, and constituted himself at once an energetic and
+very pronounced helper to the Missionary.
+
+On the death of Naswai, Nerwa at once took his place in carrying my
+Bible to the Church, and seeing that all the people were seated before
+the stopping of the bell. I have seen him clasping the Bible like a
+living thing to his breast, and heard him cry,—
+
+“Oh, to have this treasure in my own words of Aniwa!”
+
+When Matthew and Mark were at last printed in Aniwan, he studied them
+incessantly, and soon could read them freely. He became the Teacher in
+his own village School, and delighted in instructing others. He was
+assisted by Ruwawa, whom he himself had drawn into the circle of Gospel
+influence; and at our next election these two friends were appointed
+Elders of the Church, and greatly sustained our hands in every good
+work on Aniwa.
+
+After years of happy and useful service, the time came for Nerwa to
+die. He was then so greatly beloved that most of the inhabitants
+visited him during his long illness. He read a bit of the Gospels
+in his own Aniwan, and prayed with and for every visitor. He sang
+beautifully, and scarcely allowed any one to leave his bedside without
+having a verse of one or other of his favourite hymns, “Happy Land,”
+and “Nearer, my God, to Thee.” On my last visit to Nerwa, his strength
+had gone very low, but he drew me near his face, and whispered,—
+
+“Missi, my Missi, I am glad to see you. You see that group of young
+men? They came to sympathize with me; but they have never once spoken
+the name of Jesus, though they have spoken about everything else! They
+could not have weakened me so, if they had spoken about Jesus! Read me
+the story of Jesus; pray for me to Jesus. No! stop, let us call them,
+and let me speak with them before I go.”
+
+I called them all around him, and he strained his dying strength, and
+said, “After I am gone, let there be no bad talk, no Heathen ways.
+Sing Jehovah’s songs, and pray to Jesus, and bury me as a Christian.
+Take good care of my Missi, and help him all you can. I am dying happy
+and going to be with Jesus, and it was Missi that showed me this way.
+And who among you will take my place in the village School and in the
+Church? Who amongst you all will stand up for Jesus?”
+
+Many were shedding tears, but there was no reply; after which the dying
+Chief proceeded,—
+
+“Now let my last work on earth be this:—we will read a chapter of the
+Book, verse about, and then I will pray for you all, and the Missi will
+pray for me, and God will let me go while the song is still sounding in
+my heart!”
+
+At the close of this most touching exercise, we gathered the Christians
+who were near-bye close around, and sang very softly in Aniwan, “There
+is a Happy Land.” As they sang, the old man grasped my hand, and tried
+hard to speak, but in vain. His head fell to one side, “the silver cord
+was loosed, and the golden bowl was broken.”
+
+Soon after his burial, the best and ablest man in the village, the
+husband now of the orphan girl already referred to, came and offered
+himself to take the Chiefs place as Teacher in the village School;
+and in that post he was ably assisted by his wife, our “little maid,”
+the first who carried the news of the Gospel life to her tribe, and
+inclined their ears to listen to the message of Jesus.
+
+His great friend, Ruwawa the Chief, had waited by Nerwa like a
+brother till within a few days of the latter’s death, when he also
+was smitten down apparently by the same disease. He was thought to be
+dying, and he resigned himself calmly into the hands of Christ. One
+Sabbath afternoon, sorely distressed for lack of air, he instructed
+his people to carry him from the village to a rising ground on one of
+his plantations. It was fallow; the fresh air would reach him; and all
+his friends could sit around him. They extemporized a rest,—two posts
+stuck into the ground, slanting, sticks tied across them, then dried
+banana leaves spread on these and also as a cushion on the ground,—and
+there sat Ruwawa, leaning back and breathing heavily. After the Church
+Services, I visited him, and found half the people of that side of the
+Island sitting round him, in silence, in the open air. Ruwawa beckoned
+me, and I sat down before him. Though suffering sorely, his eye and
+face had the look of ecstasy.
+
+“Missi,” he said, “I could not breathe in my village; so I got them to
+carry me here, where there is room for all. They are silent and they
+weep, because they think I am dying. If it were God’s will, I would
+like to live and to help you in His work. I am in the hands of our dear
+Lord. If He takes me, it is good; if He spares me, it is good! Pray,
+and tell our Saviour all about it.”
+
+I explained to the people, that we would tell our Heavenly Father how
+anxious we all were to see Ruwawa given back to us strong and well to
+work for Jesus, and then leave all to His wise and holy disposal. I
+prayed, and the place became a very Bochim. When I left him, Ruwawa
+exclaimed,—
+
+“Farewell, Missi; if I go first, I will welcome you to Glory; if I am
+spared, I will work with you for Jesus; so all is well!”
+
+One of the young Christians followed me and said,—“Missi, our hearts
+are very sore! If Ruwawa dies, we have no Chief to take his place in
+the Church, and it will be a heavy blow against Jehovah’s Worship on
+Aniwa.”
+
+I answered,—“Let us each tell our God and Father all that we feel and
+all that we fear; and leave Ruwawa and our work in His holy hands.”
+
+We did so, with earnest and unceasing cry. And when all hope had died
+out of every heart, the Lord began to answer us; the disease began to
+relax its hold, and the beloved Chief was restored to health. As soon
+as he was able, though still needing help, he found his way back to the
+Church, and we all offered special thanksgiving to God. He indicated
+a desire to say a few words; and although still very weak, spoke with
+great pathos thus:—
+
+“Dear Friends, God has given me back to you all. I rejoice thus to come
+here and praise the great Father, who made us all, and who knows how
+to make and keep us well. I want you all to work hard for Jesus, and
+to lose no opportunity of trying to do good and so to please Him. In
+my deep journey away near to the grave, it was the memory of what I
+had done in love to Jesus that made my heart sing. I am not afraid of
+pain,—my dear Lord Jesus suffered far more for me and teaches me how to
+bear it. I am not afraid of war or famine or death, or of the present
+or of the future; my dear Lord Jesus died for me, and in dying I shall
+live with Him in Glory. I fear and love my dear Lord Jesus, because He
+loved me and gave Himself for me.”
+
+Then he raised his right hand, and cried in a soft, full-hearted
+voice,—“My own, my dear Lord Jesus!” and stood for a moment looking
+joyfully upward, as if gazing into his Saviour’s face. When he sat
+down, there was a long hush, broken here and there by a smothered sob;
+and Ruwawa’s words produced an impression that is remembered to this
+day.
+
+In 1888, when I visited the Islands, Ruwawa was still devoting himself
+heart and soul to the work of the Lord on Aniwa. Assisted by Koris,
+a Teacher from Aneityum, and visited occasionally by our ever-dear
+and faithful friends, Mr. and Mrs. Watt, from Tanna, the good Ruwawa
+carries forward all the work of God on Aniwa, along with others, in
+our absence as in our presence. The meetings, the Communicants’ Class,
+the Schools, and the Church Services are all regularly conducted and
+faithfully attended. “Bless the Lord, O my soul!”
+
+I am now reminded of the story of Waiwai, both because it was
+interesting for his own personality, and also as illustrating our
+difficulties about the delicate question of many wives. He was a man
+of great wisdom, and had in his early days displayed unwonted energy.
+His assistance in finding exact and idiomatic equivalents for me, while
+translating the Scriptures, was of the highest value.
+
+He had been once at the head of a numerous people, but was now
+literally a Chief without a tribe. His son and heir was smitten down
+with sunstroke, while helping us to get the coral limestone, and
+shortly thereafter died. His only daughter was married to a young
+Chief. And at last, of all his seven wives only two remained alive.
+
+He became a regular attender at Church, and when our first
+Communicants’ Class was formed, Waiwai and his two wives were enrolled.
+At Communion time, he was dreadfully disappointed when informed that
+he could neither be baptized nor admitted to the Lord’s Table till he
+had given up one of his wives, as God allowed no Christian to have more
+than one wife at a time. They were advised to attend regularly, and
+learn more and more of Christianity, till God opened up their way in
+regard to this matter; that it might be done from conscience, under a
+sense of duty to Christ, and if at all possible by peaceable and mutual
+agreement.
+
+Waiwai professed to be willing, but found it terribly hard to give
+up either of his wives. They had houses far apart from each other,
+for they quarrelled badly, as is usual in such cases. But both were
+excellent workers, both were very attentive to the wants of Waiwai,
+and he managed to keep on affectionate terms with both. After all the
+other men on the Island had, under the influence of Christianity, given
+up all their wives save one, Waiwai began to feel rather ashamed of
+being the conspicuous exception, or thought it prudent to pretend to be
+ashamed; and so he publicly scolded them both, ordering one or other to
+go and leave him, that he might be enabled to join the Church and be a
+Christian like the rest. But I learned privately that he did not wish
+either to go, and that he would shoot the one that dared to leave him.
+I remonstrated with him on his hypocrisy, warning him that God knew
+his heart. At last he said, that since neither of them would depart,
+he would leave them both and go to Tanna for a year, ordering one or
+other of them to get married during his absence. He did go, but on his
+return found both still awaiting him at their respective stations. He
+pretended to scold them very vigorously _in public_; but his duplicity
+was too open, and I again very solemnly rebuked him for double dealing,
+showing him that not even men were deceived by him, much less the
+all-seeing God. He frankly admitted his hypocrisy. He loved both; he
+did not want to part with either; and both were excellent workers!
+
+In process of time the younger of the two women bore him a beautiful
+baby boy, about which he was immensely uplifted; and a short while
+thereafter the elder woman died. At her grave the inveterate talking
+instinct of these Islanders asserted itself, and Waiwai made a speech
+to the assembled people in the following strain:—
+
+“O ye people of Aniwa, I was not willing to give up either of my wives
+for Jesus; but God has taken one from me and laid her there in the
+grave; and now I am called to be baptized, and to follow Jesus.”
+
+The two now regularly attended Church, and learned diligently at
+the Communicants’ Class. Both seemed to be very sincere, and Waiwai
+particularly showed a very gentle Christian spirit, and seemed to brood
+much upon the loss of family and people and tribe that had befallen
+him. His had been indeed a crushing discipline, and it was not yet
+complete. For, shortly before the Communion at which they were to
+be received into fellowship, his remaining wife became suddenly ill
+and died also. At her grave the old man wept very bitterly, and made
+another speech, but this time in tones of more intense reality than
+before, as if the iron had entered his very soul:—
+
+“Listen, all ye men of Aniwa, and take warning by Waiwai. I am now
+old, and ready to drop into the grave alone. My wives kept me back
+from Jesus, but now they are all taken, and I am left without one to
+care for me or this little child. I tried to deceive the Missi, but I
+could not deceive God. When I was left with only one wife, I said that
+I would now be baptized and live as a Christian. But God has taken
+her also. I pretended to serve the Lord, when I was only serving and
+pleasing myself. God has now broken my heart all to pieces. I must
+learn no longer to please myself, but to please my Lord. Oh, take
+warning by me, all ye men of Aniwa! Lies cannot cheat the great Jehovah
+God.”
+
+Poor broken-hearted Waiwai had sorrow upon sorrow to the full. We
+had agreed to baptize him and admit him to the Lord’s Table. But a
+terrible form of cramp, sometimes met with on the Islands, overtook
+him, shrinking up both his legs, and curving his feet up behind him. He
+suffered great agony, and could neither walk nor sit without pain. In
+spite of all efforts to relieve him, this condition became chronic; and
+he died at last from the effects thereof during our absence on furlough.
+
+His married daughter took charge of him and of the little boy; and so
+long as I was on Aniwa during his illness, I visited and instructed
+and ministered to him in every possible way. He prayed much, and asked
+God’s blessing on all his meals; but all that I could say failed to
+lead him into the sunshine of the Divine Love. And the poor soul often
+revealed the shadow by which his heart was clouded by such cries as
+these,—“I lied to Jehovah! It is He that punishes me! I lied to Jesus!”
+
+Readers may perhaps think that this case of the two wives and our
+treatment of it was too hard upon Waiwai; and those will be the most
+ready to condemn us, who have never been on the spot, and who cannot
+see all the facts as they lie under the eyes of the Missionary. How
+could we ever have led Natives to see the difference betwixt admitting
+a man to the Church who had two wives, and not permitting a member of
+the Church to take two wives after his admission? Their moral sense is
+blunted enough without our knocking their heads against a conundrum in
+ethics! In our Church membership we have to draw the line as sharply
+as God’s law will allow betwixt what is Heathen and what is Christian,
+instead of minimising the difference.
+
+Again, we found that the Heathen practices were apparently more
+destructive to women than to men; so that in one Island, with a
+population of only two hundred, I found that there were thirty adult
+men over and above the number of women. As a rule, for every man that
+has two or more wives, the same number of men have no wives and can
+get none; and polygamy is therefore the prolific cause of hatreds and
+murders innumerable.
+
+Besides all this, to look at things in a purely practical light, as the
+so-called “practical men” are our scornful censors in these affairs,
+it is really no hardship for one woman, or any number of women, to
+be given up when the man becomes a Christian and elects to have one
+wife only; for every one so discarded is at once eagerly contended for
+by the men who had no hope of ever being married, and her chances of
+comfort and happiness are infinitely improved. We had one Chief who
+gave up eleven wives on his being baptized. They were without a single
+exception happily settled in other homes. And he became an earnest and
+devoted Christian.
+
+While they remain Heathen, and have many wives to manage, the condition
+of most of the women is worse than slavery. On remonstrating with
+a Chief, who was savagely beating one of his wives, he indignantly
+assured me,—
+
+“We must beat them, or they would never obey us. When they quarrel, and
+become bad to manage, we have to kill one, and feast on her. Then all
+the other wives of the whole tribe are quiet and obedient for a long
+time to come.”
+
+I knew one Chief, who had many wives, always jealous of each other and
+violently quarrelling amongst themselves. When he was off at war, along
+with his men, the favourite wife, a tall and powerful woman, armed
+herself with an axe, and murdered all the others. On his return he made
+peace with her, and, either in terror or for other motives, promised to
+forego and protect her against all attempts at revenge. One has to live
+amongst the Papuans, or the Malays, in order to understand how much
+Woman is indebted to Christ!
+
+The old Chiefs only brother was called Kalangi. Twice in Heathen days
+he tried to shoot me. On the second occasion he heard me rebuking his
+daughter for letting a child destroy a beautiful Island plant in front
+of our house. He levelled his musket at me, but his daughter, whom we
+were training at the Mission House, ran in front of it, and cried,—“O
+father, don’t shoot Missi! He loves me. He gives us food and clothing.
+He teaches us about Jehovah and Jesus!”
+
+Then she pled with me to retire into the house, saying,—“He will not
+shoot you for fear of shooting me. I will soothe him down. Leave him to
+me, and flee for safety.”
+
+Thus she probably saved my life. Time after time he heard from this
+little daughter all that we taught her, and all she could remember
+of our preaching. By-and-bye he showed a strong personal interest in
+the things he heard about Jesus, and questioned deeply, and learned
+diligently. When he became a Christian, he constituted himself, along
+with Nelwang, my body-guard, and often marched near me, or within safe
+distance of me, armed with tomahawk and musket, when I journeyed from
+village to village in the pre-Christian days. Once, on approaching one
+of our most distant villages, Nelwang sprang to my side, and warned me
+of a man in the bush watching an opportunity to shoot me. I shouted to
+the fellow,—
+
+“What are you going to shoot there? This is the Lord’s own Day!”
+
+He answered, “Only a bird.”
+
+I replied, “Never mind it to-day. You can shoot it to-morrow. We are
+going to your Village. Come on before us, and show us the way!”
+
+Seeing how I was protected, he lowered his musket, and marched on
+before us. Kalangi addressed the people, after I had spoken and prayed.
+In course of time they became warm friends of the Worship; and that
+very man and his wife, who once sought my life, sat with me at the
+Lord’s Table on Aniwa. And the little girl, above referred to, is now
+the wife of one of the Elders there, and the mother of three Christian
+children,—both she and her husband being devoted workers in the Church
+of God.
+
+Litsi, the only daughter of Namakei, had, both in her own career and
+in her connection with poor, dear Mungaw, an almost unparalleled
+experience. She was entrusted to us when very young, and became a
+bright, clever, and attractive Christian girl. Many sought her hand,
+but she disdainfully replied,—
+
+“I am Queen of my own Island, and when I like I will ask a husband in
+marriage, as you told us that the great Queen Victoria did!”
+
+Her first husband, however won, was undoubtedly the tallest and most
+handsome man on Aniwa; but he was a giddy fool, and, on his early
+death, she again returned to live with us at the Mission House. Her
+second marriage had everything to commend it, but it resulted in
+indescribable disaster. Mungaw, heir to a Chief, had been trained with
+us, and gave every evidence of decided Christianity. They were married
+in the Church, and lived in the greatest happiness. He was able and
+eloquent, and was first chosen as a deacon, then as an Elder of the
+Church, and finally as High Chief of one half of the Island. He showed
+the finest Christian spirit under many trying circumstances. Once, when
+working at the lime for the building of our Church, two bad men, armed
+with muskets, sought his life for some revenge or another. Hearing of
+the quarrel, I rushed to the scene, and heard him saying,—
+
+“Don’t call me coward, or think me afraid to die. If I died now,
+I would go to be with Jesus. But I am no longer a Heathen; I am a
+Christian, and wish to treat you as a Christian should.”
+
+Others now coming to the rescue, the men were disarmed; and, after much
+talk, they professed themselves ashamed, and promised better conduct
+for the future. Next day they sent a large present as a peace-offering
+to me, but I refused to receive it till they should first of all make
+peace with the young Chief. They sent a larger present to him, praying
+him to receive it, and to forgive them. Mungaw brought a still larger
+present in exchange, laid it down at their feet in the Public Ground,
+shook hands with them graciously, and forgave them in presence of all
+the people. His constant saying was,—
+
+“I am a Christian, and I must do the conduct of a Christian.”
+
+In one of my furloughs to Australia I took the young Chief with me,
+in the hope of interesting the Sabbath Schools and Congregations by
+his eloquent addresses and noble personality. The late Dr. Cameron, of
+Melbourne, having heard him, as translated by me, publicly declared
+that Mungaw’s appearance and speech in his Church did more to show
+him the grand results of the Gospel amongst the Heathen than all the
+Missionary addresses he ever listened to or read.
+
+Our lodging was in St. Kilda. My dear wife was suddenly seized with a
+dangerous illness on a visit to Taradale, and I was telegraphed for.
+Finding that I must remain with her, I got Mungaw booked for Melbourne,
+on the road for St. Kilda, in charge of a railway guard. Some white
+wretches, in the guise of gentlemen, offered to see him to the St.
+Kilda Station, assuring the guard that they were friends of mine,
+and interested in our Mission. They took him, instead, to some den
+of infamy in Melbourne. On refusing to drink with them, he said they
+threw him down on a sofa, and poured drink or drugs into him till he
+was nearly dead. Having taken all his money (he had only two or three
+pounds, made up of little presents from various friends), they thrust
+him out to the street, with only one penny in his pocket.
+
+On becoming conscious, he applied to a policeman, who either did not
+understand or would not interfere. Hearing an engine whistle, he
+followed the sound, and found his way to Spencer Street Station. There
+he stood for a whole day, offering his penny for a ticket by every
+train, and was always refused. At last a sailor took pity on him, got
+him some food, and led him to the St. Kilda Station. Again he proffered
+his penny, only to meet with refusal after refusal, till he broke down,
+and cried aloud in such English as desperation gave him,—
+
+“If me savvy road, me go. Me no savvy road, and stop here me die. My
+Missi Paton live at Kilda. Me want go Kilda. Me no more money. Bad
+fellow took all! Send me Kilda.”
+
+Some gentle Samaritan gave him a ticket, and he reached our house at
+St. Kilda at last. There for above three weeks the poor creature lay
+in a sort of stupid doze. Food he could scarcely be induced to taste,
+and he only rose now and again for a drink of water. When my wife
+was able to be removed thither also, we found dear Mungaw dreadfully
+changed in appearance and in conduct. Twice thereafter I took him
+with me on Mission work; but, on medical advice, preparations were
+made for his immediate return to the Islands. I entrusted him to the
+kind care of Captain Logan, who undertook to see him safely on board
+the _Dayspring_, then lying at Auckland. Mungaw was delighted, and we
+hoped everything from his return to his own land and people. After some
+little trouble, he was landed safely home on Aniwa. But his malady
+developed dangerous and violent symptoms, characterized by long periods
+of quiet and sleep, and then sudden paroxysms, in which he destroyed
+property, burned houses, and was a terror to all.
+
+On our return he was greatly delighted; but he complained bitterly
+that the white men “had spoiled his head,” and that when it “burned
+hot” he did all these bad things, for which he was extremely sorry He
+deliberately attempted my life, and most cruelly abused his dear and
+gentle wife; and then, when the frenzy was over, he wept and lamented
+over it. Many a time he marched round and round our House with loaded
+musket and spear and tomahawk, while we had to keep doors and windows
+locked and barricaded; then the paroxysm passed off, and he slept, long
+and deep, like a child. When he came to himself, he wept and said,—
+
+“The white men spoiled my head! I know not what I do. My head burns
+hot, and I am driven.”
+
+One day, in the Imrai, he leapt up with a loud-yelling war-cry, rushed
+off to his own house, set fire to it, and danced around till everything
+he possessed was burned to ashes. Nasi, a bad Tannese Chief living on
+Aniwa, had a quarrel with Mungaw about a cask found at the shore, and
+threatened to shoot him. Others encouraged him to do so, as Mungaw
+was growing every day more and more destructive and violent. When a
+person became outrageous or insane on Aniwa,—as they had neither asylum
+nor prison, they first of all held him fast and discharged a musket
+close to his ear; and then, if the shock did not bring him back to his
+senses, they tied him up for two days or so; and finally, if that did
+not restore him, they shot him dead. Thus the plan of Nasi was favoured
+by their own customs. One night, after family worship,—for amidst all
+his madness, when clear moments came, he poured out his soul in faith
+and love to the Lord,—he said,—
+
+“Litsi, I am melting! My head burns. Let us go out and get cooled in
+the open air.”
+
+She warned him not to go, as she heard voices whispering under the
+verandah. He answered a little wildly,—
+
+“I am not afraid to die. Life is a curse and burden. The white men
+spoiled my head. If there is a hope of dying, let me go quickly and
+die!”
+
+As he crossed the door, a ball crashed through him, and he fell dead.
+We got the mother and her children away to the Mission House; and next
+morning they buried the remains of poor Mungaw under the floor of his
+own hut, and enclosed the whole place with a fence. It was a sorrowful
+close to so noble a career. I shed many a tear that I ever took him to
+Australia. What will God have to say to those white fiends who poisoned
+and maddened poor dear Mungaw?
+
+After a while the good Queen Litsi was happily married again. She
+became possessed with a great desire to go as a Missionary to the
+people and tribe of Nasi, the very man who had murdered her husband.
+She used to say,—
+
+“Is there no Missionary to go and teach Nasi’s people? I weep and pray
+for them, that they too may come to know and love Jesus.”
+
+I answered,—“Litsi, if I had only wept and prayed for you, but stayed
+at home in Scotland, would that have brought you to know and love Jesus
+as you do?”
+
+“Certainly not,” she replied.
+
+“Now then,” I proceeded, “would it not please Jesus and be a grand and
+holy revenge, if you, the Christians of Aniwa, could carry the Gospel
+to the very people whose Chief murdered Mungaw?”
+
+The idea took possession of her soul. She was never wearied talking
+and praying over it. When at length a Missionary was got for Nasi’s
+people, Litsi and her new husband placed themselves at the head of a
+band of six or eight Aniwan Christians, and planted themselves there to
+open up the way and assist as Native Teachers the Missionary and his
+wife. There she and they have laboured ever since. They are “strong”
+for the Worship. Her son is being trained up by his cousin, an Elder of
+the Church, to be “the good Chief of Aniwa”; so she calls him in her
+prayers, as she cries on God to bless and watch over him, while she is
+serving the Lord in the Mission field. Many years have now passed; and
+when lately I visited that part of Tanna, Litsi ran to me, clasped my
+hand, kissed it with many sobs, and cried,—
+
+“O my father! God has blessed me to see you again. Is my mother, your
+dear wife, well? And your children, my brothers and sisters? My love to
+them all! O my heart clings to you!”
+
+We had sweet conversation, and then she said more calmly,—
+
+“My days here are hard. I might be happy and wealthy as Queen on Aniwa.
+But the Heathen here are beginning to listen. The Missi sees them
+coming nearer to Jesus. And oh, what a reward when we shall hear them
+sing and pray to our dear Saviour! The hope of that makes me strong for
+anything.”
+
+My heart often says within itself—When, _when_ will men’s eyes at
+home be opened? When will the rich and the learned and the noble and
+even the princes of the Earth renounce their shallow frivolities,
+and go to live amongst the poor, the ignorant, the outcast, and the
+lost, and write their eternal fame on the souls by them blessed and
+brought to the Saviour? Those who have tasted this highest joy, “the
+joy of the Lord,” will never again ask,—_Is Life worth living?_ Life,
+any life, would be well spent, under any conceivable conditions, in
+bringing one human soul to know and love and serve God and His Son, and
+thereby securing for yourself at least one temple where your name and
+memory would be held for ever and for ever in affectionate praise,—a
+regenerated Heart in Heaven. That fame will prove _immortal_, when all
+the poems and monuments and pyramids of Earth have gone into dust.
+
+Nasi, the Tannaman, was a bad and dangerous character, though some
+readers may condone his putting an end to Mungaw in the terrible
+circumstances of our case. During a great illness that befell him, I
+ministered to him regularly, but no kindness seemed to move him. When
+about to leave Aniwa, I went specially to visit him. On parting I said,—
+
+“Nasi, are you happy? Have you ever been happy?”
+
+He answered gloomily,—“No! Never.”
+
+I said,—“Would you like this dear little boy of yours to grow up like
+yourself, and lead the life you have lived?”
+
+“No!” he replied warmly; “I certainly would not.”
+
+“Then,” I continued, “you must become a Christian, and give up all
+your Heathen conduct, or he will just grow up to quarrel and fight and
+murder as you have done; and, O Nasi, he will curse you through all
+Eternity for leading him to such a life and to such a doom!”
+
+He was very much impressed, but made no response. After we had sailed,
+a band of our young Native Christians held a consultation over the case
+of Nasi. They said,—
+
+“We know the burden and terror that Nasi has been to our dear Missi. We
+know that he has murdered several persons with his own hands, and has
+taken part in the murder of others. Let us unite in daily prayer that
+the Lord would open his heart and change his conduct, and teach him to
+love and follow what is good, and let us set ourselves to win Nasi for
+Christ, just as Missi tried to win us.”
+
+So they began to show him every possible kindness, and one after
+another helped him in his daily tasks, embracing every opportunity of
+pleading with him to yield to Jesus and take the new path of life. At
+first he repelled them, and sullenly held aloof. But their prayers
+never ceased, and their patient affections continued to grow. At last,
+after long waiting, Nasi broke down, and cried to one of the Teachers,—
+
+“I can oppose your Jesus no longer. If He can make you treat me like
+that, I yield myself to Him and to you. I want Him to change me too. I
+want a heart like that of Jesus.”
+
+He took the ugly paint patches from his face; he cut off his long
+Heathen hair; he went to the sea and bathed, washing himself clean; and
+then he came to the Christians and dressed himself in a shirt and a
+kilt. The next step was to get a book,—his was the translation of the
+Gospel according to St. John. He eagerly listened to every one that
+would read bits of it aloud to him, and his soul seemed to drink in the
+new ideas at every pore. He attended the Church and the School most
+regularly, and could in a very short time read the Gospel for himself.
+The Elders of the Church took special pains in instructing him, and
+after due preparation he was admitted to the Lord’s Table—my brother
+Missionary from Tanna baptizing and receiving him. Imagine my joy on
+learning all this regarding one who had sullenly resisted my appeals
+for many years, and how my soul praised the Lord who is “Mighty to
+save!”
+
+On my recent visit to Aniwa, in 1886, God’s almighty compassion was
+further revealed to me, when I found that Nasi the murderer was now a
+Scripture Reader, and able to comment in a wonderful and interesting
+manner on what he reads to the people! When I arrived on a visit to
+the Island, after my last tour in Great Britain in the interests of
+our Mission, all the inhabitants of Aniwa seemed to be assembled at
+the boat-landing to welcome me, except Nasi. He was away fishing at a
+distance, and had been sent for, but had not yet arrived. On the way to
+the Mission House, he came rushing to meet me. He grasped my hand, and
+kissed it, and burst into tears. I said,—
+
+“Nasi, do I now at last meet you as a Christian?”
+
+He warmly answered, “Yes, Missi; I now worship and serve the only Lord
+and Saviour Jesus Christ. Bless God, I am a Christian at last!”
+
+My soul went out with the silent cry, “Oh, that the men at home who
+discuss and doubt about conversion, and the new heart, and the power
+of Jesus to change and save, could but look on Nasi, and spell out the
+simple lesson,—He that created us at first by His power can create us
+anew by His love!”
+
+My first Sabbath on Aniwa, after the late tour in Great Britain and
+the Colonies, gave me a blessed surprise. Before daybreak I lay awake
+thinking of all my experiences on that Island, and wondering whether
+the Church had fallen off in my four years’ absence, when suddenly the
+voice of song broke on my ears! It was scarcely full dawn, yet I jumped
+up and called to a man that was passing,—
+
+“Have I slept in? Is it already Church-time? Or why are the people met
+so early?”
+
+He was one of their leaders, and gravely replied,—“Missi, since you
+left, we have found it very hard to live near to God! So the Chief and
+the Teachers and a few others meet when daylight comes in every Sabbath
+morning, and spend the first hour of every Lord’s Day in prayer and
+praise. They are met to pray for you now, that God may help you in your
+preaching, and that all hearts may bear fruit to the glory of Jesus
+this day.”
+
+I returned to my room, and felt quite prepared myself. It would be an
+easy and a blessed thing to lead such a Congregation into the presence
+of the Lord! They were there already.
+
+On that day every person on Aniwa seemed to be at Church, except the
+bedridden and the sick. At the close of the Services, the Elders
+informed me that they had kept up all the Meetings during my absence,
+and had also conducted the Communicants’ Class, and they presented to
+me a considerable number of candidates for membership. After careful
+examination, I set apart nine boys and girls, about twelve or thirteen
+years of age, and advised them to wait for at least another year or so,
+that their knowledge and habits might be matured. They had answered
+every question, indeed, and were eager to be baptized and admitted; but
+I feared for their youth, lest they should fall away and bring disgrace
+on the Church. One of them, with very earnest eyes, looked at me and
+said,—
+
+“We have been taught that whosoever believeth is to be baptized. We do
+most heartily believe in Jesus, and try to please Jesus.”
+
+I answered,—“Hold on for another year, and then our way will be clear.”
+
+But he persisted,—“Some of us may not be living then; and you may not
+be here. We long to be baptized by you, our own Missi, and to take our
+place among the servants of Jesus.”
+
+After much conversation I agreed to baptize them, and they agreed
+to refrain from going to the Lord’s Table for a year; that all the
+Church might by that time have knowledge and proof of their consistent
+Christian life, though so young in years. This discipline, I thought,
+would be good for them; and the Lord might use it as a precedent for
+guidance in future days.
+
+Of other ten adults at this time admitted, one was specially
+noteworthy. She was about twenty-five, and the Elders objected because
+her marriage had not been according to the Christian usage on Aniwa.
+She left us weeping deeply. I was writing late at night in the cool
+evening air, as was my wont in that oppressive tropical clime, and a
+knock was heard at my door. I called out,—
+
+“_Akai era?_” (= Who is there?)
+
+A voice softly answered,—“Missi, it is Lamu. Oh, do speak with me!”
+
+This was the rejected candidate, and I at once opened the door.
+
+“Oh, Missi,” she began, “I cannot sleep, I cannot eat; my soul is in
+pain. Am I to be shut out from Jesus? Some of those at the Lord’s Table
+committed murder. They repented, and have been saved. My heart is very
+bad; yet I never did any of those crimes of Heathenism; and I know that
+it is my joy to try and please my Saviour Jesus. How is it that I only
+am to be shut out from Jesus?”
+
+I tried all I could to guide and console her, and she listened to all
+very eagerly. Then she looked up at me and said,—
+
+“Missi, you and the Elders may think it right to keep me back from
+showing my love to Jesus at the Lord’s Table; but I know here in my
+heart that Jesus has received me; and if I were dying now, I know that
+Jesus would take me to Glory and present me to the Father.”
+
+Her look and manner thrilled me. I promised to see the Elders and
+submit her appeal. But Lamu appeared and pled her own cause before them
+with convincing effect. She was baptized and admitted along with other
+nine. And that Communion Day will be long remembered by many souls on
+Aniwa.
+
+It has often struck me, when relating these events, to press this
+question on the many young people, the highly privileged white brothers
+and sisters of Lamu, Did you ever lose one hour of sleep or a single
+meal in thinking of your Soul, your God, the claims of Jesus, and your
+Eternal Destiny?
+
+And when I saw the diligence and fidelity of these poor Aniwan Elders,
+teaching and ministering during all those years, my soul has cried
+aloud to God, Oh, what could not the Church accomplish if the educated
+and gifted Elders and others in Christian lands would set themselves
+thus to work for Jesus, to teach the ignorant, to protect the tempted,
+and to rescue the fallen!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+_LETTERS FROM ANIWA._
+
+ Editorial Preface.—_Letter for 1867._—Not Tanna but Aniwa.—“Missi
+ Paton _versus_ Teapots.”—The Humour of Taia.—Evening
+ Village-Prayers.—“Make him _Bokis_ Sing.”—My Sewing Class.—“That
+ no Gammon.”—“Talk Biritania.”—The Marriage of Kahi.... _Letter
+ for 1869._—First Communicants on Aniwa.—Mungaw and the Mission
+ Boys.—The Blessing of the _Dayspring_.... _Letter for 1874._—Home
+ to Aniwa.—“Taking Possession.”—“Another Soul Committed to our
+ Care.”—Hutshi and her Lover.—Six Missionaries on Aniwa....
+ _Letter for 1875._—Missi Paton and “Joseph” and the Tannese.—A
+ Tropical Hurricane.—The Disgrace and Sale of Hutshi.—Taia Baited
+ by Nalihi.—Earthquakes and Tidal Waves.—Farewells.... _Letter for
+ 1878._—A Madman at Large.—The Passing of Yawaci.—The Madness and
+ Death of Mungaw.—Our Native Elders.—Music on the Waters.—A Wicked
+ Vow.... _Letter for 1879._—New Year’s Day on Aniwa.—A Miserable
+ Slaver.—Litsi Married Again.—Mission Synod on Erromanga.—Tragic and
+ Holy Memories.—Day-Light on Tanna.—Pigs in Galore.—Arrowroot for
+ Jehovah.
+
+
+[The Editor takes upon himself the responsibility of presenting here a
+picture of life among the New Hebrideans, as portrayed by the graphic
+and gifted pen of Mrs. John G. Paton.
+
+His only regret is that the exigencies of space compel him to give
+mere _fragments_ of these Letters, instead of the full-flowing
+descriptions, which have led him to regard them as amongst the most
+charming pieces of Missionary literature with which he has become
+acquainted.
+
+He apologizes also to that dear lady herself for the liberty he is thus
+taking with her “Family Epistles,”—written for the delight of her inner
+circle of friends, and for their eyes alone. He is well aware that if
+she were at his side, instead of being in the New Hebrides, while he is
+sending these pages to press, nothing would probably induce her to give
+her consent to this appearance in print. But he trusts that her wrath
+will be assuaged, when she returns to the Colonies and learns how the
+Christian Public approve in this respect of what her friend has done.
+
+The Editor makes no apology to the reader for this break in the flow
+of the story, or even for re-touching one or two scenes that are past,
+for he already instinctively knows that even these fragments will be
+appreciated, as a great enrichment to the Autobiography which he has
+been privileged to introduce to them.]
+
+
+(1867.)
+
+TO REV. DR. MACDONALD, SOUTH MELBOURNE.
+
+“... How much I enjoyed your kind letter which came by the _Dayspring_
+last month! I was delighted indeed to hear that your Parish now extends
+to the New Hebrides,—rather a scattered one certainly, nevertheless you
+are bound to look after your flock, and we shall soon be expecting _a
+pastoral visit_....
+
+“You were, I dare say, surprised when you heard that we had been sent
+to Aniwa instead of Tanna. It was a blow which Mr. Paton has hardly
+got over yet; but all the brethren were decidedly opposed to us going
+there alone, and we feel now that we have been Divinely led hither. Mr.
+Inglis, in his last kind letter, said to Mr. Paton that he believed
+he was doing more real work for Tanna, by bringing the Aniwans to a
+knowledge of the truth and thus fitting them for by-and-bye spreading
+the Gospel among the Tannese, than if he were now labouring alone
+among that dense mass of people. We are encouraged, therefore, to hope
+that there may be many ambassadors for Christ from this little Island,
+for the Aniwans are a superior people, and the work has made steady
+and rapid progress of late. I don’t mean that half the people are
+converted,—very far from that! There is a great deal to be done, before
+the soil is prepared even to receive the seed,—they cling so to their
+old prejudices and superstitions. I believe, to many of them, it is
+like taking a great leap into the dark to risk the anger of their gods
+by coming to the Worship. For what proof have they at first that we are
+leading them into the right way? True, they see we wish to be kind;
+but the idea of any one coming among them simply for their good is a
+doctrine they cannot understand.
+
+“We are very thankful to have so many regularly at Church; and Mr.
+Paton possessed a great advantage in being able to address them from
+the first in Tannese, which some of them speak freely,—hence the double
+hope of training them as helpers for Tanna. You would be surprised
+to see with what propriety the Services are conducted. The Native
+Teachers, two devoted men from Aneityum who have been here for years,
+try to give short speeches. Then Mr. Paton usually invites one or
+other of the more enlightened of the Aniwans to speak, which he does
+by invariably pitching into his brethren in the most energetic terms,
+comparing them to pigs, dogs, serpents, etc., the speaker not generally
+including himself, and asking how long they mean to continue their
+‘black-hearted conduct’?
+
+“They are never at a loss for a text, and for a long time after we came
+it sounded to me something like ‘Missi Paton and Teapots.’ I supposed
+it to be, ‘Missi Paton _versus_ Teapots,’ but by-and-bye I discovered
+that it was not Teapots, but Teapolo (= Devil), against which they
+stormed. Lately they have been choosing more sacred subjects, generally
+a repetition of what they have heard from Mr. Paton before, or been
+helping him to translate during the week. Last Sabbath, we were much
+struck with the gentle, persuasive tones of the old Chief who was
+addressing them. Mr. Paton noted down two words he did not remember
+having heard before, and asked for the translation after worship.
+The man took him by the hand and said in Tannese, ‘Missi, I was only
+telling them what you have been teaching us all this time about Jesus
+pouring out His blood to wash away all our sins!’
+
+“Taia, and Namakei the Chief, two of our firmest friends, give very
+telling speeches sometimes. The former is a tall and powerful fellow,
+quite a notoriety on account of his loquacious powers. He has a great
+deal of ready wit too; and, though he does little else but talk, it
+is wonderful what influence he exerts. Some time ago, he prevented a
+violent quarrel ending in probable bloodshed. The party who thought
+themselves insulted ran home, seized their arms, and were rushing
+past Taia’s house, where he was lying outside, basking in the sun and
+enjoying his pipe. He saw something was wrong, for they don’t continue
+the habit of carrying their arms constantly now, and he called out to
+them (of course in their own language), ‘Stop! stop! let me see what
+you are carrying. Is it the book that Missi has been busy making?’
+His sly hit set them all a-laughing, and they turned into his house;
+there he had a long and serious talk with them, and got them to give up
+the idea of fighting, at least for that day. The next being Sabbath,
+he came to Mr. Paton before the Service to ask him to let him speak;
+and, having both the offending parties present, he _did_ give it them,
+finishing up by reminding them how difficult it had been to get a
+Missionary, and how he, Taia, had gone to Aneityum to plead for more
+Native Teachers after they had murdered Nemeyan and tried to kill
+Navalak, and how he had always been careful to give them food to do
+the work of Jehovah! In that part of the speech referring to his own
+conduct, there were a few embellishments which in strict regard to
+truth might have been omitted; but his advice seemed to do good, for we
+heard no more of that quarrel.
+
+“Taia, however, does not always do as he professes, and Mr. Paton
+sometimes feels it incumbent on him to call Taia to account; but Taia’s
+equanimity is never in the least ruffled. He sits listening with his
+chin resting upon his knees, looking up now and again with a bland
+smile, saying, ‘Ah, very good talk that, Missi! Very good talk that!’...
+
+“Namakei never fails, when well, to take Mr. Paton’s Bible and lay it
+on the desk every Sabbath and Wednesday before the Service, and to
+get the people in the village assembled for worship, which we have
+every evening under a large banyan tree in the Imrai (= the public
+meeting-ground), the great place of general rendezvous, which is close
+behind our house.
+
+“I particularly enjoy this Evening Service, when all Nature is at rest
+and looks so exquisitely beautiful, everything reflecting the gorgeous
+sunsets and nothing heard but the soft rustle of the leaves and what
+Longfellow calls ‘the symphony of Ocean’. I think the Natives, too,
+are inspired with it, for none of us seem inclined to move off after
+worship, and often, but especially on Sabbath evenings, we sit still
+and sing over all our hymns. They never tire of this, being all of them
+intensely fond of music...
+
+“I was heartily amused, the first time I was called upon to perform on
+Aniwa! We had just unpacked the harmonium, one day, about a fortnight
+after our arrival. The news must have spread like wildfire; for,
+towards evening, about forty or fifty people came marching towards the
+Church (the house where we stayed till our new home was built), the
+foremost shouting in broken English, ‘Missi, make him bokis (= box)
+sing! Plenty man come hear you make him bokis sing!’
+
+“I must not omit to tell you about my peculiar charge, and a very
+pleasant one it is, I mean my own Sewing Class. Nearly fifty women
+and girls attend pretty regularly every morning, except Wednesday and
+Saturday, and we spend two hours (often more) together sewing and
+singing. They are very tractable and willing to learn, having taken
+a great fancy for sewing. I never dreamt it would be really such
+delightful work teaching them, but my heart was drawn to them from the
+first, and I will always feel grateful to them for the kindly way they
+behaved to me when I landed amongst them, timid and rather frightened
+at feeling myself the only white woman on these lonely shores....
+
+“Mr. Paton took the matter much more coolly, seeming to take for
+granted that they were all his ‘dear friends,’ though most of the men,
+really fine fellows we have since found them, thought it advisable to
+receive us with a good deal of impudence, trying how far we could be
+imposed upon! Plenty of them talk a little English, and really it was
+almost laughable to hear them telling the most monstrous lies with
+such a long innocent face, that one would suppose they believed them
+themselves, and then gravely adding, ‘That no gammon!’...
+
+“I feel the sewing, however, to be only a stepping-stone to something
+far more important. It brings me into contact with them so as to learn
+their language. I so long to be able to talk freely to them; but it is
+slow work with me! How the Apostles must have appreciated the gift of
+Tongues on the day of Pentecost! I wonder if it was accorded to their
+wives as well? It is so provoking, when you think you have mastered
+enough to venture on a little conversation with them, to see them
+looking at each other wonderingly. Some time ago, in talking to a girl,
+I plunged a little deeper than usual, thinking to astonish her with my
+wisdom, but she looked up innocently and told me she ‘did not savvy
+talk Biritania!’ I must have made awful blunders at first. But some of
+the women can talk Tannese as well as the men; and I got Mr. Paton’s
+help in any great difficulty, though he did not at all times enjoy the
+interruption, especially if the point in question turned out to be only
+about a needle and a thread, while he had been called away when setting
+up the type for our first Aniwan book!...
+
+“Before closing this long epistle, I want to tell you about our first
+Christian marriage here, especially as the Bride was decked out from
+your Emerald Hill box, last sent,—at least partly so. It was a deeply
+interesting occasion. Kahi, the bride, was one of my scholars, a
+pretty young widow of about seventeen; and Ropu, her lover, was such
+a nice fellow, too, a great favourite of Mr. Paton’s. They seemed
+really attached; but Kahi’s father-in-law demurred about giving her
+away, as he considered her still his property, having given a high
+price (present?) for her when he bought her for his son. One morning,
+however, Ropu appeared with such a number of fat pigs, that they quite
+took the old man’s heart by storm, and he declared that he might have
+her that day, if the Missi thought it was right. The Missi did not
+object, but advised them to get married in Church; and I determined
+to give Kahi a nice present, in order to tempt her young companions
+to follow her example; not a very high motive, to be sure, but if the
+prospect of a good present will induce them to alter their habits in
+regard to marriage, I have not the slightest objection that it should
+be so. It’s about the highest motive some of them can yet appreciate,
+and there is no vital principle, after all, at stake in the mere form.
+We made the event as public as the time would permit, and there was
+quite a little gathering to witness the ceremony. Poor Kahi was brought
+to me in tears; but when we put on her nice skirt and jacket, and she
+caught sight of the pretty hat which happened to be trimmed with orange
+blossom, she seemed to think she had indulged long enough in sentiment
+and dried her tears quite briskly, looking out from under her long
+eyelashes from side to side with great admiration, and when at last I
+put a glaring red handkerchief into her hand she fairly laughed aloud!
+There was a little trouble with them in Church, as they would not come
+near enough to join hands till they were pushed; and then the poor girl
+got her marriage vows repeated to her on the deafest side of her head,
+for, being too bashful or something of the sort to give the response,
+it seemed to be the public opinion that Mr. Paton was letting her off
+too easily, and the men taking up the question thundered it in such a
+manner as to elicit a pretty quick reply!
+
+ “... P.S.
+ “6th _December_.
+
+“Please send the _Dayspring_ quickly down this season; for I have found
+this morning to my horror, that the whole stock of flour has gone
+useless, and not a bit of bread shall we get till the Vessel returns!
+I suppose we are indebted to the climate and the weevil together for
+this. We have plenty of other food,—so no danger of starving.”
+
+
+(1869.)
+
+TO A LADY.
+
+... “To spend such a day as we did a few Sabbaths ago when our little
+Church of God on Aniwa was formally constituted, we felt to be worth
+more than all the sacrifices connected with our isolated life. We had
+a very good attendance, 180 being present, and an unusual solemnity
+and interest pervaded the Church throughout the whole Services. The
+Communicants, twelve in number, were arranged in rows from the platform
+to my seat, so that they occupied the space in the centre; and, as
+they stood up to answer the form of questions Mr. Paton put to them
+before receiving Baptism, you could scarcely have conceived a more
+interesting group. Vasi, our eldest member, must we think be near to
+ninety; but, aged and infirm as he is, he came every day to School with
+his spectacles on, and is one of Mr. Paton’s best writers as well as
+readers. Our old chief, Namakei, was there, with his daughter Litsi.
+She is his only child living, and is almost as great a comfort to me
+as to her father. She was the first girl who came to live with us,
+and, being the eldest on our Premises, she sets a good example to the
+others. Her devotion to Mr. Paton amounts almost to idolatry. She seems
+as if she never could be grateful enough to him for being the means
+of her conversion. But the one I felt most interest in was Namakei’s
+sister, a very gentle and delicate-looking woman. I knew what it had
+cost her to profess her faith in Jesus, and how her husband and son
+were even then jeering and laughing at her. If I had time, I could tell
+you something interesting about each of them, for of course it was our
+knowing all their little histories that made it so intensely gratifying
+a sight to us. I can remember when one began to wear clothing, when
+another cut off his long hair, and when one whom we had thought a
+very hardened character came one day with the last of his idols,
+saying,—‘Now, Missi, these are the very last. I have no more.’
+
+“It was a beautiful sight to see these all standing up neatly clothed,
+in the midst of their benighted brethren, to declare themselves on the
+Lord’s side; and more than one could witness without deep emotion.
+Never did I feel happier in any society on Earth, than when partaking
+of our Saviour’s body and blood with these dark Sisters and Brothers,
+now united with me in Jesus. It was a day long to be remembered. I
+trust it will be so even in Eternity, with thanksgiving. Our dear
+friend and sister Missionary, Mrs. McNair, was with us, paying a
+long-promised visit; and I felt so glad she happened to be here at the
+time, for she says she never witnessed a more beautiful and affecting
+spectacle. We have every reason to hope that the true work of grace is
+begun in their hearts. Mr. Paton had much satisfaction in them while
+attending his Candidates’ Class; and their own earnest inquiries were
+what delighted him most. How often have we had cause to set up our
+Ebenezer since coming to this far-off land; and this is but a small
+beginning, yet we have most emphatically reason to thank the Lord and
+take courage....
+
+“Mungaw was so disgusted at having to wear a kilt, that I did not dare
+to mention about cutting his long hair; and Mr. Paton does not wish the
+Natives to be forced to these things, for he always says that, when
+their hearts are changed, they will be sure to give up these things of
+their own accord. I know that this is very true; but as I don’t see
+that there would be any harm in having the short hair first, I coaxed
+Mungaw to cut his, and he looks very much more civilized.
+
+“We have a gathering of boys now on the Premises; for Mungaw had not
+been installed into his office two days, before a few others came and
+asked quite humbly that they might be allowed to do something for the
+Missi. We were truly amazed as well as gratified at this unexpected
+proposal; for the boys here, as a rule, are the idlest and most
+impudent set I ever saw. They seem to be the ‘masters’ too, for no one
+thinks of contradicting a boy. Of course, Mr. Paton told them that he
+was very glad to have them come, as he wanted to teach them a great
+deal they ought to know. They are really doing tolerably well, and
+I feel so thankful to have a man-cook, as there are so many things
+connected therewith that men or boys require to do and that they will
+not do to help a _woman_; for instance, chopping wood and black-leading
+the stove....
+
+“The _Dayspring_ is a great blessing to us all. There is little fear
+of any Missionary now on the most savage Islands being ill-treated,
+if they see that he is well looked after. Of course, I mean ‘humanly
+speaking,’ the fear is _nil_; and if we be kept in safety, and our
+work in the end begins to prosper, that dear little Vessel and her
+supporters have more to do with it all than might by some be imagined.
+Two of our Natives, one of them the wildest character on Aniwa, were
+engaged by Captain Fraser to go as boat’s crew, the trip before last;
+and they came back in ecstasies, declaring there was never such a
+Captain as the one on board the _Dayspring_. He was so kind and good to
+them, for when they came to any Island without a Missionary, he would
+not let them go on shore for fear of being killed, and that would have
+damaged our work on Aniwa. Then they counted on their finger ends, with
+great glee, the things they had received in payment; and as these are
+good and useful articles, it engenders a love for such things instead
+of the paint and stuffs they get from the Traders, while their huge
+ambition for sailing and sight-seeing is gratified.”
+
+
+(1874.)
+
+TO THE FAMILY CIRCLE
+
+“MY DEAREST MOTHER, SISTERS, AND BROTHERS,— ... I must, however, arrive
+at Aniwa more by degrees, as this is to be the journalistic Family
+Epistle, and you have heard nothing of us since we left Sydney on
+the 4th April, with dear Dr. Steele on board, who seemed like a link
+between us and Civilization. I felt ‘strong to go,’ as our Natives
+would express it, for I realized as I never before had done the ‘Lo,
+I am with you,’ and some of God’s dear ones with whom we had had such
+precious Christian fellowship were with us till the last....
+
+“We had finished up at Fotuna soon after breakfast; and how intensely
+delighted we were to hear the Captain’s cheery voice shouting out that
+we would be able to have a drink of milk at Aniwa to-morrow morning,
+as the wind was fair. We had all packed up in the afternoon, and the
+first sight which greeted me, on looking out at my port-hole next
+morning, was the trees and rocks of dear old Aniwa! The first boat was
+sent ashore with eight or nine Fotunese and their cumbrous baggage,
+who had insisted on coming to visit our Island, rather to the disgust
+of the Captain. Meantime we were having our breakfast, and Mr. Arthur,
+the mate, brought back word that our Natives were in a-state of great
+delight and excitement,—dear Yawaci making the younger girls fly round
+their work,—also that our six cows had increased to ten, and that our
+goats no man could number! He had also heard that a number of our
+Natives had died, and some had been taken away by Traders.
+
+“When we neared the shore, we could see that the great majority of the
+people had turned out, and even the very cattle and goats been brought
+to meet us! There were my girls, standing in a group in bright pink
+dresses, sewed and shaped by themselves, and turkey-red turbans, and in
+short, by one and another of the Natives all the colours of the rainbow
+were well represented. Not one person, I am thankful to say, was
+_without clothing_. True, some of their garments were ragged and scanty
+enough,—still they had them, and it was almost more than we expected
+from some of them, after being away from them so long. They do _so_
+love to run naked!
+
+“What a shaking of hands, and ‘Alofa’-ing there was! Two or three
+little groups were sitting apart sobbing for their dead; indeed, they
+firmly believed that if we had been on the Island to attend to them
+they would not have died. When we reached the house, everything looked
+beautiful and the ground so well kept, new coral on the walks, a fine
+new mat on the dining-room floor and another on the lobby, and last,
+but not least in the estimation of weary sea-voyagers,—a great jug
+of new goat’s milk! When Dr. Steele and Mr. Robertson made playful
+speeches about our Home-coming before drinking it, I could most truly
+say, even after all the enjoyment and kindness of the Colonies and
+delightful Christian fellowship with kindred spirits there,—‘Home,
+sweet Home, no place like Home.’...
+
+“Amidst all my hurry, however, I had five minutes alone by my little
+Lena’s grave. The beautiful white coral was blackened, but the grass
+and shrubs had grown, and the lemon branches with their bright fruit
+were bending over and shading it beautifully. How naturally one looks
+_up_ to the blue sky above, and wonders where the spirit is, or if she
+can see the mourning hearts below. She would have been running on her
+own little feet now, had she been on Earth; but though my heart aches
+for her still, I would not have it otherwise, for she was not sent in
+vain, and oh, what a little _teacher_ she has been! When John took Dr.
+Steele to see the grave, he said,—‘You have thus taken possession’; and
+I felt we had taken possession of more through her than that little
+spot of ground on Aniwa....
+
+“Our visitors and Vessel left us in the afternoon, and on my return
+from seeing them off (John was too exhausted to go), I met a very nice
+man, one of the Church members, who stopped me and said,—‘Missi, I’ve
+given my boy up to you and Missi the man, and you’re to feed and clothe
+and teach him, as you do the other children.’ I could hardly believe my
+ears, and you would need to know how boys are prized here to appreciate
+as we did the sacrifice made,—at least as John did, for I must confess
+that the thought of their bodily sustenance comes between me and the
+fervent thanksgiving of my earnest little man for ‘another soul being
+added to our care!’ We’ve got ten of these souls, with bodies attached,
+at the present time, besides several outsiders who come during the day,
+and it taxes all my ingenuity to keep them in work and ‘Kai-Kai,’—their
+capacity for the latter being of no mean order. Their clothes are no
+concern beyond the making of them, and that they soon learn to do for
+themselves; for we have always been abundantly supplied from kind
+Mission friends.... Although I _do_ sometimes think how nice it would
+be to be in Civilization with a small house of our own and with the
+care of only one or two servants at most, yet we are more than re-paid
+for all our love to these dear Darkies. They are just like our very
+children, and such we always call them, and they are so confiding and
+loving with us and tell us everything, especially the elder girls, who
+have lived with us now for more than five years.
+
+“By the way, we have just had an _affaire de cœur_ amongst them, and
+as Hutshi is the young lady, you will be interested to hear. You
+know she was given away, when an infant, by her parents, to Nelwang,
+another infant about the same age, but who is now one of the best and
+most intelligent boys on the Island,—the only drawback being that his
+limbs are rather diseased, and he is so fearfully timid that he won’t
+let John apply anything to cure them. Well, when we were in Sydney, a
+middle-aged man, a returned labourer, whose betrothed wife is yet a
+baby, came trying to curry favour with Hutshi’s guardians (her parents
+are dead long ago) by bringing them large presents, and finally got
+them talked over to give him Hutshi when she returned with us,—so it
+was settled, only awaiting her and our consent. Now, her guardian has
+always been most honourable with us. He gave up Hutshi to us, when
+she was of the greatest use in his village (but I took care to let
+her go and help them pretty often), and when we asked if she might go
+with us to the Colonies, he and his wife said,—‘She is more your child
+than ours, Missi; do as you like.’ So, when they explained matters to
+John one evening in the study, and said that both Hutshi and Nelwang
+were agreeable to the change, he felt he could not interfere much, but
+warned them not to be too rash and to ask God about it.
+
+“Hutshi, the mischief, flirted with her new admirer when she could
+get a chance, and I felt it would be a great relief to have her
+married; but we could see, from Nelwang’s looks (he is one of our
+boys), that there was a pain at his heart. I set him a piece of work
+in the dining-room one day, and, sitting down to help him, got all
+his confidence. The poor boy’s heart was breaking, and he wound up by
+saying,—‘I can’t tell _them_ my heart, Missi, for they would but laugh,
+and I am only one; but if my father had been alive, they would not have
+_dared_ to give Hutshi away before my eyes.’ Seeing his lady-love,
+however, who at that moment came in at the open window and evidently
+comprehended matters, he tossed his head proudly and said,—‘It’s very
+good that she takes him!’
+
+“John and I espoused Nelwang’s cause from that moment, and he soon
+found an opportunity for saying a word on his behalf. I also got Hutshi
+alone, and told her what Nelwang had said. She replied that she did not
+know what to do, as they were all urging her to take Sarra (the new
+lover); but she said,—‘I would cry more to give up Nelwang than that
+old fellow!’
+
+“She came to me the other day, and said she had finally made up her
+mind to keep by Nelwang. I answered,—‘But I thought, Hutshi, you seemed
+for the while to prefer the other.’ ‘Yes, Missi,’ she replied, ‘when
+everybody was praising him and telling me to take him, I thought it
+would be nice; but Nelwang and I have had a talk. We told each other
+what our dead parents said about our being married when we were big,
+and then we both cried, and we are going to be true to each other!’ So,
+you see, there is sentiment in blacks as well as whites!...
+
+“Here I am at the end of my fourth sheet, and have not even begun to
+tell you of the nice Ladies’ Meeting we had at Aniwa, or the lively
+time we have had with visitors ever since the Vessel returned with the
+Missionaries on board for the annual Synod....
+
+“That was a refreshing visit on the return of the Vessel from the
+Synod; and we had a cheery houseful, for in addition to our four
+husbands, whom as canny Scots say, ‘we were _not sorry_’ to see after a
+three weeks’ absence, Mr. and Mrs. Inglis and Dr. Steele (the latter to
+remain with us) came and stayed from the Saturday till the Monday,—the
+vessel going out to sea with the rest of the Missionaries, who declared
+it would kill me outright to have any more! Those who came tried to
+make me promise just to give them a pillow and a blanket on the floor,
+but we got them snugly stowed away in beds and on sofas, and we so
+enjoyed their society. It is especially delightful to hear their voices
+mingling in the Psalm at Family Worship. It makes one think of the
+great company of the redeemed, singing the ‘New Song.’
+
+“The Sabbath was such a blessed day too, and it was quite an event in
+the Church history of Aniwa to see six Missionaries on the platform,
+and five ladies in the Missionary’s pew. Mr. Inglis preached at the
+first service, Mr. Annand at the second (John of course translating),
+good Gospel truth; and Dr. Steele gave us a _white_ sermon in
+the evening in the drawing-room, upon the ‘Prayer of Jabez.’ The
+language was very beautiful, and the Doctor suited himself to his
+audience,—leaving out his appeal to _unconverted Sinners_!...
+
+“Every one in the house is asleep, and my eyes will hardly keep open;
+so I must say Good-night to you all, with heart’s love from your
+ever-loving daughter and sister,
+
+ “MAGGIE WHITECROSS PATON.”
+
+
+(1875.)
+
+TO THE FAMILY CIRCLE.
+
+ “MY DEAREST SISTERS AND BROTHERS,—
+
+“If I could only put one of the Earthquakes we’ve had into this journal
+it would produce a sensation,—descriptions seem so very tame after one
+has experienced the awful feelings they produce! But I must begin and
+go forward as best I can, there being no possibility of gratifying you
+in that direction.
+
+“You know, it was not till very near the time of the Vessel’s sailing
+that we decided last year to remain; and I sent my last ‘Journal’ on
+board with an aching heart. We had been so nearly going to see our
+precious boys, and till I saw the _Dayspring_ slowly disappear in the
+distance I did not know how intensely my heart had been set upon seeing
+them!...
+
+“To crown all, John got very ill, and sunk so low we feared he might
+not live to see the return of the _Dayspring_. But all the time I had
+an inward conviction that God had not kept him on Aniwa just to die,
+after giving us such encouragement to remain, and we had waited so
+confidingly upon Him just to show us the way. And He did not keep us
+long in suspense, for one event transpired after another to show how
+wisely we had been guided.
+
+“The first of these happened about a month after the vessel left, and
+as John was slowly recovering from his illness. We heard, one lovely
+day, as I was setting the copies for afternoon School (I managed to
+keep it going all the time), a cry of ‘Sail O!’ which set us all into
+a fine pitch of excitement. School was the last thing to be thought
+of, and the Natives scampered off towards the other end of the Island,
+where the vessel lay. John was unable to walk so far; but you may
+be sure we were quite on the _qui vive_ for news, and I waylaid the
+first returning Native, who shouted to me in Aniwan, ‘Missi, what _do_
+you think has happened? A whole shipload of Tannese, men, women, and
+children, have been driven off their own Island by war, and have come
+over to live on this little Island, because the Worship is strong,
+and they know they are safe. They are many in number for the people
+of Aniwa; and where are we to get food for them, Missi? for they had
+to escape at night with what little baggage they could bring in the
+vessel.’
+
+“Another Native soon arrived with letters from Mr. and Mrs. Neilson,
+confirming the report, and we were rather dumbfounded at this turn of
+events; but, like most of the other Missionaries, when they heard of
+it, we were also deeply impressed with God’s mysterious ways. Tanna was
+the Island upon which John’s whole heart was set; and it was one of the
+bitterest disappointments of his life when the Mission Synod would not
+allow him to return there, instead of coming to Aniwa nine years ago;
+but we both felt we were following God here, and now He had brought
+the Tannese to Aniwa; for those who had come were from around Port
+Resolution, and some of them were John’s old friends!
+
+“Some of the Islanders themselves were as much struck with the event
+as we were. And at last Mission Synod, Mr. Neilson amused all the
+Missionaries by giving the outline of a speech made upon the occasion
+by one of the Aneityumese Teachers on Tanna, apt as all Natives are
+in drawing illustrations from daily life to point their addresses on
+Sabbath. He took the story of Joseph for his subject, and made out
+‘Missi Paton’ to be Joseph driven from Tanna by his wicked brethren the
+Tanna men, but that God had gone with him to Egypt, _alias_ Aniwa, and
+prospered him and the land for his sake, and prepared it for them to go
+and live upon, and thus save much people alive!...
+
+“John immediately set to work revising his Tannese, which he had
+well-nigh forgotten, so that when the Tanna gentry declined to come
+to Church he was soon able to go to them and first read his addresses
+and then preach to them in Tannese. How it did remind us of the early
+Aniwan days, when our worthy parishioners used to enjoy a pipe or a
+nap, as they lay on their backs listening to the sermon!...
+
+“The Hurricane began in earnest about noon on January 14th, after a
+heavy thunderstorm which had blackened the air all the morning. As we
+sat at dinner the wind suddenly became furious; we had to jump up and
+make preparations, as the house was shaking and creaking, the thatch
+standing on end, and the rain pouring in. Immediately trees, fences,
+etc., began to occupy a horizontal position; so the children and I took
+refuge in the Study, which seemed to stand firmer than the rest of
+the house, and from the windows watched the progress of the storm,—a
+magnificent sight, tall trees bending and falling before the awful
+force of the wind. John came in greatly dejected, saying that if it
+continued much longer the Church would go, as it was already bending,
+notwithstanding its being so strongly propped. There was a lull just
+then in the storm, which cheered me; but his more experienced eye led
+him to pronounce it the stillness that precedes a great storm, it
+was still so black and ominous. And sure enough, just before dark, a
+terrific blast sent us flying down to the Cellar, our usual place of
+refuge.
+
+“John and a couple of the girls made a final attempt to get into the
+house for one or two loaves, and whatever else they could grab,—we
+were now awfully hungry, having been so unceremoniously interrupted at
+our dinner. My faithful little cook was precipitated into the Cellar
+before a great blast, puffing and panting and holding on to a kettle of
+boiling water, which was an unexpected luxury in the circumstances. So
+we managed to make a very jolly meal off the top of a box; and all our
+stores being in the Cellar, we got hold of a tin of salmon.—the girls
+had thoughtfully brought a great basin of milk for the children,—and
+when F. found we were all to eat the salmon out of one plate, his joy
+knew no bounds, and he stuck his fork into the biggest bit in the dish,
+which proved too large for his wee mouth, causing great merriment!
+
+“The storm raged till midnight, when we were all thankful to get up to
+our beds, and found our own room, fortunately, the only habitable part
+of the house. But oh, what utter desolation the morning light revealed!
+Our fine large Church a mass of ruins, with one great pillar standing
+solitary and upright through the rubbish against the clear blue sky.
+The School House in the same condition, at the other side of the
+_Imrai_ (= public meeting ground). With the exception of our cook-house
+and printing-office, not an outhouse was left standing on the Mission
+Premises; but oh, how thankful we felt that our dwelling-house stood
+secure, as John was in no condition to have attempted building another.
+Not even a pane of glass was broken, though of course the roof could
+not escape, and consequently everything was soaked. The day proved
+fortunately very hot, and we got all the mats lifted, and mattresses,
+blankets, etc., washed and dried. The pigs were in their glory, running
+riot over all the plantations, and I am sure if they could have spoken
+they would have said in Scotch, ‘It’s an ill wind that blaws naebody
+guid!’
+
+“Almost every Native on the Island was at work before daylight at his
+fences; dwelling-houses—and there were not a dozen standing uninjured
+on the Island—being left till the plantations were secured. School
+duties were not even thought of. It was so sad to see the destruction
+of food,—fine large breadfruit and cocoa-nut trees torn up by the
+roots, and bananas with the fruit half formed lying useless on the
+ground. But the greatest lamentation seemed to be about the _Tafari
+Moré_ (= House of Worship), though the general Public were complacently
+viewing it as a judgment from ‘_Teapolo_’ (= His Satanic Majesty,
+in Aniwan), for their being ‘so strong for the Worship.’ This is a
+popular error; and John guarded them against it next Sabbath, preaching
+an impressive sermon from the text, ‘Labour not for the meat which
+_perisheth_,’—rather _apropos_ to the occasion!...
+
+“It was altogether a sad time, that, for we had been so tried with
+Hutshi, the girl I had last time with us in Australia, and who turned
+out a complete _vixen_; the first of my girls, I am thankful to say,
+who has not turned out well. She was married to one of our best young
+lads, and went quite gracefully through the whole affair—I think I
+wrote you all about it before—but all the while she was dying for my
+handsome young cook, who is engaged to the little table-maid. She
+began, soon after the marriage, to persecute her husband and flirt
+with the other, going from bad to worse, notwithstanding all we could
+say to her; and one day she behaved so frightfully, that, when we
+were told of her guilt, John and I sank down on the nearest seats,
+perfectly overpowered with disappointment and horror. I could hardly
+have believed that any woman, either black or white, could have so
+deliberately planned to lead others so young and innocent into sin.
+
+“The young Chief came to ask John how she ought to be punished, as
+something would have to be done; but he hesitated to give advice, never
+having been called upon to legislate in a similar case, being indeed
+too vexed to collect his thoughts; only he strongly forbade them to
+shoot her, as one or two of the enraged fathers proposed, and advised
+them to be guided by the Aneityumese Teachers, two wise Christian men
+from Mr. Inglis’s Station. They said that the punishment inflicted on
+Aneityum by the Chiefs was to tie up the guilty parties, collect all
+the goods of those most deeply involved, and distribute them among the
+people at the other side of the Island, so as not to tempt those around
+to bring false accusations against neighbours for the sake of their
+property.
+
+“This was accordingly done in the case of Hutshi; and we had an
+invitation to be present at the ceremony, which we declined, as John
+told them it was better he should not be too much mixed up in these
+things. The only way in which he did interfere was to shorten the time
+to _three_ hours, instead of the twenty-four they were determined to
+keep her tied, and which, in my opinion, she richly deserved! Two
+or three Tannese happened to arrive at her village before she was
+unloosed, and expressed their disgust at the consequences entailed by
+the Worship, saying they could have as much ‘fun’ on Tanna as they
+liked without being punished for it. But one of our Aniwans answered,
+with a sly wink at his neighbours, that bad as the Worship might be, it
+had at least not driven them from their own land!...
+
+“I wish I could say that was the last of the trouble we had with
+Mistress Hutshi; for she professed great repentance, and sent one of
+the girls, two or three weeks afterwards, to say she wanted to tell me
+all her badness, as that would make her feel better. She had not been
+allowed to come near the Mission Premises, nor had we since taken any
+notice of her. We had very little faith in the young lady’s repentance,
+but feared to crush any yearning after amendment, if it _did_ exist;
+and I thought that God might give me a word for her. So we had a long
+interview; but I felt all the time there was no change in her, as was
+immediately proved, for she went back tossing her head and telling the
+others they might talk as much as they liked, she didn’t care, for the
+Missi was quite satisfied with her now!
+
+“She did not improve, but the Church members round kept such a watch
+upon her that she did not do anything very flagrant. She did, however,
+lead her husband a miserable life; and I never believed that a Native
+could have borne with patience what he did; at last, being able to
+stand it no longer, he came to bid us Good-bye, saying he was going to
+live about three miles distant (it was as far away almost as he could
+get on Aniwa, either in one direction or the other, as his lady-love
+lived close to us in the centre of the Island!) and that he freely
+bestowed her upon any man who might be fool enough to take her, as
+henceforth he would have nothing to do with her.
+
+“She had, out of pure bravado, professed to elude their vigilance and
+implicated a Tanna man, as well as Rangi (the wildest man on Aniwa),
+who both proved their innocence. Perhaps Rangi agreed with me that he
+had enough sins of his own to account for without being blamed for
+what he really did not do; and being an out and out Savage in his
+disposition, we feared trouble when he came with all the Tanna men at
+his heels to inquire about it one morning after her husband had left
+her. We little expected, however, the scene there really was enacted,
+right outside our gate too, for it was there Rangi caught hold of her.
+She gave one spring to John for protection, but the gate was between
+them, and Rangi wrenched her from it, and the savage yells that got up
+nearly sent me frantic with terror.
+
+“John stood leaning carelessly against the gate, viewing it all—the
+calmest person there! He felt that his presence would be a sufficient
+check, though it would have been folly to interfere. My girls
+were groaning and crying; and Yawaci (the girl I have here) was
+unconsciously doing her best to wrench the handles off the dining-room
+door in her despair, groaning out, “Missi, blood will be spilt!” while
+I was on my knees in the middle of the floor calling upon God to
+interfere. But my little F. stopped me, saying, “Mamma, Mamma, I don’t
+like to see you look up and talk like that! Are you ill?” So I tried
+to be myself again to the wee man, and felt comforted in having left
+the case with the Lord. Only I _must_ see Rangi, though I had very
+slender hope of influencing him; and I put my careful husband into a
+fine consternation, as he would rather have seen an apparition than
+me coming on such a scene. I had only a very dim notion, then, of his
+gestures and entreaties, being deaf and blind to everything except
+Rangi, who came nearest my idea of a _demon_ of anything I had ever
+seen!
+
+“The poor girl was tied, with her arms backward, to a cocoa-nut tree,
+pale with terror, and a hundred muskets bristling round her. The
+Tannese were in full Heathen costume, which means paint instead of
+clothing; and the Church members stood calmly, like John, looking on,
+except two or three of them, who kept guard around her with loaded
+muskets for her defence from murder, if necessary. Her life was all
+they or we wished to see spared, for she richly deserved any punishment
+short of death. I caught Rangi’s eye at last. At a sign he came quietly
+forward, and I began to tell him he should not dare to shoot my girl,
+but being too excited I ended in sobs and was marched off,—but not
+before Rangi earnestly assured me that he would not touch a hair of her
+head, or let any one else do it, only, he said, she deserved to be tied
+and ought to be well beaten for blackening his character! We could not
+keep from smiling, even in the excitement, at Rangi’s care for _his_
+reputation, which was truly as black as it well could be.
+
+“Well, here was mistress Hutshi practically put up for public sale;
+for, according to Native law, whoever dared to unloose her from that
+tree had to take her for his wife, her husband having renounced all
+claim to her. Rangi reminded them of this when he tied her up, saying
+that the Missi only could alter that law if he wished. The Missi did
+not feel inclined to do any such thing, having devoutly wished her at
+Jericho ever since she commenced her pranks, as she was proving a curse
+to the place, and now only hoped that the most tyrannical unmarried
+man on the Island would take her off bodily as far away as the limited
+circumference of Aniwa would permit (so did the Church members); but
+for John to _say_ so would only be the beginning of mischief. He was so
+anxious they would not appeal to him for advice, for we both felt that
+for her Native law was the best. But though a score of young men would
+have gone down on their knees for her before she was married, there she
+stood for about three hours without a single bidder!
+
+“John had got the whole crowd dispersed to go and cut wood for the lime
+pits (you know he is of a rather practical turn of mind and likes to
+utilize the most unlikely occasions), which they did with great energy,
+having the steam up; so she was left alone, as the women had all to
+run and cook food. I had a grand donation for the labourers besides
+the tea, that day, as we had a calf killed the evening before, and I
+was giving orders about it when I saw John waving me to the study with
+such an amused face. It seems that Hutshi’s _old_ sweetheart had rushed
+to him in eager haste, saying, ‘Missi, I never will have such a chance
+for a wife! Will you marry me to Hutshi, if I untie her?’ John said he
+certainly could not, and that if he took her it must be _à la Native_,
+and that he would have to discontinue his attendance at the Candidates’
+Class, of which he was a member. He explained, at the same time, that
+it was not like running away with another man’s wife, as her behaviour
+(which in Britain would have divorced her) had led her husband to give
+her up; only that, for the sake of example, he could not countenance
+such proceedings on the part of intending Communicants. Sarra said,
+in that case he would have nothing to do with her. But, alas, female
+influence prevailed, and he unloosed her an hour or two after, amid the
+Hurrahs of the passers-by and our intense though secret delight; for
+though Sarra is obliged to confess he has ‘caught a Tartar,’ yet he
+manages to keep her in tolerable check, being a determined fellow.
+
+“We heartily re-echoed the sentiments of one of our Church members,
+when speaking of Hutshi, viz., ‘that it was awful what a _woman_ could
+do, when she was bent upon mischief!’ Indeed, according to the Natives,
+we have her, along with the two murderers, to thank for those awful
+Earthquakes which nearly frightened us out of our senses, though on
+Aniwa very little damage accrued from them.
+
+“The first, at least the first to speak of, occurred near midnight on
+the 28th March (the second anniversary of our Lena’s birth), and woke
+us up with a vengeance, being the worst we ever had, the Earth heaving
+so awfully that we expected every moment to be swallowed up, and were
+almost paralyzed with terror, but M. and F. slept through it all. After
+it, _a tremendous_ rush of the sea seemed to take place, from the noise
+it made, and which we found next morning was the case, carrying our
+boat from where it lay, high and dry about one hundred yards inland,
+also canoes, two of which were smashed.
+
+“I lay in awful terror after the Earthquake till three o’clock, and
+was dropping off to sleep, when another terrible one sent us flying
+out of the house in our night gowns, John dragging the children out of
+their beds, and the girls rushing out of their house. There was not a
+breath of wind, and it was awful to see in the bright moonlight the
+great trunks of the trees swaying back and forward, and to feel the
+ground going to and fro with such force. We had one or two slight ones
+after that, and then just at daybreak an awful repetition,—every one
+of us simultaneously rushing out of doors! This was number _five_; and
+before breakfast we went to see the damage done to the boat (but it was
+uninjured); and we had two more violent shocks ere we got home, making
+_seven_ in all before breakfast, after which we had a commotion of
+another kind.
+
+“John felt so exhausted, and had just got fast asleep on the study sofa
+(a most unusual occurrence with him), when I heard high words between
+Taia, one of our Church members, and Nalihi, an Erromangan. I knew not
+what to do, for Natives never waste time on high words—they at once
+rush to arms; and I was unwilling to wake John to more excitement, as
+it was exactly that day two years since he had been seized with that
+awful fever, and I had been in fear of its return, as people predicted
+it would, about the same time of the year. Well, I actually made up my
+mind to show my wifely devotion,—and it was a good test for me, I beg
+leave to say, I always had such a foolish terror of a loaded musket
+anywhere, and infinitely more so in the hands of an enraged Savage,—by
+going between the combatants myself. To make matters worse, all the
+men about had gone that morning to bring lime-coral, and only a few
+women had collected, and one or two timid fellows who stood at a safe
+distance.
+
+“Nalihi was flourishing his musket in Taia’s face, as an accompaniment
+to an eloquent harangue he was delivering in Erromangan, not being able
+to speak Aniwan; and Taia, who understood and could speak it perfectly,
+seemed to be paying him back with interest. They subsided for a few
+moments, when it was whispered the Missi was there; but on finding that
+it was only the ‘Missi finé,’ they went at it with renewed vigour. I
+took no notice of the Erromangan, knowing my only chance was with Taia;
+so I went over to him, and implored him not to utter another word,
+whatever provocation he might receive; and though reluctant at first,
+he behaved nobly and stood what I think few white men would have done
+in the circumstances. I kept close beside him all the time, and though
+for three quarters of an hour that villain stood heaping insults upon
+him, and at last, in his rage, cut down his bananas and fences before
+his eyes, he never spoke, though his muscles twitched and he clutched
+at his great club sometimes—one that I knew had done good (?) service
+in Heathen days under the great brawny arms that wielded it; for Taia
+is a perfect Hercules, and such a contrast to the little treacherous,
+sharp-nosed Erromangan, who was dying for an excuse to get a shot at
+him. When I thought Taia was going to give way, I put my cold white
+paw (it _did_ feel so cold) on his black arm, and every time I did so
+he turned and looked down at me with a grim smile, saying, ‘Don’t fear,
+Missi, I’ll not speak.’
+
+“Now I maintain, that though John sometimes fears Taia’s Christianity
+is not of the highest type, yet he is undoubtedly a _perfect
+gentleman_, or he would not have stood there, the greatest living
+orator on Aniwa, silent at the bidding of any woman! When I saw the
+good food being destroyed and so little left from the Hurricane,
+indignation mastered every other feeling, and I felt it was high time
+for John to interfere with Nalihi; as no one else dared to speak to
+him, except master F., who had, by the way, found us out just then,
+and proceeded without hesitation to deal with him in plain terms. His
+little figure heaved with indignation, and he drew such a long breath
+before calling out, ‘O you naughty, _naughty_ man! You’re a wicked man!
+Jehovah, _so_ angry at you!’ Every one was so amused, and a general
+titter went round, while Nalihi, with whom F. had been a favourite,
+began vigorously to defend himself to the child in broken English, at
+the same time wielding his axe to some purpose amongst Taia’s bananas.
+So, feeling my own strength would not hold out much longer, I sped
+off and brought John, who quietly went up to Nalihi and relieved him
+of his musket and axe (Oh, I was glad to see that musket in dear old
+John’s trusty fingers, for Nalihi held it in a horizontal position, and
+it always _would_ point at me the whole time I stood there!) clapped
+him on the shoulder and had him sobbing like a child in a minute and
+offering payment to Taia for the damage done, which, however, Taia was
+too seriously offended to receive, and I do not wonder at it.
+
+“The crowd began to disperse, and John was taking Nalihi off for a
+day’s work under his own eye, in case of his coming in contact with
+Taia again, when I put a graceful finish to the proceedings by going
+off into a fainting fit under the cocoa-nut trees! John said I managed
+bravely, all except that; but I do think that after _seven_ Earthquakes
+and such a scene, I had a good right to get up some demonstration, and
+it was the first I ever perpetrated for the public benefit!
+
+“We had three more Earthquakes that day, but slight, making _ten_ in
+all; and I took care at night to provide for emergencies by putting a
+supply of blankets on the verandah, as there is not a moment to snatch
+clothes when they come, and we had felt chilly the night before. I
+got laughed at for what was termed my needless precaution; but we had
+hardly got into our first sleep, when another violent Earthquake turned
+us out, and we were thankful for them. It was not so bad as some,
+however, and we got a sleep till morning without further disturbance,
+as the grand performance did not come off till next evening at nine
+o’clock.
+
+“John was busy in the bath-room, with the girls, damping paper for next
+day’s printing, I was in the dining-room, jotting in my journal the
+events of the day, when we all had to rush out with the most frightful
+Earthquake that had yet taken place. The house danced, the windows
+rattled awfully, and F. woke up with the first of it screaming in
+terror, but M. took it more gently, telling him it was _nice_. It might
+have been nice to feel ourselves rocked on the bosom of mother Earth
+(we lay down on the ground at a safe distance from the house, which we
+expected to fall every moment), could we have been sure she would not
+open up and receive us into a closer embrace!
+
+“The heaving must, I think, have continued nearly five minutes, and
+we had just got into the house again, still trembling with agitation,
+when a terrible gust of wind and roar of the sea half prepared us
+for the shouting of the Natives, who called to us that the sea had
+actually come close to our gate! We went out and found Natives up to
+the waist in water, where it had been bush two or three minutes before.
+We heard something flapping, and Yawaci picked up a large fish about
+twelve feet from our gate; and as the tidal wave receded, they were
+left in hundreds, which the Natives spent most of that night and next
+day in gathering. An enormous turtle was found too among a lot of
+_débris_,—‘Jehovah’s turtle,’ the Natives called it, owing to the way
+in which it was found.
+
+“No serious accident occurred from the wave on our Island, as in most
+of the others, though some Natives fishing at Tiara were nearly carried
+away, and our boat which lay at anchor there was lifted, anchor and
+all, and carried a long way inland, but to a sandy place, where it got
+no damage; yet not a canoe, if I remember rightly, was left whole.
+
+“From that time we had a constant succession of Earthquakes, and were
+kept in continual dread, though none of them so violent as those I have
+mentioned. We had to sleep with our doors open, and at last John went
+to bed in his clothes to be ready to run! I suppose you have heard
+that the tidal wave swept right through Mr. Inglis’s, doing terrible
+damage and half drowning them, and the Earthquakes kept knocking down
+his walls and chimneys as fast as he could rebuild them. Dr. Geddie’s
+fine Church, too, is all but destroyed. But I think the greatest damage
+done is to the nerves of the poor Missionaries’ wives (the Missionaries
+themselves would be indignant if you accused them of having any!) It is
+such an awful sensation to feel the very Earth trembling and heaving
+beneath one, and such an _eerie_ feeling comes on at night.
+
+... “I must pass over everything else that happened until we turned up
+in Civilization, and it is close upon Mail time. I would have liked to
+tell you about our pretty new Church, with its snow white walls, which
+was finished just before our beloved friends, Mr. and Mrs. Inglis, paid
+us their farewell visit, which was like to break our hearts, for they
+have been a father and mother to us and to the Mission. Our parting
+too with our Darkies was intensely trying, as we are to be away from
+them a longer visit than the last; but the society of our dear friends,
+the Murrays, was an unexpected treat, and made the voyage so pleasant
+notwithstanding the sea-sickness....
+
+“The Home Mail closes in the morning; and I must close, with fervent
+love, from your loving sister,
+
+ “MAGGIE WHITECROSS PATON.”
+
+
+(1878.)
+
+TO THE FAMILY CIRCLE.
+
+ “MY DEAREST SISTERS AND BROTHERS,—
+
+“_Sons and daughter_, I should almost have added, as the biggest half
+of our little flock are separated from Aniwa, and will as eagerly look
+for the ‘family billet’ now as the rest of you....
+
+“Now that I have sat down to write, so much comes crowding upon me
+that I hardly know where to begin; but I cannot put down a word of
+news before testifying of the Lord’s goodness to us, which has just
+been vouchsafed during this last hot season. He has encompassed us
+round as with a shield and preserved us safe and well, though from the
+day after the _Dayspring_ left for the Colonies on the 14th November
+last until the 30th March we have lived in daily—I might almost say
+_hourly_—terror of our lives. We have seen—especially John has—the rage
+of the Heathen, and passed through Earthquake and Hurricane; but all
+seems as nothing compared with coming into constant contact with an
+unrestrained _madman_, and this we have had to do with poor Mungaw....
+
+“You must not think of us as pining in solitude, however. Indeed, poor
+Mungaw took care to keep us all in lively exercise, and acted his first
+scene the day after the _Dayspring_ left for Sydney with our mails. You
+know that he married Litsi, one of my best girls (and how delighted we
+were at the time that she was getting such a good young man!), who was
+with me on my first visit to Australia from Aniwa, and you remember
+how pleased you all were with her. Well, he spent the night beating
+that gentle girl (who was near her confinement) and their little boy
+about two years of age; and when John met him in the Imrai and quietly
+remonstrated with him, he stalked off in high dudgeon; and in two
+minutes more, a tremendous crackling and roar of fire made us rush to
+the window, where we saw his nice house and all that was in it one mass
+of flame. Not content with setting it on fire, he tore off Litsi’s
+jacket and flung it in too. We quite expected that our own house would
+go, as there were only two light fences betwixt some of our outhouses
+and his, but providentially the wind carried everything the other way.
+
+“He then took Litsi and Nomaki, their little boy, to a distant village;
+and, oh! how we hoped he would remain, as Litsi had friends there,
+but back he dragged them, terror-stricken and breathless from having
+to keep pace with his tremendous strides. I sent Litsi an old jacket
+(she begged me not to send a good one, as it might go the same way),
+and a blanket to sleep or rather to roll herself in—for there was no
+sleep for any one near that night. He had threatened to murder some of
+the villagers, and was stalking round and round our Premises with his
+loaded musket; but an Aneityumese Teacher kept watch over our house all
+the night.
+
+“It so happened that next day had been appointed for a ‘Members’
+Meeting.’ These meetings are held monthly, for John to appoint them
+their work, and change it from one to another, so that it might not
+always devolve upon a few. You know there is no paid door-keeper,
+or paid service of any kind connected with the Church, so the women
+take it in turns, two by two, every Saturday morning, to clean the
+Church and enclosure. One man is appointed bell-ringer, another to
+take off and on the pulpit coverings and carry in the Bible, etc., two
+to stand at the doors and see there are no loiterers outside, and so
+forth. Cases of sickness or wickedness are also reported, and Church
+matters generally talked over. At this meeting one woman was scored
+off for absconding from her legal husband and living with another;
+and Mungaw, who came in with the greatest blandness, as if nothing
+had happened, got a thorough ‘talking to,’ and was suspended till it
+should be proved whether he was more rogue or fool—for at that time
+we could scarcely tell. That he had become decidedly cracked and his
+mind to a certain extent unhinged, no one who saw and heard him could
+doubt—especially knowing what a dear good fellow he was before; still
+he seemed sane enough at times; and when he did break out, it was more
+like being possessed with evil spirits. All his madness took the form
+of wickedness, and when he saw people afraid of him he was the more
+emboldened. It was very difficult to know how to treat him. He was
+rather cowed at the meeting, though, and kept pretty quiet till the
+full moon, while meantime we had peace to get all our machinery into
+working order again....
+
+“John has had great comfort with his big boys, however, especially
+the one we were most averse to take in,—a great ugly-looking fellow
+of about eighteen, couldn’t speak without a growl, and scowled
+at everybody from under his black wool, which hung down over his
+eyebrows. To crown all, he had been with the slavers—and that is no
+recommendation!
+
+“After keeping with our boys a day or two and coming to evening class,
+on the third evening he sent in for a blanket, as he was ‘going to
+stay.’ We looked aghast. John was for receiving him; but I was at the
+crying point, and declared I could not feed more Natives or make food
+go further than other people. John said, ‘Then am I to send him away?’
+Well, no! I was hardly prepared to do that either; so, after talking
+over it a few minutes, we felt sure the Lord had sent him; and though
+I did not feel particularly grateful at the time, I have often thanked
+Him since. We went to the blanket box, got a nice warm blanket (the
+Natives feel chilly at night), called him in, and John had a talk with
+him about certain rules, after which he took his gift with a very
+pleasant grin. He looked like a different creature with his hair cut;
+and a more faithful, helpful, warm-hearted Native lad we never had.
+In times of danger from Mungaw, he stuck by John like his shadow—no
+ostentation with it, but quietly getting some pretext for keeping close
+to him when there was any fear. A capital worker too—for John does not
+approve of keeping his boys idle, and they help him with whatever he is
+at, fencing, roofing, gardening, house-building, etc.
+
+“One day he and another big boy (a great wag—keeps the others in roars
+of laughter, and himself the picture of solemnity) had been planing
+wood very nicely, and John praised them, calling them his ‘Carpenter’
+and ‘Joiner.’ In the afternoon a slate full of writing was sent in,
+informing us that they wished from henceforth to drop their old names
+and be called ‘Carpenter’ and ‘Joiner.’ Nor would they answer to any
+other. We often forgot, at first, but were reminded by their paying
+not the slightest attention, till we came out with the new name—when
+they would instantly wheel round with a smile and be at our service!...
+
+“One day, before John was quite recovered, Mungaw put a lot of
+impudence on his copy for my special benefit. I took no notice—he
+looked so wild—but pointed out a mis-spelt word, wrote a fresh line,
+and telling him to follow it closely passed quickly on to the next
+writer. I told John, when I went in, I was sure he would do some
+mischief ere long; and just an evening or two after, we heard him
+shouting and scolding from his house in an awful voice. John limped
+off, in spite of my entreaties to let them fight it out, and found
+Mungaw flourishing an axe over a poor woman, whose husband was from
+home and who had been helping Litsi to cook his fish, but had been
+unfortunate enough not to divine that on that particular evening he
+wanted it wrapped in a different kind of leaf from what was usual.
+He had brought the axe within a few inches of her shoulder, when two
+or three Natives, attracted to the spot just before John, stayed his
+arm and wrenched it from him. He got his musket next, but poor Sibo
+and Litsi both ran to our house for protection, while John and the
+Natives tried to calm him down. They got his musket from him, and I
+saw a Teacher slip it behind a tree in our lawn; but Mungaw was sharp
+enough to notice, and got it away again when the affray was over, and
+ordered poor Litsi back to her cooking. Sibo went to a distant village
+to be out of his way, declaring she was half dead with fright; and I
+would very much have liked to get away from the Island altogether!
+John’s spirit always rises equal to the emergency, but I get perfectly
+faint with terror, and the longer the worse. This was merely a little
+prelude, however, to what followed.
+
+“Next morning he had the audacity to appear at one of the dining-room
+windows, as the girls were clearing away the breakfast things; and
+he demanded the keys from John, as he wanted to sharpen his axe at
+the grindstone. John said, ‘No, Mungaw, you’ll learn to put your axe
+to a better use first; and I want you to return the two you have of
+mine.’ He looked the picture of innocent wonder, and replied, ‘What do
+you mean, Missi?’ John replied, ‘I just mean that I want you to give
+up your bad conduct.’ ‘My bad conduct! What have I done?’ protested
+Mungaw. John said pointedly, ‘Do you not _know_, Mungaw?’ That was all
+the provocation he got; but he went off for his musket, muttering,
+‘I’ll let you know who you’re talking to.’
+
+“When he was gone, John went out to his Printing Office for something,
+and on leaving it saw Mungaw just inside our fence taking deliberate
+aim at him with his musket. John turned round to lock the door, showing
+no signs of fear, but feeling that all was over, and that he was to
+be shot down so near us all and yet none near enough to save; but God
+was watching! The next instant he heard a rush of feet, a scuffle,
+and looked round to see the musket pointed high in the air, and four
+strong arms grappling with the intended murderer. Two men had been
+accidentally (!?) coming up the path, took in the scene at a glance,
+and my husband was saved.
+
+“I knew nothing of what was passing, but, feeling restless after
+Mungaw’s parting look, went out to hurry John in for worship. I met
+him coming in, and stopped short at sight of his pale face to ask
+if he were ill, and he told me all. We had just begun to sing at
+worship, when he re-appeared flourishing his musket, trying the doors
+and windows (you may believe I had them securely fastened by this
+time), and demanding entrance. We went on, taking no notice, but the
+_celestial quaver_ was plentifully introduced into the music, and the
+girls rushed into the dining-room in great fear. Meanwhile the news had
+spread like wildfire, and the Church members near came running to order
+him out of the Premises, which only made him wilder; so they seized
+him, took him to the Imrai, and bound him hand and foot with ropes. It
+was a terrible noise and scuffle, for he had the strength of ten men,
+and yelled like a demon.
+
+“Two of his brothers so-called (not real ones) arriving on the spot,
+he thought to get up some sympathy, changed his voice to a whine, and
+bewailed his hard fate,—‘bound and persecuted for doing nothing at
+all!’ Litsi, gentle Litsi, took her boy in her arms, and walked up to
+him before the crowd, saying in a loud voice, ‘Look at the marks of
+your brutality on me and my helpless child, and say whether you deserve
+to be tied or not!’ It was an imprudent speech for her to make, poor
+girl, for which he did not forget to repay her. It was a terrible day
+for us all—poor little F. white to the lips with fear, I lying in a
+fainting state, and John walking up and down the room trying to keep up
+our spirits, and wee J.—oh! how we envied him—running about, playing
+‘Peep-bo’ in happy unconsciousness of all. The Church members feared
+that some of the wilder young fellows, whom he had been favouring of
+late, would come to his aid; but when it was known he had attacked the
+Missi, not a finger was lifted in his defence.
+
+“They did not know what to do with him, now they had him bound,—nothing
+in the shape of a prison or secure place on all the Island! They
+proposed our Cellar, but we didn’t want him quite so near as that; so
+they let him off at the end of four hours, and Litsi and little Nomaki
+took refuge with us. Mungaw got a little boy to tell him where they
+hid his musket; and, once more possessed of it, he flew all round the
+Island till towards sunset, when he divested himself entirely of his
+clothing, stuck on paint, and with musket shouldered walked sentry
+before our front gate for more than an hour. He seemed to be imitating
+the sentinels he had seen before Government House in Melbourne—a slight
+difference in the circumstances! But it was thought necessary to have a
+counter-guard over our Premises that night. The only good thing he did
+was to send his gracious permission to Litsi to stay in our house for
+the night, which she thankfully accepted.
+
+“Next morning (Sunday) he met her pleasantly, called her to speak to
+him (our fence was between them), and threw a large stone at her head,
+informing her that was the price of her yesterday’s speech. We bound
+up the deep wound and advised her to lie quiet, but she preferred
+going to Church with us as the safest plan, for he had been caught
+several times during the night stealthily approaching our house to burn
+it, as they thought. None of the villagers slept, two of their lives
+being to danger. It was a most anxious Sabbath, and we had worship
+under difficulties—guards being placed at our house and the principal
+approaches to the Church. Oh, how regretfully I thought of the peaceful
+Sabbaths and quiet walks to Church in Melbourne, none making us afraid!
+But we tried to realize that the Lord Jesus was encompassing us around,
+and that He stood between us and Mungaw. The people begged John to be
+short, as they were in terror, so we had only one Service in Church,
+and, instead of Sunday School, a prayer meeting on the Imrai. Mungaw
+employed the time during Church service in ransacking the villagers’
+boxes for ammunition, but they had it hid away; and at the prayer
+meeting he was reclining, with folded arms, eyeing us from our back
+verandah! After the prayer-meeting, John urged the different villagers
+to take it in turns to sleep near Mungaw’s house for the protection of
+Litsi who was being killed by inches, and at last they agreed; but as
+soon as we were in the house, he went and patched up a sort of peace—a
+sham to get the people away—and then abused the people near for tying
+him, and dragged Litsi home. We were half the night praying for the
+helpless girl, so completely at the mercy of that madman.
+
+“Next morning, he came into the Imrai in grand style—musket in hand,
+of course—and scolded the people, working himself up into a frenzy and
+keeping us all on the rack, for _we_ could see from one of the Study
+windows,—when, to our great joy, ‘Sail O’ rang out, and it was comical
+to see how quickly he had to subside before this counter-excitement,
+and slink away! We felt it was in answer to prayer, more especially
+when a little afterwards he stood before our gate painted frightfully,
+and told our herd-boys that he was going in the Vessel if she called
+here. How earnestly we asked the Lord to let him go, if it were His
+will, but prayed above all for submission to bear what was appointed
+us, for we had the feeling he would stay. Poor fellow! he drove us
+closer into the Saviour’s arms than all Dr. Somerville’s meetings in
+Australia, for we had Him alone to look to. Natives were kind, but not
+capable of giving much help—they rather look to us for it—and poor
+things, we did pity them, when it was known that he had bought a large
+stock of ammunition, including balls, and that he stayed behind!
+
+“It turned out to be the schooner _Daphne_ for Fiji; and the Government
+agent sent half a sovereign in a note, begging for opium, as he had
+seventy-five people on board, and one case of ‘assured sickness.’ John,
+of course, returned the money, but sent opium pills, laudanum, and
+chlorodyne, having no opium. We were glad of the opportunity of sending
+a few hurried notes, bearing a month’s later date than the _Dayspring_,
+which left on the 14th November. This is the only other Vessel that has
+called at our Island, since we returned, except the _Dayspring_....
+
+“Christmas came next in order. The little stockings had been duly
+filled the night before, as F. took care to have J.’s and his hung
+up, with dim eyes at the thought of the other three which had been
+filled the year before. It turned out to be a bright day; the bairns
+were jubilant over their gifts; and there was a general rejoicing over
+dear Litsi’s re-appearance at the Evening Class—her lord and master
+having gone out in a canoe with some boys for a night’s fishing by
+torch-light. Litsi’s face beamed at having an hour or two with us
+all, for Mungaw did not allow her over her own fence, or any one to
+go near her; and, as all the women were frightened, his commands were
+obeyed to the letter, except by us, and for her sake even I had to go
+stealthily with food (he starved her), as he beat her when he found it
+out. Our girls did not require two biddings to put a plentiful supper
+before her, and were cheering her under breath with the hope that his
+canoe might turn bottom up and he get eaten with a shark, when the
+most unearthly yell from the shore turned us all pale with terror, and
+‘Mungaw!’ was gasped from every lip. Litsi flew home, in terror lest
+he should find her _out_. The villagers seized their muskets and ran
+to protect their boys, and John and I to our knees in the Study. But
+the whole turned out to be a hoax! The boys’ canoe had upset among the
+reefs, and though they could swim like corks, and were in no danger,
+it was their pleasure thus to exercise their lungs while splashing
+about....
+
+“Mungaw made rather a sad New Year’s Day for us, though. While we were
+at breakfast, more people assembled in the Imrai and high words ensued.
+John went out to them, determined to sift the matter to the bottom;
+and at last it came out that Mungaw had gone the day before to the
+village of Towleka, and said that the people of Inahutshi were going to
+shoot them on the morrow, and then he deliberately walked to Inahutshi
+and told them the same thing about the people of Towleka. He was bent
+upon war; wanted, in his own words, ‘to see blood run.’ Burning houses,
+and he had burnt several, was becoming rather tame work; and he wanted
+something more exciting. He boastfully acknowledged the part he had
+acted the day before, declaring that if they had not _said_ they were
+going to fight they _meant_ it, which was worse—better to have it out
+and done with—why else were they carrying their muskets? This was a
+little too much for their patience, and they did lay about him with
+their tongues, saying it was he and he alone who had introduced this
+carrying of muskets, by flying about with his own and threatening to
+kill everybody. He then said, that if they were not going to fight they
+ought to come out boldly for the Worship (he certainly did not approve
+of doing things by halves), singling out by name those whom he knew to
+have little differences with each other, and ordering them to shake
+hands and exchange pigs there and then!
+
+“When John thought they’d had enough of it, for Mungaw was getting
+excited with his nonsense, he suggested that one of them should engage
+in prayer and let them then get home. A fine old Chief stood up under
+the banyan tree, and, waving his hand with a majesty a Native can
+assume at times, offered a simple, earnest prayer, and the people
+quietly dispersed. But Mungaw tried hard to get them together again,
+and insisted upon everybody being converted on the spot. He kept on
+this religious tack for about a fortnight, which was very pleasant, as
+it allowed us to sit with open windows and doors, and get fresh air and
+freedom.
+
+“One day, when he was unusually gushing and had presented a pig and
+food to the very men he had sought to murder,—his speech indicating
+that the Millennial Reign was about to commence on Aniwa under his
+auspices,—a Church member said, ‘I think, Mungaw, the people will
+understand us better, if we burn our muskets and show that we’ll not
+fight, whatever they may do; here goes mine!’ And suiting the action
+to the word, he broke and flung his musket into the flames. Mungaw
+immediately followed suit, with a grand flourish, to the intense relief
+of all around, for he was a much less formidable personage without the
+musket, though he still fancied himself a great king. He sent in for a
+black suit, and permission to conduct the Worship next Sunday, which of
+course he did not get.
+
+“John sent for him and had long talks with him; but saw it was
+little use,—he was so crazed, and thought every one in the wrong but
+himself. His standing grievance against John was—that he kept all the
+collections (!) taken at the close of Mission addresses (he insisted
+they went into his private pocket), and did not halve them with him,
+though he helped him to speak.
+
+“He never forgot the scenes he saw in that den of iniquity to which
+some wretches took him in Melbourne, under pretence of kindness, when
+John was unable from my sudden illness in the country to take him home.
+It bamboozled his then simple mind, how in a land of Gospel light such
+appliances could be deliberately and systematically set on foot for
+the on-carrying of evil. I do think, that for their light,—mind, I say
+_for their light_—our black Christianity is superior to the white. The
+Natives often said,—‘How is it, Missi, that he was so good and strong
+for the Worship before he went to your good Land, and has been nothing
+but a plague since he returned?’ John, of course, emphatically cleared
+the ‘good Land’ from all blame, adding that he would take care not
+to give any of the rest of them a chance of going daft by a trip to
+Australia! They don’t pursue the argument after that, as all are eager
+to go, and perfectly willing, they say, to accept the risk.
+
+“It was a blessing the Natives were so kind, and oh, how we experienced
+that ‘God stayeth His rough wind in the day of His east wind’; for
+except the trouble with Mungaw, we had no other serious ones to contend
+with, and He gave us to realize as I at least never did in the same
+way how entirely the work was His. It looked so mysterious, that after
+we had come down at such a sacrifice to health and family ties to
+devote our whole time to the work, it should be so retarded by one
+individual; for often, at his worst, only eight or ten had the courage
+to come to School, and we could as well have taught fifty. But we could
+leave it trustingly to the Lord, feeling that all we had to do was the
+work He laid to our hands from day to day. What a restful feeling it
+gives one to be ‘only an instrument in His hand.’...
+
+“Litsi was the one most in danger, her house standing a little below
+ours, and I having been roused at three o’clock to attend her only the
+morning before, John was very averse to my going, in the circumstances;
+and I fain would have contented myself with sending her comforts, but
+I could not think to leave her with her mad husband, who had still
+sternly refused to let any one go near her; so I hurriedly dressed,
+roused the cook to boil the kettle, and took one of my girls with
+a lamp. We found to my intense relief the baby already born, and
+Mungaw so delighted at having another _son_ that he was inclined to
+be tolerably kind. I took advantage of his mood—as it was through
+him I could reach Litsi—praised him for being such a clever doctor,
+and advised him to get her into the house out of the raw cold air,
+and offered him the services of my girl to light a fire, which he
+graciously condescended to accept! When I went back with some tea and
+things for the baby, they looked much more comfortable, Litsi sitting
+in the house by a bright fire, with the lamp beside her. Urging her to
+lie down, I returned home and looked into the girls’ house to see how
+it was faring with my other invalid,—for dear Yawaci had been carried
+to us at her own request in a dying state.”...
+
+“All that day was spent running betwixt the invalids. Dangerous
+symptoms ensued with Litsi. Mungaw got fearfully excited at a lot of
+women coming to see her, and stood over her with his loaded musket (he
+had stolen another, as the pious fit did not last long), appealing to
+me whether his word as Chief should be obeyed or not. I seconded his
+efforts, as they were doing no good, and got them cleared to a little
+distance—at hand if they were needed, and by deferential behaviour got
+him to let me come and go with food, etc. He attributed her illness to
+an absurd crotchet of his own, and held to it that she would be better
+at sundown. Meanwhile, the time was being wasted, and we had so many
+anxious thoughts. Was it right that her life should be sacrificed to
+a madman’s freaks? Was it right to give in to him, or how far was it
+right to risk his wrath? We took it all to our ever-present Counsellor;
+and then John decided that if I found her no better he would go
+himself, whatever the consequences.
+
+“On my way I met Mungaw coming in at the gate with the empty dishes,
+and he said quite humbly that he was wrong in his supposition, and
+would like exceedingly if the Missi tané (= man Missi) would go and see
+her, for he did not know what to do. John soon put matters all right,
+telling them there was no cause for alarm,—gave directions about one
+or two things that had been neglected, and ordered fomentations. She
+had no more relapses, and he really seemed grateful the next morning
+when he came for her breakfast, as I could not go to her very early on
+account of the tidal wave.
+
+“Poor Yawaci was our chief care after that. It seemed strange that
+Litsi, who so longed for death, should survive so much ill usage,
+for I could not pen a fiftieth part of the cruelty—the refinement of
+cruelty—with which he treated her. One instance will suffice. We missed
+him from Church one Sabbath, and found that he had spent the time
+_skinning_ the lower part of her face and _pinching_ little bits of
+flesh out of her chest from shoulder to shoulder, threatening her with
+his club if she dared to cry out. You will wonder that the Natives did
+not interfere. We began to lose all patience with them. I remember Mr.
+Inglis once saying, ‘It was worth living twenty years on the Islands
+just to know what we owed to Christianity,’ and how I thought they were
+stupid who did not find out all that in six months or less! I myself
+have had to live twelve years on Aniwa, however, to know what we owe to
+Lunatic Asylums, and also to learn how _exclusively_ a man’s wife is
+regarded as his own peculiar property—that is, to be used exactly as
+he likes. They would as soon think of interfering with a man’s conduct
+to his wife, as we would if in civilization a man chose to burn his
+own carpet or smash his own timepiece. They would break out into the
+most amused smile, when John was begging them to protect her, and
+say, ‘But, Missi, it’s his own wife!’ Of course, they were mad enough
+at him, Litsi being a general favourite, but could not well see their
+right to interfere.
+
+“Yawaci’s breathing was rather easier; and about eight o’clock, after
+getting all she could want for the night, we were so thankful to see
+her lie down for the first time, and fondly hoped she was beginning to
+recover. She called the girls round her, telling them to sing; and,
+after beginning the translation of ‘Nearer, my God, to Thee,’ I slipped
+away leaving them singing it, and got to my bed thoroughly exhausted.
+Through the night, her husband knocked at our bedroom window, saying
+she was dying. John sprang up and went to her side, offering a short
+prayer, but her spirit fled before he had done, and she was buried amid
+heart-felt lamentations before Church Service on Sabbath, 3rd February.
+Our hearts were like to break, for she had been a faithful attached
+servant—_daughter_, rather—to us for ten years; a sweet little thing
+about eight or nine when she first came, and every year we liked her
+better. She had a great lump of _heart_, and I can never forget her
+devoted care of us all at that time when we were both laid up and our
+precious baby died. It was she I trusted to put the little form in
+its last resting-place, myself too weak to move! It was so sad to see
+her friends going about the next few days, their eyes red and swollen
+with weeping. Weeks after, on putting her Photo. into the hands of one
+of the sewing women, her head sank lower over it till the heavy sobs
+welled up; and as it was passed from one to another, there was hardly a
+dry eye—so generally was she beloved. You have all the same likeness,
+a true one, taken in Melbourne. Mungaw’s was not so good—at least it
+did not do him justice in his best days; but it is charming to what he
+looked like in his last few months—his face was so wild and ghastly.
+
+“Poor fellow, I would fain pass over his sad end; but I must hasten on
+and have done with him, as I daresay you are as tired of the subject as
+I. The last open break out with his wife was on the day that her baby
+was three weeks old. He was in a very excited state in the morning,
+threw off his clothing, stuck on paint (he supplied himself with balls
+of blue from our washing-house!), and seizing his musket, said he was
+going to shoot some one ere he returned. The alarm spread, and John
+came to me at the sewing class to warn the women; but he soon came
+back, and I dismissed the School, feeling anxious to get the children
+into the house (John would not budge from his usual work, but he had
+always Natives with him), and get doors and windows shut. They had
+hardly gone when terrible screams came from his house, and I flew to
+implore our cooks to protect Litsi. Just then John rushed past me,
+telling me I must not hinder him, as he could not hear that poor girl
+being killed. Our boys ran with him, and met Litsi running from her
+house covered with blood streaming from the back of her head. John
+caught her as she fell forward in a fainting fit, and a woman caught up
+her baby; they were carried to the Imrai, where John bound up her head
+and revived her with brandy and water. I sent her some fresh clothes,
+as John would not let me see her till she was revived and doctored, and
+I followed with some dinner. Her tormentor was coming too, but John
+gave him a look which made him disappear into the bush in quick style.
+He re-appeared with the utmost coolness in a nice clean shirt about
+half an hour afterwards, and walked right into the Mission Premises,
+helping about a score of men to carry a huge log of wood which John
+had asked them to bring for some purpose.—I forget what. During the
+afternoon School he sat eyeing Litsi and grinning from the opposite
+side of the Imrai, and chatting with the passers-by, as if he had done
+no wrong!
+
+“Poor Litzi sat leaning against the Church fence, too weak to notice
+anything, but thought she was safer there when John had to be in
+School. He told the Natives that she must not be left to her husband’s
+tender mercies any longer, but that they must take her to one of their
+distant villages, and if need be protect her with their muskets. Our
+house was too near; and besides, if he burnt it to get her it would
+simply mean death to us all,—our food was in it, and neither of us
+being extra strong, we could not exist on roots and leaves like
+Natives,—whereas any of their houses could be replaced in a few days.
+He said also that it would never do for him to use arms,—his work was
+to teach, theirs to protect each other when necessary. They all saw
+the force of his words and heartily agreed with him, but all managed to
+back out of it, one after another, Litsi being too high-spirited to ask
+protection from any of them.
+
+“When we heard that she was left with only a few women we both felt it
+our duty to shelter her, regardless of consequences, and ran out to
+fetch her; but the poor girl had fled with her two little ones to hide
+for the night in a plantation, one or two women keeping her company.
+
+“Amid all her own danger, she was mindful of us, and sent a messenger
+to warn us that Mungaw would be sure to burn the house that night if
+he could. We had a few necessaries selected, a cask of flour, hops for
+yeast, changes of clothing, etc., to put into the Printing Office,
+which would not burn so easily with its zinc roof; but when our
+Aneityumese Teacher came after dark for their quiet removal, Mungaw
+accompanied him as far as the door! We all laughed. It was no use,
+with such a vigilant spy upon all our movements. But we were specially
+reminded of some One watching over us.
+
+“It began to pour torrents of rain, as it so often did when there was
+imminent danger, and I sent coverings for the wanderers, hot tea, etc.,
+by a circuitous path, with orders to take them to another invalid
+should Mungaw meet them. Our girls entered eagerly into it, and poor
+Litsi was made tolerably comfortable in body for the night, there
+being an old deserted hut in the plantation. Next morning, her cousin
+whispered to me that two men had taken her under protection to Towleka,
+a village a mile off, and that Mungaw had no idea of her whereabouts,
+supposing her to be with us, as he had sent word the evening before
+that he would kill her if she went anywhere else.
+
+“He got fearfully roused at not finding her by the afternoon, and
+sprang up after writing a line or two of his copy (he insisted on
+attending School) to go in search, beginning at the nearest villages,
+armed with club and killing-stone, and nearly frightening the life out
+of a dumpy little virago, who was in the habit of hen-pecking her own
+husband. It was capital to see her thoroughly cowed for once! His wrath
+grew with his want of success; and, returning after school, he told our
+boys in a tone of suppressed rage that he was now going to Towleka to
+kill Litsi if he found her there. One of them flew through the bush to
+warn her of his approach, and John and I went to the Study to commit
+her to God. I think I would have gone mad myself, if we had not had our
+never-failing Refuge in these troublous times!
+
+“We heard after retiring for the night an infant’s piteous wail, and
+found that, failing to get the mother (for the Natives would not let
+him finish her quite, though he dragged her out of the house by her
+hair, _wool_ rather), he had torn the baby from her and rushed home
+with it, knowing that she would follow it at any risk. It was _awfully_
+hard to keep John in the house, but I felt there was not the slightest
+use in going. We heard other voices remonstrating, and the cries
+ceasing we knew that Litsi had come. About midnight, what seemed to
+be the death wail in Litsi’s voice made us think he had murdered the
+baby. It continued for about three hours, and rose to a perfect agony
+of distress before stopping. On inquiry at daybreak, for which we
+anxiously waited, it turned out that he had tied her arms and legs in
+the most savage manner, only loosing her when two or three Natives went
+to the rescue. It was at the risk of their lives they did it, and all
+warned us not to go to their house that morning, as he was raving mad
+and would not hesitate to kill any one coming near.
+
+“We just felt that poor Litsi had all the more right to our sympathy,
+when no one else would go. They insisted that she was dead and the baby
+too, there was such silence round all the place. John would not let
+me go alone, and I would not let him go alone, so we compromised the
+matter by going together, and took a plentiful breakfast as an excuse
+for intruding on his lordship’s privacy, the Natives looking after
+with wistful eyes, but not one offering to accompany us to the lion’s
+den! I trembled violently, though I felt the Lord was with us, and
+was almost relieved when we found the house deserted; but John called
+aloud for Litsi several times, and at last she came staggering from an
+enclosure opposite, from which the occupant had fled when Mungaw first
+went mad. She was trembling with pain and weakness, and when we were
+going over the stile, she looked back alarmed and said, ‘You’d better
+not, Missi,’ so we spoke a few cheering words as we stood, and told her
+again that our house was open to her, night or day, whenever she needed
+shelter.
+
+“Some of the Church members came to ask what was to be done with him.
+Tieing only made him worse; confining or shooting were the only other
+alternatives. To confine him was impossible. Were they to shoot him?
+John, of course, would not hear of that, and they asked if there
+was no sort of medicine to cure madness! A near friend got him away
+to his village, where they had a long talk, and warned him of the
+consequences. The moment he went, I ran off to sit awhile with Litsi.
+We feared she would sink under her trials, and wished she had access to
+the rich consolations with which we were upheld every day in our little
+readings both of the Bible and other books. It seemed as if the Words
+were printed for our express circumstances and comfort. My own morning
+Reading was in the Psalms, and I never felt them so suitable. The very
+ones I used to think David had written in a fit of indigestion were
+fraught with the deepest comfort and meaning, and favourite passages
+were more precious than ever. I never noticed before that the passage,
+‘Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I,’ begins with ‘From _the end
+of the Earth_ will I cry unto Thee,’—so applicable to us! John and I
+have often remarked to each other that we had to come all the way to
+the South Seas to understand some bits of the Bible; and I see Bowen in
+his ‘Daily Meditations’ says the same in reference to India, where he
+laboured so devotedly as a Missionary. We have another precious book
+which we were reading aloud and enjoyed next to the Bible,—Boardman’s
+‘In the Power of the Spirit,’ given us also before leaving Australia.
+
+“How we wished poor Litsi could share all these privileges, and
+wondered if her faith were keeping alive at all, but her spirit was
+beautifully submissive. When I told her that, however difficult it
+might be for her to believe it, her Saviour God was tenderly caring
+for her every moment and would not let her have one more trial than
+she could bear, and that it would relieve her to take all her sorrows
+to Him, she replied, ‘Oh, I know it, Missi; my whole words now are
+prayer; for I have no one else to speak to, and would have gone mad if
+I could not have told my Saviour! I tell Him everything, and know that
+it is all right even if Mungaw should kill me, for he can’t harm me
+beyond the grave.’ I told her not a single night passed that we were
+not engaging in prayer for her, and she said,—‘These prayers have been
+answered; for he has had the wish to kill me and burn your house, and
+he could easily have done both had not God prevented.’
+
+“The whole provocation (I forgot to say) he had for laying her head
+open at this time, was her saying, ‘Oh, don’t do that!’ when he got up
+to burn the fine new house he had nearly completed. She learned never
+again to contradict him, even when he made the wildest proposals. The
+next house he burnt, a neighbour’s, he told her with a diabolical grin
+(he had such a beautiful smile in his sane days!) of his purpose,
+and she merely said, ‘Are you?’ and slipped round to take everything
+valuable out of it, as the owners were living a week or two on a lonely
+little islet adjoining this, where the Natives often go for change and
+fishing. Of course, they said nothing about it on their return; no one
+in the Island was prepared to tackle such a character, and he presumed
+accordingly, turning his attentions more to the general public after
+this, and dividing his favours pretty equally over the whole Island. He
+plundered the plantations in rotation, and shot all the pigs which came
+in his way, bringing Litsi part of the spoil; but she suddenly seemed
+possessed of the spirit of half a dozen, sternly refusing to touch one
+morsel of stolen food, and took their eldest little boy to the furthest
+village, begging the people to keep him as he was too young to refuse
+what was stolen. She then came to beg of me for a dose of poison—she
+thought the stuff we killed the rats with would do—as he was too wicked
+to live, and would bring a judgment on the whole Island. She had such a
+chance through the night when he fell into a deep sleep (the first time
+he was known to sleep for many weeks), and she had a great wish to take
+his life, but was afraid God would not like it.
+
+“I confirmed her fears and counselled patience a little longer, as the
+Missi was getting the boat repaired to go to Tanna, and it was well
+known Mungaw wanted to go there and stay a while. This was the last
+hope of the whole Island, and all were eager to see the boat finished,
+none more so than I, having an additional reason, viz., that it took
+John away to a distance nearly the whole day, and though he always left
+me with a body-guard he was not so careful of himself. I must say, the
+Natives were very thoughtful about him, however, and would not let him
+continue to take his nightly turns in watching our house. They begged
+him to arm himself, but that, of course, he would not do. He and our
+Aneityumese Teacher were the only ones who would not carry a weapon of
+any kind, or give in to him when it was right to be firm, and they were
+the only two Mungaw had the slightest fear of; but he kept prowling
+about our Premises day and night, for what intent he best knew. When
+he used to set off on his peregrinations, it was such a relief to
+throw windows and doors open for air; but back he would come with the
+rapidity of a race horse. Many a fainting fit he gave me; and F. used
+to get white to the lips when he appeared. Even little J. began to
+lisp,—‘I frightened Mungaw!’
+
+“About the only time I was thankful to see him come was after he had
+been tracking John’s footsteps closer than I liked. I was watching
+him from our front verandah as he went off to his boat, the two lads
+a little before, when Mungaw suddenly appeared close behind him—axe
+in hand. I could see a long way, and when John stooped to examine a
+bush or fern Mungaw stopped too, always keeping right at his back.
+Visions of the murdered Gordons rose vividly before me, and I felt
+distracted. I knew that John and the boys were on their guard, and
+plenty of Natives were about, but a blow could be so easily struck!
+I went in-doors and told my God and then our Aneityumese Teacher (we
+showed as little fear as possible before our Natives), so that if he
+thought there was real danger he would go to him. He looked anxious and
+questioned me minutely, but went on quietly with his work, and I tried
+to follow his example; but my feet _would_ carry me to the verandah,
+till the welcome sight of that usually dreaded form, tossing his axe in
+the air and catching it by the handle, allayed all fears, for I knew
+that had he done any harm he would have rushed into hiding.
+
+“His last days were spent pulling up the people’s bananas and
+sugar-cane, destroying what he could not devour. He took our boys’
+blankets and boxes, and walked off with the lookingglass from the
+girls’ house. Just the Sunday morning before he was shot he turned out
+all the girls’ boxes while we were at breakfast, and pranced up and
+down our front verandah. We had just finished our own Family Worship,
+and John was going off for a little quiet to his Study, when we heard
+the Church bell being furiously rung a full hour before the time! The
+Natives already gathered stood staring at each other in consternation,
+others hurried forward, thinking they were late, and the usual
+bell-ringer came panting to know why the work was so unceremoniously
+taken out of his hands! The more they begged Mungaw to leave off the
+quicker he rang, till John ran out and ordered him to stop instantly,
+which he did.
+
+“He did not trouble us another Sunday, poor fellow, but he gave me two
+or three thorough frights through the week, once surprising me suddenly
+on the verandah, when mounted on a high box, and oil-painting the
+woodwork of the house. On the following Saturday morning, as we were in
+the garden, Litsi passed the fence and I ran to her. She said, ‘When
+will the boat be ready, Missi?’ I told her that there was just a little
+paint to finish to-day, and it would sail on Monday, so she would have
+only two days more of endurance. She jumped and clapped her hands,
+saying, ‘My heart sings, for he’s sure to go!’
+
+“But that same evening, as we sat at a late tea, our spirits brighter
+than usual, feeling that relief was near (though it came not in the way
+we expected), for the _Dayspring_ was to leave Sydney on Monday and
+would be getting nearer us every day, we heard the fatal shot go off
+close beside us! We have heard as loud reports and even nearer, when
+they were killing flying foxes or birds, which caused us nothing more
+than a start and a laugh; but there was something in that which made us
+spring simultaneously from our seats and stand in awe. John said, ‘Some
+one is shot! Either Mungaw, or some one by his hand.’ He had barely
+uttered the words, when the awful death-wail in Litsi’s voice confirmed
+our fears. Our girls rushed in from the bath-room, where they had
+been filling baths and getting all ready for Sunday, and said, ‘That’s
+Mungaw, Missi, for the Inahutshi people told us not to be alarmed if we
+heard a shot after dark, as we would know it was Mungaw killed.’
+
+“It had all been deliberately arranged, and we knew not a word about
+it. John said, ‘Then I must run and see what I can do for the poor
+fellow,’ and was off; but another loud report made me implore him to
+come back, till we ascertained certainly what the matter was, as he
+might be shot in the dark without any one meaning it, and F. decided
+the matter by saying in a faint voice, ‘Papa, will you stay and take
+care of us?’ His papa put his arm round him and said, ‘Yes, my boy,
+I’ll not leave the room again.’
+
+“Two or three Natives came to tell us that Mungaw was shot dead, and
+that John’s going would be no use now. He engaged in prayer, and oh,
+how our hearts bled for the poor fellow! Now that his sad end had
+come, we could only think of him as he once was; as, for instance, we
+saw him one evening years before stand calm and tranquil, with three
+enraged men pointing their muskets at him for spoiling some Heathen
+performance, and telling them he would not fight, and that the worst
+they could do would only send him to Heaven. Or again, as he used to go
+about pleading with the young boys (a mere boy himself) not to follow
+the footsteps of their fathers, but come out decidedly for the Lord
+Jesus. Or again, we thought of the time when he was John’s right hand
+man, and would almost have laid down his life to serve him. His two
+nearest friends, on coming to ask if they would bury him at once, laid
+down their heads and sobbed aloud, though, like all the Aniwans, they
+had wished for his death. It was a sad, sad night; the hurried and
+midnight burial, the suppressed excitement, the fear and uncertainty
+about the real murderers and what would follow next, and last of all
+that young and once noble fellow cut down in the midst of his days.
+
+“He had just left our Premises and gone home for supper, and then had
+worship (!) with Litsi, after which she told him not to go outside, as
+two or three men had been watching for three nights to get a good aim
+at him. He courted death and _would_ go out, saying to Litsi, ‘You
+come with me.’ She went out first and thought she saw a man standing;
+but next moment the attention of both was suddenly directed to a meteor
+in its transit, and while gazing at it the musket went off, going
+through Mungaw’s body from arm to arm. He fell down by his own door,
+crying, ‘_Awai!_’ (= Alas!), and died immediately, the murderers making
+their escape as they shot the other musket into the air....
+
+“You may be sure, after these trying times and seven months’ utter
+silence regarding our absent ones, we were intensely delighted to
+welcome the dear old _Dayspring_ once more. But strange as it may seem,
+this is our most trying time; for all the anxiety of the past months
+seems to accumulate into an agony of suspense, from the time her sails
+are discerned till we have opened the most desired-for letters of our
+mail and found all well. She arrived at Aniwa just two days after we
+calculated upon seeing her, April 24th. The first announcement of her
+approach came as we were assembled in Church at three o’clock for
+the prayer-meeting; and I’m afraid the Services had not their usual
+interest for me! How John could proceed quietly with his address, under
+the excitement, was a puzzle; for I saw him start, and we exchanged
+earnest looks, as the well-known cry greeted our ears, and then two
+Natives came panting in with beaming faces, darting intelligent looks
+all around.
+
+“The Service _did_ come to an end at last, and then every one’s tongue
+was loosed. It _was_ the _Dayspring_ without doubt; but was there
+wind enough to bring her in that day? I made an agreement with the
+herd who went for the goats to shout again if it were very near, and
+soon a dozen voices yelled back the answer. I flew to give orders for
+all sorts of preparations, but not a girl was to be found, all having
+rushed up the hill to see for themselves; and when they came, they were
+so mad with joyful excitement, that instead of their usual respectful
+demeanour they tumbled heels over head on the verandah two or three
+times, before they could compose themselves to work; and so many little
+things waiting to be done!...
+
+“We gathered round such a happy tea-table; for it is the most
+exquisite treat to have intercourse with kindred spirits in our own
+tongue, after jabbering so many months to the Darkies, and to get all
+the news from the civilized world. Such a Mail too! Over one hundred
+letters, and no end of papers. We simply looked at all your different
+handwritings, but devoured our bairns’ monthly budgets that night after
+our visitors had retired to their rooms....
+
+“The second Communion since our return also took place at this time,
+and was a season of great refreshing and comfort; but the sight of that
+little group of Communicants is always too much for me, especially when
+they stand up to sing so heartily! I could fain lay down my head and
+sob, were it not that I have the harmonium to attend to and must crush
+my heart down as best I can. All our trials and privations, looked at
+in the light of that little _sable band_ (glancing back at what they
+once were) now sitting at their Lord’s Table, seem as nothing—as less
+than nothing.
+
+“A stranger might simply have his _risibles_ excited by the somewhat
+grotesque costume of the congregation. Indeed, I had to turn away my
+own head, as our two worthy Elders came in for the ‘Elements’ before
+the Service, with the most imposing gravity, with manifest devotion
+in their looks, but in all the dignity of their office, and with
+special hats to grace the occasion. The one had his white shirt done
+up round his hat so as to represent a puggaree, and, as it hung a
+long way behind, he had to keep his head well-balanced for fear of it
+falling back. As for the other, who or what his hat had been originally
+intended for, we were at a loss to divine! It has always been our
+difficulty to get them large enough to include their _wool_; but this,
+a light grey chimney-pot, overtopped wool and all till it rested on the
+tip of his nose, which fortunately being a very large one prevented his
+face from disappearing altogether!...
+
+“The Captain’s plan was to land us on Sunday morning, lie off and
+on till Monday to land our luggage and some wood John had bought on
+Aneityum, and then return for the McDonalds at Port Resolution on his
+way northward. Mrs. Milne and I lay pillowed on deck, enjoying the
+moonlight till quite late, and having such a musical treat from Mr.
+Michelsen, who sings and accompanies himself on the guitar with great
+taste. He had been playing it on deck in the afternoon, and we begged
+him to bring it up again after tea. The moon was brilliantly reflected
+on the water, and the ship lying so still, when he began with the
+exquisite guitar accompaniment to sing ‘Jesus, lover of my soul,’—the
+Missionaries standing round and joining softly in parts, while we were
+quietly crying. I have heard Oratorios in the old country rendered
+so that they almost took one out of the body, but never anything
+that went to my heart like this! You would need to take in the whole
+circumstances to know how we felt it. The Vessel, with her little band
+of Missionaries so far from kindred and country, and about to separate
+for their lonely homes, and we knew not how much trial awaiting them!...
+
+“We have already 600 lbs. of Arrowroot (to pay for the Gospel-books)
+put up, mostly in 10 lb. bags. The Natives are still making more, and
+the demands upon me for calico have been endless. After ransacking
+boxes for every inch that could be got to dry it upon and to make bags,
+I had to sacrifice all my common sheets and table-cloths; and, while
+trying to bear up under this calamity with Christian fortitude, John
+roused all the old Adam in me, by coolly bidding me be quick and get
+out my _linen_ ones and best table-cloths, as it was a splendid day for
+drying! I emphatically declared that my few best things should remain
+untouched, though the Natives should never get their books; and, by a
+little management in making the others do, I have kept to my _wicked_
+vow....
+
+“It is now the 1st of August, though I see that I began this on the 8th
+of July, and I have not begun to write a single _private_ letter, and
+so many to answer; and the huge piles, which made our eyes dance with
+joy on receiving them, are regarded rather ruefully, now that we have
+got to reply to them! I must leave out, therefore, all other items of
+interest which I intended writing, as this is already far too long,—and
+close with warmest love from
+
+ “Your ever-loving Sister,
+ “MAGGIE WHITECROSS PATON.”
+
+
+(1879.)
+
+TO THE FAMILY CIRCLE.
+
+ “MY DEAREST SISTERS AND BROTHERS,—....
+
+“Our next bit of excitement was on New Year’s Day, when the usual
+shooting match came off, and prizes were awarded to the winners.
+The most amusing part to us was the racing amongst younger boys and
+girls. The Chief, whom John had placed in charge of the prizes, would
+put a belt, necktie, or bit of red calico on a post at a certain
+distance off, and then the word of command was given to the eager
+little monkeys, and they made such a scramble as they neared it! The
+grand entertainment, however,—the Magic Lantern, was reserved for the
+evening, and was quite a success. Everybody on the island that was able
+to crawl at all put in an appearance, including two old bed-ridden
+women, who set out in the early morning and managed a journey of two
+miles by the time it got dark! John had all Mr. Watt’s slides, as well
+as his own, and the Natives were in perfect ecstasies of delight the
+whole evening; but when he finished off with ‘the revolving light,’
+they fairly yelled with delight and amazement, declaring it must be
+‘Tetovas’ (= gods) who made that!...
+
+“The Vessel turned out to be a _Slaver_, and sent in a boat with
+Native crew and two white men in search of Natives. The boat kept in
+deep water just outside the reef, and some Aniwans waded out and were
+shouted to in ‘Sandal-wood English.’ They wanted men or boys, and
+would give a musket for every one they got. Our Natives shouted back
+that they were ‘Missi’s worshipping people,’ and did not want to go
+with Traders. One of the white men stupidly (it must have been in fun)
+levelled a musket at one of our Natives, when the cap snapped and set
+the Natives in a great rage, believing that he tried to kill some of
+them. The man levelled at, a fiery fellow, a returned labourer, flew
+for his musket and would have made short work with the white man, had
+not John and the Church members interfered,—John actually standing
+right between him and the boat to prevent shots being fired. He waved
+the boat off with his hat, pointing to the armed men, which they seemed
+to comprehend, and after returning hats they made for the ship, which
+soon disappeared in the horizon.
+
+“I was annoyed enough at John exposing himself, not that a person
+on Aniwa now would harm him, for I often wish that they loved their
+Saviour as much as they do their Missionary, but it is seldom one’s
+duty to stand in the way of loaded muskets! You would hardly believe,
+though, the kind of thanks he got from the wretches he tried to save.
+They went to Faté, wrote out a paper to the effect that ‘they had
+called at Aniwa for labourers, but that the Missionary, Mr. Paton,
+had come out to attack them at the head of an armed party. The man in
+charge of the boat, however, had Mr. Paton covered with his rifle,
+so that had a single shot been fired into it he would have fallen in
+revenge.’ And the paper has been posted up on the door of the principal
+store in Havannah Harbour! Those are the sort of men, authorized by
+our British Government to scour these Islands. We were perfectly
+thunderstruck when Mr. McDonald happened to mention it to John, after
+he had decided to go North, in case he should see it himself. Mr.
+McDonald sees enough of the Traders and their doings, and treated it
+with amused contempt as it deserved.
+
+“It is nearly as bad as the Nguna case, where the chief mate of the
+_Jason_ swore in a Queensland law-court that the Rev. P. Milne caused
+the Natives to fire into his boat. A Man-of-war was despatched to
+inquire into the proceedings of this dreadful Missionary, and it was
+proved that poor Mr. Milne was sound asleep in his bed (it was early
+morning), and did not even know of the affray till months after it
+happened. It was the two husbands of two Native women, that this honest
+mate was trying to make off with (and did make off with), that owned
+to having fired the shots! It is not the first time that John has
+interfered to save the worthless lives of these Slavers; but the whole
+fraternity may be riddled with bullets before I consent to his stirring
+his finger again in their miserable quarrels....
+
+“Litsi has since consoled herself with another husband,—related to
+poor Mungaw, and a real love-match, as they both freely confessed.
+Litsi was as playful and coy over it as a young lassie; though,
+when she stood up for the ceremony, she whisperingly informed the
+bystanders with a giggle that she didn’t want to get married! I suppose
+she thought some appearance of an apology necessary for her third
+presentation in that Church as a bride. We felt thankful when the
+marriage was past, for there had been the usual scramble to get her and
+consequent bitterness of feeling by the rejected ones, some of them
+far handsomer and better men than the prize winner, but Noopooraw had
+shown the depth of his affection by threatening _to kill her_ if she
+did not have him, which according to Native is the strongest expression
+of devotion, and is precisely the same as a wildly-enthusiastic admirer
+at home threatening _to kill himself_ in similar circumstances. The
+despairing lover in these Seas never dreams of taking away his own
+life, but hers instead, finding that probably the more powerful
+argument of the two!...
+
+“It is getting very late and I must pass over all else and tell you
+what a charming time we had at Erromanga, where the Mission Synod was
+held this year. Mrs. McDonald and I were the only ladies to keep Mrs.
+Robertson company; and I was complimented upon now being the “mother”
+of the Mission, and carrying my honours quite becomingly—having become
+plump and vigorous since the Hurricane.... It seemed like fairy
+land to enter dear Mrs. Robertson’s pretty, shady, cool house after
+enduring two days’ suffocation with the horrid bilge water on board the
+_Dayspring_.... Every day brought us fresh pleasures, afternoon rambles
+on the mountains and walks by the river course up that beautiful
+valley, when ‘the brethren’ were at liberty to dance attendance on us,
+having all their Synod business over before dinner.... How pleasantly
+those days flew past, only they can understand who have been cut off
+from kindred spirits as we are! We three ladies were, of course, all
+that could be wished for (?); and every one of the Missionaries was
+kinder than another. Even in Synod, where Ministers are apt to indulge
+in the grace of _candour_ to an uncalled-for degree, there was not a
+jarring word—owing, perhaps, to that bilge water having taken all the
+bile out of them on the voyage!... The house is charmingly situated
+on terraced ground at the foot of a high mountain, near the centre of
+the Bay, with that lovely river to the right flowing past within a few
+yards of the enclosure.... Our eyes were constantly wandering off to
+the lovely scene before us,—and one with a history too! That very river
+was once reddened with the blood of Williams and of Harris; and the
+grass-covered mountain towering up from it was the scene of the Gordon
+tragedy,—while their grave-stones gleam white through the greenery on
+its opposite banks. Dear Mr. McNair’s grave is close beside them. All
+looked so peaceful now, with the _Dayspring_ lying quietly at anchor in
+the Bay, and canoes manned by _Christian_ Natives paddling about in its
+blue waters!
+
+“What a contrast to these former days of blood; and even a contrast,
+as the Robertsons told us, to what they had to suffer only in January
+last. The Heathen Chiefs were getting fierce at the rapid strides
+Christianity was making all round the Island, and laid a deep plot to
+take the Missionaries’ lives. They chose their time well, when nearly
+all Mr. Robertson’s young men were away at Cook’s Bay; and you may
+imagine his and Mrs. Robertson’s feelings, when the alarm got up one
+night as they sat quietly reading. They went into their bedroom and
+took their stand beside their three sleeping children. Escape by sea
+was impossible, even could they get to their boat, the night being
+stormy. Mrs. Robertson turned to her husband and said,—‘Do you think
+they could touch those sleeping lambs?’ He smiled bitterly,—‘What do
+they care for our sleeping lambs?’ Yomit, a devoted Erromangan Teacher,
+came in to them, and she turned to him, saying,—‘O Yomit, do you think
+they could have the heart to kill those little sleeping darlings?’ He
+raised his arm and said,—‘Missi, they’ll have to cut this body of mine
+in pieces ere ever they get near them!’ He started off and collected
+all the available help necessary, sending secret messages overland
+in different directions to their friends, so that before morning the
+Mission House was surrounded by 200 warriors, ready to give their
+lives in defence of their Missionary. And these were the very men
+who murdered the Gordons;—explain the change! Jesus has been amongst
+them!...
+
+“Our visit there was all too short, as the Synod lasted only a week. We
+commemorated the Lord’s Supper together, on the Sabbath evening before
+we broke up. One evening too there was an interesting Bible Society
+meeting, at which John was Chairman; and, in response to an urgent
+appeal from London, Mr. Copeland proposed that Missionaries and seamen
+should all add a day’s wages to their usual subscription—which was most
+willingly agreed to....
+
+“We tore across from Erromanga with a good wind, landing about sundown,
+and got a warm welcome from our dear old Darkies, who had all turned
+out in their best garments to meet us, though it was pouring rain.
+John went on in the _Dayspring_ to be left on Tanna for a fortnight at
+Kwamera, to make some small return for the Watts’ great kindness to our
+Natives while we were in Melbourne.... He enjoyed his fortnight there
+intensely. The Mission Premises were like a new pin, and the Tannese
+longing for Mr. and Mrs. Watts’ return with their whole hearts. Their
+little boys and girls at the Station attended to John so faithfully,
+and continually followed him about, asking daily and often in a day the
+same question,—‘When will our Missis be back?’ There are more than the
+Tannese longing for their return, and it will be a glad day when we see
+their dear faces again....
+
+“John has decided not to make any change for another year, if at all
+able to hold on. It is no use now for me to pretend I’m delicate, as
+appearances so tell against me! But I insist that I’ve got _heart_
+disease, and that only the sight of my bairns can cure it....
+
+“It is only a week yesterday since John returned from Kwamera, and
+was overwhelmed with such an ovation as he never yet got from our
+Natives. They opened their hearts to the most unheard-of generosity,
+and actually parted with their precious _pigs_ to show their love for
+him, besides a great quantity of yam. They also gave a present about
+half the size of ours to the Captain of the _Dayspring_,—pigs, yams,
+cocoa-nuts, and bananas. His were laid on the centre patch of grass
+before the house, and John’s to the side, in front of the Study door.
+The pigs (thirteen in number!), all tied and laid out to be seen to
+the best advantage (they were _heard_ too), so that when Captain and
+Mrs. Braithwaite and John arrived they were greeted with—
+
+ ‘Pigs to the right of them,
+ Pigs to the left of them,
+ Pigs in front of them,
+ Guzzling and grunting.’
+
+How they did grunt! The Captain growled out his thanks in sailor’s
+phraseology, which having translated, John walked round to the side,
+followed by his grinning Parishioners, and politely thanked them for
+their kind gifts to us,—telling them that it was the feeling which
+prompted it more than the gift itself which he valued! I felt that he
+was telling the truth in all sincerity, for he hates the very sight of
+pork, and whispered aside to me,—‘What on earth are we to do with all
+these beasts?’...
+
+“We expect the _Dayspring_ in about a fortnight to call for our mail,
+and as I’ve a very large one to answer it is time it were begun, for
+we’ll be very much interrupted by the arrowroot making. The whole of
+the Natives are busy digging it up at present, and the Premises will be
+like a beehive in a few days when they begin to grate it. We were so
+pleased to be able to tell them that the last sold so very well through
+the great kindness of Melbourne friends. The calico in the South Yarra
+boxes—worth its weight in gold—is being sewed up into sheets and bags
+for drying and packing it, as fast as ever we can; but we hardly expect
+it to be ready to go till the December trip of the vessel. They are to
+have _another book of the Bible_ printed in the Aniwan language.
+
+ “Ever, with warmest love,
+ “Your loving Sister,
+ “MAGGIE WHITECROSS PATON.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+_LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN._
+
+ “Wanted a Steam Auxiliary.”—Commissioned Home to Britain.—English
+ Presbyterian Synod.—United Presbyterian Synod.—The “Veto”
+ from the Sydney Board.—Dr. J. Hood Wilson.—The Free Church
+ Assembly.—Neutrality of Foreign Mission Committee.—The Church
+ of Scotland.—At Holyrood and Alva House.—The Irish Presbyterian
+ Assembly.—The Pan-Presbyterian Council.—My “Plan of Campaign.”— Old
+ Ireland’s Response.—Operations in Scotland.—Seventy Letters in a
+ Day.—Beautiful Type of Merchant.—My First 100 at Dundee.—Peculiar
+ Gifts and Offerings.—Approach to London.—Mildmay’s Open Door.—Largest
+ Single Donation.—Personal Memories of London.—Garden-Party
+ at Mr. Spurgeon’s.—The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer.—Three New
+ Missionaries.—“Restitution-Money.”—The Farewell at Mildmay.—Welcome
+ to Victoria.—The Dream of my Life.—The New Mission Ship
+ Delayed.—Welcome back to Aniwa.—Parting Testimony.—Fare-thee-well.
+
+
+In December 1883, I brought a pressing and vital matter before the
+General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. It pertained
+to the New Hebrides Mission, to the vastly increased requirements of
+the Missionaries and their families there, and to the fact that the
+_Dayspring_ was no longer capable of meeting the necessities of the
+case,—thereby incurring loss of time, loss of property, and risk and
+even loss of precious lives. The Missionaries on the spot had long felt
+this, and had loudly and earnestly pled for a new and larger Vessel, or
+a Vessel with Steam Auxiliary power, or some arrangement whereby the
+work of God on these Islands might be overtaken, without unnecessary
+exposure of life, and without the dreaded perils that accrue to a small
+sailing Vessel such as the _Dayspring_, alike from deadly calms and
+from treacherous gales.
+
+The Victorian General Assembly, heartily at one with the Missionaries,
+commissioned me to go home to Britain in 1884, making me at the same
+time their Missionary delegate to the Pan-Presbyterian Council at
+Belfast, and also their representative to the General Assemblies of
+the several Presbyterian Churches in Great Britain and Ireland. And
+they empowered and authorized me to lay our proposals about a new
+Steam-Auxiliary Mission Ship before all these Churches, and to ask and
+receive from God’s people whatever contributions they felt disposed to
+give towards the sum of £6,000, without which this great undertaking
+could not be faced.
+
+At Suez, I forwarded a copy of my commissions from Victoria, from South
+Australia, and from the Islands Synod, to the Clerks of the various
+Church Courts, accompanied by a note specifying my home-address, and
+expressing the hope that an opportunity would be given me of pleading
+this special cause on behalf of our New Hebrides Mission. On reaching
+my brother’s residence in Glasgow, I found to my deep amazement that
+replies awaited me from all the Churches, except our own,—_i.e._, the
+Free Church, which I call our own, as having taken over our South Seas
+Mission when it entered into Union with the Reformed Presbyterian
+Church, to which I originally belonged, though now I was supported
+by the Church of Victoria. This fact pained me. It is noted here. An
+explanation will come in due course.
+
+A few days after my arrival, I was called upon to appear before the
+Supreme Court of the English Presbyterian Church, then assembled at
+Liverpool. While a hymn was being sung, I took my seat in the pulpit
+under great depression. But light broke around, when my dear friend and
+fellow-student, Dr. Oswald Dykes, came up from the body of the Church,
+shook me warmly by the hand, whispered a few encouraging words in my
+ear, and returned to his seat. God helped me to tell my story, and the
+audience were manifestly interested. Again, however, another indication
+of a rift somewhere, unknown to me, was consciously or otherwise
+given, when both the Moderator and Professor Graham, in addressing the
+Deputies and referring to their Churches and speeches individually,
+conspicuously omitted all reference to the New Hebrides and the special
+proposal which I had brought before them. Again I made a note, and my
+wonder deepened.
+
+Next, by kind invitation I visited and addressed the United
+Presbyterian Synod of Scotland, assembled in Edinburgh. My reception
+there was not only cordial,—it was enthusiastic. Though as a Church
+they had no denominational interest in our Mission, the Moderator,
+amidst the cheers of all the Ministers and Elders, recommended that I
+should have free access to every Congregation and Sabbath School which
+I found it possible to visit, and hoped that their generous-hearted
+people would contribute freely to so needful and noble a cause. My soul
+rose in praise; and I may here say, in passing, that every Minister of
+that Church whom I wrote to or visited treated me in the same spirit
+through all my tour.
+
+Having been invited by Mr. Dickson, an Elder of the Free Church, to
+address a mid-day meeting of children in the Free Assembly Hall,—and
+the Saturday before the Meeting of Assembly having now arrived without
+bringing any reply to my note to be received and heard, I determined
+to call at the Free Church Offices, and make inquiries at least. They
+treated me with all possible kindness and sympathy, but explained to
+me the strange perplexity that had been introduced into my case. A
+letter had been forwarded to them from the _Dayspring_ Board at Sydney,
+intimating that the Victorian Church had no right to commission me to
+raise a new Steam-Auxiliary Ship without consulting them, and that they
+placed their direct veto upon the Free Church Authorities in any way
+sanctioning that proposal or authorizing me to raise the money. Here,
+then, was the rift; and many things that had recently perplexed me
+were explained thereby.
+
+Here is not the place to discuss our differences, nor shall I
+take advantage of my book to criticize those who have no similar
+opportunity of answering me. But the facts I must relate, and exactly
+as they occurred, to show how the Lord over-ruled everything for the
+accomplishment of His own blessed purposes. Doubtless the friends at
+Sydney had their own way of looking at and explaining everything; and
+the best of friends must sometimes differ, even in the Mission field,
+and yet learn to respect each other and work so far as they can agree
+towards common ends in the service of the Divine Lord and Master.
+
+My commission was publicly intimated. Communication had also been
+made to the Church of New South Wales as to appointing me their
+second representative to the Pan-Presbyterian Council, in connection
+with my mission to Britain, but they replied that one would serve
+their purpose. And South Australia and Tasmania were both written to
+regarding the object of my visit to the home countries. But no note of
+dissent, no hint of disapproval from any quarter, was intimated to the
+Victorian Church, or in any sense, directly or indirectly, reached me
+till I heard of that so-called _veto_ in the Free Church Offices at
+Edinburgh.
+
+This intimation, just as I was entering the Assembly Hall to address a
+great congregation of children and their friends, staggered me beyond
+all description. The Free Church alone, in Scotland, now supported our
+New Hebrides Mission. From it I expected the principal contributions
+for the sorely-needed new Mission Ship. And now, by the action of
+the _Dayspring_ Board at Sydney, the Free Church was debarred from
+acknowledging my three-fold commission or in any direct way sanctioning
+my appeals. No sorer wound had ever been inflicted on me; and when I
+sat down on the platform beside Mr. Dickson, my head swam for several
+minutes, and faintishness almost overpowered me. But, by the time my
+name was called, the Lord my Helper enabled me to pull myself together;
+I committed this cause also with unfailing assurance to Him; and by all
+appearances I was able greatly to interest and impress the Children. At
+the close, my dear and noble friend, Professor Cairns, warmly welcomed
+and cheered me, and that counted for much amid the depressions of the
+day. But when all were gone and we two were left, Mr. Dickson under
+deep emotion said,—
+
+“Mr. Paton, that veto has spoiled your mission home. The Free Church
+cannot take you by the hand in face of the _veto_ from Sydney!”
+
+Having letters from Andrew Scott, Esquire, Carrugal, my very dear
+friend and helper in Australia, to Dr. J. Hood Wilson, Barclay Free
+Church, Edinburgh, I resolved to deliver them that evening; and I
+prayed the Lord to open up all my path, as I was thus thrown solely on
+Him for guidance and bereft of the aid of man. Dr. Wilson and his lady,
+neither of whom I had ever seen before, received me as kindly as if I
+had been an old friend. He read my letters of introduction, conversed
+with me as to plans and wishes (chiefly through Mrs. Wilson, for he was
+suffering from sore throat), and then he said with great warmth and
+kindliness,—
+
+“God has surely sent you here to-night! I feel myself unable to preach
+to-morrow. Occupy my pulpit in the forenoon and address my Sabbath
+School, and you shall have a collection for your Ship.”
+
+Thereafter, I was with equal kindness received by Mr. Balfour, having
+a letter of introduction from his brother, and he offered me his
+pulpit for the evening of the day. I lay down blessing and praising
+Him, the Angel of whose Presence was thus going before me and opening
+up my way. That Lord’s Day I had great blessing and joy; there was an
+extraordinary response financially to my appeals; and my proposal was
+thus fairly launched in the Metropolis of our Scottish Church life. I
+remembered an old saying, Difficulties are made just to be vanquished.
+And I thought in my deeper soul,—Thus our God throws us back upon
+Himself; and if these £6,000 ever come to me, to the Lord God alone,
+and not to man, shall be all the glory!
+
+On the Monday following, after a long conversation and every possible
+explanation, Colonel Young, of the Free Church Foreign Missions
+Committee, said,—
+
+“We must have you to address the Assembly on the evening devoted to
+Missions.”
+
+But the rest insisted that, to keep straight with the Board at Sydney,
+no formal approval should be given of my proposals. This I agreed to,
+on condition that the Committee did not publish the Sydney veto, but
+allowed it simply to lie on their table or in their minutes. Thus I had
+the pleasure and honour of addressing that great Assembly; and though
+no notice was taken of my proposals in any “finding” of the Court,
+yet many were thereby interested deeply in our work, and requests now
+poured in upon me from every quarter to occupy pulpits and receive
+collections for the new Ship.
+
+Still I had occasional trouble and misunderstanding through that veto
+during all my tour in Britain and Ireland. It prevented me particularly
+from getting access to the Free Church Foreign Missions Committee,
+or addressing them on one single occasion, though I pled hard to be
+allowed to do so and to explain my position. This I felt all the more
+keenly, as I laboured freely and for weeks, along with their noble
+Missionaries then at home on furlough, in addressing meetings in
+Glasgow, Aberdeen, Greenock, etc., chiefly for Sabbath Scholars, but
+from which I received no help directly in the matter of the Mission
+Ship. Doubtless they were trying to do their duty, and refusing to take
+either side; and that they thought they had succeeded appears from the
+following fact. When rumour reached Australia that my Mission home
+had been under God a great success, a letter came to them from their
+Committee’s agent in Sydney as to the “application” of the sum that had
+been raised by me, to which they replied,—
+
+“The Foreign Missions’ Committee of the Free Church of Scotland, in
+accordance with the action of the _Dayspring_ Committee at Sydney, have
+from the first abstained from assisting Mr. Paton in this movement,
+believing that the question is one entirely for the Australian
+Churches.”
+
+At the meeting in the Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, which,
+along with others, I was cordially invited to address, the good and
+noble Lord Polwarth occupied the chair. That was the beginning of a
+friendship in Christ which will last and deepen as long as we live.
+From that night he took the warmest personal interest, not only
+by generously contributing to my fund, but by organizing meetings
+at his own Mansion House, and introducing me to a wide circle of
+influential friends. Every member of his family took “shares” in the
+new Steam-Auxiliary Mission Ship, and by Collecting Cards and otherwise
+most liberally aided me; and that not at the start only, but to the day
+of my departure,—one of the last things put into my hand on leaving
+Britain being a most handsome donation from Lord and Lady Polwarth
+to our Mission Fund,—“a thankoffering to the Lord Jesus for precious
+health restored in answer to the prayer of faith.”
+
+Nor, whilst the pen leads on my mind to recall these Border memories,
+must I fail to record how John Scott Dudgeon, Esq., Longnewton, a
+greatly esteemed Elder of the Church, went from town to town in all
+that region, and from Minister to Minister arranging for me a series of
+happy meetings. I shared also the hospitality of his beautiful Home,
+and added himself and his much-beloved wife to the precious roll of
+those who are dear for the Gospel’s sake and for their own.
+
+Her Majesty’s Commissioner to the General Assembly for the year
+was that distinguished Christian as well as nobleman, the Earl of
+Aberdeen. He graciously invited me to meet the Countess and himself at
+ancient Holyrood. After dinner he withdrew himself for a lengthened
+time from the general company and entered into a close and interested
+conversation about our Mission, and especially about the threatened
+annexation of the New Hebrides by the French.
+
+There also I had the memorable pleasure of meeting, and for a long
+while conversing with, that truly noble and large-hearted lady, his
+mother, the much-beloved Dowager Countess, well known for her life-long
+devotion to so many schemes of Christian philanthropy. At her own home,
+Alva House, she afterwards arranged meetings for me, as well as in
+Halls and Churches in the immediately surrounding district; and not
+only contributed most generously of her own means, but interested many
+besides and incited them to vie with each other in helping on our
+cause. I was her guest during those days, and never either in high
+or in humble station felt the ties of true fellowship in Christ more
+closely drawn. Despite frost and snow, she accompanied me to almost
+every meeting; and her letters of interest in the work, of sympathy,
+and of helpfulness, from time to time received, were amongst the
+sustaining forces of my spiritual life. When one sees noble rank thus
+consecrating itself in humble and faithful service to Jesus, there
+dawns upon the mind a glimpse of what the prophet means, and of what
+the world will be like, when it can be said regarding the Church of God
+on Earth,—“Kings _have become_ thy nursing fathers, and their Queens
+thy nursing mothers.”
+
+My steps were next directed towards Ireland, immediately after the
+Church meetings at Edinburgh; first to ’Derry, where the Presbyterian
+Assembly was met in annual conclave, and thereafter to Belfast, where
+the Pan-Presbyterian Council was shortly to sit. The eloquent fervour
+of the Brethren at ’Derry was like a refreshing breeze to my spirit;
+I never met Ministers anywhere, in all my travels, who seemed more
+whole-hearted in their devotion to the work which the Lord had given
+them to do.
+
+But the excitement over the Organ and Hymn question was too intense
+for me; the debate threatened to degenerate into a wrangle, and
+the marvellous way in which a stick or an umbrella was flourished
+occasionally by an impulsive speaker, to give action to his eloquence,
+was not a little suggestive of blows and broken heads. All ended
+quietly, however, and the decision, though not final, gave hope of an
+early settlement, which will secure alike the liberty and the peace of
+the Church. A trip to the South Seas, and a revelation of how God used
+the Harmonium and the Hymn, as wings on which the Gospel was borne into
+the homes and hearts of Cannibals, would have opened the eyes of many
+dear fathers and brethren, as it had opened mine! No one was once more
+opposed, especially to instrumental music in the worship of God, than
+I had been; but the Lord who made us, and who knows the nature He has
+given us, had long ago taught me otherwise.
+
+I addressed the Assembly at ’Derry and also the Council at Belfast.
+The memory of seeing all those great and learned and famous men—for
+many of the leaders were literally such—so deeply interested in the
+work of God, and particularly in the Evangelizing of the Heathen World
+and bringing thereto the knowledge of Jesus, was to me, so long exiled
+from all such influences, one of the great inspirations of my life. I
+listened with humble thankfulness, and blessed the Lord who had brought
+me to sit at their feet.
+
+On the rising of the Council, I entered upon a tour of six weeks among
+the Presbyterian Congregations and Sabbath Schools of Ireland. It
+had often been said to me, after my addresses in the Assemblies and
+elsewhere,—
+
+“How do you ever expect to raise £6,000? It can never be accomplished,
+unless you call upon the rich individually, and get their larger
+subscriptions. Our ordinary Church people have more than enough to do
+with themselves. Trade is dull,” etc.
+
+I explained to them, and also announced publicly, that in all similar
+efforts I had never called on or solicited any one privately, and that
+I would not do so now. I would make my appeal, but leave everything
+else to be settled betwixt the individual conscience and the Saviour,—I
+gladly receiving whatsoever was given or sent, acknowledging it by
+letter, and duly forwarding it to my own Church in Victoria. Again and
+again did generous souls offer to go with me, introduce me, and give me
+opportunity of soliciting subscriptions; but I steadily refused,—going,
+indeed, wherever an occasion was afforded me of telling my story and
+setting forth the claims of the Mission, but asking no one personally
+for anything, having fixed my soul in the conviction that one part of
+the work was laid upon me, but that the other lay betwixt the Master
+and His servants exclusively.
+
+“On what then do you really rely, looking at it from a business point
+of view?”—they would somewhat appealingly ask me.
+
+I answered,—“I will tell my story; I will set forth the claims of the
+Lord Jesus on the people; I will expect the surplus collection, or a
+retiring collection, on Sabbaths; I will ask the whole collection,
+less expenses, at week night meetings; I will issue Collecting Cards
+for Sabbath Scholars; I will make known my Home-Address, to which
+everything may be forwarded, either from Congregations or from private
+donors; and I will go on, to my utmost strength, in the faith that
+the Lord will send me the £6,000 required. If He does not so send it,
+then I shall expect that He will send me grace to be reconciled to the
+disappointment, and I shall go back to my work without the Ship.”
+
+This, in substance, I had to repeat hundreds of times; and as often had
+I to witness the half-pitying or incredulous smile with which it was
+received, or to hear the blunt and emphatic retort,—
+
+“You’ll never succeed! Money cannot be got in that unbusiness-like way.”
+
+I generally added nothing further to such conversations; but a Voice,
+deep, sweet, and clear, kept sounding through my soul,—“The silver and
+the gold are Mine.”
+
+During the year 1884, as is well known, Ireland was the scene of many
+commotions and of great distress. Yet at the end of my little tour,
+amongst the Presbyterian people of the North principally, though not
+exclusively, a sum of more than £600 had been contributed to our
+Mission Fund. And there was not, so far as my knowledge went, one
+single large subscription; there were, of course, many bits of gold
+from those well-to-do, but the ordinary collection was made up of the
+shillings and pence of the masses of the people. Nor had I ever in
+all my travels a warmer response, nor ever mingled with any Ministers
+more earnestly devoted to their Congregations or more generally and
+deservedly beloved.
+
+No man, however dissevered from the party politics of the day, can
+see and live amongst the Irish of the North, without having forced on
+his soul the conviction that the Protestant faith and life, with its
+grit and backbone and self-dependence, has made them what they are.
+Romanism, on the other hand, with its blind faith and its peculiar
+type of life, has been at least _one_, if not the main, degrading
+influence amongst the Irish of the South and West, who are naturally
+a warm-hearted and generous and gifted people. And let Christian
+Churches, and our Statesmen who love Christ, remember—that no mere
+outward changes of Government or Order, however good and defensible
+in themselves, can ever heal the miseries of the people, without a
+change of Religion. Ireland needs the pure and true Gospel, proclaimed,
+taught, and received, in the South as it now is in the North; and no
+other gift, that Britain ever can bestow, will make up for the lack of
+Christ’s Evangel. Jesus holds the Key to all problems, in this as in
+every land.
+
+Returning to Scotland, I settled down at my headquarters, the house
+of my brother James in Glasgow; and thence began to open up the main
+line of my operations, as the Lord day by day guided me. Having the
+aid of no Committee, I cast myself on Minister after Minister and
+Church after Church, calling here, writing there, and arranging for
+three meetings every Sabbath, and one, if possible, every week-day,
+and drawing-room meetings wherever practicable in the afternoons. My
+correspondence grew to oppressive proportions, and kept me toiling at
+it every spare moment from early morn till bedtime. Indeed, I never
+could have overtaken it, had not my brother devoted many days and hours
+of precious time, answering letters regarding arrangements, issuing the
+“Share” receipts for all moneys the moment they arrived, managing all
+my transactions through the bank, and generally tackling and reducing
+the heap of communications and preventing me falling into hopeless
+arrears.
+
+I represented a Church in which all Presbyterians are happily united;
+and so, wherever possible, I occupied on the same Sabbath day, an
+Established Church pulpit in the morning, a Free Church in the
+afternoon, and a United Presbyterian Church in the evening, or in
+any order in which the thing could be arranged to suit the exigences
+of every town or village that was visited. In all my addresses, for
+I nowhere attempted ordinary sermonizing, I strove to combine the
+Evangelist with the Missionary, applying every incident in my story to
+the conscience of the hearer, and seeking to win the sinner to Christ,
+and the believer to a more consecrated life. For I knew that if I
+succeeded in these higher aims, their money would be freely laid upon
+the altar too.
+
+I printed, and circulated by post and otherwise, ten thousand copies
+of a booklet, “Statement and Appeal,”—containing, besides my Victorian
+Commission and my Glasgow address, a condensed epitome of the results
+of the New Hebrides Mission and of the reasons for asking a new Steam
+Auxiliary Ship. To this chiefly is due the fact (as well as to my
+refusing to call for subscriptions), that the far greater portion of
+all the money came to me by letter. On one day, though no doubt a
+little exceptional, as many as seventy communications reached me by
+post; and every one of these contained something for our fund,—ranging
+from “a few stamps” and “the widow’s mite,” through every variety
+of figure up to the wealthy man’s fifty or hundred pounds. I was
+particularly struck with the number of times that I received £1, with
+such a note as, “From a servant-girl that loves the Lord Jesus”; or
+“From a servant-girl that prays for the conversion of the Heathen.”
+Again and again I received sums of five and ten shillings, with
+notes such as,—“From a working-man who loves his Bible”; or “From a
+working-man who prays for God’s blessing on you and work like yours,
+every day in Family Worship.” I sometimes regret that the graphic,
+varied, and intensely interesting notes and letters were not preserved;
+for by the close of my tour they would have formed a wonderful volume
+of leaves from the human heart.
+
+I also addressed every Religious Convention to which I was invited, or
+to which I could secure access. The Perth Conference was made memorable
+to me by my receiving the first large subscription for our Ship, and by
+my making the acquaintance of a beautiful type of Christian merchant.
+At the close of the meeting, at which I had the privilege of speaking,
+an American gentleman introduced himself to me. We talked and entered
+into each other’s confidence, as brothers in the Lord’s service. He had
+made a competency for himself and his family, though only in the prime
+of life; and he still carried on a large and flourishing business—but
+why? to devote _the whole profits_, year after year, to the direct
+service of God and His cause among men! He gave me a cheque for the
+largest single contribution with which the Lord had yet cheered me.
+God, who knows me, sees that I have never coveted money for myself or
+my family; but I did envy that Christian merchant the joy that he had
+in having money, and having the heart to use it as a steward of the
+Lord Jesus! Oh, when will men of wealth learn this blessed secret, and,
+instead of hoarding up gold till death forces it from their clutches,
+put it out to usury now in the service of their Master, and see the
+fruits and share the joy thereof, before they go hence to give in
+their account to God? One of the most appalling features in the modern
+Christian World, considering the needs of men and the claims of Jesus,
+is this same practice of either spending all for self, or hoarding all
+for self, alone or chiefly. Christians who do so seem to stand in need
+of a great deal of converting still!
+
+Thereafter I was invited to the annual Christian Conference at Dundee.
+A most peculiar experience befell me there. Being asked to close the
+forenoon meeting with prayer and the benediction, I offered prayer,
+and then began—“May the love of God the Father——” but not another
+word would come in English; everything was blank except the words in
+Aniwan, for I had long begun to _think_ in the Native tongue, and
+after a dead pause, and a painful silence, I had to wind up with a
+simple “Amen!” I sat down wet with perspiration. It might have been
+wiser, as the Chairman afterwards suggested, to have given them the
+blessing in Aniwan, but I feared to set them a-laughing by so strange
+a manifestation of the “tongues.” Worst of all, it had been announced
+that I was to address them in the afternoon; but who would come to
+hear a Missionary that stuck in the benediction? The event had its
+semi-comical aspect, but it sent me to my knees during the interval in
+a very fever of prayerful anxiety. A vast audience assembled, and if
+the Lord ever manifestly used me in interesting His people in Missions,
+it was certainly then and there. As I sat down, a devoted Free Church
+Elder from Glasgow handed me his card, with “I.O.U. £100.” This was my
+first donation of a hundred pounds, and my heart was greatly cheered.
+I praised the Lord, and warmly thanked His servant. A Something
+kept sounding these words in my ears, “My thoughts are not as your
+thoughts;” and also, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He will
+sustain thee.”
+
+During my address at that meeting three coloured girls, not unlike our
+Island girls, sat near the platform, and eagerly listened to me. At
+the close, the youngest, apparently about twelve years of age, rose,
+salaamed to me in Indian fashion, took four silver bangles from her
+arm, and presented them to me, saying,—
+
+“Padre, I want to take shares in your Mission Ship by these bangles,
+for I have no money, and may the Lord ever bless you!”
+
+I replied,—“Thank you, my dear child; I will not take your bangles, but
+Jesus will accept your offering, and bless and reward you all the same.”
+
+As she still held them up to me, saying, “Padre, do receive them from
+me, and may God ever bless you!” a lady, who had been seated beside
+her, came up to me, and said,—
+
+“Please, do take them, or the dear girl will break her heart. She has
+offered them up to Jesus for your Mission Ship.”
+
+I afterwards learned that the girls were orphans, whose parents died in
+the famine; that the lady and her sister, daughters of a Missionary,
+had adopted them to be trained as Zenana Missionaries, and that they
+intended to return with them, and live and die to aid them in that
+blessed work amongst the daughters of India. Oh, what a reward and joy
+might many a lady who reads this page easily reap for herself in Time
+and Eternity by a similar simple yet far-reaching service! Take action
+when and where God points the way; wait for no one’s guidance.
+
+The most amazing variety characterized the gifts and the givers. In
+Glasgow a lady sent me an anonymous note to this effect:—
+
+“I have been curtailing my expenses. The first £5 saved I enclose, that
+you may invest it for me in the Bank of Jesus. I am sure He gives the
+best interest, and the most certain returns.”
+
+From Edinburgh a lawyer wrote, saying,—“I herewith send you £5. Take
+out for me two hundred shares in the Mission Ship. I never made any
+investment with more genuine satisfaction in all my life.”
+
+A gentleman, whose children had zealously collected a considerable sum
+for me by the Cards, at length sent me his own subscription, saying,—“I
+enclose you £25, because you have so interested my children in Missions
+to the Heathen.” The same friend, after hearing me plead the cause in
+Free St. George’s, Edinburgh, sent me a most encouraging letter, and
+another contribution of £100.
+
+In Glasgow a lady called at my brother’s house, saying,—“Is the
+Missionary at home? Can I see him alone? If not, I will call again.”
+Being asked into my room, she declined to be seated, but said,—“I heard
+you tell the story of your Mission in the City Hall, and I have been
+praying for you ever since. I have called to give you my mite, but
+not my name. God bless you. We shall meet in Heaven!” She handed me an
+envelope, and was off almost before I could thank her. It was £49 in
+bank notes.
+
+Another dear Christian lady came to see me, and at the close of a
+delightful conversation, said: “I have been thinking much about you
+since I heard you in the Clark Hall, Paisley. I have come to give
+a little bit of dirty paper for your Ship. God sent it to me, and
+I return it to God through you with great pleasure.” I thanked her
+warmly, thinking it a pound, or five at the most; on opening it, after
+she was gone, it turned out to be £100. I felt bowed down in humble
+thankfulness, and pressed forward in the service of the Lord.
+
+Another lady, who sent for me to call, said to me:—“I have heard of the
+sufferings and losses of the Missionaries on your Islands through the
+smallness of the Sailing Vessel. I am glad to have the opportunity of
+giving you £50 to assist in getting a Steam Auxiliary.”
+
+Many articles of jewellery, silver and gold ornaments, rings and
+chains, were also sent to me, or dropped into the Collecting plate.
+With the assistance of Christian gentlemen, and by the kindness of a
+merchant at once interested in our work and in the gold and silver
+trade, these were turned into cash on the most advantageous possible
+terms, and added to the Mission Fund.
+
+Having an introduction to a London lady, then living in Edinburgh, I
+called and was most kindly received because of our dear mutual friend
+Mrs. Cameron, of St. Kilda. After delightful Christian conversation,
+she retired for a minute, and returned, saying,—“I have kept this for
+twelve months, asking the Lord to direct me as to its disposal. God
+claims it now for the Mission Ship, and I have great joy in handing it
+to you.” It was another £100. I had been praying all that afternoon for
+some token of encouragement, especially as I went to that lady’s house,
+and God’s extraordinary answer, even while the prayer was still being
+uttered, struck me so forcibly that I could not speak. I received her
+gift in tears, and my soul looked up to the Giver of all.
+
+The time now arrived for my attempting something amongst the
+Presbyterians of England. But my heart sank within me; I was a stranger
+to all except Dr. Dykes, and the New Hebrides Mission had no special
+claims on them. Casting myself upon the Lord, I wrote to all the
+Presbyterian Ministers in and around London, enclosing my “Statement
+and Appeal,” and asking a Service, with a retiring collection, or the
+surplus above the usual collection on behalf of our Mission Ship. All
+declined, except two. I learned that the London Presbytery had resolved
+that no claim beyond their own Church was to be admitted into any
+of its pulpits for a period of months, under some special financial
+emergency. My dear friend, Dr. J. Hood Wilson, kindly wrote also to a
+number of them on my behalf, but with nearly similar result; though at
+last other two Services were arranged for with a collection, and one
+without. Being required at London, in any case, in connection with the
+threatened Annexation of the New Hebrides by the French, I resolved
+to take these five Services by the way, and immediately return to
+Scotland, where engagements and opportunities were now pressed upon me,
+far more than I could overtake. But the Lord Himself opened before me a
+larger door, and more effectual, than any that I had tried in vain to
+open up for myself.
+
+The Churches to which I had access did nobly indeed, and the Ministers
+treated me as a very brother. Dr. Dykes most affectionately supported
+my Appeal, and made himself recipient of donations that might be
+sent for our Mission Ship. Dr. Donald Fraser, and Messrs. Taylor and
+Mathieson, with their Congregations, generously contributed to the
+fund. And so did the Mission Church in Drury Lane—the excellent and
+consecrated Rev. W. B. Alexander, the pastor thereof, and his wife,
+becoming my devoted personal friends, and continuing to remember in
+their work-parties every year since the needs of the Natives on the
+New Hebrides. Others also, whom I cannot wait to specify, showed a
+warm interest in us and in our department of the Lord’s work. But my
+heart had been foolishly set upon adding a large sum to the fund for
+the Mission Ship, and when only about £150 came from all the Churches
+in London to which I could get access, no doubt I was sensible of
+cherishing a little guilty disappointment. That was very unworthy in
+me, considering all my previous experiences, and God deserved to be
+trusted by me far differently, as the sequel will immediately show.
+
+That widely-known and deeply-beloved servant of God, J. E. Mathieson,
+Esq., of the Mildmay Conference Hall, had invited me to address one of
+their annual meetings on behalf of Foreign Missions, and also to be
+his guest while the Conference lasted. Thereby I met and heard many
+godly and noble disciples of the Lord, whom I could not otherwise have
+reached though every Church I had asked in London had been freely
+opened to me. These devout and faithful and generous people, belonging
+to every branch of the Church of Christ, and drawn from every rank and
+class in Society, from the humblest to the highest, were certainly
+amongst the most open-hearted and the most responsive of all whom I
+ever had the privilege to address. One felt there, in a higher degree
+than almost anywhere else, that every soul was on fire with love to
+Jesus and with genuine devotion to His Cause in every corner of the
+Earth. There it was a privilege and a gladness to speak; and though
+no collection was asked or could be expected, my heart was uplifted
+and strengthened by these happy meetings and by all that Heavenly
+intercourse.
+
+But see how the Lord leads us by a way we know not! Next morning
+after my address, a gentleman who had heard me handed me a cheque
+for £300, by far the largest single donation towards our Mission
+Ship; and immediately thereafter I received, from one of the Mildmay
+lady-Missionaries £50, from a venerable friend of the founder £20, from
+“Friends at Mildmay” £30; and through my dear friend and brother, J. E.
+Mathieson, many other donations were in due course forwarded to me.
+
+My introduction, however, to the Conference at Mildmay did far more
+for me than even this; it opened up for me a series of drawing-room
+meetings in and around London, where I told the story of our Mission
+and preached the Gospel to many in the higher walks of life, and
+received most liberal support for the Mission Ship. It also brought me
+invitations from many quarters of England, to Churches, to Halls, and
+to County Houses and Mansions.
+
+Lord Radstock got up a special meeting, inviting by private card a
+large number of his most influential friends; and there I met for the
+first time one whom I have since learned to regard as a very precious
+personal friend, Rev. Sholto D. C. Douglas, clergyman of the Church of
+England, who then, and afterwards at his seat in Scotland, not only
+most liberally supported our fund, but took me by the hand as a brother
+and promoted my work by every means in his power.
+
+The Earl and Countess of Tankerville also invited me to Chillingham
+Castle, and gave me an opportunity of addressing a great assembly
+there, then gathered together from all parts of the County. The
+British and Foreign Bible Society received me in a special meeting of
+the Directors; and I was able to tell them how all we the Missionaries
+of these Islands, whose language had never before been reduced to
+writing, looked to them and leant upon them and prayed for them and
+their work—without whom our Native Bibles never could have been
+published. After the meeting, the Chairman gave me £5, and one of the
+Directors a cheque for £25 for our Mission Ship.
+
+I was also invited to Leicester, and made the acquaintanceship of a
+godly and gifted servant of the Lord Jesus, the Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A.
+(now of London), whose books and booklets on the higher aspects of the
+Christian Life are read by tens of thousands, and have been fruitful
+of blessing. There I addressed great meetings of devoted workers in
+the vineyard; and the dear friend who was my host on that occasion, a
+Christian merchant, has since contributed £10 per annum for the support
+of a Native Teacher on the New Hebrides.
+
+It was my privilege also to visit and address the Müller Orphanages at
+Bristol, and to see that saintly man of faith and prayer moving about
+as a wise and loving father amongst the hundreds, even thousands, that
+look to him for their daily bread and for the bread of Life Eternal. At
+the close of my address, the venerable founder thanked me warmly and
+said,—
+
+“Here are £50, which God has sent to me for your Mission.”
+
+I replied, saying,—“Dear friend, how can I take it? If I could, I would
+rather give you £500 for your Orphans, for I am sure you need it all!”
+
+He replied, with sweetness and great dignity,—“God provides for His own
+Orphans. This money cannot be used for them. I must send it after you
+by letter. It is the Lord’s gift.”
+
+Often, as I have looked at the doings of men and Churches, and tried to
+bring all to the test as if in Christ’s very presence,—it has appeared
+to me that such work as Müller’s, and Barnardo’s, and that of my own
+fellow-countryman, William Quarrier, must be peculiarly dear to the
+heart of our blessed Lord. And were He to visit this world again, and
+seek a place where His very Spirit had most fully wrought itself out
+into deeds, I fear that many of our so-called Churches would deserve to
+be passed by, and that His holy, tender, helpful, divinely-human love
+would find its most perfect reflex in these Orphan Homes. Still and for
+ever, amidst all changes of creed and of climate, this, _this_ is “pure
+and undefiled Religion” before God and the Father!
+
+Upper Norwood, London, is ever fresh in my memory, in connection
+with my first and subsequent visits, chiefly because of the faithful
+guidance and help amidst all the perplexities of that Great Babylon,
+so ungrudgingly bestowed upon me by my old Australian friends, then
+resident there, William Storrie, Esq., and his most excellent wife,
+both devoted workers in the cause of Missions abroad and at home. Great
+kindness was shown to me also by their Minister there; and by T. W.
+Stoughton, Esq., at whose Mission Hall there was a memorable and joyful
+meeting; and, amongst many others whom I cannot here name, by Messrs.
+Morgan & Scott, of the _Christian_,—all of whom I rejoiced to find
+actively engaged in personal service to the Lord Jesus.
+
+But in this connection I must not omit to mention that the noble and
+world-famous servant of God, the Minister of the Tabernacle, invited
+me to a garden-party at his home, and asked me to address his students
+and other Christian workers. When I arrived I found a goodly company
+assembled under the shade of lovely trees, and felt the touch of that
+genial humour, so mighty a gift when sanctified, which has so often
+given wings to Mr. Spurgeon’s words, when he introduced me to the
+audience as “the King of the Cannibals!” On my leaving, Mrs. Spurgeon
+presented me with her husband’s “Treasury of David,” and also “£5
+from the Lord’s cows,” which I learned was part of the profits from
+certain cows kept by the good lady, and that everything produced
+thereby was dedicated to the work of the Lord. I praised God that He
+had privileged me to meet this extraordinarily endowed man, to whom the
+whole Christian World is so specially indebted, and who has consecrated
+all his gifts and opportunities to the proclamation of the pure and
+precious Gospel.
+
+But of all my London associations, the deepest and the most
+imperishable is that which weaves itself around the Honourable Ion
+Keith-Falconer, who has already passed to what may truly be called a
+Martyr’s crown. At that time I met him at his father-in-law’s house at
+Trent; and on another occasion spent a whole day with him at the house
+of his noble mother, the Countess-Dowager of Kintore. His soul was then
+full of his projected Mission to the Arabs, being himself one of the
+most distinguished Orientalists of the day; and as we talked together,
+and exchanged experiences, I felt that never before had I visibly
+marked the fire of God, the holy passion to seek and to save the lost,
+burning more steadily or brightly on the altar of any human heart. The
+heroic founding of the Mission at Aden is already one of the precious
+annals of the Church of Christ. His young and devoted wife survives,
+to mourn indeed, but also to cherish his noble memory; and, with the
+aid of others, and under the banner of the Free Church of Scotland,
+to see the “Keith-Falconer Mission” rising up amidst the darkness of
+blood-stained Africa, as at once a harbour of refuge for the slave,
+and a beacon-light to those who are without God and without hope. The
+servant does his day’s work, and passes on through the gates of sleep
+to the Happy Dawn; but the Divine Master lives and works and reigns,
+and by our death, as surely as by our life, His holy purposes shall be
+fulfilled.
+
+On returning to Scotland, every day was crowded with engagements for
+the weeks that remained, and almost every mail brought me contributions
+from all conceivable corners of the land. My heart was set upon taking
+out two or three Missionaries with me to claim more and still more of
+the Islands for Christ; and with that view I had addressed Divinity
+Students at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Again and again, by
+conversation and correspondence, consecrated young men were just on the
+point of volunteering; but again and again the larger and better known
+fields of labour turned the scale, and they finally decided for China
+or Africa or India. Deeply disappointed at this, and thinking that God
+directed us to look to our own Australia alone for Missionaries for the
+New Hebrides, I resolved to return, and took steps towards securing
+a passage by the Orient Line to Melbourne. But just then two able
+and devoted students, Messrs. Morton and Leggatt, offered themselves
+as Missionaries for our Islands; and shortly thereafter a third, Mr.
+Landells, also an excellent man; and all, being on the eve of their
+Licence, were approved of, accepted, and set to special preparations
+for the Mission field, particularly in acquiring practical medical
+knowledge.
+
+On this turn of affairs, I managed to have my passage delayed for six
+weeks, and resolved to cast myself on the Lord that He might enable
+me in that time to raise at least £500, in order to furnish the
+necessary outfit and equipment for three new Mission Stations, and to
+pay the passage money of the Missionaries and their wives, that there
+might be no difficulty on this score amongst the Foreign Missions
+Committees on the other side. And then the idea came forcibly, and for
+a little unmanned me, that it was wrong in me to speak of these limits
+as to time and money in my prayers to God. But I reflected, again,
+how it was for the Lord’s own glory alone in the salvation of the
+Heathen, and for no personal aims of mine; and so I fell back on His
+promise,—“Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name,”—and believingly asked it
+in His Name, and for His praise and service alone. I think it due to
+my Lord, and for the encouragement of all His servants, that I should
+briefly outline what occurred in answer to these prayers.
+
+Having gone to the centre of one of the great ship-building districts
+of Scotland, and held a series of meetings, and raised a sum of about
+£55 only after nine services and many Sabbath School collecting cards,
+my heart was beginning to sink, as I did not think my health would
+stand another six weeks of incessant strain; when at the close of my
+last meeting in a Free Church, an Elder and his wife entered the vestry
+and said,—
+
+“We are deeply interested in you and in all your work and plans. You
+say that you have asked £500 more. We gave you the first £100 at the
+Dundee Conference; and it is a joy to us to give you this £100 too,
+towards the making up of your final sum. We pray that you may speedily
+realize your wish, and that God’s richest blessing may ever rest upon
+your head.”
+
+Glasgow readers will at once recognise the generous giver, J. Campbell
+White, Esq., who rejoices, along with his dear wife, to regard himself
+as a steward of the Lord Jesus. My prayer is that they, and all such,
+may feel more and more “blessed in their deeds.”
+
+Another week passed by, and at the close of it a lady called upon me,
+and, after delightful conversation about the Mission, said,—
+
+“How near are you to the sum required?” I explained to her what is
+recorded above, and she continued, “I gave you one little piece of
+paper, at the beginning of your efforts. I have prayed for you every
+day since. God has prospered me, and this is one of the happiest
+moments of my life, when I am now able to give you another little bit
+of paper.”
+
+So saying, she put into my hand £100. I protested,—“You are surely too
+generous. Can you afford a second £100?”
+
+She replied to this effect, and very joyfully, as one who had genuine
+gladness in the deed,—“My Lord has been very kind to me, in my health
+and in my business. My wants are simple and are safe in His hands. I
+wait not till death forces me, but give back whatever I am able to the
+Lord now, and hope to live to see much blessing thereby through you in
+the conversion of the Heathen.”
+
+The name of that dear friend from Paisley rises often in my prayers and
+meditations before God. “Verily I say unto you, the Father that seeth
+in secret shall reward openly.”
+
+My last week had come, and I was in the midst of preparations for
+departure, when amongst the letters delivered to me was one to this
+effect,—
+
+“Restitution money which never now can be returned to its owner. Since
+my Conversion I have laboured hard to save it. I now make my only
+possible amends by returning it to God through you. Pray for me and
+mine, and may God bless you in your work!” I rather startled my brother
+and his wife at our breakfast table by shouting out in unwontedly
+excited tones,—“Hallelujah! The Lord has done it! Hallelujah!” But my
+tones softened down into intense reverence, and my words broke at last
+into tears, when I found that this, the second largest subscription
+ever received by me, came from a converted tradesman, who had now
+consecrated his all to the Lord Jesus, and whose whole leisure was now
+centred upon seeking to bless and save those of his own rank and class,
+amongst whom he had spent his early and unconverted days. Jesus saith
+unto him, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the
+Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.”
+
+Bidding farewell to dear old Glasgow, so closely intertwined with all
+my earlier and later experiences I started for London, accompanied by
+my brother James. We were sitting at breakfast at Mrs. Mathieson’s
+table, Mildmay, when a telegram was put into my hands announcing the
+“thank-offering” from Lord and Lady Polwarth, received since our
+departure from Glasgow, and referred to on an earlier page. The Lord
+had now literally exceeded my prayers. With other gifts, repeated again
+by friends at Mildmay, the special fund for outfit and travelling
+expenses for new Missionaries had risen above the £500, and now
+approached £650.
+
+In a Farewell Meeting at Mildmay the Lord’s servants assembled in great
+numbers from all quarters of London, dedicated me and my work very
+solemnly to God, amid songs of praise and many prayers and touching
+“last” words. And when at length Mr. Mathieson, intimating that I must
+go, as another company of Christian workers were elsewhere waiting also
+to say Goodbye, suggested that the whole audience should stand up, and,
+instead of hand shaking, quietly breathe their benedictory Farewell as
+I passed from the platform down through their great Hall, a perfect
+flood of emotion overwhelmed me. I never felt a humbler man, nor
+more anxious to hide my head in the dust, than when all these noble,
+gifted, and beloved followers of Jesus Christ and consecrated workers
+in His service, stood up and with one heart said, “God speed” and “God
+bless you,” as I passed on through the Hall. To one who had striven
+and suffered less, or who less appreciated how little we can do for
+others compared with what Jesus had done for us, this scene might have
+ministered to spiritual pride; but long ere I reached the door of that
+Hall, my soul was already prostrated at the feet of my Lord in sorrow
+and in shame that I had done so little for Him, and I bowed my head and
+could have gladly bowed my knees to cry, “Not unto us, Lord, not unto
+us!”
+
+On the 28th October, 1885, I sailed for Melbourne, and in due course
+safely arrived there by the goodness of God. The Church and people
+of my own beloved Victoria gave me a right joyful welcome, and in
+public assembly presented me with a testimonial, which I shrank from
+receiving, but which all the same was the highly-prized expression of
+their confidence and esteem.
+
+In my absence at the Islands, they thereafter elected me Moderator of
+their Supreme Court, and called me back to fill that highest Chair of
+honour in the Presbyterian Church. God is my witness how very little
+any or all of these things in themselves ever have been coveted by me;
+but how, when they have come in my way, I have embraced them with a
+single desire thereby to promote the Church’s interest in that Cause
+to which my whole life and all my opportunities are consecrated,—the
+Conversion of the Heathen World.
+
+My Mission to Britain was to raise £6,000, in order to enable the
+Australian Churches to provide a Steam Auxiliary Mission Ship, for the
+enlarged and constantly enlarging requirements of the New Hebrides.
+I spent exactly eighteen months at home; and when I returned, I was
+enabled to hand over to the Church that had commissioned and authorized
+me no less a sum than £9,000. And all this had been forwarded to me,
+as the free-will offerings of the Lord’s stewards, in the manner
+illustrated by the preceding pages. “Behold! what God hath wrought!”
+
+Of this sum £6,000 are set apart to build or acquire the new Mission
+Ship. The remainder is added to what we call our Number II. Fund, for
+the maintenance and equipment of additional Missionaries. It has been
+the dream of my life to see one Missionary at least planted on every
+Island of the New Hebrides, and then I could lie down and whisper
+gladly, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace!”
+
+As to the new Mission Ship, delay has arisen—owing to a difference of
+opinion about the best way of carrying out the proposal. Negotiations
+are progressing betwixt New South Wales and Victoria and the other
+Colonies as to the additional annual expenditure for the maintenance
+of a Steam-Auxiliary, and how the same is to be allocated. Also, an
+element of doubt and perplexity has been introduced into the scheme
+by the possibility of the Government running Mails regularly from
+Australia to Fiji, and calling at one or other of the New Hebrides
+harbours,—in which case some think the Missionaries would need only an
+_inter-island_ Steamer, of a comparatively moderate tonnage. Meantime,
+let all friends who are interested in us and our work understand—that
+the money so generously entrusted to me has been safely handed over to
+my Victorian Church, and has been deposited by them at good interest in
+the bank, pending the settlement of these business details.
+
+To me personally, this delay is confessedly a keen and deep
+disappointment,—feeling strongly as I do, and seeing more clearly every
+day, the waste and suffering caused to our beloved Missionaries and
+their families, by the uncertainties of a Sailing Ship, and by the
+utter inability of our present _Dayspring_ to overtake all that is now
+required. But this is not the place to discuss that matter in detail.
+The work laid upon me has been accomplished. The Colonial Churches have
+all the responsibility of the further steps. In this, as in many a
+harder trouble of my chequered life, I calmly roll all my burden upon
+the Lord. I await with quietness and confidence His wise disposal of
+events. His hand is on the helm; and whither He steers us, all shall be
+well.
+
+But let me not close this chapter, till I have struck another and a
+Diviner note. I have been to the Islands again, since my return from
+Britain. The whole inhabitants of Aniwa were there to welcome me, and
+my procession to the old Mission House was more like the triumphal
+march of a Conqueror than that of a humble Missionary. Everything was
+kept in beautiful and perfect order. Every Service of the Church, as
+previously described in this book, was fully sustained by the Native
+Teachers, the Elders, and the occasional visit, once or twice a year,
+of the ordained white Missionary from one of the other Islands. Aniwa,
+like Aneityum, is a _Christian_ land. Jesus has taken possession, never
+again to quit those shores. Glory, _glory_ to His blessed Name!
+
+ * * * * *
+
+When pleading the cause of the Heathen and the claims of Jesus on His
+followers, I have often been taunted with being “a man of one idea.”
+Sometimes I have thought that this came from the lips of those who had
+not even one idea!—unless it were how to kill time or to save their own
+skin. But seriously speaking, is it not better to have one good idea
+and to live for that and succeed in it, than to scatter one’s life away
+on many things and leave a mark on none?
+
+And, besides, you cannot live for one good idea supremely without
+thereby helping forward many other collateral causes. My life has
+been dominated by one sacred purpose; but in pursuing it the Lord has
+enabled me to be Evangelist as well as Missionary, and whilst seeking
+for needed money to seek for and save and bless many souls,—has enabled
+me to defend the Holy Sabbath in many lands, as the God-given and
+precious birthright of the toiling millions, to be bartered away for
+no price or bribe that men can offer,—has enabled me to maintain the
+right of every child in Christian lands, or in Heathen, to be taught to
+read the blessed Bible and to understand it, as the Divine foundation
+of all Social Order and the sole guarantee of individual freedom as
+well as of national greatness,—and has enabled me also to do battle
+against the infernal _Kanaka_ or Labour Traffic, one of the most cruel
+and blood-stained forms of slavery on the face of the Earth, and to
+rouse the holy passion of Human Brotherhood in the Colonies and at Home
+against those who trafficked in the bodies and souls of men.
+
+In these, as well as in my own direct labours as a Missionary, I
+probably have had my full share of “abuse” from the enemies of the
+Cross, and a not inconsiderable burden of trials and afflictions in
+the service of my Lord; yet here, as I lay down my pen, let me record
+my immovable conviction that this is the noblest service in which any
+human being can spend or be spent; and that, if God gave me back my
+life to be lived over again, I would without one quiver of hesitation
+lay it on the altar to Christ, that He might use it as before in
+similar ministries of love, especially amongst those who have never yet
+heard the Name of Jesus. Nothing that has been endured, and nothing
+that can now befall me, makes me tremble—on the contrary, I deeply
+rejoice—when I breathe the prayer that it may please the blessed Lord
+to turn the hearts of all my children to the Mission field; and that He
+may open up their way and make it their pride and joy to live and die
+in carrying Jesus and His Gospel into the heart of the Heathen World!
+God gave His best, His Son, to me; and I give back my best, my All, to
+Him.
+
+Reader, Fare-thee-well! Thou hast companied with me,—not without
+some little profit, I trust; and not without noting many things that
+led thee to bless the Lord God, in whose honour these pages have
+been written. In your life and in mine, there is at least one _last_
+Chapter, one final Scene, awaiting us,—God our Father knows where and
+how! By His grace, I will live out that Chapter, I will pass through
+that Scene, in the faith and in the hope of Jesus, who has sustained
+me from childhood till now. As you close this book, go before your
+Saviour, and pledge yourself upon your knees by His help and sympathy
+to do the same. And let me meet you, and let us commune with each other
+again, in the presence and glory of the Redeemer. Fare-thee-well!
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] See the whole context in “Sermons on National Subjects,”
+(_Macmillan & Co._, 1880) pp. 414 to 417, where it is numbered as
+Sermon XLI.; particularly this regulative declaration regarding “what
+Original Sin may bring man to”:—“What is to my mind the most awful part
+of the matter remains to be told—that man may actually fall by Original
+Sin too low to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be recovered
+again by it.”—(_Editor_).
+
+
+
+
+ TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
+
+ Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
+ corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
+ the text and consultation of external sources.
+
+ Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,
+ when a predominant preference was found in the original book.
+
+ Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and
+ inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. All place names and
+ proper nouns have been retained as spelled in the original publication.
+
+ Page iv. “Ariwan” replaced by “Aniwan”.
+ Page xvii. “LISTI” replaced by “LITSI”.
+ Page 1. “Brutal Captain” replaced by “Brutal Captain.”.
+ Page 67. “now see them” replaced by “now see them.”.
+ Page 116. “accomodation” replaced by “accommodation”.
+ Page 119. “Rev. J” replaced by “Rev. J.”.
+ Page 132. “not of ourselves” replaced by “not of ourselves.”.
+ Page 158. “inhabit ants” replaced by “inhabitants”.
+ Page 160. “dead and buried” replaced by “dead and buried.”.
+ Page 169. “tomakawk” replaced by “tomahawk”.
+ Page 171. “among the Natives” replaced by “among the Natives.”.
+ Page 178. “‘It is” replaced by ““It is”.
+ Page 183. “through the earth.” replaced by “through the earth.””.
+ Page 222. “baptize you?” replaced by “baptize you?””.
+ Page 230. ““Society,’” replaced by ““Society,””.
+ Page 230. “your fill!’” replaced by “your fill!””.
+ Page 230. “happy as squirrels” replaced by “happy as squirrels.”.
+ Page 254. “this?’ Cocoa-nuts” replaced by “this?’ ‘Cocoa-nuts”.
+ Page 273. “home on Aniwa” replaced by “home on Aniwa.”.
+ Page 289. “symphony of Ocean” replaced by “symphony of Ocean’”.
+ Page 304. “She had, out” replaced by ““She had, out”.
+ Page 305. “spilt!’” replaced by “spilt!””.
+ Page 305. “you ill?’” replaced by “you ill?””.
+ Page 309. “broken Eglish” replaced by “broken English”.
+ Page 311. “eel the very” replaced by “feel the very”.
+ Page 314. “any other” replaced by “any other.”.
+ Page 321. “he returned?” replaced by “he returned?’”.
+ Page 329. “to Tanna.” replaced by “to Tanna,”.
+ Page 332. ““That’s Mungaw” replaced by “‘That’s Mungaw”.
+ Page 338. “But Noopooraw” replaced by “but Noopooraw”.
+ Page 339. “O Yomit” replaced by “‘O Yomit”.
+ Page 343. “acrue” replaced by “accrue”.
+ Page 343. “treacherous gales” replaced by “treacherous gales.”.
+ Page 363. “Steam Auxiliary.” replaced by “Steam Auxiliary.””.
+ Page 369. “‘God provides for” replaced by ““God provides for”.
+ Page 376. “accompained” replaced by “accompanied”.
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75800 ***
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