morning I received intelligence that poor Quthray, the young cannibal
chief, was dying. I have frequently visited him during his illness, and
was with him for a long time a few nights ago. As he has long and
earnestly desired baptism, and expressed in such clear terms his
repentance for his sins, and his faith in the Saviour of sinners, I
told him that I would myself baptize him before he died, unless a
minister from Victoria arrived in time to do it. He always appeared
most thankful for my visits, and, with the greatest force he could
command, thanked me for my promise. Accordingly this morning I
proceeded to the solemn work of admitting a brand plucked from the
burning into the visible Church of Christ by baptism. Though I was not
sent here to baptize, but to preach the Gospel, yet I had no fear but
that I was doing what was pleasing to God in administering that sacred
rite to the poor dying man, as an officially appointed person was not
within several hundred miles of him. I found the sufferer apparently on
the very verge of eternity, but quite sensible, supported by his wife
on one side, and another woman on the other, in a sitting posture on
his lowly couch spread upon the ground. I addressed him at once,
reminding him of the promise I had made to him, and why I also spoke
some words of advice to him, to which he paid most earnest attention,
though his cough would scarcely permit him to have a moment's rest. A
person near expressed a fear that he did not understand what I said,
being so weak and near death, but he quickly, and with great emphasis,
exclaimed, '_I hear, I understand_' While I was praying his
expression of countenance was most lovely. With his face turned upward,
he seemed to be deeply engaged in prayer. I baptized him, and gave him
the name of Philip Atkinson. I earnestly besought the Lord to ratify in
heaven what He had permitted me to do in His name, and to receive the
soul of the poor dying penitent before Him. He had the same resignation
and peace which he has evinced throughout his sickness, weeping for his
sins, depending all upon the Saviour, confident of pardon, and
rejoicing in hope.
"This is the man of whom I have had to write more than once to the
Society. Oh the dreadful and revolting things I have witnessed him do!
He was one of the two principal actors in the first horrid scene I saw
at Fort Simpson about four and a half years ago, an account of which I
sent home, namely, that of a poor slave woman being murdered in cold
blood, thrown on the beach, and then torn to pieces and eaten by two
naked savages, who were supported by a crew of singers and the noise of
drums. This man was one of those naked cannibals. Glorious change! See
him clothed and in his right mind, weeping--weeping sore for his sins--
expressing to all around his firm belief in the Saviour, and dying in
peace. Bless the Lord for all His goodness."
It was on April 21st, 1863, that the Bishop baptized at Metlakahtla
fifty-nine adults and some children. On the 19th, Sunday, he landed
from the "Devastation;" and for two days he was incessantly occupied in
examining the candidates. His account is deeply interesting:--
"We were met by the whole village, who stood on the bank, in a long
line--as fine a set of men and as well-dressed as could anywhere be
seen where men live by their daily toil--certainly no country village
in England would turn out so well-clad an assemblage.
"At three the bell was rung, and almost instantly the whole population
were wending their way to church. There were hymns and prayers in
Tsimshean. They repeated the answers to a catechism in Tsimshean. I
addressed them, and offered prayers in English, which were interpreted
by Mr. Duncan. There was much earnest response. The service lasted one
hour and three quarters. There was an evidence of devotion. Mr. Duncan
plays the accordion.
"Monday, April 20th.--Got to the Mission-house at eight to breakfast.
Afterwards engaged the whole day seeing catechumens till one o'clock
next morning. One after another the poor Indians pressed on to be
examined. They had been under training for periods varying from eight
months to three years. They had long been looking for a minister to
admit them to baptism. It was a strange yet intensely interesting sight
in that log cabin, by the dim glimmer of a small lamp, to see just the
countenance of the Indian, sometimes with uplifted eyes, as he spoke of
the blessedness of prayer--at other times, with downcast melancholy, as
he smote upon his breast in the recital of his penitence. The tawny
face, the high cheek-bone, the glossy jet-black flowing hair, the dark,
glassy eye, the manly brow, were a picture worthy the pencil of the
artist. The night was cold--I had occasionally to rise and walk about
for warmth--yet there were more. The Indian usually retires as he
rises, with the sun, but now he would turn night into day if he might
only be allowed to 'have the sign,' and be fixed in the good ways of
God.
"Tuesday, April 21st.--Immediately after breakfast, having had prayer,
the work again began. Catechumens came in, and, one by one, were
sifted; some, to their grief, were deferred. One man came and begged he
might be passed, for he might not live till the next visit of a
clergyman. Another brought a friend, and said, if I would only admit
his wife to baptism, they would promise for her she should persevere
and live to God. Another, a fine child of fourteen, I had thought too
young to answer for herself--one who had always shown remarkable love
for instruction, and had stood by the school when the many were its
foes. She came with tears of entreaty which were irresistible and
beautiful, and lovely was the sensitive intelligence which beamed upon
her devotional features when afterwards she received the waters of
baptism. Till four o'clock was I thus engaged, an hour after the time
appointed for the baptisms.
"The peculiar suitableness of the questions in the Baptismal Service
to the case of converts from heathenism was very remarkably illustrated
throughout the examination. Converts from heathenism can fully realize
renunciation of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Amongst these
Indians, pomp of display, the lying craft of malicious magic, as well
as all sins of the flesh, are particularly glaring, and closely
connected with heathenism. To them these things are part and parcel of
heathenism. So are the truths of the Creed in strongest contrast to the
dark and miserable fables of their forefathers; and heartily can they
pledge themselves to keep the holy will of God all the days of their
life, seeing in Him a loving and true Father, of whom now so lately,
but so gladly, they have learnt to know.
"I first drew forth their views of the necessity of repentance, its
details, and their own personal acquaintance with it. I then questioned
them as to the Three Persons of the Trinity, and the special work of
each, with allusion to the Judgment, and the state of the soul
hereafter, inquiring into their private devotion, to learn their
personal application of repentance and faith, I questioned their
anxiety for baptism, and demanded proof of their resolution to keep the
will of God for their guide, to speak for God, and to labour for God's
way all their life long. I sought to find out the circumstances under
which they first became seriously inclined, and to trace their steps of
trial and grace. Admitting them to the promise of baptism, I exhorted
them to earnest prayer and devotion, as a special preparation, until
the time came.
"The examination concluded, the candidates, to the number of fifty-six,
were assembled in the church, and ranged in a large circle, in the midst
of which the ceremony was to take place.
"The impressiveness of the occasion was manifest in the devout and
reverent manner of all present. There were no external aids, sometimes
thought necessary for the savage mind, to produce or increase the
solemnity of the scene. The building is a bare and unfinished octagon
of logs and spars--a mere barn--sixty feet by sixty, capable of
containing 700 persons. The roof was partly open at the top; and,
though the weather was still cold, there was no fire, A simple table,
covered with a white cloth, upon which stood three hand-basins of
water, served for the font, and I officiated in a surplice. Thus there
was nothing to impress the senses, no colour, or ornament, or church
decoration, or music. The solemnity of the scene--was produced by the
earnest sincerity and serious purpose with which these children of the
Far West were prepared to offer themselves to God, and to renounce for
eer the hateful sins and cruel deeds of their heathenism; and the
solemn stillness was broken only by the breath of prayer. The responses
were made with earnestness and decision. Not an individual was there
whose lips did not utter in their own expressive tongue their hearty
readiness to believe and to serve God."
The following are some of the Bishop's notes of the examination:--
"Legaic (principal chief), aged 40.--_Answers_:--We must put away
all our evil ways. I want to take hold of God. I believe in God the
Father, who made all things, and in Jesus Christ. I constantly cry for
my sins when I remember them. I believe the good will sit near to God
after death. Am anxious to walk in God's ways all my life. If I turn
back it will be more bitter for me than before. I pray God to wipe out
my sins; strengthen me to do right; pity me. My prayers are from my
heart. I think sometimes God does not hear me, because I do not give up
all my sins. My sins are too heavy. I think we have not strength of
ourselves.
"Neeash-lakah-noosh (called 'the Lame Chief'; he is blind also of an
eye; fine old man), aged 70--_Answers_:--When asked if he wished
to become a Christian, said--For that object I came here with my
people. I have put away all lying ways, which I have long followed. I
have trusted in God. We want the Spirit of God. Jesus came to save us.
He compensated for our sins. Our Father made us, and loved us because
we are His work. He wishes to see us with Him because He loves as. When
asked about the judgment, said, The blood of Jesus will free those who
believe from condemnation. _Remarks_--Under regular instruction
for a year, and before that for some time by his daughter. Is most
consistent, trying to do simply what is right. The other day was
benighted on Saturday, on his way to spend the Sunday at Metlakahtla,
seven miles off. Would not come on, nor let his people gather herring
spawn, close under their feet, he rested the Lord's Day, according to
the commandment.
"Lappigh Kumlee, aged 30--_Answers_--I have given up the lucrative
position of sorcerer. Been offered bribes to practise my art secretly. I
have left all my mistaken ways. My eyes have been bored (enlightened). I
cry every night when I remember my sins. The great Father Almighty sees
everything. If I go up to the mountains He sees me. Jesus died for our
sins upon the cross to carry our sins away. _Remarks_--Dates his
change from seeing a convert reading a book, and he felt ashamed that he
knew nothing, and he determined to learn, and soon he found his own
system false. In one case, when his spirit said there would be recovery,
death came; in another, when he foretold death, life remained.
"Thrak sha kawn (sorcerer), aged 50--_Answers_--I wish to give up
all wicked ways. Have been a medicine-man, and know the lies of
heathenism. I believe in the great Father who made us, in Jesus who
died on the cross that God would pity us. I want the Spirit of God to
touch my heart. We must all stand before God. God will measure our
ways. No one to be his master but God. I will not keep my eyes on the
ground any more but will look up to heaven all my life. _Remarks_
--He has had to bear much scorn, and to go through much struggle.
"Wahthl (wife of Legaic), aged 40--_Answers_--I wish to put away
evil and have a clean heart. Feel the pain of the remembrance of sin so
bad I would sometimes like to die. I want to seek God's face, but feel
little hope, still I determine to persevere, though miserable. Loss of
relatives, and finding no peace and rest, and feeling in darkness led
me to look to God. I know that God sent His Son Jesus to die for our
sins. _Remarks_--About nine months under regular instruction. She
is evidently anxious for her soul, knows the truth, but her sins are
such a burden that she has not found peace. She has been anxious her
husband should go forward in good.
"Loosl (widow of the cannibal chief who died penitent), aged 25--
_Answers_--I know how blind I have been. Was first turned to God
by the news of the Saviour. Was struck that He came down amongst us.
God is a spirit full of love. Christ came to carry away our sins. We
must pray for the Spirit to help us. I confess my sins to God and cry
for pity. I pray for my friends. After death the judgment. We must
stand before God. Jesus will answer for those who trust in Him.
_Remarks_.--Upheld her husband in his wickedness. Was turned by
his turning at his death.
"Nishah-kigh (chieftainess of the Nishkahs), aged 45--_Answers_:--I
must leave all evil ways. I feel myself a sinner in God's sight. I
believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ, who died for
our sins. God sends down His Spirit to make us good. Jesus is in heaven,
and is writing our names in God's book. I feel God's Word is truth. Have
been for some time accustomed regularly to pray. _Remarks_.--Two
years ago she was found giving Christian instruction to a sick and dying
person. Her husband tells me she passed much time in devotion. When she
first heard the Word of God her sorrow was great, and her penitence more
than she could bear. Some five years she has been earnestly seeking God.
"Nayahk (wife of Lappligheumlee, a sorcerer), aged 25.--_Answers_:
--Answers well and clearly upon the separate work of each Person of the
Trinity. Prays for pardon--for the Holy Spirit. _Remarks_.--Suffered
much from the mockery of her husband. At her earnest demand he gave up
devilry. Been consistent in the midst of opposition; adhered to the
Mission when many were against. Has been a blessing to her family, all
of whom have renounced heathenism. Her husband, the sorcerer, laments
his past life, and would be the first to put his foot upon the evil
system.
"Ad-dah-kippi (wife of a Christian Indian), aged 25.--_Answers_:--I
must put away sin. I know I have been making God angry, but must put
away all my old ways, lies, and the evil of my fathers. God gave us
commandments. God would not hear us till we put away our sins, Jesus
would make peace for us and add His Spirit. Am resolved to endeavour to
live to God all my life. Was much moved last fishing at my sinfulness,
and then repented strongly, and resolved to walk with God. I pray
morning, noon, and night for pardon and God's Spirit. _Remarks_.
--Had opposed her husband, who is a Christian."
One of those baptized, it will be seen, was the famous head-chief
himself, Legaic, the same who had threatened Mr. Duncan's life four
years before. He had been a ferocious savage, and had committed every
kind of crime. After he first began to attend the school, he twice fell
back; but the Spirit of God was at work in his heart, and when the
removal to Metlakahtla took place, he deliberately gave up his position
as head-chief of the Tsimshean tribes in order to join the colony.
Constant inducements were held out to him to return; and on one
occasion he actually gave way. He gathered the Indians together, on the
Metlakahtla beach, told them he could hold out no longer, and was going
back to his old life--that he could not help it, for he was being
pulied away--that he knew it was wrong, and perhaps he should perish
for ever, but still he must go. In tears he shook the hand of each in
turn, and then stepping alone into his canoe, paddled rapidly away from
his weeping friends. He went a few miles along the coast, and then, as
darkness came on, put the canoe ashore. The night was one of such
misery, he afterwards said, as no words could describe. "A hundred
deaths would not equal the sufferings of that night." On his knees he
wept and prayed for pardon, and for strength to return; and next day he
again appeared at Metlakahtla, to the joy of all.
Legaic, who before was "a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious,"
was baptized by the name of Paul. In him indeed did "Jesus Christ show
forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them who shall hereafter
believe on Him to life everlasting."
The Rev. R. J. Dundas, who visited Metlakahtla six months later, and
baptized thirty-nine more adults and thirteen children, thus wrote of
Paul Legaic and his daughter Sarah:--
"I paid a visit to the wife of the chief Paul Legaic. He it was who
nearly took Mr. Duncan's life at the head of the medicine-band
attacking the school. They were both baptized by the Bishop last April.
Legaic was the wealthiest chief of the Tsimsheans at Fort Simpson. He
has lost everything--has had to give up everything by his conversion to
Christianity. It was with many of them literally a 'forsaking of all
things to follow Christ.'--His house is the nicest and best situated in
the village. A very little labour and expense in way of internal
fittings would make it quite comfortable. He and his wife have one
child only, a young girl of fourteen. She was a modest-looking,
pleasing child--very intelligent--one of the first class in the school.
She did not look like one who had ever been 'possessed with a devil;'
and yet this is the child whom, three years ago, her teacher saw naked
in the midst of a howling band, tearing and devouring the bleeding dog.
How changed! She who 'had the unclean spirit' sits now at the feet of
Jesus, clothed, and in her right mind."
On the occasion of a visit paid soon after this by Mr. Duncan to Fort
Simpson, Legaic, again like his great namesake, boldly preached the
faith which once he destroyed. Mr. Duncan wrote:--
"Feb. 6, 1864.--I have just returned from a visit to Fort Simpson. I
went to proclaim the Gospel once more to the poor unfeeling heathen
there. I laid the Gospel again distinctly before them, and they seemed
much affected. The most pleasing circumstance of all, and which I was
not prepared to expect, was, that Paul Legaic and Clah (the one in
times past a formidable enemy and opposer, and the other one among the
first to hear and greet the Gospel) sat by me, one on either side.
After I had finished my address on each occasion they got up and spoke,
and spoke well.
"Legaic completely shamed and confounded an old man, who, in replying
to my address, had said that I had come too late to do him and other
old people good; that, had I come when the first white traders came,
the Tsimsheans had long since been good; but they had been allowed to
grow up in sin; they had seen nothing among the first whites who came
amongst them to unsettle them in their old habits, but these had rather
added to them fresh sins, and now their sins were deep laid, they (he
and the other old people) could not change. Legaic interrupted him, and
said, 'I am a chief, a Tsimshean chief. You know I have been bad, very
bad, as bad as any one here. I have grown up and grown old in sin, but
God has changed my heart, and He can change yours. Think not to excuse
yourselves in your sins by saying you are too old and too bad to mend.
Nothing is impossible with God. Come to God; try His way; He can save
you.' He then exhorted all to taste God's way, to give their hearts to
Him, and to leave all their sins; and then endeavoured to show them
what they had to expect if they did so--_not_ temporal good, not
health, long life, or ease or wealth, but God's favour here and
happiness with God after death."
Legaic had been well known to the traders and others on the coast, and
the change in him caused the greatest astonishment among them. "Mr.
Duncan's Grand Vizier" they called him. One visitor wrote in the
Victoria paper:--
"Take a walk near the church, and you may see the mighty chief of Fort
Simpson (Legaic) standing under the porch of his well-built house,
ornamented with fancy casing around where the gutters should be, but
are not, and also around the windows. Legaic! why, I remember him
myself, some ten years ago, the terrifying murderer of women as well as
men, now lamb-led by the temperate hand of Christianity--a Church-going
example--an able ally of the Temperance Society, though not having
signed the pledge."
For seven years this once dreaded savage led a quiet and consistent
Christian life at Metlakahtla as a carpenter. In 1869, he was taken ill
at Fort Simpson, on his way home, after a journey to Nass River. He at
once sent this short note to Mr. Duncan:--
"Dear Sir,--I want to see you. I always remember you in my mind. I
shall be very sorry if I shall not see you before I go away, because
you showed me the ladder that reaches to heaven, and I am on that
ladder now. I have nothing to trouble me, I only want to see you."
But Mr. Duncan, to his great sorrow, was quite unable to get away from
his incessant duties at Metlakahtla. A second and third summons
followed in quick succession, and presently came the news of his death,
accompanied by a few unfinished lines:--
"My dear Sir,--This is my last letter, to say I am very happy. I am
going to rest from trouble, trial, and temptation. I do not feel afraid
to meet my God. In my painful body I always remember the words of our
Lord Jesus Christ."
Well may we say, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
Reverting to the history of the Mission, we find that in 1866 the
Bishop of Columbia paid a second visit to Metlakahtla, and after
careful examination, baptized sixty-five adult converts on Whit Sunday
in that year. "I truly believe," he wrote, "that most of these are
sincere and intelligent believers in Christ, as worthy converts from
heathenism as have ever been known in the history of the Church." And
in the autumn of the following year Mr. Cridge, then Dean of Victoria,
who had from the first manifested the deepest interest in the Mission,
stayed for some weeks at the settlement, and on September 8th baptized
ninety-six adult Indians and eighteen children.
Dean Cridge was struck by the advanced age of the candidates presented
to him. Twenty-six were over fifty; and one man, who was sixty-five,
said, "I feel like an infant, not able to say much; but I know that my
heart is turned to God, and that He has given His Son to wash away my
sins in His blood."
"When he entered the room to be examined, he knelt down and offered a
silent prayer. While speaking of his sins he showed emotion, and
covered his face. Amongst other answers, these are some of his words:
'I repent very much of my past sins before Jesus.' I asked why
Christians were not afraid to die; he said, 'Faith in God will make us
not afraid to die,' I baptized him Jeremiah; he is about forty years of
age. His wife was not less satisfactory in the testimony she gave of a
true conversion to God, and was added by baptism at the same time with
her husband to the fold of Christ."
What can we say to such tokens of true knowledge and faith as these,
but that the words of our Lord to Peter are still applicable to many
even of the most degraded heathen in our own day?--"Blessed art thou,
Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but
my Father which is it Heaven!"
VII.
METLAKAHTLA--MATERIAL PROGRESS AND MORAL INFLUENCE.
Metlakahtla is no hermit's cell in the wilderness, removed faraway
from the haunts of men, and exerting no influence upon them. Rather is
it a harbour of refuge, whose lights radiate forth into the darkness,
inviting the bark in distress to seek its friendly shelter, and guiding
even the passing vessel in its course. Very rapidly it acquired a
recognized position of importance and influence as the centre--one
might almost say the official centre--of all good work of every kind
among the coast Indians.