The British and Foreign Bible Society, the American Bible Society, and
other kindred institutions that print and scatter the Word of God, have
been, and are, of incalculable benefit to the missionaries.
Long ago the Psalmist said: "The entrance of thy words giveth light;"
and blessedly and gloriously is this truth being realised.
No matter where a missionary goes, he feels much hampered if he has not
the Book in the language of the people. It is a matter of thankfulness,
that in these later years--thanks to these glorious Bible Societies--
there is hardly a land or nation where a missionary can go, but he will
find the Bible printed in the language or languages of that nation, and
offered to the people at rates so reasonable, that the poorest of the
poor may have it if they will. But it was not always so, and we need
not go back to Wickliffe or Tyndal to read of difficulties in the way of
presenting to the common people the Word of God in their own tongue.
All the great missionary societies in their earlier days had their
Careys, and Morrisons, and Duffs, who struggled on, and persevered
against oppositions and difficulties that to ordinary mortals would have
been insurmountable, and would have filled them with despair.
The difficulties that John Eliot had to overcome ere he was able to give
the Bible to the Indians of New England, were numerous and exasperating;
but his indomitable will carried him through to ultimate success. Sad
indeed is it to think, that there is not a man, woman or child of them
left to read his Bible. All the tribes for whom, at such a cost of
tears and difficulties, he translated the Book, are gone. The greed for
land and the cruelties of the early settlers, were too much for the poor
Indian. From his different reservations where Eliot, Brainard, Mayhews,
and other devoted friends tried to save him, he was driven back, back,
with such destruction and loss at each move, that ultimately he was
simply wiped out. And so to-day, in the library of Harvard University
and in a very few other places, there are to be found copies of Eliot's
Bible; sealed books, which no man can read; a sad evidence of "Man's
inhumanity to man."
One of the most signal triumphs in giving the Bible to a people in their
own language, and printed in a way so simple as to be very easily
acquired by them, is that of the translation and printing of the Book in
the syllable characters. These syllabic characters were invented by the
Rev James Evans, one of the early Methodist missionaries to the
scattered tribes of Indians in what were then known as the Hudson Bay
Territories. For some years Mr Evans had been employed as a missionary
among the Indians who resided on different reservations in the Province
of Ontario, then known as Upper Canada. At the request of the parent
Wesleyan Missionary Society, and at the solicitation of the Hudson Bay
Fur-trading Company, Mr Evans, accompanied by some devoted brother
missionaries went into those remote northern regions to begin missionary
operations. Mr Evans and some of his companions travelled all the way
from Montreal to Norway House, on the Nelson River, in a birch-bark
canoe. A look at the map will give some idea of the length and
hardships of such a journey in those days. But they succeeded in
accomplishing it; and with glad hearts began their blessed work of the
evangelisation of the natives.
Missionary methods must necessarily differ in different lands. The
missionary to succeed must be a man who can adopt himself to his
surroundings; and he must be quick to see where success can be most
easily attained. Here was a people who were fishermen and hunters,
living far north of the agricultural regions. As hunters, they were
ever on the go, so that it was almost an impossibility to keep them long
enough in one place to teach them to read in the ordinary way. Over
these difficulties Mr Evans pondered and worked and, after any amount
of experimenting and failure, succeeded in inventing and perfecting that
is known as the syllabic characters.
These very simple characters each represent a syllable, so all the
difficulties of learning to spell are done away with. In prosecuting
his work, Mr Evans had to labour under many disadvantages. Living in a
land so remote from civilisation, he had but little material on which to
experiment, and but few facilities to aid him. From the fur-traders he
begged a few sheets of the lead that lines the interior of tea chests.
This he melted into suitable pieces, out of which he carved his first
type. For paper he was obliged at first to use birch bark. His ink was
manufactured out of the soot from his chimney and sturgeon oil. Yet
with these rude appliances he succeeded in being able to print portions
of the Scriptures and some hymns in the language of the Cree Indians.
When the story of his marvellous invention reached England, generous
friends came to his assistance. From some of his types, as models, a
generous supply was cast; these, with a good hand printing press and all
necessary supplies of paper, ink, and other essentials, were shipped to
him by the Hudson Bay Company, to Norway House. For years the work of
printing portions of the Word of God was there prosecuted, until at
length the British and Foreign Bible Society took up the work, and now,
all the Bibles the people require are most cheerfully furnished them by
that most generous and glorious society.
The love of the Christian Indians for their Bible is very gratifying.
So great a comfort and solace is it to them in their solitary wigwams
and lonely hunting-camps, that nothing will induce them to leave it out
of their pack. The trail may be rough and the journey of many days
duration; food may have to be carried on their backs for days together
so that every pound of weight has to be determined upon; days of hunger
must be faced ere the journey ends and abundance of game is reached, yet
the Great Book is ever carried as the most prized of all their
possessions. Such a thing as a Christian Indian throwing out his Bible,
when in an emergency his load had to be lightened, I have never known.
Their work as hunters gives them a good deal of leisure time, which
enables them to be diligent students of the Book. When in the beginning
of the winter, they go to the distant hunting grounds, the hunting lodge
is erected, and the traps and snares and other appliances for capturing
the game are all arranged. Then, especially in the capture of some
kinds of game, they have to allow some days to pass ere they visit the
traps. This is to allow all evidences of their presence to disappear,
as some of the most valuable fur-bearing animals have a wonderful power
of detecting the presence of man, and will not approach either his traps
or trail, until some considerable time after the hunter had finished his
work and retired. During these long waitings in their wigwams, or
hunting lodges, the Indians have not much with which to interest
themselves; the result is, the Bible has come to them as a wonderful
benediction. Its startling incidents and stories, become more prized
than the legends and myths that have come down to them from their
forefathers, and have been repeated over and over in their hearing by
the old story-tellers of the tribe. Then, when the revelation of God's
love in the gift of His Son has been proclaimed to, and received by
them--and here in this Book they can read it for themselves--they are
filled with grateful and adoring love, and the Book is indeed most
precious.
As I journeyed among these wonderful people, I carried as part of my
outfit, a number of these syllabic Bibles, and no gift was more
acceptable to those who had but lately renounced their paganism and
given their hearts to God. In some way or other they had acquired a
knowledge of the syllables, so that the acquisition of a Bible that they
could call their own, was a treasure most prized and used. Amongst
those, who until my visit had never seen a Bible or heard a missionary,
there were conflicting ideas regarding the Book. Some, at first, were
afraid of it. It was "great medicine," and only for the white man. One
old conjurer who boasted of his supernatural powers and of the wonderful
things he could do by the aid of his "medicines," failing signally when
I challenged him to show his power, declared, that it was because of the
Book which I carried in my pocket. Then, I permitted an Indian to take
the Book some distance away; and when he still failed, he protested that
it was because I had so much of it in my head or heart. Of course this
feeling of fear for the Book quickly left them as they became acquainted
with it. When Christianity is accepted, there comes a great love for
the precious volume that has in it so much information of things about
which they are in such ignorance, and that reveals the love of the Great
Spirit for His Indian children.
The missionaries employed simple and primitive ways to teach the
syllabic characters to those who knew them not, but who were anxious to
learn. Sometimes with a lead pencil on a piece of board or birch-bark,
the characters were drawn and slowly and carefully gone over, time and
time again, until they were completely mastered. When pencils gave out,
the end of a burnt stick, or a piece of coal from the fire, had to serve
as a substitute.
Our illustration will show one of my methods used at Burntwood River far
up in the Nelson River country. I had the honour of being the first
missionary who ever reached the Indians of that section and preached to
them the Gospel. They are a fine company of Indians, and I found, that
with the few exceptions of some old conjurers and medicine men and
polygamists, the people were not only glad to see me, but anxious to
hear and accept the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I visited them
twice a year and began the work; but to my beloved first colleague, the
Rev John Semmens, was given the work of establishing the mission. On
my visits, which as usual were made with my dogs in winter and by canoe
in summer, I had to gather the Indians for religious services as best I
could. The large kitchen of the Hudson Bay Company's trading post was
put at my disposal by the officer in charge, who was ever kindly
disposed toward the good work. In this, as well as in the poor wigwams
of the natives, we met, and sang, and prayed, and explained to them as
well as possible the plan of salvation--God's great love toward them.
In the short brilliant summer the work was very much more pleasant.
Then, under the beautiful trees, or where the great rocks rose up around
us and cast their welcome shadows, we could gather the people and talk
of the loving Heavenly Father; not only of His Creative power, but of
His redeeming love in the gift of His beloved Son.
In my missionary experiences I have found, that the majority of men are
sick of sin. Down in the human heart there is a longing for something
which is only really satisfied by the acceptance of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is true that these inner feelings may be long hidden from
outer vision, or there may be an endeavour to satisfy their cravings by
the vigorous exercise of all the religious ceremonies that have been
revealed to them in their idolatrous or pagan surroundings; but when
they can be induced to speak out and unburden their very souls, their
bitter wailing cry is one of dissatisfaction and unrest. Happy is the
missionary who can so win the confidence of a people thus dissatisfied,
that they will reveal to him their heart's burdens and longings. His
victory is more than half assured. Christ in His fulness, lovingly
presented to such, and accepted by them, is soon in their hearts a
satisfying portion.
The missionary ever finds among all classes of pagan people that the
Book is always considered a mysterious and wonderful volume. Its
marvellous incidents ever attract. They never tire of the services
where it has a prominent place. Sermons, even though hours in duration,
if full of its truths, will be attentively listened to.
One day at one of these places where I was holding some extended
services, I said to the friendly Indians who were around me: "Would you
not like to read this Book for yourselves?" A chorus of hearty
affirmative answers, was the quick response. It did not take us long to
organise our school, for it was indeed a primitive affair. I was
fortunate in having a goodly number of syllabic Bibles, which, at a
great deal of trouble, we had brought with us in our canoe. We had
carried them across many a portage and had guarded them from injury in
many a storm. Not one person in that audience except my boatmen, knew a
letter or syllabic character. We had no primary books, which are
considered so essential in organising a school that has to begin at
first principles; we had not even a slate, pencil, paper, or blackboard.
However, "necessity is the mother of invention," and it was so here.
Near at hand was a huge rock that towered up like a house, one side of
it being as smooth as a wall. This constituted an admirable substitute
for a blackboard. Burnt sticks from the camp-fire, where our fish and
bear's meat had been cooked, were used as substitutes for chalk. (Our
smaller illustration shows thirty-six syllabic characters with their
names.)
After a few words of explanation the work of memorising the characters
began.
A, E, Oo, Ah. It was just like a lot of little children in a primary
school beginning with A, B, C. Over, and over again, we repeated them,
one after the other, until my mixed audience became familiarised with
the sounds. Thus we studied them for hours. At first the interest in
the work was very great, and from the old men of eighty, to the boys and
girls of six or eight the best of attention was paid. They seemed to
vie with one another in their efforts to see which could master them
most quickly.
After a time the interest flagged considerably, especially among the
older men, as to them, these characters alone, were as yet, unmeaning
sounds. Some of them got up and lit their pipes, and moving around,
divided their time between the lesson and the smoking. Of course I had
to let them smoke. I might have found it a difficult matter to have
stopped them if I had been so foolish as to have tried. So I told them
some pleasant stories, as we toiled on at our lesson, it was not many
hours before a number of my undisciplined pupils had a fairly good idea
of the names of the characters. Knowing that I could arouse the
interest of the most apathetic among them when I began to combine the
characters into words, I asked for their earnest attention while I
proceeded in my work.
I marked out some simple words such as: (pa-pa,) (ma-ma,)
(Oo-me-me,)--(English: pigeon.) I showed them how thus to combine these
signs into words. This very much interested them; but the climax came,
when with the burnt stick I marked (Maneto,--English: God, or the Great
Spirit.) Great indeed was the excitement among them. They could hardly
believe their own eyes that before them was Maneto, the Great Spirit.
He whom they had heard in the thunder and the storm, whose power they
had seen in the lightning flash, about whom, with reverence and awe,
they had talked in their wigwams, and at their camp-fires--"Maneto!"
Here, made by a burnt stick on a rock visible to their eyes, was that
name: _God on the Rock_! It was indeed a revelation. Something that
filled, and thrilled them, as I have never before or since seen Indians
thrilled.
For a time I could only keep quiet and look on, and rejoice as I studied
them. Some of them in their amazement were doubtful of their own
senses. They acted as though they could not believe their own eyes; so
they appealed to those nearest to them, and said:
"Is it Maneto to you?"
Others were noticed rubbing their eyes, as though they feared that by
some witchery bad medicine had been thrown in them, and, in their Indian
phraseology, they were "seeing double."
There was no more inattention. Every pipe went out, and every eye
followed me, as in these syllables I wrote on the rock, God is Love.
After talking about this a little. I then wrote, God Loves You. This
we followed with other short sentences full of blessed Gospel truths.
Thus passed some hours in this delightful way, and before they were
ended, numbers of my pupils had become quite familiarised with the
formation of words out of these characters.
Then we opened our bundle of Bibles, and, passing them around as far as
they would go, I had them all turn to the first verse of the first
chapter of Genesis. After some explanation of a few additional signs
which they there saw upon the printed page, and which give some
variation to the sound of the syllabic character to which they are
attached, we began the study of the verse. Of course our progress at
first was slow. It could not be otherwise under such circumstances.
But we patiently persevered, and it was not very long ere they were able
to read in their own language: "Ma-wache Nistum Kaesamaneto Keoosetou
Kesik Mesa Askee, (In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth.")
When they had acquired the ability to read this verse for themselves,
and had grasped a little of its meaning, there was another outburst of
delight. That first verse of Genesis is very suggestive and full of
meaning to any one, no matter how learned, who strives to investigate
it. It is in itself the first chapter of God's revelation of Himself to
man, and has long occupied the attention and study of the most godly and
profound. Here, for the first time, it was being read by a company of
poor Indians just emerging from paganism. But they were sharp and keen,
and able to grasp a new truth; and so when the verse first opened before
them with its wondrous meaning, great was their delight and amazement.
"Now we know all about it!" some of them shouted. "The Kaesa-Maneto,
(the great God,) made all these things, the heaven and the earth."
Others said:
"Our fathers talked about it in their wigwams, and wondered how all
these things came as they are; but they had to confess that they were in
darkness, and knew nothing. But now we know it! We know it!"
Over and over again they read the verse until they had thoroughly
committed it to memory. And in after days, at many a campfire and in
many a hunting lodge, it was repeated to others who had not heard it,
but who, on hearing it, were also filled with gratification and delight
at the answer which it gave to what had long been a subject of
perplexity and awe.
Day after day before that rock the study of other verses followed.
Slowly of course at first, but gradually increasing as they became more
and more acquainted with the syllabics. Thus these eager interested
Indians, studied amidst these primitive surroundings, and applied
themselves with such earnestness to their work, that although they had
never been to school a day in their lives, some of them, in ten days or
two weeks were able to read with fluency the Word of God in their own
language. No wonder the great Lord Dufferin, then Governor General of
the Dominion of Canada, said to me:
The man who invented that syllabic alphabet, was one of the great
benefactors of humanity, and more richly deserved a pension, a title,
and a resting place in Westminster Abbey, than many who were there
buried.
For some years, at several of the missions, the Christian Indians were
only taught a knowledge of these syllabic characters, and were thus only
able to read the books which were printed with them. Now, however, in
all the schools, the English language is taught also, and our common
alphabet is in general use. The result is, that many of the younger
generation understand, talk, and read in English. English Bibles are
being circulated among them, and many of the younger people already
prefer the English Bible to the Indian translation. Still, all the
older people only understand the syllabic characters; and so for years
to come, this wonderful invention will still be utilised, and will
continue to be a benediction. Hymn-books, catechisms, the Pilgrim's
Progress, and a few other books of a religious character, have been
printed in the syllables, and are much prized and well used, by their
Indian readers.
All the churches that are currying on missionary work in those vast
northern regions have availed themselves of Mr Evans' invention. Among
other tribes than the Cree, where there are different sounds in their
language, some few extra characters have been added. Even in Labrador
and Greenland the devoted Moravian missionaries who are there toiling,
are successfully using the syllabic characters to teach the poor
wandering Esquimaux how to read, in his own uncouth Language, the Word
of God.