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1858-63
WHILE Mr. Burns was thus
laboriously preparing the way for future labourers in the comparatively
hard and unkindly soil around Swatow, his missionary brethren had been
reaping a rich and almost continuous harvest at the parent station of
Amoy. His young colleague, Mr. Douglas, had entered on his work at a
most auspicious moment, and had abundantly shared in that blessing which
for the last three years had so signally rested on that favoured field,
and on all connected with it. The number of converts and of inquirers in
connection with all the societies increased rapidly; the zeal, love, and
hopeful faith, alike of missionaries and of native disciples, deepened;
and the Word of the Lord sounded out more and more widely over the whole
region round. The valleys of the hill country, on the mainland to the
west, had become in particular one wide and busy harvest-field of souls.
The sacred fire, kindled the year before at a single spot, spread
gradually, chiefly through the spontaneous zeal of converts and native
evangelists, to the towns and villages around, and one living church
after another rose up as lights amid the darkness. Speedily the daughter
societies of Bay-payand Chioh-bey rivalled alike in numbers and in
fervour the mother congregation at Pechuia, while lesser groups of
Christian worshippers were scattered here and there over the valleys and
hills. In the absence of European labourers, or of trained native
evangelists, the members of the infant churches themselves became the
willing and zealous messengers of the Cross, and the Word of the Lord
spread as by its own divine inherent might from village to village, and
from heart to heart. Sometimes even it would be found that a single soul
having heard the divine message, perhaps only once at some central
mission station, had carried some living seeds of truth home to some
sequestered village among the hills, and there alone, amid heathen
idolaters, by feeble prayers to the true God, and rude endeavours to
keep the Christian Sabbath, nursed the sacred germ, until some Christian
evangelist came to water and to foster it. The aspect of the scene, as
it presented itself to the young missionary on his first survey of the
field, was thus exceedingly exhilarating. “ A glorious work of God,”
said he (Jan. 3, 1856), “has been wrought in this place, and He is
working still, and by his dealings we seem warranted to expect that all
this is but the merest beginning of the abundant blessing that he is
about to bestow on this place and neighbourhood. For several years after
this port was opened the labours seemed almost in vain, and when about
seven years ago the drops began to fall, they were very very few; but
somewhat about two years ago, the conversions became more numerous, and
now the number of living adult members is—London Missionary Society,
here and at Ko-lang-soo, 150; American Mission here, 100; at Chioh-bey,
22; and our station at Pechuia, 25. Of these the London Society has 39
female members, and the Americans about the same number. You can now
judge by what I have said as to the past and the present; while as to
the future, our hopes rest, under the mercy and love of God, on various
reasons,—partly the zeal and prayerfulness stirred up at home, partly on
the singularly steady progress and continued proportional increase of
the converting work, which is also peculiarly free from any excesses of
enthusiasm or superstition; and very much on the fact that the converts,
almost all, are full of zeal to lead their relatives and friends to
become partakers of the like precious faith, and to instruct in the
Scriptures and ‘the doctrine’ those who are younger in Christ; they
seem, so far as I can see, to delight to tell those who are still
without, of the grace and peace which they have found.
“There are altogether fifteen native Christians employed as colporteurs
and evangelists by the various missions; these assist in conducting the
services in the chapels, and quite as often conduct them themselves;
they also go out into the streets, and the neighbouring villages and
towns, distributing tracts and Testaments, preaching and conversing with
the people. Though of course I am not yet able to assist them in this
work, I often accompany them. There are also several young men under
training for this work by the several missionaries, who occasionally go
out to help; and there are also several persons engaged in ordinary
business, who delight to take part from time to time in these
evangelistic labours. Oh, that Christians at home would go and do
likewise—go everywhere, in streets, and lanes, and villages preaching
the Word, and the Lord would certainly be with them, and his power be
present to heal.”
When about a year after his arrival the missionary was able himself to
preach in the Chinese language, the evangelistic work went on still more
vigorously. From the wise and judicious director, he became now the
energetic leader of the company of preachers, traversing in every
direction the whole region round Amoy, till there was scarcely one
important centre of population on either side of the Chang-chow estuary
in which the joyful sound had not been heard. Old stations flourished,
and new fields opened up, which seemed scarcely less ripe for the
harvest. Seldom did a month pass in which there were not in some of the
churches inquirers to be instructed, and converts to be baptized; while
the old members, for the most part, visibly grew in faith, in knowledge,
and in Christian activity and zeal. A numerous “school of the prophets,”
too, for the training of native evangelists and teachers, flourished
under the missionary’s own care, at the central station at Amoy, and
held out the prospect of still more active and extensive operations in
the time to come.
It was indeed a green spot, which attracted the eye even of the passing
traveller, as a “field which the Lord had blessed.” An interesting
testimony of this kind, which came unsought from an unexpected quarter,
I cannot help quoting. A writer in the Overland Chinese Mail, who signs
himself “ Omithologicus,” had set out with a fellow-sportsman from Amoy
towards some point on the mainland. Their boat was capsized by a squall,
and they were taken up by a junk which was bearing towards the mouth of
the Pechuia river. The boatmen would not return with them to Amoy; but
showed them much kindness, taking off their own garments, and insisting
upon them putting them on, to prevent their getting chilled. The rest
must be told in the writer’s own words:—
“Running with a fair breeze, in the course of an hour or so we reached
Pechuia, and were led by the boatmen, amidst the cheers of the small
boys, to the missionary chapel. Our guides conducted us through the
Chinese chapel, up a ladder to a room above, where a teacher was
instructing a class of boys. The learned man, when he first saw us in
our dirty dress, and a mob crushing in at our heels, felt annoyed; but
as soon as he heard that we were peaceful inhabitants of Amoy, who had
met with an accident while on a boat trip, his countenance immediately
assumed a bland expression, and he invited us into his room, and made us
recount to him as well as we could our accident, while he sent to have
our clothes dried. Several converts came to have a look at us, and
amongst them an old respectable-looking man, who was somewhat deaf; and
when the rest explained to him what had occurred, he turned to us and
said, in a serious tone, ‘You ought indeed to be thankful to the
Almighty for having spared you from a watery gravel’ After we had
chatted some time with our visitors, we were shown into a small private
room, with a table, a couch, and a couple of bamboo chairs. This we were
told was the missionary’s private apartment whilst he taught amongst
them. On the table was laid a dinner, half Chinese and half English, and
we were left alone to dress and enjoy our meal. Our long subjection to
moistening influences had given us extraordinary appetites, and we did
our duty well to the good things set before us. Before it grew dark we
expressed a desire to go for a walk, and were led through the village to
a secluded path by the river’s side. The streets have not much to
recommend them, but the country was green and pretty, and quite a
pleasant change from the barren hills of Amoy.
“On our return to the missionary dwelling, we had a cup of tea, and then
a gong was beaten, and some of the converts came in to ask us if we
would attend evening worship. We of course implied a willing assent, and
stepping into the hall, found a company of about twenty gathered round a
table with books before them; two seats were left vacant for us at the
bottom of the table, which we took possession of. The teacher at the
head of the table began the service by giving out a hymn, which was sung
by the company under his precentorship. The Bible was then opened, and
each one read a verse of the chapter in his turn; an explication of the
chapter followed, after which all fell on their knees while the good man
prayed. My knowledge of the local dialect is not very great, but I knew
enough to understand that he returned thanks for our deliverance from a
watery death, and also that he prayed for the safe passage of their
pastor, who had left them for a visit to the north.1 We were exceedingly
pleased with all we- witnessed, and came to the conclusion that the only
answer we could in future return to the cavillers at the progress of
Christianity in China would be that we only wished that half the
Christian assemblies we have been present at at home could evince a
portion of the sincere and true devotion in worship of the small body of
converts in Pechuia. What the heart is, it is impossible for man to
know, unless he judges from the external demeanour.
“As soon as the service was over we retired to our small room, and being
very anxious to return to Amoy, we inquired whether we could not hire a
boat to take us back. The owner of a boat was summoned, and he agreed to
start as soon as the tide turned, which would not be till midnight.
“We talked with the people that came to see us, and smoked incessantly
to pass the time away. Midnight seemed a long time approaching; at last,
to our intense relief, we were told that the boat was ready, and were
lighted through the streets to the river side, many of our friends
following to take leave of us as we embarked.”
But this bright picture had also its darker shadow. “It is impossible
but that offences shall come.” Tares will ever mingle with the wheat
even in the richest and fairest fields of the Church, and the infant
churches of Fokien were no exceptions to this universal rule. The mother
congregation at Pechuia, in particular, had become latterly the subject
of grave solicitude to the missionaries. Dissensions had arisen about
the building of a chapel; one or two cases of scandal had occurred
amongst the members; death and change had of late visibly thinned the
ranks of the little society, while few new disciples were rising up to
fill the vacant places. It seemed indeed as if the fresh spirit of life,
under which at first they had grown exceedingly, at once in numbers and
in fervour, had passed away, and that the work had become stationary, or
even retrograde. It was in these circumstances that Mr. Burns had been
urged by his brother missionary to return, at least for a season, to the
scene of his former labours, and to bear his share of the increasing
anxieties and responsibility of their common work.
On his arrival at Pechuia he found the evils of which he had heard less
serious than he had feared, but still sufficiently grave to call for
prompt and vigorous corrective measures. On Feb. 22d, 1859, he writes
from Amoy:— “ There are two persons there who have fallen away from
their Christian profession; but neither of them had from the beginning,
as far as I learn, any marked evidence of a work of grace. The only
really melancholy case that I know of, is one who was chapel-keeper, and
afterwards a preacher, but who, there is reason to fear, has again
fallen under the power of opium-smoking.” The general aspect of affairs,
however, as it presented itself to him after so long an absence, was on
the whole most cheering. “I wonder,” says he, “ more than ever I did at
the reality and preciousness of the work of the divine Spirit at Pechuia
and the neighbouring stations. May the time be near when new and like
glorious manifestations of the Lord’s saving power shall be witnessed in
this and in all lands! ... Yesterday we had about forty of the converts
in this neighbourhood assembled at the communion at Pechuia; and to-day,
in coming here, fully a dozen accompanied me, most of them returning
home. It was a sweet contrast with the state of things five years ago,
when we first visited Pechuia, and when in this whole neighbourhood
there was probably not a single follower of the Lamb. ‘These, where had
they been?’ These from the land of Sinim! Oh! glorious day, when the
fulness of the Gentiles shall be converted unto Emmanuel; when all
nations shall be blessed in Him, and all nations shall call him blessed!
Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Take unto thee thy great power and
reign.”
Two of the offending members were, after all gentler means of remedy had
been tried in vain, cut off from communion, while two others were
subjected to the faithful but loving discipline of the Church, with a
view to their repentance and restoration. Remedial measures, too, of a
more permanent kind were at the same time adopted. A regular body of
office-bearers, according to the Presbyterian model, was constituted at
Pechuia, as had been already done at Amoy and Chioh-bey; the whole
proceedings of the election being conducted in a most orderly manner, in
an assembly of the native church itself. Another measure not less
memorable originated with the native brethren themselves, and is in its
whole circumstances and history deeply touching. “A fortnight ago,”
writes Mr. Burns, “a't the instance of one of the elders at Chioh-bey
(who is one of the Pechuia converts, and was one of the chief founders,
as he is one of the pillars of the Chioh-bey church), the Pechuia, in
concert with the Chioh-bey church, observed a season of solemn prayer
and fasting, that they might seek the return of the Lord’s favour to
Pechuia. I was at Chioh-bey when this season was observed—Tuesday, the
16th of August. There was a large attendance of church members, ajid
when the elder I have alluded to, I-ju, began to pray\ he was so
affected that he could hardly proceed. The preacher at Chioh-bey,
Tow-lo, who began his work as a preacher at Pechuia in 1854, was also
sobbing aloud. It was evident that the Lord was in the midst of us.”
It is not strange surely that such offences should be found in the
infant churches in heathen lands, as are never wanting in the purest and
holiest flocks in Christendom. “ It is well,” said Dr. Hamilton, in his
report of this year, “ to bear in remembrance the many difficulties to
which converts in such a country are subjected, from past habits and
surrounding influences. Weak in faith and experience, they are as sheep
in the midst of wolves. In our intercessions let us not forget those
churches, which, like the lily amongst thorns, are planted in the heart
of heathendom.” They themselves had long since said, in that touching
letter to their absent pastor and father in the faith:—“ You know that
our faith is weak and in danger. ... We have heard the gospel but a few
months; our faith is not yet firm. . . . We are like sheep that have
lost their shepherd, or an infant that has lost its milk.”
The evils which had been thus the cause of such bitter sorrow to all,
were yet in the end overruled for good. The little church came forth
from the ordeal purified, braced, and strengthened; with numbers
somewhat reduced, but with a deeper and humbler faith, and with a tried
and disciplined steadfastness. The shaking of the tree had only fastened
the roots the more. The barren branches had been taken away, and the
fruitful “purged,” that they might bring forth more fruit. “During these
months,” says one of the missionaries, “a singular blessing has rested
on efforts made to remove the evils which were pressing upon us. . . .
Fact after fact has come to light, manifesting those who were not
approved, and most unexpected light has been thrown on what, if
undiscovered, would have continued to infest the Church, and hinder the
work amongst us.”
Another event of the deepest interest occurred this year, which is so
strikingly illustrative of the whole character of the mission, and of
the infant churches to which it has given birth, that I shall relate the
circumstances at length in the words of one of the missionaries. “Last
month,” says Mr. Douglas, “a step in advance was taken by the Amoy
church, which seems to me most important, and the most cheering which
has been taken since that church was organized. It was the setting apart
of two native evangelists, e7itirely supported by the native church in
Amoy, under the care of the American missionaries.
“The novelty and cheering interest of this step does not lie in the use
of native evangelists. These have long been employed, and found quite
indispensable in the instruction and extension of the Church. But the
singular interest of what has just been begun is, that these two native
evangelists are as completely independent of foreign money, as the
ministers of Canada or Australia. Of course the church itself is still
dependent for instruction on the foreign missionaries, and on agents
paid by them; but in the case of these two new evangelists, a beginning
has been made of the self-supporting principle.
“It was after abundant prayer and careful counting of the cost, that
this work was begun. The choice of the two brethren honoured by the
Master to undertake this office was quite independent of the
missionaries, the names being only submitted for approval or rejection
after the choice, before the setting apart. On that day the native
members of the other church at Amoy, that, namely, under the care of the
London Missionary Society, were invited to be present. Almost all the
missionaries of the several societies were there. And already both that
church and the younger churches on the mainland are considering whether
they be able to follow the example so well set to them.
“The field chosen for these new labourers is the unevangelized portion
of the island of Amoy, which is just the whole island (about thirty
miles in circumference), except the town itself. How wonderful and
glorious the ways of God! While he is opening up our way to the towns
and cities at a greater distance around, he is taking care that the
populous villages of the immediate neighbourhood be not neglected.”
Amid these interesting and fruitful pastoral cares, the more extended
and aggressive work of the mission went on vigorously—the missionaries
“using the ‘Gospel Boat’ as their home in going from place to place in
evangelistic work, for which the rivers of China afford so great
facility.” Another attempt was made to effect a permanent lodgment
within the walls of the great city of Chang-chow,1 but was for the time
defeated in consequence of a singular incident. “A week ago,” writes Mr.
Burns, “we were living near the district magistrate’s office. He had
gone out about midnight, on Sabbath the 13th, to inspect the streets,
and just as he was passing our lodging, one of the assistants, when the
other had gone to rest, suddenly, in the fulness of his heart, began
aloud to sing a Christian hymn. The unusual sound attracted the
mandarin; he listened, and hearing that a foreigner was there, he next
day sent to ask us to leave the city.” In another direction, however,
some hopeful tokens had begun to appear in places to which Mr. Douglas’
eye had been long and anxiously turned. At Anhai, a town of about 30,000
or 40,000 inhabitants, situated at the head of a long inlet, about
thirty-five miles north-east from Amoy, an opening had been found for
the truth, which soon led to the establishment of a regular mission
station, and to the foundation of one of the most numerous and fruitful
of the Chinese native churches.
It was in the midst of these interesting and congenial labours that Mr.
Burns received the following touching lines from his early friend, James
Hamilton, which I am tempted to insert as a fragrant memorial both of
the writer himself and of that gracious and benignant friend whose
character he embalms:—
“48 Euston Square, London, N.W., May 10th, 1859.—My dear Friend,—Two
hours ago I received a notification of what will doubtless be
communicated to you in fuller detail from home—the entrance into his
everlasting rest of your beloved father, on the morning of Sabbath last.
It was only a few weeks after his retirement from his ministerial work;
so that the heavenly Sabbath has followed sooner than he hoped. It has
been a wonderfully serene and blameless life, and in the remarkable
visitation of his people twenty years ago he has been a rarely happy
minister. The announcement has sent my own thoughts back to Kilsyth and
Strathblane, and to incidents that transpired ‘ full many years agone.’
To you in your far place of sojourn the tidings will be very affecting.
It is touching to think that you will see his face no more; but oh! how
blessed is his own case, who now sees Jesus face to face, and who from a
life of prayer has passed to one of praise.
“Last January I saw him and your dear mother in Glasgow; they had come
in to attend the meeting on behalf of China in Free St. Matthew’s (Dr.
S. Miller’s). Your father seemed to me very much the same as ever. He
sat on a chair which was placed for him beside the pulpit, and the
congregation evidently eyed him with much reverence and affection.
“‘The fathers, where are they?’ I often feel it solemn now to know that
we are getting into the fore-front; no generation any longer between
ourselves and the great reckoning.
“With love to all the brethren, I remain, affectionately yours, James
Hamilton.”
In October, 1859, Mr. Burns was again on his way towards a new and
distant sphere of labour. The special service for which he had come to
Fokien, and for which the peculiar relation in which he stood to the
inland churches there gave him a special advantage, had been
satisfactorily accomplished, and now he longed to return to his old work
of pioneering the way of other labourers in regions where the gospel had
not yet found an entrance. The nearest and most natural centre of
operations was Fuh-chow—the capital city of the province to which Amoy
belongs, and here accordingly he spent most of the next year—quickly
acquiring the new dialect, preparing a hymn-book for the use of the
infant church, and unweariedly sowing, as usual, the gospel-seed. Of
these labours the following notices have been kindly furnished to me by
esteemed brethren connected with other sections of the Christian Church.
“When Mr. Burns,” says the Rev. C. Hartwell, one of the oldest
missionaries of the American Board at Fuh-chow, “first came to Fuh-chow
in October, 1859, he divided his labours between preaching in English
and studying and preaching in Chinese. He spent his Sabbaths at the
‘Pagoda Anchorage/ preaching on ship-board to seamen and others who came
to his services. The week-days he spent at Fuh-chow, studying the spoken
dialect, and for a short time preaching two evenings in a week in the
Amoy dialect, to the tin-foil beaters and others from the Amoy region
living here, who were induced by special invitation to attend his
services in our church.
“Of his labours at the ‘Anchorage,’ I frequently heard him speak, as he
made his home with me for the first two months of his stay here. A few
Scotch ship-masters also called on him at my house, but I remember no
facts of especial interest connected with his labours among the
shipping.
“As his congregations of hearers in the Amoy dialect soon became small,
he ceased from his efforts in that direction, and devoted himself
exclusively to learning the Fuh-chow language, and labouring for the Fuh-chow
people. Having an accurate knowledge of the written language, and a
great facility in acquiring the spoken dialects, he was soon able to do
something in connection with the native helpers employed by the Mission
of the American Board, and the American Methodist Mission.
“Besides attending the services of other missionaries, he himself held
others in our churches, in which at first the native helpers did the
preaching, he simply directing the exercises, and occasionally
suggesting points to them upon which he wished them to speak. He was
quite successful in this mode of effort, and the helpers as well as
others were benefited by the meetings.
“As his ability to use the local dialect increased, he gradually did
more preaching himself at his services. His labours at first were mostly
at Nan-tai,1 where churches had been built and good accommodations for
preaching secured. Afterwards, as the missionaries within the city, from
want of chapels, at that time were forced to labour a good deal in the
streets, he began to accompany them in their labours in
street-preaching, and also engaged in such efforts himself in connection
with native assistants.
“He also assisted us by visiting some of our out-stations in the
country, and labouring in these places. One of our present out-stations
was commenced by him. We had opened a chapel some miles back of the
place in a smaller village, but had been unable to secure one in this
large village until his effort was successful. He laboured at this place
for some time, and several persons manifested some interest in the
truth, but none of them have yet given evidence of piety. When he left
Fuh-chow the last time, he gave funds to employ an extra helper for this
village for some time, and the out-station has been fully manned by us
ever since; but, for unknown reasons, it has hitherto proved our least
successful field of labour.
“Not desiring to open a new mission at Fuh-chow, during his stay here,
Mr. Burns sought to aid each of the three missions already established,
as opportunity offered and occasion seemed to require. He did not
confine his assistance to any one of them. He sought for openings where
he could be useful in promoting the work generally, and in this he was
very successful. His catholicity of feeling made him ever ready to aid
at any weak point.
“The particulars in which, as it seems to me, he most aided our
mission—and in fact the others also—were his excellent influence upon
our native assistants, and in successfully introducing the use of
colloquial hymns among us in our worship.
“Our helpers soon learned to feel a great regard for Mr. Burns, and
their piety was quickened and deepened apparently through his influence.
His power over them arose from his own deep piety; his accurate
knowledge of the Chinese language; the great fund of Christian knowledge
at his command; and the singleness of purpose which he ever manifested.
We felt it to be a privilege to have our native preachers under his
influence and instruction.
“Previous to his coming among us all our hymns used in worship had been
in the written language, as had been the case elsewhere generally in
China. His attempt, though not the only one, was the first which was
successful in introducing the use of colloquial hymns for this purpose.
With the aid of native preachers he prepared some of the hymns used at
Amoy and Swatow, in the spoken dialect of Fuh-chow. These he first
printed in sheet form, and used them in street-preaching and
chapel-preaching, till he was convinced that they were in a good
colloquial style, and then he published them as amended in a* book form,
and they soon came into general use among us. He showed his usual
enthusiasm in introducing his hymns, and the force of his character had
much weight in overcoming the prejudices of our better educated
Christians to the general use of colloquial hymns. Our hymn-book has
been much enlarged, but the hymns prepared by Mr. Burns are still
general favourites. His influence for good here, doubtless, will be
perpetuated for a long time to come through the use of these hymns.
“I think of nothing else that would be of especial interest to mention.
He was a good man, did good wherever he was, and has gone to his reward.
The savour of his name is still fragrant at Fuh-chow.”
“He came to Fuh-chow,” writes the Rev. Dr. M‘Lay, of the American
Methodist Episcopal Church, “ shortly after we had gathered in the
first-fruits of the harvest in this field, and the effect of his example
and his teachings on the native Christians was most salutary. He was
eminently a man of prayer, and this feature of his character, as also
his love for God’s Word, operated beneficially on the native church. His
thorough- consecration to the work of an evangelist, and his steady
perseverance in it, produced a powerful impression upon all with whom he
came in contact. He was also very useful in training the native churches
in the use of holy song; and the hymns prepared under his direction are
still found in the hymn-books used by the native churches of this city
and its vicinity. There were not many converts added to the societies
under the care of our mission during the time Mr. Burns was in Fuh-chow.
It would appear that he aimed chiefly at the edification ofi the native
church, and in this department he did a good work. The memory of Mr.
Burns is very tenderly cherished by those who became acquainted with him
during his residence in Fuh-chow, and among all the hative Christians
his name is as ointment poured forth.”
In September of the next year (i860) he returned to the neighbourhood of
Amoy, in consequence of some trying circumstances to which we shall have
presently to refer in greater detail; and then, after only a brief stay,
passed on to his old home at Swatow, where he found to his joy that the
wilderness which he had left so short a time before had begun in a
remarkable manner to blossom, under the able and devoted labours of his
successor, Mr. Smith. The day after his arrival he preached to the
natives, and the change for the better that had come over the people in
their desire to hear the gospel since his first visit, five years
previously, affected him almost to tears on the occasion. Here also he
compiled a hymn-book in the colloquial dialect, which proved a precious
boon to the young converts.
He returned to Fuh-chow in the course of the next year, and continued
his labours there for some months longer. But, meanwhile, events had
occurred in the neighbourhood of Amoy which required his presence there
for a more lengthened period, and which ultimately led to his removal to
the capital city of Peking.
Allusion has already been made more than once to the fiery trial to
which these infant churches have been almost continually exposed through
the bitter opposition and hostility of their heathen fellow-countrymen.
The political jealousy of the ruling class, and the religious rancour of
the people, united in common antipathy to the professors of a strange
and alien faith. The mandarins suspected the foreign creed; the
multitude hated the singular and exclusive worship. To the philosophic
Con-fucian they were obnoxious as fanatics; to the superstitious devotee
as enemies of the gods and despisers of the ancestral rites. Hence a
general and constant sentiment of mingled suspicion, dislike, and fear,
which was ever in danger, on the least provocation, of breaking out into
open acts of hostility and lawless violence. They were seldom, indeed,
called to witness for their divine Master unto blood; never, perhaps,
except when some terrible misconception might involve the Christian
evangelist in supposed complicity with the schemes of traitors and
rebels; but short of this there was scarcely any extreme of hardship and
suffering to which they might not be subjected. Their houses were
spoiled. Their property was destroyed. Their rice-fields were laid
waste. Their cattle were driven away. Their pine-trees were cut down.
They were refused the use of the public wells. Their supply of labourers
was cut off by hostile combination in time of harvest. Their places of
worship were rudely assailed, and their sacred assemblies interrupted,
without hope of protection or redress from any native authority. One or
two instances of this petty but vexatious persecution may be given from
the letters of the missionaries. Thus one of the members of the Bay-pay
church, of the name of Wat, had been called upon to pay the accustomed
tribute in support of the idolatrous ceremonies at one of the great
feasts. He refused. Forthwith he was denied water from the public well,
and his son was beaten in attempting to fetch it. Then they cut down a
large number of his pine-trees, which formed a considerable portion of
his property; and as he appealed for redress in vain, they proceeded
next to cut down his fruit-trees. Other members of the same church had
their rice-fields and other property plundered, and at one time three of
the female candidates for baptism were severely beaten by their
relatives. At Yam-tsai, in the Swatow district, one poor widow had her
house plundered on the Lord’s-day when she was at church; another member
had his field of sugar-cane destroyed; a third had his fowls stolen; and
all were constantly exposed to the scoffs and reproaches of their
fellow-villagers, and the unbelieving members of their own families.
Sometimes the malicious designs of the adversary were defeated in
singular ways, or signally overruled for good. One day the police
entered the premises of the old cloth merchant at Pechuia, intending to
plunder or perhaps to seize him. Being rather deaf, he did not hear
their demand, but he said, “O yes; I know what you have come for,” and
taking down some of his goods, and pointing to the rest, he said, “Take
them, take them all, and I’ll go with you, too; but I am old and rather
deaf; take my boys, too, and my little girl there. We are all
Christians, we are not afraid; we will go with you.” The men, astonished
at this novel reception, left the premises without injuring any of the
inmates, or touching an article of their property. While one was thus
preserved by his own simple and unworldly faith, another was succoured
by the brotherly love of his fellow-disciples. An old farmer, who
resided about five miles from Khi-boey, a village in the same district,
having become a Christian, his heathen neighbours evinced their bitter
dislike by refusing at harvest time to give him the least assistance in
reaping his rice-fields. On hearing of the old man’s trouble, the
brethren at Khi-boey at once resolved to go to his help; a band of them
started one evening for the farm, and commencing operations early next
morning, they worked so heartily that the fields were all reaped in one
day, to the surprise of the neighbours, and to the comfort and relief of
their brother in distress. Such trials as these had fallen of late with
peculiar severity on some of- the village churches in the Pechuia
district, and called for some vigorous intervention in their behalf on
the part of their spiritual overseers. The case of Bay-pay has been
already incidentally alluded to. More recently at Khi-boey, a village
about twenty miles to the south-west of Pechuia, where an interesting
and prosperous church had been recently established, the disciples had
been called to pass, while yet, as it were, in their very infancy,
through a great fight of affliction. “On hearing of the disturbances,
Mr. Swanson at once repaired to Khi-boey, and was gratified to find that
though the persecution still raged, the converts were keeping firm and
hopeful, and that fourteen of them were in a state of preparedness for
baptism. No house could be had for divine service, and they had to
gather under the shade of a magnificent lung-yen tree. The persecution
ceased for a time, but the missionaries were soon again summoned to
interpose in their behalf. Chioh, in whose house the Christians had been
in the habit of assembling, was driven from his home, and "on his
attempting to take refuge in the house of another Christian, the roof
was broken in by a mob, and Chioh prevented from entering. His widowed
sister was then attacked, and her son threatened with death unless they
complied with their demand for money; a sword was brandished over the
lad’s head, while they required that he should cease to worship God.
This he resolutely refused, declaring himself ready to die rather than
renounce his faith. Chioh and another went down to Amoy for advice, and
Mr. Burns at once returned with them to see what could be done. While he
was attempting to pacify the enraged villagers, one of the converts was
set upon by a number of men armed with bludgeons and pikes, and severely
beaten, and might have been killed, but for his timely intervention.”
No one assuredly was ever in a better position to interfere in such a
case than one who for so many years, and amid all his wanderings amongst
this heathen people, had so simply and wholly cast himself on the care
of his divine Master, and had never in any single instance invoked the
succour of the secular arm in his own defence. The rights which he had
never sought to enforce in his own behalf he could the more boldly and
freely, -and with the greater effect, plead in behalf of others. Ever
ready himself to suffer, he was prompt to hold his protecting shield
over those who were less able to suffer than he. He spoke accordingly in
their behalf with a resolute force and decision which, in dealing with
secular matters, was not usual with him. A formal representation was
made to the Chinese authorities, through the British consul, who himself
took up the case very cordially, and threatened that, if immediate
justice were not done, he would report the case to Peking. This produced
the desired result. It was promised that the stolen property should be
restored, and money given in compensation for property destroyed. But
the Christians, before consenting to this offer, preferred consulting
Mr. Burns at Amoy, who at once came again to their aid, and obtained
from the magistrates the following terms:—
(1.) Restoration, so far as possible, of the very articles stolen;
(2.) A bond from the enemies to guarantee their noninterference with the
Christians; and
(3.) A proclamation to be issued, exhorting the people not to interfere
with the Christians.
“Most happily all this was agreed to, and the enemies * seeing the turn
matters were taking, and fearing the violence of their own authorities,
prayed for the interposition of the missionaries in their behalf. Mr.
Burns gladly used his influence accordingly, and thus all ended well.
The stolen property was restored in presence of the mandarins, Mr.
Burns, and an immense concourse of people. The poor Christians carried
their pigs, and led back their oxen to the homes from which they had so
lately been driven, rejoicing, and yet we hope humble. On the same day
the enemies entered into a bond not to interfere with those who were, or
might become Christians, and not to annoy them in any way. In a few days
after, the mandarins issued a proclamation, intimating that the case was
now settled, and strictly forbidding all persons from interfering with
any one ‘who may enter the holy religion of Jesus.’ Not the least
remarkable feature in the termination of these disturbances was, that
the enemies looked upon the missionaries as their best friends, for
having shielded them from the severity of the mandarins.”
Thus for once, and in behalf of Christ’s “ little ones,” had “the Man of
the Book” sustained the character of the vigorous, sagacious, and
successful diplomatist. The storm for the present passed away. Then for
a season had the churches rest throughout the towns and villages of
Fokien. But the permanent relations of the native Christians towards
their heathen countrymen were still in a very uncertain and precarious
state, and it was thought important that Mr. Burns should proceed to
Peking, with the view of obtaining a personal interview with Sir
Frederick Bruce, and thus, if possible, effecting a more secure and
satisfactory settlement. He left Amoy accordingly, and arrived at the
capital, in October, 1863, thus entering on the last period of his
missionary career.
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